on

Now this is a great and encouraging view of the nature of that holy seed which constitutes a child of God, and of the Christian's destiny. Already he is "in the way everlasting." The immortal principle is now abiding in him. And yet, even after his translation to those higher regions where faith turns into vision, even then, in a certain sense, he will be only in the way; still going from strength to strength;" still drawing nearer to the zenith of bliss; still drinking in more and more copiously of the beauty and glory of Jehovah. Indeed, his capacity for larger measures of the Divine nature will augment co-ordinately with the communication; since it is of the nature of heavenly things to dilate the soul they possess, and make it capable of receiving more. They multiply themselves, and prepare the way for what is greater and better to follow. What bounds, then, can be imagined to this progressive developement of the faculties of a saint in glory, to this incessant augmentation of his blessedness? There are none discoverable; for the point to which he is perpetually tending will never cease to be immensely above him. Could we dismiss from our thoughts the lessons of science, and then raise our eyes to the sun, we might assume that it were no long journey to arrive at it. But astronomy teaches us that the distance at which it blazes could not be traversed by the fleetest traveller in many a century. Still, if any one could ascend towards that luminary, he would find himself getting further progressively into the region of light and warmth. And so it will be with good men even after their admission into heaven. They will be celestialised more and more, so to speak, by passing on to a fuller comprehension of the Divine character and proceedings. Something, hitherto unseen in the boundless amplitude of Jehovah's perfections, comes at every step within the widening range of their vision; some fresh discovery is made of the

manifold power and wisdom of the Saviour; some new light is cast on the mystery of Providence; some cloud is swept from the lovely scenes that stretch on every side. They go "from strength to strength;" are transformed from glory to glory; contract incessantly a greater resemblance to the perfectly fair and good; and reflect more accurately the lineaments of Him in whom the Father takes infinite delight.

And here one would gladly pause. But it were false kindness to withhold the fact, because it is a terrible one, that the principles just affirmed are no less applicable to the misery of the lost than to the bliss of the redeemed. If heaven is the genuine effect of goodness, the consummation of its native tendencies, so likewise is hell of sin. Hell is vice in full fruitage; vice in all its rankness and virulence; vice everlastingly unfolding, in a place where it encounters no check or abatement; bad passions growing and strengthening, with nothing to prey upon but the sinner's own heart. Can there be a misery, a torment beyond this? Surely hell is fitly described, and in language far from hyperbolical, as a worm that never dieth, and an unquenchable fire. It is the death,-the living death which is brought forth by sin,arrived at its full age and stature. It is the fire which finds in the incurably depraved soul its appropriate, inexhaustible, aliment. Ah, truly, in a tremendous sense is that true of hell, which is a truth so delightful in respect of heaven,-it is a "way everlasting."

From the views above taken it inevitably follows, that to make the farthest possible advances in holiness is a duty of unspeakable moment. For that spiritual plant, which in this terrestrial nursery has acquired most vigour, will be sure to thrive and fructify best above. The rate at which the souls of glorified saints improve in glory corresponds minutely, there is reason to believe, with the strength of that elementary holiness which they severally possess on entering a superior state. Whence it follows, that a slight disproportion in the vigour of that divine germ, as existing at death, will produce, in the course of ages, an immense disparity in the respective positions of the individuals.

Our business, then, is to pray earnestly for the Spirit of grace. For this principle of life eternal is not of human origin, but is the especial production of the Holy Ghost. It is for him to graft it into our hearts, to keep and nourish it, to make it strong and fruitful. Our part it is, to avoid whatever would endanger its existence or stint its growth. Be it never forgotten, that all sin,-one solitary act of impropriety, one single omission of

duty, one slight affront to conscience, goes | some way towards weakening the seminal principle of religion in our souls, and may be the primary cause of incalculable hurt to that holy character, on the due formation of which so much depends. It is impossible to conceive any check upon sin, and any incentive to duty, more powerful, than the consideration of how mighty an influence one wrong, or one right, step may exert on our spiritual health and position towards God, and thus on our eternal condition.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ENGLISH CONGREGATION AT ROME.

[Communicated by the Rev. Richard Burgess, B.D, late chaplain to the congregation; now rector of Upper Chelsea.] THE existence of a Protestant chapel at Rome, where the service of the Church of England is regularly performed during six months of the year, is of itself a circumstance worthy of attention; for, whether it be viewed as a striking instance of religious toleration, coming in an unexpected direction, or as the means of softening those prejudices which the comprehensive term of heretic conveys to the vulgar, it cannot fail to be an object of interest to every one who espouses the cause of civil and religious liberty. The institution is already known to a considerable number of British subjects, who will know how to appreciate the concession which prepared for them the privilege of joining in the public worship of the Church of England at Rome; but it is far from being generally understood that such an act of liberality has proceeded from the councils of the Vatican.

As early as the winter of 1816-17, English families began to reside in Rome in sufficient numbers to require "an house" for public worship: considerable difficulty was then experienced in procuring an apartment to be dedicated to such a purpose: the object was new, alarming, and contrary to the existing laws; but at length, through the influence of Signor Luigi Chiaveri, to whom the English have often been indebted for his kind offices in this respect, a private room was obtained, near the Column of Trajan; and thus began the service of the reformed Church of England in the " holy city." The duties were discharged by any clergyman who, happening to be present, had the zeal to offer his gratuitous services; the necessary expenses were defrayed by the voluntary contributions of the congregation, and the slender funds administered by the kindness of LieutenantGeneral Ramsay.

It is not to be supposed there was any intention, on the part of the civil authorities, to introduce the principle of religious toleration into the city of Rome; such a supposition would be little less than an impeachment of the minister; nor did the appearance of a new kind of worship work wonders in the sentiments of the listless multitude; but it had the effect of making some of them suspect that heresy, according to the definition they had heard of it, might not be altogether synonymous with infidelity; and the very circumstance of choosing a "festival" (Sunday) for the day of worship, shewed at least some traces of Church authority. It was soon discovered by the most intelligent of the lower orders, to which, of course, these remarks apply, that the English had a sort of mass of their own, and the solemnity observable in their manner of attending to it was archly compared with the careless genuflections of the Roman signori. In this manner, the forbearance of the

government was transfused into the minds of such of the populace as thought at all on the subject; it was not provided that it should be so-it was a natural consequence. During the first two or three seasons, such may be considered to have been the secret of the moral influence of the English congregation; and the most zealous guardians of pontifical authority had nothing to fear, and, it is to be hoped, never will have, from any overt acts of proselytism on the part of the officiating ministers. The protection afforded to the new congregation, although but a negative one, had been hitherto sufficient for all practical purposes; but it was still equivocal; and when the old apartment could no longer be procured, it was not possible to induce a private individual to incur the responsibility of becoming the new landlord; the displeasure of the authorities might be incurred. There was something which still required explanation; a public assembly of this nature, in the house of a Roman citizen, might cause him to be placed at the bar of the Inquisition ;* at the same time, a semi-official intimidation was given, that great caution and privacy should be observed by the English in the exercise of their privilege. It would, however, have required a very vigorous execution of the law to prevent a foreigner, who had already his "own hired house," from inviting his countrymen to a private assembly; and under this form (it must be confessed, a pretext), divine service was celebrated in a commodious room in the Vicolo degli Avignonesi, situated near the site of the ancient Circus of Flora! Thus did the Protestant congregation migrate from Trajan's Forum to the opposite declivity of the Quirinal Hill. The privacy suggested by the secretary of state was, perhaps, the best method of co-operating with his benevolent intentions; a motive less dignified may not be imputed to the virtuous mind of Pope Pius VII. At that period it would not have been difficult to outrage the feelings of many devout plebeians by an over-ready sanction of the nonconformity. Evident marks of pious indignation had been more than once observed in the populace at the sight of the Protestant bier; and although the more enlightened portion of the community were far from joining in this display of superstition, it shews that, if a less liberal policy with regard to the English worship had been adopted by the government, it would not have been at variance with the then popular feeling that it was not adopted, does honour to the memory of Pius VII. and his minister. But ten years have been sufficient to change that feeling as much in favour of the institution, as ever it could be against the precarious assembly; and it is now, perhaps, regarded by that same populace as the surest pledge of those advantages which they expect to reap from the presence of the English.

:

In the autumn of the year 1822, the author first took a share in endeavouring to promote the welfare of the establishment. It was his good fortune to meet on that occasion with a reverend person, now, alas! no more; but whose name is entitled to hold the chief place in this narration. By the zeal, discretion, and judgment of the Rev. Joseph Cooke,† and by his

* This word must not be allowed to convey to the reader any false notions. The Inquisition at Rome (although contrary in principle to all our ideas of religious liberty) is, at this time, a mild tribunal in its administration; some cases of injustice there must necessarily be, but it is of no use to deal in misrepresentation.

Mr. Cooke (late fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge) was a man of great literary accomplishments, mingled with solid piety, and devotion to his profession. His ardent pursuit of knowledge led him to undertake a journey into the East, in 1825, and he appears to have sunk under the fatigue of it: he died suddenly, whilst sitting upon his dromedary, in a mountain-pass called Ras Wady Hebran, about half-way between the Convent of St. Catherine and Tor, five miles north of Mount Serbal. He was interred by a Greek papas in consecrated ground, near the Twelve Wells of Elim and the Palm-Grove. May this tribute of respect for the memory of a good man survive the fleeting pages which contain it!

exertions (in which the author took but a small part), two essential steps were taken and secured: first, an apartment was hired, avowedly for the celebration of divine service; and, secondly, the connivance of the authorities was made equivalent to a sanction. The English worship then first assumed the nature of an establishment; it was held in the Corea Palace, situated in the Via Pontifice, close to the Mausoleum of Augustus. The number of winter residents had now greatly augmented, the congregation consisting of not less than 200 persons; and the assemblage of equipages could not fail to attract the attention of the public.

It was not long before a cry of alarm was raised amidst these proceedings, and the infant institution again trembled for its existence. The officiating ministers were accused of intemperate zeal; a conference was held with an influential personage; and a positive interference of the executive power was now apprehended. This led to the formation of a committee, to be called upon in case of necessity, to act in the name and on the behalf of the English residents, there being no diplomatic minister at the court of Rome. But the policy and good sense of Cardinal Gonsalvi were proof against all weak remonstrances; and it was at length intimated to the officiating ministers, that no obstacle would be offered to their temperate proceedings. Encouraged by this protection, Mr. Cooke, by means of a public subscription, procured the necessary appendages for a place of worship: the church-books could only be obtained through the kindness of Mr. Hamilton, British minister at Naples; a beadle was also appointed, with authority to collect the subscriptions: and thus the winter of 1822-3 may be regarded as the commencement of the institution.

The attention of the Protestants resident at Rome had already been directed to the waste ground allotted for burying their dead. Beyond the Aventine Mount, and under the walls of the city within, stood a few scattered tomb-stones, exposed to the trampling of cattle grazing in the Prato del Popolo, and to the still greater injury of human footsteps. Decency seemed to require that the graves which had just grown green should be secured from further encroachment, and that the few monuments should not be allowed to fall into ruins. A subscription to a considerable amount was collected for the purpose of carrying the design into effect; but upon application to the competent authorities, it was alleged that a wall would obstruct the view of the pyramid of Caius Cestius; and that the trees, which the friends of the deceased loved to plant round the tombs, had already begun the mischief. This answer being received, and no further hopes of success held out, the money subscribed was returned to the original donors, and the circumstance made an unfavourable impression abroad of the toleration of the papal government. In a discussion of the Catholic claims in the House of Lords, a noble lord, an opposer of those claims, was not slow to cite this as a remarkable instance of Roman Catholic intolerance. It is not clear that it was so; but the act of toleration in permitting the English service, which was evident, ought not to have been passed over in silence: it, perhaps, might not have been known. The discussion in the British senate was not, however, unheeded in the Vatican council; for during that very summer, and entirely at the expense of the "Apostolic Chamber," a sunk fence was dug round the old burial-place; another eligible spot of ground beyond the Pyramid was surrounded by a solid wall, and henceforth assigned for the Protestant cemetery. It only remained to secure and build up the sunk fence, for which work permission was now readily obtained; and the year following, the English, in conjunction with the German Protestants, not only secured the old burial-ground, but also

raised a fund of a thousand dollars, which yields annually a sum sufficient to keep the whole in repair, and procure the services of a sexton. "The senate and the Roman people" have a prescriptive right over all that ground about the Monte Testaccio called the Prato del Popolo; a fee of about two pounds is therefore demanded for every interment which takes place. No one will be inclined to consider this extravagant; but the fine (amounting to an equal sum) which is paid into the criminal court of the cardinal vicar, awakens a different feeling, and will, no doubt, be abolished whenever the government of Rome shall have leisure to attend to minor abuses. In the mean time, the cemetery is placed under the protection of the Prussian minister; and those who have to lament the loss of friends interred under the walls of Rome, may at least have this poor consolation, that their bones repose in a becoming security, and their monuments excite a sympathetic sigh in the breast of many a northern pilgrim!*

In the year following the grant of the new burialground, the author had the great satisfaction of again co-operating with Mr. Cooke in the service of the chapel. It was found impracticable to secure the same apartments for a second season, the apprehension of giving offence to the ecclesiastical authorities having not yet been done away. Pius VII. was now no more; and Leo XII. had only appeared as a disciplinarian. After the first two Sundays of the season, the term in the Corea Palace expired, and the congregation of 1823-4 seemed to be dispossessed of all its former privileges. But the precedent having been established, should another situation be to be found in any part of Rome, it could not be thought a more rash experiment than the former had been, were it put in the same requisition. After some difficulty, two commodious rooms were procured in the Via Rasella, a street which lies nearly under the garden-wall of the Quirinal Palace, the occasional residence of the pope. The adopting of this situation will appear nothing extraordinary to those who are acquainted with Rome: and if the new government had been capable of taking offence at a meeting of heretics because it had approached so near the precincts of the papal gardens, it would equally have discovered the blemish upon the "holy city" in a more remote "rione:" but Leo XII. reasoned like a statesman. "It is much better," said the holy father, "to permit the continuance of this assembly; for if it be prohibited, the English cannot be prevented from meeting in small numbers at their own private abodes; and thus, instead of one such congregation, we shall have twenty." It had not, probably, escaped the notice of Leo XII., that the English chapel had not yet shared in those wholesome regulations which were introduced by him for preserving the internal order of the city. The weekly assemblage of carriages at a stated time and place could not fail to attract the curiosity of the Roman people, which the presence of a police-officer might easily restrain. Without any application on the part of the officiating clergyman, and without any previous intimation from any quarter, Mr. Cooke and the author were not more surprised than rejoiced to find, upon arriving to perform the morning service, two sentinels stationed at the chapel-door. The carriages had all disappeared from their usual rendezvous, in consequence of a general order of the police: a more than common silence pervading the neighbourhood of the Via Rasella, it was now evident the authorities had at length interfered; but they interfered for the protection of the English congregation. To Pope Leo XII., then, they are indebted for this great privilege,

Two English poets are interred in the old and new burial grounds respectively,-John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley; the ashes of the latter were sent by his poetical friends from the gulf of Spezia.

which may be said to have thus received his sanction in January 1824. Thus encouraged, and being assured from a private communication, that it was the intention of the government to allow the English the free exercise of their worship, the officiating ministers now performed Divine service in their canonical robes. The propriety of making some suitable return for this privilege was next suggested; and hence the origin of the charitable fund, which will be noticed in the sequel.

The spiritual duties of the chapel were gratuitously discharged, and all clergymen of the established Church, who happened to be at Rome, were invited to contribute their services: the rent of the apartment and incidental expenses were supplied by voluntary subscription, the administration of which fund gradually became the business of the committee which had been originally formed for the purposes before mentioned. The author cannot let pass this opportunity of acknowledging the important and continued exertions of the Marquess of Northampton, and the laudable services of Dr. James Clarke (author of the "Influence of Climate," &c.), during his long residence in Rome.

The number of British travellers in Italy increased so greatly, that the rooms in the Via Rasella were far from being sufficiently large for the Protestant AngloRoman congregation, nor was their site one of the most convenient. Accordingly, in the year 1824-25, the committee exerted itself to find a place at once more appropriate and more permanent: it was desirable to fix the wandering congregation, which had now almost made the circuit of the Campus Martius. During the first few weeks of the season, the anxiety of former years was renewed; but at length, after diligent inquiry, the capacity of a chapel was discovered in a large granary near the Porta del Popolo: it became expedient to have a lease of a building which must needs be fitted up at a considerable expense before it could answer the purpose. The income, however, necessary for defraying the yearly rent, depending on the contingency of future congregations, there were no funds to answer any engagement beyond the year. The committee was relieved from this embarrassment by the generous and patriotic offer of a distinguished statesman, who guaranteed the payment of the rent for three years in case of the English ceasing, from any unforeseen cause, during that period, to resort to Rome. The institution was not less indebted on that occasion to the professional services of the Rev. Hugh J. Rose.

It has been supposed by many, that the chapel was removed without the walls of the city at the instance of the civil authorities, which is an erroneous notion, and ought in justice to be corrected. The government approved of the situation, but the committee were not controlled in choice of it. Indeed, it would have been hardly possible to have procured within the city-walls a room sufficiently commodious, and in every other respect so convenient, for the large congregation which is now to be seen in the English chapel, upon which, at different periods, not less than a sum of 2501. has been expended in bringing it to its present form. author has witnessed as many as 550 persons within its walls; and those who have seen it since the year 1829 will agree that there is nothing wanting in it for all the purposes of a Church of England congregation.

The

During the two succeeding winters the duties of the chapel were discharged, as before, by the gratuitous services of clergymen casually resident at Rome; but in the year 1827, the committee decided to ensure the performance of the regular duty by erecting it into a chaplaincy, their finances enabling them to offer a salary of 100%. per annum.

In considering the happy influence gradually effected in the minds of the common people by the growth of this institution, the charitable fund already alluded to

is an important feature. It consisted at first of the alms collected at the holy communion, which, in the former seasons, amounted to a comparatively small sum. In Mr. Cooke's first year, the sum total was about 150 dollars; it increased every succeeding season, together with the number of communicants, until it reached, in the year 1826-27, the sum of 1007. Cases of distressed British subjects being very rare at Rome, the whole of this fund was applied to the relief of the Italian paupers; in 1827-28, it grew into still greater importance.

The number of applicants, as may be easily imagined, was by far too heavy for the funds: about 200 names were already inscribed in the list, which reduced the monthly relief to a very small pittance; so that, without either diminishing the number of pensioners, or increasing the funds for a more generous relief of the whole, the charity was in danger of promoting mendicity, rather than adapted to the effectual succour of the deserving indigent, and the encouragement of honest industry. It was only necessary to make the circumstances known to decide upon the alternative. The chaplain had recourse to the means of a charity sermon, which was preached on the 30th of March, 1828, and was the cause of nearly 1201. being added to the stock. The alms collected at the altar were proportionally increased, so that in the course of this season about 1200 dollars (2701.) was distributed in monthly relief; and this independently of private donations in some special cases, which did not appear upon the charity-books. The rumour of English munificence now ran through the habitations of misery; the parish priests were assailed for their official signatures to the numerous petitions, which set forth in all the varied eloquence of the Italian language the miseries of poverty and disease; the successful candidates extolled too highly the "almsgiving nation," and gave the less fortunate false notions of its elecmosynary deeds. The rule to be observed by the administrators of the funds was simple. It was to calculate how many families might be effectually relieved during the winter months, and then make the selection from such recommendations and knowledge of the cases, as made out the best title to their consideration, the names already on the list having of course the first claim to investigation; but since written recommendations were sometimes too easily procured, the chaplain, whose business it had now become to dispense the charity of his congregation, could hardly discharge the duty conscientiously without a personal verification of the varied pretensions; to accomplish which task, it was necessary to visit 150 abodes of poverty. In this manner the charity-books were made conformable to the increased resources; and by a careful distribution, the whole was adequate to the relief of about 230 families. This may suffice, without entering into the "annals of the poor," or the affecting narratives of decayed nobility, to give the reader an idea of the nature and extent of British charity at Rome. Let him not say that it "begins at home;" for this will not add one gift more to the domestic "treasury," and it might take one from the "poveri vergognosi :" let him lament (if it seems reasonable) the temporary absence of his fellow-citizens; but if the Samaritan does "journey in the wilderness," it is better not to imitate the priest and the Levite: and if it be expedient for a strange community, enjoying the advantages of a foreign country, and receiving the hospitable protection of its government, to make any return, there can be none more suitable than, when partaking of the local privileges, to share proportionally the burden of alleviating the local distresses.

In the year 1828-29, the sum total of the charityfund fell a little short of the preceding year, and since that period it has, from unavoidable circumstances, decreased, nor can it ever be expected to exceed the year of the first charity sermon, if even it ever reaches