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Thirty-sixth Canon, to continue the use of the Old Form; until, being possessed of any benfice, the New Form shall be voluntarily adopted by them, together with a majority of their seat-holders; and, in the case of chapters and colleges, until it be so adopted, the heads and majorities of the ruling powers thereof.

"15. And that, finally, your Majesty's petitioners advance nothing affecting their assent and consent to the Liturgy as it is, but earnestly plead for improvements, of which it is obviously, urgently, and easily susceptible, as they would seek alterations for the better in the laws of the land, to which they bear allegiance; and that, commending both your Most Gracious Majesty and themselves to the mercy and goodness of God,

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Your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.” *

NEW CALEDONIA.

THE British Government, in addition to its serious occupations, is engaged in the task of planting the germ of a great empire on the western sides of the Rocky Mountains. In tracts formerly devoted to beasts of chase, and to a scanty population of Indians, who subsist by their capture, now new veins of gold have been discovered, which promise to vie in the richness of the yield with the most productive mines of Australia or California. Nothing is more remarkable than the part which gold plays in diffusing population over the earth's surface; and though the country be remote, and access to it extremely difficult, it is with no surprise we learn that, upon the first news of its discovery, multitudes were rushing from all parts of the world to share in the auriferous harvests. It is probable the Government would have been well content to postpone the trouble and expense of founding a new colony in these remote regions, but the discovery of the gold has left them no option if they would not see the country given up a prey to lawlessness and bloodshed. The policy adopted is sufficiently simple: as the first colonisers are for the most part a race of desperate men, and many of them not of our own lineage, it would be absurd to offer them, in the first instance, the boon of self-government, which would be sure to be turned into the law of the strongest. A despotism is therefore established for the next four years, in the hope that by that time the settlers may be so compressed and welded together into one homogeneous community that they will then be able to govern themselves. The most unpleasant part of the scheme is the expense it will entail upon the Imperial Government, without any hope of

*The Secretary of the Committee, from whom this petition emanates is the Rev. P. Gell, Duffield Bank, Derby.

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a return in kind. We must forthwith send a regiment, which we can ill spare, to this infant settlement, for a gover

nor without an armed force to back his orders would be worse than useless. On the other hand, there are many men who see bright visions in the far future arising from the settlement of this infant state. As may be supposed, from the poetical genius of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, he is among the most sanguine of these. But Mr. Roebuck, who is not usually given to exaggeration, beholds in this colony a chain of states of English origin, extending from Canada in the East to Vancouver's Island in the Pacific, which will form a counterpoise to the otherwise overwhelming strength of the great American Union.

CUBA AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.

THE maintenance of a squadron to put down African slavery has been attacked in the House of Commons by Mr. Hutt. This is an old hobby of the honourable member for Gateshead, though of late years he has rather kept it in the background. He informed us, on this occasion, that since the question was last discussed there had been a great revulsion of feeling throughout the country and in the House. The result did not bear out his assertion. Only twenty-four members, in a House of about 250, could be found to support his opinion, that the way to put down the slave-trade was to leave it alone. We need hardly go over the arguments adduced on either side, which are sufficiently familiar to our readers; but there were some facts stated in the course of the discussion, which it may be of some interest to bring into prominent notice. In the first place, it is encouraging to find that all the markets which a few years ago were open for the reception of slaves, are now closed, with the single exception of Cuba. And though the traffic is unfortunately brisk on that island, yet it is not without significance to remark that, a few years ago, the importation of human flesh was not more than 15,000. It has since doubled; but the increase has been caused solely because the exigencies of the Russian war compelled us to relax our vigilance and to reduce our cruisers; so that if the sinister steps recently taken under the authority of the Emperor of the French do not lead to a revival of the trade under his auspices, it does seem as if every year the trade were getting into narrower limits, and more within our ability to cope with. Then, with regard to the progress of lawful industry, it appears that the

natives on that portion of the coast from which the slayer has been the longest driven, have now become so inured to industry, and so sensible of its advantages, that some tempting offers on the part of the French traders to resume the human exportation were rejected by the chiefs, not so much from any moral detestation of the traffic as because they felt that human life was of too much value at home to be exported abroad. These are cheering facts, and, we would fain hope, indicate the near approach of the complete downfall of the system. If Cuba could be closed, the work would be done. We were, therefore, glad to learn that Mr. Fitzgerald does not abandon the hope that the American Government, though they do not permit their ships to be visited by ours, may be induced to take such steps of their own as will clear their flag from the infamy of sheltering pirates and slave-traders.

THE INDIAN REVOLT.

THE news from India is of a very mixed character. The work of pacification goes on slowly. All open resistance to troops, is indeed, at an end; the rebels hold not a single stronghold of the country in their hands. But what signifies strongholds to men who are not to be overtaken-strokes against whom are like blows in the water? An impression is made for the time, but no sooner is the weapon removed, than the yielding_element closes again, and every thing remains as before. In the mean time our troops suffer more from the weather than from the enemy. They are now in the midst of the hot season-and a hotter season is said to have never before been known in India. It is probably only English soldiers that, in such circumstances, could keep the field at all; and even upon their hardy frames the results are fearful.

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may be matter of doubt whether it would not be advisable to send them into quarters, even though the consequence should be the giving up of the country for the time to the ravages of the rebels. We are fearfully reminded by the number of casualties, at what an enormous cost England maintains her hold of India.

THE JEDDAH MASSACRE.

THE Musselmans on the shores of the Red Sea have imitated, on a small scale, the sanguinary deeds of the Bengal Sepoys. The melancholy intelligence has been received of an indiscriminate massacre of the Christians of Jeddah, by the Mo

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hammedans. Upwards of twenty persons, including the English Vice-Consul and the French Consul and his wife, fell victims to the fury of the Musselman population. About twenty-four escaped in the Cyclops. Jeddah is the port of Mecca, and therefore in the very centre of Mohammedan fanaticism. We are glad to learn from Lord Malmesbury's answer to an inquiry on the subject by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, that Government has used the utmost despatch in demanding from the Porte the punishment of the authors of this cruel and unprovoked outrage. With that demand the Porte has promised immediate compliance. It must be noted, however, that this dire occurrence does not stand alone. The fact is that the Musselman world is in a ferment. From Candia, in the Mediterranean, to Jeddah, on the Red Sea, the old hatred of Islamism to Christianity is in full activity. Wherever the followers of the false prophet are strong enough to express their real convictions, the hatred against the Giaours break forth; and there is reason to believe that that hatred, especially in the more eastern domain of Islamism, has been stimulated by the Indian massacres, vague rumours of which have found their way to all parts of the Mohammedan world. The massacre of Christians at Jeddah is the more aggravated, as it was committed under the very guns of an English frigate; and, we believe, the opinion is pretty general, that the conduct of the captain of that frigate in not exacting immediate punishment for the outrages is hardly to be commended. As we have already said, satisfaction for that outrage, in which both the French and English consuls have fallen victims to the fury of the mob, has been demanded and is promised; but the more important consideration is, the indication it affords that the old latent fanaticism of the Mussulman has again been stirred to its depths. How is this? There has been no oppression on the part of the Christians, no outrage offered to their religion or their laws. Our own opinion is, that these outrages are only so many indications of conscious weakness; the whole system of Islamism is moribund; and the more sincere, or, perhaps, we ought to say, the more fanatical, of its members, have recourse to these desperate acts to prove its vitality. Like all such paroxyisms of violence, these outrages will only hasten its destruction.

PERSECUTION FOR RELIGION IN SWEDEN.

A DEPUTATION from the Evangelical Alliance and various other societies presented an address lately to the Swedish

Ambassador, in reference to the punishment of exile and loss of property inflicted on six converts to Roman Catholicism. The reply of Count Platen expressed the agreement of himself and of the Swedish Government, in the views of the memorialists, and held out hopes of a speedy change in the laws affecting religious liberty. Accounts from Stockholm confirm these hopes. The general indignation felt throughout Europe at such persecution happening under a Protestant Government, is telling forcibly on public opinion in Sweden, and will enable the intelligent portion of the community to overcome the resistance to change on the part of the Legislative Houses of the peasantry and clergy.

THE LIVINGSTONE EXPEDITION.

Dr. LIVINGSTONE arrived at the Cape on the 21st of April, and left for the Zambesi about ten days after, accompanied by a ship of war, which would see them safely over the bar. The doctor met with a most cordial and gratifying reception from his friends at the Cape. They presented him with a small silver box containing a purse of 800 guineas, and entertained him at a grand dinner. He has been obliged to leave Mrs. Livingstone behind, as she suffered so dreadfully from sea sickness that it was doubtful whether she could reach the East Coast alive. She intends proceeding with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Moffatt, to his missionary station at Kuruman, and thence hopes to rejoin her husband on the Zambesi some time next year. What with the Boers and the natives, South Africa is said to be in a dreadful state. The former are destroying all the missionary stations, and one poor missionary's wife is described as flying to the mountains in the middle of the night with all her children," and that in the time of snow."

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

THE sea is very jealous of its secrets; the time seems not yet to have come for it to render them up at man's bidding. The Atlantic telegraph, from which so much was anticipated, has again failed and failed this time under circumstances more ominous of evil than those of last year. So long as the mischief was confined to the defects of the machinery in discharging it from the ship, we might hope that the difficulty would be overcome by new and better-adapted mechanical contrivances; but of the three failures which have occurred

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