of the duty I have always inculcated, of mutual forbearance and charitable feeling towards one another, founded upon a sense of our own blindness, and the injunctions of our great Master; and when I recollect what deadly feuds formerly prevailed among them, on what frivolous grounds, I give way to a little selffelicitation, which I trust is innocent."

To this sentiment I sincerely assented, both by manner and speech, and waited for him to go on.

"When I first came into the parish," continued he, "now some four years ago, I found every body labouring under the odium theologicum, the worst (though I, a theologian, say it) of all the odiums that agitate our poor nature. House was armed against house, and brother against brother; and all for what? For the most part (for I will not say in every thing), for trifles. It is, indeed, wretched to observe for what nothings men are ready to tear one another to pieces, and yet think they are obeying the gospel.

"Some would not come to church because the service was performed in a surplice. How many hundred lives, in the times of the Covenanters, were not sacrificed to and for this piece of ceremony! Some would hardly communicate, and complained bitterly of my predecessor for the unorthodox practice (unorthodox even in him) of allowing the communicants to come within the rails of the altar, instead of remaining in the body of the church. One party held Sunday to be the first day of the week, the other the last: and, on an appeal to me, when I said, that, though a proper question for the learned, they had better let it alone,

and, whatever day of the week Sunday was considered, think more of true religion, which consisted in purely worshipping God, and living in charity with one another; for this, both parties were ready to tear my gown off my back. Some of them, indeed, joined in showing me up to the archbishop, who, if he had not been a man of sense, as well as a divine, might have plagued me out of my life."

"You are lucky," said I, "in having such a diocesan, for I could name many who would have made a mountain of such a molehill,"

He assented and went on. "But the great schisms are what, indeed, have set the whole Christian world in arms, as well as this obscure corner; I mean those between Athanasians and Arians, Calvinists and Arminians; and there was even a sect which some of the most orthodox, though not the most enlightened, of my parishioners called Scinians (meaning, as you may suppose, Socinians). These were attacked by all the others, but particularly the Athanasians, with a fury and bigotry which threatened their total extirpation; and because I attempted to protect them from the rage of their opponents, endeavouring to reclaim them by reason, not force, I was myself charged with being a Socinian."

"Is it possible," said I, "that you could have encountered all this in so small a district, where all the inhabitants together do not seem to muster more than a few hundreds ?"

66

Enough, and more than enough," replied the rector, "to foster even more dissenters than I have to

manage, where there is more religious pride than religious charity. What wars, indeed, are equal in horrors to religious wars? Perhaps, however, (poor people!) they were not so much in fault as the pastors who had misled them; for, as I have told you, I had the misfortune to follow an incumbent, who, though deeply learned (far more than myself) in all polemics, having Origen, and Jerome, and St. Austin at his fingers' ends, had unfortunately studied them more than the Scripture itself, and set up a religion of his own, which he defended with as much intolerance and as furious zeal as the Inquisition. In short, he leaned to the Roman Catholics in this, that he allowed no salvation out of his own church, according to his own notion of it; and, by consequence, half his parish was damned beyond redemption. Yet he was sincere in his belief; the only redeeming quality he had to set off against an intolerance leading to superstitions, which, I have observed to you, were as ridiculous as lamentable."

"This is what I like to hear of," said I; "for I am persuaded that to ridicule people out of superstition (which I trust, from this, you did,) is infinitely more effective than to oppose it by force. Yet I thought superstition nowadays, when infidelity has spread even to remote districts like this, could hardly find a place to hide her head in. A few ghosts, however, or perhaps witches, might be forgiven."

"There were neither ghosts nor witches," returned the rector, "but I am not so sure about devils. My first discovery, almost on the day of my arrival, was,

that, under my most orthodox predecessor, one half of the parish had been taught to consider the other as limbs of Satan."

"A very pretty proof of orthodoxy," said I; "but pray, how did you discover this?"

"I will tell it you," continued he, "in exact order as it happened. When I arrived at the inn we have left, I found waiting for their new minister, the clerk and sexton of the parish, and two or three more, who all made their obeisances with great respect; adding, that from what they had heard of me, they hoped I should preach as good doctrine as Dr. Tomlinson, and put down meeting*, which had held up its head, they . said, 'quite peart' during his long illness. I was surprised to find myself thus plunged into the subject of doctrine so instantly on my arrival, and before I had even seen my parsonage. Nor did I augur much comfort from the eagerness with which my clerk, a thin, sharp-visaged man, seemed disposed to sift out of me whether I was a friend to the dissenters or not; for it seems he had been told I was. I, however, confined my answer to saying, that we were all children of one heavenly Parent, and that I hoped we might live happily together. This I found by no means palatable to my future friend and coadjutor, the clerk, who was the mouthpiece of a club, countenanced, if not instituted, by my predecessor, and called by way of distinction the Orthodox. This was held every

* In the northern patois, the custom is generally to leave out the article in speaking: thus, meeting, for the meeting; vicar, for the vicar, &c. &c.

Saturday night at the Swan, to attend which he and the others were already assembled, though they said, at first, they only came to pay their respects to me on my arrival. The village theologian seemed taken what is called aback upon this reply of mine, and shook his head in great seriousness; but the landlord, who, as you saw, was a round-faced jolly fellow, and a complete contrast to the clerk, saluting me with a bow of assent, said he was very glad to hear what my reverence had said, for that there had been no peace "of a long while" in the parish, and that no dissenter or Methodist had called for a pot of beer in his house ever since Dr. Tomlinson had allowed the Saturday night's club to be established. To be sure, the Orthodox, he said, drank very fairly, but what were ten or a dozen persons to a whole meeting-house, nay to two or three, for there were as many as that in the township.

"You should be ashamed to say such things,' cried the clerk with a very verjuicy aspect, and was going on, when, not knowing how far this incipient difference might lead, I thought it right to interpose my authority with the clerk at least, by telling him he was to blame to dispute about doctrines in a public-house; and finally begged they would send somebody with me as a guide to the parsonage, which lay hid in this glen, as you have seen. I expected the clerk, as in duty bound, would have offered his services; but whether he did not like the seeming tolerancy of his new rector, or was afraid of not being in time for the club, he fought off, owing,