To behold a respected and pious clergyman, after labouring in God's vineyard with conscientious fidelity during a long life, at length oppressed by the disorders incident to age; no longer possessing the power of discharging his sacred duties in a manner satisfactory to himself, or acceptable to his hearers; feebly toiling through a service above his strength, and wounding his own feelings, by appearing to cling with an unsanctified and worldly tenacity, to a station to which he is not equal, is indeed a painful spectacle, and one which suggests but too probable a cause why the temple of the Lord is sometimes forsaken. It would, however, be still more melancholy to behold a minister of Christ, who had spent his whole life in relieving the afflictions of others," rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that weep," when he himself requires succour and sympathy, deprived in his old age of his only support, and driven in degradation and distress to seek from strangers what his feelings would not allow him to ask from his former flock. That this calamity does not frequently occur is owing to the merciful and benign spirit of our civil and ecclesiastical institutions, and the humanity of those to whom the administration of them is committed. To these causes only can it be ascribed that the evil before mentioned is reluctantly endured, in preference to adopting the painful measure of dismissing the inefficient party. Between these extremes, circumstanced as we are at present, there is no medium; to escape from either, we must fall into the other: but to avoid this alternative would neither be dangerous nor very difficult; and well would he deserve both of his country and his church, who would employ his best influence and exertions to carry into effect a simple plan, by which so desirable an object might be accomplished. It would be but justice to an unbeneficed clergyman of irreproachable character and unblemished life, if found inadequate to his duties, and not possessed of property for his support, to allow him the privilege, after forty years of actual service in the church, to retire on a compensation of 1007. per annum for the remainder of his days. The number of cases worthy of this indulgence needs not excite despair of being able to carry the plan into effect, from a supposed want of funds to meet so great a demand. Many clergymen never attain to the age proposed as the qualifying limit, and therefore, in ordinary cases, could not claim the indulgence: many at that age are yet fully equal to their duties, and under such circumstances no conscientious clergyman will seek or desire it; some unbeneticed clergymen possess ample means for their support, and therefore are not suitable objects for this bounty; so that it will be found upon calculation, that the appropriate cases will by no means prove so alarmingly numerous as upon a superficial view of the subject might be apprehended. In this age of philanthropy and Christian benevolence, there are societies for almost every laudable purpose, and multitudes of persons are disinterestedly zealous in carrying these purposes into effect. But if it is agreeable to the spirit of Christian charity to shew kindness to the destitute stranger, surely it cannot be agreeable to this spirit to shew no kindness to those who could say with truth, in the words of the Apostle, "Ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail among you; ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably, we behaved ourselves among you.' If the helpless orphan be a worthy object of compassion, surely the helpless spiritual father cannot be unworthy of it; and he who all his life long " exhorted, and com forted, and charged his flock, as a father doth his children, that they should walk worthy of God," might well be supposed to be the last person whose grey hairs a Christian community would suffer, through extreme penury or neglect, to be brought down in sorrow to the grave. The infirm soldier and sailor justly experience the protection of their country; and why should not the veteran, whose office it has been to enrol many a faithful follower beneath the banners of the "Captain of Salvation;" and who has not only fought himself, but taught others to fight, and to conquer also, far more dangerous enemies than any which can assail our temporal peace. When a clergyman becomes aged or infirm, it is oppressive to himself to continue his exertions, painful to others to witness them, and almost cruel of his superiors, if it were not done in very humauity and to avoid a more melancholy alternative, to exact them of him, Should matters thus remain for any length of time, the spiritual improvement of the flock over which he once faithfully and effectually presided, must be suspended or cease: the cause of religion thus receives an injury, the influence of the Established Church is diminished, the souls of men are neglected, and the service of God is brought into disrepute. But to dismiss an aged minister of irreproachable conduct, and to withdraw from him his only support, would be unchristian and cruel; and, I need not add, utterly at variance with the benign spirit of our truly apostolical church. What then is the nature of the remedy proposed, to meet an evil which it cannot but be acknowledged does exist? I reply; To collect voluntary subscriptions and donations from all who wish well to the interests of our national church, in order in the first instance to create a fund which could not fail of receiving large and con tinued additions from the opulent and enlightened part of the nation: nor can it be doubted but: that legacies and bequests wilk follow when the importance and value of the plan shall be fully appreciated. It would perhaps be prudent to close the subscription list whenever it shall appear that the fund bears some proportion to the exigency of the case; but it would by no means be necessary to postpone the actual operation of the plan, until it was completed in all its parts and established on its ultimate and permanent basis. Whatever sum was raised might for the present be placed in government securities, and the interest only applied to the intended purpose; but as land is the only property which always maintains a just level, and keeps pace with the march of time, it might be, advisable, at a future period, to.vest the entire amount in landed security. The sum of 12,000l. once raised, and judiciously disposed of, would probably be found equal to the constant support of ten respectable superannuated clergymen...: Some persons may perhaps think that it is always in the power of the diocesan to apply, to every case within his own jurisdiction, an adequate remedy; but it will be found, upon a juster view of the subject and deeper inquiry, that this is not the fact. Indeed, next to the immediate objects themselves, the heads of the church have the greatest interest: in the success of the plan now proposed for the relief of aged, infirm, unbeneficed clergymen ; because it will enable them to pro vide with ease and pleasure for the effectual discharge of clerical duty, and this not by the necessary, but most painful, act of casting off aged servants of God and his church, but by an act of grace, and as a recompense for past services. The state has provided for the discharge of certain duties, and appointed overseers who must enforce their execution; but it is impossible, as things now are, but that cases will arise, where private feeling must give way to public necessity, and individual considerations be sacrificed to the interests of the commonweal. The plan now submitted to the public would set aside this painful alternative: it would correspond to the benevolent spirit of all our public institutions; a spirit which ought to be most sacredly cherished in an institution purely religious: it would not wound pri vate feeling; it would greatly promote the prosperity and influence of the church: it would tend to attach more firmly to her interests her steady adherents-to disarm the captious, to satisfy the scrupulous, to confirm the wavering, and even to win over many converts to her cause, because her services would be efficiently discharged, and her ranks continually supplied by a succession of persons in the vigour of life to sustain her func tions. REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns. By THOMAS CHALMERS, D. D., Minister of St. John's Church, Glasgow.No. I. The Advantage and Possibility of assimilating a Town to a Country Village Glasgow: Chalmers and Collins. 1820. price 1s. pp. 52. SCARCELY any thing is more demonstrative of the corruption of our nature, than the calmness with which we are apt to survey the miseries and crimes of society, and to resign mankind to what we seem to think their unalterable destiny. It is true, indeed, that there are in the world individuals indulging the mostextravagant expectations, look ing for a restoration of that golden age which never existed, and dreaming that, if only a few engines of their own were set to work, society would, at once, purge itself of its corruptions, and arise in all the happiness and purity of original creation. But it is by no means our intention to cherish the chimeras of these magnificent "hopers." On the contrary, it is essential to remember, that in a fallen world sin is not likely to be wholly eradicated, and that misery will assuredly follow in the train of sin. "The poor shall not cease out of the land." The philanthropist is not likely to want a world to comfort and improve. His benevolence will never be without the spur of suffering and calamity. Want will still walk side by side with áffluenee; and the most painful interruptions of human happiness will still present themselves to his view, and call for his sympathy. The world will still at least till the promised millenium of peace and joy shall arrive discover itself to be palpably "out of joint;" and anguish and sorrow will be the consequences of this general dislocation. Still, none of those who admit all this to the uttermost would therefore be warranted in relaxing their efforts to alleviate the pressure of wretchedness, and especially to counteract the dominion of sin, which is the grand cause of misery. On the contrary, the stronger their conviction of the continued prevalence of evil, both physical and moral, the more earnest and assiduous ought they to be in bringing into exercise those grand priaeiples of consolation and moral renovation which are supplied by the word of God. Expedients are also to be sought out in the laboratories of human wisdom, by which to miti gate man's moral disease. It is not to be assumed that, because there is nothing new in the science of morals, there are no modes of applying its principles which are unknown to us-nothing which requires, and would reward investigation-no new force to be discovered, or no old one to be so directed as to give a fresh impulse to the energies of individuals doomed to labour and pain, or suffering under any other of the various calamities of life. Indeed, had there ever been any doubt as to the possible improvement of the machinery of morals, the controversy must have been set at rest by the inventions and improvements of the present age. It may fairly be said, for instance, that the discovery of the steam engine is not a grander contribution to physics and manufactures, than is the discovery of the simple but sublime principle of the Bible Society to the moral destiny of man. Hitherto the force of one half of the Christian world had been mainly employed in counter-working that of the other. But the simple discovery, that all Christians ought heartily to co-operate in promoting their common Christianity, as far as co-operation is possible without a compromise of principle, has combined in harmonious and efficacious union a thousand dis persed or conflicting energies; is gradually extinguishing bigotry, and deepening and widening the foundations of charity; and promises, in the end, whatever Bishop Marsh may object to it, to fill "the earth with the knowledge of the Lord." In like manner, the charm wrought by the two simple words "mutual instruction" promises to dissolve, almost with the rapidity of an enchantment, the obstacles in the way of general education. Many other similar instances might easily be adduced; but it is needless to go farther than the distinguished author before us. Perhaps there are few individuals 10 whom society owes more than it does to Dr. Chalmers, for the re, solute application of his faculties to the discovery, in political economy, morals, and philanthropy, of new combinations of known principles, as well as of new modes of practically applying them. His character exhibits a rare combination of bold and original thinking, and of powerful argumentation, with genuine modesty and humility, from which, in our opinion, his countrymen are daily reaping the largest advantages. It is impossible not to be struck with the independence of Dr. Chalmers's mind: and it is owing to this mental independence; this determination, as Lord Bacon says, " to set precedents, as well as to follow them;" this lofty spirit of insurrection against prejudice and error; this manly resolution to pursue truth wherever it is to be found, and to sacrifice falsehood by whomsoever it is maintained; that we owe the many original conceptions which are scattered over his pages, and which, in the prevailing dearth of new ideas at least on moral and religious subjects, are as refreshing to the intellectual traveller as the cold stream to the wanderer in a sultry desert. It is impossible, indeed, not to condemn the irregularities and eccentricities of his style-not to lament the frequent offences against taste, and, we had almost said, grammar, which occur in pages otherwise illustrated by passages of the noblest order of eloquence. But it is also impossible to deny that he has subtracted as much from the mass of mischievous prejudices, and added as much to the stock of just principles and useful expedients, as any modern writer whatever. Nor do we confine this observation to the main arguments which it is his object to maintain in his different publications. It is one of the peculiaritiesof deep and original thinkers, that, in addition to the direct service they render to morals or philosophy by the establishment of those leading truths which it may be their express aim to support, they drop, as it were, by the way, a multitude of minor and subsidiary truths, which are of the highest value to society. Like some of the privileged ladies in fairy tales, they not only unlock mines of diamonds and rubies at their pleasure, but they speak diamonds and rubies, even when it is not their intention to do so. And such is continually the case with Dr. Chalmers. At least, for ourselves, we would say, that we are instructed and edified, not merely by the development of the particular principle which he sets himself in any given work to demonstrate, but also by the various arguments which he employs to establish its truth, or to exemplify its utility. He not only sows in the furrow, but scatters over the field; and we reap a harvest from both. There are few men whose thoughts, we apprehend, will more decidedly live after them, and become, in successive generations, what the great philosopher, to whom we have already alluded, calls the "seeds of great actions." Not, however, to dwell on the works in general of this distinguished writer, we confidently appeal to the present production as an example in point. Planted in the midst of a dense and busy population, few of whom have the leisure, and perhaps (as in almost all communities similarly circumstanced) fewer still have the disposition, to think for themselves, their vices and sufferings have occupied a large place in his active and benevolent mind; and the present work, which has appeared in Quarterly Numbers, was designed to contain the general results to which his inquiries have conducted him. It is a matter of regret to us that we did not take up the work at its commencement, and present an analysis of the several Numbers, with our own feeble comments upon them, as they were published. In order to repair, as far as we can, this omission, it is now our intention to redeem our lost time, and, after our tortoise-fashion, to pur sue the steps of our swift-footed philosopher. Truly happy shall we be if, by providing an additional stage for the exhibition of his principles, we extend the sphere of their influence, and secure for him a larger number, not only of ra tional admirers, but of obedient disciples. He has opened to us a new field of industry; and we are persuaded, that a diligent cultivation of it will yield a large and rich harvest of good to the community. None of those who are interested in the important topics discussed in this work, will regret our determination to suffer Dr. Chalmers for the most part to speak for himself. In some instances, however, it will be our endeavour to abridge his argument. And we shall not willingly neglect any fair opportunity of considering, more distinctly than he may have done himself, the bearing of his reasonings on the actual circumstances of our own country. One of the striking features of the period in which we live is, that it is scarcely less fertile in misery and crime, than in institutions which are expressly designed to extinguish both. Dr. Chalmers undertakes in the First Number of his work, to supply the explanation of this phenomenon. The first cause to which he traces this peculiarity in our circumstances, is the contempt entertained by political economists for the principles and the friends of religion. Whilst we remained, what our neighbours were pleased in their courtesy to term us, a nation of "boutiquiers;" and whilst political economy chiefly concerned itself amongst us with the abstract theories of commercial wealth, and the questions of commercial loss and gain, this disregard of religion as an elemental part of economical speculations was less felt; yet as soon as that science wandered into another field, and especially as soon as the questions connected with " population” were brought before the public by Mr. |