Saviour, much less does he diligently watch the "signs" of his "coming," and of the end of the world. In the opening Lecture of "The End," at page 13, Dr. Cumming ob serves: "There are denominations in the school of prophecy, just as there are denominations in the school of Christianity. Among these there are disagreements about the application of certain passages; but there is no difference about the crowning event, about the expectancy of Him who is to sway the sceptre, and to reign over a reclaimed and a happy world; about the restoration of God's ancient people; about the destruction of Babylon and probably the almost unanimous conclusion would be, that we stand at this moment on the margin of events far more stupendous and startling than any that have yet occurred; and that soon, very soon, the voice may break forth from many quarters, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; rise, and trim your lamps, and go out to meet him." : Some Christians are unwilling to read the public journals. They have an idea, we think a mistaken one, that the reading of a newspaper unfits a man for the consideration of higher and better things. The respected author before us thinks differently. At page 19, he says :— "I think the newspaper of the nineteenth century is man unconsciously recording, 'It is done.' I do not merely refer to what the writer says in his article, but to the facts that he collects and chronicles in his columns; and those facts are just Providence translating prophecy into performance. What is all history? Prophecy fulfilled. What is prophecy? History unfulfilled." And at page 20,— "Our great statesmen think they are originating policies, accomplishing plans, instituting schemes for the world's happiness and the world's progress: they are just stepping in to fill up the outlines that God has sketched, and moving on the rails He has laid down. And yet man's responsibility is the same; he acts freely, without a fetter, and without compulsion; his responsibility for his acts is unim paired; and still his agency and his subservience to the great Ruler of heaven and earth are obvious and unquestionable.” Page 36: "We find at the twilight that ushered in the close of every age the expectancy of its arrival at that very time. If God gave forelights of the cross, has He given none of the crown? If He helped his people to see so clearly Him that was about to suffer, has He left us in total darkness about the distance, or the nearness, or the nature of the approach of Him who comes, crowned with many crowns, to sway a sceptre, that shall never cease, and to exercise a dominion wide as the wide world?” In the second Lecture, at page 93, we note some remarks upon the downfall of the Papacy. Some incline to think that Popery is increasing. In some respects it is in others it is not. It is true there are many converts to this superstitious and fearful heresy; but as a system the Papacy is losing its hold upon the world, and it is declining certainly in Ireland, where the priesthood is rapidly losing ground. Dr. Cumming says: "If you go to Ireland, there you find the great difficulty of statesmen is dissolving every day. There once was a sort of apology for Maynooth; there once was a seeming apology for endowing the Roman Catholic priests; but by and by there will be no priests to endow, or at least no flock that the priests will have to minister to. And instead of Ireland being a Popish country, I believe the day is approaching when that fine people will take a leading place amid the Protestant nations of the earth; and, through the instrumentality of the Irish Church Mission, so signally blessed, a new and a nobler day awaits that long depressed, ill treated, but promising race." Again, on the Continent of Europe, at pages 245 and 246 we observe it stated that,— "The Rev. Mr. Allies, who was a clergyman of the Church of England, and now a convert to Rome, states that in 1790 there were 5,000 priests in Paris. Paris has just doubled its population during the last half century; well, according to this the priests in Paris ought now to be 10,000; for the population has doubled, and there ought to be double the number of priests. But what is the fact? They are now actually reduced to 800! There were 5,000 priests in Paris at the beginning of this century. The population is now doubled, and there ought to be 10,000 priests; but they have so diminished that there are only at this moment 800. Mr. Allies, who is a most impartial judge in this matter, also states that throughout all France there are only two millions who go to confession. Out of thirty-six millions there are only two millions at the present moment that are bona fide Roman Catholics! And, mind you, every Roman Catholic who does not go to confession at least once a-year, is ipso facto an excommunicated person. Again, in Belgium, I have seen whole congregations composed of converts from Romanism to Protestantism. At this moment in France,-for by the law of France wherever a whole parish changes its creed the parish church goes with it, there are several parish churches now Protestant places of worship. I was present at the Oratoire in Paris, where I heard Adolphe Monod and Pasteur Grandpierre give an account of the state of Protestantism in Paris; and they gave most gratifying evidence of its spreading in the face of many obstructions throughout the country. During the great excitement about the Holy Coat at Treves, several years ago, 300,000 left the Church of Rome in Austria, where a priest is punished if he allows any of his flock to join the Protestant Church. In the valley of the Zil, about 500 Roman Catholics became Protestants, and the King of Prussia gave them a home which the Emperor of Austria denied them. In Spain, the convents once contained 53,000 nuns; but so enamoured were these nuns of their lovely abodes, that the instant they had the chance of escape, 21,000 of them ran away and left them. The property of the nunneries and convents of Spain, I need not add, has been suppressed." At page 250, we have the views of the author upon the Papal Aggression: "It has been thought that the recent Papal Aggression is evidence that Rome is not losing power. I believe if ever that Church committed a fatal error, it was the Papal Aggression of 1850. For what has it developed? It has proved that Tractarianism would, if it could, be a pioneer of the Pope; it has shown what the Pope and Dr. Wiseman would do if they could subject the Crown of England to the tiara of Rome. But the Pope has discovered, and Dr. Wiseman has experienced, that the feeble pulse at an aged western Bishop's wrist, is not the beat of old England's heart; and that the crotchets of a few misled men were not the convictions of a great Protestant nation. Tractarianism, with its great mistakes and grievous errors, has reached its maximum. It is after all but a meagre imitation of a real thing. Popery is a real thing; Protestantism is a real thing; but Tractarianism is neither the one nor the other. If I want to see Popery full blown, I go to St. Peter's; but if I want to see a very meagre, miserable mimicry of it, I must go to St. Barnabas." At the present time, there is unprecedented movement, both physical and moral, amongst all ranks and classes, in the Church and in the world. The root, the cause for this restlessness, is thus described at pages 110 and 111: "What explains all the feelings that we see predominant and increasing amid the thousands, who incessantly seek to change systems, politics, churches, forms, ceremonies? It is human nature, conscious of something wrong, and in its restlessness, its ceaseless restlessness, pining and struggling after what will not be till the heart feels its polarity attained, and glorified in Jesus, and in the everlasting rest, the rest that remaineth for the people of God. Blind man's prescription is to give the restless creature something that he has not; God's grand prescription is to make the restless creature something that he is not. Man's plan is to change the patient's bed; the Divine plan is to heal the patient's heart. There is an almost universal desire to change systems, in order to attain rest. Some want to sweep away the Liturgy in one Church; others, to introduce a Liturgy in another Church. We think if we had only this little thing, and that new thing, or that old form, or this novelty, that all would be right. We are greatly mistaken. It is not new machinery that we want, but it is the breath of heaven to pass upon the old; it is not new systems that we need, but living and devoted men to work the systems that we have. In the very worst Church in Christendom, let there be a living man in the pulpit, and it will be a blessing to thousands; in the very best Church in Christendom, let there be a lifeless man in the pulpit, and it will be a calamity or a curse. What we need is near, personal, living communion with Christ. If our hearts are renewed and transformed by his grace, we shall never go to a bad Church. It is Christians that make a Church; it is not a Church that makes Christians. We have plenty, oh! plenty of Churchianity in this world; what we need is a little more Christianity;we want to know Christ, not the Church." We conclude our notice of this publication, by quoting a valuable admonition from page 450: "You are not only to bring forth abundant fruit, or to be abounding in the work of the Lord, but you are to be always so. It is, Always abounding in the work of the Lord.' The work of the Lord is not hearing sermons; this is learning what is the work of the Lord. The work of the Lord is in your shop, on the exchange, in the Court of justice, in the House of Commons, in the field of battle, on the quarter-deck; wherever Providence has placed you, there you find the work of the Lord. Some have the Popish notion that they do the work of the Lord only when they sit in holy places, hear holy words, join in holy service, and that the oftener they do so, they abound the more in the work of the Lord. You come to the house of God to learn what the work is, and you go out into your shops and into the world to demonstrate what the work is. And therefore to abound in the work of the Lord, is not to hear a sermon every day, but it is to live a sermon everywhere. To abound in the work of the Lord, is to bring forth those fruits that show that your roots are in the clefts of the rock, that your leaves are refreshed by the dews of heaven; and that you bask in the sheen of an unsetting and a blessed sunshine. You are to abound in the work of the Lord always, at all times, everywhere; in every place. You are not to be the mountain-torrent fed by the thunder-shower, overflowing its banks to-day, and to-morrow dried up; but the sweet silent stream that rises from a deep and unseen spring, moving onward, swelled by successive tributaries, until it is lost in the infinite and endless main. Christianity is not a thing of fits and of starts, but a persistent power. It is not the electric element gathered into a jar, that sparkles on the Sunday when touched by the word of the preacher; but like the electric element in the shape of gravitation, binding orbs into harmony, giving fertility to the poorest soil, and order, blossom, and beauty to all things." Intelligence. RAMSGATE. A Lecture was delivered on Monday, the 24th of September, 1855, at the Music Hall, Ramsgate, on Maynooth College, by James Lord, Esq. The chair was taken by the Hon. Capt. Maude, R.N., at seven o'clock; and a collection was made after the Lecture, in aid of the funds of the Protestant Association. Proceedings having been commenced with prayer, the Chairman pointed out the great importance of the subject of the Lecture, and expressed his hope that, considering, as he did, the grant made to Maynooth as one of the great crying sins of the day, there would be increased efforts amongst the people of this nation to get rid of the grant now made to Maynooth College. The following is a syllabus of the points noticed by Mr. Lord in his Lecture: "Origin and object of the College and its promoters, have they been realized?-No National Endowment intended-No compact for it at time of Union-The Tax-paying argument noticed-Maynooth College to Educate a Romish Priesthood-What is Popery? Its alleged antiquity and numbers-What is taught at Maynooth as to Allegiance?-Obligation of Oaths-Persecution of Heretics. ""The power of the Papacy over Sovereigns and People referred toThe exaltation of Popery and the extinction of Protestantism, Rome's object-The Bull of the Pope against Queen Elizabeth - The Maynooth Books The Allocutions of the present Pope as to Spain, Switzerland, &c., the language of Romish Journals and Statesmen indicate this. "Piedmont, Spain, Switzerland, America referred to-The Tablet' quoted as to invalidity of Laws if disapproved of by the Pope-The Rambler' quoted as to Civil and Religious Liberty. "Conflict of Laws-The Pope's authority as opposed to that of the Queen and Parliament in the Papal parts of Ireland-Romish bishops and priests-Members of Parliament,—the Tablet' thereon. "Evidence under the late Maynooth Commission of Inquiry-Effect of Popery on Nations-Mr. Macaulay Mr. Gladstone-The Grant to Maynooth College a thorn in the side of England-The Statesman and the Historian-Opinion of Romanists that the Grant must go-Organization in Scotland-Re-active influence of Maynooth in England." Mr. Lord also pointed out the propriety, not to say duty, of those who take part in supporting Societies for Missions to Roman Catholics, Missions to the Heathen, and efforts for circulating the holy Scriptures, or promoting in other ways the cause of Christianity at home or abroad, to cooperate in efforts to procure the disendowment of Maynooth. SANDWICH.-A Lecture was deli vered on Tuesday evening last, at the Town Hall, by James Lord, Esq., "On Maynooth College; its origin and objects, the nature of the education given, and its consequences." The chair was taken by Sir Brook W. Bridges, Bart. The Lecture, which was well attended, gave great satisfaction. The Learned Gentleman clearly pointed out the impolicy, inexpediency, and sinfulness of supporting the Papal College of Maynooth, and by reading extracts from the Romanists' publications fully vindicated his statements. He complained that he could not understand how persons could contribute to missionary societies for the purpose of converting the idolatrous heathen, and yet be willing to endow Popery; or, in other words, undoing with their left hands what they had done with their right.Kentish Gazette, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 1855. PAPAL DIPLOMACY AT A DISCOUNT.The "Venice Gazette " observes, that the Papal See has no Nuncios at present in Spain, Sardinia, Switzerland, Brazil, and New Canada. NAPLES.-The discontent and distractions of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, are now acquiring a great deal of public interest, the more so, as several great European countries seem likely to take part in the question, and are most certainly not over-peaceably disposed towards King Bomba. The Neapolitan forces consist of eightyeight battalions of infantry, thirty-six squadrons of cavalry, seventeen batteries, and forty-three ships of war, of which twenty-nine are large steamers. This would make a total of nearly 80,000 men. The Government of the Two Sicilies has to apologise for another deliberate offence directed towards France. On the occasion of the Fête Napoléon, a French frigate saluted the port of Messina, but the salute was not returned. Such is a national insult. The captain of the vessel immediately telegraphed the fact to Paris, and a correspondence is believed to be now taking place on the subject. PIEDMONT.The Archbishop of Chambery has issued a circular to the curates of his diocese, praising them for having hitherto abstained from ac cepting the half-yearly sum now due to them from the ecclesiastical fund resulting from the suppression of convents, but at the same time informing them that, as that fund in reality belongs to the Church, the Pope has been pleased to allow them to receive it henceforward, on condition of their never accepting any augmentation thereof, and of their declaring, each time on receiving it, that they only accept it with permission of the Holy See. The Archbishop concludes with declaring that in authorising the acceptance, he by no means supports or countenances what has been done against the rights of the Church. POPERY IN NEW ZEALAND.-Extract of letter from the Ven. Archdeacon H. Williams, dated-" Pakaraka, April 23, 1855. In the towns in New Zealand Popery is paid much respect, and I fear there is no particular effort to counteract its evil effects. In the country, amongst the aborigines, we never hear the subject mentioned. I believe they are relinquished by the priests as hopeless." PERVERSION OF THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN.-According to the "Limerick Reporter," the Earl of Dunraven, the brother-in-law of Mr. W. Monsell, has seceded from the Established Church, and become a devoted Romanist. The Limerick paper states that the Noble Earl returned from Kerry to Adare Manor on Friday, and on Sunday morning heard service in the chapel of Adare, the place appropriated to the Christian Brothers, with whom he proceeded to the rails, where he partook of the Communion. NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC, AND INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL POSTMASTERS. Amended Regulations in regard to the transmission of Newspapers to British Colonies and Foreign Countries. General Post-office, August, 1855. HENCEFORTH it will not be necessary that newspapers sent abroad, whether to the British Colonies or to foreign countries, should bear the impressed stamp (the old newspaper stamp); but, as at present, a postage of one penny must be prepaid (either by means of a postage label or in money) on every newspaper sent to a British colony, with additional postage (according to the Table in Instructions No. 45), when the newspaper passes through a foreign country. to The postage on newspapers foreign countries remains the same as given in Instructions No. 45; but, as already stated, it is no longer necessary that the newspaper should bear the impressed stamp. In future the impressed stamp will be required only in cases of repeated transmission of the same newspaper in this country, though it will of course be available also for single transmission in this country. In the transmission of newspapers abroad (whether to the colonies or foreign countries), the use of the impressed stamp will entirely cease; it will neither be required nor will it count as postage, as it will be presumed that where it is employed, it has already served for the transmission of the newspaper in the United. Kingdom. From these Regulations it will necessarily follow 1st. That every newspaper going 3rd. That the impressed stamp ROWLAND HILL, Secretary. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. It has been resolved, That in future the office hours of the Protestant Association on Saturday will be from ten to one o'clock. Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London. |