chemical elements forming the animal are obtained from the vegetable, which, in its turn, is composed of those derived from the earth; while the elements of which the animal is composed return again to the soil: "Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return."

Mr. Halliwell next proceeds to establish the divine origin of the mission of Christ, by the testimony of independent authorities, whose veracity is not questioned by the professed enemies of the Gospel; and he purposely abstains from all reference to the Old or New Testament, even as corroborative evidence; thus making a more than reasonable concession to his opponents. These evidences are adduced in a simple, natural, and forcible manner, and present a pleasing contrast to the bombastic obscurity and unmeaning grandiloquence of those writers whom the late Bishop Coplestone used to term "the magic lantern school."

This little volume, then, contains a compendium of historical evidence, long since accepted, corroborating very many of the incidents related in the gospels,-evidence more than sufficient to convince any man who, calmly, and with an unbiassed mind, will attentively consider them.

Of Dr. Whateley's lecture we shall say but this; that the tutor is unpardonable who, lecturing on Paley, neglects to tell his pupils that the archbishop of Dublin has corrected Paley's grand errors, in language no less clear, and with illustrations scarcely less striking, than We have no room for extracts; and why make extracts from a pamphlet which may be had for one shilling?

his own.

RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR 1859.

THE year 1859 began amidst serious portents, and has not falsified the apprehensions amidst which it was ushered in. It seems to have inaugurated a new era. It has brought to a close, and finally disposed of, the arrangements of Europe as they existed since the treaties of 1814. It has introduced some fresh elements, and witnessed the beginning of fresh commotions. These are appeased for a time; but the most sanguine amongst us scarcely venture to hope that the calm will be of long duration.

Austria had for some time watched with undisguised vexation the conduct of France, and still more the progress of Sardinia, and her rapid advance to political power and free institutions. The occupation of Rome, and the power thus exercised over the pope by France, was a source of uneasiness; and the independent spirit of Sardinia since the Russian war, irritating. Such a neighbour could not but be prejudicial, unless she herself were disposed to change the character of her despotic government in her Italian dependencies. The emperor of France had been for some time suspected of fomenting a rupture; and there was, at least, no disguise in the encouragement he held out to Sardinia. On the very first day of the new year his intentions were evertly displayed in, as it has since appeared, a premeditated burst of

anger addressed to the Austrian ambassador in a crowded levée. Europe was at once paralysed: and, though he endeavoured to explain away his conduct, the result soon shewed that those who placed the most unfavourable construction on his words were the most accurate interpreters. The alliance with Sardinia was further cemented in a few weeks by the marriage of his cousin, prince Napoleon, with the daughter of Victor Emmanuel,-a heartless match, in which a simple girl was sacrificed to political expediency. Nearly at the same time, as if to counterbalance the ambition of the south of Europe, a son and heir was born to the princess royal of England, now the wife of prince Frederick William of Prussia; and England saw with satisfaction the union between the greatest protestant nation on the continent thus happily strengthened, and was well pleased to recognize in queen Victoria the mother, as is fondly hoped, of a long line of Prussian kings. Thus the coolness which had sprung up in consequence of the apathy of Prussia towards us during the Russian war, was finally removed, and the warmest cordiality restored.

Parliament assembled on the 3rd of February, and was opened by the Queen in person. Amongst other measures, a large sum was demanded for the reconstruction of the fleet; this was the expression of the minister; it was sharply criticised, but we have since had reason to acquiesce in its propriety. Whatever his motives, the French emperor had enormously increased his navy, and the introduction of steam had rendered our finest sailing ships comparatively useless. The introduction, too, of a new species of artillery, and of new methods of warfare, impose upon us the necessity of multiplying, in self defence, these terrible machines of havoc and destruction; and during the year vast sums have been expended in placing our navy once more in the commanding position which, having regard only to the world's peace, it ought always to occupy. Proposals for strengthening our military defences were cordially received. Rifle corps of volunteers were formed, and England, aroused from her long dream of security, began to put herself once more in a state of defence. It was felt by all parties that our attitude ought to be one not of menace, but of preparation for the worst. It did not become us, nor was it even safe, to lie exposed and unprepared in sight of a power which could raise from four to six hundred thousand soldiers at the shortest notice, and which already bristled with arms. Thus, while at peace, we are burdened with the expenses of war. England has in fact conducted many wars to a successful termination at a lighter cost than she now submits to simply to avoid the possibility of war. These were the only points, however, on which parliament was unanimous. It soon appeared that the administration of Lord Derby, though numerically stronger than either section of its opponents, was not a match for both of them combined; and that an opposition was forming of the various shades of Whigs and Liberals, which could at any time overpower the government. The opportunity soon appeared. When the ministerial reform bill was laid upon the table of the house of commons, Lord John Russell announced his intention of opposing it. He did so with success; the ministerial bill was rejected; and on the fourth of April the Premier announced that he had Her Majesty's permission to dissolve the parliament, and make the constitutional appeal

to the country. Thus, at a critical juncture, a session of parliament was lost. Scarcely any measure requiring full and calm deliberation, and really deserving the name of a national law, was passed; and all parties have now felt in turn, that whatever the advantages-and we are not disposed to depreciate them-of the reform measure of 1832, they are counterbalanced to some extent by the brief tenure and the uncertain hold of office, by which every administration in succession has been crippled, and at length destroyed. Foreign affairs, the finances of India, and an abortive reform bill, were the principal subjects of discussion during three months of invaluable time; and domestic questions of the highest importance were allowed to slumber, or introduced only to be postponed.

A congress of the great European powers was proposed early in the year; and England, heartily desirous to preserve the peace of Europe, promoted it to the utmost of her power. For a few weeks it appeared as if the storm would blow over, and France and Austria compose their differences. But the mysterious policy of Napoleon, or the obstinacy and distrust of Austria, or both of these united, frustrated the pacific scheme. The congress never met, and, in fact, before the parliament dispersed, war had actually begun. It was that war of principles of which Mr. Canning spoke, as the future inheritance of Europe, full thirty years ago. It was the letting loose of those two frightful elements of discord,-arbitrary power rendered more terrible from its alliance with popery on the one hand, and the love of liberty trammeled, and to some extent disgraced, by the presence, both of Romish superstition, and of a loose and careless infidelity on the other; the latter being the matured result of ignorance, and of that contempt and scorn which popery creates in resolute and daring, but unenlightened minds. At the end of April the Austrian army, erossing the Ticino in force, invaded Lombardy: their intention evidently was to march upon Turin, to fight a successful battle, gain possession of the Sardinian capital, and, if possible, put an end to the war before her French allies could arrive. But the councils of Austria are, to a proverb, dilatory and undecisive. Her measures were badly taken; and such as they were, a few days' heavy rain swelling the Po and its tributaries, utterly disconcerted them. French troops poured into Sardinia through the passes of the Alps, or were landed from Marseilles at Genoa; and within a few days the Austrians retired without striking a blow. They were overtaken by the French, defeated first upon the Po, and then in the greater battle of Magenta. The emperor of France had already taken the command in person; the emperor of Austria now hurried to the scene. The battle of Solferino was fought between the two emperors in person, and at least 150,000 on each side, on 24th June; and the Austrians were again beaten. On the 7th July an armistice was agreed upon, and on the 11th the treaty of Villafranca, to the astonishment of Europe, closed the war. A few lines suffice to retrace events which desolated provinces, filled countless homes with anguish, soaked the fields of Italy with human gore, hurried a hundred thousand souls into the presence of their Judge, and brought down an appalling load of guilt upon those, whoever they may be, who were the authors of this frightful crime, for we can call it by no better name.

When the new parliament met, at the end of April, it was evident that the dissolution had not added much real strength to the existing government. Upon a vote of want of confidence, they were outnumbered by a majority of thirteen. Lord Derby now retired, and Lord Palmerston was called upon to form a new administration. It stands upon a broader basis than any of those which have lately preceded it, including Lord John Russell and Mr. Gladstone, as well as Mr. Milner Gibson. A seat in the cabinet was offered to Mr. Cobden, which, however, he thought proper to decline. Time has been when such changes would have elicited the warmest passions in the breasts of Englishmen; but it is now generally felt, that whoever may be in power, the government of England will not reflect any strong peculiarity, either of the Whig or Tory of past times; and that the difference between the two great parties in the state is rather nominal than really important. The experience of every year confirms and extends the conviction in all classes, that the English constitution, the patchwork of ages though it be, requires no extensive change or renovation; but is still incomparably the best in practice the world has ever seen, the Jewish theocracy alone excepted. The late revolutions in France, if lost upon our neighbours, have been highly beneficial to ourselves. The example of America, now that her institutions have been tested for awhile, does not encourage the desire for a home republic. The wildest reformers never venture to hint at a democracy, or they conceal their meaning under a cloud of professions of regard for the English constitution. The events of the short session which followed the change of ministry were chiefly important as shadowing out the future. We shall again have a ministerial reform bill in the next session of parliament. The church rate will be again attacked. Lord Ebury is pledged to renew his motion for liturgical revision. National education will have to be reviewed; its ambitious excrescences lopped off; and something devised to meet the wants of those whom it has hitherto passed by with something of a contemptuous neglect, the real poor of England;those to whom 176 days in the year at school are just as impossible as an accurate acquaintance with Aldrich's logic, or the eleventh book of Euclid, but who may be taught much if we will only condescend to teach them in their own time and way, and "as they are able to bear it."

Our relationships abroad stand out in happy contrast with the unsettled state of continental Europe; and while we are called upon devoutly to acknowledge the gracious care and providence of an Almighty power, we think it would be ungrateful to pass over the firmness and moderation of our own governments, both the past and the present ones, in their conduct of foreign affairs. Some difficulties, which might have been serious, have occurred in consequence of the occupation of the rock or island of San Juan in the North Pacific by General Harney, a rash officer in the service of the United States; but the governments of both countries had confidence in each other, and the good understanding between them was never interrupted. May it ever be thus between Great Britain and the greatest of her offspring. A more serious danger threatens the great republic from the canker that gnaws her own vitals. A slave insurrection, headed by

two or three white men, was attempted at Harper's Ferry; it proved utterly abortive, and appears to have been ill planned and badly executed. Yet it narrowly failed in its first attempt at seizing on the town; and the alarm and consternation have not yet subsided. The execution of the leader for what thousands of his fellow citizens consider a meritorious action, or at least no crime, is a piece of illjudged severity. It elevates the victim to the rank of a hero and a martyr; and yet we venture to foretell that from Harper's Ferry the dawn of liberty to the negro will one day take its rise. All our own colonies regard the mother-country with warm affection; and without an exception, all of them, unless indeed the West Indies must be excluded from the list, are rapidly advancing in wealth, power, and civilization; the gospel, too, is winning its triumphs amongst them. Australia will soon provide herself with literary institutions of the highest class, and, no doubt, with a home-born clergy. The queen has been wisely advised to place the university of Sydney on the same footing with our own ancient universities; so that a Master of Arts from Australia will be recognised in England or elsewhere as if he were of the same degree educated at home. We hear, with still greater satisfaction, of a considerable increase in the number of the native Indian clergy. Indeed, the operations of our great evangelical Missionary societies have been marked with wonderful success; and great as was the income of the Church Missionary Society last year, there is an increase of about £5,000 up to the time at which we write.

The later months of the year have not been without their importance. The hasty treaty of Villafranca has been completed by the peace of Zurich; but the peace of Zurich leaves every point which it affects to set at rest, with the exception of the transfer of a part of Lombardy from Austria to Sardinia, more unsettled than before the war began. So another congress is to be called of all the great European powers, including Great Britain, and, it is said, the Pope, but not the de facto governments of Italy. Upon the results of such a congress it would be useless to speculate. No English minister will consent, however, to reimpose the exiled dukes by force of arms, or to bring back the pope to the Romagna. We cannot but regard it as a favorable circumstance, favorable to protestantism, and therefore to the peace of Europe that the Romish party in Ireland, hounded on by their priests, and even by some of their bishops, are at this moment uttering the language of sedition; greeting the name of the queen with a burst of savage yells; and promising their sovereign Lord the pope to come to his assistance against his rebellious subjects. that any one of them means to fire a shot in his behalf, much less to expose himself to the risk of one; only their hatred of protestantism, and with it of all liberty except that of playing the tyrant in their own persons, is thus expressed. It is a happy circumstance, we say, that the mask has fallen at the right moment. We are not likely to be terrified; and after such exhibitions, we are not likely to be cajoled. With such examples before our eyes, it is difficult to believe that Lord Palmerston or any other minister will seriously attempt, in defiance of public opinion, to place Irish paupers and pauper children in workhouses at the mercy of a Romish chaplain supported by protestant ratepayers.

Not