having had a personal friend among my people. Here, in South Germany, as is well known, there is very little family life. One family never visits another. That would be exclusive and unsocial. It would also be considered tedious and stupid. We always meet each other in public, the common people at the beerhouse, the higher classes at the more aristocratic club-room, or, if both sexes are together, at the ball or the party. I know of no society in which the presence of a pious minister would be welcome. If I join them, I must talk of that which they do, must make myself one of them in their frivolous and sinful conversation. To talk earnestly upon any subject, is to damp the spirits of the company, and to get one's self voted a bore. This tendency to luxury and frivolity, and dissipation, is increasing upon us every day, and unless some power can counteract it, is to overwhelm us." It is by no means true, however, that all the clergy are unwelcome in society, or have no influence there. I have in mind one here in the vicinity of Heidelberg, for instance, who for the last ten years has been chairman and master-spirit at all sorts of suppers and carousals in the city, and entertains the company by singing burlesque songs on Scripture scenes, and keeping everybody in a roar by his wit. Such a minister is considered to have a piety of a very "genial and sunny order," which does not throw a gloom over life, and rob it of its enjoyment.

I have dwelt at some length upon an individual instance, because I knew no better way in which I could give an idea of the relations of clergy to people, and of the currents of public feeling in Germany. The picture that my friend has given is in the former respect untrue, for the clergy in general do not stand isolated and without influence in the world, simply because they are of the world; and in the latter respect I trust it is too dark for Germany as a whole— would to God I could only believe much too dark. For Bavaria, it is perhaps true; for Rhenish Bavaria it would need to be darkened many shades; in Baden, the matter is bad enough. I have heard it said repeatedly that not a fourth of the people here believe in a future life. And yet there are some godly ministers here, and the matter is growing better. In central Germany, with Jena as the radiating point, the

rationalism of a half century ago bears almost undisputed sway.

But this is not so everywhere. There are regions where one already begins to feel the warmth of Christian life among the people, and where God's truth is gaining ground powerfully. Every

where, indeed, it is gaining ground. At the time of Göethe there was nothing but rationalism throughout the land. Now, indeed, the clergy in most parts are orthodox enough, but the trouble is, they substitute orthodoxy in the head for God's love in the heart, and nobody listeus to their words, because they are nothing but words. But there is piety here, nevertheless.

C. F. G.

**The writer of the foregoing has done good service to the cause of truth. The condition of the country is deplorable in the extreme. German Theology, properly so called, is in melancholy harmony with German Religion. There are yet, here and there, noble witnesses for the truth as it is in Jesus, who sorrowfully, yet prayerfully and hopefully, wait for the breaking of the day.—ED.

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

SIR, I am instructed by the Com-
mittee of the Congregational Union to
request you kindly to insert in your
Journal the following Resolution, which
was adopted at the recent Annual
Meeting of the Union, and I would
crave for it the serious attention of our
pastors and church members.
Believe me, Sir,
Yours faithfully,
GEORGE SMITH.

Congregational Library,
June 17, 1859.

Resolved,-"That an appeal having been made to the Congregational Union of England and Wales, from a conference of Congregationalists of Australia, held in Hobart Town, Tasmania, on the subject of giving suitable testimonials to the members of our churches emigrating to the colonies, this assembly ventures respectfully to call the attention of our pastors to this important matter, and to urge them, as far as possible, to take steps for supplying all the members of their churches about to emigrate with letters of dismission and commendation to some one of our churches in the colony to which they are going."

WITH respect to Articles on the Evangelization of London our views are these: instead of one Essay, consisting of so many chapters, to be successively published, forming one whole, we wish a variety of Essays, each complete in itself, but all constituting a species of unity; and instead of one mind operating on the subject, we prefer to have a number of minds, some probably more competent to deal with one phase of it, and some with another. The advantages of this are too obvious to require specification. The idea of competition, with all its contingencies and uncertainties, will thus be set aside, and a class of men enlisted in the enterprise who would never have been induced to enter on a competition. In this way, too, much useless labour will be saved, and much disappointment prevented, the necessary attendants of all competition. The subjects, after the manner of getting up a Number of a great Review, or a Part of a Cyclopædia, will be committed to the hands of picked men, so that every Essay will, to a reasonable extent, do justice to its theme. By this means the peril generally attaching to Prize Essays will also be averted; it often happens that even where the number of competitors is very considerable, not one of their productions reaches the excellence which was desired, while the prize must, from the conditions, be given to the best, however it may sink even below mediocrity. This is the inevitable danger in all cases of literary competition. Men of real power are generally too busy, and their time too precious to be expended on an uncertainty. Hence such men rarely become competitors for prizes.

In connexion with this subject, an interesting illustration occurred many years ago. The late Earl of Bridgewater left the munificent sum of £8,000 for the best Essay on a great point of natural theology. Had the Will of the Earl been carried out to the letter, the result must have been largely to disappoint his own hopes and wishes. To the best Essay, however imperfect and unworthy, the whole prize must have been given. The late Bishop of London, however,-a thorough man of business, who was appointed to act in the matter, judged more correctly, and acted more discreetly. Instead of offering the whole of the enormous sum for a single Essay, he broke up both the prize and the subject into eight parts, committing the latter, severally, to

eight gentlemen of high literary reputation, each receiving what was deemed most congenial to his ascertained tastes, talents, and pursuits, and awarding to each the sum of £1,000. Viewing the eight Essays in their unity, a work was thus called forth, such as no one man in England, or the world, could have produced. The plan combined powerful motive with perfect certainty; and accordingly each writer begirded himself to his task with the confidence that his production would, without fail, go before the public, and that he should receive a fair reward for his labour. Had the thing taken the shape of an ordinary Prize Essay, not one of those distinguished men, among whom was the late Dr. Chalmers, would have been a competitor. It is, mortifying, however, to state that, notwithstanding the wisdom of the arrangement, and the munificence of the reward, the combined result by no means equalled just expectation. It would seem as if great men were incapable of writing "to order." It is a condition of success, that the subject should be one of their own selection, and its prosecution an object of ardent passion. No mere pecuniary consideration can command complete success. True genius resents compulsion as an indignity to her heaven-born nature!

Now these principles apply to small enterprises, such as our own, equally with the greatest. The apportioned task to the selected writer is much superior to the stated prize, offered indefinitely to all who choose to enter the lists. Such are the principles by which our matter is to be governed. Our rewards will, of course, be a very humble affair; but they will considerably exceed those of respectable journalism. It is to be hoped, however, that with our writers that will be a very secondary matter, and that the great point will be to promote the salvation of men!

The points we wish to have discussed are the following:

I. The Spiritual Condition of the Metropolis, as indicated by the Census Report; by the Report recently made to the House of Lords; by the Reports of the London City Mission and the Journals of its Agents; and by evidence derived from other reliable

sources.

II. Special Prayer with respect to the Conversion of the Metropolis, and how it may be called forth to the largest extent amongst

individuals, families, churches, and union meetings.

III. Open-Air Preaching: the principles on which it ought to be conducted, whether denominational or general, and by what means and in what way it may best be carried on.

IV. Preaching in Public Rooms and Iron Chapels throughout and around the Metropolis: How an organization for this purpose may best be formed; and whether it should be denominational or general.

V. The establishment of Missionary Churches after the Scottish model: How the enterprise may best be carried out; and assuming that it must be denominational, whether a Society for that purpose be desirable or necessary.

VI. How far existing Places of Worship may be available for Afternoon Services: Seeing that this is the chief service in Scotland, and was anciently so in England, whether anything could be done to revive it in the Metropolis, as a much more convenient season for multitudes than either the morning or the evening; and if so, how it may best be gone about.

VII. City Mission Operations: Whether anything, and what, can be done to strengthen the hands of the Committee of this Society, and to render the labours of the Mission more efficient; and how the resources of the churches may best be brought to bear upon the subject.

VIII. Whether it be practicable and desirable to revive the London Christian Instruction Society, or preferable to attempt the formation of a New Institution: and in either case, what is the best method of proceeding.

IX. A Union of the Congregational Churches in and around London for the Evangelization of the City: Whether such an organization be desirable, and if so, what ought to be its constitution and general method of operation.

As a rule, it is desirable that the Essays should not exceed six pages, although two or three of the subjects might require seven or eight.

: REVIVAL OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. THE philanthropists of England will learn with surprise and sorrow that the thrice-accursed traffic in human beings is fairly revived in the Southern States of America. It might have been thought that there had already been enow, both of slaveholders and of Christian slaves, as well as of slaves generally. Let us but look at the figures:

In Alabama there are 29,295 holders of slaves; Arkansas, 5,999; Columbia, 1,477; Delaware, 809; Florida, 3,520; Georgia,

Nothing has existed since the world began to match with the foregoing figures. Nearly half a million of immortal beings, professed children of God, brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed by His blood, quickened by His Spirit, clothed with His righteousness, and fellow-heirs with Him of the Kingdom, all reduced to the level of brute beasts, and sold over the same auction block with horses and oxen, sheep and swine, to the highest bidder !

That there is a determination at the South to prosecute the slave-trade vigorously, is evident from the openness with which the newlyimported negroes are advertised in the newspapers of Mississippi and Texas. following is from The Richmond Reporter (Texas) of the 14th ult. :

The

"FOR SALE.-Four hundred likely AFRICAN NEGROES, lately landed upon the coast of Texas. Said negroes will be sold upon the most reasonable terms. One-third down; the remainder in one or two years, with eight per cent. interest. For further information, inquire of C. K. C., Houston; or L. R. G., Galveston."

The juries of the South are now making common cause with the judges of the North. The Grand Jury of Savannah have risen

against the law! The following is part of their atrocious utterance:

"Heretofore, the people of the South, firm in their consciousness of right and strength, have failed to place the stamp of condemnation upon such laws as reflect upon the institution of slavery, but have permitted, unrebuked, the influence of foreign opinion to prevail in their support. Longer to yield to a sickly sentiment of pretended philanthropy and diseased mental aberration of higher-law' fanatics, the tendency of which is to debase us in the estimation of civilized nations, is weak and unwise. Regarding all such laws as tending to encourage such results, and consequently as baneful in their effects, we unhesitatingly advocate the repeal of all laws which, directly or indirectly, condemn this institution, and those who have inherited or maintain it; and think it the duty of the Southern people to require their legislators to unite their efforts for the accomplishment of this object."

If these things do not open men's eyes nothing will. It would really seem as if the Southern States were fast ripening for destruction!

METHODISM IN SYDNEY.

THE friends of truth, whether religious or political, are always, at the outset, from the very nature of things, in a minority, and a very small one. But how small soever their numbers, and whatever their afflictions on account of their principles, they are invincible; and their triumph is only a question of time. The following resolutions of the Annual District Meeting of the ministers and official laymen of the Wesleyan Church, in the colony of New South Wales, held in Sydney in November, 1858, present a striking and a cheering illustration :

"1. That it is the opinion of this Committee that the system of State-aid to public worship existing in this colony is, upon the whole, injurious to the interests of true religion, confounding, as it does, all distinctions between truth and error, in matters of Divine revelation, by indiscriminately supporting both.

2. That this Committee does not affirm that the principle of State-aid is in itself sinful or unsound, and is of opinion that the Wesleyan Church in this colony would not be justified in relinquishing its own participation in State-aid so long as the other denominations continue to receive it, believing that such relinquishment would only aggravate the evil herein practicable.

"3. That this Committee, therefore, deems it a duty to recommend the adoption of all constitutional and befitting means for causing the said system to be abolished entirely, and as early as practicable."

These resolutions, the fruit of true light, are fraught with most important consequences. They are based on a correct principle, and will

We unfeignedly rejoice in the conclusions the Wesleyan Methodists have arrived at. We make no remark on the course they have determined to pursue as to the receipt of the money until the abolition, a point on which, we see, the genuine voluntaries of New South Wales are somewhat sharply pressing them. The ground they take, we think, with their views of endowment in the abstract, is tenable. They feel, that were they to relinquish their share of State-aid, seeing that a fixed sum is set apart for that purpose, the dividend of heresy would just be so much the greater! Were all to resign but the Romanists, they would receive the whole. All honour to the Wesleyans, then, for their determination to use every means to effect its entire abolition as early as possible. In this attempt they want neither for example nor stimulus. Stateaid is already abolished in South Australia; and it is on the very eve of abolition in Victoria: how, then, can it stand in New South Wales?

CHINESE MISSIONS.

MR. ALBERT SMITH, in prosecuting his garrulous vocation of catering for the amusement of mankind, some time back proceeded to China; and on returning, he began as usual to entertain his West-End audiences with an account of the things he had heard and seen. This, to be sure, amounted to very little, for he only glanced at a small speck of the Celestial Empire for a few weeks, and took ship again for England; but a vigorous imagination and a ready eloquence easily supplied the defects of knowledge. Whatever came to hand was seized without scruple. Sacredness furnished no protection. The Bishop of Victoria showed him some kindness, which he turned to account in his lectures. His lordship took him to several of the schools recently established there. On Mr. Smith's stating to the Bishop that he felt very much gratified to see such exertions going on for the spread of civilization in China, he tells us the Bishop replied," I wish I could say so, Mr. Smith; but our labours are very disheartening. When our education becomes grafted on their natural cunning, they turn out incorrigible rogues, and give us great trouble, They lie, forge, &c. I

only remember one case in my mission that achieved a good position.' I am sorry I did not ask who he was, but that interview made a great impression on me, and, mentioning it at the Hong Kong club at night, some one said, 'Oh! that is A-Yung, or A-Ching,' or some such name; 'he is the marker in our billiard-rooms.' I could not help thinking it was a melancholy putting of the cart before the horse, to expend so much in missions thousands and thousands of miles away, even with a doubtful result, when there is so much to educate and reclaim under our eyes, among the dark and wretched outcasts crowding in the holes and corners of our own mighty London."

This is the old story, "the wants of home." It might be instructive to know the extent of Mr. Albert Smith's practical sympathy with what is being done for "the wretched outcasts of mighty London." It has hitherto been found, that the whole of the home-work has been done by the very men who support foreign operations, while our compassion-mongers are ever ready to censure foreign, as if to compensate for the neglect of home effort. The Bishop of Victoria having been apprised of the facts, at once set the matter right by writing to Mr. Albert Smith a letter, in which he says:

"No Church of England convert, nor any pupil of St. Paul's College, has ever become a billiard-marker at the club. From the strictest inquiries, I find that there is not the slightest foundation for such an assertion. I enclose the original letter of the secretary of the club as a conclusive testimony on this point. "You have evidently mistaken a few words of discouragement, occasioned by one recent ease then painfully present before my view, of a Chinese formerly connected with the college, abusing his talents, and disappointing our expectations, for a confession of the hopelessness of the work of conversions to Christianity in China. Had I entertained any

thought that missionary topics would have found a place in your Egyptian-hall lectures, I should have been more careful to exclude the possibility of your confounding the difficulties and disappointments incidental to teaching a young Chinese the English language, amid European mercantile settlements, with a total failure of the general work of Christian missionary evangelization."

It is to be hoped that, in justice, all journals which have given currency to the erroneous and mischievous statement of Mr. Albert Smith, will supply the antidote by giving the Bishop's letter.

REVIVAL IN IRELAND.

OUR present Number, it will be seen, bears very strongly on the subject of the Revival of Religion. For a generation, much has been said and written on it; and there is abundant reason to believe that the labour has not been lost. The persevering supplications of the people of God are now being answered in the descent of "showers of blessing." Where, of all places in the three kingdoms, it was, perhaps, least looked for, there the power is being made manifest in a manner the most extraor¬ dinary. Nothing like it has occurred in these Isles for nearly a century. It is just now one hundred years since the mighty movement took place in many parts of England, and more especially under the ministry of Berridge and Hicks. The types of the manifestations are in all points identical: they agree even in the minutest particulars. A most impressive illus tration will be found in another page of our present Number, in the Memoir of Berridge.

Many people profess to be stumbled by these mysterious displays of bodily suffering. On this point there is, we think, much talk without knowledge. In our next Number, we expect that a competent writer will enter thoroughly into the whole question.

between Maunama on the east, and Moanalua on the west, a distance of some fourteen miles, and containing a population of about 10,000 souls. The deaths from small-pox, included in the above, are supposed to be about 2,800--the balance from other diseases.

In the same district, during the year 1852, there were births, 337; deaths, 906; marriages, 418. It is to be remarked that it was in this district that the small-pox first broke out, and was more fatal, perhaps, than in any other