Friendship's Offering and Winter's Wreath for 1843. London: Smith, Elder, and Co.

HAD our space permitted, we would long ere this have noticed this very beautiful annual, which was kindly forwarded to us as soon as it appeared before the public. We take the present opportunity, however, of expressing our high opinion of the volume before us. To say that it maintains the excellent character it has so long possessed, were but little praise; for we find in the pages of this year's "Offering" proofs of a decided improvement in the nature and talent of the articles.

In addition to many names of acknowledged and well-merited reputation, we find in this annual other candidates for literary fame; and if the contributions which they have written for these pages be a fair sample of their capabilities, we augur well of their prospects in the future course of their intellectual trial.

The worthy editor, Mr. Leitch Ritchie, has himself contributed some pleasant pieces, and Miss Camilla Toulmin (a name now becoming known and appreciated more and more through the medium of the periodical press), has furnished some very talented papers, particularly the lines on visiting the studio of Mr. Lough, the eminent sculptor. To this accomplishsd young lady the editor is much indebted for valuable aid in the compilation of the volume. Lord John Manners, Lady E. S. Wortley, Mrs. Abdy, Major Calder Campbell, Miss Power, and Anna Savage, are among the names whose pieces embellish this annual, together with that of our old friend Mr. Joseph Fearn, so well known to the readers of the Churchman as the author of the " Chapters on Poets," who has furnished some very pleasing lines to "his library." Mr. Fearn seems to revel in the scenes of olden time, and he loves to fetch from the storehouse of memory all the glorious and ennobling objects which have followed in the train of science and literature.

We cordially approve of this very elegant little volume, and we say to the spirited conductors of it, "Go on and prosper."

On the Preservation of the Health of Body and Mind. By Forbes Winslow, author of the " Anatomy of Suicide." London: H.

Renshaw. 1842.

THE name of Forbes Winslow is a sufficient guarantee for the excellence of any scientific work to which it is attached. What we appreciate most in this writer is, the evident practical nature of everything he writes. Such was our feeling when his "Anatomy of Suicide came before our notice, and the impression has been deepened by our scanning the volume before us.

Mr. Winslow really merits the sincere gratitude of the public, for placing before them in so popular a form, a series of dissertations on varied subjects connected with physical and mental health. The volume consists of twelve chapters, and embraces the most useful and interesting points, upon all and each of which the author brings to bear the result of his immense acquaintance with medical science, and in the most simple manner illustrates his several positions. We wish sucli men as Mr. Winslow, and such books as he writes, all the success which are due to them from an enlightened and benefitted public.

Letters and Biography of Felix Neff, Protestant Missionary, in Switzerland, the Department of Isere, and the High Alps, translated from the French of M. Bost, by Margaret Ann Wyatt, author of a Translation, from the German, of a Memoir of John Huss. London Seeleys. 1843,

:

If ever there was a time when the Missionary spirit required to be stirred up, it is at present, when the British empire is at once becoming more extended and more consolidated. China and India, and the regions North of Canada, the Islands of the Pacific, and the South of Africa, all call for Missionaries; and here is an admirable picture of a Christian Missionary, in the life and labours of Neff. The letters are particularly valuable, for they afford more than usually characteristic traces of the writer's mind and feelings. Neff was a man who impressed his own mind very forcibly on all that he wrote, as well as all that he said; and they contain, besides, his own simple and humble views of his truly apostolic labours. There are few persons whose minds are at all open to the truth who will not be benefitted by their perusal.

We must not conclude this very short notice without expressing our sense of the services which Miss Wyatt has both now and on a former occasion done to the Church; she has well and faithfully executed her task, and has presented us with a volume which we shall not be satisfied with only once reading.

Judah's Lion. By Charlotte Elizabeth. London: Seeleys. 1843. Of all the wonderful women of whom we ever heard, surely "Charlotte Elizabeth" is the most wonderful. A fortnight seems time enough with her to master all the difficulties, even of the most intricate subject, and to produce a clever book upon it; for, however much we may differ with her doctrines, her books are unquestionably clever books. The one before us is a tale of the modern Jews; and as we steer a little more clear of Church discipline (a subject of which the lady is fond of talking, but profoundly ignorant), so we have more to commend and less to regret than usual. Would that "Charlotte Elizabeth," with her ardent zeal and her genuine talents, were a sound Churchwoman; we know of no writer more capable of doing extensive good.

Baptism not Regeneration. By the Rev. Alexander Paton, M.A. London: Seeleys.

MR. PATON has in this discourse taken great pains to prove what no one ever doubted, viz., that Baptism and Regeneration are very different things, but he has by no means proved that the former is not the means whereby the latter is to be obtained. We would recommend him, and all who think with him, attentively to peruse Faber's masterly work on Regeneration, and we do think that their eyes would be opened.

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210

Ecclesiastical Report.

THE UNIVERSITIES.

SINCE our last report, another professorship has been established at Oxford. The munificent bequest of the late Dean of Westminster, Dr. Ireland, of 10,000l., has been accepted; and it has been agreed, in conformity with the will of that good man, to appropriate the dividends to the professorship newly founded, that, viz., of "Exegesis of Holy Scripture."

At Cambridge, Dr. Ollivant has succeeded Dr. Turton as Regius Professor of Divinity; and Sir Herbert Jenner Fust, LL.D., has been appointed Master of Trinity Hall, in the room of the late Dr. Le Blanc.

It appears from the recently published "lists of honours," that in this year the first and second Wranglers are members of St. John's College, an event which is now so common that it may be almost looked for as a matter of course.

THE PROSPECTS OF THE CHURCH.

We call the especial attention of our readers to the following portion of Parliamentary intelligence.

"Mr. HAWES enquired what course the Queen's Government intended to pursue with respect to Church Extension?

Sir R. PEEL replied, "that whenever any motion on that subject came before the house, the hon. member for Lambeth might rely upon its not being brought forward without ample notice. The subject was one of the very highest importance; it was one which deserved and which should receive the most attentive consideration. It had already very much occupied their attention, and if he were to say that Government did intend to propose a measure upon that subject, it would perhaps be inferred that a very large and extensive measure was in contemplation, and that a large vote of public money was to be proposed. Guarding himself, then, against any misconstruction of that kind, he should say that he hoped very speedily to be able to call the attention of the house to the subject, with a view to render as available as possible for purposes of Church extension the growing revenue which would be at the disposal of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. would form the chief principle of the measure which he intended to propose, and he hoped that it would readily receive the support of Parliament."

That

We must candidly confess, that while we are not much disappointed, we are by no means satisfied with this announcement. We say we are not much disappointed, because we have for a long time past doubted whether Sir Robert Peel's attachment to the Church was based upon any higher motive than expediency. While he allowed us, we spoke ever well of him: we encouraged our readers to trust in him, and to strengthen the hands of his government, but we had all the while our misgivings. We remembered 1830, and the plausible character of the man; and while we thought it unfair to condemn, without

giving him an opportunity of showing his sincerity, we are yet by no means surprised at the result.

We consider that Sir Robert Peel has forfeited the confidence of all true Churchmen. We would not withdraw our support from his government-which after all is better than that of the Whigs, because it is more strong, and in temporal matters more wise-but we sincerely regret that so far as Churchmanship is concerned, he has left us no reason to prefer him to Lord Melbourne, or even Lord John Russell.

PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH.

It is, however, gratifying to reflect that the Church does not depend on the State, that she has not to lean on so bruised a reed as the hand of an expediency Prime Minister.

From the charge of the Bishop of Chester, it appears that "within the last twelve years upwards of one hundred and seventy new Churches have been built within this diocese alone; by far the greater number being additional to those previously existing. The increase of accommodation appears to be-in Cheshire, upwards of twenty-one thousand sittings; in Lancashire, ninety thousand; and in Westmoreland, nearly fifty thousand."

Winchester and London present an equally cheering picture; at the same time instances of private benevolence are becoming every day

more common.

The Rev. Dr. Warneford, whose munificence we have frequently had occasion to record, has promised 500l. towards the endowment of a Church, proposed to be erected on the Dicker Common, near Hailsham, Sussex, should his life be mercifully spared until the Church is completed.

The Bishop of Salisbury has presented the munificent donation of 2001. to the fund of the Salisbury Diocesan Church Building Society.

Another subject of congratulation to all friends of our spiritual Zion is the churchizing, if we may coin such a word, of many of our hitherto unauthorized societies. The Church Missionary Society is now under episcopal superintendence, and we rejoice to perceive new associations forming to advance its interests.

LONDON AND WESTMINSTER CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The first anniversary meeting of the members and friends of the London and Westminster Church Missionary Society was held lately at the George Hall, Aldermanbury, the Rev. Robert Monro, Chaplain to the Bridewell Hospital, in the chair. The report stated that the present society had been formed for the purpose of assisting the Parent Society in extending its missions to Africa and the East, where it had established one hundred and seventy stations, and in connexion with which one hundred and seventeen missionaries were now employed.

In connexion with these stations there were seven hundred and thirty-three schools, containing forty-one thousand scholars. The receipts for the past year amounted to 90,8217., and the expenditure to 110,808. The committee of the London and Westminster Auxiliary has undertaken the establishment of the present branch in the

hope of being able to render material assistance to the income of the Parent Society. Some resolutions demonstrative of the objects and operation of the society having been passed, the meeting dispersed.

The Colonial Church Society, too, is evidently desirous of being similarly circumstanced; and while we cannot as yet altogether approve of its constitution, we see with pleasure the following resolutions, passed at a late meeting :

1. The management of the Society is to be under the direction of persons who are members of the United Church of England and Ireland.

2. The selection and appointment of missionaries and catechists is to rest entirely with the Committee of the Society, subject, as to those missionaries sent from England, to the approbation of the Bishop of London, and as to those appointed in the Colonies, to that of the Bishop of the diocese; and such missionaries and catechists are to be subject to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the respective diocesans. 3. The missionaries are to be ordained ministers, and the catechists to be laymen of the United Church.

4. The affairs of the Society in the Colonies shall be conducted by Corresponding Committees, nominated by the General Committee at home, and any vacancies that may be supplied on the spot shall also be subject to the approval of the General Committee, and the Bishop of the diocese shall (if so disposed) be considered (ex-officio) a member of the several Corresponding Committees of the Society in his diocese.

5. The field of labour of each missionary and catechist shall be determined by the Committee, or with their sanction, by the Corresponding Committees, subject to the approval of the Committee at home. **In the second regulation it is intended to express the course the Society proposes to follow, if not objected to by the Bishops to whom reference is made.

DECREASE OF DISSENT.

The greatest proof that Dissent is on the decrease which can be given, is that its Meeting-houses are perpetually put up for sale, and sold, not unfrequently to be converted into Episcopal Chapels. We take a few instances:

"The Independent Chapel at Barnard Castle has been given up as a Dissenting place of worship, a large portion of the congregation having returned to the Established Church. It is expected that Mr. Barker, the minister of the late chapel, will make application to the Lord Bishop of Durham for admission into holy orders, after having passed the probationary three years."

The Times, also, has recently stated that no fewer than thirty Dissenting ministers had made application.

Two more instances we take from the Northern papers, and they are not less valuable as applying to Presbyterianism:

"TO BE SOLD BY PUBLIC AUCTION,

"At the George Inn, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on Monday, the 28th day of November, at five o'clock in the afternoon (by