spiritual destitution, and yet shows, at round numbers, it may be stated to be the same time, that never before has thirty-one thousand pounds sterling.— more been done for the evangelization And this is separate and distinct from of the masses, than is being done at the what has been raised for church buildpresent time. ing, and the payment of their own The Home Missionary Society,whose pastors. object is to preach the Gospel among THE FRANCHISE QUESTION IN THE REthe spiritually destitute parts of Eng- FORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.-A public land, has now 160 agents and evangel- meeting of the members and adherents of ists, being an increase of 50 evangelists the Reformed Presbyterian Church was held in two years. February 26, in the Merchants' Hall, GlasA NEW BISHOPRIC.-A new Austra-gow, for the purpose of protesting against lian bishopric has been founded, to take the overture, now before the Church, for a its name from the town of Goulburn, change in the position of the Church in reand the Rev. Mesac Thomas is to be and of the taking of the oath of allegiance gard to the exercise of the elective franchise, the first Bishop. He was to be conse- by her members. The circumstances which crated on March 25, (probably in Can-led to the calling of the meeting are as folterbury Cathedral,) with Dr. Ellicott, low: According to the "Testimony of the the Bishop-elect of Gloucester and Bris- Reformed Presbyterian Church," as hitherto tol. Mr. Thomas has been for some years the indefatigable Secretary of that most excellent Society, the Colonial and Continental Church Society. interpreted, her members are not allo wed to use the elective franchise, if they possess it, or to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and Government, on the ground that by law the Queen is the head of an un-Christian The appointment is spoken of in the Government, and as such usurps the crown most contemptuous terms by the (High-right of the Redeemer by being head of the Church) Guardian, and with great de- Church. Shortly after the formation of light by the Herald. The Guardian volunteer corps, the question arose as to says: "That one of the principal founders of the See of Goulburn almost resolved, on the intimation of such an ap pointment, to withdraw his support, is confidently asserted." whether Church discipline should be exer cised on those members of the Church who took the oath of allegiance. There being joined such corps, and, as a matter of course, great difference of opinion on the point, the question was brought up at the meeting of Goulburn lies between Sydney and Synod held in Edinburgh in 1861, when a Melbourne. The new Diocese will em-cmmittee was appointed, after a lengthenbrace an extensive though thinly inha- ed discussion, to consider the whole question lited region, which however, like other and report. That committee, at the next parts of Australia, is rapidly increasing meeting of Synod, held in Glasgow last year, in population and wealth. presented a lengthened report, in which they concluded in favor of allowing members of the Church to use the right of the elective The accounts and receipts for Home franchise, and to take the oath of allegiance. and Foreign Missions, of the United That report, after a discussion which lasted Presbyterian Church, have just been till three o'clock in the morning, was republished; and it appears that notwith-members of Synod dissenting; and, in conceived and approved of, a number of the standing the severe distress experienced sequence, there is now an overture before in many parts of the country, the amount the Church, which will be brought up at is larger than any former year. In the ensuing meeting of the Synod in Glas 4 SCOTLAND.` gow, which proposes to alter the "Testi- of the meeting, a resolution was adoptmony of the Church" so as to give effect to ed unanimously, that it was the duty of the entire church to enter, with a zeal greater than ever before manifested, on the great work of Christian Missions. the recommendations of the committee. To this those members of the body who hold the point to be essential to the position of the Church, decidedly object; and the meet ing on Wednesday night was intended as a demonstration against the overture. The hall was crowded, and several very earnest addresses were delivered. HOLLAND. At the end of last month an occurrence took place which excited great interest among Protestants, and was regarded as of special importance to the Reformed Church. One of the theological chairs at the University of Utrecht became vacant; and the successor, according to custom, was to be named by the king and his ministers. For a long time theology of a decidedly orthodox character was systematically kept down. The fears, however, of the truly evangelical party have all been dissipated. The successor named by the king as Professor of Dogmatic Theology, and who has been appointed and already entered upon the duties of his office, is Dr. Van Oosterzee, a man of vast erudition and a valiant champion for the orthodox faith. DENMARK. ITALY. By subsequent letters from Mr. Hall and from other sources, we are enabled to place before our readers some additional facts of great interest. Some time since a difficulty arose between the local authorities of Leghorn and Signor Ribetti. The source of the difficulty was this: the authorities refused to allow the bodies of the Italian Protestants to be interred in coffins in the cemeteries provided for them. This dispute occurred before the resignation of the Ratazzi ministry. But the matter has been decided; and the Minister of the Interior has written and sent his circular to all the Prefects of Tuscany, in which he grants to Protestants the privilege of burying their dead according to their own religious rites and customs. But the most remarkable feature of the times in Tuscany, perhaps we might almost say of Central Italy, is the application for missionary laborers in the Mission field. These applications have been signed, in some cases, by six, twelve, or twenty individuals from Grossetto, Campaglia, from Voltera and Perugia. M. Ribetti, the Waldensian past or at Leghorn, has just made a missionary tour, spending a few weeks and preaching in all these places with the most encouraging results. The Danish Missionary Society held its third anniversary at Rive, a town in the Duchy of Sleswig. Notwithstanding its remoteness from the great centres of the national life, the numbers in attendance were very large. Dr. Kalkar, one of the most valued pastors in Denmark and President of the Society, gave a most interesting report on the state of Christianity in Greenland. Among other things he stated that the translation of the Bible into the language of Greenland had been revised with great care, and that a new edition Palermo, after sending in his resignawas shortly to appear. Before the close tion to the Archbishop of the province, The new Waldensian Church, in connection with the Theological College in Florence, is completed, and the dedication service was to take place on the 19th of March. FAREWELL TO priest of wrote lately to Mr. Appia, the Waldensian pastor at Naples: Very horored Sir-Being confidently assured, by the grace of God, that the doctrines of the Romish Church are a denial of the efficacy of redemption in Christ, and that they degrade man and lead him to idolatry, I have given up my position as priest, although I am poor, and fiftyfour years old. Henceforth my aim is to preach the Gospel alone." that AUSTRIA, LIBERTY AND CLERICAL DESPOTISM IN AUSTRIA.-In Austria, whilst the Government, and even the Imperial Family, frequently show, by measures of the utmost good will, that they have in all seriousness accepted the new libertles granted to the Protestant Churches, we observe that the Romish clergy, faithful to the spirit of its old despotism, oppose to those liberties an obstinate resistance. This resistance is put forth on all points at once-in public instruc. tion, in which the Government have introduced a system of inspection and regulation for all alike; in the results, Another case-one out of many reach us from time to time-of a man refusing on his death-bed the Romish priest, and sending for the Evangelical pastor, to whom he was all unknown, has just occurred at Fiesole. It appears now annulled, of the Concord at, and that he had come to a knowledge of the truth through the humble Christian school supported there by a lady who has long had at heart the spiritual in terests of the Italians. A mission has been most hopefully begun in Perugia, the very heart of Italy, and at the gates of Rome, by the We rejoice to state that a thoroughly Evangelical man, the Rev. Mr. Franel, has been lately inducted as pastor of the Swiss Church in Florence. He will aid the other laborers there with his counsel and prayers. Dr. Ravel has started a paper, called the Evangelical Messenger, to take the place of the Buona Novella. which the Bishops attempt to retain piece by piece; lastly, in the most indisputable rights of the Protestantsrights sanctioned by the laws,and which the Government sincerely desire to respect. It is thus that the Bishop of Trent, excited by the progress of heresy, recently addressed to his clergy a pas toral letter, in which he declares that MISCELLANEOUS. MEMORIAL SERMON OF DR. BAIRD.-A Memorial Sermon, on the life and character of Dr. Baird, in connection with his work in behalf of the American & Foreign Christian Union, will be preached by the Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany, in the Reformed Dutch Church, corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty First Street, (Rev. Dr. Rogers') on Sunday evening, May the 19th inst., at 72 o'clock. ANNIVERSARY.-The Anniversary exercises of our Society will be held in IRVING HALL, on Thursday afternoon, May the 14th, commencing at 2 o'clock, P. M. OUR readers will please notice the change in regard to the time of holding our Anniversary. I have always found in my scientific studies, that when I could get the Bible to say anything upon the subject, it afforded me a firm platform to stand upon, and another round in the ladder by which I could safely ascend.-Lieut. Maury. There are no songs comparable to the songs of Sion; no orations equal to those of the prophet; and no politics like those which the Scriptures teach.-Milton. BOOK NOTICES. derful man, whose morning was so brilliant, and full of promise, but whose sun went down in thickest gloom. The whole story is told in the most interesting manner by his which is full of various incident from beginning to end, may be read with great profit by persons of serious and well-balanced minds. Messrs. Harper and Brothers have pub- | London, in which he preached for a few years lished two admirable books, from the pen of (now occupied by the Rev. Dr. James HamilProfessor Draper, of the New York Univer-ton), how often have we thought of this wonsity. One is a Manual on Chemistry, a work for colleges and schools, in which the elementary principles of the science are clearly treated, in a 12mo. volume of some 400 pages. This work is now extensively used as a text-female friend and biographer, and the book, book in schools and colleges in this country. The other is a most elaborate work on the Physiology of Man, in which a vast amount of information is collected, in a large and beautifully printed and illustrated volume 8vo., of some 600 pages. This work, though founded on scientific principles, and containing the results of extensive scientific research, is one that may be read with the greatest advantage by the men of nothing more than a good English education. The style is perspicuous, and the propositions and facts are explained in the most careful and satisfactory manner. The Harpers have published the Memoirs of the late Mrs. Bethune's excellent Mother, the celebrated Isabella Graham. Both mother and daughter were extraordinary women, eminent benefactresses of their race, and of children, especially of 'Orphans,' and the aiding of many ready to perish, will long be their sweetest memorial. The Harpers have also published in a beautifully printed 8vo volume, of more than 600 pages, the Life of the late Edward Irving, of Scotland, who died in December 1834, at the early age of but a little more than forty-two years,-one of the most extraordinary men, in talent, gifts, eloquence, theological and spiritual opinions and eecentricities of his or any other times. The author, or authoress rather, of this magnificent volume is a Mrs. Oliphant; who has certainly executed her task con amore, for it has indeed been a labor of love on her part. When in, or passing by, the large church in Mr. Bidwell's Eclectic for March is as interesting as ever, and contains several articles of great worth. The American Bible Society has published the admirable Sermon on the Life and Characfor many years the principal, as he was ever ter of the late Rev. John C. Brigham, D. D., the wise and judicious, Secretary of that whole institution. Dr. Adams' Sermon is worthy of the subject, and of the Society with which Dr. B. was so long connected. The Rev. Dr. Boardman, of Philadelphia, has recently published two excellent Sermons, one entitled; The FEDERAL JUDICIARY, a Thanksgiving Discourse; and the other, "THE SOVEREIGNTY OF God, the sure and only Stay of the Christian Patriot in our national troubles." We recommend them both most cordially to our readers. THE CONDITIONS OF Peace, A THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE (delivered on the 25th of Nov. 1862,) is the title of a remarkable discourse of the Rev. Albert Barnes. Probably Mr. Barnes never preached a sermon which will excite more attention than this. It is probable too, that many that read it will reflect with sadness, that if the opinions which this discourse unfolds, had been held and announced by the party, that has fast become the dominant one, five years ago, the present war would not have occurred. Sermon is a most interesting one. The |