This, in the temper of the present times, may be difficult, but it is
become indispensable, since large towns in great numbers have sprung up,
and others have increased tenfold, with little or no dependence upon the
gentry and the landed proprietors; and apart from those mitigated feudal
institutions, which, till of late, have acted so powerfully upon the
composition of the House of Commons. Now it may be affirmed that, in
quarters where there is not an attachment to the Church, or the landed
aristocracy, and a pride in supporting them, _there_ the people will
dislike both, and be ready, upon such incitements as are perpetually
recurring, to join in attempts to overthrow them. There is no neutral
ground here: from want of due attention to the state of society in large
towns and manufacturing districts, and ignorance or disregard of these
obvious truths, innumerable well-meaning persons became zealous
supporters of a Reform Bill, the qualities and powers of which, whether
destructive or constructive, they would otherwise have been afraid of:
and even the framers of that bill, swayed as they might be by party
resentments and personal ambition, could not have gone so far, had not
they too been lamentably ignorant or neglectful of the same truths both
of fact and philosophy.

But let that pass; and let no opponent of the Bill be tempted to
compliment his own foresight, by exaggerating the mischiefs and dangers
that have sprung from it: let not time be wasted in profitless regrets;
and let those party distinctions vanish to their very names that have
separated men who, whatever course they may have pursued, have ever had
a bond of union in the wish to save the limited monarchy, and those
other institutions that have, under Providence, rendered for so long a
period of time this country the happiest and worthiest of which there is
any record since the foundation of civil society.

* * * * *

III. A philosophic mind is best pleased when looking at religion in its
spiritual bearing; as a guide of conduct, a solace under affliction, and
a support amid the instabilities of mortal life; but the Church having
been forcibly brought by political considerations to my notice, while
treating of the labouring classes, I cannot forbear saying a few words
upon that momentous topic.

There is a loud clamour for extensive change in that department. The
clamour would be entitled to more respect if they who are