As we said before, so do we now repeat, that we do not expect favour for the Church at the hands of the Whig party. Every day's experience would convince us of the folly of such an expectation: for no calm and dispassionate observer can contemplate the conduct adopted by this party towards this venerable institution, without perceiving a settled purpose to depress the Church, and-we hope the term is not too harsh, but truth compels us to use it to degrade the clergy. Those periodical publications which are supposed to represent the opinions of this section of the political world, teem with coarse abuse of the Church, and gross and vulgar attacks upon the conduct of her ministers; nor do they hesitate to utter the most unfounded statements and the most palpable misrepresentations respecting her rights, privileges, and possessions. The Church, then, cannot hope for favour from this party, however much, in the eyes of most persons, she might be entitled to obtain it, seeing that she is the National Church, the Church which has purchased for this country the most inestimable blessings which she enjoys, which was sanctified by the blood of countless martyrs and confessors, which was consecrated by the approving experience of the best and wisest in every age, and which is indissolubly interwoven with every institution of the land; the Church of which the sovereign of the country is the supreme head, and to preserve which from the inroads of popery the illustrious family of which our most gracious queen is the representative was most happily called to the throne of these realms; facts which people appear to have forgotten in that disregard for the past, and that restless appetite for change, which are among the most prominent moral evils under which our country labours. But we have surely a right to expect just and impartial treatment for the Church, not only in the mother country, but in all her dependencies. Now the question is, has the Church in Upper Canada, which is one of her branches, experienced such treatment? Was it just to withdraw that grant which had been made for many years to the Society for Propagating the Gospel, and by which the clergy of this Church were supported? Was it just to contemplate depriving the Bishop of Montreal, under whose superintendence this Church was placed, of his income, and to leave him dependent on the mercy of turbulent and factious men, who were either inimical to episcopacy altogether, or to that form of it connected with the Church of England? Was it just to refuse to appoint a bishop, with a moderate income attached to his see, for the province of Upper Canada, with a population comprising upwards of two hundred thousand churchmen? Was it impartial at the same time to give a salary of 1,000l. per annum to a Romish bishop in Lower Canada, together with 1,000 per annum in the form of rent for a public building, reputed to be worth at the utmost but 2007. currency a year? Was it impartial at the

same time to give a bishop of the Romish Church in Upper Canada 500l. per annum of the public money, and to give to the Romish priests in the same province a sum treble in amount? Was it just or impartial to term the Church of Upper Canada the sect of a minority? But setting aside for the moment the questions of justice and impartiality, was it politic or wise, we ask, to withhold encouragement and favour from the Church of that portion of the inhabitants of the province who were most loyal to the crown and most attached to the mother country, and at the same time to concede income and allowance to the ecclesiastics of that faith whose members have proved in so many instances traitorous to the throne, and rebellious in their endeavours to shake off all connexion with and dependence upon England? These are very plain questions, which we leave to the reader to answer. We will now revert to a less painful subject.

We would entreat our readers, and we do so most earnestly, to consider with attention the facts which have been stated respecting the wants and necessities of the Church in Upper Canada. We tell them also, that it is not sufficient only to read these statements, but to show by their actions that they are convinced of their truth. Whatever they may be inclined to think, this may be done at a very trifling pecuniary loss. The sacrifice of a single amusement, of one object of idle or frivolous pursuit on the part of the individual members of a family, would furnish-we think we are not saying too much, when we consider the expensive nature of many of the amusements and pursuits in which people engage-the twentieth part of the sum which, according to Mr. Bettridge, is required for the building of a church in Upper Canada. The cost of such a church is estimated at 2007.; but it is stated, that if half of this sum should be contributed in England, the inhabitants of the province would furnish the remainder. And is it not a praiseworthy and a glorious object to take part in building a house for the Lord, and thus to be an humble instrument under Divine Providence in furnishing the human means for the salvation of immortal souls? The triumphs of the warrior contending for his country, of the statesman in the senate, and the writer in the closet, who labours to improve the age in which he lives, are all reputed glorious amongst men, and we deny them not their fame; but, like the earth to which they belong, so is their glory perishable—it passeth away, and the place thereof knoweth it no more. But there is a fame, and one of a peculiar character, which attaches itself. to the sincere and unostentatious Christian, who devotes his means, humble although they may be, and earned by self-denial, temperance, and moderation, to spreading the knowledge of the glad tidings of the gospel of peace, and increasing the numbers of the visible Church of Christ. Unlike those glories of which we have spoken, such fame as this never faileth, but endureth both

in time and in eternity. Such godly service loses not its reward among men, and we humbly trust is acceptable in the eye of Him who knoweth the secrets of all hearts. May we go and do likewise.*

ART. X.-The Life of William Wilberforce. By HIS SONS. 5 vols. Murray. 1838.

PALEY, in his Moral Philosophy, numbers among the principal sources of human happiness the exercise of our faculties, either of body or mind, in the pursuit of some engaging endeven the raising of a flower, he thinks, ought not to be despised. Wilberforce, who entertained no reverence for the Archdeacon of Carlisle, in this respect at least, coincided in his opinions. No man ever possessed a more catholic taste for the beautiful in nature, in literature, or in art. In every spot of ground he opened some new spring of innocent enjoyment. In turning over the pages of his Diary, we find him blending religion, philosophy, and poetry in the daily course of study; passing from a sermon of Scott to a poem of Southey; or exchanging a Treatise upon the Poor Law, for the Heart of Mid Lothian. Hence his piety never darkened into fanaticism. He was always cheerful, peaceful, and contented. His religion christianized his learning. We dwell upon this feature in the character of Mr. Wilberforce with peculiar gratification. It has been urged against the Church of England Quarterly Review that, in digressing into the fields of literature and politics, it departs from the path of duty and of principle. In the conduct of Mr. Wilberforce we see the most decisive vindication of our conduct. A periodical is a machine of instruction; whatever branches of science, or Belles Lettres, be included in the education of a christian gentleman, fall also within the scope of a christian review. That position which is occupied by the Committee of General Literature, in relation to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, is held by our Review, in relation to the Church of England. It is not enough to stand by the fountains of literature, and protect them from defilement; the popular appetite must be awakened; its curiosity stimulated; its thirst after healthful knowledge diligently cherished and gratified. No moral fruit of the mind will be altogether unprofitable under this system. It has been said that

* We think it right to state, for the information of those of our readers who may feel disposed to lend their aid to the Church in Upper Canada, that donations and annual subscriptions are received at the banking houses of Herries, Farquhar and Co., St. James's-street; Barnet, Hoare and Co., Lombard-street; Hammersley and Co., Pall-mall; and at the office of the Upper Canada Clergy Society, 13, Exeter Hall.

half the world must be blind, because they can see nothing unless it glitters; a just and christian criticism will divest every object of this meretricious lustre; it will strip deformity of its costly raiment, while it endeavours to repair the beauty of injured or neglected excellence; nor will the lips of the moralist be less persuasive because he decorates his advice with the ornaments. of poetry, the researches of scholarship, or the discoveries of science.

William Wilberforce, of an ancient and opulent family, was born at Hull on the 24th of August, 1759. Of his early years very little is remembered; but it formed, we are told, one amongst the many expressions of his gratitude in after life, that he had not fallen upon a barbarous age, when it would have been thought impossible to rear so sickly and delicate a child. Even in his childhood that tender considerateness for others, which marked his maturer years, was clearly developed. "I shall never forget," says a frequent guest at his mother's, "how he would steal into my sick room, taking off his shoes lest he should disturb me, and with an anxious face looking through my curtains, learn if I was better." In his seventh year he was sent to the grammar school of his native town; and his elocution, as we learn from Isaac Milner, the brother of the master, was already so remarkable, that he was often placed upon the table to read aloud, as an example to the other boys. After remaining at this school for two years, he was removed, upon the death of his father in 1768, to the residence of his uncle at Wimbledon and St. James's-place. His next school was of a very inferior description, and the diet upon a par with the instruction. His return to Hull transferred his education to better management. Here he gave the first indication of devotion to that lofty enterprise which has immortalized his name. "His abomination of the slave-trade," writes a surviving school-fellow, "he evinced when he was not more than fourteen years of age. He boarded in the master's house, where the boys were kept within bounds. I lived in the village: one day he gave me a letter to put into the post office, addressed to the editor of the York paper, which he told me was in condemnation of the odious traffic in human flesh." His literary talents were also beginning to unfold themselves. His compositions were of a superior order, and he was fond of committing English poetry to memory. The favourite companion of his morning walks was Beattie, of whom Southey remarks, in the Life of Cowper, that "no poem has ever given more delight to minds of a certain class, and in a certain stage of their progress;" that class a high one, and that stage perhaps the most delightful in their pilgrimage. Wilberforce loved to muse over the history of the "Minstrel" during his morning walks.

In the October of 1776 he became a member of St. John's

College, Cambridge; but he has not drawn a very flattering picture of academic society in those days. "I was introduced," he says, "on the very first night of my arrival to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They drank hard, and their conversation was even worse than their lives. I lived amongst them for some time, though I never relished their society—often, indeed, I was horror-struck at their conduct and after the first year I shook off in great measure my connexion with them." The fellows of the college were not much better. “Their object,” says Wilberforce, "seemed to be, to make and keep me idle. If ever I appeared studious, they would say to me, 'Why in the world should a man of your fortune trouble himself with fagging? Cambridge now wears a very different aspect; and a spirit of emulative industry pervades the university. The Society to which Wilberforce belonged occupies a prominent place in this general reformation of scholarship and manners. Much, however, yet remains to be accomplished; and the subject may admit of serious reflection upon another occasion. In one respect the college life of Wilberforce deserves especial imitation; for we know nothing more likely to foster a good reputation, or increase the number of companions. "There was always," we are informed, "a great Yorkshire pie in his room, and all were welcome to partake of it." This with a few dozens of " Audit," if such a luxury be known to Johnian palates, ought to satisfy the most fastidious student.

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His political life commenced with the termination of his academical career; he stepped out of the university into the House of Commons, being returned for his native town, at an expense of nearly nine thousand pounds. He had previously, while frequenting the gallery of the House, cultivated his acquaintance with Mr. Pitt. The youthful member was received with open arms in the metropolis, and was at once, as he afterwards expressed it, immersed in politics and fashion. All the principal clubs elected him: here he was thrown into the society of Fox, Sheridan, and the most distinguished men of the age. But his favourite resort was a club, consisting of twenty-five, holding its meetings at Goosetree's in Pall Mall. Pitt supped there every night in the winter of 1780-1, and appears to have been attracted by the engaging manners of Wilberforce, who entertained the highest opinion of his festive and conversational powers. "He was the wittiest man I ever knew, and what was quite peculiar to himself had at all times his wits under entire control. Others appeared struck by the unwonted association of brilliant images; but every possible combination of ideas seemed always present to his mind, and he could at once produce whatever he desired. I was one of those who met to spend an evening in memory of Shakspeare, at the Boar's Head, Eastcheap. Many professed wits were present; but Pitt was the most amusing of the party, and