birds, with thofe alfo that love the twilight, flutter about amazed at what the means, and in their envious gabble, prognofticate nothing but fects and fchifms."

The pleafing account of the happy effects produced by this liberal and enlarged fyftem of toleration, must be perufed with fatisfaction and joy by every one who values the name and privilege of a Proteftant:

The first privilege which the diffenters from the established church have been eager to embrace is, The public profeffion of their religion. In the growing neglect of public worship in this country, proceeding from a variety of unhappy caufes, this privilege may, by many, be lightly esteemed. Those alfo, who attend divine fervice principally from education or custom, cannot form any proper eflimation of what affords them fo little pleafure. But thofe happy few, who find in the fervice of their God, duty and privilege equally united, need not to be told how great the bleffing is of religious affemblies. To fuch perfons I fhall make no apology for giving rather a minute account of the opening of one or two places of worship in a country, which, previous to the revelation, fuffered no religion but what was established.

The first church which I fhall notice, is that which was opened at Dunkirk, an account of which, although it has already appeared in one of our public prints, is too valuable, not to be ftill more extenfively circulated. The writer thus expreffes himself: "We now begin to enjoy the best benefits of the new conflitution, in the exercise of our own worship. On Sunday laft an English Proteftant church was opened here, an object that has been long in contemplation, but never before accomplished. The number of Proteftants in this place is very great; the church was fo full, that many ftood in the paffage throughout the fervice, while others returned for want of room. We have every appearance of forming a large and refpectable fociety, for the plan that is adopted has in view the union of all Proteftants; Epifcopalian, Prefbyterians, or other diffenters. The church of England fervice is made ufe of, reformed upon the plan of the late Dr. Clarke, Rector of St. James's, in which the exceptionable paffages of the common-prayer are omitted. It is a plan that gives general fatisfaction, and many of all parties intereft themselves greatly in the caufe. The National Affembly has provided very generously for those who diffent from the cftablished church. All fects have the liberty of conducting baptifms, marriages, and burials, according to their own forms, and a regifter of them is kept in the chamber of the tribunal *."

In the fame town another church has been opened by a clergyman of the church of England, in which the common fervice is ufed. A mistake was, however, made, which, as it was the first of the kind in France, I wish it may be the laft. The minifter, unluckily, brought over fome of his high church prejudices with him, and attempted to fow his tares amongst the wheat, by urging fome

* Extract of a Letter from Dunkirk, dated Auguft 10, 1791.

of

of the congregation not to be married by their own minifter, because he was not ordained by a bishop. This wife admonition was treated as it deserved, and ferved only to create a fmile. I have thought it right to mention this circumftance, as I am a meft fincere friend to the fpread of Christianity, under any of its forms. Any thing of religion is better than indolence, vice, and that ftupideft of all ftupid ignorance, attachment to prejudices because they are prejudices. With my beft wifhes, therefore, of fuccefs to any of the clergy of the church of England, who may endeavour to spread the reformed religion in France, I have only to express my hope, that they will carefully avoid the blunder of their Dunkirk brother.

In the fame town there are a number of Quakers, who have lately opened a place for religious worship, which I am informed is refpectably attended.

At Bologne fur la mer, an English church has lately been opened: the minister preached his firit fermon from those appofite words in Revelations, chapter iii. verfe 8. "Behold I have fet before

thee an open dcor, and no man can shut it."

To the foregoing fpecimen of the indulgence granted to English proteftants in the provinces, we fhall add Mr. Flower's account of the opening of one of the French proteftant churches in the capital, of which he himself was a witness:

Amongst the various reforms which have been made in the religious establishment, is that of reducing the number of parishes, confequently of churches. Every body knows that in the Catholic countries, there are numbers of churches more than are neceflary. At Paris, there are eighteen which have been fhut up, and adververtised either for fale, or hire, to any religious community. The Proteftants at Paris, as foon as toleration was granted them, loft no time in affembling themselves together; their firft meetings were held in a fpacious room in one of the hotels; this was found too fmall; as foon therefore as the churches were to be difpofed of, they hired one for their greater convenience, and for conducting their worship in a more public manner. The church fixed upon, was that of St. Louis de Louvre, a handfome oval building, formerly ufed by Louis the Fourteenth, and fituated clofe to the palace of the Thuilleries, as well as to that of which it bears the name. A few days previous to its being opened, notice was given to the department, who iffued proclamations to the people, exhorting them to conduct themselves like citizens of a free and enlightened nation. In this proclamation it was afferted, that the liberty now granted to the Proteftants was not a matter of favour, it was only the re. floration of a right of which they had been long deprived. As this, however, was the first time of an affembly of Proteftants meeting for public worship, for this century pall, and as their place of meeting was a church which had been uniformly devoted to the eftablished fervice, it was thought proper to order a detachment of the national guards to prevent any disturbance; a precaution,

It

which though prudent, was afterwards found unneceffary. was Sunday the twenty-second of May, which was devoted to this triumph of reafon, philofophy, liberty, and religion.

Previous to my entering the church, I obferved the following infcriptions on the front of it:

L'an de Jefus Chrift 1791. Le fecond de la liberté. Edifice confacré à un culte religieux, par une focieté particuliere.

PAIX ET LIBERTE†,

On entering the church, I perceived that piety and prudence had united to prepare the place fuitable for the audience. The pictures, with other inftruments of idolatry, had been removed, but their vacancies were all filled with fomething ufeful and edifying. Over the main altar were placed The ten commandments of God; and in different parts the Lord's prayer, the Apostle's creed, the Declaration of the rights of man, and the Duties of the citizen. I had taken my ftation only a few minutes, before the church (which conveniently holds about feven hundred people) was completely crouded. I was afterwards informed, many hundreds went away, who were not able to gain admittance.

It may not, perhaps, be ufelefs to inform fome of my readers, that the manner in which the French Proteftants conduct their worhip, is fomething between that of the members of the establishment, and the diffenters in this country, and what fome may think an improvement on both. They have their liturgy, containing fervices for the offices of baptifm, marriage, &c. and various forms of prayer, but they are by no means confined to them. Their confeffion of faith and catechifm are calviniftical, and the French Protestants have in general been, what are called moderate Calvinifis. The first part of the fervice (performed by the clerk) confifted in reading the Scriptures, and in finging, the latter accompanied by the organ. The eighth chapter of the first book of Kings, and the fecond chapter of St. Luke, were among other portions of Scripture read; and the eighty-fourth and the hundred and twentyfecond pfalms were fung on the occafion. A circumftance, which though many may think trifling, gave me fo much pleasure that I cannot help mentioning it. It being the first time of assembling in this public manner, there was a fcarcity of pfalm books. I perceived many lending their books to others, at the fame time withOut inconvenience to themfelves. They had the pfalms perfect in their hearts, and fang them with their lips, without difficulty. Many, I doubt not, then prefent, had made the Pfalms of David their fongs in the houfe of their pilgrimage.

The ten command

ments were read, during which the minifter (Monf. Marron) afcenced the pulpit. After finging another pfalm, he offered up a prayer expreffive of gratitude to the Deity for the mercies then vouchfafed, and entreating his prefence and bleffing. The fermon

How would our populace in many parts of the kingdom behave,

were the churches to be let to the Prefbyterians?'

The two latter fentences are ordered to be placed on the front

of every church which is not of the establishment.'

was

was then preached from Romans, chapter xiii. verse 12. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, caft off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Instead of entering into the particulars of the difcourfe, I fhall only observe that the occafion was great, and the preacher well qualified to improve it. He fhewed himself the philofopher, the patriot, the orator, and the Chriftian. After the fermon, which lafted upwards of an hour, (I believe every hearer thought it a fhort one,) followed what is called the long prayer, in which the minister, after again expreffing the most grateful praifes and thanksgivings to God for the peculiar favours of the day, poured forth the most earnest petitions for the welfare and profperity of the French empire; for the National Affembly; for the King, the Queen; the Departments; the municipalities; the citizens; for the completion, and the ftability of the conftitution. During the fermon, I could not but admire the peculiar animation of the preacher, and the fixed attention of the audience. But during the prayer, both preacher and hearers were fo uncommonly affected, that I believe there were few perfons, Proteftants or Catholics, but were in tears. When the prayer was concluded, the belief was read, and two children were baptifed. The whole fervice concluded by finging a paraphrafe on the prayer of Simeon; "Lord, now letteft thou thy fervant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have feen thy falvation;" and furely never were words more applicable, from the time they were first uttered by the aged faint in the temple, when he embraced the infant Saviour in his arms, than on the prefent occafion. If corrupt ftatesmen fmile at this relation, and attempt to turn it into ridicule-Avaunt, ye enemies of mankind, you cannot enter into our feelings! an attempt to convey them to you, would be equally vain, as an attempt to convey the harmony of founds to the deaf, or the beauty of colours to the blind. But I make no doubt that fome perfons, from perusing this account, faint and imperfect as it is, will feel a flame glowing in their hearts fimilar to that which filled the fouls of the Paris audience, and which will conftrain them to break forth in the language of gratitude; Bleed be God for the French Revolution.

The collection at the doors for the poor (which always concludes the fervice of the foreign proteftant churches) amounted to upwards of fixty pounds fterling. I had on my return the pleasure of converfing with feveral perfons Catholics as well as Proteftants, and the fatisfaction of the former feemed as complete as that of the Jatter. I fhall only add that the devotion of the day was not a fudden blaze, extinguished almoft as foon as it was kindled. The church continued in the moft flourishing state, and when the facrament was adminiftered, the number of communicants was upwards of one hundred and fifty.'

From neceffity, we here close our account of this publication; and we close it with regret, when we reflect how small a proportion the extracts which we have produced, copious as they are, bear to the many excellent remarks that we have been

obliged

obliged to fupprefs. Our regret, however, is greatly diminished by our confidence that, of those who are at all interelled in inquiries of this nature, there will be very few who will not read the whole of a work, which we do not hesitate to rank with the best productions that have appeared in this country, on the fubject of the French Revolution.

Pear-e.

ART. X. Statistical Account of Scotland. Drawn up from the Communications of the Minifters of the different Parishes. By Sir John Sinclair, Bart. 8vo. 2 Vols. pp. 518, and 583. 12s. Boards. Cadell. 1792.

THE

HE public fpirit, the activity, and the perfeverance, with which Sir John Sinclair has profecuted the important fubject of the prefent work, cannot be too highly commended. About two years ago, he firft circulated, among the clergy of Scotland, a variety of queries for the purpofe of elucidating the natural history and political ftate of that country. His original defign was to have extracted, from their returns, a general statistical view of North Britain:-but he found fo many useful facts and important obfervations in the answers fent to him by the feveral minifters, refpecting their particular parishes, that he refolved to publifh each report separately, with the name of its author. The first volume contains an account of fifty-three, and the fecond of fifty, parishes. Eight more volumes will finifh the political furvey of Scotland; and, the whole work will not, in price and bulk, exceed the topographical accounts of many individual counties of England.

The analyfis of the ftatistical account of a parochial district, tranfmitted by this refpectable author to the clergy of Scotland, was admirably well calculated to ferve as a key to inquiry; containing, under nearly one hundred different heads, every queftion of importance, refpecting the actual state of the parish, whether phyfical or moral; and likewife every question refpecting the proper means of improving both to the beft advantage. As a fpecimen of the work, we fhall infert part of the account of the parish of Port Patrick, drawn up by the Rev. Mr. John McKenzie, minifter of that parish.

Portpatrick is called in the old charters Port Montgomery, from a noble family of that name, who at one time poffeffed large tracts of land on both fides of the Irish Channel. They were ennobled by the title of Earl Mount-Alexander, which became extin&t in 1758. They have now none of their Scots poffeffions remaining, but their reprefentatives ftill inherit a confiderable eftate in Ireland.

It is probable that Portpatrick was the antient popular name of this place, and that the above family, when they became the proprietors,