Religious world abroad MONTHT>Y VIEW. CUbbat BRnSsDfc'JSil2%e Edinburg Medi cal Missionary Society held its annual meeting November 17 th. The chief work of this society is the training of medical missionaries, leaving it to the various ■cMvches and missionary societies to send them to tlx 1 mission-field and maintain theta, there. Thus they have four or five alumni in China, three in India, i Palestine, some in Madagascar. ' All tl jeso are men who have taken a high place iii the medical school for which Edinburgh has long been so famous, while their hearts are thoroughly imbued ; with a Christian and a missionary spirit. t A i jXKALia.— Remarkable Statistics. — ■from the census of religious attendance wpabii -hed last year, -we learn that while f the:? are 150,000 persons professing to. r. belong to the ChuTch-of England, in New ■ South Wales, 24,998 only are returned its generally attending the means of grace in ! * Episcopal Churches, ' There are about 100.000 persons belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, and of these 22,750 are reported as attending the services on the ' Sabbath. There are 85/000 Presbyterians, -and of these T 856 are in attendance. There are some 23,682: Methodists, yet 24,398 are returned as attending their places of worship. There are 5411 Congregation alists, and, 4705 persons attend their .services. The laTge attendance reported ■‘(by the Methodists indicates that their -organization, provides for the necessities of a ..people living in a very scattered v-flondition, .more effectually than the other and greater‘churches do. By the employ meat of amagency somewhat akin to that .- of the Methodists, including itineracy and Jay, ag«ftcy|other churches might do more sio carry religious ordinances to. the people. Liberality of the Churches.-The Rev. -tT.- G. Paton collected; during the last year, -£4600 for a mission-ship, chiefly among in New South Wales, Yic- Australia, and Tasmania, "independently of the usual missionary collections. The Australian Mission of - the .Wesleyan Methodists raised £lO,OOO .St last year, bosn|ts the sustentation of the jninistny and •their ordinary efforts in building churches; and schools. The Church of England, likewise, in these , • colonies, obtains considerable sums.- Union of Presbyterians. -The Presbyte rian! ‘Churches have been uniting with greoksjiccess and advantage. They have no flhfed to : maintain the separation which marks their ancestral country here. And the rte\yiggneration is fully persuaded of ■this."; Queensland to New -Zealand, the distinctions known in Scot • land will be obliterated, and the name'' Presbyterian indicate all that marks the section of the Church to which the indi vidual belongs; ... - Life of Jesus.-^-The 45 this the higher ma&fcf iiiindS|“has beeii by 31>c ? ; ifprfisseiise." AVPriris correspondent speaks of Its ahdceptaWbness even to Romanists. ! He says: ‘‘ Instances are known of upright ‘%'flptwv in high dffice in the Roman Church having derive?!‘Trom it good that they " have not feared, to acknowledge. The morf popular work of Napoleon Rousso'U ...is doing good service in its own sphere. '• One'copy is known to have been read by twenty-seven persons in a few days. This •discussion makes the name and character of Jesus the universal topic of conversa tion in Paris, and the opportunity for bold aricNiarnest Christian effort is greatly Among the Romanists, the Renan by the Bishop of ~I™' hniv’gained notoriety from the deception given to it by the Emperor. The following is the letter which he ad dressed to the author: “Monsieur l’Eveque: You have been so kind aq to .sent me the book you have • ; v tp combat a recent work which -'.attempts to raise doubts on one of the principles of our religion. ' r I h;ive seen with pleasure how energett .the faith, and I offer you c ns; Whereupon, Utonsier t’Eveque' I pray God to have you; in his holy keeping.—Written at the this 14th of Novem- er the celebrated English fay-preacher, whose wonderful adapted ness to, and power over the masses,.' is • well known, has recently paid a visit to y I?ftnet,is3!ljc same correspondent speaks of ~ Jne 't'oiy man to stir up, in such a hS’this, the bold joyful spirit of the Apostolic age. " He was sent for to labor in behalf of the neglected and godless English population, and visited their low; and brought many of the to a .place of worship ; tnftdencing them so powerfully that they .. wrote him a letter of thanks, and begged hint t gress, of a very gratifying kind. Then, there were 110 stations and but 34 out-: stations. Now, the stations are 112, and the out-stations, occupied by native help ers, 211.. Then, the whole number of " Native Assistants ” given in the “ Sum mary” was only 221; but it should be stated that the 1 native school teachers then employed do;not,seem to have been in cluded in this number. Now, we find 30 native, pastors, 233 native preachers, (inf eluding those denominated catechists by some of the missions, but who ace virtually preachers;) 268 school, teachers, and 200 other helpers,, making a total of 737. The whole number of laborers then. given a&j connected with' the missions (many hativ% teachers not included) was-G2l; it is now (including teachers) 1,089 —Miss. Herald. Islands of the' Pacific. —The tion of three new churches in Honolulu, has been determined upon. Six person?* were licensed to preach, at the September meeting of the Hawaiian Evangical Asso ciation. Two nati man and wife, were prepared to leave for Mifc ronesia at the next trip of the Morning Star.— Contributions —Mr. Sturges, at As cension Island, sends eighteen dollars tin the American Board, “the amount of the contributions at the monthly concert, during the-last eleven months.” One of these infant: Micronesian Churches has ac tually sent one of their number as a mis sionary to more destitute parts, and pro vided for his support for a year: Reception of a Returned Missionary. — Rev. John Inglis reached Aneityuui, ,in the South Pacific, on his return from Scot land, July 3d. Of his reception there lie thus writes : : “Our reception, was. most cordial,.both by the members of the mission and the na tives. Wo received quite an ovation. Captain Williams and Mr Geddie met us at the entrance of ;the harbour. . Every mast in the John Williams was covered with flags, as if it had beenuthe Queen's' birthday. When we reached the shore, what we may call the Aneityuu loyal vol unteer rifle corps were drawn up, with flip, principaljchief at their head, ,and fired off a grand salute. The British flag and the flags of the different chiefs were flying in front bf the mission premises: A flag was; extended over the gateway, with, the in-, scription in large letters, AVelcome Home. The orphan the other children attending' Mrs. Johnston’s school,.to the fifty or sixty, wdre* drawn up 6h each.side of the gate; and as we passed ;themyshf& sang the. Aneityum version of the hymn, ,* There, is a happy land, far, far away.’ This to my mind was the most touching and affecting part of the whole arrange-- melts. On'our fiide of the-dslahd there -Was an equal, but somewhat differentdis ,play. As we came round in our boat yes terday, we were met at the reef, near the landing place, by a crowd of natives, hea ded by the principal chiefs; bearing a na tive palanquin decorated with flags; on this we were carried shoulder high frem the boat to the garden gate; the whole proces sion joining ih a song,' in the'same way.as they inauguarate their highest chiefs rand every one must shake hands with us, from The oldest the youngest.” , India.— The number of missionaries in India has rather diminished last two or three years; but the native laborers are becoming every where, more numerous and effective. The -Wdftve Evangelical Society , of Madura,- i?|htch undertakes the. support of nearly all the native pastors, held its annual meeting,. September 12, The receipts for the year had been 540 rupees, - (S2TO,) a considera ble increase over the income of any previ ous year. Mr. Cornelius, the President of the Society, had taken great pains to collect funds among the heathen, (many of whom had been his pupils in the Eng lish school,) and had in this way obtained ITS rupees. The Society seems to have a strong hold upon the affections of the peo ple, and although it now has on its list, for support, five native pastors, it will cheerfully assume the support of others.— Government Schools icithoul the Bible. — When I see, says Mr. Washburne, of Madura Mission, a Government excluding tlm Bible from its sehools, and yet edu cating men in these sehools to the Bache lor-of-Arts standard in our colleges at home; when I see the schools watched over by infidel English inspectors, super intended by heathen under-officers,' _,and, taught by heathen teachers; and )spcF schools giving all the higher eddeatiofl of, this district; it becomes a question of some significance, what kind of a legacy, shall we, of this field, leave to our next successors in the mission work ? Cases of Conversion.- —Rev. Mr. Ballan tine; of Akmednuegger, reports the follow ing to the last Missionary Herald: ..“ Since I wrote you last month, several interesting circumstances have occured with us. First, a girl, thirteen years of age, and two or'three weeks after, a young man. of eighteen or twenty, both of high castejeft their.relatives, being desirous of embracing . Qhristianity, and took up their residence" with sortie of our Christian converts. ’-Ef forts were made by their friends to induce them to return, but without avail.. The. .girl was taken before, a magistrate, .and declared to him her.purpose to , become' a Christian. He decided that inconsequence of her tender year#, she must be given up to her mother, but she returned here again, two. days after, and no further effort waq made to recover her. She is, now girlsf school, learning very rapidly, and wears a countenance indieative’of the great est happiness ” MISSIONARY PRESBYTERIANISM ABROAD Address to Dr. Duff. —A meeting of Dr. Duff’s pupils in Calcutta was held in the hail of the Free Church Institution, Oet. 2d. Our readers will perhaps be interested to learn that among those present were Rev. Lai Behari ■ Dev; Baboo WopendraMohum Tagor; Baboo Hurromohun Chatterjee; Coomar Harendra Krishna Deb Bahadoor; and that the first resolution was moved by Baboo Moliesh Ohun der Banerjea. The Christian ear finds proof in these uncouth-sounding names of the pro gress of Ohrist,s Kingdom among all “ nations and kindreds and tongues." The first resolu tion expressed “ their deep gratitude to him for the benefits he has conferred not only on themselves, but on the country at large : their sfneere affection and profound reverence for Mir as their teacher; and their warm admira tion of his disinterested exertions for the pro motion of the welfare of the people of India." An address to Dr. Duff was voted by these grateful scholars, which recited his extraordi nary services to the cause of Education in India, and in which occurred the following sentencelt thus appears, Sir, that your name stands the highest and the first among all the promoters of education in India; and sure we are that yonr honored name will be remembered to the latest ages amid the bene dictions of an enligheehed and grateful nation.” A committee was appointed to secure funds' for procuring a marble bust of the venerated teacher, to be placed in the Calcutta Free Church Institution. The Union Movement. —The Sabbath-school Union Of the English Presbyterian Churches of Manchester, invited the United Presbyterian teachers of the city to unite with them in a social:meeting, which took place Nov. 23d. The attendance was large and the most cordial feeling prevailed. The speakers referred to the Union movement now in progress. One ofi .the U, P. speakers said that, as the differ ences existing between the two bodies were not such as would cause a separation were they t>ne, neither should these be sufficient to keep them asunder because for the time they happened to be two. Another said that with the S. S. teachers in a great measure, it. rested whether Presbyterianism was to become accli matized in England. He was himself an Englishman by birth and education, but had early been indoctrinated with Presbyterian views; and his riper judgment had confirmed his early teaching. He was sure that our Church polity had ouly to be fairly represen ted, and denuded of its Scotticism,*to recom mend itself judgment of all candid and trnth-seekingj*MBi§hmen.’ ’ Neta Englv?tt%esbyterian Oku reft.—Several hundred pounds have been subscribed recently to erect a church .edifice in Worcester. A congregation has been in existence ia the city for sometime. The Jjiberation Society, a political organiza tion composed of dissenters, in England, which aims to secure to, the people of England entire liberty in ecclesiastical matters, has recently changed its political tactics. The new plan consists in giving primary importance to the objects aimed at by.the I-iberean Society, and remanding to a secondary and subordinate position the general principles of liberalism. The abolition of Church-rates, the admission of Dissenters to the use of parochial burying grounds, and other objects of a similar nature, are. to be regarded as more important, than that of maintaining a Liberal G overnment; and : Nonconformists are, in Parliamentary elections, to “ insist in every locality, upon SO much advantage to their, principles as will be fairly proportioned to their local strength, aud in .the event of their being refused; to decline that electoral co-operation which is to yield them no benefit.” The London Weekly Review doubts whether the proposed plari is "wise anrd well-timed.. . :: More than .£l,BOO (9000 dollars,) were sab scribed in a .single week, in the north of Eng land, for fhe English Presbyterian Building and Debt-Extinction Fund. ■ Dr. Hamilton of Lon don labored a 3 Chairman of the Committee, travelling from place to place, and addressing Churches in behalf of the fund. Free ChuTek, ’Seottand. —Dr. Begg is cer tainly one of the [best men to keep things stirring, in the Church Courts that we hear Of iil America. His latest movement—and it.seems likes, the others to be a timely one— u;as tp move in Edinburg Presbytery, an over lure' calling upon the General Assembly “to adopt sOrae effectual meaiis by which to instruct our people in regard to the Scriptural authority Of Presbyterian Church government.” In an address's of considerable length, he referred to the very liberal and “ loose” idea' advanced by Dr.• Caii'd of the Established Church “ Good Words that Scripture does uot prescribe any definite form of church government. A very interesting discussion arose, which was shared in by Dr. Caudlisli, Sir Henry Moncrieff and others. The indifference shown by the Estab lished Church of Scotland, or indeed, the learning of many in that body to Prelacy, makes it necessary for true Presbyterians to assert and maintain the more positively, their distinctive views. The overture was agreed to fitter’s mM?, Aluer. A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life: with a Complete Biblio grahpy of the Subjec-t, By William Boun- Seville Alger. Philadelphia: George IV. Cbiids. Svo., pp. 924. If we were to criticise this volume from the unquestionably meritorious end of it, wc should begin with the concluding por tion—the section on the “ Literature of the Doctrine.” This is a full, chronologi cally arranged list of works relating to the Nature, Origin, and Destiny of the Soul, the titles classified, with notes and indexes of authors and subjects, by Ezra Abbott, Jr., Associate ‘Librarian of Harvard Uni versity. It describes thus fully no less than 5000 publications, hnd presents ns with a historic.development of thought on each of the great themes included,in the general subject. A vast amount of infor mation of high value is thus conveyed, which, we believe, can be found together nowhere else in the world. Mr.. Alger’s part of the work is divided, into five parts: 1. Historical and Critical Introductory Yiews. 2. Ethnic Thoughts Concerning a Future Life. 3. New Tes tament Teachings Concerning a Future .Life.;-,: A, Christian 'Thoughts Concerning ; a. Future Life, . .5, Historical and Criti cal .Dissertations Concerning a Future Life.' It shows great research’, which ex tends into the rich literature ofi Germany on this subject. The discussions,are bold,, hesitating,;not to grapple with eyery, as pect of the question;, the historian is also the critic at every turn. Undoubtedly there is much, very much that the Chris tian teacher and the, inquiring layman of the, highest culture will . find instructive and reliable in the volume. But the theo logy which it inculcates, and the Biblical criticism on which it is based, are. such as sound scholars ban loss rejected. The reckless dogmatism of the Tuebingen school is applied to such passages of the Scripture as do not accomodate themselves to his theory. The story of man’s crea tion and fall in Genises is a myth. The doctrine of the vicarious atonemement is rejected; Christ’s resurrection and not Christ’s death is the ground of our salva tion ; the rewards and punishments of the future are wholly subjective; an attempt is made to hold a middle ground " between the credulous-excess of the Calvinistic in terpretation and the skeptical poverty of the Unitarian; how rich in Christian ideas, in comparison with the “poor” Uni tarian, Mr. Alger is, it is difficult to see. The very introduction offends against good taste in the use of such words and phrases as “ opinionativeness,” “tissueless realm,” in. such a bombastic sentence as “ Man is the lonely and sublime Columbus of creation, who, wandering on, , the Spa nish strand of time,” &e.; or again, who would expect, in a work actuated by a purely scientific interest, such an exclama tion as occurs at the opening of chap, iv : “A hell of fire and brimstone is the great raw-head and bloody-bones in the super stition of the world!” However, with all its faults, there is enough of real value in the volume, and of promise that Mr. Alger may do still better as a writer and thinker, that we would conimend it to all discriminating persons, and would express tho hope that, as Mr. A. grows older, he may give a still wider berth to the “ skeptical poverty of the Unitarian.” The mechanical execution of the volume is admirable. • For sale at the Presbyterian Book Store. Abbott. The Rollo and Lucy Poetry, I. The Rocking Horse; or, First Book. 11. Carlo; or, the Second Book. 111. The Ca nary Bird; or, the Third book. By Jacob Abbott, Author of the Rollo Books: with Original Engravings. Philadelphia: Geo. W. Childs. For Sale at the Presbyterian Book Store. These truly handsome volumes, -with their gay binding and spirited illustrations, will find many readers among Mr. Ab bott’s old friends, as well as among those just reaching the happy age when they can begin to appreciate his successful ef forts to please and instruct them. The books are progressively arranged, the first being designed even for such as depend on their parents or older to read to them, while the third embraces many pieces from the classic English and Ame rican poets. Several of pur friend Mr. Mackellar’s best poems, including the Dying Soldier to his Mother, are given. We trust Mr. Abbot, when he says: “ The compiler has been careful to exclude care fully from this collection every thing that seemed to him to inculcate any thing false, whether in matters of fact, in morals, in sentiment, or in philosophy ; so that the influence of the book upon tile minds of the children who may read or hear it may be, in all aspects, wholesome and sound.” Angei. Voices; or, Words of Counsellor over coming; the World. A nety. and enlarged edition. Boston : Tickuor