s influence
to the work-bench of the mechanic, and too often paralyze the arm of
laborious poverty. Within ten years, and in one of the most enlightened
cantons, men and women have been arrested, and fined, and imprisoned, in
the most cruel manner, for assembling to read the word of God; have even
been banished under pain of death, and without any passport to secure
them from imprisonment as vagrants in the neighbouring countries, merely
for preaching and hearing the gospel, out of the established church.

In the protestant churches of German Switzerland, the Helvetic
confession and the Heidelberg catechism, both in the strictest sense
orthodox, are recognized as standards of faith. This, however, is the
_only_ bond of union between the different portions of the Helvetic
church. The spiritual concerns of each canton are under the direction of
what is called the "church council," established by the government, and
composed of some of its members united with some of the clergy. This
body license, locate and pay the clergy; and form the court of appeal in
the affairs of the church. A congregation have no voice in the selection
of their pastor. Baptism and confirmation, or admission to the Lord's
supper, in the established church, are required by law, as indispensable
to the exercise of civil rights; and the latter ceremony is generally
regarded as a mere introduction into life. In the canton of Berne, no
person can enter the most menial station as a domestic, without
exhibiting his certificate of communion; and so far is this from being
an obsolete law, that we have known a person incur its penalty, because
he delayed for a few days the exhibition of this certificate to the
police. In this canton, (and we believe in most others,) no person can
be excluded from the communion, except by government; and, as a
necessary consequence, no discipline exists in the church. The Lord's
supper is received with great regularity by the whole parish; and in
some districts at least, the opinion prevails, that this ordinance is a
seal of the pardon of their sins.

Such is the external state of the church in German Switzerland. In
regard to its spiritual condition, we have little encouraging to
present. The mercenary troops which Switzerland has so long been
accustomed to sell to France, Spain and Italy, have usually brought back
corrupt principles and licentious habits; and the young men of patrician
families, from whom the rulers are ult