diocese was divided: bishoprics were formed in Ceylon, Madras, and Bombay. Bishop Wilson was thus left in direct charge of the Presidency of Bengal, the Burman Provinces, and the Straits of Malacca; and was made Metropolitan of the whole. The result in a few years was a compactness of system and a completeness in the supply of ordinances of the most gratifying and astonishing kind. Had all the chaplains been as spiritual, energetic, and evangelical as their superior, the progress of vital religion, great as it was, would doubtless, under God's blessing, have been considerably increased. Even as it is, the great increase in the number of godly ministers in India, both in and out of the establishment, and the solid advance of spiritual religion in the English community, call for the most hearty and devout thankfulness.

In Bishop Wilson, again, Christian missions among the heathen ever found an active supporter and zealous friend. He loved few things in his diocese more than the promotion of Christ's work amongst the idolators of the land. The Church Missionary Society, its agents, and operations, were peculiarly dear to him; and those of the Propagation Society, too, he was ever ready to aid. He visited all their stations; inquired into their position, wants, and prospects; endeavoured to enter, as far as he could, into personal intercourse with the missionaries and their flocks; and took the deepest interest in their welfare. With the missionaries his intercourse seemed ever more free and unrestrained than that with his official chaplains. They treated him as their personal friend, received sympathy and advice in all their difficulties, and were frequently invited to make his house their home. One of the most stirring appeals ever uttered on behalf of Indian missions was contained in the first charge delivered to his clergy after his arrival in India.

On one vital question in these missions his proceedings descrve special mention and special honour. When he visited the old missions in the Province of Tanjore, that had been founded by Schwartz and the Tranguebar missionaries, he found, on inquiry, that they were torn to pieces by dissensions, and their communion utterly vitiated by the observance of Caste Rules among the professing Christians. For many years missionaries had temporized with the difficulty; Bishop Heber, led away by the assurances of a native clergyman that caste distinctions were civil and social, not religious, had refused to interfere; and the continued observance of these unrighteous and heathen laws threatened not only to destroy all vitality in the Tamil missions of the Church of England, but by their example to infect and injure those of all other missionary bodies in the same part of the country. Bishop

Wilson, however, saw the real nature of the case, saw the radical evils to which these observances gave rise, and set himself to root them out with a strong hand. He visited the missions, conversed with the missionaries, discussed the matter with the people, and declared that these caste rules must be observed in the churches no longer. By personal expostulation, as well as by letters, he showed them how utterly unchristian and injurious these observances are, and announced his single determination that in the missions under his control they should entirely cease. Tests of obedience were provided, by which the decision of the catechists and members might be declared. Large numbers quitted the missions rather than surrender their caste prejudices, and continue separate to this day. But large numbers remained, and with them the missions were recommenced on a new footing. The energy and decision of the bishop in this important matter have proved of immense benefit to the cause of missions; the influence he was able to exert at once over such a large range of churches became everywhere known, and proved a bulwark to the missionaries of other societies and churches, who were acting in the same way. The tenacious evil has not wholly disappeared; but a right course respecting it has been established and steadily maintained. Time, and a higher standard of religion in the native churches will, it is hoped, cure it entirely in days to come. In a similar manner the bishop dealt with the question of the church missions among the Syrian churches. They had been commenced on the plan of improving the existing system; but the personal interests and gains of the officials were so directly affected by the spiritual progress of the people, that they thwarted it in every way. After long forbearance, the bishop wisely directed that the church missions should be carried on separately, and the converts attached to the Church of England should be formed into separate congregations under the instruction and discipline of the missionaries alone.

The decisive action of the bishop was not, however, confined to the local questions arising in his own diocese. When the "Tracts for the Times" appeared at Oxford, and the Puseyite school began to disturb the Church in England, he at once discerned the tendency of their doctrines, and his intense attachment to Evangelical truth rendered him immediately and deeply sensitive to the evil influences they were calculated to exert upon the rising ministry of the Church. From the first, therefore, he lifted up a standard against them; and whilst so many prelates at home hesitated, temporized, and tampered with the growing evil, his voice was raised in clear tones of warning; while his advocacy and exposi tion of the great doctrine of justification by faith alone, in opposi tion to all ceremonial acceptance, became only the more decided,

more earnest, and more prominent. All his influence was exerted against Tractarianism throughout his diocese; he made special reference to Evangelical views in his examination of candidates for Orders, and subjected them to special tests. He watched the conduct of his chaplains also, and put a summary stop to all departure from the ordinary rubrical observances of the present day. Though there are many chaplains in India lifeless and formal in their work-many who stickle for the rubric and care little for saving truth-during all the bishop's life there were no exhibitions in India like those in St. Barnabas; and vestments, altar-cloths, and candles were never allowed to trouble the peace of the Church under his rule. That the English community in the Indian empire is so Evangelical in its faith, and therefore so active in supporting missionary work, is largely due, under God's blessing, to the earnest and uncompromising defence of that faith maintained during a long series of years by the bishop's example, conduct, and instructions.

One object, long contemplated with intense desire, was the erection of a new Cathedral. It was to be his own special seat as Metropolitan of the Church of England in India; it was to have a chapter, consisting of a dean and twelve canons, half of whom were to be missionaries, European or native; and it was to be the head-quarters of a great mission among the natives of Calcutta. To the complete scheme he attached an inordinate degree of importance. He imagined that for the first time Christianity would be presented with due form and weight to idolatrous eyes; for though no Puseyite, the bishop was by no means adverse to a considerable amount of Episcopal show. He pushed the scheme forward with great earnestness, devoted to it no less than £25,000 from his own purse, and received immense donations in aid of it from officials and societies in England. In some respects, the plan succeeded; in others it totally failed. The Church of England in India being merely connected with the Government, and intended for the English community of Government servants, has, strictly speaking, no local establishment in the country; the Court of Directors therefore refused to sanction the formation of the cathedral chapter. The cathedral mission also fell through, and the funds that had been collected for endowments have been given to the Church Missionary and Propagation Societies. The cathedral itself was built, and the Court granted it, as a district church, the services of two extra chaplains. Though built only of brick, it is a handsome building, with a lofty spire, and the nave forms a most capacious church. The bishop lived to open it, and beneath the communion-table his body now rests in its last sleep.

Our sketch is too brief to allow any description of his visit to England in 1845, or of the special labours of his last few years. In the year of mutiny, his voice was heard in distinct tones, calling on the Government to wash its hands of all evil, the Church to sacrifice more for the salvation of the heathen, and all classes to humble themselves beneath the mighty hand of God in true and heartfelt penitence. In the height of the crisis, he invited the clergy, ministers, and missionaries of all denominations to his palace, and, though very feeble himself, presided at one of the most solemn of the many prayer-meetings held at that season in India. Shortly after, he enjoyed the deep satisfaction of joining the Bishops of Madras and Victoria (in China) in consecrating the newly-appointed Bishop of Labuan.

But the time drew near that he should die. Towards the close of 1857, his strength began visibly and rapidly to decay. "Within the chambers of his heart life's fire was burning low." He suffered from little disease and little pain; he knew he was passing away, and clung with simpler faith and love than ever to the Saviour, to whom he had consecrated his numerous years; he was nearly eighty; and at length, just as the new year dawned, at early morning he was found, seated on his couch, dead. The news of his actual death created a great sensation in the city; and two days after, the largest congregation that had ever been gathered in the Cathedral met to commit him to the tomb.

The great excellencies of this venerable servant of Christ are too prominent to need more than mention. The Church in India owes him a deep debt of gratitude and honour. He found few churches, few chaplains, few missionaries, and a worldly English society ill supplied with the means of grace. With great energy and large-hearted liberality, he endeavoured to stir up all in supplying the want, and he left the Church strong, consolidated, well-instructed, and, as a whole, well supplied with ordinances and zealously attached to the Gospel. His personal labours were immense; his gifts very large. He was the best preacher in his diocese; and during his Indian career he preached 2,300 sermons,

A great reader, his conversations were always interesting and instructive, full of racy, scntentious utterances; and his extensive travels and intercourse with distinguished men of all ranks imparted a freshness to his views exceedingly agreeable to all who heard them. As his life grew on, he became more liberal in respect to denominations different from his own, and his Christianity and Catholicity assumed a broader character.

But he had great faults which, in spite of his rare excellence, gave pain to his best friends, and were a scandal to the world at large. He had rather a hard nature; he could be very brusque

and rude; in speech he often lacked discretion, and at times he departed greatly from the truth. In especially his later years, he was accustomed to interject extempore remarks into his written sermons very racy, very pointed indeed, but at times very personal. From the pulpit, he would commend or denounce by name individuals, newspapers, or passing events. He could ignore everything which told against his own side in a discussion. As a specimen of his imprudence in speech, it may be mentioned that on one occasion, when addressing the Church of England misssionaries in Tanjore, he spoke in the following manner:-"Perhaps not one in twenty of those who come out from Europe in all the Protestant Societies persevere in the disinterestedness of the true missionary!" It was a monstrous calumny, utterly untrue; but the bishop, when taken to task, declined to retract it, though he sought to explain it away. It is disagreeable to mention these things: they are the human and weak side of a great character-of a man distinguished for long and prominent usefulness in great spheres of labour. It is for his good works that Bishop Wilson will long be honoured. For his great services to the Church of Christ, especially in India, his name will be held in everlasting remembrance.

III.

ON OUR ILLUSTRATED BOOKS.

BY GEORGE CUPPLES.

BOOK-ILLUSTRATION having now reached the importance of a special art and craft, a separate guild of illustrators has been produced, whose members, passing through their various grades, ascend at length to mastership, and must have employment. The same hands that have decorated the early horn-book, the once dry almanack, or arithmetic-book, tedious of yore-that have shed expression into groups of the monthly fashions, imparting a vivid freshness to advertising itself, or a touch of nature to the very headings of shop-circulars and Christmas bills, these same are now applying their skill, as the taste of the publisher may assign, to elucidate the novelist or to supplement the editorial labour. Further still, with a versatility of execution and a catholicity of aim, which must be admired, the same pencils that commemorate openings of new railways, recent public dinners, and layings