"Now, we cannot but see that the Tuscan Government has made fearful progress in the new path which it has struck out for itself since the trial of Count Guicciardini. The Madiais are not merely exiled on political and civil grounds, as persons who might compromise the public peace and the good of the country. Such an act, although very revolting, would portend much less evil for the future than the sentence passed upon them on the 8th of June. They are punished by the civil law in the name of the Divine law, as being morally criminals; they have offended God, they must be punished; and if that canonical law which is pleaded by the priests, and which is the basis of the criminal law, were followed out to the letter, they would be sentenced to death. "Thus we see that, in order to obey God, their sovereign has even confirmed their sentence by refusing their pardon, notwithstanding their age, their moral lives, and their unwavering meekness. While, then, at this time we are exerting ourselves in their favour, others besides ourselves, looking forward, may tremble with too much reason for all Europe. They may feel that the same principles and the same laws which demand the punishment of these two inoffensive beings at the hands of the Tuscan tribunals may equally demand of all Catholic princes to take up arms against the Protestant nations; in fact, to exterminate heretics abroad at the head of their armies, as they exterminate heretics at home by means of their tribunals. "What is there, then, on the part of Rome to prevent our seeing all Europe in flames? Certainly it will not be owing to the moderation of man; it will only be attributable to the power of God. "It is, then, with the greatest pleasure, my Lord, that we have heard of the determination of the Protestant Alliance to send a deputation to Tuscany as soon as possible, in order to obtain an audience of the Grand Duke, to implore his clemency and mercy for our fellowChristians. "In thanking God, however, that England has taken the initiative in such a deputation, we earnestly desire that the measure should be of a more œcumenical character, and should unite to itself the Christianity of the Continent; not, however, so as to be for that reason delayed, or so as to cease to be under your direction. We should wish that three or four more persons, representatives of Switzerland, Holland, France, and Germany, should be added to your deputation, and should join it at Marseilles. "We think that the Christian fellowship which unites us all together in Jesus Christ as one body would thus be better manifested, to the glory of God; that all suspicion as to any political motive would be more completely dispelled; and, lastly, that all the friends of the Gospel in Italy, as well as the Madiais, would receive more abundant comfort by this European demonstration of sympathy. "Lastly, we are certain that this measure, undertaken in the name of Protestant Europe, will bear fruit, whatever may be its immediate result as regards the Tuscan Government. "If our request should be received favourably by the Grand Duke we shall bless God for the prince as well as for the prisoners, and it will be a subject of gratitude to all our Churches to have thus, by means of this intervention, arrested the chariot of persecution in its first movements, and checked the violence of the priests. If, on the contrary, the demand is rejected, if cruelty prevails, if the persecution is unrelenting, the mere knowledge of these facts will not be useless to the Churches of God, nor to the Protestant sovereigns and to their councils. England and Europe, will know that the most harmless Christians are treated as criminals, and that the sovereigns of that country, which but lately was the most tolerant in the Catholic world, have become the most cruel persecutors of their subjects as soon as they consented to yield themselves to the influence of Rome. "Permit us, therefore, my Lord, to submit to you the following proposals (here follow some points of detail.) "M. de St. George hopes, if it pleases God, to be in London by Tuesday, 21st of September. We beg you to receive, my Lord, the expression of our highest regard. 666 LOUIS GAUSSEN, D.TH., "Vice-President of the Evangelical Alliance of Geneva. "CHARLES Barde, "Minister of the National Church, member "To the Earl of Shaftesbury." The following correspondence has passed between Mr. Cowan, M.P., and the Foreign Office, respecting the situation of Mr. Edward Murray, and Francisco Madiai and his wife :"Valleyfield, near Edinburgh, Sept. 6, 1852. "My Lord, I am desirous to know whether your Lordship has received any recent intelligence of the situation of Mr. Edward Murray, a British subject, some time since condemned by a secret tribunal at Rome to suffer death? "I hope from the time which has elapsed since the trial and sentence passed upon Mr. Murray, that it may now be considered certain that his life will not be sacrificed. "I should feel much obliged if your Lordship would inform me if there be any prospect of Mr. Murray's liberation, and if you have received, or expect to receive, any account of the proceedings and evidence adduced at the trial, to warrant the pronouncing of the sentence of death? "I venture to make these inquiries at the request of some of my constituents, who take a deep interest in Murray's case, and I shall be glad to receive any information which it may be in your Lordship's power to afford. 66 May I be allowed to embrace this opportunity, and to crave your attention to the case of Francisco Madiai, and of Rosa, his wife, who have been condemned in Tuscany for a period of about four or five years to the galleys, with hard labour, for no other crime, as it appears, than that of forsaking the worship and communion of the Roman Catholic Church, and possessing a copy of the Holy Scriptures? “As these parties are not British subjects, I am aware that we cannot look for your Lordship's active and powerful interference in their behalf. At the same time, on the ground of our common humanity, Her Majesty's Government must be horrified by such atrocious proceedings, and I am sure that your Lordship will be ready to adopt any measures that may seem most likely to induce the Government of the Grand Duke of Tuscany to put an end to this cruel persecution; and if nothing more should be attained, I would humbly submit that, on the part of the Government and the British public, your Lordship ought to protest against such an outrage. I am sure that in these remarks I am giving expression to the feelings of the great majority of Scotchmen of all classes; and I earnestly hope, in so far as possible, your Lordship will use every exertion so as to press the Tuscan Government to deliver the two persons from a cruel and unmerited bondage. "I have the honour to be, &c., "CHAS. COWAN." The answer of the Foreign Secretary is as follows:— "Foreign-office, Sept. 11, 1852. "Sir,—I am directed by the Earl of Malmesbury to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, in which you call his Lordship's attention to the cases of Mr. Murray, and of Francisco and Rosa Madiai. "I am to state to you in reply that the attention of Her Majesty's Minister at Florence has for some time past been earnestly directed to the case of Mr. Murray, but that Her Majesty's Government have not yet learnt the final result of the proceedings in his case. "As regards the case of the Madiais, I am to state to you that Her Majesty's Government have taken a deep interest in the case of these parties, although their power of assisting them has necessarily been limited by the fact that the Madiais are not British subjects. "I am, Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, C. Cowan, Esq., M.P., Valleyfield, near Edinburgh." MR. LUCAS, M.P. FOR MEATH, AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ОАТН. Ir is not our purpose at this time to enter into the question of establishments, or the truth of Protestantism, but only to notice how Roman Catholic members stand with respect to the Protestant Church Establishment. There is a Protestant Church Establishment in Ireland. Every Roman Catholic Member of the House of Commons takes the oath appointed by the Roman Catholic Relief Bill of 1829, in which are the following words :-"I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present Church Establishment, as settled by law within this realm.” . In an address to the electors of the county of Meath, dated May 13, 1852, Mr. Lucas says, that to save ourselves from Protestant aggressions and to secure equality, "we must begin by battering down the monopoly of the Established Church." On Sunday, June 6, he addressed a Meeting of the electors at Kells in the following terms:-"By the blessing of God in heaven, I will never rest nor cease my exertions as long as I am in any position to exercise any public functions whatever, until that accursed monopoly the Established Church be cut down by the root and ceases to blast the land with its unwholesome influence." On June 13, he repeated the declaration at Trim. On Sunday, June 20, a great Meeting was held at Dorleek, at which the Rev. P. O'Reilly, C.C., assigned as a reason why Mr. Lucas was opposed, that if his friend Mr. L. was returned, the accursed Establishment would come down; that there would be no young archdeacons to enjoy the fruits of the labour of the poor. At this Meeting Mr. Lucas again stated his opinion that it was necessary to oppose every Government that would not cut down the accursed monopoly of the Established Church by the roots, to destroy it in Ireland for ever, and lay it level with the ground. On the second of June, 1849, this same Mr. Lucas stated in the "Tablet," that "If he had the honour of a seat in Parliament-unless and until he be better informed-he would no more presume to vote for the alienation of any Protestant Church property, so long as that oath was in being, than he would blaspheme his God or renounce his faith." This was written at the close of an article in which the Roman Catholic oath was considered, and in which it was stated the writer had now changed somewhat from his former views. In this article Mr. Lucas says: This oath "is the traditional form of words which for two-and-seventy years before 1829, the Catholics, with the most solemn adjurations had held out as giving perfect security to the Establishment, offering at the same time to give greater security if any greater could be desired." The attention of Mr. Lucas has been called to the oath, and to his speech at Kells: he now says, Aug. 14, 1852, he is clearly of opinion, that the oath does not forbid the entire destruction of the Protestant monopoly of the Church funds. Sept. 28, 1850, Mr. Lucas was discussing a declaration made by some English Roman Catholics in the last century, between 1760 and 1790, and amongst other statements made the following:-"That if any Catholic subscribes to principles condemned by the Pope, he is not bound by his subscription, obligation, covenant, or treaty, for that such obligations, covenants, &c. are perjuries rather than oaths or promises." Will this furnish a key to the conduct of Mr. Lucas and other Roman Catholic Members? Mr. Lucas is prepared to take an oath that he has no intention to subvert the present Church Establishment. And yet he dares to say, "I will never rest nor cease my exertions until the Established Church be cut down by the root." We would add no comments (purposing to consider the whole question on a future occasion), but earnestly invite every honest man to consider the statements here laid before him, and then if men of such principles are fit to be intrusted with legislative power. say Be it remembered, the question here to be considered is not the policy or impolicy of maintaining the Protestant Church Establishment, but whether men who swear they have no intention to subvert it, and yet avow their determination to do what they can to destroy it, are fit to be trusted. "The end justifies the means" is a dangerous doctrine. Men take an oath as a means to enable them to do that which they swear they have no intention to do. DEATH OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. THE name of the illustrious Duke has filled so large a space in the history of the last half-century as a faithful and distinguished servant of his Sovereign and his country, that we cannot pass over the melancholy event of his death in silence. While we desire to render every due honour to the memory of the venerable Duke, our space will not permit us to enter into the particulars of his distinguished career. We cannot, therefore, we think, do better than introduce the following extracts from a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Cumming, at the Scotch National Church, Crown-court, Covent-garden, on Sunday last: "The great hero Kings and Cabinets vied with each other adequately to honour-whose likeness painters, sculptors, and artists felt it honour to embody-whose eagle-eye scanned the lines of Torres Vedras, and arranged the victorious squares of Waterloo-whose heroic heart quailed at no peril, and despaired amid no difficulties, because conscious of doing the right work for right ends, and in the right way-the conqueror of Napoleon is taken from us. "I doubt not that if the world, has lost a hero, Britain a champion, and our Queen a servant, whose name has no plural, and his career no parallel, the 'better country' has received a new subject, not because he wore a victorious sword, but because he believed in Jesus. No public man ever lived whose life was so slightly shaped by outer influences. There is not a proof in these fourscore years and four that self-aggrandisement, thirst of glory, gave tone or direction to the conduct of Wellington. In this respect he stands out in perfect contrast to ancient and preceding heroes, philosophers, and statesmen. Themistocles could not sleep for envy of those who preceded him or |