The Congresses this year are unusually dull. The Church Congress
has, so far, been too provincial,—that is, Welsh ; and no paper of great general interest has been read, unless it be the Bishop of Winchester's, on " The Causes and Remedies for Dissent." The Bishop has ten remedies for Dissent, four of -which aro mere counsels of perfection, and if they could be fol- lowed, would extinguish Dissent and the necessity for Churches together. The fifth, however, s to accept all as Churchmen, who will accept Christ as the King ; the sixth, to avoid party termi- nology ; the seventh, to refrain from mixing religion and politics ; the eighth, to use more lay agency ; the ninth, to appoint a permanent diaconate ; and the tenth, to encourage irregular services. They are all good plane, but they would rather energise the Church than diminish Dissent. As to the Social Science Congress, most of the papers are so dull that the very audiences will not listen to them ; and only two— Lord Remy's, on the laud, and Mr. Vezin's, on the stage— have excited any general discussion.
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