300 Letter on Affairs in general, [MARCH, 



February contains a ludicrous deprecation of our English intolerance, in 

 compelling the Unitarians (I mentioned this matter in our last Magazine) 

 to marry according to the rites of the Protestant Established Church. 

 According to my friend of the Globe, the horrors of conscience which these 

 sincere seceders experience, in being compelled " to submit to ceremonies 

 which they regard as idolatrous and superstitious," are as afflicting as those 

 of a Jew, who should be induced, by the fears of an Auto da Fe, to swallow 

 pork. *' Void laformule" says the editor," dont Us se servent ordinaire" 

 ment :" and he then goes on to give an illustration of the manner in which 

 the bride and bridegroom get through the repetition of the ritual, and yet 

 avoid the abomination. Au nom dupere. Et (mais en protestant contre 

 lui) dufils. Et (mais en protestant contre lui) du Saint Esprit" &c. 

 &c. This protest reminds me of the qualificatory sentence of the proud 

 young lady in the story books, who was condemned to cry " Hot grey 

 Pease," in order to bring her to a sense of humility ; and cried " Hot grey 

 Pease! (I hope nobody hears me .'") But our Frenchman's conclusion is 

 scandalous. He says " Quelquefois lepretre Anglicane sefdche ; et alors 

 1'eglise devient un champ de bataillef" 1 think this is an exaggeration; 

 I don't recollect a fight in a church since the " Trial by battle," in the case 

 of the Iron^Cottin Company. 



An evening paper (I believe the Sun) states that the extensive library of 

 the late Sir Charles Wilson, turns out, on examination by his executors, to 

 be almost totally destroyed and valueless. Sir Charles was an extremely 

 easy and liberal man ; and there appears to be scarcely a copy of any 

 voluminous work, of which some portion is not wanting single volumes 

 having been borrowed by his acquaintances, and never returned. This is 

 a hard case, but I have no doubt of its truth ; for I recollect myself a still 

 more signal instance of the extent to which the system of borrowing books, 

 and forgetting to return them, is sometimes carried ; I knew a man 1 will 

 not mention his name whose whole library at his death was found to con- 

 sist of odd volumes, which he had borrowed from his friends and omitted 

 to carry back again. 



Speaking of Phrenology, a little way back, reminds me I attended two 

 or three lectures on that science once ; and I recollect it was argued as a 

 strong evidence of the probable divisions of the brain into various compart- 

 ments each having its own business to perform, and not troubled by the 

 operation of any other the power that the mind possesses of relieving itself 

 by a change of subject or study. As, for instance, a man fatigued with 

 leading law or mathematics, takes up one of the Waverley novels, or even 

 a poem which excites deep reflection, or even a work of metaphysics, like 

 Mandeville's Fable of the Bees ; and reads on as if with new strength 

 without difficulty. Now this is a curious fact ; but if it will support a 

 scheme of divisions and departments in the head, there certainly is an 

 opening for a new system of the same character as to the construction of 

 the stomach. Because, just as certainly as a man who can read no more 

 Coke or Newton, will get on again with Byron or Captain Basil Hall, just 

 as certain it is that a man who can eat no more turtle, starts afresh when 

 he gets upon venison then upon woodcock then ratafia pudding then a 

 little macaroni withparmesan and so on to fruit -devilled biscuit, &c. &e. 

 &c. through his four removes. I think this is a new point ; and I wish 

 Dr. Kitchiner would apply his mind to it. 



It seems an odd habit that they have in Ireland, of calling every man 

 " Counsellor," who happens to have paid his 120 for admission to the 



