1 o'clock! The second day was commenced by an excellent address, delivered by General Superintendent Dr. Jaspis, of Stettin, which was followed up by a paper and debate on Religious Tales. It is sad that valuable time should be taken up in the discussion of themes lacking direct practical value, when the Church has so little hold on the population, as particularly in Berlin, and is so perplexed how to meet the needs, difficulties, and enmities by which it is increasingly met. But whilst many are unpractical, some are displaying an energy and skill which would soon produce a great change if they were but more widely diffused. Pastor von Coelln, who was called from Belgrade, where he was the minister of the German congregation, some time ago to Berlin to inaugurate a city mission movement in Breslau, is making excellent progress. A few months ago a large house was purchased, to be called "The Evangelical Union House," at an expense of about £2,400. In part of it he resides; part of it is fitted up as a room for meetings for religious and kindred purposes and as a reading-room; another part is devoted to sleeping apartments for respectable young men of the working classes; a further portion forms a lodging house (Herberge) for wandering journeymen of various trades; and there is one room in which guests of better standing can lodge, called the Hospice. There live besides in the house the house-father, with his servants, a town missionary, and a colporteur. The means for bringing these agencies into existence and sustaining them, Pastor von Coelln has himself mainly raised. I have seldom met with a gentleman of more practical energy and tact. He is undaunted by obstacles, is full of faith and zeal, and is well seconded by his devoted wife. Undertakings like this, which met needs that are specifically German, are making their appearance in various directions; but few have at their head a man like Pastor von Coelln. May God prosper him and all his fellow-labourers. On Sunday, June 9, a collection was made for the Prussian Head Bible Society in the churches of Berlin. The sum realized in, say about 40 churches, was 384 thalers, or rather more than £58, or an average of 27 shillings per church! As compared with last year there was a slight falling off. Surely there must be something needing to be done, when an annual collection for such an object, in about 40 churches, only brings £58. And yet one can scarcely wonder that so little is given, when one reads that during the year 1866, when income was less and claims greater than usual, about £450 of subscriptions were converted into capital, instead of being expended in the work of circulation. Whilst in the rest of the world separated Churches are inclining to union, as well they may, when one considers how united the foes of Christianity are, the strict Lutherans of Germany are becoming more exclusive than ever. Nay, more, it is pronounced now to be an advance to lay stress on the points of difference between them and the sister German Churches, that is, the Reformed Church; namely, on the distinctively Lutheran doctrine of the sacraments. At a conference of 550 Lutheran elergymen, held at Hanover this month, the vast majority expressly approved of a resolution declaring it wrong to admit members of the Reformed Church to the Lord's Table in Lutheran churches, even as guests. In a word, the Lord's Supper is converted into a Lutheran supper; the Lord's Table into a Lutheran table. Clergymen, too, have refused to administer the Lord's Supper to sick Reformed soldiers, or Union soldiers; and, in their zeal, have even gone so far as to exclude Lutherans, from a fear of the possibility of contamination. Would to God there were the same zeal in excluding communicants who show few signs of living faith of any kind! Spain. A CORRESPONDENT of an American journal who is travelling in Spain thus writes : To the outward eye the Catholic priesthood in Spain have everything their own way. Richly endowed, upheld by Government in the most insolent demand of bigotry, with laws and precedents to favour the persecution of dissentients, strong in the ignorance and superstition of the people, and in that sentiment of devotion which is native to the Spanish race, the clergy are wellnigh absolute in the sphere of religion. At the close of high mass-a service during which all the people prostrate themselves at the elevation of the Host, I have seen hundreds line the path of the archbishop from the cathedral to his palace, that they might kiss the signet-ring upon his sacred finger; well-dressed men, ladies in elegant attire, offering this servile homage, and mothers holding up their children to kiss the hallowed symbol, the dignitary meanwhile moving slow and stately, his long purple train borne by pages, and the way prepared before him by priests and bishops walking two abreast. Yet there is said to be among the more intel-hearty and general than could have been expected. ligent a distrust and even dislike toward the The Romish bishops and clergy feel, however clergy, and a growing disposition to throw off (rightly we think), that the dearest interests of their power. One hears this breathed in the their Church in all parts, especially its outward seclusion of a railway carriage, when confidence unity for any long period, is bound up with the has been established among its occupants, and question of the retention of Rome as the capital. there are no eavesdroppers. It must not be Hence the great enthusiasm and the enormous assumed from this that the Spaniard is ready to gifts that were brought by the bishops to the turn Protestant, for to him the Church may be papal treasury. The following description is an ideal apart from the priesthood; but there is given of the splendid effect of the interior of St. in Spain, also, a true and living Church, number- Peter's on the festal day ing, perhaps, some two or three thousand souls, known to each other through a common pledge to renounce the Church of Rome and to follow the gospel of Christ. These brethren meet in secret places, a few only at a time, for prayer and the study of the scriptures; they have their evangelists, they circulate the bible, which is printed privately in Spain itself, and they are strong in the patience of hope. Portugal. AN evangelist writes from Lisbon: "The work of reformation is indeed begun in Portugal, by the great mercy of God. I have been working in Azores, where I live, and there we have already a Portuguese congregation. I came here and met another Portuguese Protestant congregation, of about sixty members, that meet secretly on Sundays for Divine service for fear of persecution, as they are poor most of them." After beseeching help, he continues : "We have here two priests who have left secretly the Roman Catholic Church, and who desire to make public their belief, but how can they do it? If they are not helped in some way by Protestant Societies, they must starve. They could be employed in these congregations, one in Lisbon, another in Azores, but who can pay them to live ?"-New York Christian World. Italy. THE MEETING OF BISHOPS AT ROME. THERE has been an immense gathering of ecclesiastics at Rome to celebrate what is called the eighteenth centenary of St. Peter's martyrdom. Above 500 bishops, assembled from all parts of the world, were present, and the ceremonies were of the most imposing kind. Preparations were made for summoning a council next year. The Pope is in high spirits with the success of his appeal, which received certainly a response more : The taste displayed in the decorations is much more pure and simple than that which was shown in 1862, at the last great canonisation. The effort has been to give the effect of colour, and this has been done so as to bring out in bolder relief the architectural ornaments. It would be useless to note the materials employed. One looks at the whole, at the general effect, and this was rich and gorgeous in the extreme. Richer still it became when about seven o'clock the servitori began to light the great wax tapers which hung suspended in festoons beneath the arches under the colossal statues. Still, it was a fearful sight to watch these men at times suspended in mid-air on a narrow bit of wood, swinging backwards and forwards, apparently no bigger than crows. Twenty-five thousand tapers were thus soon made to shed their light upon the building, giving to the crimson tapestry a deeper hue, now that all daylight was excluded, and lending increased brilliancy to the gilding. Sometimes a puff of wind blew aside a curtain, and then down streamed on one particular spot a sunbeam so bright and unexpected that it seemed like a flash of lightning, startling those around as if danger were near. Grander, however, than all else in the way of light was a colossal inverted cross formed of prisms of glass, which had been sought for far and wide. Above it were the keys, gigantic in their proportions and formed of the same material, while above them still was suspended an enormous tiara of coloured glass. Hanging, as did these brilliant symbols of the Roman Catholic faith, in the centre of the nave, and flashing and glittering with direct and reflected light, the spectacle was indescribably beautiful. Another description mentions the following fact: Having reached the Chapel of the Sacrament, the Pope descended, as usual, to adore the Host, and on rising from his knees might have almost witnessed a horrid spectacle which took place within a short distance of him, where a fanatic of the name of Rossi, from Cremona, lay profusely bleeding from self-inflicted wounds in the throat, which proved fatal yesterday. For the first time, as far as I am aware, since its erection, the marble pavement of St. Peter's was stained by blood. The unfortunate fanatic who thus made away with himself is reported to have cut his throat under the belief that, dying under such circumstances, he could not but be admitted straightway into paradise. silent prayers of the whole assembly of bishops, the cardinal assisting at the left of the Pope, giving the signal for the praying to commence, while the Cardinal on the Pope's right hand gave the direction for it to cease. Upon this, the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus having been chanted, the Cardinal Procurator and Consistorial Advocate for the third time approached the throne, and finally the Holy Father, yielding to this third and most instant demand-himself seated, while After this event, which was concealed as much the whole of the conclave of bishops rose to their as possible, the ceremony proceeded. As soon as the Holy Father had taken his seat on the throne, erected at the end of the Tribune, the Cardinal Procurator, with the Consistorial Advocate, the pleader of the cause of the new saints, on his left hand, approached the foot of the throne, and did obeisance to the pontiff. Then, in the name of the Cardinal Procurator, the Consistorial Advocate proceeded to petition the Holy Father to make the requisite decree of sanctification, using the following formula : "Beatissime Pater reverendissimus Dominus Cardinalis Constantinus Patrizzi hic presens instanter petit per sanctitatem vestram catalogo Sanctorum Domini Jesu Christi adscribi, et tanquam Sanctos ab omnibus Christi fidelibus venerandos beatos, Josaphatum Archiepiscopum Polocensem; Petrum de Arbues Nicolaum Pichium, ejusque socios; omnes martyres; Paulum a Cruce, Leonardum a portu Maurito; Marium Franciscam a quinque vulneribus D. N. Jesu Christi, et Germanam Cousiniam virgines." To this petition the Secretary de' Brevi a Principi replied in the name of his Holiness that, before proceeding to so solemn an act, the intercession of the Mother of God, the most holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and that of all the saints, should first be solemnly invoked. Upon this the Holy Father, falling on his knees, joined in the special Litanies of the Saints. This ceremony over, the Cardinal Procurator and Consistorial Advocate a second time approached the throne, and the latter a second time, and now more instantly, demanded the sanctification of the beati. A second time the Secretary de' Brevi a Principi replied in the name of his Holiness that, the act being one of such importance, once more the Divine blessing should be invoked by all present. Then, removing the papal tiara and putting on his episcopal mitre, the Pope descended from his throne, and, falling on his knees, joined in the feet-proceeded, in a voice which, for the Pope, was strangely inaudible, to make the definitive decree of the canonisation. At the conclusion of the decree, and the Te Deum which followed immediately, there burst forth within the building a braying of trumpets, and without, a ringing of bells, accompanied by the roar of artillery. The ceremony of the canonisation being over, the Pope proceeded to officiate in person at the High Mass which followed. Dr. DE SANCTIS, the Waldensian of Florence, in a recent paper compares Italy, in a religious point of view, to Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. Of a believing foreigner, a polished Italian says: "that gentleman is an excellent man, but has his prejudices." The grossest immorality has destroyed all religious feeling. The suppression of crime costs 12,500,000 dollars per annum. ligious toleration rests on no law; only on the indifference of the many, and is not strong enough to prevent petty persecution by the bigoted, and even by the National Government, when policy recommends it. The Barletta massacre is still unpunished. Re Rumours of contemplated treachery on the part of Victor Emmanuel are making themselves heard. The reactionary and hasty measures of the Ricasoli ministry, in regard to recalling bishops and compounding for the Church property, originated with him, and his "devoutness' is not questioned by his Romanist enemies. He is a man of thoroughly immoral life, and therefore a fitting tool for a confessor. One minister warned him that he must clear out his palace before Prince Hubert, the heir apparent, brings home his new bride. Greece. (From an occasional Correspondent.) GREECE has of late attracted so much attention, and enlisted the sympathies of the civilized and Christian world to such a degree, on account of the heroic struggle of the Cretan patriots, that the following items will not prove uninteresting to the many Christian and philanthropic readers of your valuable periodical. Dr. Kalopothakes is, as you are aware, the editor of a weekly religious family newspaper, published in Athens, Greece. He has also been for several years past the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and, since the beginning of this year, he has engaged himself to the American Bible Society exclusively. Besides those two engagements, he has been occupied with Bible teaching in his own house, and for about a year and a-half he has been lecturing or preaching in his house every Sunday evening. His wife, who is an American lady, has on various occasions tried to open a school in the city, but never succeeded in gathering more than a few girls. In October last, however, uniting her efforts with those of two or three other ladies (among them Mrs. Sakellarius and Miss M. Baldwin, both American ladies), she succeeded in forming a Sunday-school, which increased in numbers so rapidly, that by the new year it contained over 160 children of both sexes, with nine teachers, and gave promise to become the commencement of a grand work in Greece. But both the Sabbath evening service and the school seem to have excited the religious fanaticism and indignation of a few individuals, who have been watching for an opportunity to rise in the public estimation as defenders of the faith, and thus gain some worldly advantage. To this end they commenced a series of articles against both Dr. K. and Rev. Mr. Constantine (a native Greek, but educated in America, who has also religious services in his house every Sabbath morning), trying to excite the mob against them, and especially against Dr. K., calling upon the synod and the government to put a stop to his proceedings. Having failed to accomplish this end, they directed their attacks upon the Sunday-school, and about four weeks since they succeeded in gathering a mob outside Dr. K.'s house, where the Sunday-school is held, and in forcing open his gate, with the intention of doing some mischief; but the police interfered in behalf of the school, and thus frustrated their design. But these failures, instead of disheartening, seemed to inspire these fanatics with fresh zeal, and they resorted to another plan. They drew up a paper, in which they accused Dr. K. of having a Puritan church, and by bribes and other VIII.-3. inducements trying to proselytise Greek children, teaching them to blaspheme the Virgin Mary and Christ! This paper, with over 100 signatures, was sent to the synod, with a petition to take all the necessary measures for bringing Dr. K. to a speedy and exemplary punishment. The synod has, as I am informed, referred the matter to the minister of justice, and he has placed the papers in the hands of the attorney-general for the investigation of the case. In pursuance of these orders he has summoned several witnesses, and the matter will soon be brought before the court. Thus far neither the synod nor the government is to blame, although the accusations are such as to excite a smile, and the character of Dr. K. so well known, that it ought to induce them to throw such a paper aside. However, it can be said, that a paper of this sort once delivered to them, they could not but take notice of it in some way or other. It remains now with them to give the matter a fair trial, and thus save Greece from the imputation of intolerance, or turn it into a religious persecution, and thus deprive Greece of all her true-hearted friends, and injure, herself, her own future prospects. We shall watch the proceedings, and inform you in time about it, so that the Christian public of England, especially our High Church friends, may know something of the spirit of the Church with which they seek to unite. Turkey. THE TURKISH BRANCH OF THE GREEK CHURCH. THE Greek differs from the Latin Church in that it does not recognize any common head, but is divided into five patriarchates. They all profess the same faith and use a similar liturgy, but submit to no common jurisdiction. The greatness of Russia and the supremacy of the Emperor in all things have given to the Russian Branch the decided pre-eminence, although it has no patriarch. The chief ecclesiastical supremacy in Russia is nominally in the Holy Synod, but this is mainly the creation of the Czar, whose will is law in religious as in civil matters. The Turkish branch has recently undergone a sort of revolution, substantially in favour of liberty. The Greek Church in Turkey, having secured a civil constitution from the Porte like that granted the Armenians, has forced its Patriarch to resign his office. He was elected as a liberal 370 and a patriot, but adopted another policy, and The people went further, and restored the same liberal patriarch to office whom the Porte deposed many years ago. India. THE PREACHING COLONEL. THE Friend of India in a notice of General Wheler's life, gives a strong testimony in favour of the principles on which he acted :— Major General Wheler is better known as the Colonel Wheler who, in the first irritation caused by the mutiny at Barrackpore, was generally accused of having excited that long-gathering storm by his preaching, and was hastily punished by Lord Canning with the loss of his command and of active service. We have all become wiser since these days, and the defence made of Colonel Wheler by this journal at the time is now recognized as unanswerable. We have learned, after a very bitter fashion, that what the sepoy and the Asiatic dread is the cowardice which they cannot understand; that what they respect and do not fear, is the open and earnest profession of beliefs which, when pressed on their attention as it was Colonel Wheler's habit to do, cannot make them Christians against their will, as they believed a greased cartridge would do. This little memoir possesses historical interest, if only as a record of the expiring efforts of the East India Company's Government to sell the Christianity of their officials for the political subservience and quietude of their Hindoo and Mussulman subjects. But it has a present interest of a higher kind. Colonel Wheler was a brave soldier who gave his whole substance during the third of a century to the work of doing good. And he ended his career as he began. He saved from death, or worse, hundreds of the orphans who were victims of the famine of 1837-38, and again in 1860-61 he retired with a large number to Chittoura, the old mission buildings near Agra, and among them he died after an Indian career of fifty years. What would we not give for a few men like Colonel Wheler now, when a far larger number of famine orphans have been thrown upon reluctant public charity than were made by the scourges of 1837-38 and 1860-61 in the North-Western Pro vinces. It is a state of things such as that of Orissa and Chota Nagpore which enables us to estimate at its proper value the martyr-like selfdenial and ever-growing holiness of a character like Colonel Wheler. THE GURUS IN MYSORE. In About the middle of last year there was a day of unusual excitement in Mysore. The great Guru from Shringeri was coming on a visit to the Rajah. The whole city was on the alert. His highness and his dependants, with thousands of people, proceeded some distance beyond the gate on the Seringapatam road to pay honour to the illustrious visitor. The procession that returned through the city to the palace was one of the most imposing to be seen amongst the Hindus. front marched six elephants and twenty horses richly caparisoned. Next came the Rajah's band playing European and native airs. The band was followed by three hundred men, some bearing white pike-staffs, others poles with jingling bells attached, and others spears. Then came part of the Rajah's body-guard, sepoys, and five hundred Silladar horse. A number of dancing girls with their attendants and a crowd of mountebanks occupied the next place in the procession. These were succeeded by the wealthy men of the city and hundreds of the disciples of the Guru. A company of sepoys followed guarding the sacred box borne by a score of disciples. Then came the ' great Guru himself. In front walked men supporting on golden poles a wreath of golden flowers stretching across the pathway. The Guru was seated in a golden palanquin borne by twenty He wore a look of dignified complacency, men. looking round on the busy scene with apparent Over him was carried a golden umunconcern. brella. He had on his head a diadem of gold and pearls worth a lakh of rupees. Round his neck was a string of pearls, and upon his shoulders a shawl of the richest Cashmere embroidered with gold. His highness the Rajah rode on the Guru's right; the master of the math walked on the left; horsemen belonging to the Rajah's body-guard rode behind. Then followed priests bearing the idols that had been taken out of the temples of the city to grace the occasion. A magnificent chariot, drawn by an elephant, and containing some of the pundits of the palace, brought up the rear. As the procession entered the fort it was met with a salute of twenty-one guns. His high |