their Sunday performances little better than playhouse exhibitions, got up to please the ears of their people, who seem to attend rather to hear and admire the talents and oratory of the speakers than to worship Almighty God in humility of spirit, and in godly fear and reverence, as Christians ought to do. A great number of their teachers are tinctured with German rationalism, Arianism, and Socinianism; and from amongst them the awful Socinian heresy has received many accessions. And the result of our own observation, confirmed by that of several of our observing friends, is, that the majority of the most daring and wicked amongst the Socialists and Chartists, have sprung from the various sects of dissent, and especially from this sect. And this is not at all a matter of surprise to us, because, as we have before said, more than once, Socialism and Infidelity, in their most hideous forms, are merely the principles of dissent legitimately carried out. And any reasonable man who will take the avowed principles of dissent to start with as fundamental and standard points, and will reason from them, and work them out consistently and legitimately, and will go with them as far as they will lead him, will inevitably become a downright infidel. We will, before long, indisputably prove all this by taking those principles and shewing how it may be done, and how indeed it has been done; and we shall, perhaps, give facts and examples, and corroborate the soundness and legitimacy of our own arguments by the arguments used in their own defence by those who have run the course through the different stages, from what is called orthodox dissent into avowed infidelity.

Passing over the minor and more modern sects, we shall further only notice the Methodist sect, which sprung up in the last century, and which soon split into two divisions, each ranging itself under its respective "father and founder," Whitfield, or Wesley. Whitfield was chaplain to the Countess of Huntingdon, who took so active and zealous a part in the business that his division soon took the appellation of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion. At first the preachers of this schism all used the Liturgy of the Church in their public services, and this to a considerable extent may be taken as a guarantee for the soundness of their faith; but now, alas! the Liturgy is much less used; and not only many individual members of the connexion, but whole congregations also, have imbibed the various principles of Brownism, and have gone over to that heresy. And, indeed, the whole connexion may now be said to be under Brownist influence, for men of that persuasion have, with their well-known flexible consciences, succeeded in worming themselves into the trusteeships of the property of Lady Huntingdon and the connexion, until, we believe, they have a majority; and have already attempted to abolish the use of the Liturgy from all their meeting-houses, and to make sundry other alterations; all which are so many departures from the comparative soundness of Whitfield and Lady Huntingdon. This connexion, therefore, is on the high road to ruin, and is felt to be so by nearly all its oldest preachers. Whatever may be said of Whitfield and Lady Huntingdon, it is due to them to say that they were, comparatively speaking, far, very far more sound in doctrine, more disinterested, and more honest and upright, than Wesley and his associates; and to this day their followers are generally Conservatives, and very much less opposed to our Constitution in Church and State, than any other sect of dissenters in the country. They make few boastings of this kind, and, unlike the crafty disciples of Wesley, they have no need to use words upon the subject, as their deeds are sufficient.

The division of the Methodists which boast of Wesley as their "father and founder," also affords ample evidence in proof of our point, that dissent gradually "waxes worse and worse," and by its fruits proves that the blessing of God does not attend it. Those who regard outward appearances, and are

caught by loud, noisy, and empty professions, will, of course, think that in reference to the Wesleyan sect we have missed our mark; but it is a notorious fact, that none of the new religions has gone the downward road of degeneracy or apostacy so rapidly as the Wesleyan religion. Even in the time of its author, it went on from one degree of degeneracy to another so quickly, that at his death it was scarcely the same thing as it was when he first started it. And since his death it has so altered, that we have the published testimony of one of its own preachers, that such is the different state of the Wesleyan religion now from what it was twenty or thirty years ago, that if a preacher were now to act consistently with its old rules, some of which are not yet abolished, he would be considered by modern Methodists as not a whit better than a madman. Here then again, in viewing the downhill progress of Wesleyanism, the pious Churchman has great cause for thankfulness that he is not a dissenter; and that he is not therefore likely to be carried the downward road he knows not whither; and that he is a member, not of a human institution, the invention of a sinful being like himself, but of the Church of Christ, built upon the rock of ages, and protected by its indwelling and ever present head from the craft and subtlety of the devil and man. And when we consider the mass of unsound doctrine, and the surprising ignorance, and enthusiasm, and fanaticism, and rottenness, of which Wesleyanism is composed, it is lamentable to contemplate the depths to which, in its rapidly downward progress, it may ultimately descend.

The sketches which we have here taken of the five principal sects in this country are necessarily short, but ample enough to shew every considerate Christian how dangerous it is to forsake the Church of Christ-the medium through which flows the water of life to refresh the thirsty soul of the true believer. Whilst all this degeneracy and apostacy is going on in the various sects of dissenters, and bringing them to ruin, the Church remains in all the great articles of the Catholic faith-continuing steadfastly in "the Apostles doctrine and fellowship,"-precisely the same as she was eighteen hundred years ago, and thus verifying the truth of the promise of her blessed Lord, that neither by false doctrine nor false apostles should the gates of hell prevail against her. And did we not know the depravity and perversity of our fallen nature, and the depth of Satan's devices, we should indeed think it strange that people should delight in forsaking the appointed channel of heavenly grace, and in hewing out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. We have seen very distinctly that whenever a body of people break off from the Church, they become like a branch broken off from a tree, they look green for a time, just while the sap of the old tree lasts in them, but no longer, for as they are cut quite off, they receive no more nourishment from the trunk and the roots, very soon lose their greenness, and then wither away and die. How important then it is that those who are members of the Church should take care to remain so, that they may continue to receive that nourishment which is necessary for their spiritual life and health. On looking around us we see thousands of poor souls tossed about upon the waves of this troublesome world by all the ever-varying winds of dissent, whilst we, as true and lively members of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, feel ourselves secure within the ark-God's own appointed means of safety. And whilst we see so many unable to find a resting place for the soles of their feet amongst the evershifting quicksands of heresy and schism, let us thank God with all our hearts that we feel ourselves firmly standing upon the rock against which the winds may rage and the rains and storms may beat in vain. Let us pray not only that we ourselves may be kept within the walls of salvation, but that

our blessed Lord would so fetch home to his flock all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, and take away from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of his word, that they may be saved amongst the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. In the Church we are sure that we have the ministrations of the true ministers of Christ, and the blessings of his sacraments; and let us, therefore, prize our holy privileges, and shew forth our gratitude, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service, and by walking before him in holiness and righteousness all our days.

ON RATING OF TITHE AND LAND.

Ir cannot be denied that until the passing of the Commutation Act, a tenth portion of the earth's produce belonged to the Church; the rest belonged to two parties-landlords and tenants. When the Commutation Act came into force, an alteration took place with regard to Church property, and instead of receiving a tenth part of what the earth produced the hurch had something given in lieu of it, termed a rentcharge. This rentcharge, by the express terms of the Commutation Act, is to be subject to all the rates to which tithe was liable. If, therefore, tithe was rated at its real value, so also must the rentcharge. But the rate laid upon tithes was in proportion to the rate laid upon land: each was rated at its supposed value. So that now a rentcharge rated at its real value, and land not rated at its real value, cannot be considered just. That justice may be done, it becomes necessary to ascertain what is the real value of land in every particular parish, and what is the real value of the rentcharge. The gross value of land is what that land will produce, and the gross value of a rentcharge is that rentcharge. But in order that we may arrive at the real value of land, and the real value of a rentcharge, it may be as well, perhaps, to consider the benefits derivable from a rentcharge to belong to two persons-the rector of the parish, and the person to whom he may let his rentcharge. This will enable us to compare the two cases, because the benefit derivable from land is enjoyed, undoubtedly, by two parties-the landlord who receives a rent, and the tenant who has a profit for cultivating his farm. The real value of a rentcharge is then the rent which a tenant would pay a Rector for it; and the tenant's profits after paying his rent, and the real value of land, is, in fact, just the same-the landlord's rent and the tenant's profits. If a deduction be made, as it ought, to the tenant of the landlord for the expense of cultivating his land, an allowance should likewise be made to the tenant of the rector for the labour which it has been necessary to provide for the performance of Clerical duties.

The one is a similar case to the other. If a deduction be made from the rentcharge for rates and taxes, a deduction should be made for the rates and taxes payable upon land. Now, if this mode of rating be adopted, viz. upon the gross value of land and the gross value of a rentcharge, minus the deductions above named, it will only be necessary to ascertain what is the gross value of land in a parish, and what is the rentcharge, and to make the same deductions from the one as from the other. The deductions made from the gross value of land and from the rentcharge will then stand thus--

LAND.

1. Rates and taxes (Similar to) 2. Expenses of cultivating land 3. Insurance of stock

RENTCHARGE.

1. Rates and taxes.

2. Curates' salaries, Ecclesiastical dues. 3. Insurance of house and premises.

To ascertain what is the gross value of land is not so easy as to ascertain what is the gross value of a rentcharge; but it is absolutely necessary, in

order that land and a rentcharge may be rated in proportion to their respective values, that a surveyor be appointed to value the produce of land; and if, as it perhaps could not be determined what are the annual profits arising out of land, it would be advisable that some definite time should be fixed upon, and then it might be determined what was an average of the profits. It is the opinion of an eminent surveyor that a farmer's profits, after making a deduction for rent, and the expenses of cultivating his farm, and all other expenses, may fairly be considered as equal to the rent which he pays his landlord. If this be the case, then the real value of land is the farmer's rent multiplied by two, and at this he ought to be rated.

Again, if, as it cannot be denied, the real value of a rentcharge are the rector's rent and the tenant's profits, it only becomes necessary, in rating a rentcharge, to find out what is the rent paid to the rector, and what the profits made by the tenant. These two, added together, will be the rateable value of the rentcharge. Now, it cannot be supposed that the profits of a rector's tenant can be more than the sum which is paid to a collector of rents, viz. a per centage, unless you make an allowance to him for the risks which he runs of losing a trifle in collecting the rentcharge, which perhaps should be made. Five per cent. is the utmost ever paid to a person collecting rents, and if for supposed losses you allow a tenant one more per cent., the profits of the rector's tenant may fairly be put down at six per cent. on the rentcharge. The rector's rent will be the rentcharge, minus the rates and taxes, minus curate's salary and other outgoings, such as Ecclesiastical dues, minus six per cent. on the rentcharge. And these two-the rector's rent and the tenant's profits-being the real value of the rentcharge, it may be easily known what is the rateable value of the rentcharge in any year by deducting a curate's salary, etc., the rates and taxes of the preceding year, or of an average of three or five years immediately preceding, from the rentcharge, and by adding to the remainder the six per cent., which are the tenant's profits.

In mentioning the deductions to be made from the gross value of land and from a rentcharge, there is a deduction which, upon a cursory view of the subject, appears exclusively to belong to land, but to which, in fact, a rentcharge is equally entitled-I mean a church-rate. A rentcharge, whether payable to a rector or a vicar, is exempt from the rate laid upon a parish for the repairs of the church, and for the expenses attendant upon the performance of public worship. But land is not exempt. It may be said then, that inasmuch as land is chargeable to a church-rate, but a rentcharge is not, in ascertaining what is the net value of each, a deduction for a church-rate must be made from the gross value of land, which cannot with any shew of justice be made from a rentcharge. If it could be said with truth, that the repairs of the church are paid for exclusively by the parish, and that the incumbent, whether rector or vicar, has none of the onus to bear; this reasoning would hold good, and it might without presumption be asked, why is the incumbent exempt from a church-rate, and why, in ascertaining what are the net proceeds of his living, he claims a deduction for that which he does not pay? But, in fact, no rector or vicar can lay claim to such an exemption as this. If the laws of our country do not compel him to contribute his quota towards the church-rate, they compel him, and him alone, to keep in repair the chancel of the church.

It will not, I should think, be contended by any that the expense of repairing the chancel, (which in most churches is at least one-fourth of the whole structure), falls not with equal weight upon the rector or vicar, to that quota which each parishioner has to pay for the repairs of the body of the church, etc., and if not, why should the rector be charged with a church-rate, and

why should not a deduction for a church-rate be made from a rentcharge, in ascertaining what is its real value, which is made from the gross value of land in ascertaining what is its real value?

Again, it cannot be said that a deduction should be claimed for a corn-rent, by the occupiers of land, because a corn-rent arises not out of that portion of the earth's produce which belonged to the landlords and tenants of land, but is merely considered as an equivalent for tithe-a tenth portion of the earth's produce which belonged to the Church.

In making these remarks, I am aware of the decision given against a deduction, in rating a rentcharge for a curate's salary, in the case of Rex v. Joddrell; I am aware of the recent decisions in the case of Regina v. Capel; but as nothing satisfactory to the Clergy has yet been determined upon, and as in all probability their claims will be set forth before the Houses of Parliament, in the next session, I have made these remarks with a hope, at least, that it will not be considered presumption in an individual Clergyman for stating what is his opinion upon the subject, before the question is brought into Parliament, and there finally settled. I may at some future time say something more upon this subject; at present I desist, but not without expressing a wish that the Clergy would unite, as one man, in asserting their claims to what belongs to the Church, especially at a time when her enemies are endeavouring to lay her level with the ground; on the one hand, by pouring a flood of pestilential doctrine over the land; on the other, by robbing her of that to which, by Divine right, she is entitled. CLERICUS.

December, 7, 1840.

THE WESLEYAN PERSECUTION AND PRETENDED BAPTISMS. THE trial of the Rev. Mr. Escott for very justly refusing to use the burial service of the Church at the funeral of a Wesleyan child, in consequence of its having died without Christian baptism, comes on about the seventeenth of this month, in the Court of Arches. Mr. Escott is prosecuted by the whole body of the Wesleyan preachers, who have at their disposal plenty of money, squeezed from the pockets of the people, under the false pretences of preaching the gospel. Whether they will succeed or not in their object remains to be seen; and although we cannot but say that we have our fears as to the result, in consequence of the wretched state of the laws, owing to persons dabbling in matters about which they know just nothing at all, yet we are quite sure, that neither the Wesleyans nor any other dissenters will succeed in making the Clergy do that which, in their consciences, they know and feel to be wrong, as in the case before us. Nor do we believe that any Clergyman will much regard the decision of any layman, whether judge or not, in a matter purely spiritual, and in which no authority short of that of the Convocation can properly decide. There are many Clergymen who will not be deterred from pursuing the plain path of duty by the persecuting spirit of Wesleyan despotism, and their attempts to tyrannize over the consciences of their betters. These Wesleyan preachers have erected a sort of spiritual inquisition, called a Committee of Privileges, which, if not put down by public indignation, will soon become as intolerant and intolerable as its prototype in Spain. The secretary to this inquisition is some man of the name of Osborn; and no sooner does this holy father hear of some Clerical delinquent presuming to commit the enormous heresy of refusing to bow to the dicta of the great money-getting firm of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, than off sends he an authoritative writ of inquiry, to know why one of his high. mightiness's vassals have dared to violate the well-known commands of him