in the Cathedral of St. Paul's. As the Dean and Chapter have now complied entirely, and to the utmost extent, with your lordship's request, and as they hope now that this question is finally settled, they wish to make a few observations at the conclusion of their correspondence with your lordship. The Dean and Chapter claim an entire right of shutting the doors of the Cathedral after the services of the church are finished. All churches in England are shut when the service is over, and whoever wishes to see any church at any other period must find out the officer of the church, and give him a fee for his trouble. The same practice obtains in Catholic countries, where the church is kept open much longer than with us, because the services are longer, but is closed when those services are finished; and then entrance is obtained in the same manner, by giving a fee to the officer of the church. Fifty new churches were built by the nation in the reign of Queen Anne; in the statutes under which they were erected, as well as in those by the authority of which St. Paul's was built, there is no mention made of any right in the public to enter these edifices out of the hours of service, nor of any legal obligation in their clergy to provide doorkeepers for the accommodation of the public. The law remains the same in churches built by the country as in those whose founders are unknown, or those which have been founded by the piety of known individuals. The vergers of the Cathedral are employed for about two hours every day in the service of the church. If this were the whole of their church employment, they might carry on some worldly trade at other hours; but now they wait all day long to minister to the curiosity of the public, and by the public they ought to be paid. The public have thought fit to erect St. Paul's into a receptacle for national monuments, from the erection of which no kind of emolument is derived by the Dean and Chapter, nor is any emolument thought of or desired; but the public, choosing to convert a church into a school of art, ought surely to defray every expense which proceeds from such an arrangement, and not to fling it upon individuals who have had no other share in the transmutation than to give a consent which they might have withholden.

"The custom of paying twopence at the door has existed for more than 100 years, and it is so far from being a tax upon the public, that it is a great saving of time and money, for otherwise (unless the doors were kept constantly open) the officer must be sought at his own residence, and would receive a fee six or twelve times as great as that which is now paid to him.

"But waiving the extreme injustice of exhibiting a national gallery of sculpture at the expense of individuals who have, indiscreetly perhaps, permitted the church of which they are guardians to be turned to such an use, considerations of a much higher order present themselves to the dean and chapter. There pass by the gates of St. Paul's every day about 100,000 persons; and on days of more than ordinary excitement and bustle in the city more than double that number. If the doors of the church were constantly open, such numbers would come in, that all idea of performing the service would be entirely out of the question. It has happened in less than an hour, between 2000 and 3000 people have entered the church, many of them of the lowest description, with their hats on, laughing, talking, walking, eating, and making an uproar totally incompatible with every idea of religion. Of the experiment we tried this summer, and of its total failure, I have already informed your lordship. The whole area of the church was flung open, and the noise of persons walking and talking was so intolerable, that, from repeated representations of persons frequenting St. Paul's, and determined to frequent it no longer, we were forced to revoke our permission and restrict our limits. If the doors of St. Paul's were flung open, the church would become, as it has been in times past, a place of assignation for all the worst characters, male and female, of the metropolis. It would be a royal exchange for wickedness, as the other royal exchange is VOL. XIII.-Feb. 1838. 2 B

for commerce. Even now, with the restricted rights of entrance, we see beggars, men with burdens, women knitting, parties eating luncheon, dogs and children playing, loud laughing, talking, and every kind of scene incompatible with the solemnity of worship-evils by which all sense of religion is destroyed, and in which the interference of the police (as no illegal act is committed) would be rather an aggravation than a remedy, from the noisy disputes to which it would give birth. On one side of a line the congregation are praying; on the other side is all the levity, indecorum, and tumult of a London mob squabbling with the police, looking upon St. Paul's as a gallery of sculpture, not a house of prayer, and indicating their right to be merry and gay if they abstain from crime. The mischief and indecorum which take place at St. Paul's are very notorious. The cathedral is constantly and shamelessly polluted with ordure. The pews are sometimes turned into cabinets d'aisance, and the prayer-books torn up. The monuments are scribbled all over, and often with the greatest indecency. The inference from these observations is, that the right of entry must be restricted, or St. Paul's must be opened as a gallery of sculpture, and shut as a place of worship. Our duty is to consider the interests of religion as paramount to the interests of art and the gratification of any curiosity upon human subjects, however laudable it may be. In complying with your lordship's request, which we have now done to the fullest extent, we have been governed less by our own judgment than by that respect which we are always desirous of paying to the wishes of the sovereign, and to the friendly communications of the government: but to preserve the decencies of worship is a higher duty than any other.

"If it shall hereafter appear to be required, we shall retrace our steps, and resume our original position; but we will not do so without shewing to your lordship the reasons which have influenced our decisions. If such a necessity should occur, we shall feel our opinion strengthened if it should coincide with that of your lordship; but in a trust so sacred, and so well founded on ancient law, the decision must be with ourselves. These are the sentiments of the dean and chapter, which the dean himself would have transmitted to your lordship if the state of his health had permitted. The dean and chapter beg of your lordship to accept their sincere good wishes and respect.

"November 22, 1837.

"SYDNEY SMITH."

NOTICE. The church of St. Paul's on Sundays is open a quarter of an hour before, and shut immediately after, each service. On week days, all persons are at liberty to enter the church gratuitously between nine and eleven in the morning, and between three and four in the evening, to see all the monuments and works of art in the whole area of the cathedral, to quit the church when they please, or to remain in it till the doors are finally closed. The strictest injunctions are given to the servants of the church that these orders should be carried into execution; and all complaints of misconduct on their part should be preferred immediately to the dean, or the canon in residence. The dean and chapter earnestly hope that all persons availing themselves of this permission will shew, by a quiet and orderly demeanour, that, in admiring works of art, they do not forget the infinitely higher and more important purposes for which this building was erected."

(No. 6.)

"Whitehall, Nov. 27, 1837. "Sir, I am directed by Lord John Russell to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, and to inform you that his lordship is of opinion the most convenient hours have not been chosen for the free admission of the

public into the cathedral of St. Paul, but that he does not now wish to interfere with the arrangements which have been made.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

"To the Rev. Sydney Smith."

"J. MAULE."

Note. The hour between nine and ten, the new hour conceded, was, after much inquiry, found to be the most convenient hour for those persons to whom the trifling payment at the door might be inconvenient.

DR. HAMPDEN.

It is difficult to suppose that these letters are published without Dr. Hampden's authority, and equally difficult to see what is the object of the publication, or what service they can render him. But as they are published, it is better to put them on record.

Copy of a Letter from Dr. Hampden to Dr. Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury.

MY LORD ARCHBISHOP,-Having seen for the first time in the public papers of yesterday a memorial to his Majesty, from certain members of the University of Oxford, sent to your grace, I beg leave most respectfully to address myself to your grace on the subject.

I trust I shall be fully believed when I affirm, as I do in the most solemn manner, that I have had no thought, in anything that I have said or written on theological subjects, but to uphold, to the best of my ability, the doctrines and established formularies of the church of England.

My Bampton Lectures are simply a history of the technical terms of theology; nor have they the slightest tendency, in my view and intention, to impugn the vital truths of Christianity. My pamphlet, entitled "Observations on Religious Dissent,” had no other design but to induce a charitable construction of the views of those who differ from us. Nothing could have been more painfully shocking to my feelings than the connexion of my name with opinions which I detest. I may be indulged on this occasion with saying, that a belief in the great revealed truths of the Trinity and the Incarnation has been my stay through life; and I utterly disclaim the imputation of inculcating any doctrines at variance with these great foundations of Christian hope.

I do not pretend, my lord, always to have stated my views with the precision and clearness that I could have wished; nor do I venture to assert that I have avoided all mistakes in what I have said, or that I have always taken the best method of teaching the truth.

What I wish to impress on your grace is, that I have studied to declare it; and, in doing so, to maintain the Articles of the Church. As some evidence of this, I would refer to my volume of Parochial Sermons, which has never been attacked.

I have written, therefore, humbly to request that your grace will give me a hearing, if there be anything alleged against me which appears to demand an explanation on my part.

May I be allowed also to say, that in undertaking the responsible office of Regius Professor of Divinity, my heartfelt desire is to acquit myself faithfully of my duty as a member of the church of Christ, to whom a high trust has been committed; and to take peculiar care never to do or say what may injure the sacred cause to which I have devoted myself. I would further earnestly embrace this opportunity of stating that I am most ready, as in duty bound, to receive any admonition from your grace as to the most effectual mode of discharging the office.

I feel confident that the Bishop of Llandaff, who has long known me, will bear testimony to the sincerity with which I express these sentiments.

I have the honour to remain, my lord, with the greatest respect, your grace's faithful humble servant. R. D. HAMPDEN.

St. Mary Hall, Oxford, Feb. 27, 1836.

(Signed)

P.S. I have written this letter from London; but I have dated it from my residence, as I shall return to Oxford to-morrow, and there await the favour of an answer from your grace.

Copy of the Answer of Dr. Howley, Abp. of Canterbury, to Dr. Hampden. Lambeth, March 1, 1836.

REVEREND SIR,-I have to acknowledge your letter of the 27th of last month, and feeling that it would be no less painful than useless to enter on a discussion of the subjects to which it relates, I shall touch on those points only to which you more particularly call my attention.

You express your "trust that you shall be fully believed when you affirm, as you do in the most solemn manner, that you have had no thought in anything that you have ever said or written on theological subjects but to uphold, to the best of your ability, the doctrines and established formularies of the church of England; that your Bampton Lectures are simply a history of the technical terms of theology, nor have they the slightest tendency, in your view and intention, to impugn the vital truths of Christianity."

To this affirmation I cannot refuse credit: but the question turns, according to my apprehension, not on your views and intentions, of which you are the proper judge, but on the impression which certain parts of your writings are calculated to make, and have actually made, on the minds of common readers, as well as of persons well versed in theology.

You proceed to "request that I would give you a hearing if there be anything alleged against you which appears to demand explanation on your part." In respect to this, it is evident that explanations, if necessary, should be given to the University rather than to me, as I have not authority to pronounce judicially, and my private opinion would have little weight in a matter on which any ordinary divine is qualified to judge for himself.

You further "state your readiness to receive any admonition from me as to the most effectual mode of discharging the office." This I conceive is unnecessary: you doubtless fully understand the nature of the instruction required from a professor of divinity in our church; and the system of teaching adopted by your immediate predecessor, the late Bishop of Oxford, and Dr. Burton, has received the general approbation of the church and the University. In the assurance that you will not suspect me of any unkind feeling, or want of personal respect towards you, I remain, reverend Sir, your humble and obedient servant, W. CANTUAR.

(Signed)

Rev. Dr. Hampden.

DOCUMENTS.

AN ADDRESS OF THE DEAN AND CHAPTER OF CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY, TO ALL THE DEANS AND CHAPTERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.

THE house of commons having ordered the printing of a document, entitled, "The Draft of a Fifth Report, prepared by the commissioners appointed to consider the state of the Established Church in England and Wales, with re

ference to Ecclesiastical Revenues, also, the Correspondence thereon ;" we wish first to call your attention to the circumstances under which that document has been submitted to the house.

The commission of inquiry, which had presented four reports to the late king, notwithstanding some of the members had declared themselves, in July, 1836, to be then functi officio, continued after that period to sit and transact business, and were engaged in considering various memorials which they received on the subject of their reports.

On the sixth day of March, 1837, the commission met, it would seem, for the last time; no fifth report had then been signed; and in consequence of the demise of the crown the commission expired.

On the eighteenth day of December, the secretary of the late commission is desired by Lord John Russell to place all the papers of that commission in the hands of" the ecclesiastical commissioners for England," and to transmit to the Home Office "a copy of any further report, or materials for a further report, which may have been prepared by the late commissioners," and "you will of course," it is said to him, "inform his grace the archbishop of Canterbury of this request," and, "if there is any objection to furnish a copy of such paper or papers," he is directed to state it.

On the nineteenth day of December, without mentioning one word about the archbishop, the secretary informs Lord John Russell, that he has placed all the papers in the hands of the ecclesiastical commissioners for England, and transmits to Lord John Russell the copy of a Draft of a fifth report "as amended to 6th March, 1837."

On the twenty-second of December, and on the last evening before the recess, Lord John Russell lays a copy of this draft before the House of Commons, and procures an order that it be printed.

And these particulars we have noticed, that a mistaken impression may be removed; and that you may distinctly perceive the irregularity with which the document has been obtained; that "the draft" is not, what it may seem, a report of the commissioners, nor their dying bequest; that it has not been printed, as might have been supposed, by those who read not "also the correspondence thereon," with the sanction or even the cognizance of all the commissioners, and that it cannot fairly be represented as expressing their sentiments as a body, since as a body they withheld from it their signature, and suffered it to remain neither ratified nor presented, till their office had expired.

But the production of this document leading us to infer that the document is intended to form the basis of some bill to be presented to parliament, or at least to afford a colourable sanction to the principal details of such bill, we beg you, in the next place, to consider the main propositions which it contains.

And what are those propositions? To suppress ultimately all canonries but four, capitular as well as non-capitular, in each cathedral or collegiate body, Christchurch in Oxford alone excepted: to confiscate the revenues arising from the suppressed canonries: and to constitute the "ecclesiastical commissioners for England" the receivers and dispensers of the confiscated property.

This document, in fact, retains all the propositions to which we have objected most strongly in our several memorials addressed to the late commission; except that it slightly modifies a former proposition relating to the patronage of deans and chapters, so far as existing members are concerned, and permits such members to have a voice in the appropriation of vacant prebendal houses within their precincts, and to propose the alteration of their statutes. It calls for spoliation of cathedral and collegiate property: the collecting of the spoil into one mass, hereafter, perhaps, to be diverted from ecclesiastical purposes, on some plea of expedience: and the vesting in an irresponsible commission, of which not only are the clerical members of one only