instrument is considered by the judges of the neighbourhood to do credit to the builder. The opening services were celebrated on Sunday, December 20th, 1863, when three useful sermons were preached; in the morning by the Rev. John Schofield, minister of the Circuit, and afternoon and evening by the Rev. W. Reed, of London. The collections amounted to the liberal sum of £53. The Tea Meeting on Monday evening, in the school-room and Chapel, was attended by five hundred persons. The Public Meeting was presided over by the Rev. J. Schofield, and interesting addresses given by the Revs. R. Kenney, G. Kettle, G. Holbrey, H. Thomson, and Joseph. The attraction, however, was centered in the music; and the programme (an excellent one) including the "Hallelujah" Chorus, was given with considerable effect. Mr. Walter Hood, of Lichfield, presided at the organ. The following particulars will be interesting to our musical readers: GREAT ORGAN CC TO F. finances proved to be in a healthy state. The Rev. John Schofield was unanimously invited to remain a third year, which invitation he cordially accepted. T. B. L. EXETER CIRCUIT. ON Monday, December 27th, the friends here, with somewhat more than their wonted enterprise, celebrated their third Annual Christmas Tree Festivity. The spacious school-room was gaily decorated with evergreens, banners and mottoes for the occasion, and a goodly set of articles, classic and rare, useful and ornamental, graced the tree and the stalls. Cornwall, London, North America, and even Barbadoes, furnished their quota to our miscellaneous stock in trade. The ladies of the congregation were this year specially generous in their kind benefactions; hence the imposing appearance of the room when its doors were opened at two o'clock. The tree, with its uncounted "manner of fruits," occupied the centre of the room, Misses Avent and Loram acting as the sales' women of its produce. Misses Trehane, Hawkins, Wood, Wilmetts, Marwood, Courtney, and Leat presided at the fancy stalls; the confectionery and fruit department had the oversight of Miss Trehane and Mrs. Maud; and the many customers at the refreshment table were well cared for by Miss Hawkins, Mrs. Lawes, and Mrs. Courtney. A "Post Office," under the management of Messrs. Loram, Knapman, and Trehane, commanded large and lucrative attention, and by the pleasantries of its correspondence, added much to the enjoy ment of the day. During the evening many choice pieces of music were given and with excellent effect. From an early hour we were patronised with numerous visitors, and frequently the room was crowded. The fair stall-keepers were assiduous in their attentions, and succeeded in doing a brisk trade. At the winding up the Secretary announced the result as being £50, or £17 over that of last year. We hold this miniature bazaar for the benefit of the Circuit Funds, which, besides the kindly feeling it excited, enables us to cicar off our little liabili ties, and this year leaves a good balance with which to begin the year. Brief General Survey. IN New Zealand fighting, on a large scale, though expected, had not begun when the last advices left the Colony; we hope that the Maoris, ere this, have seen the hopelessness of their cause, and laid down their arms. Should they, unhappily, persist in rebellion, they will have to pay a fearful penalty. In China, on December 5th, Major Gorden assaulted and took Soochow from the Teapings. Captain Osborne's Chinese fleet, intended to aid the Imperial cause, has been disbanded, in consequence of the Pekin Government refusing to ratify the terms which had been previously agreed upon. We are not sorry at this result; the less Englishmen have to do with the internal affairs of China the better. The Popish Propaganda is expending much money and labour for the conversion of the Celestial Empire. There is a large number of priests and catechists in various provinces, superintended by twenty-one bishops. Bishop Navarro reports, that in one district of the Province of Pekin, "nearly 15,000 infidels have been converted to the faith." These conversions, like those effected by the Jesuits in former times, are probably not of much value; but they indicate a zeal on the part of the servants of "The man of Sin," which should excite Protestants to more ardent efforts for the conversion of the Chinese. We expect that, ere long, the United Methodist Free Churches will have their first missionary in China; may he speedily be succeeded by " a band of men," constrained by the love of Christ, to abandon home and labour to turn its teeming millions from the worship of idols to that of the living and true God. Dr. Krapf, writing from Kornthall, says: "I have received the astounding news that in the vicinity of Matamuca, on the north-western frontier of Abyssinia, where the missionaries of the Pilgrim Missionary Society at Chrischona, near Basle, have taken up a Station, natives have been discovered who came from Koordofan, Darfur, Beghermy, Wadai, Bornou, Haussa, and other nations, bordering on the coast of Sierra Leone. They came in numbers of 11,000 aunually, and went as Mohammedan pilgrims to Mecca, but half of them remained and settled down on the banks of the fine river Atbara, which runs into the Nile. They preferred the security and peace existing on the Egyptian territory to the des potism and anarchy of their respective homes; and now, by their instrumentality, the missionaries have an oppor tunity of conveying Bibles and catechists to the very centre of Western Africa. Who would have thought of this wonderful opening previously? God's dealings are for a time very mysterious, but they turn out most blissful and clear. He overrules the pilgrimage, made to honour a false prophet in Arabia, for the spread of the everlasting Gospel." As we expected soon would be the case, Dr. Krapf-according to Evangelical Christendom-is contemplating another journey to Africa, which appears to have for him an irresistible fascination. He proposes to visit Kaffa, Susa, and Cambat, in search of the Christian remnants supposed to exist in these countries. The appointment of Sir John Lawrence to succeed the lamented Earl Elgin, as Her Majesty's Viceroy in India, is an auspicious event. In addition to his administrative talents, so splendidly exhibited at the crisis of the Sepoy rebellion, and knowledge of Indian affairs, he is known to be a warm supporter of Christian missions. He has well-earned his honours; may he long live to enjoy them, and, at last, find a grave in his father-land. The decay of Hindooism in India is a fact confirmed by so many witnesses that it cannot reasonably be doubted. The Calcutta Corresponding Secretary of the Church Missionary Society states, "Hindooism is dying, yea, is wellnigh dead, as respects the hold which it has upon the minds of the people. It is no longer the battle-ground. During the whole of this tour, I have scarcely met with a man who stood forth as its champion. Many and vari ous are the influences which operate to produce this result; but the result is certain. A strong feeling, too, prevails, that Christianity must and will be the religion of India. Further, Christianity is to a great extent commending itself to the convictions of the people as a decidedly good thing; the character of Jesus is becoming more understood, and, in consequence, more admired. What is very important, also, the people can now draw the distinction between the precious and the vile; they rarely charge upon Christianity the inconsistencies of its professors; they can comprehend the difference between a Christian in name and a Christian in heart." These and similar facts, of which, from time to time, we hear, are encouraging, and loudly call for a vast increase in the number of Christian agencies in India. Madagascar advices are meagre, and authentic intelligence is eagerly looked for. The trial of Bishop Colenso, for false and erroneous teaching, began in St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, on the 17th of November last, before "the Metropolitan Bishop of Cape Town, and two Suffragans, the Bishop of Graham's Town, and the Bishop of the Orange Free State." He has since been declared guilty of the charges preferred, and sentence of deposition from his See has been pronounced against him. The heretical bishop protested, by his representative, Dr. Bleek, against the jurisdiction of the Court; this question, as well as the charges, will, probably, have to be decided by the Judical Committee of the Privy Council. In two or three years the case may be determined. What a beautiful system for delaying justice, and shielding false teachers, the discipline (?) of the Church established by law is thus seen to be! The Russian Government is still perplexed with the Polish difficulty. The insurgents hold out with wonderful tenacity; they are said to have gone into winter quarters, and it is expected that in the spring the insurrection will be renewed with increased vigour. The Federal troops have taken possession of Holstein, and war between Denmark and Germany is imminent. England has proposed a Conference for the adjustment of the dispute; to this Denmark agrees, but most of the petty German governments are op posed to the proposal. Should war break out on the Continent, it will probably extend over a great part of Europe. We hope and pray that peace may be preserved. In Italy, education and evangelization are proceeding rapidly. "In 1861, there were in Neapolitan provinces 1,746 boys' schools, 835 girls' schools, with 1,735 masters and 835 mistresses, and 34,198 boys and 29,160 girls in attendance. Now there are 2,367 boys' schools, 1,364 girls' schools, with 2,488 masters, and 1,479 mistresses, and 77,864 boys and 52,153 girls in attendance. In the same period the evening schools have increased from 48, with 1,002 scholars, to 677, with 14,341 scholars, and the 5 infantine asylums of two years ago, with 358 children, have grown into 29, with 2,765, children; thus showing an extraordinary progress in that part of the country where education was most of all neglected. I am also happy to mention, that a new journal has been begun in Brescia, for the promotion of the best plans of public instruction, and that the prefects of Italy, in their annual Reports, all enlarge on the want of education in their various districts, and the means being used to remedy this state of things." In many parts of Italy the supersti. tions of Popery are renounced for the truths of the Gospel. The French Jesuit Press abuses England for rejecting the Congress proposed by the French Emperor, with the view of stirring up a war against the great bulwark of Protestantism, from which Popery might derive advantages. We believe that the Emperor is too wise a man to jeopardise his dynasty by becoming the tool of the priests. At home the frost, during a considerable part of the past month, has been intense, and the mortality great. On Friday, January 8th, the Princess of Wales gave birth to a son. This event has been hailed with satisfaction, by the nation at large, as another pledge of an undisputed succession to the British throne. THE United Methodist Free Churches' MAGAZINE. MARCH, 1864. Popery Illustrated. THE SANTIAGO CONFLAGRATION. Or all those spurious forms of Christianity, which the ignorance and depravity of mankind have substituted for the beautiful and heaven-born original, Popery is the most outrageous. Pretending to an exclusive possession of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and perverting the sublime doctrines of the Gospel, so as to make them subservient to their claims, its priests inspire the minds of their votaries with superstitious awe, and exercise over their consciences a degrading and soul-destroying domination. In this country, indeed, Popery, exposed to the scrutiny of an intelligent and Protestant population, seldom appears in all her native deformity. The "Mother of abominations," that she may not, by her first appearance, excite the disgust of those whom she seeks to ensnare, conceals, as far as possible, her hideous features and cloven-feet; and to this fact is to be ascribed the delusion of those who assert that she is changed for the better, and, therefore, not now to be regarded with the loathing with which our forefathers were wont to look upon her. Events, however, occur, from time to time, which should convince the most incredulous, that Popery is essentially as bad as it ever was, and that if it appears in England, and other Protestant countries, in less objectionable guise than formerly, this does not proceed from any radical improvement in its character, but from the policy of its priests. Winking Madonnas in Italy, and Bibleburnings in Ireland, have led many of the dupes of a spurious charity to suspect that their hopes were ill-founded, and connected with the Santiago conflagration, the intelligence of which has filled the civilized world with dismay and horror, there are circumstances which point irresistibly to the same conclusion. Into the details of this horrible affair we need not minutely enter, as probably most of our readers have already become acquainted with them, through the daily and weekly newspapers; a brief L summary, extracted chiefly from the South American local press, will help to perpetuate its memory, and answer our present purpose. The scene of the awful catastrophe was the "Church of La Compania," in Santiago, the capital of Chili, one of the South American Republics, inhabited chiefly by a population in whose veins the blood of the Indian mingles with that of the Spaniard, and over whom Popery exercises an almost undisputed sway. The occasion of it was the celebration of the "Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary," a dogma which Pius IX., in the exercise of his assumed infallibility, declared, in 1854, to be an article of faith, and in honour of which he ordained special religious (?) exercises to be performed from November 8th to December 8th of each year. It was while attending the closing performances of this festival, that about 2,000 Chilians, mostly females, belonging to the higher classes, were overtaken by death in one of his most awful forms. Then in Santiago, instead of the sounds of revelry and supersti tious joy, "was there a voice heard, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning;" multitudes weeping for their lost ones, and refusing to be comforted because they were not. "One," says the Panama Star and Herald, of January 8th, "subject occupies the mind in this republic, the particulars of which make men's blood run cold, and the awful news of which will be received in every part of the world with the ut most horror. We do not remember to have heard of such calamity-so sickening, so awful. The country seems to be stricken, and no wonder, under this awful judgment of God. All political mat ers are suspended for the present. Men can think of nothing but this calamity; for in Santiago, the capital, scarce a family but mourns some of its number, having searched in vain for a vestige of their re mains, while whole families have entirely perished. Nearly 200 cartloads of burned corpses have been taken from the awful pile and carried to the cemetery, where fifty men were too few to dig a hole large enough to bury what the fire left of the richest and best families of Santiago. "Perhaps never in any country has a calamity so dire and unmitigated, so sudden and awful, ever happened. It is scarcely known how much influence the priests of the Church of Rome excercise amongst the people of these republics; but for some years past all reason seems to have been banished from the minds of chiefly the female part of the people of Santiago, and a return has gradually been making to a worse than pagan idolatry in their worship. Since 1851, the year of the invention at Rome of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the church of 'La Compania' has been the focus of devotion of a large number of the ladies of Santiago, and every year from 8th November to 8th December, was carried on a celebration in the most splendid style-a festival in which was orchestral music, singing, and an astonishing prodigality of incense, lights of every kind, &c. Every corner of the building, from the ground to the ceiling, and especially about the altar, was a sea of muslin and drapery, flooded with every variety of illu mination. But, not content with such display, the chief priest of the church, a man named Ugarte, would outstrip the Catholic world, and had invented a "Celestial Post-office,' by which direct communication by writing was obtained with the Virgin Mary, and in which offerings accompanying the letters were to be deposited. The same man recently got up a religious raffle for the benefit of the Virgin; but it was on the evening of the 8th of December that these celebrations were to reach their climax. "The church of La Compania, built in the end of the seventeenth century, had a spacious nave, but a roof of painted wood of very recent construction. The only door of easy access was the principal door, the small side doors opening only half, and |