thing being done, except some alterations proposed by the episcopal divines, which the May following were considered and agreed to in convocation. The Liturgy was then brought to that state in which it now stands, and was unanimously subscribed by the Convocation of both provinces, December 20, 1661. It was presented to the House of Lords the May following, and both Houses passed an act for its establishment.

To this short account of the compiling and progressive improvement of the Book of Common Prayer, the following just and beautiful description of our Liturgy, by Dr. Comber, may not be unacceptable to the reader.

66

"Though all churches in the world have, and ever had forms of prayer, yet none was ever blessed with so comprehensive, so exact, and so inoffensive a composure as ours: which is so judiciously contrived, that the wisest may exercise at once their knowledge and devotion; and yet so plain, that the most ignorant may pray with understanding: so full, that nothing is omitted which is fit to be asked in public; and so particular, that it compriseth most things which we would ask in private; and yet so short, as not to tire any that hath true devotion: its doctrine is pure and primitive; its ceremonies so few and innocent, that most of the Christian world agree in them: its method is exact and natural; its language significant and perspicuous; most of the words and phrases being taken out of the holy Scriptures, and the rest are the expressions of the first and purest ages: so that whoever takes exception at these must quarrel with the language of Scripture, and fall out with the church in her greatest innocence: and in the opinion of the most impartial and excellent Grotius, (who was no member of, nor had any obligation to this church,) the English Liturgy comes so near to the primitive pattern, that none of the reformed churches can compare with it.

"And if anything external be needful to recommend that which is so glorious within; we may add, that the compilers were, (most of them,) men of great piety and learning; (and several of them) either martyrs or confessors upon the restitution of Popery; which as it declares their piety, so doth the judicious digesting of these prayers evidence their learning. For therein a scholar may discern close logic, pleasing rhetoric, pure divinity, and the very marrow of the ancient doctrine and discipline; and yet all made so familiar, that the unlearned may safely say Amen."

MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

EASTERN CHURCHES.

A SHORT time ago the Greek Patriarch was deposed, and for very good reasons. How painful is it to see a Bishop, and even a Patriarch, greedy of filthy lucre! The Porte, in her official document authorizing the Synod of the Greek Church to elect another Patriarch, has given very good exhortations to the Synod, reminding them of the sacred duties devolved upon the spiritual head of the nation, and that they should take care to elect a person whose character would warrant the fulfilment of these sacred duties. Thus the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through those who profess and call themselves Christians.

To-day I heard that the Armenian Patriarch has also been deposed. I have been often led to reflect on the state of the Eastern Churches. Many Protestant Christians, both clergy and laity, seem to think that there is a considerable difference between the Church of Rome, and the Churches of the East; but a sojourn of sixteen years in different countries of the East, during which time I have had uninterrupted occasion to observe the life and conduct of Eastern Christians, of all classes of society, has brought me to form quite a different opinion. I do not hesitate to assert, that there is no essential difference between these Churches and the Church of Rome: they are-I speak of the Greek and Armenian Churches-as deeply corrupted, both in doctrine and practice, as the Church of Rome is, and perhaps more degraded in certain respects. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." There is only one help for these Churches-Christ and his Gospel. The Gospel must be made known to our Eastern Brethren-the Gospel in its fulness, in its simplicity, in its purity. Christ must again be preached in these Churches.

Perfect liberty of conscience has been granted by the sultan to all his Christian subjects. Is not this a remarkable fact? Is it not a call to Protestant Christians, and especially to those of the Church of England, to arise and let their light shine in the countries of the East? Or shall we leave our brethren of the Eastern Churches to perish for lack of knowledge?

But will they receive knowledge? What has been the result of all the exertions that have been made in their behalf? In answer to these questions I would make the following remarks

1. Little, comparatively very little, has been done for the spread of pure Christianity among them.

2. The little, however, that has been done, has been blessed by the Lord. The labours of the German Missionaries in the countries beyond the Caucasus have been abundantly blessed in the conversion of souls, and in producing a general impression, and desire for instruction. The result of the labours of the American Missionaries in Persia among the Nestorians, and in Turkey among the Armenians, are exceedingly encouraging. And why should we believe that the exertions of the Church Missionary Society in

Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt, are in vain? The results do not yet appear so strikingly as those of the labours of our American Brethren, because our agency has been a mere pittance compared with theirs. But the seed has been sown, and I trust the great day of harvest will shew that our labours have not been in vain in the Lord.

3. But are the Eastern Christians inclined to receive instruction? Are they willing to listen to the teaching, and, wherever it should be practicable, to the preaching of the Gospel? Many of the people are: few, very few, of the Clergy. It is by the latter, especially the higher Clergy, that the Word of God is hindered in these countries. They cannot bear the light, because their ignorance, their superstition, and evil practices, become manifest where the true light of the Gospel shines. But shall we let the people perish because the Clergy hinder the propagation of the Gospel among them? The example of Christ and his Apostles, and the Reformers in later times, teach us a different way. Let us endeavour to gain, if possible, the good-will and co-operation of the Clergy; but if we cannot obtain it, let us declare, both to Clergy and people, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is another important point bearing upon Missionary Efforts among the Christians of the East. They live in the midst of thousands of the followers of the false prophet of Arabia, and exhibit to them nothing better than a mere caricature of Christianity. Now the command of Christ, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," is of so general a nature, that the Mussulmans are certainly included in the number of those to whom we are in duty bound to make known the way of salvation. It is a well-known fact, however, that the open and public preaching of the Gospel in Mahomedan countries is as yet impracticable: all that can be done is in an indirect and preparatory way. I do not mean to say that opportunities may not be found of declaring the truth as it is in Jesus to single individuals among the Mussulmans; but to public and open preaching the door is closed. If the Lord do not open, no human effort can. But He who opened China, will, in his own good time, open Turkey and other Mahomedan Countries. In the mean time our duty is plain. While we hope, and pray, and labour, as far as possible, for the Mahomedans, we ought not to pass by a door of wide and extensive usefulness which the Lord has opened already among the Christians in Turkey.— Rev. J. T. Wolters.

EDITOR S PORTFOLIO.

TRUE COURTESY.-There is a set of people whom I cannot bear -the pinks of fashionable propriety-whose every word is precise, and whose every movement is unexceptionable: but who, though versed in all the categories of polite behaviour, have not a particle of soul or of cordiality about them. We allow that their manners may be abundantly correct. There may be elegance in every gesture, and gracefulness in every position; not a smile out of place, and not a step that would not bear the measurement of the severest scrutiny. This is all very fine; but what I want is the heart and

the gaiety of social intercourse-the frankness that spreads ease and animation around it-the eye that speaks affability to all, that chases timidity from every bosom, and tells every man in the company to be confident and happy. This is what I conceive to be the virtue of the text, and not the sickening formality of those who walk by rule, and would reduce the whole of human life to a wire-bound system of misery and constraint.-From Dr. Chalmers' Sermons.

BODILY HEALTH.-Good men also should learn to be attentive to their health, and keep the body as much as possible the fit medium of the mind. A man may be a good performer; but what can he do with a disordered instrument? The inhabitant may have good eyes; but how can he see accurately through a soiled window ? Keep, therefore, the glass clear, and the organ in tune. We do not wish you to be finical and fanciful-to live in the shop of an apothecary, or to have a medical attendant always dangling at your heels, but be soberly and prudently attentive to the body. Rise early. Take proper exercise. Beware of sloth. Observe and avoid whatever disagrees with your system. Never overburden nature. Be moderate in your table indulgences. Let not appetite bemire and clog the mind. Medical authority will tell you, that where one disorder arises from deficiency, a thousand spring from repletion; and that the board slays far more than the sword.-Rev. W. Jay.

ENGLAND THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.-If we divide the globe into two hemispheres, according to the maximum extent of land and water in each, we arrive at the curious result of designating England as the centre of the former (or terrene) half, and an antipodal point near New Zealand as the centre of the aqueous hemisphere. The exact position in England is not far from the Land's End, so that if an observer were there raised to such a height as to discern at once the half of the globe, he would see the greatest possible extent of land; if similarly elevated in New Zealand, the greatest possible surface of water. Quarterly Review.

CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY.-To a young infidel, who scoffed at Christianity on account of the misconduct of some of its professors, Dr. Mason said, "Did you ever know an uproar made because an infidel went astray from the paths of morality?" The infidel admitted he had not. "Then," said the doctor, "don't you see that you admit Christianity is a holy religion, by expecting its professors to be holy; and that thus, by your very objection, you pay it the highest compliment in your power?""

Religion refines our moral sentiments, disengages the heart from every vain desire, renders it tranquil under misfortune, humble in the presence of God, and steady in the society of men.-Zimmer

man.

CORRESPONDENCE.

MISSION SCHOOLS.

MY DEAR SIR,-One important branch of the missionary work is the education of native children in the mission schools, where they are instructed, clothed, and fed at the expense of the Church

Missionary Society, or of individual friends either in this or foreign countries, who are interested in the work. Many sums are collected from year to year in this country from schools composed of those who know something of the value of Christian instruction, from their teachers and other friends, and sent out to different stations for the support of these native children. My object in sending this communication is to draw the attention of the readers of your widely circulated journal to the fact, so that the plan might be adopted in other schools, where an interest for the heathen in the dark places of the earth has begun to be felt. In South India and Travancore, where there are about 50 or 60 scholars supported in this way from England, the annual cost for each one is from £2 10s. to £3. Sixty subscribers at one penny a month, or half that number at a halfpenny per week, would produce this sum; when it might be transmitted through friends to the particular station where help was required. I think this might be effected in many schools without diminishing the funds for the general purposes of the society; and I need not say how additionally interesting it is felt to be to the youthful mind, when it can be said that such a sum is raised for the definite, specific purpose of educating a pagan child. I am, &c., &c.

May 14th, 1849.

S.S. Y.

GALATIANS iii. 20.

Yours, &c.,

REV. SIR,-A solution of the following Scripture difficulty will

greatly oblige

May 7th, 1849.

A CONSTANT READER.

"Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one." (Galatians iii. 20.)

P. S.-Of course its connexion with the context should be explained.

SUMMARY OF NEWS.

"There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand."

OUR readers will expect to receive some account of the position of our leading religious societies, whose meetings have been held during the past month in London. We begin with the Church Missionary Society. Its general fund for the year amounted to