assertion; but fear cannot annihilate facts, though it may refuse to see them. The fact remains; only let us be careful to state it correctly. In its broad aspect the fact is visible enough to any openeyed observer who can compare the preaching and religious books of thirty or forty years ago with the preaching and religious books which find most acceptance now. Assuming then, the fact of change in this respect to be admitted, let us try to find its elements. And here we are confronted at the outset with that which is the most marked intellectual feature of our time-the revival and prevalence of scepticism in matters of religion. We shall

scarcely overstate the fact if we say that the intellectual world is pervaded by an atmosphere of scepticism. But our students and preachers, and our best hearers, belong to this intellectual world. They, as readers and thinkers, cannot escape from its atmosphere; and they must be, to some extent, influenced by it.

Its immediate effect is that they do not so readily receive all that they read and hear as their fathers did. They stop more often to ask the reason why, and require a good reason before they can be satisfied. Another effect is that the lines of doctrinal demarcation, which used to stand out clear and distinct, are now scarcely recognised. Few educated men of the present day will answer to the name of either Calvinist or Arminian. It follows, as a consequence, that the old systems of theology are either wholly rejected or only partially received. Now, in all this there is some good, but also some evil. The spirit of scepticism is the bane of faith. But faith is the soul's organ for seeing and grasping spiritual things. In proportion as scepticism enters the mind, the sight and hold of such things become dim and feeble. Is there not reason to fear that this effect does actually exist among us? Evil in these and other forms has, I think, been wrought by the scepticism of our day; but good has also come out of it. Increased clearness and strength of conviction have, I hope, in not a few cases, been obtained. The man who has battled with the everlasting no,' and come off victor, has a far stronger hold of the truth than he could ever have had without the conflict. And this certainty of the truth, this clear and firin convic

tion that it is the truth, is one of the things most needed in preaching to the present generation. Multitudes who cannot go down to the depths themselves will yet believe if they see that you have examined the foundations, that you are satisfied of their stability, and that you are resting your whole soul upon them. Enlarged freedom in preaching, thinking, and talking on religious subjects is another good result. Ministers are not now required to be perpetually presenting certain forms of truth which were thought to be essen tial.

The secret police of orthodoxy has almost, if not quite, vanished from our congregations. The practical application of Christianity to our daily life may be set forth without necessarily being accompanied by a saving reference to the doctrine of justification by faith. Preachers and people are less afraid of good works than they used to be, though it is not so evident that they practise them more. Yet further; the prevalence of scepticism has demonstrated the need for competent knowledge and intellectual power in our pulpits. We want, indeed, Christian men, devout men, honest men; but they must also have brains-brains trained for use, furnished with knowledge, and capable of wielding that knowledge as an instrument of power."

These changes in the intellectual life of the churches is accompanied by changes equally marked in the social life of their members. "As our preaching has become broader, freer, and more secular, so it has been with our social and church life; and, as the lines of demarcation in doctrine have more or less vanished, so the old line of separation between the church and the world has become gradually more and more faint. The change, as thus broadly stated, may seem to be simply for the worse, but a closer examination will show that it is not altogether so. The worth of the line which separates the church from the world depends not so much upon its distinctness as upon its nature. Thirty or forty years ago, the church, not only of Independents, but of all who were accounted evangelical Christians, was marked off from the world chiefly by the prohibition of amusements. The man who followed the hounds in a red coat was concluded to be a child of the wicked one. The

gun and shooting-jacket were scarcely compatible with church membership, though occasionally tolerated. To look upon a horse-race was sin. To play at

cards or billiards was sin; and even chess and draughts were with difficulty saved from condemnation. The theatre and ball-room were absolutely proscribed; while dancing, under any circumstances, and the reading of plays, were looked upon by many godly people with grave displeasure. There are, per haps, not a few Christian people who still retain these views, but the prevailing tendency has been to change all this. The extent of the change is various in different localities, but, more or less, the movement in favour of relaxing these restraints has been universal." Objections against these indulgences may be advanced, and several are stated by the speaker. 66 Let us,' he continues, "give to these their due weight. But is there not something to be said on the other side? Let us suppose one of our churches in which these prohibitions were most rigidly maintained to be brought under the inspection of some outside visitor of adequate intelligence and high moral and religious culture. What aspect would such a church present to him? Would he not say, 'The morality of this people is inverted; their vision is distorted; small things appear to them great, and great things small. They sternly proscribe certain practices which are, at the worst, only doubtful in their moral character, while they tolerate others which are essentially and flagrantly evil. Card-playing, dancing, and other similar things are incompatible with their Christian fellowship; but uncharitableness, covetousness, untruthfulness, unforgiving resentment, and dishonesty, at least in trade, seem to nestle undisturbed beneath their very altars.' It would be wrong to say that these vices have ever been prevalent in our churches, but the charge is true that they have not generally been made the objects of ecclesiastical discipline or of social condemnation. It is time that the morality of our churches should be re-adjusted upon the basis of eternal right and wrong. The relaxation of the old restraints, the tendency to bring back the small things to their real dimensions, is, I think, one step in the right direction. It opens the

way for advance to a higher morality; only let us take heed that we do advance in that direction."

REMAINS OF MAN IN CALIFORNIA. -In the Transactions of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, vol. i. p. 2, Dr. J. W. Foster claims for the human skull discovered last season in the gold-drift of California a greater antiquity than that of any of the human remains which have hitherto come to light in the drift of Abbeville and Amiens, in the valley of the Somme, or in the loess of the Rhine. It was found in a shaft 150 feet deep, two miles from Angelas, in Calaveras Co., California, and is now in possession of the State geological survey. The shaft passes through five beds of lava and volcanic tufa, and four deposits of auriferous gravel. The upper bed of tufa was homogeneous, and without any crack through which a skull could have been introduced from above. The date of these gravels is referred to the Pliocene, i.e. the age before the volcanic eruptions took place which cover a great part of the state, an age preceding the mastodon, the elephant, and other pachyderms. Since the appearance of man, therefore, in that region, the physical features have undergone mighty changes. The volcanic peaks of the Sierra have been lifted up, and glaciers have descended into the valleys, freighted with gravels, and the great cañons themselves have been excavated in the solid rock. The Academy.

LONDON.-Cross Street.-The annual meeting of this society was held March 20th. The report of the committee enters somewhat minutely into the question of the financial position of the society. This, though not so flourishing as desirable, is apparently improving and the prospects of the society are hopeful. The income has been £372, and its expenditure £398. The society has lost since its annual meeting the services of the Rev. Mr. Hiller, who has passed into the spiritual world; and for the last eight months has enjoyed the pastoral labours of the Rev. Dr. Tafel. These services have been so successful as to encourage the society to renew and extend their engagement with Dr. Tafel. Among the institutions fostered in the society are their

"Sunday School," and "Junior Members' Mutual Improvement Meeting." Both seem to be usefully employed, though the numbers in attendance are not large. In the Sunday School the minister has an advanced class, which is studying the True Christian Religion. In the Junior Members' Society lectures and papers on religious, literary, and scientific subjects have been given by Revs. Messrs. Gorman, Barlow, Tafel, and Quant, and by several members of the Church in London. The society is looking forward to the Meeting of Conference which is to be this year held in their Church.

TRACT SOCIETY.-The annual meeting of this society was held in the Girls' Schoolroom, Peter Street, on the evening of May 9th. The Rev. J. Hyde was in the chair, and introduced the proceedings in a brief address. The report which was read by the Secretary showed an increase in the issues of the institution, and a promising state of the funds. Addresses were delivered during the evening by Mr. Mackereth, Mr. Hodgson, Revs. R. Storry, W. Woodman, and J. Boys, and by Messrs. Brotherton, Seddon, and E. J. Broadfield. In the course of these addresses several topics of present interest, suggested by the resolutions, were dwelt upon by the speakers. Mr. Mackereth pointed out, that while tracts had been often constructed on the principle of frightening men into religion, the purpose of the New Church Tract Society was to enlighten men's minds, and to lead them to a rational discernment of the truth. Mr. Storry took up the subject of the increased attention given to the Bible, and the great work of its revision at present occupying the attention of some of the leading scholars of the age. Evidences were given of the increased liberality of thought and unity of purpose which this work had produced among the several sections of the Christian Church. Its accomplishment must attract increased attention to the Word, but could not remove the difficulties which beset its merely literal interpretation. Passages would still appear apparently at variance with the moral attributes of the Supreme Being, and the Church would continue to need a law of interpretation to enable her to rightly understand the Word of God.

It is the mission of the New Church to supply this law, and the Tract Society is one of the agencies by which this is to be accomplished. Mr. Woodman followed, and dwelt upon the opening prospects of a more extended culture of the great body of the people under the new Education Act. A merely intellectual education would not, however, necessarily prepare the way for the religious advancement of the nation. This progress required moral culture as well as intellectual instruction. The progress of the New Church has been less rapid than its most sanguine friends were led to hope. All the

agencies of Divine Providence, however, are over us, and eternity before us, for the full realization of the aims and objects of the Church. Doubtless Divine Providence could open men's minds to a sight of the highest truths, but when in unsuitable states for their proper reception, they might only be inflated and injured by them. The great object of the New Church should be to do good to men, by promoting their regeneration. All, indeed, belong to the new dispensation who are in good, and by truths their good will be purified. Hitherto our agencies, like the ancient engines of war constructed to throw stones, had been too exclusively occupied in overthrowing error and in producing rational and intellectual arguments in support of the doctrines. But there are difficulties to be removed, and the path on which we must next enter will be that of exposi tion. We must endeavour to explain the difficulties of the letter of the Word, to harmonize its apparent contradictions, and to lead men to an enlightened knowledge of its teaching, and to a constant and diligent practice of its precepts. The proceedings throughout appeared to interest the friends assembled, and will doubtless encourage the committee to renewed labours in the great work in which they are engaged.

ADELAIDE. The Adelaide Society of the New Church intend erecting a new place of worship, the lease of the ground upon which their chapel in Carrington Street stands expiring in December 1871.

They have purchased a suitable piece of land for the purpose in Hanson

Street. A design has also been selected by the committee and adopted by the Society. The estimated cost of the building is £860. This will include the internal fittings, but not any vestry, shed, or fencing. The dimensions are 41 by 30 ft. and it is calculated to seat 170 hearers.

The committee expect that the sum available from the accumulated Building Fund will amount to about £500 at the end of 1871. They are very anxious, however, to complete the building without involving the Society in debt, while they would regret very much to be obliged to substitute an inferior design. They believe the friends of the Church will unite in "doing what they can" towards the erection of the building, but it is very desirable that the committee should know, without delay, at least approximately, the additional amount upon which they may depend.

They therefore respectfully invite the co-operation of their brethren, and will esteem it a favour to be informed of any supplementary aid which may be rendered to the Building Fund. The secretary is Mr. F. W. Botting.

DEPTFORD.-On the afternoon of Wednesday the 26th April, the foundation or memorial stone was laid of a new place of worship in Warwick Street, Douglas Street, Deptford. The building about to be erected will accommodate upwards of 200 persons, and will cost, when completed, about £900. It is of a neat design of Byzantine character; the dressings to the door and windows will be of Bath stone, the capitals carved, and the remainder of the front is to be executed in Suffolk white and red bricks. The interior is designed as an arcade on each wall, the arches being supported by pilasters with moulded and enriched capitals. The roof timbers will be to sight, and all the woodwork will be stained and varnished. The plan of the building is a parallelogram with chancel raised two steps above the floor level. The architect is Mr. Edward C. Gosling of the Woodlands, Old Charlton. At four o'clock on the day above-named, a considerable number of the members and friends of the Society assembled on the site. A hymn having been sung, Mr. J. Rhodes, the leader of the So

ciety, offered up the Lord's Prayer, after which Richard Gunton, Esq., the treasurer of the New Church Conference, laid the stone in due form, using for the occasion a handsome silver trowel lent by Alfred Braby, Esq., secretary of the Camberwell Society. Mr. Gunton then addressed the spectators on the meaning of the ceremony, and the nature of the doctrines to be preached in the Church. The stone bears the following inscription:-"New Jerusalem Church, This memorial stone was laid by Richard Gunton, Esq., treasurer of the New Church Conference, &c., 26th April 1871; Edward C. Gosling, architect; Perry Brothers, builders.' After the ceremony tea was provided in the Alliance Temperance Hall, Union Street, of which about 120 persons partook. Upon the tables being removed, Mr. Rhodes took the chair at seven o'clock. A hymn having been sung and prayer offered by the Rev. Dr. Bayley, Mr. Rhodes thanked the friends for their attendance and gave several interesting particulars in connection with the Building Fund. The meeting was then addressed by Rev. T. Chalklen, Messrs. Braby, Austin, Rev. Dr. Tafel, Mr. R. Gunton, Rev. Dr. Bayley, and Mr. Ramage. The Church is to be consecrated on Wednesday, August 9, during the session of the New Church Conference in London, when Rev. J. Hyde, president of Conference, is expected to preach.

HULL.-On Sunday 16th April, the Anniversary Services of this Society was held, when two appropriate sermons were preached by the Rev. W. Ray of Newcastle.

On Monday, 17th April, the annual tea-meeting was held, and after tea the public meeting which was presided over by Mr. Best, the leader of the Society. Addresses were delivered by Rev. W. Ray and other friends during the evening, and several pieces of music were also sung.

On Tuesday evening, 18th April, Mr. Ray delivered a lecture on "HeavenWho are its Inhabitants, and what the Nature of their Employment?" The lecturer stated that to understand the subject it was necessary to begin at the beginning and take a glance at the order of creation from the Creator; then gave therefore an outline of crea

tion, first in its relation to spiritual things; the sun of the spiritual world, whence were spiritual spheres; spiritual atmospheres, and a spiritual world. The lecturer next took a glance at things natural: the natural sun, natural atmospheres, a natural earth, and thus a natural world. Next he considered the object or end in view in the mind of the Creator in the creation of these worlds. This end was shown to be that a human race might be born on earth, and from the human race a heaven of angels formed. Angels therefore began their life in this world, and our great business here is to reject the evil and be prepared for angelic homes. Both the Sunday's services and the lectures were well attended, notwithstanding the very unfavourable weather which on the Tuesday evening was sufficient to deter any one not greatly interested in the subject from venturing out of doors. Mr. Ray's lectures have invariably proved attractive to the Hull public to whom he is tolerably well known, having made several visits to the Society since its commencement. We have reason to believe that in several instances a favourable impression has been made, by the convincing manner in which he commended the principles of the New Church to the audience. After the lecture a hearty vote of thanks was given to Mr. Ray for his able lecture, and to the National Missionary Institute to which the Society was indebted for his visit.

JERSEY.-To be up and doing is as necessary for the progress of the Church as it is for the advancement of our worldly affairs. Acting on this principle, the Jersey Missionary Society resolved to secure Mr. C. H. Wilkins' services to preach and lecture in St. Heliers during the temporary absence of Mr. Moss on a visit to his former Society at Nottingham. Most amply have they been repaid. Mr. Wilkins came amongst us almost an utter stranger; he left, carrying with him the esteem and gratitude of all for the powerful influence he exerted in promoting brotherly love and affection in the Society. We all believe Mr. Wilkins to be a born preacher and a great acquisition to the Church. The first sermon was preached on Good Friday; the attendance was very good, consider

ing that that festival is looked upon by very many in the light of a holiday to be devoted wholly to recreation. Constantly increasing numbers, amongst whom were many strangers, showed that Mr. Wilkins' ministrations were more and more appreciated. His power of illustration and the spirit of earnestness which breathed in all his remarks, were especially admired. At the close of his last sermon, a purse with six sovereigns was presented to him, in the presence of the congregation, as a slight token of the esteem which he had acquired among the Jersey friends.

NOTTINGHAM.—The Society in this town has been favoured with a visit from and the spiritual ministration of Mr. Thomas Moss, B.A., of Jersey. On Good Friday Mr. Moss preached in the church on the assuring declaration of our Lord, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." The Easter services were celebrated as the "Anniversary" of the Society, and the attendance was both numerous and attentive. Many strangers were present. The subject on Sunday morning, 9th April, was-"Under what form should we worship God?" and in the evening "On the Doctrine of an Intermediate state of Souls." Both subjects were handled in Mr. Moss' usual masterly style. A social tea-meeting was held in the school-room on Monday, when about eighty persons_sat down to an excellent repast. The evening was diversified by singing, music, and an address from Mr. Moss, in the course of which he earnestly exhorted the friends to renewed efforts to build up the Church within themselves, and also as an external organization. On the Tuesday Mr. Moss delivered a lecture in the Exchange Hall (granted by the Mayor) on "Symbolism, or Material types of the Spiritual,” and although the evening was very unfavourable the attendance was tolerably good, and the way in which the lecturer treated his subject throughout was most joyfully received by an audience composed chiefly of strangers. local newspapers noticed the lecture, and the Guardian gave a very favourable account, incorporating the chief points of the lecture in its report with pleasing explanations and examples of the same. On the following Sunday,

The