of the governments. In the Bavarian Palatinate it is the introduction of a new orthodox hymn book which causes continuing troubles. The King of Bavaria supports the decisions of the Synod, but a vast body of the people oppose obstinately. In Hesse-Darmstadt it is the substitution of Luther's Catechism for one long in use in the schools, which proves an apple of discord. The old Catechism did not enjoy the estimation of the "believing" portion of the Hessian clergy, who prefer by far a return to the old Lutheran, though the evangelical school would have preferred the selection of one representing the views of the United Evangelical Church. In Baden a number of influential clergymen and laymen, mostly belonging to the Rationalistic party, have repeatedly held conferences at Durlach, to bring their views on Church constitution into a definite shape. They would leave to the grand duke his character as supreme bishop, but demand that the gov erning powers emanate from the body of the Protestant population, that ministers and church officers be elected by the people, that in the Synod lay and clerical members be equal, and that the president of the Supreme Church Council be always a layman. Thus the connection between Church and State is more and more a source of annoyance to the former, many of whom will be glad to rid themselves of it by giving to the Church a greater amount of Church government. A BODY OF MILLENARIANS in Wurtemberg, calling themselves the Society for Gathering God's Faithful People in Jerusalem, have broken off all connection with the State Church, and hold their own Synods in Wurtemberg. They are earnest supporters of the Evangelical Alliance, but too intolerant against the evangelical men who remain in the State Church. They have organized a colony on a little farm, in accordance with their peculiar views, which they intend afterward to convey to Jerusalem. Their number, however, is not increasing. They have recently sent a deputation to England, and it was their intention to convene a meeting of all true Christians in London.

The Roman Catholic Church. REFORMATORY MOVEMENTS are still reported to agitate to a large extent the lower clergy of Bohemia, which celebrates this year the millennial commemoration of the introduction of Christianity. It is intended to demand that there may be reëstablished in Bohemia the primitive ritual and

liturgy, which were introduced by Saints Cirillus and Methodius, but at a later period renounced by the Church of Rome. THE CONCORDAT WITH BADEN has been rejected by the upper house of that country as well as by the lower, and may thus be regarded as solemnly and deliberately rejected by all the classes of the population. The Catholic party felt greatly disappointed in seeing the high aristocracy vote this way. A large number of the parish priests memorialized the archbishop in order to express their concurrence in his views of the Concordat as a legal treaty actually binding upon all the subjects of the grand duke. The Roman Catholic journals misrepresented this as a unanimous support of the archbishop by the lower clergy, not a single member dissenting; but a few weeks later they had to record the pronouncing of the greater excommunication over one of the deans who refused to indorse the policy which the archbishop chooses to pursue in this question.

SCANDINAVIA.

The Protestant Churches.- THE PROGRESS OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY in all the three Scandinavian kingdoms is very cheering, and awakens the hope that Northern Europe, like North America, will soon be free from legalized ecclesiastical despotism. In Sweden the three conservative houses of the Diet, the nobles, the priests, and the peasants, have given their consent to the governmental bill, which repeals some of the worst provisions of the old code respecting secession from the State Church. The burghers rejected the bill as being not liberal enough. The government executes the new law, on the whole, in a liberal sense, and it is regarded doubtless that during the next year Sweden will advance farther toward religious liberty. Norway, which has long ago extended religious toleration to dissenters, has declared itself, through its legislature, willing to open all the State offices to the members of the dissenting denominations. A majority of the Storthing (lower branch of the legislature) voted in favor of this motion; but as a few votes were wanting to the two thirds majority, the question stands adjourned for three years, when the next Storthing will doubtlessly decide it in favor of religious lib erty. Denmark, lastly, is still farther advanced than Norway, and claims from the government the entire separation between the Church and State. The present diet is again occupied with the ques

tion, and numerous petitions have been coming in its support. Besides the religious liberty question is the CONTINUANCE OF THE GREAT REVIVAL, which is drawing the attention of the Christian world specially to Sweden. Copious and cheering information concerning it is given from month to month by "The Messenger," a monthly periodical, issued by the Evangelical National Association, and conducted by talented men of evangelical convictions. The work is the more remarkable from the length of time during which it has continued at its intensity. THE CAUSE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS will be greatly promoted throughout Scandinavia by the organization of a Central Danish Missionary Society, which was resolved upon by a missionary conference held at Nyborg, in Funen, on the 13th and 14th of June. The meeting was very largely attended. Upward of one tenth of the whole members of the Danish clergy, and a great number of laymen, took part in it. The principal object of the conference was to unite all Danish Christians who take an interest in foreign missions, who hitherto have worked, through a number of smaller societies, into one general Danish Society. All the speakers warmly supported the project except one, and a number of important resolutions, besides the organization of the Society, were passed; for example, that endeavors should be made to awaken public zeal in the cause of missions by frequently holding missionary meetings throughout the country; that every year a general missionary meeting should be held, and that as soon as possible a Danish missionary school should be established.

FRANCE.

The Protestant Churches.-THE CENTRAL COUNCIL OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES has adopted a resolution which cannot fail to excite a most painful impression in the Protestant world, and which may yet exercise a highly disastrous influence on the civil rights of French Protestants. Last year a Protestant gendarme refused to kneel, in compliance with the military command, in a church when the host was elevated. A similar legislation existed in other Roman Catholic states, and some years ago most of the Roman Catholic deputies of Bavaria helped the Protestants faithfully to have the military code so changed that an act so revolting to Protestant feeling should no longer be demanded from them. The

Central Council of the Reformed Churches has estimated in this case the natural rights of the Protestant citizen and soldier lower than the Roman Catholics of Bavaria. They have blamed the resistance of the gendarme, pointing out that it was his duty to obey orders. They think that the honors which are rendered to the "Holy Sacrament," according to the regulations, do not imply any idea of adoration upon the part of Protestant soldiers, who, in the fulfillment of a service upon which they are ordered, are obliged to share in it; that, therefore, the kneeling is an act of pure military obedience. The French Protestants, we understand, think generally on this point very differently, and we hope they will vindicate their right in spite of the Central Council. The occasional mismanagement of this board does not arrest THE PROGRESS of PROTESTANTISM. In Paris the Reformed Church has been organizing her field of labor by dividing the recently extended city into new parochial districts. The flourishing Church of Lyons reports that sixty-three persons have been added to the Church during the year, chiefly converts from the Church of Rome. The schools are also well attended, and the work among the military is making progress.

The Roman Catholic Church.THE INCREASE OF MONASTICISM in France formed, in July, the subject of an animated and interesting discussion of the French Senate. M. Dupin, ProcureurGeneral at the Court of Cassation, gave some official statements on the present condition of French monasticism, which created quite a sensation among the senators. "At the present epoch," he said, "there are many more congregations, associations, religious establishments of every nature and denomination than there were under the ancien régime. There exist now in France 4,932 religious congregations, authorized by the government, and 2,870 congregations not authorized. These associations have acquired immense property. They possess, for example, more than 100,000,000 francs in territorial estates, houses, etc. Besides this they have gov ernment securities and railway shares to unknown amounts. There is an enormous mass of wealth concentrated in the hands of these monastic orders, and which is increasing from day to day." M. Dupin demanded that three ministers-those of the interior, of justice, and of worshipshould be requested to take measures against the progress of the religious con

gregations. The cardinals who are senators attacked the conclusions of M. Dupin, and the senate compromised by referring to the minister of worship the petition which had provoked the discussion.

The Israelites.-A "UNIVERSAL ISRAELITE ALLIANCE" has been formed in Paris, intended to embrace the whole world. The object is to bind the Jews together so as to promote their general emancipation and progress. This alliance will tend to foster a feeling of unity among the Jews, and may lead to important consequences. There has been among the Jews of our days, for many years, a movement toward Moses; many are putting away orthodox Rabbinism, and taking Moses for their guide and the prophets for their example, and they are reforming their worship. The feeling of the French Jews toward Christianity is, moreover, far from being hostile. A proof of this was given very recently by their eagerness to follow the noble call of Mr. Cremieux, one of their members, and in 1848 a member of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, to subscribe liberally in favor of their Christian brethren now persecuted in Syria.

ITALY.

The Protestant Churches.-THE SYNOD OF THE WALDENSEANS met this year at a momentous point of time. A large majority of all the voters in the liberated provinces had demanded annexation to that Italian state which has now for longer than ten years patronized so nobly the cause of religious liberty. Instead of the groans of persecution, the Synod heard this year the most urgent calls for immediate spiritual aid. In consideration of these calls the Synod passed unanimously the important resolution to remove their "Theological College" from its retired situation at La Tour, in the valleys, to Florence, which is more and more becoming the great center of all Protestant movements in Italy. It was also resolved to establish a new Committee for Evangelization, separate from the old Table or Administrative Board, in order to carry on the work of evangelization more efficiently than hitherto. Yet already, hitherto, the Waldensean Church has had more evangelists and agents at work beyond its own limits, in proportion to its numbers, than any other Christian Church. Four additional colporteurs were added to the staff at work during

the month of July, supported from Scotland. One of these, appointed to labor in the Val d'Aosta, was set upon by two men in the neighborhood of Aosta within the last month, beaten in the most barbarous manner, and left for dead on the road. MANY CHEERING REPORTS are received from various quarters. At Florence a new Protestant school for Italian girls has been opened. In Pisa the Vaudois Church, under the direction of M. Ribet, is succeeding admirably, the hall in which they worship being always quite full on Sundays. The Tuscan Monitore, the government organ, has stated in two successive articles that the Vaudois had full permission to build churches for themselves.

The Roman Catholic Church.

THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPE is rapidly waning. The reimposition of "St. Peter's Pence," so pompously announced by the Roman Catholic press, and heralded with such ostentation by the priesthood, has produced very little. The pontifical treasury remained empty, and the head of the Church was reduced, like other monarchs, to the necessity of borrowing money from persons who are willing to lend. The bishops of all countries have received instructions to plead warmly on behalf of this loan, and they have fulfilled their mission of financiers with marvelous eagerness. In some countries, as in Spain, plenary indulgences have been promised to the lenders in addition to the annual interest of five per cent. THE AUTHORITY OF THE BISHOPS must have received a severe blow by the summary way in which the Sardinian government deals with those who refuse obedience to the laws. Quite a number of the prelates have been condemned to imprisonment and fined. It is to be regretted, however, that Sardinia occasionally exacts obedience from priests in matters essentially ecclesiastical, such as the singing of Te Deums, in which a secular government ought never to interfere. For the same reason we regret that Garibaldi has seen fit to expel the Jesuits from Sicily. It is a bad precedent, of which the enemies of religious liberty will be eager to make use.

SWITZERLAND.

The Protestant Churches.-THE ANNIVERSARIES OF FRENCH SWITZERLAND, held toward the close of June, at Geneva, command special attention on account of the two vast missionary fields which these societies cultivate, Italy and France. The

real wants of both can be and are more freely discussed on the free soil of Prot estant Switzerland than within their own borders, where the influence of the priests is still powerful enough to require the greatest caution in language as well as in action. The reports of the societies present many incidents of great interest, A letter from M. de Sanctis mentioned, with regret, that the work was not progressing so favorably in Piedmont. In the new Italian provinces it had been commenced and promised well. The report of the "Society for Aid to Protestants scattered Abroad" disclosed the astonishing fact that of the eighty-nine French departments there were twenty-five without a pastor, and fifteen with only one. The meeting of the Evangelical Alliance reported on the preparation for the General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance to be held in Geneva in 1861. The Council of State of Geneva had announced that it would welcome the meeting, and would lend every assistance; the ecclesiastical authorities of the National and of the Free Churches had answered favorably, and the circular had been well received everywhere and published in the religious journals of many different countries.

TURKEY.

Outburst of Mohammedan Fanaticism. We have repeatedly had occasion, in former numbers of the Methodist Quarterly Review, to refer to the profound irritation which has been spreading for years throughout the Mohammedan world against Christianity. The Christian nations began to fear that the outburst of Mohammedan fanaticism in India, in the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and at Djeddah in Arabia would be followed by others equally or even more atrocious. These fears, as our readers already know, have recently become a sad reality. A massacre of Christians of all denominations has taken place in Syria, more general in extent and more atrocious in its character than any other recorded in the history of the many religious wars in that country. The original perpetrators of these outrages were not Mohammedans but Druses, who have a religion of their own. But it is the sympathy and the assistance of the Mohammedan authorities and population to which the enormities of the Syrian massacre must be mainly ascribed. For the present the Christian Churches of Syria are nearly rooted out. The native Christians and the flourishing

congregations planted by American missionaries have equally suffered. Many thousand Christians of both sexes have been slaughtered, thirty thousand women sold to the Turkish harems, and nearly all the rest of the Christian population scattered and stripped of their property. The account of this extraordinary massacre has made, as was to be expected, profound sensation throughout the Christian world. Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek nations vie with each other in contributing aid for the Christian sufferers, and even the Jews have hastened to show their abhorrence of such acts by cordially joining this philanthropic movement. The governments of Europe, without distinction of creed, have agreed upon an armed intervention to check the fanaticism of the Turks. But, in the mean while, the agitation among the Mohammedans continues, and there is no room for the hope that the return of equally murderous scenes can be avoided, unless the Christian governments prevent it by an efficient protection of the Christian population of Turkey.

The Eastern Churches.-THE RESIGNATION OF THE GREEK PATRIARCH of Constantinople is an event of rather frequent occurrence in Turkey, but under the present circumstances it is of greater importance than formerly, for in the election of his successor the entire Church will for the first time take part, through its chosen representatives. THE BULGARIANS are maturing the preparations for cutting off altogether their ecclesiastical connection with the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Bulgarian Archbishop of Constantinople has left out in the liturgy the common prayers for the patriarch, and, being summoned before a Church Council, at which the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were present, he declared that his nation were determined to have no longer anything to do with Greek priests, and that he could do nothing except exhorting the Bulgarians to remain faithful to the orthodox faith.

RUSSIA.

The Greek Church.-The hope of the Christian world, that the government of the present emperor would inaugurate

an ERA OF THOROUGH RELIGIOUS AND ECCLE

SLASTICAL REFORMS, will not be doomed to disappointment. Important intelligence has been received respecting this point during the past months. Provisions have

been recently made for a vernacular edition of the Holy Scriptures, to replace the Slavonic version now in use. At the coronation of the Emperor Alexander, when most of the Russian archbishops assembled at Moscow, it was decided that all the theological academies, as well as all the representatives of theological science, should be appealed to to concur in this important work. The first portion of the new translation has already made its appearance, Measures like these cannot fail to tie a bond of union between the Eastern Episcopal and the Protestant Churches. We expect the same result from the liberality of the Russian government in defraying the expenses of the publication of the newly discovered Sinaitic manuscript of the New Testament. It will promote theological science in the Russian Church, and bring it into closer contact with the neighboring Protestant countries. To the same end will tend the transformation of the ecclesiastical semin

aries into theological faculties to be connected with the universities. While better theological schools and more thorough theological science will gradually train for the Church a better clergy, the establishment of Sunday-schools will be instrumental in penetrating the laity with a new interest in religion, The non-Greek denominations are thankful to the emperor for abrogating the intolerant law which forbade the reception of Pagans, Mohammedans, and Jews into any of the Churches except the State Church. A new law on toleration, which was submitted to the Council of the State, has been adopted. It still contains many intolerant provisions; for example, it subjects to punishment persons who found new sects, and orders the seceders from the State Church to be sent to the ecclesiastical authorities to be instructed and persuaded. But, nevertheless, it marks a transition to a better state of things than the one now abandoned.

I. ENGLAND.

1. Religious and Theological. Quakerism Past and Present: being an Inquiry into the Causes of its Decline in Great Britain and Ireland, By John

Stevenson.

The Peculium, an Endeavor to throw Light on some of the Causes of the Decline of the Society of Friends, especially in regard to its Original Claim of being the peculiar People of God. By Thomas Hancock.

These books undertake to answer an inquiry which properly awakens a considerable interest in the thoughtful mind.

Williams and Norgate, London, publish in the original languages the following:

The critical edition of Hyppolitus, with a Latin translation and Notes. Baron Bunsen, in his work on this newly discovered volume, affirms that it doubles our information concerning the Christianity of those primitive times. Also,

Fasciculus first of a new edition of Eusebius, edited by Lemmer. Also,

Vol. 1 of the Opera of Epiphanius, edited by Dindorf,

2. Biography.

In Biography a Life of Cavour, an Autobiography of Leigh Hunt, are published.

The Life of Schleiermacher, as unfolded in his Autobiography and Letters, translated from the German, in two volumes, with a portrait, is published by Smith, Elder, & Co., London. The letters amount to 460.

Memoirs, Letters, and Speeches of Anthony Ashley Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury, published by Murray.

3. Scientific.

Dr. Whewell has published a volume On the Philosophy of Discovery, Chapters Historical and Critical.

Professor Owen's work on Paleontology is confessedly an able but not systematic work. It treats mainly of vertebrate organisms. On the mode of the creations in the successive periods he is reserved. He enigmatically enunciates, as "perhaps the most important and significant result of paleontological research," "the establishment of the axiom of the continuous operation of the ordained becoming of living