which in many cases perplex the question of the divine goodness, and let us look within at our moral constitution to ascertain if it throws any light on this difficult subject. Now we think that it is just here that the strongest proof of the divine goodness is to be found. Do we not sympathize with the miseries of our fellow-men, and if it were possible, would we not banish all suffering? Are not the natural impulses of our hearts, when unchecked by self-interest, benevolent? Are we better than our Maker? Must not God, who is the author of our constitution, possess the attributes of benevolence and goodness in a higher degree than we do ourselves? Infinite wisdom saw that it was best that there should be in the creation moral free agents, to whom suffering is necessary as a discipline in their probationary state-to man both as a discipline and a punishment, since he is a sinful being. Even angels must have suffered in their probationary state. When Satan drew off a part of the host of heaven there must have been an earnest struggle with the unfallen ones-accompanied with anxiety and dread-to escape being drawn into the vortex of ruin. We may, then, with confidence state the position, that God is the only being in the universe that is perfectly happy without having passed through sufferings. ART. IX.-FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. PROTESTANTISM. GREAT BRITAIN. THE RATIONALISTIC CONTROVERSY.The case of Bishop Colenso came up again for discussion at an adjourned meeting of the Convocation of Canterbury, in the month of May. Archdeacon Denison brought up the report of a committee, which, on his motion, had been appointed to examine the bishop's books, and which report the archdeacon himself had drawn up. The report was adopted, and a resolution was passed by the Lower House requesting the Upper House to take such steps thereupon as they might deem expedient. In the Upper House the Bishop of London repeat On ed the objection he formerly took, that it opinion, and the Bishop of Salisbury to their declining to follow it up. The Lower House unanimously accepted and concurred in the "judgment." This decision is important, not only in its bearing on the Bishop of Natal, but as being the first formal synodical act on doctrinal questions that the Convocation has taken in recent times. The case of two of the Oxford essayists, Dr. Williams and Mr. Wilson, who had been condemned by the Court of Arches for heresy and suspended for one year from the benefices, has been at length brought before the Queen's Privy Council, whose decision on the matter will be final. The arguments before the Committee of the Council were concluded on the 26th of June. The decision has not yet been an In June, Bishop Colenso published the third part of his work on the Pentateuch, treating of the Book of Deuteronomy.nounced. The work appears, however, to have fallen flat upon the public mind. The curiosity to see what a bishop could say against the authenticity of the Bible being once gratified, little interest seems to be felt in the matter. It has again become doubtful whether there is any authority that can reach Bishop Colenso and compel him to resign his episcopal crosier. At one time it was thought that his metropolitan, the Bishop of Capetown, would be able to subject him to his jurisdiction, and bring him to trial for heresy; but that hope has, in a great measure, vanished. It is found, by a decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, that a bishop's power in the colonies is no more than a bishop's power at home; that he cannot prosecute a single parish priest except for disobedience of instructions sanctioned by law. Now, as all the Episcopal Bench together cannot try Bishop Colenso, it seems to follow, that the colonial bishops cannot have much more power intrusted to them in the colonies. A great portion of the Church are glad that the decision of this question should be taken out of the hands of the Bishop of Capetown, who is an ultra Puseyite. The sensation produced by the book of Bishop Colenso has not been confined to the Christian world. In a paper published in the Turkish language, at Constantinople, there is an amusing letter from a mollah, dated from the Cape of Good Hope. The worthy Mussulman reviews the manners and customs of the Christians in that colony, and especially alludes to the religious dissensions among them. "Their priests," he says, "all advocate different creeds; and as to their bishops, 'one Colenso actually writes books against his own religion." Buddhists of India are likewise making use of Colenso's books in their controversies with the Christian missionaries. The PRESBYTERIAN UNION.-The movement toward a union of the non-established Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain, to which we referred in the last number of the Methodist Quarterly Re view, has since made considerable progress. In May, a decisive step was taken by the United Presbyterian General Assembly, which met this year in Edinburgh. The general principle of union was advocated by such leading men of the Church as Dr. Cairns, of Berwick, and Dr. Andrew Thomson, of Edinburgh; while Dr. King, now of London, moved that a committee be appointed to confer on the subject of union with the committee of any other nonestablished Church that may think fit to appoint a committee for that purpose. One or two of the members counseled a year's delay; but the great majority thought otherwise, and, in the fullest General Assembly of the Church that has ever met, 178 members voted for the committee, while only 17 were found to hesitate. The Free Church General Assembly, which met in June, showed itself no less favorable to the scheme. Dr. Buchanan, Dr. Candlish, and others made stirring speeches in favor of it, and on a vote being taken a Committee of Conference was appointed without a dissenting voice. The committees of the two bodies held their first joint meeting on the 17th of June. It was agreed to appoint a subcommittee to determine upon the documents that are of authority in the two Churches, as defining their position and principles, and the points which most require consideration in view of a union. To give time for this examination, the joint committees adjourned to the last week in July, and in the mean time invited the smaller non-established Presbyterian bodies in Scotland to take part in these deliberations with a view to union. ACT OF UNIFORMITY.-The question of relaxing the stringency of the Act of Uniformity formed, in May, the subject of discussion both in the House of Lords and in the Convocation of Canterbury. In the House of Lords, Lord Ebury's bill for the amendment of the Act of Uniformity, the principal object of which was to abolish the declaration required to be subscribed by persons holding of fice in the Established Church, declaring that the subscriber believed in "all things contained in the Book of Common Prayer," was lost on the second reading. The most remarkable feature of the debate was the support given to the motion by the Bishop of London, who defended the proposed change. In the Convocation the question was adjourned. METHODIST UNION.-A union movement, similar to the one which has been for some time in progress among the Presbyterians, has commenced among the Methodist denominations of England. It has, at present, for its object to unite the "liberal" Methodist bodies, by which term the originators of the movement include all of these bodies except the principal branch, the Wesleyan Methodists. The project was started by the New Connection Methodists, the conference of whom, at their recent session in Leeds, appointed a committee to confer with similar committees to be appointed by the other conferences. The plan has met with much favor. The United Methodist Free Churches passed resolutions, 1. Expressing their belief that a union of the various "liberal" Methodist communities, founded on a mutually sat On the 9th of June Mr. Buxton proposed the following resolution in the House of Commons: "That, in the opin-isfactory basis, would be productive of ion of this House, the subscription required from the Clergy to the Thirty-nine Articles and to the Prayer Book ought to be relaxed." The debate was looked upon as a great step in advance by the anti-subscriptionists, though the resolution was withdrawn without a vote. In July the Lower House of the ConVocation of Canterbury had a lively discussion on the subject. Dr. M'Caul had proposed a resolution, to the effect "That it is not expedient to relax the rule of subscription to the Act of Uniformity." The Rev. J. Bramstone, wishing to convince the opponents of the Act that it had been considered in all its bearnings by that House, moved the amendment: "That the prolocutor be requested to nominate a committee to consider the question of clerical subscription, and whether there are grounds for considering the subscription burdensome on the clergy, and whether it might be relaxed or modified without endangering the definite faith of the Church of England." After a lengthy debate, the propriety of appointing a committee to consider whether there were grounds for relaxation was carried by 24 against 14 votes. The appointment of a committee was urged by such men as Canons Selwyn, Wordsworth, Harold Browne, Archdeacon Moore, and others, not, in every case, because the speakers were themselves in favor of relaxation, but that they believed the examination of the question would tend to clear away much of the confusion that at present exists. great advantages to themselves, and promote the cause of ecclesiastical freedom and the diffusion of evangelical truth; also requesting the connectional committee to consider what measures can be adopted for the accomplishment of the contemplated union. 2. Authorizing the connectional committee to confer with any of the liberal Methodist bodies who may be willing to enter into negotia tions with a view to give effect to the preceding resolution. Both resolutions were unanimously adopted. The Bible Christian Conference also expressed itself highly gratified with the earnest disposition shown by the Methodist New Connection Conference to fraternize with other branches of the Methodist Church; yet in reply to the recommendation of the district meetings of London and Portsmouth, to consider the propriety of effecting an amalgamation with the Methodist New Connection, it declared that for the present it had better persevere in the work allotted to it by Providence in its separate capaciity; but should the hand of Providence at any future period appear to lead it into closer binding with that estimable denomination it would be prepared seriously to deliberate on the subject. The proposition had previously been well received and cordially seconded by the Primitive Methodist Conference, which was in session at the same time and place as the New Connection Methodists. The scheme of union is warmly seconded by the Canadian branch of the New Connection Methodists, and it is worthy of note, that the motion looking toward a union was simultaneously and without consultation made both in the English Conference and that of Canada. The Evangelical Witness, the Canadian organ of the New Connection Methodists, proposes two plans, by either of which it thinks the desired change can be effected. The first is to continue for a while, and under the same name, the British relations of the several bodies of Canadian Methodists, but to establish a General Conference, to be held every four years, through the instrumentality of which the Churches might be gradually brought together and eventually amalgamated. The other plan is that five members of the present executive committee of each body desiring union meet together and have a talk on the subject. The numerical strength of the bodies which are expected to enter into the union is as follows: The Primitive Methodists have about 141,000 members; the United Methodist Free Churches 60,000; the Bible Christians 25,000; the Methodist New Connection 33,000, and the Wesleyan Reform Union about 16,000. GERMANY. The THE STATE CHURCHES. — Important changes are constantly going on in all the State Churches. The government of the Churches by clerical consistories, appointed by the sovereign, has nearly everywhere given way to the popular demand for ecclesiastical self-government, and, instead of it, the introduction of a Presbyterian and synodical constitution has almost everywhere either been carried through or resolved upon. most recent change of the kind is that in the Kingdom of Hanover, where last year the introduction of a new catechism against the will of the congregations occasioned an immense agitation and almost a revolution. The opposition to this measure did not confine itself to the introduction of the new catechism; but a public conference, consisting of six or seven hundred members, among whom were about thirty pastors, met on the 22d of April, at Celle, and adopted another petition to the king, praying him afresh to take steps to provide an ecclesiastical constitution, having as its basis a real representation of parishes. This demand, too, had at length to be conceded, however reluctantly, by the government. The elections of the first General Synod of the kingdom have been held, and resulted in the total defeat of the High Church Party, which has not elected more than about six members. In Rhenish Bavaria the General Synod of the United Church has adopted a modification of the Electoral Law, regulating the composition of the presbyteries of each parish and that of the General Synod. The latter is to consist of an equal number of lay and clerical delegates. The eligibility to the local presbytery is made dependent on the religious spirit of candidates, who are expected to have been regular in their attendance at public worship and in their partaking of the Lord's supper. This last point was warmly debated. In the neighboring Grand Duchy of Baden, when the new ecclesiastical constitution was adopted, it was resolved in the negative. ORGANIZATION OF A NATIONAL GERMAN CHURCH.-There has long been a desire in Germany for a union of the several State Churches into a National German Church. The Church Diets, which have been annually held since 1848, and the biennial conferences of delegates of the several Church governments of Germany, have partly prepared the way for such a union, and generally strengthened the desire for it. At the conference in Celle, Hanover, to which we referred above, the celebrated Dr. Ewald, Professor of Theology at Göttingen, one of the first Oriental scholars living, brought forward a proposition having for its object the establishment of a General Synod of all the Protestant Churches of Germany, which might serve as a bond of union between those Churches, and in which might be treated all questions of general interest. It is expected that this proposition will meet every where in Germany with the warmest support. ITALY. THE WALDENSES.-The Waldensian Synod commenced its sittings this year at La Tour, on the 19th of May. This Church has now upon Italian soil twenty stations, in connection with which are employed thirty-nine agents. These consist of sixteen ordained clergymen, seven assistant evangelists, and sixteen schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. At Palermo and Naples the Waldensian obstacles and stratagems of all kinds which are brought to bear against it by the clergy. The congregation at Milan is rather large, and thence the Gospel is preached at Pavia, and in various parts of the Jutelvi Valley. The congregation at Courmayeur has rather increased, and meetings in connection with it are held at Aosta, the Aosta Valley, Chatillon, Arnaz, etc. At Pignerol there is a school, a large number of the scholars in which are Roman Catholics. At Turin the work progresses slowly, but of its constant progress there can be no doubt. Public worship is frequented by a goodly number of all classes of Turin society. The Sunday-school is attended not only by all the junior members of the Protestant families of the capital, but also by many Roman Catholic parents, accompanied by their children. There are various societies in active operation for the benefit of the poor and the sick, a Ladies' Society for Protecting Infants, a Sacred Choral Society, etc. In all directions, opportunities for extended usefulness present themselves. Church has obtained a firm footing. In the island of Elba religious meetings are regularly held in three different localities, Longone, Porto Ferago, and Rio di Marino, the latter being the center of the religious movement. At Leghorn the average attendance on divine worship is 375. In connection with the congregation, besides schools, there is a hospital for the. Protestant poor and sick, and a special cemetery. From Leghorn, Lucca, and Florence, the Waldensian agents go forth to evangelize in the Maremma, Grossetto, Campiglio, Volterra, etc., where the Gospel is listened to most attentively. A little congregation has been formed at Lucca, and another at Sienna. At Florence the work has made most striking progress. Besides the professors of the Theological Seminary, there is now a pastor there; the schools are said to be in a flourishing condition. At Verona, and in certain neighboring localities, an evangelist regularly assembles for worship a number of scattered Protestant families. The Congregation at Genoa comprises sixty families. It has a hospital, a Ladies' Association for The Evangelical printing office at the Relief of the Sick Poor, and a library. Florence is now stereotyping and printIt has two agents engaged in the working with its three presses New Testaof evangelization, and who extend their labors as far as Favale, Castel Nuovo di Lonvia, Pietra, Marazzi, and other Piedmontese localities. A little meeting is still kept up at Brescia, in spite of the ments, and Bibles, and books of all sorts for the young and the Sabbath-school teacher, the colporteur, and the evangelist. Fifty thousand of these books and tracts were sold last year. ART. X.-FOREIGN LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. ENGLAND. In biblical science the Rivingtons have published "The Inspiration of the Book of Daniel and other portions of Holy Scripture; with a Correction of the Profane and an Adjustment of Sacred Chronology. By W. R. A. Boyle, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister." It is noticed as a work of deep interest, and worthy of general favor. Besides the use of the best German authorities, the autho. has adduced the fruits of his independent study. The Clarks, of Edinburgh, have issued the second volume of Oosterzee's Commentary on Luke. It forms a part of Dr. Lange's series of commentaries on the New Testament. 66 Williams & Norgate, London, have published a second edition of a Compendious Grammar of the Egyptian Lanhidic, and Bashmuric Languages; toguage. as contained in the Coptic, Sagether with Alphabets and Numerals in the Hieroglyphic and Enchorial Characters. By Rev. Henry Tattam." spoken at Memphis, and is sometimes The Coptic was in truth the dialect called the Memphitic; the Sahidic or of which Thebes was the capital; while Thebaic was spoken in Upper Egypt. the Bashmuric was spoken in the Delta. The existence of several very peculiar words in the Hebrew Scriptures, traceable to the Coptic, of some ancient versions of the Scripture, and of some old liturgies, render this language deeply in |