lectual and political position of that people, from whom, three hundred years ago, the blessed work of the reformation of the church proceeded. "In accordance with these convictions, the above-mentioned confidential conference must be governed by two leading principles. The one, the utmost possible unity of operation and labour in the Turkish empire, and especially in the Holy Land; the other, regard to the independent existence of the evangelical German church, and to the individuality of the German people. "THAT THE ENGLISH CHURCH ERECT A BISHOPRIC OF ITS OWN at Jerusalem, the King's Majesty regards as first condition and beginning of combined operations. The foundation appears already laid, as it were, by a special Providence. The first fruits of the mission in Jerusalem warrant the fairest hopes. Its suspension and present melancholy condition* seem to render an episcopal arrangement in that place advisable and of urgent necessity. Nothing but episcopal superintendence and decision on the spot can be of any use: the subjection of the mission to a see at Malta would not appear to his Majesty either a satisfactory or a truly apostolic arrangement. "The bishopric to be erected at Jerusalem would, therefore, connect itself with the foundation and buildings already begun on the Mount Zion, and comprehend all evangelical Christians willing to take part in it. The high-minded sentiments expressed very lately at a meeting of the friends of the church of England, at which the venerable Archbishop of Canterbury presided, appear to his Majesty a certain pledge, that the idea so truly Christian, and for the present times so necessary, of founding firm churches in mission countries, will in this matter also be realized in a manner worthy of the object. His Majesty is willing and disposed, when a bishopric of this kind is founded, to allow one or more clergy and missionaries of his subjects, for the sake of the Jewish converts who speak German, and for the benefit of the evangelical Christians of the German language, to join this episcopal arrangement. As a manifestation of his sentiments, his Majesty will readily allow such persons to obtain ordination from the English church. His Majesty especially desires to see this take place in Jerusalem itself. "With respect to the position of the privy counsellor of legation, his Majesty herewith empowers him, under the before-mentioned conditions, to confer confidentially with the heads of the English church. "With these instructions, the King's Envoy left Sans Souci on the 8th of June, 1841." LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF DOWN AND CONNOR AND TOGETHER WITH CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BISHOP AND THE LORD I. Circular Letter from the Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore to each of his Clergy. Dublin, March 24, 1845. REV. AND DEAR SIR,-I beg your attention to the letters, copies of which are added to this, especially to that of his Grace my Lord Primate, of which I need hardly say that I trust you will give it that honour which is due to his Grace's eminent dignity, even more than to his personal virtues. His Grace, you will perceive, professes that he cannot give an authoritative sentence on the matters which I have brought before him; but in his affectionate advice, * Alluding to the time when the British consul and others left Jerusalem in consequence of the war. until an authoritative and permanent remedy can be applied, I trust there will be found a temporary sedative of existing differences. I pray Almighty God to promote in all things the spiritual welfare of yourself and your people; and I remain, rev. and dear sir, your very faithful servant and brother in Christ, RD. DOWN AND CONNOR AND DROMORE. II. Copy of a Letter from the Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore, to his Grace the Lord Primate of Ireland. "Dublin, March 20, 1843. MY LORD PRIMATE,—I am honoured this day with your Grace's communication, relative to certain proceedings which have lately taken place in my diocese. However unreasonable, irregular, and censurable, such proceedings may have been in their promoters; however contumelious and injurious to the clergy who were the objects of them; and however offensive, as I believe, in God's sight, I shall abstain from troubling your grace with an analysis of their character, and will rather consider whether, under your Grace's auspices, I can be instrumental in applying a remedy to the existing evils. Your grace needs not, I trust, to be informed, that in endeavouring by God's help to discharge the functions of my episcopal office, I am actuated by the twofold principle of obedience to the law and deference to my ecclesiastical superior. In the former view I have "given my faithful diligence always so to minister the doctrine and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this church and realm hath received the same according to the commandments of God," as I am enjoined and pledged to do by the church's ordinal; and when " any parties have resorted to me, as the bishop of the diocese, for appeasing diversities, and for the resolution of doubts, con cerning the manner how to understand, do and execute the things contained in the Book of Common Prayer," I have "taken order by my discretion," as directed by one of the prefaces of that book, " for the quieting and appeasing of the same, so that the same order be not contrary to anything contained in that book." This, my Lord Primate, has been my rule, in obedience to the laws of the church and of the realm. And, as opportunities have offered, I have said, as not long ago to the Marquis of Downshire, and more recently to the churchwarden of Ballyculter, my letters to whom I annex, that if either of them would be so obliging as to point out to me any instance of violation or disregard of the law in their respective parishes, I, as the bishop of the diocese, and charged with the superintendence and regulation of divine ser vice therein, would endeavour to correct the error, or supply the defect, confident that in so doing I should have the clergyman's willing co-operation. No spirit, however, has been manifested in reply for upholding law and lawful authority; and thus no opportunity has been afforded me to interpose for good; whilst I have not chosen to incur the responsibility of submitting the church's" godly discipline" to lawless and self-willed lay dictation. But the preface above cited goes on to say :-" And if the bishop of the diocese be in doubt, then he may send for the resolution thereof to the archbishop." My Lord Primate, I have not felt myself in a condition to make use of this permission for seeking your grace's archiepiscopal judgment, for I have not been "in doubt" concerning the matters in question: such, for instance, as the appointed time and place for publicly ministering holy baptism in the church; the appointed time for singing during divine service; the use of the prayer for the church militant, "if there be no communion; the delivery of the bread and wine to each communicant, one by one;" the use of the prescript form of baptism, without deviating from the church's order and language. To have had recourse to your Grace upon such plain matters as these, whereon, in fact, I was not "in doubt," would have been an unbecoming appeal to your Grace's judg ment. Your Grace's communication, however, now received, appears to open a way for such an appeal. Sensible, therefore, of the fallibility of my own judgment, although not conscious of error, I embrace the opportunity of seeking from my metropolitan a resolution of existing differences. Deference to my ecclesiastical superior has been already specified as one member of my principle of official conduct. The most sincere and profound personal respect comes in aid of my sense of professional duty. So that, whatever may be your Grace's decision, I am desirous of complying with it, so far as shall be in accordance with my conviction of the paramount and indefeasible obligation of the law. These, my lord primate, are my sentiments; and these I presume to be the sentiments of those of my clergy who, notwithstanding the tyranny, slander, and persecution by which they have been of late assailed, have borne testimony to their ecclesiastical allegiance, by holding fast the ordination promises which were demanded of them by the ordaining bishop, "in the name of God and of his church touching the same." For my own part, my lord, I cannot of myself counsel them to change their course, for I believe, and they know me to believe it to be the right one; and if I once let go the rule of liturgical uniformity under episcopal guidance, I know no other rule to substitute for the criterion of clerical ministrations. But I am prepared to submit my judgment to your Grace's superior authority: and should your Grace approve of honouring me with a reply, such as I may be at liberty to circulate, together with this letter, among the clergy of my diocese, I shall be willing to become your Grace's instrument for making known your godly admonitions and injunctions. That a wholesome discipline, and peace withal, and prosperity, may, by God's blessing, be maintained in his church, under your Grace's benign and prudent primacy, is the earnest prayer of, my Lord Archbishop, your Grace's dutiful servant and suffragan, RD. DOWN AND CONNOR And Dromore. III. Copy of Letter from the Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore to the Marquis of Downshire, (alluded to in the preceding.) Dublin, March 12th, 1845. MY LORD MARQUIS,-Some time ago I was honoured by your lordship's acknowledgment of my Hora Liturgica. The domestic affliction with which it pleased God to visit my son about that time intervened so as to prevent me from immediately replying to your lordship. But as there was a particular sentiment in your lordship's letter, much at variance with my own judgment, I take the liberty of reverting to the matter, with a view to that particular topic. My lord, I allude to the expression of your lordship's wish for a change of some part of divine service as celebrated in the parish church of Hillsborough. If your lordship will be so obliging as to point out to my notice any particular in which the laws of the church or of the realm are deviated from, or not complied with, as bishop of the diocese, and as charged with the superintendence of the clergy, and with the regulation of the rites and ceremonies of the church, as prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer, I will endeavour to do my duty for correcting such deviation, and procuring such compliance. But if, on the other hand, the service be celebrated faithfully, as the laws of the church and the realm prescribe, I hold it my duty, and with God's help I will endeavour to maintain such celebration. My motives for this course are set forth in the little book which I had the honour of sending to your lordship. It would be superfluous, therefore, were I now to enter at large on a statement of them. Until I shall be convinced of the fallacy of the judgments there given, I trust in God that his grace will enable me to hold fast the conduct which ought naturally to result from those judgments. The principle upon which I act, your lordship will perceive, is the simple one of giving efficacy to the law in obedience to solemn stipulations, prepossessions of their people, consistently with their sense of their own ministerial obligations, I am confident that they have been heretofore both ready and desirous to make. Your grace's kind interposition will, I am sure, strengthen that desire in them; and on my part nothing shall be wanting in co-operation with your grace's paternal admonitions. I have the honour to remain, my lord primate, your grace's very faithful and obedient servant, RD. DOWN AND CONNOR AND DROMORE. LAW. BURIAL CERTIFICATES. FROM recent circumstances, it would be useful to call the attention of the clergy officiating at funerals to the statute of the 6th and 7th William IV. chap. 86, which imposes upon them a penalty for performing the rites of burial, without a certificate of the registry of death. The 27th section of the Act of Parliament in question, not being generally known, it is here given in its precise terms: “And be it enacted, that every registrar (who is called a registrar of births and deaths in the district for which he is appointed) immediately upon registering any death, or as soon thereafter as he shall be required so to do, shall, without fee or reward, deliver to the undertaker or other person having charge of the funeral, a certificate under his hand, according to the form of schedule, [E]* to this act annexed, that such death has been duly registered, and such certificate shall be delivered by such undertaker or other person to the minister or officiating person, who shall be required to bury or to perform any religious services for the burial of the dead body, and if any dead body shall be buried, for which no certificate shall have been delivered, the person who shall bury or perform any funeral or any religious service for the burial, shall forthwith give notice thereof to the registrar.” The section, however, provides "that the coroner, upon holding any inquest, may order the body to be buried, if he shall think fit, before registry of the death, and shall in such case give a certificate of his order in writing under his hand, according to the form of schedule [F]+ to the Act annexed, to such undertaker or other person having charge of the funeral, which shall be delivered as aforesaid." The section then concludes: "And every person who shall bury or perform any funeral or any religious service for the burial of any dead body for which no certificate shall have been duly made and delivered as aforesaid, either by the registrar, or coroner, and who shall not within seven days give notice thereof to the registrar, shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding ten pounds for every such offence." The 45th section directs that this penalty is to be recovered upon the information or complaint of any person, by summary proceedings *The form will be as follows; the blank spaces being filled in according to the facts: "I by the registrar of births and deaths, in the district of, in the county of do hereby certify, That the death of was duly registered by me on the 184. Witness my hand, this 184. (Signed -, Registrar.") day of day of †The form will be in this case, the blank spaces excepted, thus :— "I -, coroner for the county of do hereby order the burial of the Witness my hand this body now shown to the inquest jury as the body of day of ——, 184-. (Signed by the -- Coroner.") before magistrates. The object of the legislature in this measure is to provide the means of a complete register; clergymen, therefore, cannot be too particular in observing its requirements. Although additional and arduous duties may thereby be cast upon them, yet it should be remembered that it is for the general benefit of the community,-in insuring a faithful contemporaneous record of events, in the knowledge of which every member is, or may become, interested. The Act expressly provides that nothing in it is to affect the registration of burials as existing under the ancient system of the parish register, or the right of any officiating minister to receive the fees usually paid for the performance or registration of any burial. But notwithstanding this reservation, and it may be still most useful and proper to record the death in the parish register, it is now, however, necessary that all deaths which happen in England should be registered also according to the above Act of the 6th and 7th William, as amended by the 1st Victoria, chap. 22. CHURCH MATTERS. THE MAYNOOTH QUESTION. THE subject which is so widely agitating the public mind at present, like most other subjects that divide the public, is less understood than it is desirable it should be, by those who feel called on, and in many cases, probably, are really obliged, to make up their minds, and express a decided opinion. And truly when one reads the interminable columns of speeches which have been delivered during the debate in the House of Commons, it seems surprising how very little information they afford, and in several instances, how little the speakers themselves seem to possess. To understand the position in which the Maynooth question now presents itself to the country, it is necessary to know something of the circumstances under which that institution was originally established and endowed by the legislature of Ireland, and probably a short statement of its earlier history may not be unacceptable to the readers of the British Magazine in this country. Few persons will require to be informed, that, until the latter end of the last century, the Irish Roman Catholics were labouring under many disabilities, and in particular it was not lawful to found or endow a Popish college or school in Ireland. Until the breaking out of the French Revolution, the Irish Romanists had their secular clergy educated on the Continent, where considerable funds were supplied, and a large number of endowments were provided for their use. the universities of France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy, there were endowments for scholars, and for masters to instruct them. Foundations called burses, or exhibitions, had been erected in the different colleges, in some instances "by the liberality of the respective governments, in others by private munificence." More than two-thirds of these endowments were in the universities of France. In |