band would be found, on due inquiry, to be, of all the Methodist institutions, the most favourable to Christian holiness. It is composed of not more than three persons of either sex, who agree to meet weekly at each other's houses for prayer and pious conversation. It is cultivated most by the gentler sex; and to this source more than to any other mere instrumentality we have been accustomed to refer the many eminent examples of female piety with which Wesleyanism has abounded, from the days of Mary Fletcher and Esther Ann Rogers, down to the present time. We should not doubt of finding more than one acknowledged model of the Christian lady in nearly every Wesleyan circuit. No where have we seen woman more 'adorned with every grace,' than among the well-educated Wesleyan families. The Methodist matron may be described as of pure, yet sprightly conversation; of simple, yet dignified manners; of chaste, yet elegant attire; a pattern of neatness and order; pious without pretence, and uniting cheerfulness with the priceless ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. In some, indeed, there may be discovered a tinge of mysticism, and a secret sympathy with the sentimental raptures of Mrs. Rowe and Madam Guion; but, in general, the tone of their experi· ence is subdued, while their holiness, not waiting for formal profession, beams forth in the mild radiance of a dutiful discharge of relative obligations. But we are in danger of extending this sketch beyond due bounds; and, although conscious of having very imperfectly executed our design, we must rest content with drawing to a close in a few observations. Upon a review of the facts, we cannot fail to be struck with the immense power wielded by the Wesleyan Conference. Territorially covering every parish in England, and pushing its conquests, like the state, into every quarter and corner of the earth; with 1,685 ministers under its orders, 15,000 local preachers, and 30,000 leaders, stewards, and trustees; with 468,313 members of society acknowledging its sway, and perhaps 2,000,000 hearers affording their countenance; with millions of property under its control, and an annual revenue of hardly less than one million at its disposal ;-it presents to the reflecting mind an aspect adapted to impress with awe, largely mingled with anxiety. And when we consider that all these means and agencies are put in motion by one central impulse, and guided and controlled by one central hand, that anxiety is ready to become alarm. Could we but be sure that this stupendous and smoothly-working machinery is constantly used for the production of unmixed good, alarm would give place to rejoicing. But we cannot so delude ourselves. Collect from preceding facts the connexional engagements of the ministers; and it will be seen, that their occupations must resemble those of county magistrates, town-clerks, parish overseers, and so forth, much more than the legitimate functions of the Christian pastorate. We know that many of them are learned divines, and a still greater number energetic and edifying preachers; we know that their Arminianism is not tainted with Pelagianism, and that their notions of Christian perfection are not, as is imagined, inconsistent with human pravity; we know, too, that, with a tact that implies the presence of a presiding genius, their ranks are constantly recruited with every variety of talent; but we also know, that they are encumbered with too much secular business, are invested with too much power, are too much infested with a crowd of parrotlike imitators of their leading preachers, are far too exclusive in their views of Wesleyan excellence and of ministerial authority, and are too much cut off, by their itinerant plan, from the play of those sympathies than which nothing is more essential to the success of ministerial labours-that, in one word, they are too much under the influence of these and other deteriorating forces, to permit the hope of anything like the full weight of their power and influence being ever directed towards the great ends of a gospel ministry and a Christian church. So far as those ends are concerned, we do not mean to deny, what we have above acknowledged, the existence of much true and deep piety in the Wesleyan Connexion; but, although not now so narrow and exclusive as in former days, it still too largely partakes of a feeling of unparalleled excellence, while, owing to causes already indicated, its general tendency is to decline into a cold and formal profession. Upon society at large, Wesleyanism no longer acts so vigorously as once it did. The additions to its numbers are comparatively small, sometimes counterpoised by positive declension, and often concealing, under an aspect of aggregate success, ominous instances of local inertia or retrogression. Its territorial comprehensiveness, combined with the activity and ostentatiousness of its central administration, may yield such compensation as the increase of public admiration can afford for the diminution of religious usefulness; but Wesleyanism, like every other thing human, seems destined to decay, and is now, to all appearance, in the portentous stage of worldly respectability. The question remains, what is likely to be its influence in the State. To this topic a whole paper might be profitably devoted; but we must dismiss it in a single sentence. Had the people who compose the body free scope for the manifestation of their sentiments, we cannot doubt that the influence of Wesleyanism would be freely given to all measures for the reform of abuses, for the improvement of the physical and moral condition of the community, and for the abolition of every law and every institution which interfere with the fullest extension of our civil and religious liberties. But, tied down as the Wesleyans are by laws which prevent them from moving hand or foot, and by usages which beget and maintain a servile spirit, the country and the legislature must receive their notions of the state of opinion in the Wesleyan church from the Conference and its emissaries. Nor can we expect that those who have contrived to build, even upon the foundation of the voluntary principle, so compact a structure of priestly authority in their own favour, will ever exert their political influence in support of any line of state policy, which might afterwards be quoted as a precedent for the entire subversion of their lordly hierarchy. In a word, the Wesleyan system is at once the best and the worst of its kind-the worst in reference to ecclesiastical government, the best in relation to practical efficiency; the good resulting mainly from abundant lay agency, the bad from boundless clerical assumption. They who shall adopt the good and reject the bad, will make a nearer approximation to the standard of Christian utility than has been witnessed since apostolic times. Art. II.-1. The Dog. By William Youatt. 8vo. THE physical constitution of the earth, and the qualities of the various beings that cover its surface, point to the great truth that this globe was especially designed for the habitation of man. There is perhaps no instance of this providential arrange ment more striking than that furnished by the race of animals whose history is the subject of the works before us. Whilst other quadrupeds, by the texture of their skins or the wholesomeness of their flesh, have been fitted for man's use, the mental faculties of the dog are evidently adapted, in a remarkable manner, for the same purpose. We do the dog great injustice if we suppose that his character has been the result of training merely, and that he is the useful servant of man only because man has made him so. The dog has certain inherent qualities, without which the most expert training would have been perfectly useless. Almost every other animal regards man as its natural enemy, viewing him with fear or attempting to injure him, whilst the various kinds of dog are distinguished by their tractable disposition and high susceptibility of improvement, and throughout the world they naturally and willingly render their best services to the human race. It is this feature in their character which renders the history of their habits, at all times, interesting, and which will secure for the volumes before us a considerable amount of attention. We owe both of them to the same indefatigable publisher. Mr. Youatt's appears under the auspices of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and is a work of greater pretension than the shilling weekly volume.' It contains an account of the different varieties of the dog, illustrated with excellent wood-cuts, and interspersed with information for the especial benefit of sportsmen. Rather more than half the volume is devoted to the diseases of the canine race, with directions for treatment, &c., supplied by Mr. Youatt's experience as a veterinary practitioner, which-however valuable to a dog-doctor-is not remarkably entertaining to the general reader. Mr. Martin's little work is of a more popular character. It is well written, full of interesting details, and worthy of a place in the very useful series of which it forms part. The origin of the dog has been the occasion of considerable controversy; but we think the difficulty has chiefly arisen from the disposition manifested by naturalists, to trace the different varieties to one source. It has been assumed that every kind of dog, at present existing, must have had a common origin, and that the remarkable varieties, which are found in the structure and habits of different individuals, may be traced entirely to the influence of climate, and other peculiar circumstances. We are aware of the great disposition always manifested in domesticated animals to vary from their original type, especially when for successive generations efforts have been made to produce and perpetuate certain varieties, but after making every allowance, in this respect, we think there remains abundant evidence to show that there were several original types or species of dog." We believe that almost every portion of the globe had its peculiar race of these animals, which roamed wild through districts, where no human foot had trod, and, alike untamed by domestication and independent of its benefits, prowled in the forest, or chased their prey in packs. When man extended his dominion over the earth, and sought to make the various products of nature subservient to his wants, he would quickly discover that the qualities of the dogs fitted them for his service. intercourse of various nations would subsequently lead to the mixture of the different species, the production of varieties, and to their general distribution throughout the globe. Some original types would be entirely lost, whilst other new forms of a mixed character would be perpetuated. If this hypothesis be correct, it may naturally be expected, that in the most isolated and barbarous nations some of the peculiar species, indigenous to them, ought still to be found. And such is the fact. In Australia, for instance, a part of the world which up to a comparatively recent period has been in a great measure distinct from the rest, and whose indigenous animals must therefore have continued to exist very much in their primitive state, we actually find a species of dog obviously different from all others. This is the dingo, called by the natives of New South Wales, 'warragul,' which roams through the wilds of Australia, hunting in small companies and preying upon kangaroos and the flocks of the settlers. Mr. Youatt states, that when Van Diemen's Land began to be colonized by Europeans, the losses sustained by the settlers by the ravages of the wild dogs were almost incredible. It was in vain to double the number of shepherds, to watch by night and by day, or to have fires at every quarter of the fold; for these animals would accomplish their object by stratagem or force. One colony lost no fewer than 1,200 sheep and lambs in three months; another colony lost 700.' As the colonists increased in numbers they were enabled to cope with this formidable enemy, until the dingo is now only met with in the interior of the island, and his ravages have nearly ceased. It seems to be more untractable than any other kind of dog. On the discovery of South America, the natives were found in possession of a species called the aguara, very different from any of the European domesticated varieties. It has been described by Buffon and Colonel H. Smith. In North America, there are the hare Indian dog, the Esquimaux, the black wolf-dog of Florida, Techichi of Mexico, and probably several others decidedly of indigenous extraction. The original dog of the South Sea Islands, which was found there on the arrival of the Europeans, is evidently a distinct species, although it is now being merged with various mongrel breeds, imported from Britain and other countries. It is called the poé (canis pacificus), and is of small size, indolent, with short crooked legs, erect ears, sharp muzzle, and of a reddish colour.' It is now rare, and will in a short time, no doubt, be lost as a distinct species; an occurrence which, judging from the above description of its qualities, can scarcely be deplored. The immense continent of India presents us with several distinct species of dog, probably little altered from their original type. Sumatra and Java, also, have each at least one peculiar species. In Beloochistan, the woody mountains of south-eastern Persia, a powerful dog exists, which is called the 'beluch,' and |