DENOMINATIONAL.

The following table will give a statistical view of the labors of the various societies which held their anniversaries in May last.

Died, in the city of New York, March 25, 1849, the Rev. HUGH SMITH, D. D., Rector of St. Peter's Church, in that city. The Rev. Dr. Smith was born August 29th, 1795, at the Narrows, Long Island. After finishing his preparatory course at Flatbush, he entered Columbia College in 1809. He was graduated in 1816, studied for the ministry under Bishop Hobart, from whom he received Deacon's Orders in 1816, and Priest's Orders in 1819. In November, 1816, he married Miss Helen Clarke, daughter of J. B. Clarke, Esq of Brooklyn, and shortly after sailed for Savannah, where he supplied the Church during the absence of the Rector, the Rev. Mr. Cranston, until the following April, when he returned to New York, and was appointed by the Rev. Dr. Bowen, his assistant in Grace Church. In the same year he accepted the Rectorship of St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn. In 1819, he removed to Augusta, Georgia, and became the Rector of the Church in that place, where he remained until March, 1831; when he was elected Rector of Christ Church, Hartford. There were but three communicants in Augusta, when Dr. Smith entered upon his duties. During his rectorship a beautiful church was built, and a large and prosperous parish established. In 1833, having been appointed Missionary of the Church of the Holy Evangelists, in New York, he returned to that city, and labored in that field until he received a call in 1836, to the rectorship of St. Peter's Church, his last parish. In October, 1836, at the request of the Standing Committee of the Gen. Theological Seminary, he undertook the duties of the Professorship of Pastoral Theology and Pulpit Eloquence. He resigned his temporary charge of the Professorship, and obtaining leave of absence, he sailed for Europe, in 1837. He returned the same year, with renovated strength and spirits; and continued his labors among his attached people, for nearly nine years; when he was compelled again to try a voyage, which was again of essential service. His health continued good, until July, 1848, the time when he last sailed for England. After a short sojourn, he returned wholly incapacitated for further duty. Dr. Smith received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from Columbia College, in 1838. The coruer-stone of St. Peter's Church was laid in 1836, and the noble and beautiful building was consecrated in 1838. The number of communicants in the last report prepared by the Rector, but not published, was 250. Dr. Smith expired at St. Peter's Rectory, on Sunday morning, March 25th, in the 54th year of his age.

We have also to record the death of Rev. WILLIAM POWELL, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Westchester, N. Y.; and of Rev. JOHN W. BROWN, Rector of St. George's Church, Astoria, N. Y., and for some time Editor of the Protestant Churchman; and also, of Rev. BIRDSEYE G. NOBLE, of this Diocese ; but are not yet in possession of such particulars as we wish in regard to them.

SUMMARY OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND.

CONSECRATION.-The Rt. Rev. Robert Knox, the new Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore, was consecrated at Armagh on Tuesday, May 5th; the Installation on the 3d in the Cathedral Church in Lisburn; and the Enthroning on the 5th at the ancient Cathedral of Dromore. Bishop Knox is successor to the lamented and well-known Bishop Mant.

NEW COLONIAL BISHOPRIC.-The Queen has been pleased to order Letters Patent to be issued for the erection of a Bishopric in the Red River Settlement-Prince Rupert's Land The Reverend David Anderson, M. A. of Exeter College, Oxford -formerly Theological Tutor at St. Bees College, Cumberland, and now perpetual Curate of All Saints', Derby, has been nominated first Bishop of the new See. Mr. Anderson took his B. A. degree in Michaelmas Term, 1836. The endowment is provided partly by a bequest of the late James Leith, Esq, who passed many years of his life in Prince Rupert's Land, and partly by a salary (with house) allowed by the Hudson's Bay Company to the Bishop as chaplain to one of the Churches in the Settlement. The Consecration of the Bishops of Victoria and Rupert's Land took place at Canterbury on Tuesday, May 29.

The new diocese will probably comprise the whole of the territory which was granted to the Hudson's Bay Company by a charter from Charles II, in the year 1670. This territory extends from the frontier of the United States in north lat. 40 to the limits of exploration northward, and from the western boundary of Canada to the Pacific. Its superficial area is stated in the "Colonial Church Atlas" to be 370,000 square miles, and the total population, (though this must needs be a rough estimate,) 103,000. The country, for the most part a vast plain, is varied by a succession of lakes and rivers, and is intersected by the great chain of the Rocky mountains stretching from northwest to southeast.

The native Indians, who seek a precarious subsistence by hunting and fishing, live in wigwams and tents, and there is nothing that deserves the name even of a village in the whole territory.

In 1811, an agricultural settlement was formed on the banks of the Red River, to the south of Lake Winnipeg, by the Earl of Selkirk.

When Governor Semple was sent out in 1815. he was specially requested to report to the Company whether any trace was to be found of either temple, of worship, or idol, and whether it would be practicable to gather the children together for education, and for instruction in agriculture or other manual employment. In his answer he said, that no place of worship of any sort was to be seen, and most feelingly expressed his anxiety for the immediate erection of a church.

In 1820 the Company was enabled to send out the Rev. J. West as Chaplain to the settlers. He was accompanied by a schoolmaster, who was supported by the contributions of the members of the Company and other friends. Two years afterwards, the Church Missionary Society was induced by the representations of Benjamin Harrison, Esq. and Nicholas Garry, Esq., two of the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company, to found a Mission in their settlement. The Rev. D. T. Jones was accordingly sent out in 1823, and found on his arrival that a church had already been built by the exertions of Mr. West. A second church was completed in 1825, and in the same year the Mission was greatly strengthened by the accession of the Rev. W. Cockran. To this devoted Clergyman the Mission is largely indebted for its success. He at once set himself to reclaim the Indians from their roving and indolent life. He taught them agriculture by practical lessons in ploughing, sowing, and reaping. When their corn had been harvested, he got a mill erected, and taught them how to grind it. He taught them also how to build houses, and how to thatch the roofs with reeds. In short, he was the Oberlin of the settlement;

and in proportion as he employed the natives in farm-works, he secured the attendance of their children in school. Under such zealous and judicious management the Mission made rapid progress. The Rev. Messrs. Cowley, Smithhurst, and Hunter, were successively added to the Missionary body; and Henry Budd, one of the first native boys who had been entrusted to the care of Mr. West, was appointed schoolmaster. Such is a brief outline of the history of the Mission up to the year 1844, when the Bishop of Montreal, disregarding all considerations of personal convenience, undertook a journey and voyage of 2000 miles to visit it.

The following particulars, furnished by his Lordship, will be read with interest. The total population of the settlement was 5,143, of which rather more than half are Roman Catholics, and all the rest members of the Church of England, for no body of dissenters has ever established itself there. The soil, which is alluvial, is remarkably fertile, and a particular farm is mentioned which had borne an abundant crop of wheat for eighteen years in succession, without ever having been manured. The blessing, therefore, of plenty is vouchsafed to the natives and settlers; that is, abundance of produce for the satisfying of their own wants, but without any market or means of export. They have also horses, cattle, and sheep in fair proportion. The settlement extends for fifty miles along a strip of land on both sides of the Red River. It contains four churches, built at short intervals from each other. The number of the members of the Church of England at the time of the Bishop's visitation was 2,345, and of these no fewer than 846 were confirmed by him during his visit. Frequent services were of course performed during the seventeen days of the Bishop's stay, and he mentions that the largest congregation which met him amounted to about 500, while the smallest did not fall far short of 200. These facts will serve to show that Christianity has made no inconsiderable progress in that settlement, and that the field of labor to which a Bishop has now been consecrated, though remote and under some aspects forbidding, is yet full of interest and encouragement to the true soldier of the cross.

EXTENT OF THE BRITISH COLONIES.

From a lecture delivered before the Islington Protestant Institute, by Rev. Edward Bickersteth, on "Popery in the Colonies," we make the following extract on the extent of the British Colonies:

"The colonial empire which God has given to this country is unparalleled in the history of all nations. The four chief empires that have prevailed over the earth, in connection with the church of God-Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, and Romanhad an exceedingly contracted dominion, in comparison with that which Britain now possesses.

"The Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Danish, and other nations have established colonies; but no other nation has now an extent of colonial empire to be compared with that of Great Britain.

"The British colonies, in the remarkable providence of God, have been acquired since the Reformation, during the period from the reign of Elizabeth to the present day.

"In Europe, besides the British and Channel Isles, we have Heligoland, Gibraltar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands. In Africa, we have Sierra Leone, Cape Coast, the Ascension, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, the Sechelles, and Aden; in Asia, the vast continent of Hindoostan, with mighty annexed possessions. We have also Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, and Borneo. In Australia and New Zealand new empires are rising up under the sway of the British crown. In North and South America, in the western hemisphere, we have a widely separated dominion, extending from our remote possession of the Falkland isles, by British Guyana and the West Indian islands, to our wide-spread territories in North America. No other kingdom has such a dominion influencing every part of the world. It embraces a population of above 130,000,000 subjects, while probably 50,000,000 more are under our influence.

"The population of our colonies, apart from Hindoostan, is as follows, by returns to Parliament in 1842:

Thus, taking the population of the earth at 1,000,000,000, nearly one-seventh of its population are our fellow subjects, besides the vast numbers more or less under our influence.

"The Roman colonies under that fourth empire were the germs of the civilization of northern and western Europe. May the British colonies be the germs, not merely of the civilization, but of the Christianizing of all heathen countries."

PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

PRÆMUNIRE.-The Bishop of Exeter rose to present a petition from a very respectable body of clergymen in his diocese on a subject of very great interest to the clergy of the Established Church in general. It related to a bill which had lately been introduced by his learned friend on the benches opposite, for the consolidation of the criminal law-["No," said Lord Brougham, "for a digest of the criminal law," and prayed that the extreme penalty of præmunire, which was very vague and almost unintelligible, might be exchanged for something distinct and practical. As affairs were now conducted, it was really impossible for any man, lay or clerical, to state what the law of præmunire was; for the Court of Queen's Bench on a recent occasion had been equally divided upon it.

SCRIPTURAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND.-The Bishop of Cashel presented a petition, signed by 40,000 Protestants in Ireland, and another signed by 1,300 of the clergy of the united Church of England and Ireland, in favor of scriptural education. The Right Rev. Prelate, at considerable length, pointed out the unfavorable position in which the schools in Ireland connected with the Established Church were placed, in comparison with the schools of Dissenters in England.

The Archbishop of Dublin contended that great misapprehension and delusion existed in the public mind as to the facts of the system of Government education in Ireland; and should a commission of inquiry into that system be instituted, he thought much good would result from it. The only restriction put on schools in Ireland was one to prevent children from being forced to read the Bible.

The Bishop of London could not see upon what principle the great body of ministers of the Established Church should be shut out from the privilege of teaching the Scriptures to their floocks. It was the prerogative of the Church to teach the Scriptures unrestricted, and therefore he would not feel justified, if in Ireland, to allow children to go to a school in which the Bible was not taught.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

THE CHURCH.-Mr. G. A. Hamilton presented a petition from Dublin, praying for the reestablishment of the suppressed Irish bishoprics.

ANTIQUITIES OF NINEVEH.-Sir J. Pakington rose to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is the intention of her Majesty's Government to assist Mr. Layard in his discoveries of the remains of Nineveh by any pecuniary grant; and, if so, to what amount. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said application had 39

VOL. II.-NO. II.

been made for a grant of £3,000, but he had only agreed to an advance of £2,000. Another application had been made, to which no answer had yet been given.

The Jewish Disabilities Bill has passed the House of Commons by a vote of 278 to 185. Its fate now hangs upon the decision of the House of Lords. Should it be adopted, it is a virtual but pregnant repudiation of Christianity as the religion of the State, and places the Church in a still more awkward position.

CHURCH OF ENGLand in Scotland.-A petition of the clergy and laity of the Church of England, resident in Scotland, was presented to the House of Lords on the 18th of May, praying for adequate Episcopal superintendence at the hand of the Archbishop of Canterbury, or of the Bishop from whom the said clergy may have received ordination, and that the English Bishops extend visitations into Scotland for the purpose of ordaining and confirming, not as exercising territorial but ecclesiastical jurisdiction over English congregations. The petitioners claim, that the Scottish Episcopal Church is a distinct body from the English Church; was so regarded by the Act of Toleration when its spiritual functions were legitimated in 1792, and the Act further modified in 1840; is so proved by the independency of its discipline in making and unmaking Canons; and by its Communion Office; and they further complain that the Scottish Bishops deny any jurisdiction of English Bishops in North Britain, and also deny the existence of English congregations in Scotland.

The debate on the petition drew out the best talent in the House of Lords. The petition was ordered to lie on the table.

CASE OF MR. SHORE.

As capital is attempted to be made out of this case of imprisonment, we give the following statement of facts.

The Duke of Somerset determined to have Bridgetown within the Parish of Berry Pomeroy, erected into a separate parish; and to have the patronage thereof vested in himself. This, his Bishop refused unless he would grant a suitable endowment. Difficulty between Mr. Shore, who had been previously licensed to the Chapel at Bridgetown, and the successive curates of Berry Pomeroy, at last led a new incumbent to refuse a renewed nomination to Mr. Shore. This resulted in a long and tedious altercation between the Duke, Mr. Shore, and the Bishop; Mr. Shore to the very last protesting his devotion to the Established Church, and his adherence to its Articles and Liturgy. Meanwhile, the agent of the Duke takes out a license for the Chapel as a place of Dissenting worship; and Mr. Shore having threatened to officiate in it, without Episcopal license, if not with it, proceeds to do so. It is not, therefore, a persecution at all on the ground that Mr. Shore is a Dissenter. Mr. Shore appealed to the law; and happens to find it very bad now it turns out against him. It is the case of a clergymen and professed adherent of the Establishment, acting in defiance of the authority of his Bishop, and of the law of the realm, and suffering consequences clearly foreseen. Certain pecuniary liabilities, for which he is held in durance, he will neither pay himself nor allow his friends to pay for him. Meantime, the original" Clergy Relief Bill" which it was hoped to push through Parliament on the strength of this public sympathy, has become so judiciously amended, that the best friends of the Church do not object to it; and Mr. Shore's "martyrdom" threatens to answer the purpose only of pointing the arrows of malice and slander, which always sooner or later find their way back to their authors.

ROME.

The plot which has been thickening for months has assumed an imposing aspect. The pope still remains at Gaeta. The French, in order to restore the pope to civil power, and at the same time maintain French influence in the Peninsula, have sent an army to Rome, which met with a signal and most disastrous defeat; 600 being killed on the spot; and 452 taken prisoners, who were treated with the greatest care and kindness. The French instructions given to General Oudinot were to