Page images
PDF
EPUB

LEOPOLD RANKE. Translated from the German by SIR ALEX. and LADY DUFF GORDON. In 3 vols. In 3 vols. London: Murray. THE work before us is of far too much importance to attempt more than a passing notice of it in this place. Although the work is a history of the Prussian power in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it is preceded by an introductory account of the rise of the house of Brandenburg; and it is carried down to the latter years of the reign of Frederick the Great. We hope to have an opportunity hereafter for a more extended notice of the contents of this work.

LV.-Wales: the Language, Social Condition, Moral Character, and Religious Opinions of the People, considered in their relation to Education, &c. By SIR THOMAS PHILLIPS. London:

J. W. Parker.

THE bulky and elaborate volume before us is designed chiefly to point out the injustice of certain allegations which have been made against the lower classes in Wales by recent inquirers, and to detail the present state and condition of the population, with a view to the more successful application of educational exertions. Sir T. Phillips remarks with justice on the impropriety of appointing bishops and clergy in Wales who are unacquainted with the Welsh language; and he points out the injustice of general accusations of immorality against the dissenters of Wales.

LVI.-An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles by the Reformers. By the Rev. THOMAS R. JONES, Incumbent of St. Mary's Welbrook, Yorkshire. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. MR. JONES has employed great care and diligence in perusing the works of Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, Hooper, Jewell, Philpot, Pilkington, Coverdale, Becon, Bradford, Sandys, Grindal, Whitgift, &c., and has made extracts from them bearing on the Articles. We have no doubt that his exertions will be entensively appreciated.

LVII.-A Continuous Outline of Sacred History: intended as a help to the Study of the Scriptures. By the Rev. W. SLOANE EVANS, B.A. (Soc. Com.) Trinity College, Cambridge, &c. London: Masters.

THIS Volume contains an each chapter are stated.

outline of the Bible, i. e. the contents of We have no doubt that such a series of

memoranda were useful to the author in his studies, but we do not distinctly see how they are to be made useful to others.

LVIII.—Baptism, with Reference to its Import and Modes. By EDWARD BEECHER, D.D. New York: John Wiley, and 13, Paternoster-row, London.

THIS appears to be a learned and argumentative treatise, in which the author refutes the opinions of the Baptists, and contends that the meaning of the word Barril is to "purify" and not to "immerse.

MISCELLANEOUS.

We have to acknowledge the receipt of a number of works which our limits forbid us to notice at present, except by their titles. Amongst these we may mention, Maitland's Essays on subjects connected with the Reformation in England, Cureton's Corpus Ignatianum, the Songs of Israel, by one of the Laity, Aitcheson's Strictures on the Duke of Argyll's Essay, Ford's Gospel of St. Mark, Kidd on the Thirty-Nine Articles, HandBook of Ancient Geography and History by Pütz, Fraser on Holy Confirmation, Lowe's Sermon on the Doom of Murder, Lyon's Letters on the Duke of Argyll's Work, Ross's Letters on Diocesan Theological Colleges, Oakeley on the Teaching of the Catholic Church, and others, which we are obliged for the present to leave unnoticed.

Foreign and Colonial Intelligence.

AUSTRALIA.-Educational Grants at Sydney.-From a statement in the Sydney Government Gazette, it appears that the sum voted by the Legislative Council for the support of schools in Sydney district, during the year 1848, was distributed as follows:-Church of England schools, 4120l.; Presbyterian, 19007.; Wesleyan Methodist, 570l.; Roman Catholic, 1860. Total, 84501.

BORNEO.-Prospects of the Mission.-An interesting account of the state of the Mission sent a year ago to Borneo, appears in the Colonial Church Chronicle. The principal difficulty against which the Mission has to contend is the Mohammedan population, consisting partly of Malays, who are described as greatly superior to the natives in intelligence, education, and moral habits, and partly of English emigrants who have embraced Mohammedanism, and that, it is stated, in hundreds of instances. The present prospects of the Mission are thus described :"Among the Kyans, Dyaks, and other native tribes, there is, already opened to us, a much larger sphere of action than I imagined was the case on my first arrival here. On this river alone we have thirty-three tribes (each tribe varying in number from thirty to two hundred families) of tributary Dyaks, the nearest tribes being a good day's journey distant; who, now they are obliged to live at peace with each other, are rapidly increasing in numbers and improving in condition: besides these, the people of the Samarahan, the Sadong, and the Serekei rivers, are now under the control and protection of this Government (Sadong and Serekei are much larger rivers than this), but I have not been able to ascertain the numbers of their tribes; they are, however, numerous and quite accessible to Missionary efforts. Next spring, when it is expected that the Sarebus and Sakarran rivers, inhabited by swarms of piratical Dyaks, will be thrown open and brought perfectly under our control by means of a powerful expedition, which the Rajah and Captain Keppel have planned against them, these two rivers, together with the Serekei, will form a high road into the very interior of Borneo, and traverse the regions inhabited by the Kyans: who, from the little I have seen and heard of them, seem to be more civilized than our hill Dyaks, and are a brave and intelligent people, far more numerous than the Dyaks, and are to be estimated by tens and hundreds of thousands. They are, I am told, very anxious to have communication with us, and desirous of acquiring knowledge from the Orang Putih (white people). "For these reasons, and on account of the Dyak language of which the various tribes speak different dialects, which it will be necessary for any one who would teach them to learn (their knowledge of Malay

being very limited), it will appear how necessary it is that our strength should be increased for the effectual working of the Mission. We want at first several devoted young single men, Clergymen or Catechists, to place at different stations among the larger tribes, where they can associate with them and learn their dialect, and then instruct them in some of the useful arts, at the same time that they impart religious knowledge; for the Dyak, in common with other savages, will always value his teacher's instruction the more, and have more faith in him, when he finds that it adds to his present comfort, while it opens to his view a glorious and happy future. It would only be necessary for these men to remain at the stations for about eight months in the year, for at the rice-growing seasons the Dyaks leave their towns and villages for their paddy-grounds, which are scattered all over their respective territories; during these seasons it would be advantageous for them to return to the Mission House at Kuching, and assist their brethren here in the schools and ministrations of the Church, leading a kind of collegiate life with leisure and opportunity for study, which they would never have while residing among the inquisitive natives. There would not be the smallest difficulty in placing such labourers at once; all the Orang Kayas, head or rich men of the tribes I have spoken to, would gladly receive them; the Orang Kaya of Lundu, our most civilized and influential tribe, was most earnest in his request to me that a teacher should be sent to his people, and promised to build him a house and do all he could to assist him, and this should certainly be the first station occupied, as the tribe is fast Malayizing in dress, manners, and even, in some instances, religion. It would also be highly desirable that, in addition to these Dyak teachers, the Mission should be strengthened with another efficient Clergyman, in full orders, who would either assist the head of the Mission in visiting several stations, or take his place at Kuching when he should be absent on such journeys. This or some similar plan could be carried out at a very moderate expense, if single men were employed, as they live better with 801. or 1007. a year than married men could do on 300l., owing to the great expense an establishment of servants, &c., necessary for a family, involves; but unless some such measure be adopted, and that speedily, the objects of the Mission, as regards the native tribes, cannot be accomplished, and it will become more and more difficult to do so every year, as Mahomedanism gains ground among them.”

CANADA. Proposed Secularization of King's College, Toronto.-A Bill has been introduced into the Canadian Legislature, which repeals the Royal Charter of Incorporation granted to Toronto College, and substitutes in the place of that foundation, a provincial University from which all religious teaching and discipline is expressly excluded. Against this measure, so vitally affecting the interests of the Church in Canada, the Bishop of Toronto has presented the following petition :"To the Honourable the Legislative Assembly of Canada. "The Petition of JOHN, by Divine Permission, BISHOP OF Toronto,

"Most respectfully sheweth :"That a Bill has been introduced for the adoption of your Honourable House, entitled 'An Act to amend the Charter of the University established at Toronto by His late Majesty King George the Fourth; to provide for the more satisfactory Government of the said University; and for other purposes connected with the same, and with the College and Grammar School, forming an appendage thereof."

"That this Bill contains enactments which are, in the humble opinion of your Memorialist, of the most blighting character, and by no means in accordance with the title; for instead of being confined to some modification of the Government, they go to deprive King's College of all the privileges conferred upon it by its Royal Charter, and apply the endowment granted for its support by the Crown to the establishment of an institution wholly different, to be created by the passing of this bill.

"That King's College, thus sought to be destroyed with the avowed intention of taking for other purposes the property and estates which it holds under a Royal grant, has been for six years in successful operation under its Charter, that it is legally incorporated by Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of England, that no ground of forfeiture has been shewn, such as might subject a Corporation upon a proper legal proceeding to the loss of its privileges, nor is it even pretended to be in fault; but it is assumed that your Honourable House is at liberty to deal at your pleasure with the Constitution and property of King's College, as if neither the Corporation nor the one-fourth at least of the inhabitants of Upper Canada, interested in the objects it was intended to promote, had any rights under it to claim or protect.

"That your Petitioner has observed with extreme regret that this measure has been introduced into your Honourable House with the sanction of the Colonial Government, but your Petitioner will not yet abandon the hope that they will not persevere in urging enactments to which he believes a large majority of the population of Upper Canada are in principle opposed, and which they not only consider unwise, but would feel to be unjust.

"That the pretences upon which some persons profess to rely for justifying such an interference with corporate privileges and vested rights, which is in its nature and degree unprecedented, are wholly groundless, and can be in the plainest manner disproved by the public official acts and communications of the Imperial and Colonial Governments; that the power wholly to subvert a Royal Charter granted for such a purpose, and to take from a Corporation its property, in the absence of any alleged abuse, has never been assumed by the Imperial Parliament, and that the exercise of such a power by the Colonial Legislature, in this instance, would be inconsistent with that measure of protection which similar institutions, founded in British Colonies by the same authority, have received from the ruling power, even after the countries in which they were founded had become foreign to the British Crown. That it is entirely without reason that the

« PreviousContinue »