Cleave to the Rector of St. Stephen's, my darling bishop,-for he is a spiritual diamond of the first water. He understands your christianity: he is deep in the very marrow of it. A vulgar dissenter saucily observed, the other day, that Christ would not have done such a shabby thing as this excellent scholar of yours had done. But I told him he was an ignorant heretic and a jackanapes; and that if you could have the schooling of him for a few weeks you would open his eyes.

I congratutate you on the growth of orthodoxy around you, as evinced by heart-cheering incidents like these. It must be a comfort to you, now you are mortified by the vexing delay of the Privy Council, in giving judgment between your right reverend self and that fellow, Gorham.

I am, my beloved bishop, yours, ever lovingly,

THOMAS COOPER.

PEN-AND-INK SKETCH OF LIFE.

(Written at Holmfirth, March 16th, 1849.)

WHERE I now write, I listen to the continuous clank of the weaver's shuttle, from five in the morning until ten at night; and, from Monday to Saturday, do husband and wife toil on-claiming no intermissions except those that are imperative from physical necessities, and she, poor wan wretch! struggling between the wants of a child at the breast, and the hungerpinched importunities of three other hungry children. These two are a sober frugal family; and, in their situation, are thought well off. Three times a day they mess on porridge; and on Sunday are looked for at church or chapel. Must not this continued toilsomeness unrewarded, this continual wasting of the frame of man and woman, sicken the heart, and dry up the soul?

These poor weavers, too, are producers; and Labour and Land are the sources of capital. The Labour is the property in man; the Land is from nature, the field of man's exercise. Capital exists because of labourers ; yet have they no possessions. There are county halls and libraries; a young lady has just lectured on poetry at the Mechanics' Institution; there is a newly built Gothic church on the rising hill; and an installed pastor. Very good things, perhaps, all of them. But when will sweet sounds from ladies' lips reach the poor weaver's home? What will the well-spoken prayers do for the poor man's children? Of what value is your library to that white, and tortured mother?

There is a numerous class of human beings endowed with every natural capacity for mental and physical enjoyments, who are never reached by these liberal institutions; and have no means of reaching them. The building society, the benefit club, the saving's bank, may be all useful and hopeful for the better-paid operatives, or rich man's menial; but are nonexistent, practically, to the weavers. Their life is a blank; or, what is worse, a continued struggle of ebbing life, only cheered by the hope of a procrastinated death!

I know that all this will be lost on men of naturally weak morality, who are unacquainted with poverty, and yet pride themselves on the exactness of their views. They will say, "It is all improvidence." Or, perhaps, they will speak a few unmeaning words and end with, "It is the will of God!" There is a disposition among well-to-do men to shun poverty. In their

sunshine, they flutter like the butterflies in our gardens, and alight now and then on rare flowers, to return to their companions and talk of what they have seen. Such visitors are only acquainted with misery by name. They can form no really correct idea of the sufferings and wants of the poor.

I complain of this disposition in English society: it shuts us out from each other, and makes us a talking, doubting race. We do not know each other. Our novelists and artists give us pictures of life; but they are caricatures: not real transcripts of existence. And when workingmen write, they write of what is most distant from them. They desire relief, and cannot write of misery. Their songs are even sometimes heroic. Our divines preach in their books, exhort, threaten, save or damn by turns. They are priests-mere priests, not jesuits-but mere priests of the temple. The book of the loom will be a short sad book. Such a book as the late William Thom could have written.

It is this moral inability to know and feel misery, that disqualifies even the well-intentioned rich to judge of the poor. I think it was M. Arago who was told by a workman at the barricades, that he had never felt hunger, and could not think for workingmen. The speech of that French operative was true; a brief, but great speech. It was the long stifled voice of hunger: more piercing than lightning!

Rich cynic, cast aside thy fine linen and sumptuous table! turn out from thy soft carpetted rooms, and be changed in all things, which you cannot be, -but, make the trial!-endeavour to have no past but misery—no present but want-no future but woe-no ambition but death; and even then thou wilt not "feel what wretches feel!" SAMUEL M. KYDD.

Correspondence.

44, High Street, Dundee, 15th January, 1850. DEAR SIR,-I trust you will not deem it impertinent in me, to direct your attention to what seems an oversight, in your article entitled "Critical Exegesis of Gospel History," in the first No. of your Journal; and which might perhaps be corrected in a new impression. I need not remind you that you will need to look well to your positions in that article, for, depend upon it, they will be severely criticised. I have no doubt but you are right in anticipating that many will censure you for the publication of these discourses, but I am not of those who will do so. Fervently do I long to see the history of Jesus of Nazareth-"the most perfect exponent of the Absolute Religion, as Theodore Parker calls it-stripped of all improbable and impossible legends, and made credible on the ordinary principles of human judgment. This, I believe, you will aid to accomplish by your Critical Exegesis. The oversight I refer to, is that in the table of genealogy, the fourth name on page 14, is misprinted; Amariah' it should be Amaziah. Also, in the list from Luke, Melchi, is omitted from between, 'Addi' and 'Neri.' Its insertion will make the number of Luke's generations twenty instead of nineteen-opposed to Matthew's eleven.

It is not very clear from Chronicles whether Salathiel was grandfather or uncle of Zorobabel. I rather think he was the latter. It seems clear, however, that the Nathan mentioned in Luke is not the prophet of that name, as you have assumed; but a son of David, who is mentioned in 2 Sam. 5 ch. 14 v., and 1 Chron. 3 ch., 5 v., and, perhaps, in Zechariah 12 ch., 12 v. It would, I think, tend to prevent cavil, were the sentence on page 14, commencing "Test this scheme" and concluding "for a crime"-changed to something like the following:-"Test this scheme of explanation, and it is destroyed as soon as you commence; for we know from the Old Testament (2 Sam. 14, v. and 1 Chron. iii.5) that Solomon and

Nathan are two distinct personages-brothers, no doubt, by the same mother, Bathsheba, but of very unequal fortune-the one being the magnificent king who succeeded David, their father; and the other so 'unknown to fame' as scarcely to be again mentioned in Hebrew history."

If you think the above any improvement, I shall think myself honoured by your adopting it in any new impression of the Journal, or in any separate publication of the discourses. Wishing you every success in your endeavours to benefit your fellow men,

Mr. Thomas Cooper.

I remain, Dear Sir, yours respectfully,

JAMES M'DONALD.

North Shields, January 21, 1850.

DEAR SIR,There has been a meeting of Progressionists in the Lecture Room of the "Working Men's Association," Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to consider the most suitable plan for organizing the reformers of the different districts in the county. A provisional committee was elected to construct a plan, and to aid in carrying out the political emancipation, and social, moral, and intellectual elevation of the people. It is probable that a Progress Union will be formed. Further information upon this subject, will be forwarded in a short time. Hoping you will enjoy good health to enable you to continue your useful labour for the realization of the times, "when the Many shall cease their slavery to the Few," I remain, Dear Sir, yours very respectfully,

Mr. Thomas Cooper.

J. BLACK.

London, January 21, 1850.

DEAR SIR,-Your proposal for a Progress Union, must, I think, commend itself to every intelligent Reformer, for its clearness, not less than for its broad, straightforward, and comprehensive character. It requires no cumbrous and complicated machinery: it seeks no party triumph, no narrow or sectarian object. It proposes the union of all honest and true men, to act as a lever for the elevation of the national mind and character; and it purposes to accomplish this without involving any compromise of principle. Surely, at the present day, when the power to be derived from union, has passed into a proverb, when it is used as a rhetorical flourish by the orator, and serves to round the periods of the scribe,-to insist upon its utility or necessity for popular purposes, such as you have indicated, would appear superfluous. Men co-operate to construct canals, build bridges, establish railways,-why should not men of Progress also co-operate to build bridges for thought, railways for intelligence, and aid the growth of Institutions for the formation of higher and better characters? It will be a great and glorious day for our beloved country when the best and noblest spirits of our land shall band themselves together, heart, hand, and intellect, in a determined crusade against every form of error, injustice, and oppression : men prepared and eager for the conflict, who will spare no "venerable wrong," who will not bow the knee to Baal, who will disregard all conventionalism, and sham respectability, *proclaiming in the spirit of one of the heroes of the Reformation-"Here I stand to preach the truth, let them hear who list!" We want more such men :-men sustained by faith in their principles; who will enter into their work with Apostolic zeal, and animated with the heroic spirit of the Martyr. Men whose truthful, earnest words, and burning eloquence, shall arouse the dormant energies, awaken the slumbering intellect of the masses, and stimulate them to useful action. Men who will teach that the temple of true liberty can only be based upon a secure foundation, in the virtue and intelligence of the people; that by these alone they will win their rights, and be able to preserve those men who will appeal especially to the young, upon whom the future destinies of England mainly depend; who will seek to guide their aspirations, and enlist their sympathies, hopes, and active exertions, in behalf of this great movement. Men who will make them not only more fully acquainted with the struggles of the present, but familiarize their minds with the treasured wisdom of the past-and with the lives of the wise and good of all ages and countries,-that, guided by the light of their example, they may strive to attain to

similar excellence. Let every facility be afforded to enable such men to exercise their due influence upon public opinion, and thus create a veritable "Young England," and our "Dear, dear Land"-"This precious stone set in the silver sea"will be made worthy of the great names, and the illustrious memories with which it is consecrated. We may realize that which has hitherto been little more than a vain and empty boast: we have but to resolve it, and England may truly teach the Nations how to live, and become the "Admiration of the World." I heartily concur in the scheme which you have propounded: and if my humble efforts can be of any assistance, will cordially co-operate for its promotion. Mr. Thomas Cooper.

don."

Yours truly,

To Correspondents.

THOMAS SHORTER.

Correspondents will please address, Thomas Cooper, 5, Park Row, Knightsbridge, Lon

J. ROFF-Will this writer have the kindness to favour me with his full address?

A. TOZER.-I will use what little influence I possess, privately; but the purposes of this periodical do not permit me to employ it, in assisting him.

JOSHUA WOOD, Stockport.-His request concerning the Apocryphal Gospels' shall have due consideration.

T. G. M.-The 'Red' Lyric is too red, in its present form. Will the writer favour me with his address?

SHEFFIELDIENSIS.-Obliged by all his good wishes. I hope to visit Sheffield in the course of the year; but my engagements in London render that impossible before next June. The poetry is respectfully declined.

VON GOETHE.-The writer is undoubtedly correct; but, if he will think, he will see the necessity of agitating for Manhood Suffrage, as a right nevertheless; that is a part of education.

JAMES CAMERON.-Robertson's History of Scotland only treats of the later period: but it must be read. Latin without a Master'-a very cheap pamphlet, to be had of any bookseller,will answer his purpose. The poetry is respectfully declined.

WORKING MAN.'-The writer has, in several instances, misunderstood my meaning! and I, most affectionately entreat him to weigh the question deeply within his own mind-whether he writes in the spirit of Him whose disciple he professes himself to be?

T. W. G. Leicester; HENRY SMITH.-J. M. J.-D. C. Carlisle.-Their poetry is respectfully declined.

"Constant Reader." Etruria, Potteries. The Messrs. Chambers have issued Book-keeping by Single and Double Entry,' at 2s. It is said to be an excellent book.

L. and H. Wakefield; H. R. York; W. G. Ipswich. Much obliged: some handbills shall be sent, as directed, very soon.

F. G. Shelton; W. J. Leicester; J. A. L. Birmingham; T. J. C. Wolverhampton. Favours received, insertion next week.

www

Lectures, in London, for the ensuing Week.

SUNDAY, Feb. 3, at 7, Hall of Science, (near Finsbury Square) City Road.

"Gospel

History: the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus"-Thomas Cooper. At 7, Literary Institution, John-street, Fitzroy Square. "Celebration of the Birthday of Thomas Paine." (See Advt. on last page.)

MONDAY, Feb. 4, at half-past 8, Mechanics' Institute, Gould Square, Crutched Friars. "Life and Genius of Oliver Goldsmith"-T. H. Rees. At a quarter to 9, Finsbury Hall, 66, Bunhill Row: same subject same lecturer. (People who like short discourses should hear these!) At half-past 8, Pentonville Athenæum, 17, Chapel-street. Chemistry, with Experiments"-A. G. Rix.

WEDNES., Feb. 6. at half-past 8, Mechanics' Institute, Gould Square. "Life and Genius of Sir William Jones"-Thomas Cooper.

SOURCE OF VICE.-It is the fashion to charge all our ills on the corruption of human nature; it would have been correct to charge them upon the vice of social institutions. Look around you! how much capacity do you see kept out of its proper place, and therefore depraved; how much activity degrading itself into turbulence from the want of a legitimate and natural object to pursue. The passions are constrained to pass through an impure medium, and there they become changed. Is there anything surprising in this? If you place a healthy man in an infected atmosphere, he will inhale death.-Louis Blanc.

THINKINGS, FROM LAWRENCE STERNE.

AFFECTED GRAVITY.-Observe that man-with what an inflexible sanctitude of deportment he sustains himself as he advances-every line in his face writes abstinence; every stride looks like a check upon his desires; see, I beseech you, how he is cloaked up with sermons, prayers, and sacraments; and so bemuffled with the externals of religion, that he has not a hand to spare for a worldly purpose; he has armour at least; why does he put it on? Is there no serving God without all this? Must the garb of religion be extended so wide to the danger of its rending? Yes, truly, or it will not hide the secret; and what is that? That the saint has no religion at all!

PRIDE. With regard to the provocations and offences, which are unavoidably happening to a man in his commerce with the world, take it as a rule-as a man's pride is, so is always his displeasure; as the opinion of himself rises, so does the injury, so does his resentment: 'tis this which gives edge and force to the instrument which has struck him, and excites that heat in the wound which renders it incurable. The proud man,-see! he is sore all over: touch him, 'you put him to pain: though, of all others, he acts as if every mortal was void of sense and feeling, yet he is possessed with so nice and exquisite a one himself, that the slights, the little neglects, and instances of disesteem, which would scarce be felt by another man, are perpetually wounding him, and oft times piercing him to his very heart.

Pride is a vice which grows up in society so insensibly; steals in unobserved upon the heart upon so many occasions; forms itself upon such strange pretensions; and, when it has done, veils itself under such a variety of unsuspected appearances, sometimes even under that of humility itself; in all which cases, self-love, like a false friend, instead of checking, most treacherously feeds this humour, points out some excellence in every soul to make him vain, and thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think ;—that, upon the whole, there is no one weakness into which the heart of man is more easily betrayed, or which requires greater helps of good sense and good principles to guard against.

FORGIVENESS OF INJURIES.-It is the mild and quiet half of the world, who are generally outraged and borne down by the other half of it; but in this they have the advantage; whatever be the sense of their wrongs, that pride stands not so watchful a sentinel over their forgiveness, as it does in the fierce and froward ; we should, all of us, I believe, be more forgiving than we are, would the world but give us leave; but it is apt to interpose its ill offices in remissions, especially of this kind: the truth is, it has its laws, to which the heart is not always a party; and acts so like an unfeeling engine in all cases without distinction, that it requires all the firmness of the most settled humanity to bear up against it.

PITY. In benevolent natures, the impulse to pity is so sudden, that, like instruments of music which obey the touch, the objects which are fitted to excite such impressions, work so instantaneous an effect, that you would think the will was scarce concerned, and that the mind was altogether passive in the sympathy which her own goodness has excited. The truth is, the soul is generally in such cases so busily taken up, and wholly engrossed by the object of pity, that she does not attend to her operations, or take leisure to examine the principles on which she acts. BEAUTY.-Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation of a virtuous soul, when the beauty of the face speaks out the modesty and humility of the mind, and the justness of the proportion raises our thoughts up to the heart and wisdom of the great Creator, something may be allowed it, and something to the embellishment which sets it off; and yet, when the whole apology is read, it will be found at last, that beauty, like truth, never is so glorious as when it goes the plainest.

INDOLENCE.-Inconsistent soul that man is !-languishing under wounds which he has power to heal!-his whole life a contradiction to his knowledge !-his rea son, that precious gift of God to him-(instead of pouring in oil) serving but to sharpen his sensibilities, to multiply his pains, and render him more melancholy and uneasy under them!-Poor unhappy creature, that he should do so! Are not the necessary causes of misery in this life enow, but he must add voluntary ones to his stock of sorrow: struggle against evils which cannot be avoided, and submit to others, which a tenth part of the trouble they create him, would remove from his heart for ever?