Watchman, go bid thy brethren to hold fast
In one true band;

The glorious banner of the cross unfurled;
So shall they stand;

So shall they conquer in his name at last,
Whose mighty hand

Can move the old foundations of the world,

And bow the heavens, and shake the sea and solid land.

THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

"We will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil."

THE people have brought forth an image vain
From the old pagan shrine of Liberty,
With stormy acclamations raised it high,
And throned it in a new and gorgeous fane,
And bid us fall and worship at the strain
Of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery;
Priests of the true church, pass that idol by,
Nor let the popular mark your foreheads stain,
Signed with the Holy Cross, that ye might own
Christ and Him crucified; and though the crowd
Sport with deceivings of their weak self-will,
Stand all undaunted, though ye stand alone;
No thought be wavering, and no knee be bowed;
'Mid thousands faithless, be ye faithful still.

The Editor begs to remind his readers that he is not responsible for the opinions
of his Correspondents.

CLERICAL ATTENDANCE AT BALLS.

SIR,-Although your correspondent, "Clericus Felix," in his letter which appeared in your 79th number, has been betrayed into a levity of manner somewhat inconsistent with his opinions, yet I feel myself bound to thank him and others for the temperate and courteous manner in which they have hitherto carried on the discussion. And I cannot but hope that, in the progress of this controversy, we may none of us forget our adherence to that national church whose peculiar boast it is, that she considers all her ministers as gentlemen.

I confess, when I wrote the sentence which your correspondent has

quoted with ridicule, I felt a strong foreboding that, among many of your readers, it would call up feelings of indignation. But I remembered how frequently the conversation of a ball-room has included arguments upon politics or modern science. I considered that the geologist, or literary man, or scientific amateur, in almost any branch of knowledge, can either give or gain information upon the object of his pursuit, without feeling the atmosphere of the assembly-room by any means prejudicial to it. I am certain that the new poor law, for instance (to mention only one political theme), has been ably discussed among county magistrates on such occasions, even while dancing was going on in the same room; and weak indeed must his powers of abstraction be who could feel his thoughts or words upon any well-known topic impeded by the music of a quadrille band.

None, I feel assured, will disagree with these remarks, but those who, in practical ignorance of the subject, have drawn upon their fancy for their picture of the ball-room.

As the rest of my arguments remain unanswered, I need not repeat them now, further than to notice the situation of that large class, who, being in orders, are nevertheless, in point of emolument, performing their duties gratis, and deriving from their lay-properties the means of their clerical efficiency. Now I cannot agree with "Clericus Felix" that they should be more in the world than other men, although not of it; on the contrary, from them the world will not require so much as from the laity. They are excluded from the House of Commons; and, in short, the duties of their situation are by no means obvious. On the other hand, if those to whom the church is an elevation, and her endowments their chief subsistence, if they regard themselves only, their own position, habits, and feelings, while they condemn as unclerical or unprofessional those of others, I foresee a calamitous result.

Your correspondent has charged me with using an ungenerous mode of attacking Bishop Jebb and Alexander Knox. Be it far from me to deal unfairly with any man; but in the case of those men, at the very time of my objecting to their opinions on one subject, I employed language respecting them which is much more likely to extend their influence than anything which "Clericus Felix" may have said in their favour. In Bishop Jebb's letters (which I cannot refer to at present) there is an elaborate account of the process by which he arrived at his opinions on this point. He was individually right; others may be right also, on the same grounds; the general question

remains undecided as before.

At present, I imagine, among those who reason at all upon the subject, the decrees of councils will appear to form a stronghold for those who condemn the ball-room. To such decrees I profess various degrees of obedience, according to their date, their character, and the matter in hand.

"I have known arguments upon the weightiest matters both of science and morals carried on in the midst of a ball-room," &c. &c. See No. 78 of British Magazine. The above words are the beginning of the sentence alluded to.

In the decrees of a general council, I recognise a quasi infallibility. Such an assembly as would answer to that glorious name, The true Church of England by Representation, has a power over my conduct and my conscience that is hardly surpassed by scripture itself.

Now, therefore, having given to that kind of authority so much weight,-more weight, I imagine, than most of my brethren would allow to it, let me go on to shew that, in the present question, it cannot be employed successfully.

Councils of later date, and local origin, will not, of course, be cited as good authority. But it will be said, "that objection does not apply to the earlier ones." I answer, on this question more strongly than to the others. For then they seem to speak of the still pagan dances; of tragedies performed by heathen actors for the support of heathenism; and of the dithyrambic ode, for staying to hear which, the talented but eccentric Apollinaris fell into disgrace. If the mere sound of a name is to mislead us, and if we build our opinions upon such a quicksand, there will be found, alas! in the present age quite enough erudition to sneer at our mistake, and to involve in that sneer the soundness of our theology.

In conclusion; let me observe that these pleadings for clerical separation from the meetings of general society lead us, or appear to lead us, in a direction which their advocates have neither expected nor intended. I know of no arguments against the modern ball-room which would not be of equal or greater force against the marriage of a clergyman. I remain, Sir, yours truly, ANGLO-CAMbrensis.

CLERICAL ATTENDANCE AT BALLS.

SIR, AS "Clericus Juvenis" (No. lxxiv. p. 165,) has requested the opinion of any of your general readers on the subject of clergymen attending at balls, permit one of the humblest of that class to express an opinion, that it is one of those points on which the abuse alone deserves the censure it has so unsparingly met with from some quarters.

In many parts of the country, the local charitable institutions depend in no small degree upon the support they receive from the profits of their annual ball. Nor would it be of equal benefit to such institutions were the clergy on these occasions to remit a donation to the charity amounting to the profit that arises from their personal For it must be recollected that if the neighbouring appearance. clergy were excluded, (and around country towns they often form a considerable portion of those who would be likely to attend on such occasions,) this would in many instances exclude also their families, and perhaps many others who they now persuade to join them, and thus it might happen that these meetings would gradually dwindle away, to the great loss of the charities dependent on them.

It may be said that the attendance on charity balls forms a peculiar case. But if the verdict be given on the attendance of clergy

men at balls as an abstract question, it will be difficult to make an exception in their favour, unless it be on the principle of doing evil that good may come.

Of the attendance of clergy, as stated by " C. J.," in fancy dresses, but one opinion can, I should think, be entertained; nor can I look upon it complimentary to a clergyman that on such occasions he is admitted in a dress wholly unsuited to the scene around him, because that dress is the badge of his sacred profession.

It is, of course, to a moderate-a very moderate-attendance at balls that this defence is intended to apply. If, from their frequency, they take up too much time, or occupy too much thought, or, by the lateness of the hour to which they are continued, they destroy the morning hours and unfit the mind for the more important duties proper to such time, it is not, I imagine, the clergy alone who thus abuse their time, but every soul of man may be included in a like censure, who professes to think that the days of our present life are given us for a higher object.

Under one other restriction are the observations just made intended to be understood. I mean, that a clergyman does not by so doing suffer in the estimation of his flock. A practice innocent in itself cannot be innocently indulged in at such a cost. If the utility of a clergyman in his parish be in the smallest degree impaired; if he knows or imagines that by this or any other practice he is alienating the hearts of any of his flock either from himself personally or from that church of which he is the minister, he is surely solemnly bound to abandon it, upon the double apostolic precept of having a regard for the conscientious scruples of his brethren, and of giving no offence that the ministry be not blamed.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, W. N.

INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE EASTERN CHURCH AND THE ROMAN CATHOLICS OF ENGLAND.

MY DEAR SIR,-Though Euthymius Zigabenus is a writer well known to scholars, his "Panoplia Dogmatica," in many respects the most valuable of his works, is, I believe, an exceedingly rare book. The only printed edition of the original text appeared at Tergovist, in Wallachia, in the year 1710, (ἐν τῇ ̔Αγιωτάτῇ Μητροπόλει τῇ ἐν τῷ τῆς Ουγγροβλαχίας Τεργοβύστῳ, Εν ἔτει ἀπὸ Θεογονίας χιλιοστῷ Επτακο σιοστῷ Δεκάτῳ, Κατα Μῆνα Μάϊον,) and very few copies seem to have

It was printed for gratuitous distribution at the expense of Athanasius, Metropolitan of Drystra; who says in a dedicatory epistle-"Av0'v oic weр plàs εἰρήκειν κινούμενος, τὴν δυνατὴν τέως κατεθέμην σπουδὴν ὅπως τύποις ἐκδοθὲν τουτὶ τὸ πολυωφελέστατον πόνημα, προικα τοῖς ὀρθοδοξίας τροφίμοις διαδοθῇ εἰς ἀσφάλειαν μὲν καὶ αποτροπὴν τῆς τῶν αἱρέσεων λύμης, εἰς μνημόσυ. νον δὲ τῆς ἐμῆς ταπεινότητος, καὶ τῷ κοινῷ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πληρώματι ἡ Παντευχία τῆς τῶν εὐαγῶν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς Ἐκκλησίας Πατέρων διδασκαλίας χορηγηθῇ.”

found their way to the west of Europe. The copy which was used by Fabricius (Bibl. Græc. vol. vii. p. 461,) had been given to his friend Mich. Eneman, in the East, by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. It is not in the Bodleian, nor in the British Museum; and the only copy I ever saw was in the king's library at Paris, till a few months ago I purchased one from a bookseller in London. My good fortune in meeting with so rare a work would be more interesting to the members of certain clubs, which have now passed their heyday, than to the readers of the British Magazine. And I am not quite sure that a Greek ecclesiastical book, of no great age, would be recognised by the initiated as a legitimate object of bibliomania. I do not, however, write to you to boast of my success, but to communicate what I am disposed to think a curious and important fact.

The fly-leaf of the book in question exhibits the following inscription, written by the same hand in Greek and Latin :

“Τοῦτο το βιβλίον, ὡς καὶ ἕτερα ἔτι τεσσαρα, τοῖς τῆς Βριταννικῆς ἐκκλησίας καθολικοῖς λείψασι, εἰς τὴν κοινὴν ὠφέλειαν καὶ χρῆσιν, εὐνοϊκῶς διαπέμψαντες ἐδωρήσαντο παναγιώτατοι οἱ κύριοι, ὁ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως πατριάρχης κυρ Ἱερεμίας, ὁ ̓Αλεξανδρείας πατριάρχης κυρ Σαμουήλ, ὁ Αντιοχείας πατριάρχης κυρ ̓Αθανάσιος, ὁ τῆς ̔Ιεροσαλὴμ πατριάρχης κυρ Χρύσανθος. ἐν ἔτει αψκβ'.”

"Librum hunc una cum aliis quatuor, ut Catholicis Britannicarum Ecclesiarum reliquiis communiter inservirent, ex summa benevolentia dono miserunt Reverendissimi Domini, D. Jeremias Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus, D. Samuel Patriarcha Alexandrinus, D. Athanasius Patriarcha Antiochenus, D. Chrysanthus Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus. Ao. Salutis MDCCXXII."

A present of books from the patriarchs of the East to the "Catholics" of Britain, indicates the existence of a kind of intercourse with which I was not at all acquainted. It is the Roman catholics who are plainly intended; and it appears from Le Quien (Oriens Christ.) that the donors were the Greek, not the titular, patriarchs. After all, however, it was most probably nothing more than an occasional act of civility. The influence which the French exercised in the Levant at the beginning of the last century is well known. It is not unlikely that they were concerned in procuring this mark of oriental sympathy for the British Romanists. If any of your readers are in possession of any further information upon the subject, I hope they will communicate it. At all events, the fact I have noticed will not be unacceptable to such as feel interested about the history of the Roman catholics of England. The foreign relations of that body, and the support and countenance which it has received from abroad, are subjects of no small importance in our modern ecclesiastical history.

I am, my dear Sir, yours very truly,

D.

ON CHURCH RATES.-MR. PERCEVAL IN REPLY TO MR. GOODE.

SIR,-As I had not contemplated that any one would maintain that a court can have power to compel a tax to be made, the payment of