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She died about four

hymns out of that language into Portuguese. years ago at the advanced age of eighty-five. Highly intellectual, elegant in manners, and eminently distinguished for sweetness of disposition, this pious and devoted woman was one of the most influential persons in her neighbourhood. For many years she conducted

a school, and was well qualified to teach Dutch, Portuguese, and Tamil. Doubtless this sainted matron secured the commendation of that Saviour, of whose love she was wont to discourse with so much sweetness. There was a dignity in her manner, a solemnity and a cheerfulness that combined to make her a most remarkable person. Her form, her expression of countenance, her faltering accents of religious wonder and delight have often cheered my mind; and she lives in my memory as a monument of the singular providence of God in the peculiar and bereaved circumstances of a small Christian community, who were in her provided with a light that shone in a dark place, till the day of enlarged and more diffusive light dawned, under the increased and multiplied means of instruction eventually provided."-Pp. 408, 409.

We now think that we have placed before our readers sufficient materials to enable them to form something of an opinion as to the contents and character of the book before us; we shall, indeed, be glad if its perusal shall induce any to make more earnest efforts to advance the great work of converting India to Christ. The records of the past in this matter must fill us all with shame, though we may take heart and thank God that much is now a record of past neglect and sin. It could not

now be said with truth, as it was said by Burke, that if our dominion in India were to pass away, we should leave no more traces of our presence than the orang outang or the tiger. The days have gone by when Sunday was the regular day fixed for horse-races and hunting, when commanding officers set their faces against public worship even at those stations where chaplains were settled: the peasantry are no longer beaten by order of the English magistrates for refusing to draw the idol cars, nor do converts to Christianity become disqualified thereby for holding government appointments, or by loss of caste, sentenced by our own courts to forfeiture of worldly position and all their possessions. We have got over the foolish fear that all India would rise in rebellion if we sent a Bishop; we have learned by the best of all proofs, that the Abbé Dubois with all his experience, and our own Henry Martyn, were mistaken when they doubted the possibility of the real conversion of a Hindu. The less profligate behaviour of professing Christians has removed in part one of the great obstacles to the gathering in of the natives. We have put down Thuggee; we have put down infanticide; we have abolished Suttee; we are doing our best

to put down the Meriah sacrifice; we have given to some extent the blessings of order, firm government, justice, safety to life and property, to that land so long distracted with wars, rebellion, disorder, and oppression. Much as we have to confess, (to our shame be it spoken,) in the way of short-comings and wrongs, yet the thought that God has borne with us thus long, until we have brought forth the first-fruits of our repentance, is surely full of hope and encouragement: we may now number our converts by tens of thousands; such a step as the new Mission to Delhi of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts is of abundant promise; what we now want is more men, and more of ecclesiastical rule and order in our Indian Missions. Churchmen both there and at home must aid in the work; Government will do nothing till it is driven on by an irresistible pressure of public opinion; all depends on them. What has hitherto been done sinks into utter insignificance when measured by our responsibility and opportunities; it is only as the earnest of greater things, as signs of an at length awakening interest, that we may venture to rest upon it, not with complacency, but with thankfulness and hope. Oh, may the days come when not some scattered congregations of despised converts, not some villages of poor and degraded peasantry, may be the representatives in that fair land of the faith and Church of Christ; but all, high and low, the Brahmin and Pariah, the wild Khond and the soft Bengali, may be gathered into the one true fold-may be all reckoned as henceforth of one caste, and that the highest, being in very deed "twice born," of water and the Holy Ghost; and India, long enslaved and alien, be reckoned at last among those kingdoms of the earth which have become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ.

Colonial, Foreign, and Home News.

SUMMARY.

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND, is suffering under a visitation of the cholera, and is distracted by a quarrel between the Governor and the House of Assembly.

The number of students in King's College, NOVA SCOTIA, is stated to be on the increase. An extract from the Bishop's recent Charge, printed in the Church Times, contains a moderate and manly vindication of the policy of gradually establishing Synodical action throughout the Church of England. This Colony is reported to be at present in a condition of unprecedented agricultural prosperity.

'Dwija. This is the especial boast of the Brahmin after he has assumed the sacred cord.

The Bill for secularizing the Clergy Reserves has passed the Canadian Legislature, but, at the time we are writing, no complete copy of it is known to have reached England. Some important amendments were made when the Bill was in its last stage, one of which seems not unlikely to lead to peculiar inconvenience to the Church. All ministers having a vested interest in the fund are to be allowed to commute their annual claims; but while the Roman Catholics or Methodists are allowed to commute as a body, this privilege is withheld from the Church of England. A proviso has been added to the Bill, to prevent the investment of any commutation-money in lands, under a penalty of forfeiture. The seven Roman Catholic Bishops of Canada, in an address, dated 26th Oct., protested against the secularization of the Reserves as 66 a measure fraught with danger to that peace which is necessary to the progress and prosperity of the people." The American Church periodicals contain full details of the consecration of the provisional Bishop of NEW YORK, on Nov. 22. The large and united congregation which filled Trinity Church, was a token of the zeal and strength of the Church as encouraging as that which inaugurated the episcopate of the lamented Bishop Wainwright. Again a prominent part in the solemn ceremony was assigned to the Bishop of Montreal, a worthy representative of the Church of England. A vacant chair on the right of the altar marked a touching circumstance. The feeble health of the venerable presiding Bishop forbade his bodily presence with his brother throughout the solemnity; but when the Veni Creator was sung, the aged Prelate came forward, and, surrounded by five other Bishops, laid his hands on his new brother in the weightiest responsibilities of the Christian ministry. The ardour with which Bishop Potter has since entered on his work has raised apprehension in the minds of his friends lest the Diocese of New York should sustain a repetition of its recent bereavement. The visit of the Bishop of Montreal has evidently strengthened the good impression which he left on the churchmen of New York two years ago. He remained some days after the consecration, and one of the three sermons which he preached on Sunday, the 26th Nov., was addressed to a congregation of deaf and dumb assembling at St. Ann's Church. A stirring Advent appeal for contributions has been issued by the Committee for Domestic Missions, Dr. Clarke, the Bishop of RHODE ISLAND, was to be consecrated on Dec. 6th. From CALIFORNIA we have an interesting account of the consecration, on Oct. 8th, of Grace Church, the scene of the early labours of Dr. Ver Mehr, as the pioneer of the able and eloquent Bishop in San Francisco.

At the present time, when the voluntary system, diversely modified, is rapidly extending in the Church of England, it should be noted that some of the most thoughtful of our American brethren show their dissatisfaction with its working. The Bishop of WESTERN NEW York, in a recent Pastoral to the laity, has made a full statement of its inadequate and harassing results in his diocese, and has suggested two modes of relief-punctual payment, and an annual donation to be

collected in every parish on Thanksgiving-day, as a supplement to the Clergyman's income. The True Catholic speaks with much disapprobation of the "system of self-supporting congregations and called ministers, and the principle that those who pay call."

The Bishop of GUIANA embarked for his diocese on Dec. 4th. The Bishop of GRAHAMSTOWN and his party have had a safe voyage to Capetown, whence they embarked, on Oct. 8th, for Algoa Bay.

The consecration of the Rev. Dr. Ryan, first Bishop of MAURITIUS, and the Rev. Dr. Barker, second Bishop of SYDNEY, took place at Lambeth parish church, on Nov. 30th. The new prelates propose to sail for their respective dioceses in about a month.

CHINESE BUDDHISM.-At a Meeting of the Asiatic Society, Nov. 18, a paper was read from Professor Wilson, consisting of a correspondence between him and Sir John Bowring, upon the subject of the Buddhist books known to have been carried from India and translated into Chinese, in the first six or seven centuries of the Christian era. Sir John has taken up the subject with much zeal, and with the assistance of Mr. Edkins, a gentleman who is devoting himself especially to this branch of Chinese literature, has succeeded in obtaining copies of several of the works in question. These works have been sent to England, and with them some notice of their contents. They are of an interesting character, but are evidently not among the most ancient of the Buddhist authorities. One of them is said to be a Chinese version of the work translated from the Sanscrit, under the title of "Le Lotus de la bonne Loi." Inquiries for other works of this kind are being prosecuted, and if not shortly obtained, little hope can be entertained of the preservation of such literary curiosities; the followers of Tae-ping-wang destroying all libraries and books except their own. The Oriental student may grieve; the Christian will hear of their extinction with small regret.

CHINA. It appears from the Occasional Paper of the Board of Missions, that the American Church has now in China, besides the Bishop, three Presbyters, the Rev. Messrs. Nelson, Keith, and Powell; one Deacon (soon to be ordained Priest), the Rev. Wong Kong Chi; three Candidates for Holy Orders, Messrs. Points, Yang Soo Dong, and Tong Chu Kiung; and five female teachers, the Misses E. G. Jones, Fay, C. E. Jones, Wray, and Conover-thirteen in all. The nature and prospect of the Bishop's labours will be best expressed in a letter from himself.

"You know," he writes, "how strong an advocate I have been, and still am, for sending out married men. At present, on account of the distress,' I would recommend the sending of only single men. Of such men I would venture to send as many as six, if they can be had, and keep them in the field, if we have to send the women and children all home. I shall not be at all surprised if it comes to this with respect to Mrs. Boone and our two children; but my mind is, God giving me health and strength, to stand by the work, with all the men that will cling to me, let what may come.

The distress among the people here is dreadful; it is really heart-rending to hear the sad stories they are coming to me with every day. They bring their children in great numbers to our schools, and refuse to take them away, when we sorrowing are obliged to decline them. The day before yesterday I was, however, completely overborne by a widow-woman. She said she had a son twelve years old, the finest fellow that had ever been seen in these parts—

tall, noble-looking, clever had been reading the books ever since he was five years old. It was in vain I told her I had now one hundred children to feed, and that money was so scarce, and provisions so dear, I could not take any more children. She said she knew it was all true; but that he was such a fine noble fellow, and they had been our neighbours, too, at Wong-ka-mo-dur, where she had seen Miss Jones every day out of her window; and his father was dead, and her house had been burned by the soldiers, and all she had was gone. And then she stood silently wiping her eyes, and looking at me, as much as to say, 'You can't say no.' I began to wipe mine, too; but I stood firm, and I told her I really could not take any more children. She answered, "To-day is the 8th, it is too late; I can't bring him to-day, I shall bring him to-morrow." She stood before me, the living picture of the SyroPhoenician woman, and I could withstand her pleading no longer. I told her to bring her son. May he prove a chosen vessel, as noble in the sight of God as he is in his widowed mother's heart! There is no saying when the present state of anarchy and confusion will be over. The last news from the North is, that Tae-ping-wang has met with a repulse. Should he be successful, I don't know what we are to expect from him. Time alone can show: but this we are assured of God will overrule, and cause the wrath of man to praise Him. In the mean time, the people's troubles here seem to incline them to listen to the Gospel, with more attention than formerly. I have had several applications for baptisms since my return.

LIBERIA. The following is from a private letter of the Rev. A. Crummell, a coloured Clergyman of Monrovia :-"A few words about that which is the dearest of all things on earth to both our hearts-the Church. We have several Mission Stations on the coast. Heretofore our (American) Missions have been confined to the heathen, now they are directed the more to the American blacks. Part of the Missionaries, indeed the most, are whites. We, i.e. the black Clergy, number five. I am appointed to the charge of Trinity Church, in Monrovia, the capital. We are working hard, erecting a church, and gathering a congregation. I preach regularly when well; and when not well, and yet able to get out, I sit down and read and preach. Green came out [i.e. from England, where he had for some months resided] a short time since, went to Bishop Payne (Cape Palmas), and received Deacon's Orders. He returns here my "assistant," or, as you say, my "Curate." We have organized a Convocation in this county (Montserrada), which meets at Christmas, Easter, and in August. Our August Convocation is nigh at hand, and I will send you a published account of its proceedings. We are three Clergymen in this county. We have three churches, and soon will have a fourth. In a few months we commence the erection of a collegiate building, in a very fine position-just on the sea, for the education of young men. It is to be of stone; three sides of a quadrangle, two stories high."

EGYPT. A recent number of the "Spirit of Missions" contains a Report from the Rev. J. Hill, Missionary in Greece, in which, after mentioning the appointment, of our Bishop of Gibraltar to hold a Confirmation in his church, and the invitation which he had himself received from General Lockyer to hold Divine Service in the English Camp at the Piræus, he concludes with an interesting communication from a friend in Egypt, giving an account of the consecration of the Coptic Patriarch in June last, at Cairo. The letter is evidently written by one inexperienced in the detail of the Oriental ritual, but it is still an interesting popular description.

"Since I last wrote, we attended at the Coptic Church to see the ceremony

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