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Mr. Whittuch, as Lord of the Manor, in his own name, and that of the other parishoners, presented a petition to his Lordship, setting forth the necessity of an additional place of worship, owing to the great population of the neighbourhood, the distance from the mother Church at Bitton, and other local circumstances. This petition was received by the Bishop, and given to his Register to read. After which, the doors were opened; and his Lordship, preceded by his mace-bearer and the Churchwardens, and followed by the Clergy, repaired to the vestry. When the congregation was accommodated, and every thing quiet and orderly, the Bishop, accompanied as before, went to the west door, where he began the appointed service of the day, viz. the 24th Psalm; "6 The earth is the Lord's," &c. which was alternated by the Clergy and people. The Bishop having gone to the northside of the altar, and the Rev. Mr. Macdonald, the Vicar of Bitton, with the Rev. Mr. Kempthorne, (his Lordship's Chaplain,) to the south; the deed of endowment was pre. sented to him by the Rev. Vicar. His Lordship then proceeded to read, in a most impressive manner, the Exhortation and Prayers of Cousecration: the Sentence of Consecration was read by the Chaplain, and signed by the Bishop. After which, the Rev. Mr. Ellicombe, the curate of Bitton, began the Morning Service. The Psalms and Les. sons appointed for the occasion, are particularly striking, so well are

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they adapted to such an interesting solemnity. The 100th Psalm, aud part of the 26th Old Version, were admirably sung by the children and congregation. The sermon lowed; in which his Lordship ex patiated at some length in an elegant and animated manner, on the privileges and advantages of the public Service of our Church; and beautifully introduced the long neglected inhabitants of Kingswood, hailing with joy and gladness the temple lately raised for their accommodation. The sermon being ended, his Lordship, accompanied as before, proceeded to conseerate the burying-ground adjoining, and returned to administer the Sacrament to those who remained. Thus was completed the first Church built with the assistance of Government: and it is devoutly hoped, that the blessing of the Almighty, ever lighting upon this Church it may be in strumental in reforming the lives and manners of those for whose benefit it has been erected.

Part of the Forest of Kingswood lies in the parish of Stapleton, adjoining Bitton. There, likewise, about two miles from Trinity, on the 31st of August, an additional Church, capable of accommodating 800 people, was consecrated by the Bishop of Bristol. This Church was built by a grant from the Church Building Society, added to a voluntary contribution, and a handsome legacy left some years since by a late Incumbent of that parish.

C. C.

The enclosed lines have been very generally published. The initials are those of an author already well known to the literary world.

LINES

Written after the Consecration of the New Church at Kingswood, by the
Bishop of Gloucester, on the 11th September, 1821.

WHEN first the Fane (that white, on Kingswood pen,
Arrests, far off, the pausing stranger's ken)

* lxxxiv. cxxii. cxxxii.

+ First Lesson, part of viiith chap. 1st of Kings, Second from Hebrews x, 19. to 27.

Echo'd the Hymn of Praise, and on that day,
That shone, from Heav'n, with more auspicious ray,
When thousands listen'd to the Prelate there,
Who call'd on God, with consecrating Pray'r;-
I saw a Village Maid, almost a child,
E'en as a light-hair'd Cherub, undefil'd

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From Earth's rank fume, with innocent look her eye
Meekly uplifted to the throne on high,
Join in the full choir's solemn harmony.
-Oh! then how many boding thoughts arose,
Lest, long ere varied life's uncertain close,
Those looks of modesty, that open truth
Lighting the forehead of ingenuous youth-
Lest these, as slowly steal maturing years,
Should fade, and grief succeed, and dimning tears:
Lest, "peradventure Evil should betide

So fair a Wanderer, in a world so wide."

Then, should the cheek be blanch'd with early care,
Sin mark its first and furrowing traces there,
With touch corroding mar the alter'd mien,
And leave a canker where the rose had been ;-
Then, the sweet child, whose smiles can now impart
Joy overpowering to a mother's heart,

Might bring down (when not anxious love could save)
That mother's few grey hairs with sorrow to the grave!

But hark! the Preacher's voice ;

Behold his earnest look, his lifted hand!
What holy fervour wakes at his command?
He speaks of Faith, of Mercy from above,
Of heav'nly Hope, of a Redeemer's Love!

Hence! every thought, but that which shews fair youth
Advancing in the paths of Peace and Truth;
That shews thy light, O pure Religion, shed,
Like a faint glory, on a daughter's head,
Who shall each parent's love, through life repay,
And add a transport to their dying day!

I saw an Old Man on his staff reclin❜d,
Who seem'd to every human change resign'd:-
He, with white locks, and long-descending beard,
A Patriarch of other years appear'd-

" And thine, oh! aged, solitary man,

Was life's enchanted way, when life began,
The sun-shine on each mountain, and the strain
Of some sweet melody, in every plain;
Thine was illusive fortune's transient gleam,
And young Love's broken, but delicious dream;
Those mocking visions of thy youth are flown,
And thou dost bend on death's dark brink alone:
The light associates of thy vernal day,

Where are they? blown as the sear leaves away;
And thou dost seem a trunk, on whose bare head
The grey moss of uncounted days is spread!"

I know thee not, old man, yet traits like these
Upon thy time-worn features Fancy sees,
Another, or another year, for thee,
Haply the silver cord shall loosed be!
Then listen, whilst warm eloquence pourtrays
That better country' to thy anxious gaze,
Who art a weary, way-worn pilgrim here,'
And soon from life's vain masque to disappear.
Oh! aged man, lift up thine eyes-behold
What brighter views of distant light unfold;
What though the loss of strength thou dost deplore,
Or broken loves, or friends that are no more;
What though gay youth no more his song renews,
Life's summer-light dies, like the rainbow hues;
The Christian hails the ray that cheers the gloom,
And throws its heav'nly halo round the tomb.

Who bade the grave its mouldering vault unclose?
'Christ-Christ who died; yea, rather Christ who rose!'
Hope lifts from Earth her tear-illumined eye,
She sees dispersed the world's last tempest fly;
Sees Death arrested 'midst his havoc vast,-
Lord, at thy feet, his broken weapons cast!

In circles, far retiring from the sight,
Till, undistinguished, they are lost in Light,
Admiring Seraphim suspend their wings,
Whilst, hark! th' eternal Empyrean rings,
Hosannah, Lord of lords, and King of kings!'

These thoughts arose, when from the crowded fane
I saw retire the mute assembled train ;

These images beguil'd my homeward way,
That high o'er Lansdown's lonely summit lay.
There seem'd a music in the evening gale,

And looking back on the long-spreading vale,
A blessing seem'd to wait upon the hour

When the last light from Heav'n shone on the distant tower.

W. L. B.

MR. OWEN OF NEW LANARK. IT is now between four and five years since we first enjoyed a hearty laugh at the expence of Mr Owen, of New Lanark. His newspaper life might have commenced somewhat earlier; but if so, we had un. wittingly confounded his plans and

puffs with the common-place quackery of the age, and had neglected to read his advertisements. It was in the autumn of the year 1817 that our curiosity was excited by an enormous diagram, which covered one page of a newspaper, and of which the following is a humble imitation:

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We are not certain that these were the precise divisions adopted by Mr. Owen; but his object was to give a plan of a considerable district of this Island, and to show how it might be divided into any required number of sections, each of which was to be inhabited and filled by a competent number of persons, agreeing in their religious and political principles. Thus, for instance, the admirers of the Edinburgh Review would be located in No. 13, where they would have an opportunity of indulging their whiggish propensities, without being liable to interruption from the advocates of any particular_religion. No. 15 would contain the great patrons of the Religious Liberty Society, who are anxious for the reformation of all abuses but their own, and lend their aid to all religions except that which is united to the State. The denizens of No. 16 would be Hone, and Cobbett, and Carlile; and the remaining sections can be easily filled up by the reader. The plan may be dilated or contracted according to the increase or diminution of religious sects : and Mr. Owen, if we remember rightly, proposed to divide the first district which he took in hand into fifty or sixty sections.

The merits of this scheme were perceived in a moment. We congratulated ourselves on the prospect of sitting down for life in the snug section No. 2, along with the staunchest friends of Church and King. We went to work, without delay, upon an imaginary classifica

tion of our families, connections, and acquaintance; and their respective locations were assigned to them with all practicable fidelity. We reflected, too, upon the pleasure of an occasional visit to their quarters, where the name of the vil lage would be an index to the minds of the villagers; and it would be only necessary to learn the precise number of their section in order to be prepared for the reception that would be given to us. thing, in short, seemed wanting to complete the plan, but to provide a peculiar garment for each square,, and to muster the whole community on a Saturday night, and ask them which section and which dress they should prefer during the course of the ensuing week.

No

Mr. Owen appeared to have forgotten that his fellow-creatures sometimes differ, upon other subjects besides religion and politics; and he attributed a steadiness to their religious and political attachments which experience does not warrant him to expect. In advising men of the same religion, to associate with one another, he showed his practical knowledge of human nature; and at the same time, without intending it, he brought forward a good argument for an act of uniformity and an established Church. But when he applied the system of juxta-position to their houses as well as to their minds, when he assumed that if they had once voted for the same candidate, or sat in the same pew, they would never

part till death, he kindly saved us the trouble of considering his system at length by the irresistible comicality of its primary branch. One good effect his plan, probably, would produce. Many a worthy, and well-meaning, and mistaken in dividual would open his eyes to the errors of his system, when he congregated continually with its professors. We could name several admirers of" no particular religion" who never would endure to spend a month in the exclusive company of that sect. And every vil. lage, of which the sole tenants were Methodists or Radicals, would make a regular weekly return of convalescent Christians, or citizens; and, after a short time, would retain none but incurables. But these were not the objects in Mr. Owen's contemplation when he divided and subdivided our departments. He intended to provide against contention and strife, by lodging different sects in different streets. And, in the present state of this country, it would have been just as wise to classify its inhabitants by the colour of their eyes and their hair. The proposed separation would be as injurious as a famine or a pestilence, and is but an indifferent prima facie proof of the sagacity and common sense of its recommender. But, happily, there is no human force which could carry it into effect; and "to be born and die" in the fantastical lucubrations of Mr. Owen is its short and eventful history.

And what will be said of Britons, a hundred years hence, when it is remembered that a scheme, of which this is neither the worst nor the silliest portion, has been brought forward at two public meetings in London, has been unanimously approved of by a Scotch county, and has twice been submitted to the attention of the House of Commons, in the space of little better than three years! We are told that the spirit of the age is refined and phi

losophical, and yet it does not disdain to listen to this childish dri. velling! The circumstances admit but of one explanation. An epidemic folly prevails among our countrymen upon religious and moral questions. There is much evil to be lamented and, if possible, to be cured; but we despise the advice of the regular physician, and run after every nostrum with which cunning imposes upon folly.There are Prison Committees, and Beggar Committees, and Chimney Committees, and Jew Committees; and Mr. Owen thinks he has a right to institute a Spinning and Spade Committee. While the chemists are frightening honest men out of their dinners, by proclaiming "death in the pot," the philanthropist comforts them by announcing that there is life in the spade and the same restlessness of mind which, in for. mer times, produced the money speculations and frauds of the South Sea scheme, are now produc ing and protecting the moral speculations of infidelity and the pious frauds of fanaticism. Johanna Southcott has still her disciples and her prophets, and they prophesy better things, and talk less nonsense than Mr. Owen. Mr. Brougham believes in Lancaster and Fellenberg; and it is reported, that men are to be found who believe in Mr. Brougham. The attention, therefore, that has been paid to Mr. Owen's plan is nothing more than a symptom of a prevalent disorder. "In South Sea days" an honest man discovered a method of converting saw-dust into timber, and sold the secret for a good round sum. Much larger sums have been expended upon Mr. Owen's brickdust and rubbish; and we suppose that the day is drawing near in which he will exhibit the goodly edifice which they have formed. But in the mean time, he will excuse us for venturing to believe, that he may attribute the success which has attended him, not to his

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