and, though not a member, we believe, of the Evangelical Alliance, was permitted to address its meetings, held in London from the 20th of Aug. to the 30th of Sept. After staying a short time in England, to give information respecting his beloved country, and to solicit the prayers and co-operation of British christians in behalf of religious liberty and the progress of the gospel there, he returns to Copenhagen, with the intention of removing, when he is able, to Norway. He has ascertained that there really exists there a degree of liberty, which promises the free exercise of missionary labour. The languages are not very different; and as the American Seaman's Friend Society, which has hitherto supported him, will, it is hoped, continue to do so when he shall have arrived in Norway, he hopes to preach in a kingdom, under the same sovereign, though with laws differing from those of Sweden, the unsearchable riches of Christ.

During the meetings of the Evangelical Alliance, a paper by Mr. Nilsson, on " The Absence of Religious Liberty in Sweden," was read by Mr. Hinton. It stated that every one in Sweden (the Jews excepted) who dissents from the established Episcopal Lutheran Church, is subject to loss of property and banishment for life; that parents are obliged by law to have their infants baptized; that the youth are obliged to be confirmed, and every one to receive the Lord's-supper at least once in twelve months, in default of which he is incapable of holding any office, great or small, of giving evidence as a witness, of marrying, or of carrying on any business; that the clergy are obliged by law to see these statutes enforced, and are empowered to act as a police for that purpose. He who conducts any dissenting religious meeting, and he who opens his house for it, are subject, for the first offence, to a fine of about £5; every one who meets there, to a fine of about £1; for the second offence to a double fine, and in default of payment, to be imprisoned 28 days on bread and water; and for the third offence, to banishment. The case of the two Baptists who wished to be married, and were refused the marriage service, had been brought before the bishop and consistory at Skara, and the answer which had recently been received was, that however good their morals might be, their dissent from the Established Church was a sufficient reason for refusing the marriage service. In consequence of these laws, a minister of the gospel had recently been banished for life, though he and his friends, both in and out of the country, had done all they could in a legal manner to prevent it.

A resolution was presented to the meeting by the Council, which Dr. Steane said would be submitted by two clergymen of the Establishment, which he regarded as a most pleasing and almost unparalleled circumstance. It was as follows:-" That while the Conference condemns the many forms of injustice to which multitudes in Rome, Tuscany, Spain, and other Papal

countries, are now exposed on the grounds of religion, they would express their equal condemnation, mingled with still deeper feelings of shame and sorrow, for all acts of persecution which have been committed by Protestants themselves. They especially offer their deep and affectionate sympathy to their brother, the Rev. F. O. Nilsson, who is under sentence of banishment from Sweden, his native land, for his conscientious dissent from its National Church; and to all others in the north of Europe who may be suffering for conscience' sake. They would earnestly invoke all the children of God in those churches or states which may have been guilty of such wrong, by their love to Christ and obedience to his commands, as well as by their instincts of justice and humanity, to use their best efforts for the removal of such evils, so dishonourable to the Protestant cause, and so productive of scandal before the world, that they be not partakers of other men's sins. And they desire the Council to convey these expressions of their feelings to their foreign brethren in those churches or states, and, if they deem it wise, to the rulers also, in whatever way they shall judge best adapted to the furtherance of justice, truth, love, and unity among the true followers of the Lamb."

Mr. Nilsson expressed his gratitude for the sympathy which British christians had shewn, and his hope that it would continue. It was more than eleven years since he began to spread the knowledge of his beloved Saviour. He had traveled many hundred English miles through most parts of the south of Sweden, where traveling was not as it is in England, and you would often rather walk than ride over the rugged roads. But God had enabled him to lift up his feeble testimony in Sweden, and though delivered in the face of many obstacles, it had been blessed to the salvation of souls. He was now going to Norway, where a door was open for the preaching of the gospel; and he hoped that he should be followed by the prayers of the brethren.

The Rev. G. Scott, formerly a missionary in Sweden, said that there was a growing spirit of religious liberty there, and read a petition about to be presented by Swedes to their sovereign, praying "that all laws and statutes which limit and prohibit the free exercise of religion, may be, in the manner the constitution prescribes, abrogated," and suggesting "that the Norwegian law of the 16th of July, 1845, regarding religious liberty, as being, without doubt, in all respects, applicable to Sweden, may form the ground work for arranging the relations and duties of Dissenters and separatists from the State-church, not only to the existing State-church, but to the State itself, and in regard to marriage and the education of the young."

"SIDNEY SMITH AND THE BISHOPS."

The bishops having been favoured with an unusually large share of public attention of late, the Anti-State-Church Association

has very seasonably issued a brochure bearing the above title, and which contains a sketch of the dignitaries and subordinates of the Church of England, extracted from the writings of the Reverend, but most witty, Sydney Smith, accompanied by illustrative notes. Stung by the successful assaults of the episcopate on cathedral sinecurism, the irate canon gave his betters no quarter; but avenged his order by making, in his letters to the imaginary Archdeacon Singleton, a humiliating exposure of some of the weak points of the Church. We extract two or three of the more important, though not the most racy, passages:

A BISHOP'S TEMPTATIONS.-A good and honest bishop (I thank God there are many who deserve that character!) ought to suspect himself, and carefully to watch his own heart. He is all of a sudden elevated from being a tutor, dining at an early hour with his pupil, to be a spiritual lord; he is dressed in a magnificent dress, decorated with a title, flattered by chaplains, and surrounded by little people looking up for the things which he has to give away; and this often happens to a man who has had no opportunities of seeing the world, whose parents were in very humble life, and who has given up all his thoughts to the Frogs of Aristophanes, and the Targum of Onkelos. How is it possible that such a man should not lose his head! that he should not swell that he should not be guilty of a thousand follies, and worry and teaze to death (before he recovers his common sense) a hundred men as good, and as wise, and as able as himself!

EPISCOPAL NEPOTISM.-Can anything be more flagrantly unjust than that the patronage of cathedrals should be taken away and conferred on the bishops? I do not want to go into a long and tiresome history of episcopal nepotism; but it is notorious to all that the bishops confer their patronage upon their sons and sons-in-law, and all their relations; and it is really quite monstrous, in the face of the world, who see "this every day and every hour, to turn round upon deans and chapters, and say to them, "We are credibly informed, that there are instances in your chapters where preferment has not been given to the most learned men you can find, but to the sons and brothers of some of the prebendaries. These things must not be-we must take these benefices into our own keeping ;" and this is the language of men swarming themselves with sons and daughters, and who, in enumerating the advantages of their stations, have always spoken of the opportunities of providing for their families as the greatest and most important. It is, I admit, the duty of every man, and of every body, to present the best man that can be found to any living of which he is the patron; but if this duty has been neglected, it has been neglected by bishops quite as much as by chapters; and no man can open the Clerical Guide, and read two pages of it, without seeing that the bench of bishops are the last persons from whom any remedy for this evil is to be expected.

THE BISHOPS AND THE INFERIOR CLERGY. -If a clergyman lives in a situation which is destroying his constitution, he cannot exchange with a brother clergyman without the consent of the bishop; in whose hands, in such circumstances, his life and death are actually placed. If he wishes to cultivate a little land for his amusement or better support, he cannot do it without the license of the bishop. If he wishes to spend the last three or four months, with a declining wife or child, at some spot where better medical assistance can be procured, he cannot do so without permission of the bishop. If he is struck with palsy, or racked with stone, the bishop can confine him in the most remote village in England. In short, the power which the bishops at present possess over the clergy is so enormous, that none but a fool or a madman would think of compromising his future happiness, by giving the most remote cause of offence to his diocesan.

There are many bishops too generous, too humane, and too christian, to oppress a poor clergyman; but I have seen, I am sorry to say, many grievous instances of partiality, rudeness, and oppression. I have seen clergymen treated by bishops with a violence and contempt which the lowest servant in the bishop's establishment would not have endured for a single moment; and if there is a helpless, friendless, wretched being in the community, it is a poor clergyman in the country with a large family. If there is an object of compassion, he is If there is any occasion in life where a great man should lay aside his office, and put on those kind looks, and use those kind words which raise the humble from the dust, these are the occasions when those best parts of the christian character ought to be displayed. I would instance the unlimited power which a bishop possesses over a curate, as a very unfair degree of power for any man to possess.

one.

RYEFORD, HEREFORDSHIRE.

The Rev. Samuel Walker has resigned his pastorate in connection with Bethesda chapel, Trowbridge, Wilts, and has accepted a unanimous invitation from the Baptist church, at Ryeford, near Ross, Herefordshire, and commenced his labours there the first Lord's-day in August.

TROWBRIDGE, WILTS.

In consequence of the Rev. Saml. Walker, of Bethesda chapel, leaving Trowbridge for Ryeford, Herefordshire, a farewell teameeting was held in the school-room, on Tuesday, July 15th. The tables were liberally supplied by the members of the church and congregation, and a large party of friends sat down. After tea, the Rev. Thomas Griffin took the chair; and addresses were delivered by the Rev. Messrs. Newall of Bradford, Preece of Westbury, Mann and Barnes of Trowbridge. Each of the speakers bore testimony to the high esteem in which Mr. Walker is held by all classes in Trowbridge and its neighbourhood. Mr. Walker concluded in a short address.