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melancholy proof that, in this state of imperfection, even the most generous passions of men often introduce causes of corruption in the formation of the most beneficial systems of polity. The secular traffic, which sometimes perverts the institutions of the Church, offers a serious ground of complaint, and a proper object of reform, This private patronage ought to be placed in the hands of the Bishops, who are the best qualified to investigate and to reward the merits of the clergy, and who are the most interested in the prosperity of the Church, and the honor of our holy Religion. But as private property should not be violated, a sum of money should be raised and a fund appropriated for the purchase of livings, the presentation of which should be vested in the natural guardians of the Church.' Perhaps a certain proportion might be taken from the produce of the yearly tenths, increased in a ratio, which has been already suggested, and employed in the gradual completion of a plan, which would be more beneficial to the fundamental interests of the country than the most successful political or financial operation.

These Observations arise from the most disinterested motives of removing every obstacle to the general adoption of the system of the Church of Christ, as it is established in this realm. Holding the most sincere conviction that its internal doctrines are the genuine doctrines of the Saviour of the world, and that its external forms are derived from those, which were prescribed and sanctioned by the Apostles, I would sacrifice every selfish consideration, the hope of the most splendid advancement, to the desire of suggesting one hint, that might tend to promote the honor and dignity of that Church, and vindicate its claim to the perfection of beauty, and the joy of the whole earth.-Its enemies call it presumption to appropriate these titles to an establishment, which is confined to a corner of the world, to England and some of its dependencies. The same objection has been made by Infidelity to the claim of Judea to contain the people of God. But, as once Jehovah did set his King upon his holy hill of Sion, the present appearance of the world gives us ground for the hope that, in this time of general defection from the Faith, the Church of England will be the source, from which the Earth shall be filled with the

Many illustrious instances may, no doubt, be adduced of private patrons, who have been guided by the purest regard to the honor of Religion in the disposal of their patronage. But few of them, it is hoped, would hesitate to accept an equivalent for that property, in order to promote the general interest of the Church.

knowledge of the Lord.-In defence of such a cause, who would not take pleasure in reproaches, in persecutions, for the sake of Christ?

It is this belief in the excellence, and this zeal in the service, of the Church, that affords one of the most powerful motives to the love of our Country. This motive is beautifully illustrated by the Psalmist in this striking apostrophe to his Jerusalem: Because of THE HOUSE OF THE LORD OUR God, I will SEEK TO DO THEE GOOD!

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THE

RETURN TO NATURE;

OR,

A DEFENCE

OF THE

VEGETABLE REGIMEN;

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF AN EXPERIMENT MADE DURING THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS IN THE AUTHOR'S FAMILY.

Man, only man, Creation's Lord confess'd,
Amidst his happy realm remains unbless'd;

On the bright earth, his flow'r-embroider'd throne,

Th' imperial mourner reigns and weeps alone.

SPENCER'S YEAR OF SORROW.

BY JOHN FRANK NEWTON, Esq.

LONDON:

VOL. XIX.

Pam.

NO. XXXVIII.

2 I

ΤΟ

WILLIAM LAMBE, M.D.

FELLOW OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.

MY DEAR SIR,

MUCH has been said, and justly too, in ridicule of dedications and prefaces; but never was a book more properly inscribed by one man to another, than this little volume on vegetable diet to you, by a person who owes to your important discovery so great an advantage as the enjoyment of health. Convinced as I now am, not only by my exemption from attacks of the complaint under which I labored, but by the improvement of my spirits and comfortable sensations, that a vegetable regimen and the use of distilled water have conquered a chronic illness with which I had been from childhood afflicted, allow me to lay on your table this feeble attempt to render more generally known a medical discovery, which, I am confident, will place your name at some future, and perhaps no distant period, at the head of your profession.

I remain always,

MY DEAR SIR,

Most sincerely your's,

JOHN FRANK NEWTON.

Chester-Street, 24th April, 1811.

INTRODUCTION.

Ir may be thought presumptuous in one unconnected with the profession of medicine, to write a book on diet, and offer his opinion on the nature of diseases. But having for many years been an habitual invalid, and having at length found that relief from regimen which I had long and vainly hoped for from drugs, I am anxious, from sympathy with the afflicted, to impart to others the knowledge of the benefit I have experienced, and to dispel, as far as in me lies, the prejudices under which I conceive mankind to labor on points so nearly connected with their health and happiness.

The particulars of my case I have already related at the concluding pages of Dr. Lambe's "Reports on Cancer." To the account there given I have little to add but that by continuing to confine myself to the regimen advised in that work, I continue to experience the same benefit; that the winter which is just elapsed has been passed much more comfortably than that which immediately preceded it; and that if my habitual disorder is not completely eradicated, it is so much subdued as to give but little inconvenience; that I have suffered but a single day's confinement for several months, and upon the whole that I enjoy an existence which many might envy who consider themselves to be in full possession of the blessings of health.

All that I have to regret in my present undertaking is the imperfect manner in which it is executed. The adepts in medicine have gained their knowledge originally from the experience of the sick : I have taken my own sensations for my guide; and am myself alone responsible for the conclusions which I have drawn from them, the manuscript of this volume having neither been corrected nor looked over by any individual. While I make no pretensions to medical science, I cannot consent to be reasoned or ridiculed out of my feelings; nor to believe that an illusion, the truth of which has been confirmed to me by long-continued and reiterated observation.

See "Reports on the Effects of a peculiar Regimen in Scirrhous Tumours and Cancerous Ulcers, by Wm. Lambe, M. D." Printed for J. Mawman, in the Poultry.

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