one servant on his continental journey. This was in 1638, when he was thirty years old. He spent some time in Paris, which he did not like, and then moved on by slow stages to Marseilles, and arriving at Florence, he remained two months enjoying the beautiful climate and scenery of Italy, and holding converse with Galileo and other celebrities. To this great man, whom the pope imprisoned for his invention of the telescope, he thus alludes:

"The broad circumference

Hung on his shoulders, like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views,
At evening from the top of Fesola,

Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,

Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe."

Milton no doubt had a peep at the moon through Galileo's telescope, and describes what he saw.. The umbrageous surroundings of Florence no doubt supplies the following allusion:

"On the beach

On that inflamed sea he stood, and called

His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced,

Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades
High-overarched embower."

In a letter written at Florence he thus alludes to his interest in the place and in Italian literature: "I certainly, who have not wet merely the tips of my lips with both these tongues, (Greek and Latin,) but have, as much as any, to the full allowance of my years, drained their deeper draughts, can yet sometimes willingly and eagerly go for a feast to that Dante of yours, and to Petrarch and a good few more; nor has the Attic Athens itself, with its pellucid Ilissus, nor that old Rome with its banks of the Tiber, been able so to hold me but that I love often to visit your Arno and these hills of Faesule." At Rome he also remained two months, and then he made his way home through Switzerland, having been absent thirteen months. And in conclusion he adds a testimony showing the strength of his character and the purity of his life: "I again take God to witness, that in all the places where so many things are considered lawful, I lived sound and untouched from all profligacy and vice, having this thought perpetually with me: though I may escape the eyes of men, I certainly could not the eyes of God."

On his return home he embarked in the controversies of the revolution, became Cromwell's secretary, and for twenty years he had little leisure for those quiet literary pursuits to which he had devoted his life. No country in the world owes so much to Milton's defense of the freedom of the press and the cause of liberty as America.

ART. VIII.-FOREIGN RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

Natal, and that it did hold communion with the orthodox bishops of South Africa. A majority of bishops, however, were opposed to committing themselves on the first part of this resolution, and by five against four votes adopted an amendment, declaring that they held communion with the Bishop of Capetown and those bishops who with him declared Dr. Colenso to be ipso facto excommunicated. The Lower House gave to this amendment a unanimous consent. In reply to the question from the Bishop of Capetown, "Whether the acceptance of a new bishop on our part, while Dr. Colenso still retains the letters patent of the Crown, will in any way separate us from the Mother Church," the Bishop of Oxford proposed the following declaration:

That as it has been decided on appeal to the highest judicial court in this kingdom, on the one hand, that the Church in the province of Natal, in communion with the United Church of England and Ireland, is in the eye of the law a mere voluntary association; and, on the other hand, as the letters patent do not profess to confer spiritual power, and have been declared by the court to convey no episcopal jurisdiction; it is the judgment of this House that the acceptance of a new bishop does not impair the connection or alter the relations existing between the members of the Church in the province of Natal and the Church of England, provided: 1. That the bishop be canonically consecrated according to the use of the Church of England. 2. That there be no invasion of the title of the Bishop of Natal conveyed by her Majesty's letters patent.

As regards the measures to be taken to secure the appointment of a new bishop, the bishop proposed that the House of Bishops should recommend:

1. That an instrument should be prepared declaratory of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of South Africa, which every priest and deacon appointed to any office should be required to subscribe. 2. That a godly and welllearned man should be chosen, with the consent of the communicants of the Church, to be the bishop. 3. That the person so selected should be presented for consecration either to the Archbishop of Canterbury or to the bishops of the Church in South Africa, as might be hereafter deemed most advisable.

The Bishops of London, St. Davids, and others, declared themselves opposed

to the appointment of a second bishop; but after being submitted to some verbal alterations, the first resolution of the Bishop of Oxford was carried by 6 to 4. The second resolution was also agreed to. The Lower House assented to both resolutions.

In addition to the discussion on the ritualistic innovations and the case of Bishop Colenso, several other important subjects claimed the attention of the Convocation. For the first time the House of Bishops took decided steps for an increase of the number of bishops. The Bishop of Oxford presented the unanimous request of a committee appointed to consider "as to the best mode of providing assistance for bishops in the event of illness, or old age, or the like, rendering them unable to discharge the duties of their office, and needing some assistance in the performance of the

same." The committee considered the appointment of coadjutor bishops, cum successione, would be unadvisable, being not suited to the Church of England. it very desirable to bring into active But, on the other hand, they considered operation the act of Henry VIII, which empowers the nomination of suffragan bishops to different posts in England, who might render every assistance that might be required. The committee were of opinion that in most cases the expense of those suffragan bishops could be met by their holding important posts, such as deaneries and canonries, in connection with the Church. Any legisla tion for the settlement by law of any expense upon those bishops to whom the assistance was rendered, was deemed inexpedient. The committee also recommended that an attempt should be made, through the Archbishop of Canterbury, to sweep away any difficulties which have existed in regard to the matter. As regards the appointment of suffragan bishops, the bishop is to nominate two, and the Crown to select one of these. On motion of the Bishop of Oxford, seconded by the Bishop of London, the report of the committee was adopted. The High Church organs, in England and America regard this as probably the most important thing yet done by Convocation since its revival.

FRANCE.

THE RATIONALISTIC CONTROVERSY.— While there can be hardly a doubt that, on the whole, the evangelical school is in

the ascendancy in the Reformed State
Church of France, the Rationalists con-
tinue to have full sway in the South,
and they seem to grow bolder the more
clearly it appears that they are in a
minority. They made a bold manifesta-
tion at a conference held at Nimes in
June, and attended by twenty-nine mem-
bers, pastors and elders. The subject
proposed for discussion in this assembly
was expressed in the following words:
"What is the testimony of the New
Testament relative to the historical
reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and what is the importance of this fact
to the religious life of the Church?" M.
Grotz, one of the pastors of Nimes, had
been appointed to make a report on the
subject of this question. He took the
ground: 1. That the resurrection of
Christ was not at all proved by the evi-
dence of the Gospels and the Epistles.
2. That it is a mere historical problem,
which may be solved in two opposite
ways. 3. That the early Christians
accepted as a corporeal or material res-
urrection what was but a mere vision,
a fancied or imaginary resurrection.
4. That this fact is insignificant after
all, and in no way concerns the founda-
tions of the faith, or the conditions of
salvation. Of the members of the con-
ference twenty-six, more or less, ex-
plicitly adhered to the views of M.
Grotz, and only three protested against
them. It is generally believed in the
French Reformed Church, that occur-
rences like the conference at Nimes will
hasten the moment of a full and final
separation of the two parties.

A clear proof of the relative strength of the two parties in the Reformed Church of France, was recently given by the election of a new Professor of Church History of the Faculty of Protestant Theology at

Montauban.

This election is made by the whole of It the consistories of the Church. appears that the candidate of the evangelical (orthodox) party, Bonifas, who is near relative of Guizot, received the vote of 87 consistories; while the two candidates of the liberal party, Goy and Vignié, received together only 35 votes, (Goy 33 and Vignié 2.) Counting the votes, of the ministers and elders forming the consistories, Bonifas received 894, Goy 454, and Vignié 91 votes. This clearly shows that the evangelical Church is largely in the ascendancy in the consistories.

i

SCANDINAVIA.

INTERCOMMUNION BETWEEN THE SCANDINAVIAN AND ANGLICAN CHURCHES.— The High Church party of the Anglican Churches, both in England and the United States, have long been desirous to promote intercommunion with the Scandinavian, and in particular the Swedish Church. These efforts have, at length, met with a response. In July 1866, the Archbishop of Upsala, the head of the Swedish Church, together with three bishops, took an active part in the dedication of an Anglican chapel in Stockholm, which was performed by the Bishop of Illinois, assisted by four English clergymen. After the creed had been read in English, the Archbishop rose, and repeated the same translated into Swedish. The Nicene Creed was repeated at the same time in both languages by all persons present, each in his own tongue, the archbishop leading in Swedish. After a sermon from the Bishop of Illinois, Archbishop Reuberdahle assumed his full episcopal vestments, came before the altar, and delivered to the congregation a short address in Swedish. Kneeling before the altar he offered up a prayer, and pronounced the final benediction over the congregation. The High-Church party in the Anglican Church regard actual communion between the two

this act as a formal renewal of an

Churches.

As another important step in the same direction, the same party regards an invitation extended to the Bishop of Illinois, to take part, together with a Scottish bishop, in the consecration of a bishop for Iceland. They consider this as the expression of a desire on the part of the Icelanders to receive the apostolic succession by an undoubted title from "the Anglican branch of the Church Catholic." They perceive significant foreshadowings of the same spirit in Denmark, and hope that from these it may be communicated to Lutheran Germany.

Foreign Mission Societies.-It is only a few years that any of the Scandinavian countries has had its own foreign mission, but at present they are making great efforts to make up for past delinquencies, and to emulate the societies of other Protestant countries. Denmark has a flourishing missionary society, which has now a mission of their

FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XVIII.—38