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The "Christian World," established in this city as a weekly journal six years ago, by Mr. George G. Channing, has been discontinued. It has been an earnest advocate for a higher tone of spirituality, a more social religious action, and a more direct participation in the reformatory movements of the day, than have prevailed in our churches. - The "Christian Rationalist," also a weekly paper, of which a few numbers were published here the last autumn, and the design of which was indicated in its title, was some time ago united with the "Univercœlum,' published in New York. - The "Inquirer," of London, formerly edited by Rev. Mr. Hincks, has passed under the charge of Mr. John Lalor, lately one of the editors of the "Morning Chronicle.". Rev. Mr. Harris of Newcastle, in England, who, when in Scotland, established, and for many years conducted, the "Christian Pioneer," has projected a work of similar character, under the name of the "Christian Pilot and Gospel Moralist," of which the first number has just appeared.

We have spoken, in our previous pages, of the Sunday evening meetings held in this city for the promotion of a higher and deeper religious life. They will be continued, we learn, according to the attendance and the character of the discussions, for several weeks longer.

The Society for the Promotion of Theological Education have come into possession of the bequest made by the late John D. Williams, Esq., consisting of valuable property in Boston, the present income of which is between sixteen and seventeen hundred dollars. By the terms of the bequest, the income, after deducting the necessary expenses of insurance, repairs, etc., must be spent in giving assistance to young men pursuing their preparatory studies for the ministry at Cambridge. The allusion made in a late number of the Christian Examiner to a similar legacy left by Mr. R. W. Bayley, we understand, was founded in mistake.

Harvard College. The election of JARED SPARKS, LL. D., to the Presidency of the institution which, with its various departments of Academical, Theological, Medical, Legal, and Scientific instruction, may properly claim the title of "The University at Cambridge," will be acceptable to its friends both near and at a distance. Mr. Sparks enters upon his office under circumstances favorable to a happy administration of its affairs. The internal state of the College is good; its finances are in a safe and prosperous condition; the means of education, which the University offers to its various students, were never larger or more efficient; and a strong desire is felt, by all who are in any way connected with its interests, that it should sustain the first place among the literary institutions of the land. There is one great want at Cambridge,in the present deficiency of religious instruction. The vacancy that has existed for some time in the Hollis Professorship of Divinity should be filled, or provision be made in some other way for the discharge of the duties which in former years fell to the incumbent of that office, and for a more direct pastoral intercourse, and the exercise of a more immediately Christian influence, than are now enjoyed there. The subject has been brought before the Board of Overseers, and we hope they will express an opinion that shall incite the Corporation to an early supply of this want. The Divinity School, also, as we have once and again had occasion to remark, stands in need of a larger provision for the instruction of the young men who resort thither to qualify themselves for the minis

try of our churches. We are glad to know that the Society for the Promotion of Theological Education have turned their attention to this subject, and we hope that, by their aid, a plan similar to that which was proposed a year ago by members of our Ministerial Associations, or a better plan, if such they can devise, may be carried into effect.

Church and State. A great sensation has been produced in England by the secession of the Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel from the Established Church. Mr. Noel's prominence and popularity as a preacher in London, (where we remember seeing the aisles of his chapel filled to hear one of his usual sermons, on one of the stormiest days of the winter,) his unquestionable simplicity of character and deeply religious spirit, and his connection with a noble family, have drawn to the step which he has taken a degree of attention that would have been bestowed on the movements of few other men. He has been influenced solely by a conscientious belief, to which his mind has been brought after a long consideration of the subject, that the union which now exists between the Church and the State is injurious and wrong. The volume which he has published in vindication of this belief met with an immediate sale, but we have not yet heard of any copy having reached our country. It will doubtless strengthen the party who contend for "the voluntary principle."

men.

A similar step has been voluntarily taken by one of the most conspicuous of the Protestant clergy in France. M. Frederic Monod, a minister of the National Reformed Church, has withdrawn from that body, and proposes, in connexion with M. Agenor de Gasparin and others, to form an "Evangelical Free Church." M. Monod's secession was the consequence in part, perhaps principally, of a difference between him and his associates in regard to matters of faith. In the course of the last summer a very important measure was adopted by the friends of Protestantism in France, viz. the convocation of a General Synod, which assembled in Paris on the 9th of September, and consisted of ninety delegates, of whom fifty-two were pastors, and thirty-eight laySuch a Synod had not met for eighty-five years. The object of the meeting was, to settle or ascertain the position of the Church in the new political condition of the country. A question, however, immediately arose in regard to the dogmatic basis on which the Church should, or should not, claim to hold its existence. A portion of the self-styled Orthodox party, with Messrs. A. de Gasparin and F. Monod as their leaders, insisted on a declaration of faith embracing articles of controversial divinity; the liberal members of the assembly, and some of the Orthodox party, Messrs. Grand-Pierre, Adolphe Monod, and others, -opposed the attempt to frame such a Confession, and prevailed by a large majority. Messrs. F. Monod and De Gasparin have, therefore, severed their connexion with the body represented in the Synod, and have published a "Profession of Faith and Articles of Discipline," preliminary to the organization of a new religious Communion. The question of the dependence of the Church upon the civil government for support has, for some time, been agitated very warmly among the French Protestants. Their religious journals are enlisted on different sides, and the discussion, if it lead to no other result, will make the principles involved in the controversy familiar to the people.

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Peace Congress. A meeting of some importance, under this title, was held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on the 20th and 21st of September, 1848. The plan of such a meeting originated with Elihu Burritt, of this country, who has spent the last two or three years in England, but was carried into effect principally through the coöperation of the London Peace Society. The number of those present amounted to nearly three hundred, one half of whom came from England. Most of the other members were from France and Belgium. Several distinguished men took part in the discussions. The Belgian government afforded every facility to the provisional committee who took charge of the arrangements for the meeting. M. Visschers, a member of the government, was chosen President of the Congress. Resolutions were introduced and passed, speeches were made, and dissertations which had been prepared for the occasion were read; all bearing on the three objects particularly contemplated by those who called the meeting, viz. the insertion of an Arbitration clause in all international treaties, by which questions of dispute shall be settled by mediation," the "establishment of a Congress of Nations to form an international code," and "a general disarmament of the several governments of Europe." We are told that "the proceedings obviously made a strong and very favorable impression, both in England and on the Continent." A deputation afterwards called on Lord John Russell, in London, to present to his consideration the measures which had passed under the judgment of the Congress, and were very courteously received by the English minister.

Ordinations.

Rev. NATHANIEL O. CHAFFEE, of Grafton, a graduate of the Meadville Theological School, was ordained as an Evangelist at MONTAGUE, Mass., January 10, 1849. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Ellis of Northampton, from James i. 4; the Prayer of Ordination was offered, and the Charge was given, by Rev. Mr. Nightingale of Cabotville; the Right Hand of Fellowship was given by Rev. Mr. Moors of Deerfield; and the other services were performed by Rev. Messrs. Clarke of Warwick, and Bridge of Bernardston.

Rev. JOSHUA YOUNG, of Bangor, Me., who graduated at the Cambridge Divinity School the last year, was ordained as Pastor of the New North Church and Society in BOSTON, Mass., February 1, 1849. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Hedge of Bangor, from Matt. xiii. 33; the Ordaining Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Parkman of Boston; the Charge was given by Rev. Mr. Huntington of Boston; the Right Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. Mr. Winkley of Boston; the Address to the Society, by Rev. Mr. Robbins of Boston; and the other services were performed by Rev. Messrs. Fox, King, and Cruft, of Boston.

OBITUARY.

GEORGE SAMUEL EMERSON died in Boston, December 19, 1848, aged 24 years.

In this death the community has suffered a great loss. When a young man dies, feelings of deep sorrow must always be awakened that the anticipations and hopes which cluster about the opening of active life should be disappointed; but the death of such a person as Emerson excites more than ordinary sorrow. The assurance which his charac

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ter and principles gave of excellence and usefulness in his intercourse with the world, was such as to make all who knew him regard him as one of those rare persons whom God sends to be an example and support for others. His early life was distinguished for its purity, and its freedom from all faults which could occasion serious uneasiness to those who were most interested in him. Having entered college at an early age, he won the regard of all who knew him by the high qualities which he displayed in his intercourse with others and in the pursuit of his studies. The nearer circle of his intimate friends was every day more and more closely bound to him by the ties of mutual affection and respect. No one was ever loved more sincerely by his friends, or more deserved their love. They can say of him with truth, in the words of an old poet after his friend's death,

"He had an infant's innocence and truth,

The wisdom of gray hairs, the wit of youth,
Not a young rashness, nor an aged despair,
The courage of the one, the other's care;
And both might wonder in him to discern
His skill to teach, his readiness to learn."

His religious and moral principles pervaded his life, without giving to it any austerity. While he preserved the largest and most sympathetic charity for the faults of others, he shrank with instinctive delicacy from contact with any thing base and untrue. He was always bold in supporting what he believed to be right, and never hesitated to assume the responsibleness which his opinions brought upon him.

Having left college with the highest honors, he determined, after devoting a year to the improvement of his health, to enter upon the study of theology. For some months he pursued this study, with his classmate Greenwood as his companion. The death of this dear friend affected him so deeply, that, for the sake of change of scene, and in the hope of still further strengthening his health, he visited Europe. After an absence of somewhat more than a year, he returned the last October. The experiment had not brought the desired result. After his return, he was exposed, in the providence of God, to great suffering. A dark cloud, through which no ray of light could pierce, settled on his mind, his fine faculties became all jangled and out of tune, until by a sudden death he was removed, as we trust, from this world of darkness and disappointment and sorrow, to an infinitely better and happier state of existence.

To his friends his memory will always be a source of unfailing pleasure. They can remember nothing but what was excellent in him, and they can never cease to regard their having known him as a blessing over which time and change can have no power. The death of one who had the brightest prospects and the highest aspirations, and who gave the surest promise of fulfilling all his own hopes and all the expectations of his friends, speaks to others with terrible power of the uncertainty and worthlessness of all that is founded upon merely human calculations, and teaches us to feel the unspeakable blessings and consolations which are to be found in our faith in God and our knowledge of his mercies, as revealed to us by Christ.

N.

We have, in the present instance, added twenty-four pages to our usual number, by no means intending, however, to make this a precedent.

THE

CHRISTIAN EXAMINER

AND

RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY.

MAY, 1849.

ART. I. THE ARTISTIC AND ROMANTIC VIEW OF THE CHURCH OF THE MIDDLE AGES.*

EACH Protestant communion doubtless embraces among its members persons of either sex, few or many, who would be easy converts to the Roman Church, if only they were to be addressed by the argument or method which is peculiarly suited to meet their state of mind or feeling. That Church is well provided with arguments and methods for making reprisals upon Protestantism, and they are effective with the undefended and the susceptible. The argument from au

* 1. Mores Catholici: or Ages of Faith. London: C. Dolman. 18446-7. Three vols. royal 8vo. pp. 725, 786, 809.

2. Four Lectures on the Offices and Ceremonies of Holy Week, as performed in the Papal Chapels. Delivered in Rome in the Lent of 1837. By NICHOLAS WISEMAN, D. D. London: C. Dolman. 1839. 8vo. pp. 183.

3. Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches and among Foreign Peoples. By FRED. WM. FABER, M. A., Fellow of University College, Oxford. London: Rivingtons. 1842. 8vo. pp. 645.

4. Rest in the Church. By THE AUTHOR OF "FROM OXFORD TO ROME." London: Longmans. 1848. 12mo. pp. 348.

5. The History and Fate of Sacrilege. By Sir HENRY SPELMAN. Edited in part from two MSS., revised and corrected, with a Continuation, large Additions, and an Introductory Essay. By Two PRIESTS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. London: Masters. 1846. 8vo.

6. Contrasts: or a Parallel between the Noble Edifices of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, and Similar Buildings of the Present Day: showing the Present Decay of Taste. By A. WELBY PUGIN, Architect. London: 1836. Atlas 4to.

7. Sacred and Legendary Art. By Mrs. JAMESON. London: Longmans. 1848. Two vols. crown 8vo. pp. xlvii., 387, and 439. VOL. XLVI. - 4TH S. VOL. XI. NO. III.

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