The doctrines of Election, of Effectual Calling, and of Final Perseverance, have been cut away from the doctrine of Reprobation, and when loosed from their connexion with it, they represent a much milder system of opinion. The most intelligent holders of modern Calvinism contend that there is no decree hindering the salvation of any man; that there is in every man the ability, though not the will, to believe in Christ; but that all who shall be actually saved will be saved in consequence of the election and the effectual calling of God. This modification of the system has been the salvation of it in modern days. The reader may see an able exposition and defence of this modern Calvinism in several publications by John Howard Hinton, especially in his Theology,' and in his Harmony of Religious Truth and Reason.' The theological writings of this gentleman are distinguished by such clear and vigorous reasoning, and so manly an encounter with the real difficulties of a question, as to render them worthy of the most careful study.

But our business now is with Calvinism, as it was developed by its great expounder. It is singular that so candid a reasoner as Calvin was should not have directly met the objection that is fatal to his whole system. That objection is, that Calvinism, as much as any ism that was ever propagated by infidelity, utterly overthrows the responsibility of man. And yet he constantly implies that man is responsible. When he aims to clear the doctrine of Reprobation from the charge of injustice, he constantly asserts that men deserve the doom to which they have been decreed. He never attempts in detail to show how and why they deserve it, except by calling them the wicked. But clearly according to this system, Adam was the only man of the whole race that was really responsible. Adam had the power of choosing and determining in reference to good and evil; but when he sinned he lost the power of choosing the good, and bequeathed to his posterity a nature deprived of that quality. Henceforth, man could no longer be properly the subject of moral government-that is, a being with the capacity of obedience to the will of the great Governor, and, therefore, the proper subject of a system of means addressed to that capacity, with the view of restoring him to duty and happinessbut rather a creature under punishment for what was done by the progenitor of the race thousands of years ago, having, therefore, the nature and lot of a devil. So that the great doctrine that we hear from our pulpits, and read in our modern books of theology, that man is in this world on his trial, is a figment of depraved reason, offering us an amiable and hopeful, but deluded and delusive view of life, which ought to be exploded by every teacher of the truth. The true theory is, that we are here either as children of predetermined life and glory, and brought to the possession of them by no will of ours; or as children of predetermined damnation, and that we cannot avoid it by any will or exertion of ours. Our method of argument with Calvinism is very summary. It denies what Scripture asserts, what reason urges, and what consciousness ratifies, that man is truly and properly responsible for his character, and because it denies this first axiom of our

moral nature we reject it. Any man who shall wring or torture Scripture, as Calvin has done, to get a favourite dogma out of itwho shall convert this scene of man's probationary existence into a prison-house of lost souls, and shut the gates of heaven against the hope of man-who shall change the character of God from that of a Father into that of an inscrutable Judge, though he may plague us with a few texts difficult to explain satisfactorily-needs no refutation beyond the indignant, universal protest, that reason, conscience, and heart, will make against his conclusions. Scripture must agree with that protest.

Letters to a Country Coosia.

II. VISITS TO MILE END NEW TOWN.

MY DEAR OLIVER,-You, of course, remember your visit to the establishment of the great brewing triumvirate in Brick-lane-could any one forget those giant vats?-but have you borne in mind your lively speculations on the social and moral condition of the denizens of that frowsy' region? Perhaps not, but, at all events, they have prompted me to pay more than one visit to the locality, on my own account; for I confess to having had a twinge of conscience at my inability to satisfy your most laudable curiosity.

Mile End New Town is certainly not inviting. Environed by Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, and Shoreditch, abounding in weavers, bird-shops, barbers, second-hand boots and shoes, and used-up furni ture, and with whole acres of streets without a middle-class house, it sadly suffers by comparison with your breezy hills and charming woodlands. But it is by no means one of the worst quarters of this awful metropolis of ours. You see less of the filth and crime which invest some other spots with fearful interest, and though there are courts with plenty of rags and wretchedness, and some streets given up to thieves and semi-savages, yet I judge that the population is, on the whole, of the industrious and tidy class; low down enough in the social scale, but far from reaching the lowest place. And what a population! I know not the figures, but the most definite statistics could have given me but an indefinite impression compared with the scene presented on a fine June Sunday night, when, doors and windows everywhere open, whole families were exposed to view at every point, and troops of children covered road and pavement, and filled the air with hilarious shouts. Here were thousands of the working classes, in neither field, park, nor public-house, most of them cleanly and clad enough for a place of worship, but lounging listlessly, and, at the most, but enjoying rest from toil, or refreshing themselves with neighbour gossip. What had been done to draw out their higher sympathies, to quicken their spiritual nature, and to rescue them from a state in which they have no hope, and are without God in the world?' That

was the special purpose of my visits, and the result will form the burden of my letter.

Spitalfields and Shoreditch churches-large, heavy, grimy structures -the spires of which caught my eye while threading the maze of streets leading to the place of which I was in search, looked like the representatives of the old and effète parochial system. But as I got into the heart of the district, signs of a new spirit and of apter movements presented themselves in quick succession. First a Friend's School,' then a preaching station and school of the Domestic Mission (Unitarian); next All Saints' church, with its schools, and announcements of a clothing club, penny bank, and baptisms without fee; and presently the new Ragged church, the King Edward Schools and Refuge, the chambers and buildings of the Improved Dwellings Association, with washhouses in one street and baths in the next-all these being within a five minutes' walk!

My first visit was devoted to the Ragged church (in King Edwardstreet) the first building, if I mistake not, erected by the new Ragged Church and Chapel Union. It is situated in a decent street, is a good sized and plain, but respectable building, and more cheerful in appearance than many of our small chapels. First of all, I looked round for the Ragged element, but of the congregation there were very few who might not, without shame, have worshipped in an ordinary chapel. The place will hold, I should think, three hundred; but there were not more than about one-fifth of that number present, while there were enough lounging about within half-a-stone's throw of the place to have made a most acceptable addition. There are services in the morning, afternoon, and evening of Sunday, and on Wednesday nights, the best attendances being in the evening, and the next best in the afternoon. I believe that the attendance is seldom much larger than it was on this occasion; but I was told that there are many regular attendants, and in respect to decorum and attention, there was nothing to distinguish the congregation from any other. The preacher -a lay member of the committee, preaching in his turn-occupied a compound of platform and pulpit,-the latter, to my thought, too much predominating. Then the service exactly resembled those to which we are accustomed-long hymns, long passages of scripture, long prayers, with text and sermon, all in the usual order. So that on coming out, and casting my eyes down a street running at right angles with that in which the Ragged church stands, the question suggested itself, in what respect did it differ from the neighbouring chapel of Mr. Tyler, whose praise ought, if it does not, to abound among the poor of this neighbourhood. The practical difference could not, I thought, be great, and my feeling was one of disappointment at the apparent lack of originality in the scheme. And this feeling was confirmed on my hearing subsequently of an experiment which has been made in the immediate neighbourhood, where as many as eighty men are got together for worship in the cellar of a lodging-house every Sunday night, and with the most gratifying results! That, thought I, is indeed a success, and had it been possible I should have made for the

spot at once to have witnessed so cheering a sight. The Ragged Church Union, however, is not to be judged of from this particular effort, seeing that it seeks to do its work, among other means, by making grants to assist in opening, and keeping open, rooms and other preaching places of a humbler character; and it is, besides, perhaps, too soon to pronounce on the success of this one church.'

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I have not said that there is a school-room in the rear, which room was the original King Edward-street Ragged School, now transferred to the more imposing structure in Albert-street adjoining, and assum ing the comprehensive and regal title of the King Edward Ragged and Industrial Schools and Eastern Refuge.' Bessey will recollect, if you do not, the highly successful bazaar held awhile ago at the Milton Club-house, for the benefit of this institution for did not her kind heart prompt her to send, and her most skilful hand execute, some of the daintiest devices there? So tell her, pray, that I have at last seen the establishment, and, on her account as well as mine, assure her that she would have shared in my delight at witnessing philanthropic activity on so large and successful a scale. A dayschool for boys and girls, and another for infants-an evening school -a Sunday school for morning and afternoon, and Sunday night and infant schools, with a refuge for destitute girls, and savings'-bank, lectures, and other accessories-and all, apparently, not merely in existence, but flourishing-these, surely, sufficiently attest the capabilities of the institution, and still more the zeal and labour of those who carry on its operations. The average attendance in the day schools is stated to be 445, of whom no less than 210 are infants. The evening school does not include more than 100. On Sundays 220 are collected; and in the evening 338, of whom as many as 90 are infants. Altogether, there are 800 children under instruction, and all without any school-fee-the theory being, that those whose parents can afford to pay, should, after a while, send their children to schools of another class in the neighbourhood. Teaching is carried on partly by paid, and partly by voluntary agency, there being a master and mistress, with two assistants, besides a matron and assistant for the Refuge department, and a band, or rather two bands, of teachers for the schools on Sundays.

As at the Ragged church, so here-it was on a Sunday eveningI looked about for philanthropy's ragged protegés. Where were the rags, the dirty faces and fingers, and the riotous behaviour which we have been wont to associate with these institutions? The question escaped me involuntarily, and what was the response? Why, that most of these children were the veritable children of the poorest and most degraded in the neighbourhood-that, had I seen them two or three years earlier, I should have had no doubt as to the fact-and that in the plump faces, bright eyes, glossy air, tidy dress, and orderly manner, that surprised, and for an instant disappointed me, I saw some of the tangible results of Ragged-school education. Turning to the annual Report lately presented, I find this fact stated with an emphasis which makes it worth quoting :

LETTERS TO A COUNTRY COUSIN.

'To contrast the early history of this school with its present, is only to say that ignorance, riot, and wantonness, have given place to some degree of intelligence, order, and discipline; that love of mischief, which added so greatly to the novelty of these institutions, and made the work of education so apparently hopeless, has almost entirely disappeared; frugality and neatness now occupy the places of wastefulness and rags, and cleanliness, after many a struggle, has proved victorious; the luxury of clean hands and faces has been demonstrated as decidedly superior to their former neglected condition; nor are instances wanting of boys, formerly scholars, outstripping some of their more favoured competitors. Many are now occupying situations of respectability and usefulness, who, but for this institution, might have added the influence which they possessed over their reckless and hardened associates in perpetrating every species of dishonesty and crime, familiarized to them by the neglect in which they had been suffered to grow.'

Five hundred pounds a year must be considered to be well spent in producing such results as these, though without the liberal help of the Brewing Firm, and of men like Mr. Beauchamp, Mr. Samuel Gurney, and Mr. Charles Buxton, it would be found very difficult to raise that amount for a merely local effort; and I must add, that even a larger expenditure would be of small avail without the unflagging zeal of such men as Mr. H. R. Williams, the Secretary, and his colleagues, and such women as those who constitute the lady secretariat and committee. Nothing but ceaseless fagging can keep such machinery in prosperous activity.

There seems,

The Girls' Refuge is an interesting and important feature of the institution, for without it what could be done with girls described in the Report as being without father and without mother-without friends and without home; sometimes introduced by the police, but more often by compassionate strangers; or whose parents are so debased as to disentitle them even to the care of their offspring?" Only thirty-three have yet been admitted, and therefore there is plenty of scope for liberality in this direction; and a similar provision for boys must be regarded as a desideratum. indeed, to be no reason why such an institution should not multiply its means of alleviating human misery. In fact, I was told that during this last winter as many as two thousand persons were supplied at the institution with rations of bread and soup, when work was scarcest and the cold most pinching; and if those rich old folks - bless their warm hearts!-who pour their money into the hands of our magistrates to help people after they have been plunged into the deepest depths of poverty, and have scarcely escaped with life or character, would just let their spare cash run with something like an éven flow into such channels as these, not only would the same, and perhaps a greater, amount of material good be effected, but the door would be opened to many human hearts not otherwise accessible.

It is not always that those who labour in such neighbourhoods are privileged to see the beneficial results of their labours in a tangible shape, but there are portions of this Mile End New Town which present striking evidence, not only of the moral, but of the physical benefits which have come out of modern efforts to better the condition of the poor. The very street in which this King Edward School stands has, I am told, been completely metamorphosed, for where rows

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