which it urgently stands in need, in addition to those of a character exclusively spiritual. But when the clerical profession is both depressed in circumstances and insufficient in numbers, it has little prospect of commanding general notice from a proud, busy, crowded, and irreligious world. The United States of America may seem to offer an example unfavourable to this conclusion. In them not only does religion generally prevail, but also episcopal protestantism has recently advanced in a remarkable degree. This last, however, has chiefly gained ground among the wealthier and more intelligent classes of a people habitually religious. The great mass lies under its old liability to the fluctuating influences of various discordant sects, all contending eagerly for popularity; and many parts of the country appear to be very insufficiently supplied with religious instruction and consolations of any kind. More experience and information are, therefore, needed, before conclusions can be safely drawn from the American case. But matters have gone far enough to show the value of a system that will bear sufficient examination. The church's increasing popularity among a people extensively nurtured in prejudice against it is a testimony to the soundness of their national religion upon which Englishmen may think with honest pride, and which may eventually receive due attention from inquirers after truth in other nations. CONTENTS. Romish congregation de propaganda Fide Romish college for propagating the faith . French congregation of priests for foreign missions Suspicions entertained of the Jesuits Their compliances with the prejudices of their converts This largely attributed to unworthy artifices of the Jesuits |