The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 10

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Kfrai a4 It immm Ksanva. Bw-teki ktcaiuuikl 13as. pp. 8S7, The world always ready for new froptact. aod this time be torn a the Mia If tor laeh.

la Scotland. Ia velum of 13 aeranoras, ieeladiag tw essays. Her. John 8r-eioe put forth hi claim to hrsrd as a religions teacher. The roIaaM published by- a fcoua which seldom I wee a worthless book, avad boldly claim recognition ie it merit done.

Tba -subjects diasaaaad' ara tba naoal topic with, preachers, a ad there' ara aa fingrr-tsarkj fcj which tba quality of the sermons xosy ba iMft without aa actual reeding, bat im cat toed thaaa aeruauua oaeayo witbowx find! rag himself hi aoataet with a naiad of inralar caearaaaa, freshness, originality, nd eoarageouanes. Dr. Tullock warns aa that Scotch dSvin hare recently been courting tba critical nnetbods of Biblical study, and glf -Jag ap Celnaisai by tba wholesale, aad bara ia mu wbo baa caught th new spirit witboat tallowing It ta abaorb hm own independaat opinions, and baa evidently eaat off tbe abacUaa af tba Westminster Con-Jceeion. aad stopped eat npoa tba broad platform of free, thought aad rational belief. Bat.

wbila are oftaa 'astonished to baar aacb; language from a Scotch. tbara ia nothing of that valuer rationalism- which ia ael aoanoa abea 'snca bare bad tba courage of their amnion. JUr. Serrioe baa no wish to Weak with his creed or Church, and however 'eevere ba may be aad ia tba aeraoa a tba "Church Benefi-eent ba la anparffa bis criticism of tba Kirk tbera nothiac which shows aa ill-natured or iU-balaneed naiad. What ia notable in the semens la that tba author ia wonderfully outspoken witboat eeaaiog to ba orthodox.

Ha aa all of Carlyle'e raliab lor pursuing aad ex-poaiog a ahain, but narar eaata dlaeradtt npoa aba truth wbieb tba abam ia in leaded to represent. Nor doea ba fo oat at bia war to strike stt popular mistakes aad yet tbara not a aeraaon ia wbieb ba fails to touch npoa current matters of thought ia a way Wshed upon them $he light of eommon aansa. I Tba passages ara so nnajerooa ia which this fresh aad right handling ot important aabjeeta la manifest that It ia difficult to make extracts, tmt bare ia a passage from tba sermon entitled The Few aad tba Many," which at onoe illus; aratea our mean log ana xurnieaee a laroraoie spevimea of tba aatber'a literary method. Ia Showing the barm dona to Christianity by associating or identifying it with Opposition to the Ijeat tboaght of tba best minds of oar time for aneb aoiauca may claim to ba ibe eays: Te Ueatify or aaaocltaa It with aay aort of aa. taxeataaa faaeleBoaU boaravar aawtt.

tiagly. te aaaociate or ioaaury It with Tulgar Xauoe, laibtieiUty of aaina, eaac, ereaallty. mutt the rdeot, efeourae. ef waakeatat Its bold apon all bat the mt natabMlKeai aa ua tainting- Uaaoa, tor. SMBO BSe WOW eee IB OUe IDH religious duetria by arraaseata iilniM ol aeleooe, a hundred might, perhaps, -WS aw a suspicion of ail r-Ugea teaeal aaakaa In bia ballet ot thla or taat by aaaa coaataa aaaplcioa of ait n-liDwia toaeelnc, or a coauuapt for tt, toaeolociata tor uarhttianlty who wadartaka to defeaa It asalaat adieooo, aad aocoeed auaa may auata te beaapportea.

It la inpartaol ta raaaark. bvwarar, that waae CbraUaai(y im oopoaad In aay aort of way la eeieaee, it ia mae to reject vim blp ef ila beat frtaad acaiaat ila worst mbt. "Wa bare to tfeaak modara aetooea. it la admitted, for diaatpetlne lr aa a ataaa of deeair aad boxmhu aapereuutteaa, with which aoas of Ignoraace aad creduluy bad erarlaid tee eaaeuUal reriiiee of oar CariaUaa faith. That tbaeo eeseatial reritlaa, very Jew aad- very ample, aaay ba diaaeolated fraas aapenuuoat atlU eziatlax, aad SiaUatfniaaed (roaa ueUMUatieal ahibbetetba, waieb are aetbtog if eat papereiiiluaa ia the maaiag, aiaek remains te be aukiakkk modem aciaaoe aaeaia renairedtade 1ar aa.

Igaoranee. not aeitejer, tba ercb-eaeay of iba norita at tke fallal, or vkium wee rhaT te call. Ike mm aa S'sdaruiaaad true Ike letter toe Ckrtattaa rerelaUoa. Uar uatrevway oa tale score ta aot with the jkw wno nare taaraea irom aoieaoe se owiere mite, bat with the auuiy. woo, frees Igaaraiiee.

doobt aoibiec. Wkaiever bit be tea uaae. tkea. with regard to eecleelaatioei aad doctriaal ayalama call. tag tbeaaaelree Chnatiau.

it Is at toe ssnenae of the parity, aad, the rat are, at 'the expeeaeeflhe lua aed Do war. of the Chiiattaa Auta. that acieaee ia la any way oppeeed or depreoiated ta the name ot Cbriaiiaatty. file greater tain te pare reliaioa sod wnaettied eoald be wtabed taaa bat it weald be fer (Jortatiaa Churehee te take friendly aeeouat of acieaee, aa bariac aiaoh te aay ta tarer of the aim ytudceuua tbetr eraada. He greater loea, perbapa.

coaia be lacarred by Cknatiaa uaarcaea tkaa what tkry do taeer by aiBiatatotog, aa acainat aa area -ewemy laaeiaaea, aoa with treeh 'ardor and to creased icnity, aaeteet deetnaea aad traditioaa, which, trae or falae. are at eaea aatlonated and HjitIjU." i There ara many passages arery sermon -euon eaaily become aphorisms. We giro a quotations whioh is fashion mble nsurpe the place of religion, Swbich eternal truth." "The parablee ara alba aalt of" Chnstiaaity, to preeerra it from frtorrnptiua and extinction." Morality ia the git aal of the Cbriatiaa religion i a beautiful lilV tba finest and grandee litargy." A boat of oar present social arrangements ara of kind which insara, as far aa they opera la and they operate' Tory far that aven shall not become men at all." MThe (Christian Cbureb, wbieb bad been understood to be a ttSTotloual institntloif aad a theological club, la, iv reality, a society af perectionista. It doea bot exist merely te exist, It la neither a doTotioaal institution, mseting once a week aer a theological club in which one mem her lectures the rest; bat it is a society of people who be lie re in Christ's life, and desire to lire that Ufa" We mast be right if Sn our belief aad la oar lires we follow, not Paul, or Apolloa, ar or High Chare Low Church, or Bread Church oracle, bat ate followers of alt those who through faith Vad petieaoe bare oyereome the world." All biatory proYea that it ia only from the fountain of a religion wbieb. like Lebanon, lifta lu bead abora ground and represents tba aspirations St the soul after tba anseea and eternal, that the Vuatcaanoe wbieb ia needed foe tba parent aad buaTeeJieet rut nee of humanity, the truest and noblest' morality, eaa ere lew." MTo bare no creed is at the preaeat' day one of the moat popular of creed.

All bistort, bowerer, goes ion wivavui cwiigiuH. mpreiij iu abeve all. tba highest morality ia a plant without roots, a building without foundation." There never waa a great man whoee tempta- tiooe were not aa great aa his It is of the eaaenea of faith that who haa it faela bunaelf to ba beta in a world" full of better things thaa pleaaurea, whether laaocent or sin al. whioh are only ploaaures af sense aad ia which to ba right ia greater or better thaa to be mighty er to be rich feels, ia a word, that the Wet of thiia Ufa and ef all life goodnesa" Aay aaa wba la any age or plaoe, teaches tn the spirit of Christ, aay oaa who teaohee what a Christ here taogbt-lora ta Ood and mat aeeda no Chureh. ao Bible, aa Mooes, aa Calria, to eapport aad back him." bare bo oaa knawa how atany diriaoaa la oar Chrie-t tiaa body, Tbey are mostly about men.

Ke buman being with a grain af eommon sense eaa snppoae that tbey are dlrisioas arising trout a earefat and intelligent study of the Bible and' religious questions ou the part af tba aaajority ef tba people. It not many men, many minds it is rather many wen and not mind among them. It is But 'that people la gsaeral iaqaire lata religious matter for thamaelrea, aadj arrive at different eoaesieaet it is that people, for aaa re aeon and aaother. only require for their reHgloua -news the authority of aoaiehodre aame, aad that the Christianity ef eeets aad divUloas at war with each ether is. aomehew.

ta the aaere latelUgibla ad more aalaUbla Christianity than thaa that af Jeaws Cartel." i These ex trae ta set forth tba rigorous fplia eommon aeasa af tba anther. guca rxztil-mra aai itTtb Jlaaaa vha ta iuv John Berrtee ta aa a aaaa at ability ta think through the problem questions at tba day their essential oon dittoes aad priaeiplea, au4 ao plain aad forcible are bie words that you bare to read these dieeourses areoud aad area a third time before take ia fully their wonderful inclusireaeeeef subject aad Incisure neat of tboaght. Manjr men are obliged to wrap their thoughts in Lumeroas words (fo eoaeeal tba vererty of helr Ideas this man seeks the pleiaeet woru. beeaase tbey are best suited te bis purpoee, aa4 says nothing whish ordmarf people eaoaotj uaderstaad but the richness and freshness of bis thought breathes into these eommon words unusual meaning. Tba danger to which the author is exposed that the equalities 0f gopdnees and Ttrtne aid truth and lore the moral qualities of religion shall be set forth as jaome thing eoeentiaUy separated from religion as embodied in.

inetito-tiona, without which it would bare fared worse thaa It has at the bands pt mankind. but ba seldom rests eon tented wHh the dletum of Mr. Matthew Arnold that the Church is only a koeJety for doing goad to man," and there is a rigorous aad healthy religious life ia these tiiaeenraee whioh wQl eommend them everywhere as the most ith-portant rblama of aermons for variety af richness and reach of thought which has appeared, aiaoe the; aeanty reports of Frederick Robertson's diwooureee were given to the world. They belong to the same class of sermons as those recently published by Dr. Mosley.

aud diseera the. bearingej of tboae fundamental thought and principles which. In the hands of common men. becotoe notorious eommonplaoe. bat which, the moment the master speaks, are inspired with universal life.

Excepting three or four sermons in Dr. Motley's tbera is nothing yt published by him whioh is better than Iff. Service's 'diseourse eaUtled "Gods Matty among Christians," or the eaay named Christianity and Ritual," or the sermon called Authority of Truth and Authority of tbe Scribe." two man bare essentially ttjo aame gifts of thought and style, bat the Oxford Professor does not, in qaite the same degree as tbe Scotch divine, speak dlreatly to people's hearts. lioth volumes pf sermons will better repay study by those' who hare anything to do with manufacturing the fresh article thaa anything which baa appeared for soma years, though Dr. Martineau'e recent Hour Thought on Soerwd Thing eaa hardly be excluded from the same rank.

The thing needed In aermons is precisely the thing needed ih other forms of publie speech and oral teaching tbat amaa shall bare something to say anil then aay it; and the only difference between these sermons and those which the multitude bear or refuse to bear, 14 that these are exceptionally Well worth bearing or top their combination of first-class literary' culture, with the earnestneae aad vigor of minds land hearts which have thought and felt deeply upon the great problems of religion in their relations to practical life. These eermons bava already reached e-eee-ond edition, though the eaaie as noiselessly upon the world as a snow-flake falls from the sky. Tbey deal with the questions of the day as they stand related to be unchanging truth of religion in a unflinching, forcible manner, and manfully face every iasue Tbe essay reprinted from the ConUni-pormry Review entitled Tbe Spiritual' Theory of Another Life." indicates Mr. Service's cap4-city in tbe field of theological inquiry, and apply the aame vigorous and shrewd eommon sense to the twaal conceptions' of the unknowui lii which cut through the com plications 'and falsities that beset our present existenoe. It is impossible to furnish mure than these scanty specimens of the opinions and arguments her given on) a wide variety -of subjects, but1 know not where to lookj for a volume in which the free handling of the first questions in religion is conducted in 4 healthier spirit and manner, or leads to results, on the whole, mee sauslaetory.

LAST KB1ATS CBOBOH 4XD By Marraaw tuuA Kew-Terk: Hicnuii fc tyk It ia not always easy to report Mr. Matthew Arnold eorreotlvj re writes muoli length, and he repeats I himself a j-eat deaj, Mr. Arnold's object in the religious book which be has published has not been so much literary a practical. Were his 'purpose merely te pat his thoughts into the most perfect form, no doubt a more eondeueedj method of expressing himself would be adopted but asj his object ia to induce men to be of his way of thinking, be finds It well to insist upon) to say over many tiaqjas. bis few necessary In the preface to his new vol a me he recurs to bis oft-expressed opinions as ta tha natural truth of Christianity.

lie finds that Wo cardinal point of that religion to be charity and chastity, kindness and poreneas. These ara also the two cardinal point if conduct, and these I are the two points which the Church of England, as a national society for tbe promotion of goodness, should seek to inoulcate. Mr. Arnold refers to some ot bis foreign critics (to M. Gubernatia among others) 'who scoff at his notion tbat It fs possible to retain the jj Bible and traditional religion and to use', them aa a meatjs of inflfteneiug for:) good the dairy life I ot men.

He supposes tht the fact of the Komaa phurch being that best known ta them may explain in part their disbelief the possibility of continuing te use traditional religion in! the work of bnmap education. Protestantism, the author remarks, whatever may have been its faults, war at aay rate an expression ot tbe i faet that i it was possible to keen the wheat I end leave the chaff. Mj. Arnold, however, seems; ta think it not Out the queetioa that the Church ot Borne may ultimately reeolre itself into some such nndog-matis aoeietr for the promotion ol goodness as be wishes the Chureh of England to bo. The leading paper in ibe present work is titled "A Psychologiealj Parallel." This! is an answer to oae of tboae arguments of despair, a Mr.

has finely called them, whioh bava been brought forward by theologian. argument of despair is tbat if we ara net to accept tbe miracnlou4 origin of Christianity, aa explained by tba disciple, we most re-Ject their whole testimony; for if: tbey believed in all Tthee things, suoh as the miracles, the resurrection, and the lika, 1 and they were not true, then thee witnesses are imbecile aad eredulous entha-aiasta. Surely, is argued, we eannot acoept 1 aay religioa at the hna of each persens. Mr. Araold, la answer to this argument despair, tries to show that St, Paul might Jtatfe beliered in the reeurreeUoa without biag au! Imbecile aad eredulous enthusiast, suppoaing there to have been ao resurrect 10a.

Tha "par-j ebologieal parellel to Jwhioh the anthor his recourse, ta belief "of Sir Matthew Hale tha reality of vitebcraft, The last aaagiag fir witchcraft la England waa in in' 1711 la 1736 tba penal sUtutes against' witchcraft were repealed. The ta witobcraft duxtag all 'thie time waa aiaa4 peariag, an til by the nd ef she eighteenth, eeatury tbera was tittle belief left in! either witobea; or ghostav But during the whole of the seventeenth eeatury the belief iky witobea was all bat amterssi. Tba ministeaa took a leading part ta the persecution, tn p4 tiealar the Puritaa Ukinistera. An anfortaaaW text, 'Taoa shalt hot suffer a witch to live, was the JjtvBAk rrlU bfiliaX. bt witch aow weate wc suit a pear laH the atmosphere.

We fin4 by referring tba aaaals of that 'time, I that arldeaea Which would new be accepted by no reasonable taaa, was la tboee days taken! as eonslasiv by tnea of the greateet rigor ef mtelligeaoe. force, and peaetration ot judgment and natural tratb-falnes. These qualities Were poasessed in a Very high! degree by Sir Matthew Hale, tbe famous Chief-Justice of the time of Charles 1L Set there is extant the report of a trial for witchcraft which the conviction of the witebe was secured py bia direetiona. Two witches of Lowestoft, Suffolk, were tried in 166. The ta-o wooiea tried were widows, aad their names were Rose Cullender and Amy Duny.

Tbey "wefe accused of paring bewitched a jbhrnber of children, eanxi)g them to hire fits. hkd to brjnf up pins and feat's, The main evidence related to the two) little girla of Samuel Paey. a merchant of tbV town. On of the little girls was eeeted (ocj a bank near tbe titrase, locking orer the sea, when Amy Duny ram and. asked for aomoj herrings.

She was ret used, and sho went away grumbling. At toe samd xnomant a child Was seized with Violent fits. Amy, suspected of being a witch, ma Mind and set in the stock, While she was in the stock some women asked ber tie reason ot tbe child's illness. She said Mr. Pacy keep a great stir 'about the child, bttt let him star until he bath done as much by bis children as I hare don by mine." When asked what she bad doits her children, she said that aba had been 'tain to open her child's mouth with a tap to gire it victuals." I Two fays afterward! Peer's elaer dku'gbter, wss aeixed with; flta, insomuob that they eoald not open her mouth without the help ro( a tapt whioh they are obliged to use." In their fits! the children would cry There 'siands Amy Dnnjr! arKose Cullender." Their father would sometimes make them read tjie Bible.

Tbey would read very well, till they came to the aame of Xorf, 'or Vent, or Christ, when, before they could pronounce; it they would fall into fits. The name of Sola or iJfevil tbfy liked to read they would then drop their hands on tbe book aad would 'say: That bites, but makes me speak qaite well." When asked by their father why tbey could not use (the name at' answered: Amy Duny saitb, I must! not use that name." 1 Kow, these are things 'which, at the present day, may be rery readily accounted for. But in that time they were sufflaient to condemn the witches The wise and) learned Sir. Thomas Brownej author of a book op Vulgar JCrrort, testified that he had not the Jeast doiiht that the children were bewitched. There were, in-dbed.

eertain gentlemen present, whoee fame has not descended to this flay, who had a word te say on the side of reason. They protested tbat it waa Terr dangerous to punish, persons solely pu tbe imaginings of the bewitched, sfnoe itiwa possible for the bewitched to be niiataken. VV hen the court had commanded the Witched to touch the the children had streamed. These gentlemen thought that some iSquiry; should be made as to whether the children were counterfeiting. Accordingly, the oaige aesired Lord Corn wall is.

Sir Edward Bacon, i Mr. Sergeant Kueeling, and some other; gentlemen to take one- of the distempered children into a remote part, of the ball and: send tor one of the witches, and see what would happen: then. Amy lany was brought before the an apron was put before the child's eye and some otherj pernou present; touched; br. She cried out as loudly as when the: Witch touched her in court. The gentlemen' returned to the court-room; openly protesting! that they believed tbe whole transaction an: lSipostbre.

Notwithstanding this. Hale charged tbe jury in suoh way as to render' con fiction probable, aad took occasion distinctly to affirm his belief in witchcraft, basing it upon SjriDtura anil the authority of the general opinion. The witches were con Next morning the qhildreM were brought to-lale'si lodging perfectly restored. Tbey bad all slept well during the night, except that Susan Chandler felt a paia like a pricking of pins id her The witches were hanged seme days later. 'j llals beliered in witchcraft, because the atmosphere in his tima was full of such belief! Paul.

I says Mr. Arnold, beliered in miraales, because the air in his day was full of belief in miracles. But Mr. Arnold seleots a still closer analogy to St. Paul- in the person of another! worthy of the seventeenth century.

This gentleman bore the unpromising pame of John $mith, and attained th no higher position ia the' world than college fellowship. He died at the; age of 34. He was one of tbat band of Oiimbndgo Platonists, or latitude men. as they were galled in tbat day, whom Bishop Burnet described as those it' who at Cambridge studied to propagate I better thoughts, to take men off from being in parties ot from narrow notions, from superstitious conceits and fierceness about opinions." The object of the latitude men was to show, what! Mr. Arnold is now insisting upon, that tlanity was a "temper, hj behavior.

For two centuries these men. among whom Hales, of Qxlord, must be tirelyj overlooked. classed, hare been en-But -their services bare been described in the recent book by Principnt Tulloch. apon religion ih'bEngland daring the se renteenth century. About 15 years be (ore the trial 5 of the Lowestoft witches at Bury St.

Emunds, Joha Smith preached at Huntington a sermon on Witchcraft. Every tear on Lady Dari a Fellow of Queen's Cambridge, was required tb preach at Huntington a sermon, against witchcraft and diabolical contrasts-Smith. aa one' of the Fellows at Sueen's, bad to! preach this 1 sermon, is text was Beeist the' devil and he will flee from you." In this eermon. he appears, like Hale, to profess a belief in witches. But Ids manner ot treating the subject was significant; Finding nothing jtor his tnitd to scire upon in the subject as usually eonsidered, be addressed himself te! an 'idea ot 'a permanent and solid character.

He said 5 When we say that the derjll li continnally busy with us, I mean not only some apostate spirit as oae particular being, but that spirit of which is ledged in all men's; natures." Here we bare a maq of saxaeity and judgment, who not only believe in a popular error, but who finds a natural and useful trth tn the midst of this error, and make the error itself a means ef helping those about I him. Arnold holds that this is lost what St. Paul' did. He acknowledged hi belief in the resurrection. It is easy for those who do not admit the miraculous to conoeire jbow this belief might bare beei entertained by Paul! The air waa full of belief in the axiraouloas.

Men were thinking: a great dal of ths resuneetioa of the just. St Paul, too, aoeepted this belief, but straightway auised npoa aa aspect of it by which it might boepme real to him. He eoneelred of the rreur-rectioB aa a spiritual rising which 'eoald be enacted la our own minds- says the author, "beeame thus no longer a bodily dying, bat a djing unto sin; riainc to tile ao longer bodily fesuitectiou. but a Bring to God." I i We might wish that this- thought bad been resented a littisj mare plainly iind strongly. Iri Arnold's pen, when it touch- religion suUecta, appears mora some what too easily.

Suu, teas essay, aad those included with it in tto preeent Toiame, Bishop Butler and the Leit-Oetst," aad The Church England." xkibit those qoaliue wbtoa are reeogeised aa belonging to the anther, eenatbtlity to, aad clear ewooeptioa of, moral idea, keen tatellectnal maight and a genuine, bop ia tba future of THE EARLY ENGLISIIDRAMA IX THE DA TS BEFOEJC APTBOhB WHO TRIED TO BaKaiHB WW tin iarro taJfaTic Bncxtuta thb Tassinojr plats THXTiocrifD raros UT SHXIESPKAJtK'g TOTJTU---il'sXOIJiaia-TiX or KKTTBJtL IXaJCPI PUIT8. ScLlegel, if we except Leasing waa among tbe first who brought to the study of Elizabethan drams tie literature, more particularly the plays of Shakespeare, a comprehea- aire. well-etorel. eritieat mindJ nnwaaried in dustry, and. what be might himself term, a 'reconciling" judgment.

Shakespeare bad been, by English aud French entice alternately, denounced as an inspired idiot, ana landed as god among hi eoatemporarr dramatie Tritons, while no to the begianing of thaa eeatury eons-paratirely little attention had been paid to a critical examination of the work of his ln mediate predecessors. Indeed, I it is evi dent from Schlegers own admission that he himself waa bat superficially acquainted with the. dramatis pieces whish were popular when Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon, and he doea but scant jattioeto tbe obscure writers whoso very us equal works form a sort of connecting link between such nnimpassloned formality as 'vFerx and Perx," and rule-rejecting historical plays as Shakespeare found them and left them." Seat-tered through many of those dreary old dramatie piece are to betound many poetic pearls of great price, line whioh. for statelineaa and power, Milton might feel proud flashes of imagination. bodying forth the forms of things unseen," whioh might have been written by Spenser, Prince of Poets; rigorous, rapid, dramatic action, and af power of characterization which fall little below Shakespeare him Hell in his grandest effort.

It is quite true, as the great German critic has said, that we owe to (Shakespeare and his contempo. rary, Calderon. the romantie drama. In Shakespeare it reaches its full fruition, and with him it may be said to have ended, in English literature at least It was longer lived in Spain, the dramatic mantle of Calderon having fallen on infinitely greater playwrights than those who were contemporary with and succeeded Shakespeare. This simultaneous new intellectual birth, as it were, ia notiocable for it is very questionable if Shakespeare or Calderon in any way influenced each other.

In all probability they thoucht and wrote in total ignorance of the great i revolution each was making in tbe dramatic literature of his own land. Tne beautiful vision of tbe romantic drama ia all its solendor, more lasci-nating than even the statuesque dignity and chaste severity of the classic drama, presented itself in the same era to the two greatest dramatie poets ot their respective countries, it not. ot all countries and all aces. We shall endeavor, however, to show tbat obscure writers prior to the Shakespearean era, and a few contemporaries, groped darkly, with htful flashes ot intellectual lights, among the dead truuka of dramatic spectres, into which they tried to breathe tbe of a new life, a new spirit of poetry, be rery soul of romance. We shall treat of some of the more transparent characteristics ol the transition plays which found favor in Shakespeare's youth, and of whieh the great dramatist bimsett was not slow to make use.

We select first, for illustration, The-Misfortunes of Artbur.f certainly oae of tbe most powerful plays to be found in the whole runge ot Englisb dramatic literature. Iu Collier's pn-face to this drama, which was tirst played before Queen Elixaoetn ia 1087 or 1583, we are told that there were no less than euht gentlemen of tho Society of Gray's Inn at the uiaking" of it. is now known of Thomas tlnbea, the priusipal "maker," bat with him was associated Francis Bacon, the great touaderof experimental philosophy, and by far the mutt profound and charming essayist of his atte. Bacon-! waa only 16 years of age when he was admitted to (iray's Inn. and.

wheu this play was produced he would be about J7. It is slated by Collier tbat one Christopher Yetvertou, John Lancaster, and Bacon devised tba side shows," then usually accompanying such performances, but any one ami liar with that great man's Essays and Colours. of Good and couid not, alter reading this play, doubt that he had a share in the composition of the play, for it is studded with pudosophie aphorism whioh hare quite a Baconian tUror. When this play was produced. Kit Marlowe and Shakapeare were only 23 years ot age, Ben Jonsou 13; Chapman had bot written any of bis dramas, and Massmger was but an intunt.

The literature ot the lime was comparati vely meagre in quality; but there was one work which lound many readers, and was a favorite with the great minds of the Elizabethan era, namely, the Morfc d' Arthur ot Sr Thomas Malory. It is Iroui tun fresh add erer-fas-cinatinic book The Mislprtune of Arthur is dramatised. Roger Ascham. bad ha judged of the Morte tC Arthur from this play, might have been justified iu bis severe condemnation of the bad moral teachings of that Work, but he was dead 11 years before it was produced, and we are not aware of aaother contemporary dramatic rendering of any of tbe romantic incidents so quaintly recorded bv ttie accomplished knight. Judging the MarUm" Arthur by itself, we quite understand bow the great 'Oaxtou lelt eonvincod that by printing it he Was serving Uod and his oouutrynien." If we were to judge the romance by the play, we could almost ioin with Ascb am iu.bis dispraise of it, Malory's Arthur and Knights ot the Round-table are magnificent puissant heroes of chivalry leaveued with Chrwsiantty, and yet sensuous, it not sensual, withal.

Tue dramotit ptertorur of the play are to a certain extent vulgarized, and iu their society one breathes less freely the pure atmosphere of true chivalry. Tennyson, in the cases ot Gutncvara and Mr Galahad, has apiritualizod two- of the most lovablo personages of the romance but it is questionable if the great pjet has given to the world of letters more attractive or more lifelike creations. The first act of the play, to be understood, must be read in the light ot Arthur's past history. WheuA'iny Usher J'endragon gave a.graod banquet in soieiunizatiou of his victory over the taxons he became enamored of Jgema, wife of Gurtois, Duks 0 Cornwall. Br tbe aid ot tbe magician Meriin be was transformed into the "rery counterpart" of Harlots, and obtained by this device admission to tbe bed of the pure and unsuspecting Jgema.

Arthur aud Anns were the twin truit. Arthur, to use a oommoa phrase, afterward celiaoiusd" with his sister, Anne, wbo bore him tbe Jealous Mordrrd, Daring the great King' nine years' war on the comment of Europe, Mordred usurped the throne of bis father, and formed an auulteroua alliance with his mother-in-law. Nothing can justify this vulgarization of the character of the great aud chivalrous Arthur, ana that frail but tasciuatdig lady uf romance, Launcelot's love. Queen trueweterm. It is re-markaDle, however, with what delicacy the more hideous aspect of the tragedy are subordinated to the swift-inoving incidence, aod with what vigor ana power of auaraeterixation the leading dramatis persona are limned.

Tbe play opens with a tine soliloquy ot the ghost of the neeply injured Oorlois 1 "Transported back From Pluio's pits aud gloomy shade To Iterator ux hi." 1 He calls down upon the head of Arthur the wrath of offended foreshadows tbe ternbie incidents ot tbe tragedy ill nervous, if occasionally unuven, verse. In the second scene, Gueuevera (we quote from! the "Argument," retaining the uuaint spelling at the (jaeen's nauii-,) bearing that Artkur wa oa tue eea returning, daeuerately menaceth hi death, troin wbieu intent she is dissuaded by i'ornia, a lady ot her court, aud privy to her secret." In the third aoene of the first act Ouenevera perplexedly mindeth her own death, whence, being dissuaded by ber sister, she resolveth to enter into religion." In toe fourth scene, Mordred goeth about to persuade (' ueneverm to persist in ber love, but misseth thereof ana then ia exhorted by Co nan (a nobleman of Britain) to reconcile himself to his father at bis coming, but refusetn sa to do, and resolveth to keep him from Landing by battle." la the conversational varieya between the tjueen and ber more aage lemale adviser, and between Mordrtd aud i Conoa, we coma upon many; wise saws," whish forcibly remind ns ef much of the profound philosophising to be found in ail Bacon's writing, and more par-! ticularly in bia ettarmlng AVsays. Take, tori example, the following 1 "The wrath taat breaieeth. blood doth loathe to lark 1 -1 1 i What reason most withhol la, rage wns ga perf jre." "Great harms eaaaot be kid tbe grief is ssull -Xhat oaa receive a nee or rale itself." Shakespeare somewhere says i very eea eaa aweter a grief bat be that has it." And It ia a great truth eaaaot tsatiuaaflf WiUJaWVSCbs. Again: i Whoa, gods areas, they bendt WhooJmsa annoy.

The way that leads to good i ne'er te lata. Whose repeats gulltlaaaef hi crime." Wbeee refuge lies iaeaaaoet what I iMrea he mot In eaperete tunes the beadloac war best." Sir Boyle Boeb bad this idea floating ia bia head when he gare expression to tbe charming bull; that "the best way to avoid danger ia to meet it plump." Bacon la his eesaya Of Delays baa expressed a similar idea, and as is bia wont, illustrated it with one of those apt classical sdlaaions whieh he knew ao well how to employ Tbe ripeness or unripeness ot tbe occasion," vbe ears, "must ever be well weighed aaa. generally, it is well to oommit tbe beginnings of all great actions to Argus with his hundred eyes and tbe ends to Brfareus with bia hundred hands; first to watch and then to speed; for tba helmet of Pluto, which aoaketh the politicks man go in viaible, is ee-erwoy in th eoanaeU and celerity in th execution. For when things are one eome to tbe execution, there is no secrecy comparable to eelenty like the motion ot a bullet in the air, which flyetb ao swttt.it outruns tbe eye." The following passage from the wise eouilsel given Msrdred by Conoa is not aa worthy of Shakespeare: 1 1 "Treat fit, their faith win faint where fort an a i fail. Where maay mea pretend a lore to one, Whose power may do wast good or baroi he will.

'Tie bard ta say which be his faitbtal tries da. Daaa Flattery flltteta off; she lores and Bates With Una, a preaeat friend, an absent foe." Swift pat tbe same idea thus I Tis aa old maxim in tbe sobonl Tbat flattery the lood of fool." w. 'a bare not the space te a note the almost in numerable couplet which hare been written upon flattery, and continue our extract from the play under notice. He wields no slender weight that wsars a crown. Shakespeare ia more poetical and rythmioal TTneaar lie tbe bead that wears a Again i We quote from The Misfortunes pf I Where rulers dare command hat what is well, Pow'r is bat prayer, commandment but reqaest." conscience, sars Bamist, makes cow ards of ns all.

In tbe following soliloquy by Mordred, after be ha screwed bis courage to tbe sticking point, and resolred to do bat tle with his father for the crown which he had nrnrped, we hare a most powerful picture of a eonscienoe-strieken man wbo braves the fate be tremble to meet 1 "A troubled head my mind revolts to fear, And bears my body back 1 I inwards feel and fall My taougbt misgire me much. Down, terror 1 I Perceive mine end. and desperate though 1 moat Despise despair, aad somewhat bopeleas bops. Tn mors I doubt tho more I ear; by tear I Bad the fact la tttteat for my trams. What though I be a ruin to the realm.

And fall myself tnerewitb No better end; Ilia last uiahapa do make a man aeonre. Such was sue Priam's end, who, when be died, Cioa'd and wrapp'd up bia kingdom in his death, A eolnma pomp, and flr for Hordred's mind. To be a grave aad tomb to all this realm." The great battle, which terminated in the death of Mordred aud many knights, is described by an eye-witnesv This mode of bringing before an audience pictures ot great actions winch could not be performed on the stage, was eommon before and subsequent to tbe obaks-spearean era. It ha it adrantages where tbe stage appliances are meagre, and it gives tbe poet scope for tbe display ef great descriptive powers. 'The passage referred to above is very long too long to admit of quotation hut barring the ruggedness of tbe verse, it is odd of the most vigorous and graphic pieces of descriptive poetry to be found in the whole range of English drainatio literature prior te Shakespeare.

i In a recently published edition ot the famous collection of plays made in the last century, by Dodsley, are to be found a number of quaint interludes, coarse and ill-digested comedies, miracle-plays which' had never before been printed. The Four Elements" is one. and it is quite unique iu its character. It is as Mr. llaxiitt, ia his introduction, points out, Tbe only; dramatic piece extant in which science is attempted to be made popular through the meuium of theatrical representation." This curious play was probably written about lil, tbe date ot its first representation.

In tbe prologue we are thus informed of the necessity-of learning science in order to comprehend higher things 'By little and little ascending. To know God's ereainres aad marvelous working; And tbia wise man at the hut aliail come to Tbe knowledge of God aad Hia high And ao te leara do bia dotyl But beeaase somo folk be little disposed lo ssdnsss, but more to mirth ana sport. This philosophical work is mixed With merry eoooeite, to give men comfort," But perhaps the most curious "interlude" which has come down to us is God's Promise." made by a once distinguished or notorious ecclesiastical controversialist. John Bale, Bishop 01 irssory. oaie was eaucatea lor tbe Koman Catbolio Church, but was converted to Prot estantism, and afterward devoted his lite to waging war against the Papists, whom he bated with all the bitterness of a bigoted pervert.

Aay one desirous ol knowing uiuoh about Bale mav consult the life written by Quaint old Thomas' Fuller in his Abel Ktdivivu. As a dramatic piece "Oou's Promise" is exception ally and tbe author played last and loose with the "unities." He literally "annihilates time and space," and tbe play is only valuable as a liak in tke great dramatic chain. Tbe play, if sueh it may be called, ia Com posed of seven colloquies between Jfater Catlestis, Adam. oak. Abraham, Moses, David.

Isaiah, uuti John, the Haptist The I allowing specimen of the jargon will suffice Pstsr C. David my servant, semewhst I must 1 ssy to thee. For tbat thoa lately haat wrought aneh ranity. Zlamd. Spare net, blessed Lurd but aay, thy pleasure to me.

Pater Of late days thou hast misused Beersheba. 1 ne wtte of unit, and slala mm la tbe Held. Varid Merer, Lord, meroy, for doabtleea I am denied. later C'. 1 constituted thee a King orer Ijrsel, Auu tne preserrea irom aaul, which was thy enemy Why bast thou, thee, wrought aacb folly in my sight i Deeoulng my word against all godly right I David 1 have sinned, Lord I beseech Thee, par-.

doa ma. I'aUr shalt not die, David, for this thy iniquity. For thy repentance. From thvi house fur this the sword shall not depart. David.

I cannot ssy nay, but I bars dons Ln -discreetly To forget thy cries for a human policy. Pater liougn tby aias be great thy in moat basrt's ooauriaoa Doth move my stomach in wonderful condition. The Bishop of Manchester took credit to himself a brief time ago, lecturing in a theatre, on "The Drama." 01 being the first Bishop of the English Church wbo bad ever appeared -on tke stage." The author of "God's Promisee," if be never' himself acted not by any means an improbability may take what credit is due to bun as the first Bisuop of the Church of England who ever wrote a play. As the rare and quutnt, coarse, but not unamusing- comedy of Kalph Koyster Doyter," is generally regarded aa tbe transition play from tbe mysteries and interludes of tbe Middl Ages ta the comedies of modern times," we wdl deal with it in tbe concluding portion of this article. This play is now generally admitted to have been tlie work of one Thomas UdalL M.

A. wbo waa successively Master ot Eton College. Beetor of Bran tree. Prebend of Windsor, Hector of Coloorne, ana Master of Westminster School. The play, by collation of dates and contemporary retereaees to it, was, in all probability, written belore the close of tbe reign of Edward VL.

wbo i died July 6, if it were then printed, tbe entire edition has practically perished, as no copy is knowa to be iu existenoe prior to the reign ot Elizabeth. An interpolated Prayer to tbe Queen," undoubtedly refers to Queen Elisabeth. A Very exhaustive and masterly critical examination of the play ia made by Collier in hia JBisto-ry of Dramatic Poetr. volume 1L, pages 445-loU, edition of A lull analysis of tne comedy would exceed our present limits, oat we may briefly1 call attention to the peculiar ryhme adopted by Udell, and give a few extracts. Ia most reprints, notabiy in the on edited by Carew llaxiitt, and published in the text appears in modern garb, but tn tbe original it stands in lines ot unvarying length.

Where the speech is continuous, these lines ryhme like oar ordinary poetry: but when tbe dialogue is short one, two, three, or more speeches are thrown into one line, aad the last syllables of! that lino whether they occur in words in th tuiddie or at the end of, a sentence, aa dictated simply by tbe length of tke line of type are made to rough rhyme ia couplets. Thus aa irregular assonance jingle through the play. May this peculiar rhyme be aoeepted aS aay evidence that Udail composed tba play aa much for tbe pre a for th stage Uaxlitt ia 1 inclined to believe so, and ba ia supported in this by the fact that no stage direetiona are given, a ia eommon ia the I old. jJsts. Tba uouaixuc pxoiasua as by aa foeana tbe least attractive part of the play.

It ia a eulogy oa mirth, aad may be given here ia the original spelling What Creator is a health, eytber yoeg er old Bat eom mirta with mod est ia wil he glad so vee As wo In tbys Knssriade shall now Wberie all eoariluie we vtterly refos. A aud lag saeh mirth whsrela Is abaaet Knowing nothing mere oomeadable for a man creel lorn Thaa klinh wbieb ia reed ta aa ban set fash lee 1 For Uyrth prel onsets lyf. aad esaaeth aealte. Mirth recreates oar spirits aad vsydeta stasia. Mirth taeraaseth smltia, pot hiadrlag ear wealth.

Mirth Is te be reed both of more aad Tea. Belag mixed with venue la deeeat eomlyeasis. As ws trust a good aatar eaa aalasay the aame I Which mirth we mtead terse, auMdyag blame. Tbe wye Porte long time heretofore, Tader memo Comedies sauietes aid declare. Vhtni waa eoatalaed rery rertaew lore.

With mysteries aad forewsralags very rare. Bach writ neither Ploutms mot Trrraof dyd spare, 1 Whiene among tb learned at this aay beere the belli Thee with each other therein dyd exeeH, Ou Ceeaedi or laierJude wbieb we. intend to play. Is aamed Borstsr Doyster ia deeds. Which against the vayns glorioat doth tansy.

Whoa humour the royaUng son oonttaually doth teed. Thus by year paoteaee wa Intend to pro eaata la this our Eatertud by Gods leans aad grace. And her I take my 'leans for a certain a oae. One of the most amusing seenea is that wherein DoUnst Doufhtjf (servant to JSetofar) goes to tbe bouse ot the widow to present a love-token, and has a preliminary confab with Trus-penny, Tu Tmik-a-pae. and A nnott-Mth foes.

servants of tbe widow, who mistake him fur the messenger or their mistresr "spouse." We ns hi word in it ancient meaning. Tbe wit eontrasta strangely with tbat of Bur-nand, Byron, and other bring burlesque writers, who split the ears of the "groundlings" in our modem play-boaee. The dialogue will not admit of Quotation, but the follow ing quaint old song has suoh a fine ring aoout it, we are eons trained to give it ta zuu 1 "A thing very fit For them that have wit, Aad are fellows knit, bervaeta ia ens noose to be As Issl for to sit, And not oil to flit Nor rary a whit. Bat lovingly to No man eom plaining, Xo other disdaining. Fur loss or fur gaining.

Bat fellows or friends to bet Ko grudge remaining. Ho work retraining. or help restraining. Bat loving to agree. a No man for despite.

By word or by write. Hi fellow to twite. Bat farther hoaesty 1 Ho good turns eatwit. Vor old aorea recite, Bol let all go qoite, And to agree. After drudgery.

When tbey be weary. Then to be merry. To laugh and sing they bs free 1 With chip aad berry. Heigh! deny dairy I Trill on tbe berry. And lovingly to agree.

Tbe fine old song Jolly good ala aad old," is doubtless familiar to alL It bas been repeatedly repriuted in all good collections of Englisb rerse and in erery standard Cyclopae dia of Literature, finds a prominent place. 1 be following quaint aud lively old song ta ess known, and with it we will close our ex tracts: Wbo so to marry a minion wife, Hath good chance and haa. must love her and eberiah ber all his Ufa, Ana dandle her in bis lap. If she wdl tare well, if she will go gay, A good husbsnd ever still. Whstever sue last to do or to ssy, Most let her have her own wilL About what affairs soever he go.

lie must show her all his mind. Xone of his counsels she rosy be kept fro Jlee is he a man unkind' PAIXTIXGS A TUE LEA FJTT AST BOOMS. The number of paintings for sale tbia year is qaite unusual, and la soma eases it Is a curious question tiers they corns from and where they go. The art rooms of tbe Messrs. Leavitt, at No.

817 Broadway, are again filled with a fresh set of pictures by European and Americas As usual, there are some very well worth looking at. mixed with otnere that hardly repay tho trouble of an examination. Hare is oae old example of H. do Esas, No. 24, "Saosst on tbs Coast," and another still older, to all appearsnoes, a 00 01 bin a-tioa rarely to be found, being at oaee a marine aad a historical lnoidant of th rebellion.

Ho. 63 shows tbs arreat of tbs steam-ship Trent by th TJalted States war steamer San aeiato, la a picture ot great naivete, wnatever may be said of its artiaue qoalities. Hot far diffarent is Julian Sootts "Duel between Aaroa Burr and Hamilton." Ho. 84. An old speclmea of Vioior Kebllg's work wilt bs seen ia No.

16AI "Tbe Bandit" wbo might have stepped oat of the studio ol the late lameated Leatse. Oswald Ach en-bach la here iu a large indlsunot canvas (No. 176, Torre that shows much more boldness thaa ability to paint a fine picture. I It has euasiderable freedom In spite of technical short- eomings. Tbe tourist, disgusted by noisy Italians, and his wife clinging to hia arm.

carry one back a great many yeara before the epoch when peo ple wore such clothe a theirs la reached. There are several Eensetta, aa Algerian seen by Words worth Thompson, snd aa old specimen of Bler-aladt'a work before he began to paint for the multitude. No. 49. "Toledo, Spain," is crude la eel or, aad a trifle stiff, bat ha aa air of honeaty of purpose in It tbat we seldom see in bis later piotur.

A landscape from th forest ot Foe tain able by Watelin, of Paris, remiade oae ef Diss, who haa mads many stndiss from the same groaad. There are two small Oriental pictures by TbSodor Fiere. with tb pink baesgrouaas sees to like, and a very charmingly-painted pualtry-yard. ISo. 169.1 by Jacqne, of Paris.

Bskslowics 1 sees la No. Hi, 1 no salutation, wiia an nis gooa points ana nra-Itations. while Joiee GoupU haa, ia No. 138, Mother's Visit, one of hi fsrorite pallid women with red lip, ribe is apparently making a visit to a chili pat out to nurse. B.

Fiobel appears ia No. 131, "After Diaaer," with on ef bia earefnl eabwet pletaras, aad Amberg la her ia Srofnsion. his weak-faced women with bad gures aed simpering looks haagiag oa all tb walla. Simpering womea will he foaad ia all that Caret ua, of Braaaels, haa to repreet-nt him here, aacb aa No. 13, 'Tbe Duet," No 118, Tbe Lee-tore." A flse little cabinet piotare by David Gel will reward look at No.

70, "Tbs Win Tester." Bat as good as aay ia feeling, if not la exeentiba. is No. 125. "TbeComiag Storm," wbieb Is by Ge orgs leases. Tne piotere la la three or foar oaoda of ooior, the yellow 00 re being ia tbe foreground, tbe hill aad grovee beyond coming next, tbeo tbe rellmg masses of ram and cloud, finally the sky.

Reapere ia tbe corn express very finely by tbeir positions tbe best tbat la in tbe air farther back aad ap tb hill. Tner tell the etory at one ia tbetr burned gather- in a in of the harvest, hat tbey are not so prominent as to be nior thaa a hint ta tb Is a scape. I some rejpeeta tbi is tbe beat example ef la aaaa exhibited witbia tbe laet five veers 1 there are quail, tlea ta It tbat eaaaot be soroaaaed bv aoy ether Amencaa painter. A companion aseo hangs Bear in the ehape of a Winter laadscspe of great merit, bat hardly worthy ef the proximity. Beeide these there is still a third by Ianess whieh will interest toos who take delight ia laadseape.

1 A CLUB IXCIDXNT. The Watertown Times of Friday thus describe aa unusual incident of dab life aad its osteoma 1 Georg Berry, Frederick Streeter, Byron Hubbard, Frank Barnham. aad George Baker were no member of Warerlay Clab. One evening reoeatly lbs abore-aamod geatlemea at ch room engaged ia pleasant oonrersationj soms war smoking. Mr.

Berry asrer smokes, aad aa the poisoned air la the room was napleesejit for bias, iatbrmed hla eompanloas that woedd go. They entreat ail him to remaia he insisted that he moat go. aad arose with sseh tat tloas. whea aome persoei larger thaa be put his foot egaiast th door snd said: No, George, I gaess George tamed aad ia formed tbs members of the War er ley Clab that aniens they let him eat lu Just oae mlaat by th clock weald be compelled strike dew a th door. Th bors took this la faa.

bat waea tb mlnat was ap, George went through the door. Just as bs said be would. The east of aaother door wa ascertained, aed as tb geatlemea of the elee did aoc thiak it era fair tee them -to eey it, snry propoeed to keep pietar of Georgo's, that waa suspended oa tbe wall, tul be paid the amooat tbat tne saw door weal eoe. Mr. Berry wse to-farmed of tbetr iateauoaa, aad after hariag aererai times beaa refused th piotere by ta elTioera of the club, he caarged taem with aoleiag bi prop, ertv wilbeat cease, aad preeared warrant ts-terday aad breogbt them before Jaatiee WUbar lor trial.

Alter makmg several motioas aad a goad Seal ef etaid aoias, tb eaa waa aeS down for trial needs y. hUy at e'eloek A. hL, at the chambers of Jessie WUbar. Ta aaa Is xcUiag a great deal of latere amoag the yoaag maa ef CHURCHES AUD MINISTER i noun and roRxwir tents. The General Conference of tba Kew'j rusalcm Chureh will be held at Cincinnati, i i There are atx Anglican Bishops ia India now, and a seventh is to be swaaeerated u.

(: The Sweden borziana are tnaVlrif; effot-a to eompleta the endowmsBt of their at Urbaaa. Seven daily prayer-meetings ara held in thin City, four of whioh ara tor business mm Tbey are generally well attended. Ber. Dr. IL IL Hopkins, of OwenV.

Ky a prominent minister of the Soother. Presbyterian Church, and a noted Bewsnaul writer, to dead. Blftbop Marrin, of the 8oatuem Metboi? Episcopal Chureh. ta la the Uolr Land, harmr Twad China and Japan. lie rater as Amerioek shortly.

Tba Catbolio Union, of New-lark-' I adopted a protest against tbe Itaiiaa Clerical Abuse bill." characterising It aa tyraaaicaL vajoat, and Irreligious in its provisions." i Tlie Baptist Mlasionary" Union reports reeeipU for he year at 46, against llfii. 637 last rear. The debt of the Caion baa base inoreaeed by amounting to 17.3tl. 7 Tba American Bible 8ociety holds its sixty-first annnal meeting at the Bibla-heaa. May 10.

Ber. William M. Taylor. D. ot tba Broadway Tabernacle, deli vara the annual aar- The Indiana Metbodist Conference has admitted oa trial two Chinamen Cbn Ta Taer and Ta JuW-who were ordained as deacons, and appointed to the North China m'imi at Peking.

I Tj" Fisk University, Tenn bat eat nine of Ha stadenu to Mississippi tv. r. teachers ia the South ia said to be steadily la-creaaing. Eer. Charlef W.

Qnick, editor of th Episcopal Uttorder, Philadelphia, has virh. drawn from the Protestant Episcopal Charek, aod eonneeted himself with th Keiurmed Epi. copal organisation. The Western Theological Seminary, (Pres. byterian.) of Allegheny City, has ut celebrated its semi-centennial, pr.

William H. Jefi'ers haa been elected to fill the chair seated by tbe death ot Dr. Jacobus. Archbishop Wood and a nnniber of Cath. olio clergy of Philadelphia bare eeilod for Rome to participate in the.

celebration of tbs Pope's episcopal Jubilee. The Archbishop takes with him $40,000 for the Holy Father. Rer. Cepbaa Bennett and wile, mimloi. sriee ia Burmah, hare Just celebrated tbeir golden wedding, the first event of tbe kind te occur among the missionaries of India s4 China.

They bava been in) Burmah 48 years. Da. Cate, (Baptist,) the first Ameridaa. missionary to enter Bom alter; its liberatioB, is dead. Just before his death! be completed arrangements fer tbe eatahliahment ot a medical mission in one of the poor quarters ot Jtoais.

Dr. Crosby's church haa for aome ytui maintained a prosperous mission tat Chinese of this City. A school bs been established which ia attended by-about a doses Chinamen, seven ot whom have become Cans-tiauav. Rer. Dr.

Chrlstlieb, of uermany, baring Intimated that he would not accept tbe cbsu? of theology in the Presbyterian College af London, it ts proposed to invite Dr. Oswald of Kegent-equare, London, to accept tbe position. New-England Methoditt Conferehco reports members and prutjatloner---sa increaae of only 3ri5 during the yean Tbs number of churehee ba more seed from 193 ta 200, but tbe total value of these churches hat decreased by about 1200,000. Tbe fifth General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Chureh will be held in the Seooud Reformed Episcopal ChurobJ Philadelphia, May 9. The Council is com nosed of all the Bishops and Presbyters of the Church, with lay delegate from the congregations, Bishop Smith, Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

removes from Hoboken to Lexington-avenue, this City. Kentucky is th--lSishop'a diocese, but hi coadjutor discharges the Episcopal duties of tbe bishopric Bishop bmilb is adveaded In years, 1 W.im.'i Tt.nilil: TTntnn! Miuairtn eietr haa been organised to ea-operato with the 'Baptist ilome Mission Society in tba, promotion ot the evangelisation of tba freedmea, the Indians, and immigrant heathen popols-tions." Mrs. J. N. Crouse, of Chicsgo, lrea dent of the society.

The Protestant Episcopal Charch support in its foreign missionary work 47 stations, 12 of whieh are In Western Africa, la in Cbias, 6 in Japan, 9 in Havti, 1 in Qreece, and 1 is Palestine. Tb number of missionaries aad other laborers employed it 111, of whom two are Missionary Bishops. The oommuniosuts number about 800. Nine tbooaand inhabitant of Ceylon, most of whom are Buddhists and Hindoos, nave sent a memorial to (jueen Victoria de-clariag that the payment ot annual subsidies out of the public revenues, to which all contribute, te a small bony of Christians, ia a violation of tbe principle laid down by the Koyal Proclamation of They say that reugws will be benefited by disestablishment. 1 1 The receipts of the Benevolent Department of the America Baptist Publication ciety, Philadelphia, for the year ending March 1.

1577. were 3S, 47 lea thss those of 1876. Tbe society maintains 11 missionaries at the West and South, wbo bars visited 6569 families, organised AF2 Hunday-. schools, and circulated Bibles aad Teit meets. The total issues of the year were eeoal to 31,116.686 18mo.

pages. i Prof. Walther, who has been regardod as the leader of the ultra High Church LutoersM in this country, makes th following utteraacs which would aeem to indicate a ebaoga et opinion it cannot be denied that there a small number bearing the aame ot Lutherans who really teach tbat there is no salvation side of tne visible. Lutheran Church yet all who hold such principles, although tbey set to be strict Lutherans, are anything but sack. Rer.

Joseph Warren, Preebyterisa missionary in India, died March 7, aged bA He was a native of Brunswick. and a graduate of Lane and Western Tbeologloel heau- naries. lie first went out to inaia in toon, ee- tutiliMi.inir m. miaaien nreaa at Allahabad and Jounding a high school for Eurepeaa and Enrar KiM a wr. ue miunisa 10 mis country in and went again to tne mission field in 137 and completed a grammar tn Urdu language.

I nn xtaooi star a ui uuuuuu ta says the Jews reject Christ a tbe Messina, because ot tbe lore distinctive tacts the inspired seer of Judah inseparably ca- nects with the advent of the Messiah. visJ eeaaa ion of war and the reigs of peace-, tbe prevalence ot a perfect concord opinion on all matter Manns upon tb worship of tba on and only Uod, pud tb gatuer-tng of tbe remnant of Judah aadol th tribes ot Israel not one of those; prophecies as yet beea fulfilled. .1 Tho Southern Baptists, like the Southern Methodist, form a distinct denomination, Th separation between tne Nor mora aad houthera Baptists occurred in 1844. and grew eat el tas anti-tavery agitation. The tfoutoern Baptist hold aa annual convention for; the dirocuos aueur ueuaivtcui -rnvmrn tuts long sine discontinued the eonraSOo sTstem.

aad bold instead anniversaries for ae of their denominational board. 1 ho noutb'rB convention will be held tm year in oce--leaoa, beginning May lu. I Joseph Cook, la a lectare at Ksw-Haren recently on the cause pf' skepticism New-England, traced tba line of caose aa effect as follows Oat of tb', half way eoe- 1 1 fLHMBSl llant akOopMH wj iw iviipTiipw.w earn a wide secularisation" pf thscburouea but of this eecalaxissuoa came woakoess of resistance against reach insdaluy; cut of eembtnatioa et th foregoing and other causes earn Unitarian lam out ef Uaitaxianisa earn Harvard University; out 01 Harvard laiver-sity came occasional skepticism in tne utsrsry eirele ef East Massachusatta. Tbe Women's Missionary (Society of Pnabyteriaa Chureh held ita( sventasaut meeting at Philadelphia lastl week. Tbe annual report States that ol the, Ho mt-aioaarrf-reported last var.

14 hav been taken. irom tb uat by death, by return to thia soouUT. and by other causes. Nine aew murwo -have aeea added, and five more are aoder lu aanuur Mal nave aeesi auoea, mm pointmeat to go oat duiing toe coming eniii end Autumn. Mr.

W. E. hot, Prtdeatf the eoetoty, nm Mr. owl alas ey. Mrs.

fJ. 1'. Veore- em i 1 aVIs-m m.f r4rk ImBNB LJ in 1 I i 'i I.