once given, the State exercises an ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and so combines the civil and ecclesiastical provinces, that every subsequent act of the Church may be strictly said to be the act of the State. Whatever may be the modifications which such a combination of power undergoes, the nature and consequences of the power itself must remain the same, and be objectionable in principle and practice. It matters not, therefore, whether an ecclesiastical body directly wields civil authority, and makes it subservient to ecclesiastical purposes, as was the case with the Romish church in the days of its greatest usurpations; or whether the civil power exercises an ecclesiastical jurisdiction by establishing a particular religious creed or sect, and compelling all the subjects of a state to contribute to its support and extension: in principle, the combination of the two kinds of power is the same. The most monstrous usages, and the most tyrannical claims of the Papacy, in the most ambitious ages of its existence, do not consequently differ in kind, but only in degree, from the powers and claims which are put forth by every Christian sect which demands and secures its own exclusive establishment as a national religion. The same line of argument which is adopted to defend the latter, involves principles and assumptions which may be equally used to uphold the former: so that nothing less than the unlimited right of private judgment, and the right of every man to perfect liberty of conscience in all matters relating to the nature, support, and extension of religion, will be found to avail for the defence of Protestantism, for the overthrow of all pretensions to infallibility, for the refutation of ecclesiastical claims to civil jurisdiction, or for the exposure of civil interference in all matters of religion.

"Hence it is clear that the necessary idea of an Established Church, apart from all the abuses to which the institution may give rise in practice, is inconsistent with the religious equality of Protestant sects, and with the rights of conscience and of property. An Establishment, in the mildest form under which it can exist, must therefore excite the disapprobation of the most upright minds, and become increasingly offensive as men act upon Protestant principles-as they respect the right and exercise

of private judgment, too much to cast, even by implication, any reproach or discredit upon it, and as they apply the law of equal justice to all acts of civil legislation. The sooner, therefore, that men and governments cease their efforts to diffuse religion by perpetrating injustice, the better will it be for the happiness of man and the honour of Christianity."

"The tendency of Ecclesiastical Establishments" to make their clergy the fawning sycophants of the Civil Power, the active agents of faction, the haughty, intolerant possessors of "the pride, pomp, and circumstance," belonging to sacerdotal sway, with many other evils, are clearly pointed out; whilst "the actual operation of Religious Establishments," in promoting tyranny, bloodshed, and every work of darkness, is illustrated by a great variety of historical facts, drawn from various ages of the Church, as well as from different countries. From this very interesting chapter, we cannot, in our present Number, make any extracts; but we shall recur to it hereafter. The remaining portions of the work are full of important thoughts and statements, well deserving a much longer notice than our limited space allows us now to give. The whole work we cordially commend to our readers; expressing our thanks to the author for his able efforts in behalf of "the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," and congratulating the Unitarian denomination, and more especially our friends at Kidderminster, where Mr. Taylor statedly ministers, on this valuable accession to "the sect everywhere spoken against."

MONTHLY RECORD.
FEBRUARY 1, 1840.

We have been much pleased with the following sonnet, in reference to the preposterous customs by which it has so long been common for the people of Scotland to desecrate the opening of the year. It may be thought to be somewhat out of place under "Monthly Record," but its sentiment and spirit can never be unseasonable.

SONNET.

WHEREFORE the wassail-bowl and wine-cup reeking?
Wherefore the drunken shout and festal glee,
Filling night's ear with wildest revelry?
Is this an hour for mirth's delirious seeking,
When Time, man's gravest monitor, is speaking,
With iron tongue, in deep funereal tone,
And the old year, on its closed hinges creaking,
Shutting out friends, and joys, and hopes bygone,
Life's cherish'd dreams, fast fading one by one?
Ah, well-a-day! our spirits are low sunk,
And all this joyous livery is put on,—

Like spring-leaves sprouting from the wither'd trunk
Of some old tree-joys nourish'd by our tears,
Put forth to hide the grief that mourns the lapse of years!

Jan. 1. 1840.

J. H. JUN.

DEATH OF MR. EBENEZER RHODES OF Sheffield. It is our melancholy duty to announce the demise of this aged and highly gifted man. He died at his residence, in Victoria-street, on Monday morning, the 16th December, in his 77th year. As a public and private character, few have been more generally beloved. Living in the midst of a manufacturing population, and at one time intimately connected with an important branch of our trade, Mr. Rhodes heartily identified himself with every plan which he considered would tend to its protection and stability. His exertions, when the "Orders in Council" were brought before the public, were conspicuous and eminently valuable, and will long be remembered by those whose interests, either directly or partially, were therein involved. Mr. Rhodes was, throughout his long and honourable life, a consistent political and religious reformer; in the worst of times standing forward as the uncompromising advocate of principles, a sympathy with which was esteemed a crime. And it may be safely averred, that in the discussion of whatever questions in which he mingled, the expression of his opinions, while it was manly and unshrinking, was characterised by a deportment perfectly urbane, and by a feeling at once dignified and sympathetic, such, indeed, as we rarely see combined with an intellect so vigorous. Would that such

a combination were more general! Mr. Rhodes was the senior partner in the firm of Rhodes & Champion. In 1808, he was appointed to the honourable situation of Master Cutler, and for many years was one of the most active and efficient members of the Cutlers' Company. Intelligent and skilful as a man of business, he was also gifted with a refined taste for literature, to the cultivation of which he devoted no inconsiderable portion of his time, even to the closing scenes of his life. His was an additional instance to demonstrate the fallacy of the assertion, that the pursuits of literature and those of commerce are antagonisms. In his case, it was sufficiently proved, that when the mind is exhausted in the hard, material business of mercantile life, it can find and relish a sabbath-time, in which it receives a recuperative power, in holding converse with the mental products of the philosopher, the moralist, or the divine. Thus, but in the best sense, it may be said of him, "Ne otium quidam unquam otiosum." Mr. Rhodes was an occasional contributor to a few of our periodicals; and for some years conducted the literary department of the Sheffield Independent. His cultivated taste brought him much into contact with some of the most distinguished characters in literature and art; and the friendship on the part of such, which existed to the termination of his career, speaks eloquently of a mutual capacity of appreciation. Înfluenced by his ardent love for nature (and there generally exists in the mind that is capable of estimating and relishing natural beauty, a love for moral beauty also), Mr. Rhodes made several excursions into the more picturesque districts of Derbyshire, in company with his friend Sir Francis Chantry. Their journeyings resulted in the publication of that beautiful work, "The Peak Scenery," the letter-press of which is from the pen of Mr. Rhodes, almost all the illustrations being from the delicate and truthful pencil of Chantry. In every page we recognise elegance of composition, and a fine appreciation of the beautiful. But as the work is before the world, it is the less necessary to speak of it here. Those who knew Mr. Rhodes in the social circle, bear testimony to the interest which his diversified powers could create and maintain. His conversation was instructive to all, without being offensive to the feelings of the

most fastidious. But they who have not frequently met him in the domestic scene, are unacquainted with much of the tenderness and amiability which coloured his disposition and character. In the world, he was, without pretension or exclusiveness, the accomplished and respected man; and in the home, he sustained, with most truthful affection, the endearing relations of husband and father. That bright spirit is now quenched, as to all things on earth, and the places which it cheered are shadowed with regrets and mourning; but wherever genius is prized, beauty and simplicity of character loved, and unpretending Christianity appreciated, there will linger a hallowed remembrance of him who has been called to his imperishable home.-Sheffield Independent.

DIED, at Maidstone, December 28, in her fifty-seventh year, Miss Mary Pine. It is not often that we think it necessary or wise in preachers, to sketch the character of deceased friends in sermons preached on funeral occasions. But, in the case of the excellent and esteemed individual, whose death we now record, it would have been an injury to the living, as well as a slight to departed goodness, had not the opportunity of holding up the blessed light of virtuous example been eagerly embraced. With melancholy pleasure do we insert the conclusion of the sermon preached by the Rev. W. Stevens, on the 5th of January. To our minds, who had the privilege of knowing the departed, the language of the preacher is characterised by simplicity, beauty, and truthfulness. His text was, Psalm xc. 12:

"While dwelling on these reflections, I doubt not that your thoughts, like my own, have frequently turned to that amiable and much-loved member of our society-that exemplary fellow-Christian, and fellow-worshipper, whose mortal remains we yesterday consigned to the silent tomb. If to any one the object of the prayer in our text was ever granted, assuredly it was to her. From her birth, of an extremely delicate constitution, so that her life might be said to resemble a faint taper, which one rude breath would extinguish, the hope could never be indulged in, that she would ever reach the years to which she ultimately arrived; and that she did, was, without doubt,