charge of the application of the Mexican Church. Then he read the following:

In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. To the faithful in Christ Jesus, throughout the world, greeting.

Be it known unto you by these presents that the undersigned, Bishops by the grace of God in the Church of Jesus Christ, in the United States of America, officiating under the protection of Almighty God, in the city of Pittsburg, in the State of Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, the Festival of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24, in the year of our Lord MDCCCLXXIX, did then and there, in the presence of a congregation of the faithful according to the due and prescribed order of the Church, and in conformity with the constitution and canons thereof, consecrate our beloved in Christ, the Rev. Henry Chauncey Riley, doctor in divinity, presbyter, of whose sufficiency and good learning and soundness in the faith once delivered to the saints and purity of manners we are fully ascertained, unto the sacred office of Bishop in the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the living God, he having been duly elected bishop of the diocese of the Valley of Mexico, in the republic of Mexico, in the Mexican branch of the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the said Church having asked of us this ministry in their behalf.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals in the city of Pittsburg, the State of Pennsylvania, on the day and in the year above written. [Here follows the official signatures of the different bishops who assisted in the consecration, with their official seals attached, and also the acknowledgment of each of their signatures before a notary public in the usual form, with notarial seal.]

Bishop Bedell concluded by reading a letter from Bishop Whittingham, of Maryland, stating that he fully concurred in the action of the other members of the commission, and, although unable to be present at the ceremony, he wished the new bishop "God speed." All the bishops present united in the Laying on of Hands.

The Right Rev. Henry Chauncey Riley was born in the city of Valparaiso, Chili, some forty years ago, of American parents. His father had for some time been occupied with commercial pursuits in Chili, and had also a post under the government. He accumulated a handsome fortune, with which, when the present Bishop was sixteen years of age, he returned to New York. There were few opportunities for English education in Chili, and the young man, though a good scholar and an attentive reader of Spanish, was unable to read or speak English. When he arrived in New York he was at once, however, placed under careful instruction, and finally entered Columbia College. He was graduated there with high honors. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that, notwithstanding his early inability to speak the language, he was able to obtain the first place in his class for English composition. After graduating, he applied himself to theological studies, and was ordained a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York by the Right Rev. Horatio Potter. He became rector of a Spanish Episcopal Church in New York city, the

service being wholly in that language, and engaged largely also in missionary work among the lower classes of the population. It was while ministering to this charge that he became so deeply interested in the work that was going on in Mexico. He wrote and had printed in the Spanish language a little volume on the right and duty of every man to search the Scriptures. It was powerfully argued, and this, with other pamphlets bearing upon the same subject, was widely circulated in Mexico, and exerted a great influence there.

His knowledge of the Spanish language and character drew to him the attention of those in Mexico who were attempting a reformation of their Church. In 1868, at their invitation he visited that country, and becoming convinced that the call was a providen tial one, devoted his fortune and life to the mission. We hope to give a full account of this in a future number. We have here only space to say that we have had the pleasure of a long conversation with Bishop Riley, and are more than ever impressed with the importance of the work in which he is engaged, with the correctness of his views and his ability to carry them out, and of the duty of the Church to aid him in so doing. The Reformed Church in Mexico has now fifty congregations, three thousand communicants, sixteen candidates for orders, five hundred children in orphanages and schools. It also possesses a magnificent church in the city of Mexico, besides other churches. It has adopted a Liturgy which has the unanimous approval of our Commission. The President of the Republic, Diaz, regards the movement with favor. Surely there is a grand future before it, of usefulness to the Spanish races in America.

ABROAD.

The Court of Appeals has reversed the decision of the Chief Justices in the case of the Bishop of Oxford, and Mr. Carter, of Clewer. It will be remembered that the Bishop refused to act, on the ground that the statute gave him discretionary power. The Chief Justices ruled that such discretionary power was not given. An appeal was taken, and this judgment has been reversed. Now, it is said, the case will be carried up to the House of Lords for final decision.

It must be noticed that after all the litigation and expense, in this and in other cases, the question of the legality of the acts complained of has not yet been touched. We, in this country, may be thankful that we are not subject to the vicissitudes of English Ecclesiastical Law. We think upon the whole we prefer to trust to "Diocesan Conventions" and "Godly Admonitions."

AMONG THE BOOKS.

FROM EGYPT TO PALESTINE, through Sinai, the Wilderness and the South Country. By S. C. Bartlett, D. D., LL.D. President of Dartmouth College. With Maps and Illustrations. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS. 1879. pp. 555.

This is not a mere book of travels or of personal adventures. The writer says about himself only so much as is necessary to carry us with him through the regions he visits. He tells us in the preface, that he traveled and wrote with the object of gathering up compactly and passing in review "from personal cognizance," the results of recent investigation into the history of the Israelites as narrated in the Pentateuch. Especially he had in "mind the difficulties which have been raised concerning the possibility of such a journey as that described in the Pentateuch," and also he purposed to ascertain "the actual and possible conditions of those regions and the correspondence here between the Land and the Book." We think he has excellently carried out his purpose. Four hundred pages of the book are devoted to an examination of the light thrown by recent researches upon the exodus and wanderings of the Children of Israel; and we are led to the conclusion that the more carefully the monuments, and the topography of those lands are studied, the more conclusively will the truth of the Bible narrative be established. We have been especially interested in the chapters on "Pharaoh," and "Traces of Contact between Israel and Egypt "-also in that on "The Region of the Law-giving." We notice Dr. Bartlett agrees with Mr. Palmer, of the "Ordnance Survey," in assigning the location of the giving of the law to the peak "Ras Sufsafeh," where it rises suddenly from the plain of "Er Rahab" to a height of about 2,000 feet. The maps add greatly to the usefulness of the book, as the plates do to its beauty. These latter are better than

common.

SPENSER. By N. W. Church, Dean of St. Paul's. NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, 1879. pp. 180. 75 cents.

This is another of the series of "English Men of Letters," edited by John Morley. It tells all that is known, all too little, of one of the masters of English song, the author of "The Faerie Queene." Like most of this series, however, it is not so much a

biography as an essay on the character and writings of the Poet. The influence his intercourse with his great cotemporaries of the age of Elizabeth, and chiefly his long sojourn in Ireland had upon his poetry is dwelt on at great length. It is sad to think that Spenser, driven out of his Irish home, should have ended his life "a ruined and heart-broken man," under fifty years of age. "He died," said Jonson, "for lack of bread, in Westminister, and refused twenty pieces sent to him by my Lord of Essex, saying he had no time to spend them." He left his great work unfinished. A fragment only of the Cantos On mutability; being all that is saved of the last six books. If the perusal of this volume shall induce a more general reading of "The Faerie Queene," with all its faults one of the noblest poems in the language, it will have done a good work. The old masters are not sufficiently studied. For our part we much prefer them to the metaphysical sentimentality of much of the modern poetry.

SUPERNATURAL REVELATION, or the First Principles of Moral Theology. By the Rev. T. R. Birks, Professor of Moral Theology,

66

Cambridge. LONDON: MACMILLAN & Co. 1879. Pp. 240.

$3.00.

This is one of a series of works which the well-known author either has published or intends to prepare, in vindication of the truth and authority of the Scriptures and the Gospel of Christ against several of the persevering attacks to which they have been exposed." The present volume is an answer to a work entitled Supernatural Religion," and to Mr. Mill's posthumous Essays. The book will be found of special interest to the younger clergy, who are constantly encountering these objections to Christianity. It takes up one by one the pretensions of scepticism, points out their fallacies and then gives in their place the truth as revealed in God's Word. The author writes from the standpoint of Evangelical Christianity. This volume is a luxury of type and paper.

We again call attention to the publications of the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," all of which may be obtained from Messrs. POTT, YOUNG & Co., NEW YORK. They include a great variety of books suited to all ages, and to differing tastes. Of the useful series "Ancient History from the Monuments," we have received two more. EGYPT, by S Birch, LL. D., and ASSYRIA, by the late George Smith. These little works present, in concise and authentic form, the results of the latest discoveries, are of great value to the biblical student, saving him a great deal of time and labor.

For Sunday School or Parish Libraries this Society provides a long series of useful yet readable books. Some of these we have already noticed. Others, lately sent us are: THE HEROES OF THE

ARCTIC AND THEIR ADVENTURES, giving a very interesting account of voyages towards the North Pole, down to the most recent ones. THE SETTLERS, a tale of Virginia, whose title explains itself; THE MATE OF THE LILY, the adventures of a boy in search of a shipwrecked father. DRIFTING AWAY, a sea story of adventures on a desert island. These all will delight the boys, and not be without interest to the girls. Then for older ones, both boys and girls, and we may add for adults, we have THE KING'S WARRANT, a story of old and new France, at the time of the English conquest of Canada; and THE CARVED CARTOON, a story founded on the life of the celebrated wood carver Gibbons, who lived in England in the time of Charles II. All these are healthy stories, instructive and interesting to children. We only wish they could take the place of the sensational literature which is doing so much harm among our young people.

SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS.
LEE AND SHEPARD.

pp. 322.

$1.00.

By Charles Beecher. BOSTON :
CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM.

NEW YORK:

The object of this book appears to be to prove a connection between modern "Spiritualism" and the Revelations of the Bible. He lays down in the first chapter certain points which, properly interpreted, few of our readers would deny; such as "The objective existence of spiritual beings." And he gives an interesting history of spiritualism from the early times down to the present. But if he would have us believe that the nonsensical, unmeaning revelations of the spirit-rappings and of Planchette are to be compared with those given us by Christ and His Apostles, we think it unnecessary to argue the point. Yet if this be not the object of the book we fail to catch it. For one thing we must thank the publisher: the book is printed on uncalendered paper-such a relief to the eyes after suffering from the glare reflected from the beautiful but pain giving paper used now by so many of our leading houses. If this fashion be continued we fear they soon will find no purchasers, because there will be no eyes left wherewith to read.

ESSAYS OF TO-DAY; Religious and Theological. By Wm. Wilberforce Newton. BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS & Co. 1879. pp. 253. $2.00.

Without manifesting or indeed pretending to any great degree of originality, these Essays are bright and pleasant. They show a great amount and variety of reading on the part of the author. The one on "Savonarola" appeared first in the CHURCH REVIEW, and is, we think, as interesting as any.