that way from the Tower Royal, to entertain the King and his Nobles with Justs and Tournaments in Smithfield. They rode from Tower Royal through Great and Little Knightrider Streets, up Creed Lane to Ludgate, and thence up Gillspur Street to Smithfield. G. CREED.

Mr. URBAN,

April 19.

PEAK of me as you find," is a

approbation; and if one who has been a Clergyman upwards of forty years, and, for more than half that time, constantly resident on a benefice in the midst of Dissenters, is at all entitled to regard, I am fully persuaded, that if, in the Letter signed CLERICUS ECCLESIA ANGLICANE" (1819. ii. 597.) a direct negative were given to every observation in praise of Dissenters, and to every remark in dispraise of the Clergy (their "supineness," their "hauteur," their want of "familiarity," and hospitality to wards the "inferior part of the body," and their "unwillingness to give them advice,") the statement would be much nearer the truth, than it is at present. "An anecdote" is related" of a Clergyman in Glamorganshire, who had not been three months absent from his parish for the space of 35 years; the consequence of which," it is said, "was, that there was not a Dissenter in the whole parish." Far be it from me to wish to undervalue the important duty of residence in the Parochial Clergy, knowing, as I do, that in a populous parish, not a day, and scarcely an hour passes, in which the Clergyman is not wanted, or consulted, by Dissenters as well as others (if there are Dissenters in the parish) in some of their temporal or spiri tual concerns. But the sources of Dissent are far more deep, and of a very different nature from what your Correspondent seems to imagine. The Apostle reckons "heresies" among the works of the flesh (Gal. v. 20.); and while the guilt of schism (no trivial matter, if the Scriptures are to be regarded) attaches to all Dissenters, there are few of them, I fear, whose erring doctrines, if not absolutely involved in Heresy, do not approach the ambiguous confines of that tremendous sin. The first sin of man was pride; and in the school of Christ, whence alone remedies for every sin

that unity and truth would not prevail more than at present; but of this I have no doubt, that even then, while men are such as they are, and the times such as they are, Dissenters would be numerous,

Take a few specimens of their maxims and notions. A Dissenter, not of the lowest rank, said, "If our Religion were established, I would be on the other side." 66 Why should he have so much, and I so little?" "What is he but a man, like myself?" "I would have an opinion of my own, and judge for myself”— when the question has been one by no means connected with any essential article, either of faith or prac tice, and, at the same time, such as the self-erected judge was just as competent to decide upon, as to find out the Longitude.

Of the "harmony and affection subsisting among the different sects of Dissenters," I know nothing, except that they are reported to have a Society in London for defending and promoting the holy business of Dissent, or, as they call it, "the Dissenting Interest," throughout the King. dom.

You would not have been troubled with this letter, had not some of your Correspondents, by referring, with apparent approbation, to the communication of C. E. A. given it a consequence, to which, in itself, it was scarcely entitled.

Yours, &c. A COUNTRY RECTOR.

As Author of has

received such universal applause, it is reedless to declaim on his merits, and perhaps it were dangerous to mention his faults. On this account I own that I feel some compunction in saying that I think there is a very glar ing, absurdity in that Author's last production, termed "The Monastery.”

say, "they knew they could not be hanged for it." If I follow to the Old Bailey, I read a long calendar of Criminals under 15, and some at 12 or 10 years of age! I turn with horror from this melancholy fact; aud, hoping to find some argument in extenuation, I learn that this is Dow, not a new case, but is the course of every day's experience. Tell me then, Mr. Urban,-for among your numerous and able Correspondents I am well aware one will be found to unlock this mystery, and shew a cause why the influence of early education does not spread farther than the Schools-why, as I have been told none of these scholars are found in those wretched calendars of sin and woe, do they not go as Missionaries among the purlieus of fraud, and bring into protection these juvenile ministers of Satan-why does not their own example touch those who, one might suppose, are their companions and acquaintance?-why do not the Directors of these Schools, who take so much and laudable pains in their promotion, and in the cultivation of truth and goodness amongst them, divide into several walks of the Capital and its suburbs, and, as the "Stranger's Friends," seek and save that which is lost ?-and why do not the more studious, who devote their study to such arrangements, suggest some method by which the benefit of the Schools may be so extended as to recover from ruin those early students of mischief and depredation! -This imperious call of duty, to render our works consistent will, I hope, produce from some of your fellow citizens an effectual method of blunting the fiery darts of evil. A. H.

TOUR THROUGH ENGLAND AND

SCOTLAND.

(Concluded from p. 315.) IDDING adieu to my Scotch friends, from whom I separated with regret, pleased with the sobriety of their manners, and their steady conduct; I pursued my rout to a place that has given an aching heart to many a parent; and if I object more particularly to one thing than another, it is the abominable system of matrimony upon an anvil, and uniting persons by the means of an horseshoe-maker. Gretna Green was the only place passed on the

North side the Tweed in disgust, and it arose from this contemptible adop tion of means for an honourable connexion between the sexes. I must also observe, that my feelings were somewhat shocked at the naked feet and ancles of the females, fearing that they would be lacerated by sharp stones, and bruised by hard roads. My friend observed, "that they required not my sympathy; observe," says he, "their feet are perfect, free from wounds, and capable of the greatest freedom of action, better, Sir, than yours and mine, which have been cramped in the cobbler's stocks from our infancy." As facts speak louder than words, I was silent. The Borderers, however, determined stili to be in opposition, adopted on the English line thick clumsy heavy oppressive wooden shoes; and in the towns I found the term "clogger" written up as a branch of business, and a delectable one it seems to be.

Having entered Carlisle, and walking sedately about to take a view of the City, I was insulted by a drunken Elector, for it was during the agree able time of the General Election that I found myself in this pleasant situation.-I expostulated; the reply was, "all was fair at an Election;" now I thought otherwise; for meeting two out of three tipsy, I thought all was foul; and felt comfortable (that is negatively so) that we had not yet improved so far as to have Annual Elections or General Suffrage.

A fresh day brought fresh ideas and fresh circumstances. Happily for us mortals, we do not here" continue in one stay;" events are but passing, and we ought to make them as agreeable or as pleasant as we can. To attain to the first, we are to be attentive to duty; and walking past the venerable red stone Cathedral of the time of red-huired William Rufus, I attended Divine Service on a Prayerday; the simple Choristers, some with fine expressive countenances, gave me new feelings, new ideas, and completely did away the unpleasantries of the City-a few pious women and myself were the Congregation. Such characters were to be found when Christianity was in its infancy they were to be found at the foot of the Cross, when all else had fled! and they are still to be found in our week-day worship, where male idlers seldom are seen. To such women as

these,

these how much are we indebted! to such as these, who have been heads of families, how much good may be traced, to Individuals, to Families, and to our Country! Whether I was noticed as a stranger seated in an antient stall, I cannot say; but I felt the Anthem from the 121st Psalm, and verses 7 and 8, as exceedingly appropriate to my present case; and the consequent aspirations of gratitude were made. Farewell to the momentary acrimony arising from the insult in the street; and welcome gratitude; from a sense of duty, and thanks to these good Choristers, for occasioning the proper selection of it. Returning homeward, after an extended ramble of 1100 miles in 35 days, not having had for so many years an absence from business, I will beg leave to conclude with the following neat little Epitaph, taken from the Cathedral-yard.

On R. and M. BARLY, aged 3 years. "Ere Sin could blight, or Sorrows fade, Death came with friendly care, The opening buds to Heav'n convey'd, And bade them blossom there."

WITH

ITH the decay and final destruction of Roman genius, and of Roman power, their Mythology was at length extinct, and the powerful impulse and ascendancy which, in the hands of a skilful artist, it was calculated to exercise over the mind for a series of ages, vanished and was forgotten.

The Middle Ages introduced, as is well known, a species of fabling equally heroic, but widely different in its essential incidents, and the character and complexion of its agents, -less regularly beautiful, but more wild, monstrous, and terrific, legendary narratives teeming with prodigies, fairies, giants, and enchanters.

Originating with the Crusades, and the offspring of magnificent equip. ments, pompous pageants, and all the imposing associations which would powerfully strike untutored minds, warmed to enthusiasm but incapable of relishing intellectual enjoyments inore refined, these eventful and por

tentous tales of chivalry' which the genius of their bards soon elicited from the sanguinary combats and deeds of heroism which took place on the theatre of Palestine, occupied a large portion of the works of imagination, and for a long period maintained a very extensive influence over the human passions. The alleged virtues or endowments, and more than mortal prowess of the Saracen chieftain and the Christain knight, served, in a dark age, to fill and expand the imbecile energies and confused sphere of thoughts, of intellect, which had neither known nor could appreciate higher sources of contemplation. The human mind, which, as far as regarded intellectual converse, and a perception of beauty, was, in those periods, again in its early infancy, was however gradually and slowly recovering from a great moral convulsion, which had shattered and distorted the general features of the mind, and, during a series of ages, had buried its noble faculties in primeval chaos. The wild tissue of prodigies and enchantments therefore, and the mystic rites and incantations, which formed, in their poetry, so powerful an engine for fixing the attentions and administering to the superstitions of a race of men whose passions were easily moved, and whose highest mental pleasures centered in pomp, and show, and mystery, were admirably calculated for their day.

But we have been told that the machinery in use in these days, was more adapted to the great ends of epic poetry, than the system of antiquity; that the Gothic fabling has more in it of beauty than the classic. "The current popular tales," says a writer, "of elves and fairies, were fitter to charm the credulous mind, than those of the old traditionary rabble of Pagan divinities; the mummeries of the Pagan priests were childish, but the Gothic enchanters shook and alarmed all nature."

Whether these figments of a strong and vivid fancy were in the nature of things, and in the effect which they are calculated to produce on a wellinformed and well-cultivated taste, so intrinsically beautiful, may be matter of question; but it is certain, that they were then best adapted to publie taste and opinion, aud these rude but magnificent