In his independent organization of American Methodism, he [Wesley] embodied in general his own ideal of an independent Methodist Church.-P. 673.

In full view of this concession we have some surprise to express at Dr. Rigg's published utterances from our late General Conference, hostile, to a partisan degree, against our episcopacy.

German Reviews.

THEOLOGISCHE STUDIEN UND KRITIKEN. (Theological Essays and Reviews.) 1877. First Number. Essays: 1. RIEHM, The Idea of Atonement in the Old Testament. 1. KÖSTLIN, State, Law, and Church in Evangelical Ethics. Thought and Remarks: KLEINERT, Remarks on Isaiah xx-xxii and 2 Kings xviii-xx. Reviews : 1. LANGE, History of Materialism, reviewed by SCHMID. 2. SIEGFRIED, The Task of the History of Old Testament Exegesis at the present time, reviewed by RIEHM.

Professor Julius Köstlin, now one of the editors of the Studien und Kritiken, has established, by a number of able works, especially his biography of Martin Luther, (see Methodist Quarterly Review, 1876, p. 760,) the reputation of being one of the foremost theologians of Protestant Germany. He begins in this number a series of articles on the rights and duties of secular governments, especially with regard to the religious and moral interest of mankind. It is time, he thinks, for Protestant theology to subject the prevailing theories of the essence, boundaries, and estimation of the State to a new examination; for on the answer given to these questions will depend the solution of the old problem of the relation between State and Church, and the modern problem of the relation of both State and Church to the great social questions of the day. In the first article the passages of the Bible relating to State authorities, the opinions of Luther and the other reformers of the sixteenth century, and the views of modern Protestant writers on ethics are stated. Among the writers whose views are stated at length are Wuttke, (Sittenlehre, 3d edit., by L. Schulze,) Stahl, (Philosophie des Rechts, and Staats und Rechtslehre.) Mühler, late Prussian minister of ecclesiastical affairs,(Grundlinien einer Philosophie der Staats und Rechtslehre nach evangelischen Principi n. 1873,) Rothe, (Theologische Ethik, 2d edit.,) Schleiermacher, Alexander Vinet, Beck, (Kirche und Staat.) Vilmar, (Theologische Moral, 1871,) Harless, (Staat und Kirche,) Oettingeu, (Christliche Sittenlehre.)

ART. VIII.-FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN EUROPE.

FROM a comparative work on the States of Europe by one of the best living statisticians, Professor Brachelli, (Die Staaten Europas, 3d edit., Brünn, 1876,) which is now in the course of publication, we extract the following statistical summary of the Roman Catholics in Europe:

"The supreme ecclesiastical power in the Roman Catholic Church is, exercised by its head, the pope, in Rome, who is assisted by the college of cardinals. The pope enjoys the position and all the honors of a sovereign, and, in accordance with an ordinance of 1059, is chosen for life by the college of cardinals among its own members by a two-thirds majority of the electoral votes. The election takes place on the eleventh day after the decease of a pope, in the Vatican palace, in the so-called conclave, a wholly secluded place, which the cardinals are not allowed to leave until the new pope is chosen. The candidate for the papal see must be at least fifty-five years old, and not have any bodily defect of importance; otherwise the cardinals are only bound by an oath to make a choice according to the best of their knowledge. This includes the duty not to elect the candidate which the Catholic governments of Austria, France, Spain, and Naples, according to the vote of exclusion belonging to them, may designate as not acceptable. The pope-elect assumes a new name, is proclaimed to the people, is accustomed, in accordance with tradition, to confirm certain laws, and receives the consecration, the pallium, and the tiara from the bishop of Ostia, as dean of the college of cardinals. The pope has the title of 'Holiness,' or 'Holy Father.' He possesses a numerous court, and confers four orders of knights: 1. The order of Christ, which was founded in Portugal, recognized by the pope in 1320, and is conferred upon persons of the highest rank; 2. The order of St. Gregory the Great, which was founded in 1831, and has four classes; 3. The order of Pius, for all religious denominations, founded in 1847, and containing three classes; 4. The order of St. Sylvester, which was established in 1871, and comprises three classes. The order of the Holy Sepulchre, which was founded in 1099, and in 1868 divided into three classes, is conferred in the name of the pope by the Latin patriarchs of Jerusalem; and the ecclesiastical order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, which was founded in 1118, is likewise under the auspices of the papal chair. The relation of the pope to the kingdom of Italy has been regulated by the law of May 13, 1871. According to it the person of the pope is sacred and inviolable; the Italian government renders to him sovereign honors, and guarantees to him an annuity of 3,225,000 lire, and the enjoyment, free from taxes, of the Vatican and Lateran palaces and the villa of Castel Gondolfo, which places are not subject to the jurisdiction of the State,

and endowed with the rights of immunity, as well as those rooms which are temporarily occupied by the pope, or in which a conclave or a council are held. The pope shall not be impeded in the full exercise of his ecclesiastical functions. In the same way the free intercourse of the Holy See with the Episcopate and the entire Catholic world is guaranteed. The embassadors of the pope, and those of foreign powers accredited near him, enjoy the privilege of the law of nations.

The cardinals constitute, under the presidency of the pope, the sacred college, in which important affairs of the Roman Catholic world are discussed. The college of cardinals is. divided into three classes: The cardinal-bishops, (6,) the cardinal-priests, (50,) and the cardinal deacons, (14.) The first and third classes have their permanent residence in Rome; to the second class belong a number of cardinals, who in other cities occupy the position of archbishops or bishops. The oldest cardinal-bishop is the cardinal-dean, with various honorary rights. The cardinal-chamberlain makes the necessary preparations for the conclave, and governs with the heads of the three classes of the college during the vacancy of the papal chair. The cardinals are appointed by the pope, have the rank of princes of sovereign houses, and bear the title Eminence.'"

Under the pope the ecclesiastical power is exercised by archbishops and bishops. The archbishops are also, as metropolitans, placed over one or several episcopal dioceses, which, in union with the archbishop's diocese, constitute an ecclesiastical province. In this respect the archbishops rank the suffragan-bishops. Some bishops are exempt from the metropolitan jurisdiction of archbishops, and are immediately subordinate to the pope. The vicars-apostolic and prefects-apostolic, who depend immediately upon the pope, as well as the abbots and prelates, (nullius dioceseos,) also enjoy episcopal jurisdiction. The archbishops may hold provincial councils, and the bishops diocesan synods, in accordance with the Church laws. The former, which are presided over by the metropolitan, and composed of bishops, prelates, and other clergymen of high rank, have a concurrent power in questions of ecclesiastical legislation; while the latter, consisting of the provosts, parish priests, and heads of monasteries, appear solely as clerical assemblies of the diocese with advisory powers. The ecclesiastical authorities of the Roman Catholic Church of Europe were, in 1876, composed as follows:—

Of vicars-apostolic there are: 3 in Germany, 1 in Austria, 4 in Great Britain and Ireland, 1 in Sweden and Norway, 2 in Roumania, 4 in Turkey-total, 15. Of prefects-apostolic: Germany, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, and Switzerland, each have 1; and of abbots (nullius dioceseos) Austria has 1, Italy 11, Switzerland 2, and Monaco 1.

The secular and regular clergy in the several countries numbered, in

If these figures are compared with the Roman Catholic population, it will be found that the proportion of priest to population is as follows:

The following is the proportion of monks and nuns to the Catholic population:

In Italy all monasteries and ecclesiastical congregations were abolished by royal decree of July 7, 1866. The monasteries of male orders and congregations were suppressed in Portugal in 1834, and in Spain in 1841. In the latter country, however, the orders and congregations devoted to foreign missions, education, and the nursing of the sick, were exempted from the prohibition. In Sweden and Norway the establishment of monasteries is not permitted by law. In Switzerland the Federal Constitution forbids the reception of Jesuits, and of any congregations affiliated to them in any part of the confederation; also the estab

lishment of any new, and the re-establishment of abolished, monasteries. Germany, by an imperial law of July 4, 1872, excluded the Jesuits; and Prussia, by a law of May 31, 1875, all ecclesiastical congregations except those which devote themselves to the nursing of the sick. In Hesse, a law of April 23, 1875, provided that new establishments of religious orders shall not be admitted into the grand duchy, and that those now existing, except female orders devoting themselves to education, shall not be permitted to admit new members. Only congregations which occupy themselves with nursing the sick are not included in the provisions of the law. In the kingdom of Saxony there are only two monasteries of Cistercian nuns, and the establishment of new monasteries is prohibited for all time. In the kingdom of Wurtemberg and the grand duchy of Baden, the establishment of any new monastery requires a special authorization by the government.

THE GREEK ORIENTAL CHURCH.

In the Greek Oriental Church, which also calls itself the Orthodox, and in Russia and Turkey the Greek Catholic, the constitution is different in the several States. In Russia its head is the emperor, under whom the highest ecclesiastical power is exercised by the Holy Synod, the members of which, both clerical and lay, are appointed by the emperor. The bishop of Montenegro receives his consecration from the Russian Synod. In Turkey the ecclesiastical power is vested in the Ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople and the Holy Synod. The latter consists of the four metropolitans who carry the patriarchal seal, and of from six to eight other metropolitans who are called by the patriarch; but all the Greek bishops who are present in Constantinople can take part in its deliberations. The national Churches of Roumania, Servia, and Bulgaria are dependent upon the patriarch of Constantinople in doctrinal matters, but are otherwise independent. In each of these three countries the ecclesiastical power is in the hands of a Synod, which in Servia consists of the bishops, and in Roumania and Bulgaria of the bishops and archbishops. In Greece the Church is ruled by a permanent "Holy Synod," and in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy by an "Episcopal Synod," the monarch in both countries having the chief superintendence. The "Holy Synod" of Greece consists of five members, who are either bishops or other high ecclesiastical dignitaries; the Synod of Austria is exclusively formed by metropolitans and bishops. In the Austro-Hungarian monarchy there are three different ecclesiastical provinces: one in Austria proper, with a metropolitan at Czernovitz, in the Bukovina; and two in the lands of the Hungarian crown, of which one, with a metropolitan at Carlovitz, is for the Servian, and the other, with a metropolitan at Hermannstadt, is for the Roumanian nationality. The bishops of each province form a Synod, under the presidency of a metropolitan. All the bishops of the monarchy, moreover, unite in a General Synod, in which the metropolitan of Carlovitz is the presiding officer. The latter bears the title of a patriarch, and in ecclesiastical affairs all