magazines and newspapers, in which they abound. Our object is rather to draw attention to the pure spirit of conjugal and maternal love which the author, with such charming simplicity, reveals rather than records. Prefixed to that portion of the volume which relates to "Life in the Highlands," are some well-known lines from Scott, which tell touchingly of the past and the present of the Queen's feelings and experience:— "Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, Land of the mountain and the flood, Land of my sires! what mortal hand That knits me to thy rugged strand! Still as I view each well-known scene, Think what is now and what has been, Seems as to me, of all bereft, Sole friends thy woods and streams are left; E'en in extremity of ill." Conjugal love, as the doctrine of the New Church teaches, is the foundation of all other loves, celestial and spiritual. Wherever we see this love in any degree of purity, we are sure to find in connection with it a corresponding measure of that higher nature from which alone it proceeds and lives. With a judgment and delicacy which every one must appreciate, the leaves which the Queen has given from her journal relate only to the time when the Prince was her loved and loving companion. We do not see her love through the sorrow of bereavement, but through the joy of possession. In no studied, and seldom by any direct expression, do we see the tenderness of the affection by which they were united; generally it is only by the tone which pervades the entire economy of their lives, and by that sign which is characteristic of the love of a true wife for her husband,—his continual presence in her thoughts, and her seeing and loving him in all he does. The most direct expression is the entry relating to the completion of Balmoral, in 1856:-"Every year my heart becomes more fixed in this dear paradise, and so much more so now, that all has become my dear Albert's own creation, own work, own building, own laying out, as at Osborne; and his great taste, and the impress of his dear hand, have been stamped every where." All that the husband does the wife regards with pride, whether he presides at a meeting of the British Association or reads an answer to a corporation address. His presence makes life all sunshine; his absence throws it into deep shadow. How much must we sympathise with the Queen now that this light is quenched! Not in her case for ever: love so pure, so intense, so constant, bespeaks a union of souls, that exists even now though insensibly, and will become sensible and ineffably blessed in heaven. REVIEWS. SUNDAY LESSONS FOR USE IN FAMILIES AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Compiled by the Rev. HENRY B. BROWNING, M.A., Rector of St. George with St. Paul, Stamford. London: Pitman, Paternoster Row; Stamford H. and J. Johnson, St. Mary's Hill. EVERY head of a family, and every teacher of a class in a Sunday school, must have sometimes felt the want of a guide to the selection of such a portion of the Scriptures as should be altogether appropriate for the perusal of those he teaches,-as should comprehend a suitable share of every part of the Word, —as should mete out the portion to be read Sabbath by Sabbath, so as to give the scholars or the children the prospect of a regular course of reading of the Scriptures, combining the advantages of a systematic and also of a consecutive perusal of the Bible, arranged into portions of nearly equal length. Many have also felt the want of knowing what passages of Scripture might be most judiciously committed to memory by young persons, so as to fix in their minds a knowledge of the principal doctrines of the Christian religion, and the general duties of a Christian, expressed in the very words of the Scriptures. Perhaps the chief reasons why many teachers have instructed children to learn the Psalms are, because the Psalms are short, because the sentences in the Psalms are also short, and are therefore easily retained in the memory, and because it is less trouble to teachers to appoint a Psalm to be learned by heart, than to make a careful selection of passages. Both the above-named desiderata Mr. Browning has attempted to supply in the useful little volume now lying before us. He has judiciously divided the Bible into four portions, each portion embracing fifty-two chapters, or parts of chapters, which we may characterise as lessons. Of these, two lessons, one from the Old and one from the New Testaments, are intended to be read each Sunday, or, if thought desirable, the whole four lessons, two from the Old and two from the New Testament. In the latter case the class or family will go through the Bible in one year; in the former case it will occupy the Sundays of two years to accomplish the work. Each group of these lessons is headed by six to eight lines of Scripture, carefully selected and arranged, so as to convey in a consecutive manner, and at once, a knowledge-and the Scripture proof-of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and the general duties of Christian life, under twelve heads. These passages it is proposed that children should learn and frequently repeat. As a help to heads of families, and to Sunday-school teachers, we think this little work is worthy of a wide circulation. It is frequently complained of that in Sunday-schools they have no definite system of reading the Scriptures, and this manual will supply the want. Its price places it within the reach of all who are anxious or in earnest about the pleasing duty of educating the young, and we cordially commend it to the attention of our readers. J. H. THE TREES OF OLD ENGLAND. THE series of papers, written in Mr. Grindon's charming style, the last of which appeared in our January number, has been issued in a handsome volume, by Mr. Pitman. MISCELLANEOUS. NOTES ON SOCIAL & RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. FOREIGN MISSIONS.-The New Church as a religious community has not turned its attention to foreign missions. Nor could it be reasonably expected that so small a body, and one having so large a work before it at home, could expend any of its energies on distant labours. In the first advertisement of the "Arcana," by the publisher, John Lewis, we are told that the author "gave express orders that all the money that should arise in the sale of this large work should be given towards the charge of the propagation of the gospel." This announcement has generally been regarded as having relation to the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts; and if, as it seems probable, this interpretation is correct, then the authority of our great author may be placed on the side of these missionary operations. The members of the New Church may deplore the mere spirit of proselytism, and regret many of the infirmities, to use the mildest term, often manifested in connection with modern missions; but, in the effort to extend the knowledge of the Saviour and to en lighten by the truths of His Word the dark places of the earth, they must ever have a warm sympathy. As Mr. Noble has well said, "If the theology which the missionaries teach is not such as we regard as pure, its effects upon the degraded idolater are highly beneficial; and who can fail to recognise the divine energies which are now pouring forth for the improvement of the human race, when he beholds among their results the Hottentot reclaimed from his filth and the Otaheitan from his impuritythe barbarian brought within the circle of civilized humanity-the savage elevated to the man?" Christian missions, having their authority in the command of the Lord to His apostles, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," have been more or less prevalent in every age of the church. Their modern development dates, however, from recent times, and is one of the evidences of the mighty influences which have been secretly operating the great changes which, since the middle of the last century, have been manifested in all Christian communities. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts originated in the desire to supply the spiritual destitution of the numerous settlers in our American colonies, and received a charter of incorporation in 1701. All the other great missionary institutions of the country are of more recent date. The Missionary Society of the Particular Baptists was formed in 1792. The London Missionary Society, consisting at first of Christians of all denominations, but at present supported almost exclusively by the Independents, was established in the year 1795. The Church Missionary Society, having its origin in the "Society for Missions to Africa and the East," followed in 1804, and the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in 1817. Other smaller societies have been since instituted. These societies have taken deep hold of the religious feeling and intelligence of the country. They are sustained by large annual subscriptions, and employ a large number of agents in every part of the globe. The quality of missionary operations is according to the quality of the religious faith and love in which they have their origin. It would be impossible to speak in terms of too great severity of some of the cruelties practised under pretence of extending the catholic church. Baptism compelled at the point of the sword, and constrained external changes, do not constitute Christianity. Protestant missions, though not disfigured by those dark deeds of cruelty, have manifested many infirmities, and been too often distinguished by the spirit of proselytism and selfseeking. Their expenditure has been lavish, and the number of their paid agents in some parts of the mission field enormous. The demand for extended operations, combined with the difficulty of keeping up the large subscriptions hitherto received, has compelled the earnest attention of the Directors of these institutions to these features of their missionary operations. Dr. Mullens, in a dispatch to the missionaries of the Travancore mission, thus writes, on this subject: "A serious note of warning was recently sounded by the Rev. C. B. Lewis, one of the most experienced among the Baptist missionaries in Bengal, respecting the extent of native agency in India, supported by foreign funds. He pointed out that in Bengal, out of some 2,500 male communicants in the native churches, about 350, or one in seven, are employed as paid agents by the funds of English and American missionary societies. You are all aware that in the Travancore mission this state of things prevails to even a greater degree than elsewhere. Out of your 1,876 church members, about 1,100 are males. Now, of these male members 203 are preachers or pastors, and about 120 are Christian schoolmasters, so that some 320 are employed in all, or one in every three and a half. Such a system is a most unnatural one. It could only have been produced by the liberal employment of foreign funds. Considered in relation to the amount of labour it secures for the instruction of the heathen and nominally Christian population, it may appear at first sight a most excellent thing; and for many years it has been so esteemed. But one effect of the system, here as elsewhere, has been to introduce a large number of ill-trained men, of imperfect character, into mission service, who were employed because the sphere of operations is boundless, and the funds to pay them were forthcoming. Serious injury, too, has been done to the whole native church." How is this state of things to be remedied? The London Missionary Society has been led, by experience, to see the necessity for change, and compelled by financial difficulties to adopt new modes of action. The great truth has been for some time dawning upon the church, and seems now to have taken full possession of the leading minds of the London Missionary Society, that the aim of Christian missions should not be to force the conceptions and to fix the habits of European thought, and ecclesiastical practice, upon all the nations of the earth, but to insinuate the elemental truths of the gospel to lead to the reading and study of the Word, to institute as far as possible a native ministry, and then to leave the churches thus established to the providence of the Most High. This thought is elaborately presented in a paper by Dr. Mullens, read at the Conference of the Evangelical Union, at Amsterdam, and since published in "The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society." A few extracts from this paper, necessarily abbreviated, will show the changes of thought which are beginning to operate : "In labouring among the people of many nations, our missions should be specially careful to deal with the essentials of national life. They should be directed to their souls, as they stand related to God, to each other as men, as members of families, as citizens in States, as men dealing with each other in the ordinary transactions of life. On all the great questions of human duty, as well as on the grand theme of the soul's salvation, the teaching of Christianity, while vital and essential, is at the same time simple and clear. It not only says 'Love God with all thy heart,' but it also says-'As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." If in lands already Christianised, after all our mistakes and all our controversies, the church of the future is to be a free church in a free State;-if for all its vitality, its self-government, its growth, its usefulness, we look not to any external forces, but to the grace of the Holy Spirit in the church itself, why should not we at once, with largest generosity, act on these great principles in the churches founded in foreign lands? Let us help them and counsel them till they can run alone. Our colonial churches, of several forms of church government, are casting off the tie that bound them to the churches of Europe: let us train our mission churches for the same end. Let us strengthen them in knowledge, government, and fellowship. Let us, as early as practicable, place them under a ministry sprung from themselves, well trained, and supported by themselves, and let us prepare in due time wisely to leave them independent and alone." These sentiments are not destined to remain barren and unproductive. Two budget despatches, one to the West and the other to the East, initiating changes, have been published by the Directors. To the second, addressed to the missionaries at Travancore, we have already referred. In the first, the secretary, Dr. Mullens writes: "From the ample information recently furnished to you by the directors, we learn that these two colonies of the British Crown (Jamaica and British Guiana) contain together a population of negro extraction, amounting to half a-million individuals. This native population of half-a-million enjoys the services of three hundred professed ministers of the Gospel, of whom a hundred and forty are supplied by missionary societies, not connected with the established churches, and supported by voluntary funds. The bulk of the population is nominally Christian, and has been for some years as well instructed in Christianity as an equal number of persons in the country parts of England. And doubtless it has been thus Christianised the more fully because of the large supply of religious teachers furnished by the different sections of the church of Christ." The experience of the past, and the financial position of the parent society, necessitate a change, which is thus sketched: "It should be distinctly understood that the board wish you henceforth entirely to lay aside the character in which so many missionaries appear, of mere pastors to single congregations. They regard you rather, in your missionary character, as a synod or committee of bishops and joint superintendents over the whole. Dividing the entire labour among you, and taking charge of two or three stations, pastoral work will, of course, form an important portion of your usefulness; but your missionary position lies above and beyond this, and has respect to your wisest efforts to draw the churches onward to that thorough independence in managing their own affairs, which shall eventually render your services needless. The system of giving English pastors to native churches has answered nowhere. Coming from a much higher civilization, the missionary has proved too strong for the people; their strength, their spirit, their resources, have been kept back; a spirit of childlike dependence has been fostered, and the native ministry has been indefinitely postponed." INDIA. This colossal empire, extending from Ceylon to the Himalaya mountains, containing an area of half-a-million of square miles, and exercising a protectorate over a still larger extent of territory, has long been the principal field of missionary operations. Its extent and varied population has afforded the largest experience and the best means of testing the value of popular modes of missionary labour. Dr. Mullens, the recently appointed foreign secretary of the London Missionary Society, who has laboured many years in India, gives prominence to missions in this part of the world, in his address to the Evangelical Alliance, to |