that the Evangelists differ even upon the inscription on the cross and the visits to the sepulchre; to us they present no difficulties whatever. We should be sorry it were otherwise. If they agreed verbatim, we should have in fact only one history of the crucifixion. We have now four, all equally inspired, and we rejoice in their consentient testimony. The imperfection of manuscripts, and consequent various readings, have nothing to do with the great question of inspiration, which they serve only to perplex. They should always be considered apart.

The Notes are those which have already appeared in Dr. Alford's Greek Testament, and are, as we said above, of great value; though in saying this, it must be again understood that we do not commit ourselves to an equal approbation of all and everything they contain. But their spirit is loving, catholic, and kind. We give one instance of what we mean; it is the note on Luke viii. 45: And Jesus said, Who touched me ?"

"We are not to imagine that our Lord was ignorant of the woman, or any of the circumstances. The question is asked to draw out what followed. See, on the part of Jesus Himself, an undeniable instance of this, in ch. xxiv. 19, and note there. The healing took place by His will, and owing to His recognition of her faith; see similar questions Gen. iii. 9, and 2 Kings v. 25. Peter and they that were with him. A detail contained only here. On the latter part of this verse many instructive remarks have been made in sermons-see Trench, Mir., p. 192, note (ed. 2) to the effect that many press round Christ, but few touch Him, only the faithful. Thus Augustine, Even thus it is now with His body, i.e. His Church. She is touched by the faith of few, though crowded by the mob of the many.' And Chrysostom, The believer on the Saviour toucheth him, but the unbeliever throngeth and vexeth Him.'

"It is difficult to imagine how the miracle should be, as Dr. Wordsworth calls it, 'A solemn warning to all who crowd on Christ.' Or how such a forbidding to come to Him should be reconciled with Come unto me, all ye' &c. Rather should we say, seeing it was one of those that thus crowded on Him, who obtained grace from Him, that it is a blessed encouragement to us not only to crowd on Him, but even to touch Him: so to crowd on Him as never to be content till we have grasped if it be but His garment for ourselves; not to despise or discourage any of the least of those who make familiar addresses to Him in (so called) religious hymns, seeing that thus some of them may touch Him to the healing of their souls. I much fear, if my excellent friend had been keeping order among the multitude on the way to the house of Jairus, this poor woman would never have been allowed to get near to Jesus. But I hope and trust that he and I shall rejoice together one day in His presence amidst a greater crowd, whom no man can number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues."

PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

WE begin our summary with what, in fact, has been to us in England of most importance-the proceedings of our own Parliament. One of the latest, and not the least interesting, decisions of the House of Commons has been to vote the sum of a million and ahalf for the relief of Lancashire. It is to be expended in the cleansing and improvement of the great manufacturing towns, and the unemployed operatives are by this means to be furnished with employment. Their numbers diminish week by week, though not rapidly; Vol. 62.-No. 307.

4 C

many of both sexes have been assisted to emigrate, and some have found employment in manufactures of another kind. The import of cotton wool into Liverpool and other ports is increasing, and the cotton now comes from every part of the globe in which it can be cultivated, though chiefly from India. We may hope, then, that the worst is passed; not without severe sufferings, nor yet without what in the event may prove to be great national advantages. The woollen manufacture, especially for fabrics of the finer sort, has received a great impulse; so has the linen trade, and the business in mixed fabrics of wool and cotton. And it cannot be doubted that a nation is in a far safer and more healthy state, when the same amount of capital and industry is dispersed over several manufactures of different materials than when concentrated upon one. Had Ireland been fed as England was in 1847, from a variety of food, the potato famine would never have occurred; depending on a single product, Ireland perished. It has been so with Manchester and the cotton districts. Depending only upon cotton, the American quarrel threatened at one time to prove their ruin; a gracious Providence has saved them; and we have no doubt that lasting good to themselves and to the whole nation will be the ulterior consequence.

Matters ecclesiastical, and those of the gravest kind, have also occupied both Houses of Parliament. Lord Ebury again brought forward his motion for Liturgical reform, confining his attention simply to the Burial service. It was received with a degree of attention from the Upper House which it has never yet, in recent times, conceded to any motion of the kind. The Earl of Desart rose, it is true, "to protest against all discussion; for he thought the subject should have originated, not in their Lordships' House, where the great majority were laymen, but in an ecclesiastical assembly, who could best take cognizance of any grievance that was alleged to exist, and give every consideration to it." He therefore moved the adjournment of the motion till that day six months. A long debate followed; it was moderate, calm, and earnest; and it was marked by two features which show very strongly the temper of the Upper House. Lord Desart was met by almost every speaker with an express determination to maintain the right of the House to introduce, as well as to discuss all ecclesiastical questions, whatever they may be. Archdeacon Denison's claim, on behalf of the Convocation, to originate all such questions, and shape them for their Lordships' consideration, had evidently, though nothing was said of it, aroused a strong feeling of displeasure. But as to the motion itself, everything was in fact conceded when the Archbishop of Canterbury, following immediately after the Earl of Desart, admitted that, over a notoriously wicked man dying in sin, nothing would induce him to pronounce the words expressive of thanksgiving to Almighty God "for His great mercy in taking to Himself the soul of the departed," &c.; this His Grace said he had frequently told his clergy; and he added, "that he would rather risk all the penalties of the law than do so." Lord Ebury withdrew his motion "conditionally upon the bench of bishops undertaking at an early period, and if possible during the present session, to bring forward a measure upon the subject." To this the archbishop, on behalf of his right reverend brethren and himself, consented, but without pledging themselves to do so within the present session. The

altered tone of the House of Lords upon the whole subject, no less than that of the right reverend the prelates, will not have escaped the reader's attention.

Still more striking was the reception Mr. Charles Buxton met with in the House of Commons, on his motion introducing the three Resolutions which we printed in our May number, proposing to relax clerical subscription, and upon two out of three points to do away with it altogether. It is only within the last year or two that Mr. Buxton would have gained a hearing. The House of Commons would have been "counted out" as the easiest method of expressing its indifference; or, if a debate had followed, it would only have shown that our House of Commons was utterly disinclined to entertain ecclesiastical questions while they touched no point of expenditure or economy. But, in fact, the longest debate of the present session followed. The House sat patiently till two o'clock in the morning; and we only do our representatives justice when we say that, with scarcely an exception, the debate was conducted with a degree of candour and seriousness, and with a knowledge of the subject, greatly to their credit. Though warm, it was never intemperate; it was free from levity; and if Mr. Disraeli could for once have laid aside his favourite weapons, and another speaker of less note have forgone the opportunity of reproving the Premier for his choice of bishops, it would have been free from acrimony and sarcasm. Mr. Buxton withdrew

his motion, which certainly would not have been carried, for the House was not prepared to sweep away every barrier against doctrinal extravagance, and leave the church equally free to Romanizers on the one hand, and to Bishop Colenso's friends upon the other. Yet scarcely one of the speakers hesitated to avow his conviction, that the time was not far off when some concessions must be made. Mr. Walpole, on that night the most eloquent of Mr. Buxton's opponents, "maintaining as he did, that of all churches that ever were established, our own is the most tolerant in her principles, the most charitable in her instructions, and the most comprehensive in her love," yet expressed his willingness "to amend whatever proved defects may be found to exist." Surely there is matter here for grave consideration, when such sentiments are heard in Parliament from men of all parties, even the representatives of our ancient Universities.

In America new influences are at work, and it seems not improbable that the war may soon close; or that another alternative, the breaking up of the Northern States into two or more independent republics, will present itself. The war itself languishes. The few slight successes of the Federals scarcely now feed the last hopes of conquest so long and so fondly entertained at Washington, New York, and Boston. The armies cannot be recruited; the conscription cannot be enforced; the taxes cannot be levied; with gold at a premium of forty-five per cent.: the paper currency of the nation, always worthless beyond its own. borders, cannot long be sustained. There is a peace party which at length dares to denounce, even in New York, the misconduct of the government, and the injustice of the war, in terms precisely such as those which have been all along employed in England, only with a vast deal more acrimony. The largest public meeting ever held in New York, presided over by Mr. Fernando Wood, the late mayor of the city, bearded the government for its incapacity, and at present

the government has not ventured to resent the scorn with which it was treated. Then, the South has lost nothing of its confidence, while every day its hatred to the North is deepened; for it is the invaded country; all the blood that has been shed is spilt upon its soil-all the unutterable horrors of the war have fallen upon its citizens. The North, fighting chiefly with mer cenaries, has felt nothing, and the war party is insane enough to believe that it will suffer nothing from the war. Then it seems not improbable that the Emperor of France, released by his recent successes from further anxiety about his Mexican expedition, may now refuse to recognise the Southern blockade, and rather dare the hazards, such as they may be, of a war with the Northern States. In common with ourselves he suffers in his manufactures; and in proportion to the capital and the number of operatives employed, even more severely than we in England. But he is by no means so patient a sufferer; nor has he our motives to forbearance. He would again and again have recognised Southern independence, and it is well known that he would do so now, if England could only be persuaded to consent. But Vicksburg may be taken by assault, Hooker's shattered army may gain a victory, and either of these events would restore at once the courage of the Federal statesmen, and prolong the war indefinitely. For their own sakes, and for the sake of humanity, we earnestly hope that no such gleams of triumph await them. It is time this unnatural contest were ended; and the disruption, which must come at last, of North and South, would be, as the matter now stands, a cheap price for so vast a boon.

But Europe, too, has work enough in prospect. The horrible cruelty of Russia to the Poles excites universal indignation, and the three great Powers have repeated their protest, and transmitted it, within these last few days, to the Court of St. Petersburgh. The independence of Poland would be very grateful to France, and the tone of the Parisian newspapers has become clamorous and warlike. "War," said the elder Napoleon in his exile, "was always my necessity." We are afraid the present Emperor, who has taken his uncle for his model ever since he was elected President of the Republic, is of the same opinion; and if so, we may expect that either in Europe or America his fleet and army will find the employment for which they are impatient. The sword is one of "the four sore judgments" which the righteous Governor of the earth employs his executioners to wield on His behalf. We may deprecate its use, we may pray that he would "give peace in our time," but let it not be forgotten that, whenever the sword is drawn, it is by the permission of Him who sent his destroying angel to punish the sins even of the man after His own heart, and those of His own sinful people. Let us not be high-minded, but fear.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Many correspondents must tax their good nature, and be kind enough to accept of this general acknowledgment. We cannot notice one-tenth of the books and pamphlets we are expected to review. It is with real regret that we pass over many of them; but our space fails. We allude especially to the answers to the bishop of Natal, of which we have lately received a score at least, and many of them of great merit. On Liturgical reform, pro and con, we are inundated.

THE RELIGION AND MORALS OF PARIS.

I HAVE been for some little time resident at Paris, and some observations on the Religion and Morals of that great city, under the system of Imperialism, may not be uninteresting. The Empire has certainly done great things for Paris. The modern Cæsar Augustus has converted a city of brick into a city of marble. He has made the Seine flow through sculptured quays, he has arched over it splendid bridges, he has added to the splendours of the Louvre, he has given its best charms to the Champs Elysées, he has converted a wild thicket into the delightful Bois de Boulogne, he has thrown spacious boulevards through poor and dangerous neighbourhoods. He has made France the most powerful and the most dreaded of continental nations. It has been said that France could now enter upon a great war at half an hour's notice. The achievements in war have been very great. The achievements of peace have been greater still. All industrial pursuits are in the greatest vigour. The amount of capital employed, the extent of railways and public works undertaken, is enormous. The working classes were never so well-to-do and contented. Never, since France was France, has there been such an extent of national prosperity. If the kingdoms of this world and the glory thereof were sufficient to satisfy the aspirations of an immortal spirit, all might be well. But we must pass from the material to the moral aspects of Paris. I give my impressions simply for what they are worth. It appears to me that the contrast is a useful one. This unparalleled prosperity is accompanied by an abnegation of everything great and noble. The spiritual and moral life of the nation is at the lowest ebb. France, eloquent, learned, philosophic, enlightened France, is now bound and stifled. I do not enter into court scandals, but those respecting the emperor are so notorious and uni