AUSTRIAN CHURCH.-Austria numbers five Prince-Archbishops, ten Archbishops, five Prince-Bishops, and one hundred Bishops. A few of these dignitaries belong to the Greek Church; the rest to that of Rome : : seventeen of the number have seats in the Imperial Council. CLERICAL CHANGES.-"The Clerical changes have been surprisingly numerous; not less than seventy! At this rate, in less than eight years, all our Clergy will have changed their situations."-New York Episcopal Watchman. To what is all this to be attributed? Are the Clergy of the United States all under the lamentable curse of dependency upon their respective congregations? If so, their changes will, no doubt, increase, and the consequences be awful. The probability is, that few dependent men will, or can, do their duty faithfully and fearlessly for any length of time. 66 FORMS OF PRAYER.-"When in your prayers," said a pious Churchman to his neighbour who has a strong dislike to forms, you use a quotation from Scripture, do you discover an increase of either dullness or coldness?"- The good man paused, and though he saw very clearly the conclusion to which the question was aimed, had the candour to say; "No; and though you get an argument from this confession, I am bound to make it, That the most interesting and animating parts of my prayers, whether in public or private, are composed of quotations from the sacred volume."—"Use a form, then,” said the other, "if you wish to edify or exalt the pious affections of yourself or those of your brethren." Falmouth. HYMN. CHRISTMAS DAY. MORNING LESSON.-ISAIAH, CHAP. IX. SING the redeeming grace That crowns this glorious morn; The Saviour of our race, The promis'd Child is born. Now shall the power of darkness fall, And life and glory rise for all. He'll break th' oppressor's rod; All hail, incarnate God! With joy Thy sway we own. Let Thy dominion still increase, E.O. ON THE IMPOLICY OF DISSENTERS, IN THEIR HOSTILITY TO THE CHURCH. THAT the Established Church of these realms is now placed in a more perilous condition than she has ever been at any period since the Great Rebellion, is a fact, which those of her friends, who are least given to despond on her account, are no longer disposed to question. She is assailed at this moment by the whole body of English and Irish Papists, who have bound themselves to extirpate whatever the head of their corrupt church denounces as heresy, and are eager to fulfil their vows; who are exhibiting, in the objects they aim at, and their manner of pursuing them, all the bigotry and venom of a gross superstition, all the virulence of an unprincipled faction, and all the insolence of men, whom a late accession of strength has rendered confident of success in their unjust designs. These form one grand division of the forces now arrayed against the Church. The other consists of the various tribes of Liberals and Radicals, whom the agitation into which the country has been of late unnecessarily thrown has brought forth from their hiding-places;-whose designs are big with destruction, whose language is treason, and whose conduct betrays the disposition, if not the purpose, rather than be defeated in their ruinous projects, to drag the monarch himself from his throne to the scaffold: men who for the most part profess no religion, and hold all religions in equal scorn; who have ignorance and effrontery enough to proclaim their impiety, and to glory in their shame. That this is a most unrighteous confederacy, both the character of the parties, and the ends they have in view, must sufficiently convince every sober-minded and reflecting Christian. And yet, perhaps, it ought not to be looked upon as an unnatural one. For it sometimes happens in religion, as in physics, that extremes produce like effects; and accordingly Superstition and Infidelity, remote as they may be thought from each other in their nature and essential properties, may direct their energies towards the same objects, and exhibit in that agreement a similarity, of which, when considered abstractedly and separately, they would be judged utterly incapable. It is perfectly natural that the Church of England, which is the strong-hold of revealed religion, and the great bulwark of Protestantism, should be cordially hated both by Papists and Radicals; and being the object of their mutual hatred, it was easy to foresee, that she would be of their mutual attack. Such is her position at this moment-a position sufficiently perilous, under any circumstances, to create alarm among all who are concerned for her safety; but which, in the present state of parties, fills them with the most gloomy forebodings. If there was reason indeed to hope that the number and resources of her adversaries were utterly unequal to the accomplishment of their mischievous projects, and it was plainly seen that their efforts were directed, as they have often been, by blind zeal and heedless rage merely, she might still, in conscious strength and fearless of danger, look with pity on these popish and infidel zealots, and laugh their ungodly attempts to scorn. it can no longer be concealed that, as enemies to the Church, they are But now exerting themselves with unceasing activity and energy, that they are displaying unwonted policy in their measures against her, that they are making rapid and fearful progress in their sacrilegious purposes, and that having already acquired greater political power, they begin to cherish that confident expectation of ultimate success, which renders them ten-fold more formidable. -Possunt, quia posse videntur. Unless, therefore, all true Protestants of every rank and denomination, who feel a due concern for the religious interests of the country, which are inseparably united with hers, strenuously and unitedly endeavour to withstand the assaults of her adversaries, it requires not a telescopic vision to discover that a darker and more horrible night of adversity will gather over her, than any through which she has yet passed. In this confederacy against truth and righteousness, Protestant Dissenters have shewn an unusual, if not an unaccountable readiness to join; nor can their disposition to unite with papists and infidels, though it be to effect the overthrow of our venerable establishment, be considered in any other light, than as one of the most remarkable and melancholy features of the times. The Dissenters of former days, much as they differed about matters of discipline from the Established Church, were the champions of revealed religion in opposition to infidelity, the sworn foes of Popery and all its superstitious abominations, and the staunch advocates of Protestant ascendency. We live to see large numbers of them forsaking the standard of their forefathers; and, by giving countenance in some instances, in others open and direct support, to the schemes which the enemies of religious truth have devised for the overthrow of religion, and of the reformed religion more particularly, joining hands with the common foe. If a selfish regard to the interests of their party be the cause of their desertion to the ranks of the enemy, it has already had the common effect of selfishness in blinding them to consequences, and hiding from their view the ruin in which they will themselves be involved, should the Church be overthrown by the zealots of Superstition and Atheism. For though it should be admitted, for the sake of argument, that the subversion of the Church by the hands of such enemies, would not in fact be the subversion of Protestantism; yet they practise on themselves the grossest delusion, if they imagine that, by her downfall and removal, room would be made for placing all religious denominations of the land on an equal footing, in respect of political power and privileges. If so disastrous an event ever befall this nation, and the venerable fabric be razed even to the ground, the principal agents employed in bringing it about will be papists and radicals, who will assuredly hold fast the power which enables them to effect her destruction, for further purposes of mischief and ruin. And if the supreme authority, in ecclesiastical matters, be held by either of these parties, how, in the name of the plain good sense of Englishmen, can the subversion of the Church advance the interests of Protestant Dissenters? There is surely nothing in the nature of Popery, nor in the character and designs of its emissaries, from which Protestants of any denomination can hope, by that sorcerer's regaining the ascendant over these realms, to obtain any advantage, civil or religious, which they do not already possess. For Popery, let them be assured, has not changed its ancient character, nor altered, or even modified its principles, nor lowered its haughty pretensions to universal supremacy, nor abated its love of spiritual tyranny, nor purged away any of its gross abominations, whatever inconsiderate and half-hearted Protestants may hope in its favour. Can the Ethiop change his skin, or the leopard his spots? As it was before the glorious era of the reformation, so it is still, wherever it prevails, the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Its designs are destructive of the rights of conscience, and opposed to the improvement of our nature in all that is holy, just, and good; and its effects are, where it rules supreme and no purer form of faith exists to counteract its baneful influence, brutal ignorance, gross superstition, and vice in its most disgusting manifestations; and where its pretensions are disputed, and its usurpation withstood,-in addition. to those evils, agitation, misrule, and rebellion. Have Dissenters forgotten that it is Popery which has converted the fair regions of Italy into an habitation of wickedness, and made that glorious temple a den of thieves? that it has fettered the noble spirit of Spain, and bowed it down to the earth? and that it has rendered Ireland one unvaried scene of wretchedness, as it is to this day? Above all, have they forgotten that Popery will admit of no rival, nor suffer for a moment the existence of an opponent, if by any means it can compass its destruction; that Aut Caesar aut nihil is still the motto of Papal Rome, and her unchangeable decree? What, then, can Protestants of any denomination hope from the hands of Papists, after that fatal blow to the reformed faith of these realms shall have been struck, which shall level the Established Church with the ground, and Antichrist finds the opportunity afforded it for recovering its ruthless domination? If the spirit of the age, which is now frolicking without restraint in its schemes of innovation, will, indeed, secure us from a return to the absurdities of the mass book, and from the fooleries of the popish faith and worship; will Popery have no means, should its emissaries fill the high places of the land, of repressing its energies and counteracting its efforts? When the day arrives, which shall witness a government consisting of Papists installed into office,-a day which the present generation may live to see,-should there be no longer a Protestant Church to oppose their designs, and a Protestant throne has grown powerless in consequence,—what shall save Protestantism itself, that it be not swept away as with the besom of destruction? When we know so well the genius of Antichrist, how fruitful it is in schemes for establishing its tyranny, and with what unceasing energy it pursues them; how shall it be restrained, in such circumstances, from pulling up, and destroying utterly, the goodly tree of religious toleration, under the shadow of whose branches Dissenters have so long dwelt in peace and safety? Will Popery, in possession of supreme political power, look with a more indulgent eye than it now looks, on those whom it has long denounced as heretics, whether Episcopalians or Dissenters; and whom it would, had it the prerogative, cut off from all hope and possibility of salvation? Can Dissenters more especially, remembering the opposition they once offered to papal ambition, and the hardihood with which they assailed the grim monster in their better days, cherish the hope, that when it has recovered its supremacy in England, it will admit them to its favour, and load them with its benefits? Sic notus Ulysses? Or are they encouraging themselves by the belief that Papists, in power, casting aside their ambitious projects and their love of spiritual domination, will bestow the revenues of our ruined Church, with her influence and commanding station, on Protestant Dissenters? O miseri, quæ tanta insania, cives! Their disappointment of deriving any advantage from the subversion of the Church will be equally great, if, in the event of so melancholy a catastrophe, liberals and radicals obtain supreme authority in ecclesiastical affairs. They must be aware that it is the spirit of Infidelity, assuming the garb and tone of Liberality, and seeking to appear as an angel of light, which is now so active and audacious in endeavouring to overthrow the religion of the state; or they ought to be. But Liberalism, so called, if the paradox may be allowed,—is of all things the most illiberal. In politics, its intolerance is such, that it pursues with ceaseless rancour all who oppose its mischievous schemes; and, whatever their wealth, rank, or station, or the services they have rendered to their king and country, pours on them the bitterest scorn. It is the same in regard to religion, exhibiting its hatred to revealed truth, by stigmatizing every man who firmly adheres to his religious faith, with the gentle and honourable epithets of bigot and hypocrite. It is not by indifference merely to all religion, and to the various forms in which it appears in a land where toleration prevails, that this modern scepticism is characterized; but by a virulent hatred of the Christian faith, a sovereign contempt for its essential doctrines, and a settled purpose, which it could not always conceal, and is now at little pains to hide, of banishing them from among men. With Liberalism, which looks upon the Gospel as a tissue of cunningly-devised fables,-piety is hypocrisy, devotion, superstition, and the acknowledgement of an over-ruling providence, absolute cant. And inust it not, to be consistent with itself, treat all who are guilty, in its estimation, of such hypocrisy and cant, in the manner these crimes deserve? And to prove itself consistent, is it likely it will fail to give them their just due, even to the uttermost farthing, should it at any time unhappily possess the power? But among whom does it believe that these evils chiefly prevail? If Liberalism scorns the doctrines of our Church, which, in its hatred of Christianity, it must do, it will yet sometimes deign to express its admiration of her liturgy, and to acknowledge that her public services are at least decent and rational. But its thoughts of Dissent and its followers are far other thoughts; its sentiments towards them, tinged with far deeper scorn. If hypocrisy and cant prevail among any body of Christians in this country, Liberalism is of opinion that it is among Dissenters. Their professions of stricter sanctity, it holds in utter derision; and their peculiarities in opinion and habits, which distinguish them from Episcopalians, provoke its |