I. HOME NOTES.

THE MAY ANNIVERSARIES.

THE London anniversaries of the various religious and philanthropic societies which find their centre in the metropolis, have been held this year under circumstances in many respects unfavourable to their cheerfulness and success. The gloom of a great commercial and agricultural depression has been over the country for many long and anxious months, and has by no means yet cleared away. Many large and liberal givers to good objects have been overtaken by financial calamity or embarrassment, and their names have disappeared from subscription lists in which they have long been familiar. Besides this, the resources of those who give small sums have been seriously reduced, for in all parts of the country the trading and artisan classes have suffered more or less seriously. The political and military complications of the time have also exercised a depressing effect upon the minds of many who ardently desire the coming of the kingdom of the Prince of Peace. When we find ourselves at war with two heathen nations, it is in vain to hope that this condition of things will have no influence upon the course of missionary enterprise. Apart from all questions as to the righteousness and necessity of these wars, and as to the merits of the political points in dispute, the existence of such hostilities must be deplored by every thoughtful Christian. These events may in the

Providence of God turn out "for the furtherance of the gospel,” but they are a poor introduction for it. For the name of England to be associated in Africa and India with bloodshed, violence, and all the horrors which conflict and conquest always bring with them and leave behind them, is a distinct disadvantage to British missionary effort in every quarter of the globe. In some way, often obscure and indirect, and at some time, the fact of such wars forms an element of difficulty, a hindrance to approach and success, in the prosecution of evangelistic enterprise among the heathen. Every such circumstance adds to the difficulty of the task of making it clear to those who are strangers to Christianity, that there is a distinction to be drawn between the gospel as it is contained in the New Testament and as it is manifested in Christ, and the actual exhibition of its principles by a professedly Christian nation. Friends of missionary work are saddened and discouraged when they perceive the dark clouds of war gathering again and yet again over the prospect, and hiding the vision of a triumphant kingdom of God. And so there was sting in the sarcastic announcement lately made in a well-known humorous publication, that in consequence of our having matters of another kind on hand with regard to the heathen world, there would be no May meetings this year.

Happily, however, although perhaps they may VIII. N.S.

have gone about their work in a somewhat more subdued and chastened spirit, Christian people generally have felt that this was no time for the relaxation of effort or the withholding of sympathy. The anniversary gatherings have been, we believe, upon the whole quite as large as usual, and they have been distinguished by a spirit which seems to betoken an unfaltering resolution to press on in the path of service and of sacrifice. Several of the principal societies, it is true, are in some financial difficulty, and some of them show serious deficits, but the prevailing disposition on the part of officials is to state the case to their supporters and to ask for increased assistance, rather than to abandon work already entered upon. This is as it ought to be, and it affords occasion for the remark that the complaint against great societies for getting into debt, which is sometimes made with so much virtuous indignation, is often very unjust. At first sight the principle that the expenditure in religious undertakings should be strictly kept within the funds supplied, seems to be a sound one. But it is really more plausible than sound. A society conducting operations on a large scale necessarily enters upon a large number of engagements which cannot be altered or broken off at a moment's notice, or even at twelve months' notice, and rightly engages in work which it would be sheer folly and wrong to abandon because of a temporary lack of funds.

SOME MISSIONARY BALANCE-SHEETS.

A glance at the balance-sheets of some of the largest of the societies for the spread of the gospel may be of some service here, and it is not without manifold interest and suggestiveness. The British and Foreign Bible Society announce that they have received during the year a total amount of £213,809. About half of this has come in the form of contributions, the other half as the proceeds of sales. The contributions include £10,000 subscribed in response to the special appeal, lately referred to in these pages, made for the reduction of the large deficit (£15,000) with which the year just closed was commenced. Even now the Society find themselves with a deficiency of over £9,000, and they have drawn upon their reserve fund within the last few years to the extent of £30,000. £30,000. The Church Missionary Society have to declare a deficiency of £24,757, which has accumulated during the past two years, and is said to be largely accounted for by the expenditure on the Victoria Nyanza mission. The total income for the past year has been £187,235, and the expenditure has been £204,186. A remarkable item included in the year's contributions is £35,000 from Mr. W. C. Jones, deposited in trust for the development of Evangelistic Native Agency in India. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel report an income of £145,236, which shows a decrease of over £3,000 as compared with the preceding year. It

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appears, however, to have sufficient to meet the actual expenditure, although it is stated that an addition of £20,000 per annum is absolutely necessary, if existing operations are to be continued, and considerably more is needed if legitimate applications which have been made to the Society are to be favourably answered. The Wesleyan Missionary | Society having received during the year £133,333, and expended £157,217, present a deficiency of about £24,000. It is explained, however, that the actual falling off in the subscriptions for the year is about £3,000. The London Missionary Society, with a total income of about £118,000, have expended £123,000, and show a deficit of £5,235. They also have drawn upon their reserve fund to the extent of £12,000; so that if this fund ought properly to be maintained at its former figure, the deficiency must be set down as £17,000. The Baptist Missionary Society announce as their total receipts for the year £46,092, leaving them with a deficiency of £3,364. Their income is about £4,000 less than in the preceding year, but the main falling off has been in legacies, and the subscriptions have only been reduced by the small sum of £27. From this brief summary of the financial position of half-a-dozen of the more prominent societies it appears that a sum of at least £100,000, in addition to present subscriptions, is urgently required in order to pay up arrears to meet current necessities. The six societies of course only represent a part of the vast army of workers in the great harvest-field of the world, and we omit detailed reference to the position of smaller agencies and of workers in other departments of the same service at home and abroad only because of the restrictions imposed upon us by our space. This glimpse, however, is sufficient to impress upon us the thought that the enterprises of the Church for the benefit of mankind are only to be maintained upon the present scale by deepened conviction, by more fervent personal experience of the preciousness of Christ, and consequent spontaneous, self-denying liberality.

A MEMORIAL OF THE PRINCESS ALICE.

In connection with the noble and merciful" work among the lost" which Mrs. Vicars has been doing for many years, and with such signal success, at Brighton, we are glad to observe that a memorial is to be erected to the late Princess Alice. An influential Committee, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and many others, has been formed, and it has been determined to erect a Cottage Rescue Home which may serve as a place of refuge and restoration for those unhappy fallen women whom Mrs. Vicars and her fellow-labourers strive to win back to the path of virtue, and to save from a living death. The Princess Alice, on the occasion of her last visit to England, during the period of her stay at Eastbourne, went over to Brighton specially to see Mrs. Vicars's work, and became deeply interested in it, manifesting her sympathy in many kindly ways. Her gentle, compassionate nature was deeply moved by what she saw and heard of this

enterprise for the rescue of the fallen, and we can entirely accept the assurance of the Committee, when pleading for help towards the realisation of their scheme, that the erection of this Cottage will be an expression of love and reverence for the Princess such as she herself would have wished for and approved. Friends who wish to help should communicate with Mrs. Vicars, 6, Charlotte Street, Brighton.

WISE WORDS ON THE SALE OF CHURCH LIVINGS.

In the course of a charge recently delivered, the Bishop of Exeter made some weighty and earnest observations on the subject of the sale of ecclesiastical livings. He wisely and truly remarked that such an evil, going back as it did to early times, and being bound up with so many interests, could not be remedied by a stroke, but every agitation of the subject served to show how impossible it was to make any satisfactory defence of the system, and thus tended to the diminution of the evil. The Bishop referred to two defences of the system, and replied to each of them in a very clear and effective manner. He remarked:

"One defence was that if the sale of livings were abolished human nature would remain the same, and men would still be presented to livings for motives. other than the highest. The other defence was that the present system on the whole works well and fulfils, as nearly as can be expected of any human institution, the purpose to be aimed at the putting good men into the charge of parishes. Of these two defences, the former could hardly be said to be any defence. That human institutions must be tainted with the weakness of humanity, and must therefore be imperfect, was no good reason whatever for acquiescing in any evil that could be removed. If the sale of livings were abolished it would be no longer lawfully possible to obtain the charge of a parish by the expenditure of money. It would be still often possible to obtain such a charge through personal friendship, political subserviency, or, perhaps, on far worse grounds. But at any rate this latter would receive no sanction from the law the individual patron would be to blame, not the law under which he acted. The fact was that those who made this defence failed to see that it was not only the congrave objecsequences of the sale of livings to which tion was made, but it was the disgrace of such a thing in dealing with interests so solemn. The other defence failed on similar ground. It was not enough to say, even if it were true, that the present system resulted in the selection of clergymen well fitted for their task. It was not true that provided a good man got charge of a parish it made no matter how he got there. To say that the sale of livings did not lower the position of the parish clergyman was to contradict universal experience in regard to every other institution. He had himself heard it cynically but seriously argued that the sale of livings was an excellent thing, because it tended to keep the clergy in their proper place, and prevented them from claiming that they had a Divine mission to their people. How could_that_mission be Divine, it was asked, which could be obtained by the highest bidder at a public sale? Moreover, it was quite untrue that the present system did not very often afflict parishes with clergymen who were quite unfit for their position. even if all other evil consequences could be put out of consideration, the main evil of the degradation of

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Church patronage generally and the resultant degrading of common notions of clerical duty remained the same. Church patronage was a property, and because it was a property it was thought to be subject to the general rule "that a man may do what he likes with his own." As long as it was possible to buy and sell patronage, so long would it be impossible to make patrons see what a solemn trust they hold. He was thankful to say it was not possible to make many scandalous appointments to livings. There was not a sufficient supply of scandalous clergymen. But he had no doubt at all that a change in the present system would rapidly have an effect on the general estimation of the clerical office, and that the whole idea of a parochial minister's office would be insensibly and surely raised."

With regard to steps which were desirable in the direction of practical remedy, the Bishop suggested that the Legislature might succeed in making it easier than it now is to transfer livings from the saleable to the unsaleable class. He thought that a public body of trustees might be created in each diocese to whom the interests of patrons might be gradually transferred, by equitable arrangement, to be held by the trustees on behalf of the Church at large. He urged the clergy to be more decided in their opposition to the system of selling livings, and said that if they were so the matter would be far easier to deal with. We hope these impressive utterances will bear fruit.

II.-GLANCES ABROAD.

CARDINAL NEWMAN AND THE CHURCH.

The formal investment of Dr. Newman with the office and rank of Cardinal of the Papal Church took place in Rome, on Tuesday, the 13th of May, and the occasion, as was to be expected, was marked by proceedings of great interest. The preliminary ceremony of delivering a message from the Vatican, notifying to Dr. Newman the Pope's intention to confer this official rank upon him, took place on the previous day, in the apartments of Cardinal Howard, who placed them at the disposal of his illustrious brother-Englishman. A very large company assembled to witness the ceremony and to offer their good wishes and assurances of respect and reverence to the newly-made cardinal. Dr. Newman delivered a very characteristic address, in which he dealt with the subject of "Liberalism" in religion, which he defined as the "doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed was as good as another." This doctrine, he affirmed, was gaining ground every day; and he especially deplored its prevalence in England. He urged that such a doctrine was inconsistent with the recognition of any religion as true; it taught that all religions were to be tolerated, as all were matters of opinion; and since religion was so personal a peculiarity and so private a possession, we must of necessity ignore it in the intercourse of man with man. One result of this was that the separation between the civil powers and Christianity was every day becoming more complete, and that the "goodly framework of society which is the creation of Christi

anity is throwing off Christianity." Dr. Newman seemed to see a few gleams of light amidst the gathering darkness of infidelity when he turned his gaze towards England, but lamented deeply the prospect as a whole, and foresaw in the condition of things the probable ruin of many souls. The chief subject of his trouble, so far as England is concerned, seemed to be the existence of the many 'religious sects" which sprang up three centuries ago, These sects were and which are so powerful now. fiercely opposed to the union of Church and State, and would advocate the unchristianising the monarchy and all that belongs to it, under the notion that such a catastrophe would make Christianity much more pure and much more powerful." The existence of these sects makes it necessary, says the Cardinal, to ignore religion in politics, otherwise all action would be at a deadlock. As we look over such sentences as these, we marvel that a man of such penetrating insight as Dr. Newman, and such mastery in the use of words, does not realise the fallacies and contradictions into which his position betrays him. To say that one creed is as good as another is unquestionably false, but surely this will not necessitate the conclusion-a Romish conclusion notwithstanding-that no difference of creed ought to be tolerated, nor does its falseness disprove the fact that no one Church has a monopoly of truth, and that in all creeds, even the most corrupt, there are some elements of truth. Above all, we commend to Dr. Newman the fact that Jesus Christ Himself is "The Truth," and the love of Him, all doctrines and opinions apart, is love of the truth. Surely there was the very liberalism he condemns in the apostle's love of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever their differences of theological creed. Dr. Newman has prostrated his noble intellect and his great nature at the foot of an infallible Church, and now he seems unable to distinguish between freedom and license in religious thought, and his great desire seems to be that the Church had the power to compel men only to think as it commanded them.

THE TERROR AND DARKNESS IN RUSSIA.

The present state of Russia is such as to excite the commiseration and apprehension of every thoughtful observer. The attempt to assassinate the Czar, on the 14th of April in the present year, was but one sign among many of a social unrest of a very threatening kind; and the way in which the imperial government has been endeavouring to stifle and destroy the source of mischief has been such as will almost certainly tend to aggravate it. It would seem as if the Czar and his advisers were completely panic-stricken. Large districts, including all the principal cities, have been placed under martial law of the sternest kind. The public service has been turned into an immense system of police supervision and espionage; liberty, property, and even life have been placed at the disposal of arbitrary officials, and the whole population, including all ranks, has been treated either as if guilty of some great crime or as if under the deepest sus

picion. Thousands of persons, often whole families, have been cast into prison or sent into cruel exile on the merest suspicion of disloyalty, and the cases of individual wrong and suffering in consequence of such proceedings baffle the imagination and move the sympathies. In pity for the suffering caused by such fierce measures of repression and reprisal, we almost lose sight for the moment of the dangerous and culpable nature of the conspiracy which provoked them. There can be no doubt that the doctrines, agencies, and organization of the Nihilists or anarchists of Russia are such as may well cause alarm, and not only to the upholders of a despotism but also to lovers of social well-being and order, and of righteous methods of seeking redress even for most grievous wrongs. The Nihilists have spread terror by their numerous assassinations and wonderfully secret and wonderfully active agency of coercion and revenge. But the attempt to meet terror by terror, and to put an end to undetected foes by treating an entire community as if all were criminals, is like striking in the dark and bruising friends indiscriminately in the hope of reaching an unknown enemy. Then, too, an invariable and fatal element in all violent measures of this kind is that the agents by whom they are put into execution are themselves not to be depended upon; any among them may, and many constantly do, prove traitors to the power that employs them. The real path of deliverance for Russia seems plainly to lie in the remedying of real and grievous wrongs and the general amelioration of the system of government. The people are burdened with a thoroughly corrupt and unwieldy military and civil administration, under which prosperity is impossible, freedom is but a name, and misery abounds. There is sad and literal truth in the bitter reproach addressed in an anonymous placard to the Czar: "Wherever we turn our eyes, we see naught but stupidity mingled with cruelty, wanton waste combined with the merciless spoliation of the people." The influences now in the ascendancy in the Russian Government seem to permit small room for hope that these crying evils may be remedied. But it is the proud distinction of the present Czar to have emancipated the serfs, and we look anxiously for some ray of light amidst the present darkness, and trust that Russia may yet find the path of liberty and progress without having endured the anguish of a bloody revolution.

THE NEGRO QUESTION IN AMERICA. The institution of slavery has left a harvest of difficulties-social, political, and economic-which it will yet take many years to reap. The negro population of the United States numbers about five millions, and in the Southern States, where the bulk of them is still to be found, there are many irritating causes at work which prevent an easy solution of the problems which have arisen from the presence of so vast a number of emancipated and enfranchised slaves in the midst of white people who have not yet wholly escaped from the tradition that the black man is an inferior creature, who may be bought and sold and

treated like a beast of burden. treated like a beast of burden. It is a notorious and disgraceful fact that in many parts of the South the negroes are treated by the whites with habitual in justice, and neither for this nor for deeds of violence often amounting to actual murder, can the coloured people obtain redress, it being impossible to form a jury who will convict a white man charged with an offence against a black man. The pressure of this evil state of things has during the last two or three months led to a migration of negroes upon a very large scale from the Southern States to Kansas. The persuasion seems to have got abroad among these poor people that if they could only get to Kansas they would be placed upon an equality with the rest of the population, would be able to command fair wages and equitable agreements, and that so their troubles would be at an end. This notion seems to have spread something like an epidemic; and tens of thousands of negroes with wives and children have set out upon their journey. Most of them started off with wholly inadequate means, and multitudes have arrived at St. Louis and other places in an almost starving condition. It is to be feared that most who get to Kansas will only find their dreams shattered by hard facts. The negro generally cannot compete with the white man in manual labour; he can cultivate cotton, and rice, and sugar, but when he finds himself in a climate unsuitable for these products, and in a society in which the struggle for life is severe, he is apt to go to the wall. From many points of view, therefore, this "negro exodus," as it has been called, is a very serious matter. We are glad to observe that, as was to be expected, the case of the fugitives has called forth a great deal of practical sympathy and kindness in America. The immediate necessities, in the way of food and clothing, of large numbers of the wanderers have been generously met by Christian agency, and it agency, and it may be hoped that the movement will give rise to only temporary suffering and inconveniBut the causes which have led to it require attention. As we said at the outset, "the negro question" is doubtless beset with difficulties, but the American people are bound to grapple with those difficulties in a wise, generous, and Christian way. Some noble-hearted philanthropists have strongly advocated and energetically promoted the return of the negro population to Africa, and especially to the free State of Liberia. But such experiments have had and are likely to have only very partial success. After all, you cannot ship away five millions of people, even if it were desirable to do so. And, in truth, there is abundant room for the negro in America, and it is a worthy undertaking for those noble and ardent philanthropists who so long and bravely advocated the abolition of slavery, that they should find and secure for the black man in their midst the practical recognition of his claims as "a man and a brother.”

ence.

DR. DOLLINGER AND THE PAPACY. In contrast with the attitude of Dr. Newman towards the Papacy, we may notice that of Dr. Dollinger, a man, perhaps, of equal intellectual great