passing through the press, I have seen an article on Dr. Temple's Essay in the Christian Observer for September, in which I am happy to find several points of coincidence with what I have myself written. It is indeed time that all those who believe in God's revealed word, should join together and contend earnestly for the faith which is assailed." Mr. Gresley concludes a very solemn remonstrance with a stroke of irony; he supposes a paper of questions put forth by the vice-principal of Lampeter College to his candidates for orders; or the same questions might be imagined as proposed by the head master of Rugby to his sixth-form boys: they embody some of the principles and doctrines which are taught in the volume under consideration. Or, we will add, they may supply some useful hints to the archdeacons and episcopal chaplains who congratulated Mr. Maurice on his preferment to the Vere-street Chapel, at the next ordinations. We venture to copy the examination paper.

Questions by an Ideological Examiner.

"1. Give reasons for supposing that the account contained in the Bible of the creation of Adam and Eve, and the descent of the human race from them, is not to be considered as an undoubted historical fact, but the concrete expression of a great moral truth;' that 'the idea of creation is to be rejected,' and it is rather to be believed that, in point of fact, mankind have in all probability been developed gradually out of mushrooms.

"2. Explain why the declaration of God contained in Gen. vi., 'Behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life,'--and in Gen. vii. 21, ‘And all flesh died. . . in whose nostrils was the breath of life. .. And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark '— is contrary to fact, and that the flood did not extend beyond the primæval region of North Asia.

"3. Explain the process of reasoning by which it is proved, ideologically, that when we read in Holy Scripture that God did tempt Abraham, and bade him offer his son for a burnt-offering, what is really meant is, that the fierce ritual of Syria, with the awe of a divine voice,' urged him to do so, and his faith consisted in deciding not to follow the suggestion.

"4. State your views of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, and explain why it is probable that the destroyer whom God sent to slay the first-born of the Egyptians, was a horde of Bedouins.

"5. State your reasons for thinking that it is impossible, in the nature of things, that miracles can possibly take place; and consequently, that the creation of the world, the incarnation, the deeds said by eye-witnesses to have been performed by our Lord Jesus Christ, His healing the sick, cleansing the leper, opening the eyes of the blind, feeding the multitude, and lastly, His resurrection from the dead, are not deserving of credit.

"6. If miracles are not to be believed, explain how that large portion of Holy Scripture which contains the account of miracles having been performed, being false, can be said 'to be given by inspiration of God, and to be profitable for instruction.'

"7. Explain why it may be true that the decision of the council

of Nicea was 'the greatest misfortune which ever befell the Christian world;' and that it would have been much better to have left things alone, and allowed men to believe Christ to have been God or man, and to have worshipped Him or not, as they chose.

"8. Explain the theory on which you ground the notion that persons disbelieving, the facts of Holy Scripture, are nevertheless very proper persons to be ordained as bishops, priests, and deacons of the church of England.

"9. Interpret the following clauses in the questions asked by the bishop in the ordaining of priests:-Are you determined out of the said Scriptures to instruct the people committed to your charge,''to drive away all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God's word?'

"10. Do you consider it lawful for individuals to act as it is supposed by ideologists that the writers of Holy Scripture have done,that is, to state as certain facts, for instance, the creation of man, the deluge, the miracles of our Blessed Lord, the resurrection, when they believe that such events have not really taken place ?"

Paul the Pope, and Paul the Friar: a Story of an Interdict. By T. Adolphus Trollope. London: Chapman and Hall. 1861.-What Mr.Trollope calls a story deserves the higher name of a history. The history, too, of an important epoch in the ecclesiastical affairs of Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century. There has been in England for fifty years a preposterous sentiment amongst educated people, of false charity towards the church of Rome. It has been, we might say, nothing less than the drivellings of a national idiotism in many quarters. It is too much to ask those who are the subject of it to study the real character of Rome in her canons and official edicts. Perhaps they may condescend to make themselves better acquainted with it through the medium of a story, and no story can be better fitted for the purpose than Paul the Pope, and Paul the Friar. However, one hope remains: Englishmen alone, of all the nations upon the earth, refuse to see the hateful character of the hideous apostasy. Her own children have learned first to distrust, and now to abhor, their unnatural parent, and the crisis is coming. "The wind," as Mr. Trollope expresses it, "of the coming shock may already be felt. Or would not the metaphor more correctly represent the fact, if it were said, the crash is already in our ears; and its first consequences are such as to render its final issue no longer doubtful to any man."

Egypt in its Biblical Relations and Moral Aspect. By J. Foulkes Jones, B.A. London: Smith, Elder, and Co. 1860.-A book of travels in Egypt ought to be replete with instruction; it ought to supply to the unlearned reader the place of comments on the Pentateuch, and elaborate disquisitions on the historical parts of the Old Testament; and, to a great extent, this volume fulfils these conditions. It is written with a vigorous pen, by an author who keeps in view, without obtruding it, the opportunity presented by almost every scene in Egypt, of throwing some light on Scripture. As a book of travels, overloaded as we are with such productions, it is not devoid of interest; as confirming the truth of Scripture on a hundred points. without the labour of an argument, it deserves higher praise. It ful

fils the promise held out by the Preface. "As a traveller," writes Mr. Jones, "I could not be unmindful of the physical and social conditions of the country through which I was passing; though here, rather than go into much nicety of detail, I have thought it best to give my own impressions of the scenes which fell under my notice. Still, writing as a religious traveller, it has been my chief object to note those points in the life and history of ancient Egypt, which serve to illustrate its connection with the religion and book of God. Herein I have had occasion to touch upon its chronology, mythology, ritual, and civilization; not, indeed, for the purpose of a scientific investigation, but simply with a view to the practical vindication of the Bible, or the general elucidation of Christian truth."

A Journey in the Back Country. By Frederick Law Olmstead. London: Sampson Low and Co. 1860. — Mr. Olmstead is no new writer on the somewhat hackneyed slavery question. He has in previous works given the public the benefit of his observations during journeys made in the sea-board slave states and in Texas. In the present volume he has, in a sensible and honest, though rather Yankee manner, given us his impressions of the condition of the slave in the cotton-growing states round about the Misissippi, and also his more matured opinions on the subjects treated of in his former publications. Now that the right of the slave states of America to secede from the federal union is being agitated, Mr. Olmstead's present volume will, we think, command an extensive circulation, both on account of its own intrinsic merits, and by reason of the interest which the subject on which he treats at present excites. Concerning the policy of slavery, we have so recently given our opinion, that we shall not again open the question. The slave states occupy more than one-half of the superficial area of the American Union, and comprise two-fifths of its population. The free states have, however, both physical superiority and law on their side. Let there be a separation between the free and slave states, and slavery will be abolished for ever. It is not the superior force of the southern slaveholders that keeps the slaves in subjection, it is the Union; it is congress rather than the cowhide. The repeal of the fugitive slave laws must be a necessary result of separation of the states. Let that be accomplished and the slaves will find ways and means to free themselves.

A multitude of practical expositions, often of great merit, are constantly issuing from the press; of these we can notice but a few, and out of justice to those we are obliged to pass over, we feel reluctant to single out others. But we may perhaps be allowed to call attention to The Penitent's Prayer: a Practical Exposition of the Fifty-first Psalm. By the Rev. Thomas Alexander, M.A. Nisbet and Co. 1861. It is fervent and eloquent. It brings out the spiritual meaning and application of this wonderful psalm, and its appeals to the conscience are deep and stirring. It is a book to put into the hands of an anxious inquirer, and it may prove a blessing too to many a thoughtless reader.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

ONE subject has absorbed attention during the last month. In its presence Italy has been little thought of, and the rest of Europe and of the world forgotten. The great American Union, the colossus of republics, has fallen to pieces. The bonds which held it together have been suddenly dissolved, as suddenly as our icebound rivers and canals after the recent frost. On the 19th of December South Carolina seceded from the great federal union, "the United States of America," by a deliberate, and even a unanimous, vote of its convention; and by the last mail the news arrived that Mississipi, Alabama, and Florida have followed her example. Georgia would, no doubt, join with them; and Virginia, which, it was hoped, would have acted as umpire between the north and south, was on the point of seceding; and, as the state conventions or parliaments assemble within a few weeks, there is little doubt that all the slave-holding states will successively declare themselves independent. Thus America, as one great republic, exists no

longer on the map of nations.

We are not yet in a condition to perceive all the consequences of a revolution at once so sudden and so astonishing. We will trace its progress in a few words, before we venture some conjectures with regard to its results.

Though it has come upon us thus suddenly at last, the probability of such a crisis has been all along foreseen. Washington, Madison, Jefferson, and the older republicans, were always apprehensive of danger; and Wilberforce spoke of it amongst his friends, with a sort of prophetic confidence. The execution of Brown a year ago, and the violence of the slave-owners-a violence which at length assumed the character of actual ferocity-prepared us for the worst. The election of an anti-slavery president, by a large majority of votes, was the natural recoil, the consequence of their own tyrannical behaviour; the free states naturally feeling that the time had come when some steps must be taken in self-defence, or that slavery would subdue and subjugate the whole Union. Still no immediate rupture was expected; nor indeed would it have taken place, had not, as it appears to us, a deep infatuation possessed the slave-holding states. The danger to themselves from a rising of the blacks, who now amount to about four millions, is not to be overlooked. In Virginia great fears are already entertained. Every plantation has its patrols; and kegs of powder, it is said, have been found secreted in several places. Possibly enough there may not be a word of truth in this; but it shows the fears of the slave-owners, even if put forward as an apology for their severities to the slaves. It seemed reasonable to suppose that whenever the disruption occurred, the free states would have been the first to promote it. But here again the violence of the southern states has precipitated the contest, and most probably to their own destruction.

Hitherto the president has acted with dignity and caution; indeed the conduct of all the northern and free states is marked with a Vol. 60.-No. 278.

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calmness and forbearance in striking contrast with the savage violence of the south; and we must bear in mind that Mr. Buchanan is still in office; the new president not entering on his duties till the 4th of March. In an address, which might serve as a model of such compositions for our own statesmen, he invited the whole Union to observe a day of national humiliation. It was kept early in the month with great solemnity in New York, and generally throughout the northern states still loyal to the Union. The dues collected at the port of Charlestown, the Liverpool of South Carolina, belong to the federal government, but the state has seized upon them. The presidential government sent a ship of war to protect her revenue and collect the duties while afloat. She was fired upon and prudently retired. We are now told that she will return, accompanied by two frigates, to renew the attempt. The harbour is commanded by Fort Sumter, which is in the occupation of the federal troops. Each side waits till the first blow shall be struck, and Europe looks on in anxious expectation.

The president addressed a special message to the senate and house of representatives, on the 9th inst. "The fact cannot be disguised," he says, that we are in the midst of a great revolution; " yet he does not despair. "I appeal through you to the people of the country to declare, in their might, that the Union must and shall be preserved by all constitutional means.”

But now with regard to the future. By "constitutional means" the president understands concession; he suggests a compromise. "The proposition to compromise by letting the north have exclusive control of the territory above a certain line, and to give southern institutions protection below that line, ought to receive universal approbation." It is hardly consistent with this to say, "The present is no time for palliatives; prompt action is required." If, however, the suggestion should be carried, the free states then surrender at discretion, and slavery is lord of the ascendant. But the southern states now declare that no concession will satisfy them unless it be the inaking slavery the law of the whole Union, and bringing every state into complete harmony with themselves. Even supposing this to be effected, the dificulty is not removed. The question is only postponed for a year or two. Slavery is hateful to millions in the northern states, who will no more acquiesce in such a compromise than should we in England. The battle must one day be fought out; this they feel; and better now than at a future day. A peaceable separation is still possi ble, and the federalists will, we hope, abandon their just claims rather than make the appeal to the sword. The horrors of a civil war would be too appalling; it would be a war of assassination; for South Carolina in her frenzy has declared that death shall be the penalty of all who shall be taken in arms against her.

Whatever may be the issue of the struggle, there seems at present no reason to apprehend that England will be involved in it. This could only happen through the madness of the slave-holding states, who, in their present temper, might possibly resent our undisguised sympathy with their northern neighbours; but, happily, their interests will keep their passions in check. If it is for the interest of Manchester to offer a market for their cotton, it is no less their interest to