indulgences it favoured, and both clergy and laity were favourable to its cause in proportion to the magnificence with which it rewarded their support. When learning therefore revived, and some few men of genius struggled to awaken the minds of their countrymen to a sense of their degradation, they were listened to for a while, but left unaided in their glorious attempt. Italy was not so thickly enveloped in darkness as it was deeply sunk in moral corruption, and the regeneration was the more difficult to be accomplished in proportion to the previous absence of all powerful moral prejudices. But we are anticipating. The history of the attempted Reformation in Italy, and of its suppression, is one of the most interesting details in the annals of our race. It furnishes us with lessons of the highest importance in the study of mankind, and, in an historical as well as moral point of view, may be perused with considerable profit.

The reformation in this birth-place of the muses was begun rather by men of letters than divines. They were the only persons who retained a freedom from the thraldom of superstition in conjunction with purity of principle, and were alone fitted, by their virtues and the cultivation of their minds, to stand forth as the ministers of truth. The revival of learning was, therefore, especially in Italy, the first step towards a reformation in religion; and the great men who are venerated as the restorers of a pure taste in literature, are still more venerable for the benefits they were preparing for the whole of Christendom. The fearlessness with which they attacked the corruptions that held mankind in bondage, the free spirit with which they denounced the friends of a dark and tyrannous superstition, and the energy they displayed in advocating whatever could promote the emancipation of mankind from its loathsome slavery, are worthy of our deepest gratitude; and although making use of weapons which we could have wished changed for the sword of the Spirit, they wielded them with the boldness and determined resolution of men whose hearts were in the cause of truth. Dante, Petrarch, and Bocaccio, are the names of men whose histories we can never peruse without delight; and, subtracting from them the details of their mere private pursuits, we know of none more interesting or important. The writings both of Dante and Bocaccio are full of evidence of their determined opposition to Popery; and every page in the memoirs and correspondence of Petrarch evinces the horror with which he beheld the corruptions of that court which would have gladly secured his attachment by any honours in its power to confer. There is perhaps no work from which a better idea can be drawn of the state of Italy at the revival of letters, than the life of this author by the Abbé de

Sade; and the pictures which it draws of the pope and cardinals, and indeed of every thing connected with the court of Rome, is truly awful.

We might mention several other distinguished writers who united the character of reformers to that of men of letters—some of which are mentioned by our author-but they are familiar to every reader of Italian history; and we proceed to a brief review of the principal points brought forward in this interesting volume. The author has considered, first, the state of religion in Italy before the era of the Reformation; secondly, the introduction of the Reformed opinions into that country, and their progress through its several states and cities, with some miscellaneous facts respecting the Reformed opinions; and lastly, the suppression of the Reformation in Italy. There is also another chapter, respecting the foreign Italian churches; and an appendix, containing some useful and highly interesting documents. We shall now introduce our readers to the subject, by giving Dr. M'Crie's brief but excellent sketch of the state of the Romish power previous to the Reformation.

From the time of the Council of Constance, a reformation in the church, both in its head and members, had been loudly demanded. This demand was repeated at the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the council which the Pope was compelled to convocate; as appears not only from the decrees which that assembly passed during its sitting at Pisa, but also from the orations delivered in it after it was transferred to the Lateran, and sat under the eye of the supreme pontiff. Among these the most noted were the speeches of Egidio, of Viterbo, general of the order of Augustinians, and John Francis Pico, the learned and pious Count of Mirandula: both of whom denounced, with singular freedom and boldness, the abuses which threatened the ruin of the church, and the utter extinction of religion.

It would be unsuitable here to enter into a minute detail of the ecclesiastical grievances which were the subject of such general complaint and remonstrance. Suffice it to say, that all of them existed in an aggravated form in Italy, if we except certain exactions levied by the Popes on other countries from which she was exempted. The vices of the clergy, the neglect of religious instruction, the ignorance of the people, the sale of ecclesiastical offices, and the prostitution of sacred things to worldly purposes, had grown to the greatest height among the Italians. The court of Rome had become more corrupt than any of the secular courts of Europe, by the confession of writers, who owned its authority; and of such as, from the official situations which they held in it, were admitted into all its secrets. The unprincipled and faithless character of its policy was proverbial. It was a system of intrigue, cabal, and bribery; and its ministers, while they agreed together in duping the world, made no scruple of deceiving and supplanting one another whenever their personal interests came to be concerned. The individuals who filled the papal chair for some time before the Reformation, openly indulged in vices over which the increasing knowledge of the age should have taught them, in point of prudence, to throw a veil. During the pontificate of Sixtus IV. we are presented with the horrid spectacle of a supreme pontiff, a cardinal, an archbishop, and other ecclesiastics, associating themselves with a band of ruffians to murder two men who were an honour to

their age and country; and agreeing to perpetrate the crime during a season of hospitality, within the sanctuary of a Christian church, and at the signal of the elevation of the host. Alexander VI. was so notorious for his profligate manners and insatiable rapacity, that Sannazzaro has compared him to the greatest monsters of antiquity,—to Nero, Caligula, and Heliogabalus. Julius II. was more solicitous to signalize himself as a soldier than a bishop; and by his ambition and turbulence kept Italy in a state of continual warfare. And Leo X. though distinguished for his elegant accomplishments, and his patronage of literature and the arts, disgraced the ecclesiastical seat by his voluptuousness, and scandalized all Christendom by the profane method of raising money, to which he had recourse, for the purpose of gratifying his love of pleasure and his passion for magnificent extravagance." pp. 18-20.

Our author has subjoined an extract from Guicciardini, which was struck out by the censors of the press before the work of that historian was published in Italy. It is another testimony in proof of the corrupt state of the pontifical court, but contains nothing more than what every writer has said, both before and since, on the same subject. Dr. M'Crie has given an excellent summary of the causes which appear to have prevented the Reformation making any progress through the Italian states. But, intending to resume the subject in our next, we shall defer till then any further observations.

(To be continued.)

Reflections on the Moral and Spiritual Claims of the Metropolis: a Discourse, delivered at the City Chapel, London, introductory to the Second Series of Lectures to Mechanics, established by the Society for promoting Christian Instruction in London and its Vicinity: with an Appendix, further illustrative of the Subject. By JOHN BLACKBURN, Minister of Claremont Chapel, Pentonville, and one of the Secretaries of the above Society. London: Holdsworth.

THE metropolis of this country is at present exhibiting a picture of human life, striking in its general effect, but appalling in its details. The activity of intellect, the boldness of commercial speculation, the polish and refinement of manners which are prevalent in every circle of London society, have thrown a splendour over it which renders it the admiration of other countries and every other part of the empire. But when the Christian and the philanthropist take a nearer view of the present condition of London, when he examines the actual

state of manners and society in the different classes of her inhabitants, he is struck with the low condition to which both her moral and religious character is sunk. The influence of the press is great in every part of the kingdom; but in the metropolis it has a power of incalculable extent; and the extensive circulation which works of the most immoral tendency possess is one striking sign of a corruption in manners and opinions. From the highest fashionable circles down to the inhabitants of St. Giles's, there are publications every week sent forth adapted to their respective tastes and capacities; and whether it be the Falkland of Mr. Colburn, or the trash of a more vulgar publisher, it is very easy to learn from them the tendency among us to French infidelity and Italian sensuality. Little, however, we believe, is known of the deplorably demoralized condition of the lower classes in London. Education will, we fear not, produce in a few years' time a considerable change throughout the nation; but there are hundreds and thousands whom it has never reached, and who require an attention and instruction which only the faithful ministers of the Gospel, patiently searching into the hiding-places of vice, and carefully teaching the mighty truths of their religion, can afford.

Mr. Blackburn has drawn a very fearful and a very terrifying picture; and the lesson he has given is one incumbent on the professors of Christianity carefully to study. That something may be done, by even a moderate attention to the religious instruction of the working and distressed portion of the inhabitants, we have no doubt; but we think that it is among the first duties of her bishop and clergy not to rest from their exertions till all has been done which evangelical teaching and evangelical charity can effect. As ministers of the Establishment, it is impossible for us to avoid the conviction of neglect on the part of our *Church in instructing the great mass of the population, which is left to perish untaught and unregarded. We have perused Mr. Blackburn's sermon with considerable interest; but as we intend in an early number to resume the subject of Metropolitan Instruction, we proceed to give our readers a specimen of the author's style and manner of treating his important subject. The text is from 2 Kings vii. 9: " Then they said one to another, We do not well this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold

our peace.

A famine, which results from the attack of a besieging army, may be justly considered as one of the most fearful judgments which God, in his righteous dispensations, can send upon the guilty inhabitants of any city. Within the walls every countenance is marked with suffering: "the skin is black like an oven, because of the terrible famine;"" the children and sucklings swoon in

the streets; they say to their mothers, Where is the corn and the wine? The young and the old lie on the ground, they faint for hunger on the top of every street." Around the walls, and at every gate, a ferocious soldiery, provoked by opposition and excited by delay, employ all their energies to batter down the towers and to scale the battlements, that their revenge may be satiated in the destruction of their enemies. Such a visitation the inhabitants of Samaria were called to endure, when, the Syrian army having long and closely beleagued the city, their stores of provisions were exhausted, and they were reduced to an extremity of want. Forgetful of the luxuries of former days, the famished inhabitants sought to allay the insufferable cravings of their exhausted nature by means the most revolting and unnatural. Delicate women violated all the instincts of the maternal bosom, and preyed upon their own children, and the most filthy garbage became to its possessors more precious than gold.

At such a time, when selfishness triumphed over all the better feelings of our nature, those miserable inmates of the city, who, through disease, could not assist in its defence, but whose wants still craved a share of its scanty supply, were doubtless contemplated by the more vigorous inhabitants with no friendly eye. Loathsome through their maladies, and useless through their weakness, they were probably forbidden to claim supplies; and a dreadful alternative, the sword of the infuriated besieger, or the mortal pangs of famine, awaited them. Such, I conceive, was the situation of the four Samaritan lepers to whom our text refers, when they left the gates, and sat down under the wall of the city. They saw the camp of their enemies before them, in all its formidable array, but, impelled by hunger, they said to each other, "Why sit we here until we die? If we enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now come, therefore, and let us fall into the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.'

Amidst the twilight of eventide they therefore advanced towards the camp; silence reigned around; they looked-listened-doubted-for the ominous stillness, at that hour of music and revelry, was to them inexplicable. Their imagina tions transformed every shadow into some stern warrior, about to arrest their progress, and they advanced with slow and hesitating steps, trembling for the result. At length they approach the nearest tent, and lo! it is empty! They pass on through the camp to. its uttermost bounds, but no man is there! Mysterious and terrific sounds of iron chariots and mighty armies had rushed upon the ears of the Syrians, and panic took possession of their hearts. were they in great fear, where no fear was" for God scattered them that were encamped against the city.

"Then

Their camp, with all its ponderous baggage, abundant provision, and extensive treasures, was left behind. The famished lepers of Samaria in one tent find rich viands, and they eat; in another, the choicest wines, and they drink; in a third, costly clothing and abundant treasure, and they adorn and enrich themselves. At length, appetite fails, and curiosity tires; reflection steals upon them, and they recollect the miseries that still reign in Samaria! Shame on them! that the afflictions of their brethren were not sooner regarded. Justly may they, with confusion and fear, exclaim, "We do not well, for this is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace."

Now, in discoursing this night on the moral and spiritual claims of the metropolis, I will not disguise my deliberate conviction, brethren, that the conduct of the Christian inhabitants of London towards their fellow-citizens "who know not God, and obey not his Gospel," has too much resembled that of the Samaritan lepers; eager to enjoy the provisions of the Gospel themselves, they have had "bread enough and to spare," but have forgotten those "who perish with hunger."