I am not at all prepared to say that in the middle and lower ranks of life our countrymen have undergone much change in regard to religious observances.

But there can be no question that amongst the upper classes there are manifestations connected with religion now, which some years ago were not thought of.

The attendence of _men_ on public worship is of itself an example of the change we speak of.

I am afraid that when Walter Scott described Monkbarns as being with difficulty "hounded out" to hear the sermons of good Mr.Blattergowl, he wrote from a knowledge of the habits of church-going then generally prevalent among Scottish lairds.

The late Bishop Sandford told me that when he first came to Edinburgh--I suppose fifty years ago--few gentlemen attended church--very few indeed were seen at the communion--so much so that it was a matter of conversation when a male communicant, not an aged man, was observed at the table for the first time.