cold-hearted long enough. A time may come, sooner than we expect, when we shall look with more of fellow-feeling on these bitter troubles. In the meantime, I will end my chapter with Fox's somewhat quaint, but beautiful, remark and prayer. Speaking of another company of the English martyrs, he says "Thus ended all these glorious souls, that day, their happy lives unto the Lord; whose ages all did grow to the sum of 406 years, or thereabouts. The Lord grant we may well spend our years and days, likewise, to his glory."

E. H.

Parish Churches.

WHITWICK CHURCH, LEICESTERSHIRE.

GROWTH OF A VILLAGE INTO A MANUFACTURING PLACE.

REVIVAL OF POPERY.

"WHITWICK, (says Nicholls, in his History of Leicestershire,') is situate on the border of Charnwood Forest, in a sharp and cold situation, having several high hills and rocks on the north side; yet the inhabitants are generally healthy."

From the same authority it appears, that it was originally "a fair and large manor, and of a great circuit;" that, "from its earliest history there is mention made of a castle there; and, on June 6th, 1293, King Edward I. granted to John Comyn, Earl of Bogham, a market on Tuesday, and a fair on the eve and day of St. John Baptist, and two days after, at his manor of Whitwick. His testibus, venerabilibus patribus J. Archiepiscopo Dublin, &c." "Elizabeth, relict of Alexander, Earl of Bogham, being mentioned as having crowned Robert Bruse king of Scotland at Scone," it is added, that "her son, Alexander, Earl of Fife, (to whom that office of crowning the Scotch king appertained by inheritance,) being then absent in England, at his manor of Whitwick." From 1346 to 1463 the name of Beaumont is frequently mentioned as possessed of the manor of Whitwick. These particulars are given in order to mark the contrast between its ancient and its modern state, it being now stripped of every vestige of this ancient grandeur, except the hill itself on which the castle stood, called yet the Castle Hill; and, till the last twenty years, bearing more the appearance of a dilapidated Welsh village, than of a thickly-inhabited manufacturing one, in the heart of England, although within the last fifteen years its appearance has manifestly improved. And, as its modern history will furnish, it is hoped, points of considerable interest to the readers of the " British Magazine," especially viewed in a moral and religious light,—to that it is proposed to confine, mainly, the present account.*

The church, a sketch of which accompanies this statement, stands on the side of the Castle Hill, and the church-yard is enriched by the immediately adjoining scenery of some of the most picturesque peaks of the rocks that grace Charnwood Forest. It is a fine ancient fabric, with a square Saxon tower, and reminds one somewhat, in

It has passed, as there is reason to believe, from the character of an almost strictly agricultural village to that of a closely-inhabited manufacturing one, and that in an almost incredibly short space of time. It consists of three townships,-Whitwick, Thringstone, and Swannington, the joint population of which, being greatly increased since 1831 by the introduction of a colliery, may be safely estimated at nearly or quite 4000. This transition furnishes ample materials for the reflection of the philosopher; and such as a nearer insight into the present state of manners and opinions in England would render highly interesting, if not actually momentous. In truth, few topics of a statistical nature are more important, or more strictly in keeping with the aims of this magazine. All, however, that the writer of this article feels himself equal to, or can pretend to aim at, in this connection, is briefly to remark, that the condensation of the newly-acquired population has led to a state of things very unfavourable to the best interests of those so condensed; inasmuch as it has produced the three evils of pauperism, insubordination, and absence of civility, or, if the

point of dignity, of Bangor Cathedral. There is an elegant font, a drawing of which is found in Nicholls, and underneath the north window there is "a man in armour kneeling, on whose surcoat, argent, sême of cross crosslets fitché, three fleurs-de-lis, gules, holding in hand an helmet and mantle, the crest thereon a talbot argent; and over his head hangeth an escutcheon, wherein, argent, sême of cross crosslets fitché, three fleurs-de-lis, gules. Talbot." "The tradition of the neighbourhood advances the height of Giant Talbot to nine feet, and adds, that the sculptor of the monument was under the necessity of absconding for having made the monument in every respect under the proper size." "The proportion neatly cut in alabaster, so curiously wrought and polished that it may well pass for white marble." "Over against him kneeleth a woman, on whose gown are the same crosslets and fleur-de-lis, and holdeth the same escutcheon of Talbot, and over her head hangeth, argent, a cinquefoil azure.”— Nicholls's History of Leicestershire, p. 1118–1122. "This town was one of those happy places where Robert Grosseteste's (bishop of Lincoln) zeal against impropriations had a good effect, though in other places he met with too great opposition to the good he intended; for, whereas the great tithes at this place were appropriate to his see, and a small pittance only left for a vicar, he restored the great tithes to the vicar, and consolidated them to the living for ever.-Magna Brittania, p. 1376. "From making appropriations to monasteries, deans, prebendaries, &c., the example went on to parish priests, who in populous and rich places obtained a vicarage to be endowed, and casting upon them the care of souls, they had the rectory appropriated to them and their successors as a sinecure for ever. Bishop Grosseteste, consecrated Bishop of Lincoln 1234, had a great abhorrence of this corruption. He looked upon appropriations as robbing God of his honour, the priest of bis maintenance, and the people of their souls, and laboured to restore all tithes to the parochial clergy. He consolidated the vicarage with the rectory in many churches,-in Stanes,co. Northampton; Lillington, co. Oxon; Yaxley, co. Huntingdon; in Whitwick, co. Leicester; in Hasle, Wootton, Drayton, Beauchamp, and other places. This consolidation seems to have been afterwards reversed, as it is now only a vicarage."-Kennet On Impropriations, p. 35. See also the Roll in the First Fruits Office. 1207-8 the advowson was in question between Thomas Maunsell, Roger Godeberd, and Robert de Aireby. In 1220 Thomas Maunsell is found the patron; in 1269, Henry de Lacy, as heir of Thomas Maunsell; in 1316 Henry de Bellamonte (Beaumont) and the Earl of Lancaster were joint patrons; from 1344 to 1391 the Prior of Holland was the patron. About the 16th century the impropriation was purchased by Lord Beaumont from the Earl of Salisbury, to whom it had been given by King James, and Lord Beaumont is found lay impropriator in 1646. In the King's books it is called a discharged living. The wake is on the Sunday after Midsummer-day."-Nicholls's History of Leicestershire, as above.

"In

word will be clearer, of civilization. The great extent to which these evils have prevailed may probably be assigned with truth to one single cause, viz. the very unusual circumstance of the manufacturing population having brought with them not one single master manufacturer. The simply animal consumers are therefore accumulated without the infusion of one single member of the "fruges consumere nati" class, (if they may here be so called,) to elevate, invite the exercise of respect, and humanize. The consequence is, that all are masters, and none servants; and, although viewed in a parochial light, (which, doubtless, will be one of the most interesting that can be presented to the readers of this magazine,) the arrangements of parochial minister, churchwarden, overseers, and, superadded to these, the modern contrivance of a select vestry, introduces some portion of that aristocratic influence, without which no sub-division of society, however small, can healthily subsist; yet the tendency is to disorder, dissension, and and misrule. The low ebb of trade, too, keeps the communities down still more; and, although a livelier description of artisanship and labour has been within a few years introduced into the place, both in tendency and actual effect diminishing this evil, in the shape of spar manufactories and an extensive colliery,-yet the latter (such being the nature of all incipient collieries) has brought with it also a great influx of dissolute vice; and both together, with all their redeeming circumstances of comparative wealth and property, have still, upon the whole, somewhat of a downward tendency, to foster popular independence and commotion. We have here, therefore, presented, under tokens peculiarly vivid, the naked evils of the manufacturing system, viewed generally in a social, and more particularly in a religious, light. The advantages of this system, being chiefly resolvable into the accumulation of wealth, fall not within the compass of this publication, and therefore are left untouched here. We have the congregating system, with no drag-chain, worth calling such, to impede its downward course; we have the evils of spiritual darkness and moral ignorance in almost unmitigated form. The most hopeful feature in the whole picture is the residence of a parochial minister; but even this was not known to the parish for fifty years, till within the last sixteen, and consequently its efficacy is less visible from that circumstance; although it is too important a trait in this parochial landscape to be omitted, that, from the necessity of the case, the opinion of the parochial minister, both amongst individual parishioners and such portion of them as assemble collectively in vestry, is received with unusual readiness and respect. In this single circumstance, probably, are to be found the most fructifying buds of hope; yet even these are somewhat blasted by the fact, that, with the scanty, however valuable, exceptions of the lay-impropriator, the non-resident incumbent, (residing in the neighbourhood,) and about two others, the parish of Whitwick may be brought strictly within the glow

By "simply animal consumers," for want of a better expression, is meant, those who from their circumstances are able to consume only what is essential to animal life, without adventitious, and therefore more extended, consumption.

ing descriptions so lavishly, though not unjustly, bestowed on poor unhappy Ireland, in regard to its heedless non-resident proprietors.

The mention of Ireland appropriately introduces the notice of another feature in the modern history of Whitwick, viz.-the sudden, unlooked for, irruption of popery into the parish. This took place so late as June 1835, when the project of a monastery at one extremity of Whitwick was first mooted, or rather very abruptly and unexpectedly announced. It will be remembered, that a favourite argument in the mouths of many of the advocates of what was misnamed Catholic Emancipation, was the following:-"There is no danger now of popery raising its head again in this enlightened country." How far this soothing maxim has been realized, and what share the famous Relief Bill has had in effecting its realization, may be safely left to the protestant reflecting reader to determine. In the instance of overt aggression of popery here adverted to, there is nothing, certainly, to encourage expectation of this sort. In fact, in the parish of Whitwick, popery has presented itself partly in the most unmitigated form of its ancient spirit of delusion, and partly with superadded accompaniments, which, it is hoped, are somewhat new to it; I mean in the shape of undisguised faction, and turbulence, as well as fearful expression of hatred to the religious institution of the country. With some of these movements the readers of this Magazine have already been made acquainted. (See No. 43, p. 113-114.) But in addition, and subsequently to these, during a great part of the last summer, two priests of the church of Rome divided between them the office of addressing such numbers of persons as they could assemble at cross-roads, in streets, and on the green of a market town, in language of the coarsest, most reviling, and most disturbing character. It is more, however, to our present purpose to remark, that the building proposed to be erected within the parish of Whitwick will be nearly, if not quite, the first monastery erected from the ground since the reign of Henry the Eighth. Viewed in this particular light, it seems to suggest a few remarks on the re-introduction of the monastic system into England, with which this article shall be concluded.

That there may be cases, where, from the peculiar character or circumstances of the individual, or from some special need and grounds for penitence, the stern strictness of the Baptist may be found more congenial and appropriate than the cheerful converse of the mild and merciful Jesus, is possibly a position to be safely and warrantably admitted. That there may be periods when the low, earthly, sensual, worldly character of the age, and the low tone of the prevailing religious feeling, might derive improvement from the sight and contact of genuine and sincere piety, detaching itself from all worldly cares and allurements, devoting itself wholly to God, is again true.* That in earlier ages, many monasteries were founded in a pure spirit of love to God, and that they often tended to promote his service, is no less true. But no one, who calmly considers the Romanist proceedings in

The reader will not fail to recall the true and striking remarks made in the admirable papers on the " Church of the Fathers," respecting this matter.—ED.

Ireland at this hour, can bring himself to the belief, that the re-introduction of monasteries into England is a step based on any Christian view; or to the hope, that the system itself will be established on any other than its worst footing-the worst, that is to say, not in external morals, but because it is intended simply as an engine of gaining or conferring power.

The attempt, therefore, to hold up this system as in any sense one laudable and meritorious, for those whose own feelings or spiritual necessities lead them to no such step, and to beguile men by the semblance of external sanctity, whilst the system is in reality subserving (as has been too often the case in the Roman church) to some of the grossest errors and corruptions that ever debased the pure form of apostolical Christianity, is one which ought to be met with all possible reprobation, exposure, and activity of opposition.

P.

THE DARK AGES.-No. XII.

THE BIBLE DURING THE DARK AGES.

Omissis igitur et repudiatis nugis theatricis et poeticis, divinarum Scripturarum consideratione, et tractatione pascamus animum atque potemus vanæ curiositatis fame ac siti fessum et æstuantem, et inanibus phantasmatibus, tanquam pictis epulis, frustra refici satiarique cupientem.-AUGUSTINUS.

THERE is no subject in the history of mankind which appears to me more interesting, and more worthy of investigation, than the actual state of the Christian church during the dark ages. It is, as I have already said, with a view to this that I have entered on this series of papers; and having now, I trust, in some degree, cleared the way, by exposing some popular misstatements, I hope to come more directly to the point. To begin, then, with an inquiry respecting the Christian knowledge, or the means of such knowledge, which existed in those days; and to begin this at the beginning-Did they know anything about THE BIble?

I believe that the idea which many persons have of ecclesiastical history may be briefly stated thus:-that the Christian church was a small, scattered, and persecuted flock, until the time of Constantine; that then, at once, and as if by magic, the Roman world became Christian; that this universal Christianity, not being of a very pure, solid, or durable nature, melted down into a filthy mass called Popery, which held its place during the dark ages, until the revival of Pagan literature, and the consequent march of intellect sharpened men's wits and brought about the Reformation; when it was discovered that the pope was antichrist, and that the saints had been in the hands of the little horn for hundreds of years without knowing so awful a fact, or suspecting anything of the kind. How much of this is true, and how much false, this is not the place to inquire; but I feel bound to refer to this opinion, because the necessity of describing the church during the kingdom of the beast in such a way as scarcely to admit of her visible existence, even when it has not led popular writers on the VOL. IX.-Feb. 1836.

S