I cannot say that I am sanguine of any rapid spread of the Gospel on Tanna. If, in the good providence of God, I am permitted to live in peace among them for some years, and acquire their language, I have no doubt that, through the influence of native teachers from this island, we shall establish a firm hold upon that dark land, and that by-and-by, by the blessing of God upon our labours, it shall be leavened with the leaven of the Kingdom.

I find I have acquired quite the reputation of a doctor on Tanna. The first time I was there, Nauca, the heathen chief, was very sick, and expected soon to die. By a very simple operation I gave him relief, and I think he has shown more favour to us ever since. was something rather amusing to be asked if I could restore an old man's eye, that had been put out with a spear years ago.

It

I don't know whether you have heard of the murder of Rangè at Fatè. You will remember he was a Malay, employed in the sandalwood trade on Erromango, and was believed to be the principal instigator of the murder of the Gordons. On the breaking-up of the sandal-wood establishment there, he settled himself, along with ten Erromango wives, at Havanna Harbour, on Fatè. Shortly before the arrival of the "Dayspring" he was murdered by the natives, simply, so far as I have heard, because they wanted his property. We brought three of his wives and three children back to Erromango with us last trip. "The bloody and deceitful man shall not live half his days.”—I am, etc., THOMAS NEILSON, Jun.

Notes on Public Affairs.

THE PRIVY COUNCIL AND THE RITUALISTS.

THE Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has given judgment on the famous St Albans case. It consisted of the Archbishop of York, Lord Cairns, Sir W. Erle, and Sir J. Colville. The original charges brought against Mr Mackonochie, the incumbent of St Albans, were four:-1. The elevation of the cup and patten, and kneeling during the prayer of consecration. 2. The placing of lighted candles on the altar. 3. The use of incense. 4. The mixing of water with wine in the Communion. In the Court of Arches Sir R. Phillimore sustained the third and fourth charges, and admonished the defendant to refrain from the practices in future. Mr Martin, the prosecutor, appealed from his decision on the first and second charges to the highest ecclesiastical court of the Church of England; and, on the 23d of December, Lord Cairns pronounced the decision in the form of an authoritative deliverance, which Her Majesty has confirmed, and enjoined all persons whom it may concern to take notice thereof, and govern themselves accordingly. There are some aspects in which the judgment ought to be regarded with the most cordial satisfaction. When the case was in the Court of Arches, the Dean gave an address of vast erudition and legal acumen, but which was very disappointing as a judicial finding. The Privy Council took a simpler view of the case, kept closely to the ques

tion of law, and delivered a clear, concise, and emphatic judgment on the points at issue. They professed a desire to discover the meaning of the rubrics, and to declare it in perspicuous and unmistakable language. It also possesses the judicial virtues of freedom from prejudice, and stern impartiality in the interpretation of the law. Nor is it with its form only that we have reason to be satisfied. After the loud boast of the Ritualists, that both tradition and law were on their side, it is much to know that these Romanising ceremonies are utterly illegal, and as contrary to ecclesiastical rubrics as to sound Protestantism. In the inferior court, the judge declared the mixing of water with wine in the Communion, and the ceremonial employment of incense, to be opposed to the custom of the Church and the law of the land; but the use of lighted candles was declared to be a significant and beautiful symbol of Christ as the light of the world," and to be in perfect harmony with primitive usage. The Judicial Committee, however, declared that candles, for any other purpose than to give light, was prohibited by Queen Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, and not prescribed by the PrayerBook of Edward VI. The defendant was ordered not to use them either as ceremonies or as ornaments. With regard to the officiating clergyman kneeling or prostrating himself before the elements, it was declared that all such genuflexion was unlawful, as being inconsistent with the rubric, which is inflexible, and that he must stand during the prayer.

This decision has filled the minds of the Evangelical party with unspeakable pleasure, and they point with pride to this renewed affirmation of the constitutional status of the Church, by which an effectual check has been given to the insidious attempts of the Ritualists to destroy her Protestant character. We congratulate them upon their success. We rejoice that the ceremonial innovations have been arrested by the unbending fiat of law, and that the high-handed practices of the semi-Popish party have been articulately condemned. It is something to know that the candles designed to symbolise the presence of the "Light of the World" on His altarthrone, the burning of incense in His honour, the adoration of the priest before His mysterious presence, the elevation of the host before the worshipping people, are all distinctly illegal, and are prohibited in the Church of England.

But we regret that we cannot contemplate the judgment with unmingled gratification. So long as the Episcopal Church is established, it is quite right that she adhere to the terms of her compact with the State; and the Judicial Committee are most competent to determine the meaning of the statutes. But the Committee is not a proper ecclesiastical court. Had another bishop been the clerical representative instead of the Archbishop of York-had one or two of the laymen been imbued with strong tendencies in favour of a sensuous ritual-had the personal composition of the Committee been slightly modified,-the result might have been different. We know that recent decisions of the Council have been most injurious to the truth of God, that the widest latitude has been granted to the

teaching of false doctrine, and that fundamental error has been legalised by the same tribunal. Men of scandalous lives have been the judges in determining the most solemn questions of doctrine and discipline, and the most conflicting opinions have been promulgated. Thus, while we are glad that the present decision is favourable to simplicity and purity of worship, and a heavy blow to a dangerous section of the Church, we cannot express any admiration of the way in which such grave questions are determined. Nor is this all. We fear that the expectations of happy results are over-estimated. The party condemned by the Privy Council are becoming bold and defiant. They have had large and enthusiastic meetings, in which a determination to continue the practices has been expressed. They have spoken of the judgment in terms of severe contempt. Many of them have declared in favour of secession, in order that they might enjoy the blessings of perfect freedom and spiritual independence. They have attacked the union of Church and State with arguments drawn from Scripture, from the nature of the Church as a spiritual society, from the sole headship of Christ, and from the rights and privileges of the people. It is curious, indeed, to hear such arguments urged ably, and with great apparent earnestness, by the devotees of superstition. It need excite no surprise if a movement originate in the Church herself for her entire separation from the State. Better far is it to cherish the idea of the Church as a Divine institution, invested with lofty privileges, and drawing her life and power from the Lord Jesus Christ, than to regard her as the creature of Parliament, and a mere department of the State, to be employed for political purposes. Were the choice between the judicial integrity of a legal tribunal, and the proud and passionate domination of a sacerdotal caste, we would adopt the former without hesitation; but we have an unconquerable aversion both to Erastian interference and to priestly assumption, believing both to be adverse to the interests of truth and the spirituality of the Church.

The disestablishment of the English Church, if accomplished with the intelligence and solemnity required by so great a measure, would be the best solution of the present complication. The Evangelical party would be delivered from a false position. Their doctrinal soundness, their love for souls, their desire for the purity of discipline, their practical activity, and their missionary zeal, would have a wider and freer scope, and their relations to other Churches would be more brotherly. Those who have no Gospel to preach would be compelled to retire from their places, and allow them to be occupied by faithful men. The Ritualists would no longer have the advantage of State support in their pertinacious attempts to overthrow the Reformation.

But many of our readers will ask, Why all this costly litigation, this bitter controversy, this endless discussion? Is nothing more involved in the dispute than the lighting of candles, and the bowing of the knee? If so, why do the offenders not cease at once from such childish conceits, and behave like reasonable men? Because

these ceremonies are symbolical of doctrine. Were it only a question of dress, of external rites, and of bodily movement, their absurdities might be summarily suppressed by law, or passed by with contempt. But the men who practise them know what they are doing, and attach a value to them only because they express doctrinal significations. "A gorgeous service," they argue, "ought to mean something," It does mean something. It means that the Holy Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ's body and blood-"the body and blood of Christ under the form of bread and wine. The body and blood of Christ are objectively given by the priest, objectively taken by every communicant. This Presence is the Presence of the Word Incarnate, conferred by the Word of Christ as spoken by the priest. The elements after consecration are not what nature formed, but become the life-giving body and blood of Christ." Such is the doctrine of the Real Objective Presence, taught in the Protestant Church of England by 3000 or 4000 of her clergy, who affirm that the recent deliverance will only make them preach it more fully and earnestly, and that it is for the sake of this doctrine that they have any desire for a splendid ceremonial. "The loss of outward expression only drives pious souls the more inward." The question then arises, Will the Privy Council deal with the doctrines, and with the sacerdotal and sacramental theories, which lie at the root of all these fantastic rites, without which they would be simply ridiculous and contemptible? If not, then the evil remains, and will work the more insidiously and dangerously, in proportion as a false confidence is engendered by success in touching its surface. And if a stop be put to the symbolical use of candles, and the waving of a thurible, it is not an extravagant demand to require that the Privy Council shall prevent ministers from denying essential doctrines of the Gospel, and from assailing the integrity of Scripture itself. We have as little sympathy with Rationalistic infidelity as with Romish superstition.

THE COURT OF DEATH.

A FABLE.

VERSIFIED BY REV. JOHN INGLIS.

(From the "League Journal," Dec. 19, 1868.)

ONCE on a time, as sages tell the story,
Grim Death resolved to raise his fame and glory,
His throne establish-merit high reward,
And show to faithful service just regard.
A royal mandate forth he sent, to call
The dire Diseases to his gloomy hall;
That from his servants one he might select
To act as premier, and the court direct.

The ghastly train, prompt at his summons, meet,
And bow obsequious at their sovereign's feet;
Ambitious of distinction and of fame,

Each for the office plead some powerful claim:

F

First, Fever all his eloquence employed,
And loudly urged the numbers he destroyed;
By shaking every limb, cold Palsy next
Advanced a specious and a fair pretext;
Gout hobbled up, then out he strove to point
His mighty power in racking every joint;
That his pretensions might attract their eyes,
Dropsy displayed his swelled, unwieldy size;
An argument though silent, yet not weak,
Was Asthma's inability to speak;

Their racking pains both Stone and Colic plead; Plague in destruction boasts his rapid speed. "I'm slow," Consumption modestly replied, "But that, I'm sure, was never yet denied." Miasma pale, with poison-bearing breath, Presented Ague shivering, cold as death— "If me," said she, "you'll raise to place and power, Your throne is stable from this very hour." With haggard looks, and black, distorted face, Dread Cholera then claimed the foremost place"Shall I stand here," he said, "and plead in vain The thousands and the millions I have slain?"

While these contentions order all confound,
The conclave's startled by a different sound;
Enchanting music and the merry dance,
The noise of feasting and loud mirth advance.
With flushed and jovial mien, a lady fair
Steps boldly in with a commanding air,
On one side followed her, with pipes and pots,
A numerous band of publicans and sots:
On the other side, in garments fine arrayed,
A troop of youths and damsels are displayed;
Who, while the sweet-toned music softly floats,
Lead on the dance to its exciting notes:
The wine cup circles through the heedless throng,
And all is gladness, glee, and joyful song.
INTEMPERANCE was her name: she waved her hand,
And thus addressed the pale and ghastly band :—
"Give way, pretenders false, you sickly crowd,
Of your pretensions cease to talk so loud;
With me in Death's employment who can vie,
Or boast achievements loftier than I?

I am your parent, yea, the truth believe,
From me your very being you receive;

To shorten human life, 'bout which you strive,

This power you chiefly all from me derive;

This sparkling glass that draws the thoughtless eye,

See thousands drink, then dance, and droop, and dieWho else but me should next our sovereign sit?

For this important office who's so fit?"

The monarch bowed, a smile lit up his face;
At his right hand the lady took her place,
And from that hour the wily, bouncing dame,
His favourite, and prime minister became.