6

beauty predisposes the minds of many to devotion; but it is most important that those who aspire to spread the devotional spirit should consult the feelings of those on whom they desire to act, and not to be led astray by their own arbitrary associations of ideas, and the whims bred in the hotbed of their own imaginations. Mr. Robertson says, with great truth, 'What I apprehend is the substitution of a poetic, romantic, æsthetic something for plain duty to God and our neighbour.' He complains that persons of susceptible years and character are taught it is a mark of a "high, tender, affectionate mind" to long after splendours of worship unknown in the English Church of this day;' and then, instead of being desired to keep their imaginations and feelings in check, they are actually taught to think it creditable that these are not under the control of their judgments; and so little is the danger and the unreasonableness of this state of mind perceived, that the public has more than once been gravely assured that many persons are retained in their nominal allegiance to the Church of England only by having the ritual arranged according to their fancy. Had this been asserted by the enemies of the system, what severer satire on it could have been invented?

In favour of church decoration, it is urged that the poor man should not be led to think the rich man dedicates to God that which costs him nothing. Undoubtedly it is not desirable the poor man should think the expenditure of the rich man selfish; but is he such a good judge of architecture, and such a bad judge of everything else, that he can appraise every gurgoyle and finial, and yet think additional curates and schools cost nothing? Does this argument mean that when the poor man looks at the church an idea of superfluous expense should be suggested? But if he thinks the poor of the parish neglected, what good will result from this? Is it likely he will be soothed, or will he not rather be irritated, by the expensiveness of the church?

In those arrangements which involve important change, higher considerations even than those before us are involved. It is one of the most objectionable consequences of these disputes that so many are led to think the ritual of the Church an open question, on which each man is called to give his own decision, while he may consider himself moderate as long as he keeps within the limits reached by some highflying neighbour. Change of anything so solemn as the Church service is to most minds painful; and when it is further associated with the idea of controversy, nothing can be more adverse to the spirit of devotion. In fact, it is vain to deny that the most trifling

* More than one instance might be quoted when this argument has been used; but it is unnecessary to be more particular.

alteration

alteration is often the signal for open war in the parish. The new arrangement of the church is taken as the outward sign of opinions to which the majority of the people are vehemently opposed. No doubt the suspicion is often entertained unjustly; and the zealous ritualist, conscious of his attachment to the reformed Church, may feel deeply hurt; but has he any right to complain? if he wears an adversary's uniform, can he wonder if he is supposed to belong to an adverse camp? His protestations against Romish doctrine cannot be louder nor more eloquent than those of many who have already passed, by the way he is taking, to Rome. Nor can he reasonably blame the opposition he meets with on the ground that the changes he advocates are unimportant. They are unimportant only on the supposition that they have not the meaning which is commonly assigned to them; and if, in his opinion, they have not this meaning, and are really unimportant, why to carry them does he compromise his own personal comfort and his whole chance of usefulness? Time, too, it often happens, instead of healing, only makes the ill incurable. As month follows month the rector's zeal and influence bring him partizans, few, perhaps, but warm; and when at last he longs for peace and is anxious to retrace his steps, he can do so no longer. There is nor going hence nor tarrying here.' The candelarian and superaltarian party in his parish are as vehement and as irritable as the tabulists and anticandelarians, and they threaten to go over to Rome unless their opponents are driven to the meeting-house. And all this tumult is purely factitious. The zeal which, properly directed, might have evangelized the parish, has been diverted to objects which, if carried, would have been trifling, and in their failure have left the seeds of hatred and strife.

The Privy Council, weary no doubt with its long labour, is disposed to regard with an eye of favour those who consider the 'points in dispute as of no importance in comparison with Christian charity and concord;' and unquestionably those who, for the sake of peace, give up their cherished opinions, make no small sacrifice. But it is by no means certain that those who, having influence to check the course of innovation, refrain from exerting it, will prove in the end the best friends of the Church. To maintain present peace they are sowing the seeds of future and, to all appearance, interminable war. The distrust and dislike of the Established Church which the suspicion of Romanizing tendencies has caused have spread further and penetrated deeper than is generally apprehended. To those, indeed, who observe closely, unmistakeable proofs of this appeared in the speeches which were made and the resolutions which were proposed

at

at the various meetings held on occasion of the Papal aggression; and if any similar cause of public excitement were to occur, it is to be feared these hostile feelings would be still more manifestly displayed. In the mean time, the dissenting preacher chuckles. Hoc Ithacus velit. Schism is a sin to the guilt of which the public mind in this country is scarcely sufficiently alive; but yet in a parish where the sick are visited, the ignorant taught, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them, many a Dissenter feels an uneasy suspicion that, after all, he might as well go to church-and accordingly Bethesda chapel thins. But when the new rector is reported to be a Papist in disguise, and those who are no critics in divinity can all see the new church arrangements-the cross and candlesticks on the altar, and the surplice in the pulpit-doubt is at an end. Dread of Rome is the animating principle of popular theology among the English. They see their most detested bugbear standing before them, and their only maxim of policy and duty is to fly as far as possiblethey think they cannot go too far-in the opposite direction.

We regret to find that the rector of St. Stephen's, Devonport, conceives his character impeached by some remarks we thought it our duty to make in a recent article on church-building. In the instances of injudicious expenditure which we quoted to illustrate our meaning, we had no intention of imputing blame to individuals, any further than blame is implied by a strong difference of opinion on a practical question. We never doubted the good intentions of any whose proceedings we called in question, and we had neither the power nor the wish to inquire whether the responsibility rested with churchwardens, rector, or building committee.

In the present instance the rector is anxious to make it known that the spire was built in compliance with the wishes of a benevolent individual, who gave land to the value of 15007, and houses of the yearly rent of 1507., on the understanding that the church should be built according to his own views of propriety. Such being the facts, the rector is exonerated; and we can only express our regret that so munificent a gift was clogged with a condition which so much diminishes its usefulness. We do not deny the right of those who are engaged in works of charity to ask help from all who have the power to bestow it. It was for the sake of the applicants themselves that we suggested the expediency of giving some better guarantee than begging letters usually afford that the case is one deserving of support, and that it is

not

not brought before utter strangers because those who are nearest have withheld their approbation and sympathy. But we must persist in maintaining the opinion-one which for the cause of charity we think it most important to establish-that neither public bodies nor individuals have any right to circulate appeals on behalf of spiritual destitution, when they are spending their resources on architectural decoration.

The improvement of church architecture is a very laudable though a secondary object. Committees may be formed and sums to any amount subscribed to promote it: we only ask that things should be called by their right names, and common candour requires that money should not be demanded for one purpose and applied to another.

ART. V.-1. Two Visits to the Tea Countries of China and the British Tea Plantations in the Himalaya, with a Narrative of Adventures and a full Description of the Culture of the Tea Plant, the Agriculture, Horticulture, and Botany of China. By Robert Fortune. Third edition, with Map and Illustrations. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1853. 2. A Residence among the Chinese; Inland, on the Coast, and at Sea. Being a Narrative of Scenes and Adventures during a Third Visit to China, from 1853 to 1856. Including notices of many Natural Productions and Works of Art, the Culture of Silk, &c. With Suggestions on the Present War. By Robert Fortune. With Illustrations. London. 1 vol. 8vo. 1857. 3. China: A General Description of that Empire and its Inhabitants, with the History of Foreign Intercourse down to the events which produced the Dissolution of 1857. By Sir John Francis Davis, Bart., K.C.B., F.R.S., &c.; late her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong. A new edition, revised and enlarged. With Illustrations. 2 vols. London, 1857.

8vo.

4. L'Empire Chinois: faisant suite à l'ouvrage intitulé Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartarie et le Thibet. Par M. Huc, Ancien Missionnaire Apostolique en Chine. Deuxième édition. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1854.

MR.

R. FORTUNE first went to China in 1843 to collect botanical specimens for the Horticultural Society of London. He returned to this country in 1846, but again revisited the Celestial Empire in 1848, having been commissioned by the East India Directors to procure tea-plants and tea-makers for

their plantations in the Himalayas. His instructions fulfilled, he came back to England in 1851, and was once more despatched in 1852 to secure an additional stock of plants and workmen. He remained with this object till 1856, at which period he had spent altogether nearly nine years among the people of China. Each of his journeys has been made the subject of a separate work. His earlier narratives were in their third edition printed together, with the title of Two Visits to the Tea Countries of China,' and in 'A Residence among the Chinese' we have now the account of his last visit, which terminated at the close of 1856. The value and interest of these works is very great. The remark suggested to Voltaire by our slender acquaintance with the Celestial Empire has not yet lost all its truth: 'We on this globe are like insects in a garden-those who live on an oak seldom meet those who pass their short lives on an ash.' But the inhabitants of the oak are both more frequent now in their visits to the ash, and carry further their survey of the myriads who cover its leaves. The sphere of Mr. Fortune's observation was as varied as it was prolonged. Instead of confining himself to the districts to which foreigners are limited by treaty, he advanced boldly into the interior. In one of his journeys he went habited like the natives, lived with them as one of themselves, and saw them free from every species of restraint. What he had the opportunity of witnessing without disguise he has described without a trace of the exaggeration which has rendered worthless half the books upon China. His narrative is characterised by a soberness and simplicity which are the sure prognostication of veracity. In this respect it presents a strong contrast to the clever and entertaining work of M. Huc. Where the prejudices of this vainglorious ecclesiastic do not intervene, his account of Chinese customs is usually exact; but in his history of his personal adventures he appears throughout to take the proverbial privileges of a traveller. From the outset of his journey he wore, to the horror of the mandarins, the red girdle and yellow hat which are the attributes of royalty, and in which no subject is permitted to appear under pain of perpetual exile. Dressed as an emperor, he assumed imperial authority. A solitary and obnoxious foreigner, he bearded governors of towns and provinces; and everywhere these jealous and conceited functionaries changed their nature in his presence, and in the heart of their own country tremblingly obeyed the lordly commands of the majestic M. Huc. If his 'open sesame' really effected the wonders he describes, we must impute it entirely to his own moderation that he is not at this moment Emperor of China.

There is a proverb which says that every man will speak of

the