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NEW CHURCHES.

Among the numerous sermons lately preached in pursuance of the King’s letter for the enlargement and building of churches and chapels, we notice one by the vicar of Dorking, in Surrey, from which we extract the following:—­“In many places of this country it is lamentable to behold the ruinous state of churches.  If a man’s dwelling-house be decayed, he will never cease till it be restored; if his barn, where he bestows all his fruits and his goods, be out of repair, what diligence doth he use to make it perfect?  If the stable for his horse, or the sty for his swine, be not able to exclude the severity of weather, when the rains fall, and the winds blow, how careful is he to incur the necessary cost?  Shall we then be so mindful of our common houses, deputed to such low occupations, and be forgetful toward that house of God, in which are expounded the words of our eternal salvation—­in which are administered the sacraments and mysteries of our redemption?”—­The persuasiveness of this argument is admirable, and its amiable tone and temper are infinitely more suitable than the florid appeal.

We also learn that Parliament has already voted a million and a half of money to the sole use of building churches, and that in the diocese in which Dorking is situated, thirty-two cases have been aided by the sum of 6,230_l_.

But the church of Dorking is in a dilapidated state, and is capable of containing only one-fifth of the inhabitants.  It was “probably erected about the commencement of the twelfth century; and the crumbling walls may almost be said to totter under the massive roof.”  This calls forth the following pious exhortation:  “Our lot is cast in a pleasant place.  Let us manifest our thankfulness to the Giver of every good gift by a structure dedicated to his service, corresponding with the magnificence of private mansions, and the natural beauties of local scenery.”  We can only wonder that, in a neighbourhood abounding with men of rank and opulence, such an appeal is necessary.

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SHORT-HAND.

“Sound is the gauge of short-hand, and connexion the master-key for deciphering.”  Such is one of the axioms in Mr. Harding’s eighth edition of his very valuable little “System of Short-Hand,”—­to which, by way of pleasant illustration, he appends, the “Dirge on Miss LN G,” copied by us from the “New Monthly Magazine;” but we give Mr. H. credit for the present application.  We could write a whole number of the MIRROR on the advantages of short-hand to the community; but as that would not be a practical illustration, we desist.  Only think of the “Times” newspaper being scores of miles from town before half London has risen; and the Duke of Bedford, reading the previous night’s debates at his breakfast table at Woburn Abbey.