grandeur of the outward buildings that rose from the little church
of Augustine and the little palace of Ethelbert have been the
institutions of all kinds of which these were the earliest cradle.
From Canterbury, the first English Christian city,--from Kent, the
first English Christian kingdom--has by degrees arisen the whole
constitution of Church and State in England which now binds together
the whole British Empire. And from the Christianity here established
in England has flowed, by direct consequence, first the Christianity
of Germany; then, after a long interval, of North America; and lastly,
we may trust, in time, of all India and all Australasia. The view from
St. Martin's Church is indeed one of the most inspiriting that can be
found in the world; there is none to which I would more willingly take
any one who doubted whether a small beginning could lead to a great
and lasting good;--none which carries us more vividly back into the
past, or more hopefully forward into the future."

To this Gregorian canticle in praise of the British constitution,
I grieve, but am compelled, to take these following historical
objections. The first missionary to Germany was Ulphilas, and what she
owes to these islands she owes to Iona, not to Thanet. Our missionary
offices to America as to Africa, consist I believe principally in
the stealing of land, and the extermination of its proprietors by
intoxication. Our rule in India has introduced there, Paisley instead
of Cashmere shawls: in Australasia our Christian aid supplies, I
suppose, the pious farmer with convict labour. And although, when
the Dean wrote the above passage, St. Augustine's and the cathedral
were--I take it on trust from his description--the principal
objects in the prospect from St. Martin's Hill, I believe even the
cheerfullest of my audience would not now think the scene one of
the most inspiriting in the world. For recent progress has entirely
accommodated the architecture of the scene to the convenience of the
missionary workers above enumerated; to the peculiar necessities
of the civilization they have achieved. For the sake of which the
cathedral, the monastery, the temple, and the tomb, of Bertha,
contract themselves in distant or despised subservience under the
colossal walls of the county gaol.

LECTURE II.

THE PLEASURES OF FAITH.

_ALFRED TO THE CONFESSOR._

I was forced in my last lecture to pass by altogether, and to-day
can only with