inspectors. The diminution of religious lessons, and especially the combination of Roman Catholic and Protestant children in undenominational schools, is felt as injurious to the religious life of the nation, and a change in this policy would be gladly welcomed; but a great change for the better has already taken place, when a truly evangelical

Church Government. With reference to the

STRUGGLE WITH ROME,

nothing new has occurred. The Pope has addressed a letter to Archbishop Melchers, in which he expresses the hope that more benignant intentions would prevail with the Prussian Government. He says that the Catholics would gladly obey the laws, in so far as they are not opposed to their consciences. These words have been greatly commented upon; but I suppose too much value is attached to them. The Roman See will never give way in principle, and both parties from time to time find it well to declare this. At the same time, there can be no doubt that the negotiations for a practical understanding are going on, and only the great difficulty of the case makes the progress rather slow.

A NEW COURT CHAPLAIN.

from office on account of his opposition to these appointments. Now they have taken place, and the Minister is still in office. The Supreme Consistory had, under the presidency of Mr. Hermann, sought and found support almost entirely from the "Middle Party." The election for the synods had given a majority to the Lutherans and the "Positive Union" Party, which, notwith-influence has obtained the upper hand in the standing many differences, always co-operated against the "Liberals" and the Middle Party for the independence of the Church and the purity of Christian doctrine. It is a wellknown fact that the two attempts on the Emperor's life opened the eyes of many to the conclusion that religious principles ought| to be more widely disseminated among the people, and that the Emperor himself especially wished to strengthen religious influences. It was his desire, therefore, to see two of his Court Chaplains members of the highest ecclesiastical body. These two men are in reality the leading men of the Positive Union Party. Their appointment will not only formally change the majority in the Supreme Consistory by transferring it from the Middle Party to that of the Positive Union, but it will especially secure to the latter party a greater moral influence, as it is represented in the Church Government by a man of the great abilities of Dr. Kögel. For these very reasons it seems that Dr. Falk opposed the appointments. He deserves credit for having dropped this opposition at last, as he has shown thereby that, as the representative of the State, he does not wish to exercise an undue influence on internal Church questions. The Liberal press is much dissatisfied. While some papers find a consolation in the consideration that it was better for Dr. Falk to give way on one point in order to preserve his valuable activity to the country on more important questions, others think that he would have done better to leave his place voluntarily at the present time, before he is sacrificed in order to make peace with Rome. The affair was mentioned the other day in the House of Deputies, but very few words were said about it. Dr. Falk maintained absolute silence, and thereby once more acknowledged that the State ought not to exercise an influence on internal Church questions. A Conservative Deputy took the opportunity to say that great satisfaction was felt at these appointments. The policy of Minister Falk in school questions created, from the beginning, uneasiness in all religious circles, and has caused all the pastors in the district of Marienwerder to abdicate as school

The senior of our Court Chaplains, Mr. von Hengstenberg, has asked the Emperor to appoint for him a young and active successor. The venerable old man retains his office, but has renounced all its emoluments in order to render this possible. Mr. Schrader, hitherto pastor of the German Evangelical Church at the Hague, in the Netherlands, has been appointed Court Chaplain. He is a man of truly evangelical views, and will fully cooperate with his colleages.

THE CHRISTIAN WORKING MEN'S PARTY is going on, doing its work regularly. It is to the advantage of the Party that there is no excitement about elections just now. The Party meets regularly, and the fact that a great number of people belonging to the working classes are thus brought under the influence of the Gospel is very satisfactory.

MR. SCHRAMM

has published an open letter, in which he informs the public that he wishes no appeal against the decision of the Consistory of the Province of Brandenburg. He says that he will not submit to an examination of his orthodoxy by the Supreme Consistory, and that he prefers to remain at Bremen. In

ST. MARK'S CHURCH, BERLIN, the deficiency caused by the falling off of fees for religious acts has become so great, that the parochial council proposed to discontinue the

services. However, this was not done, as the pastors, in a very generous way, said that they would exercise their offices even if they received no pay. It is highly necessary that Church funds should soon be raised.

THE PRUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY

circulated 89,004 Bibles and 19,953 New Testaments in the year 1877. The British and Foreign Bible Society has certainly done more, as it issued in Germany 448,808 copies,

which is about four times as many; but the Prussian Bible Society is also a blessing to our nation.

THE WEEK OF PRAYER

was again observed at Berlin as in former years. Every night two meetings were held at different parts of the city, and were very well attended. The Empress was again present on several occasions.

TURKEY.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A "BELOVED PHYSICIAN." From a Constantinople Correspondent.] On the morning of Sunday, December 1, there died at Pera, Julius M. Millingen, M.D., Personal and Court Physician to his Majesty the Sultan, aged seventy-eight. The funeral of this distinguished member of the British community took place the following day; and the Chapel of the Dutch Legation, in which the service was held, was completely filled by an audience embracing eminent individuals from all classes of society, among whom the medical friends of the deceased formed a considerable proportion. On the following Lord'sday, December 8, the Rev. Dr. A. Thomson preached in the Dutch Chapel from 1 John v. 4: "This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith." On concluding his discourse, the preacher referred in the following terms to the loss the congregation had sustained.

The divine principle which we have thus endeavoured to illustrate was finely exemplified, both in its struggle and in its triumph, in the history of an honoured office-bearer of this congregation, whom the Lord has recently taken to himself-a man eminent in many respects, as a professional man, an archæologist, and a scholar.

Julius Michael Millingen was born in London, July 19, 1800. His family was of Dutch extraction, his grandfather having removed from Holland to London about 1750. His father was an eminent archæologist, but though a Protestant, he sent young Julius for his education to Roman Catholic institutions at Paris and Rome, the natural result of which was that on returning to England his sympathies and views all inclined him to the Church of Rome. Hence, when sent to a school in Hertfordshire, kept by a minister of the Church of England, for a time he attended no place of public worship. He then entered the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. It was a time of literary splendour in the Scottish capital; but it was more.

It

was a time when the Spirit of God was raising up men within the time-honoured Church of the Covenanters to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, and to proclaim the doctrines of regeneration and redemption by faith in Jesus Christ, which a cold sceptical age had branded as fanaticism. Our friend seems to have profited not a little by the ministry of some of those men; but it was reserved for an old soldier, who had served in the American War, in the little town of Callander, not only to remove all hesitation as to his choice between the rival creeds of Rome and Protestantism, but to lead him as an humble believer to the feet of Jesus for pardon and peace. Soon afterwards the Greek war of independence broke out; and at the express wish of his father, as well as led by his own impulses in favour of humanity and civil liberty, he offered his services to the Greek Committee in London in 1823, and was sent the same year to Greece, where he joined Lord Byron, and was soon after appointed Surgeon-in-Chief to the Greek army. We cannot enter into the details of that eventful period, but we may observe that in all his notices of Lord Byron we see the utterances of a Christian mind, which lamented the errors of that extraordinary man, while warmly admiring the wondrous gifts he possessed, as well as his many amiable qualities. He attended Lord Byron on his death-bed in 1824, and then, after little more than a year's experience of that desperate and savage war, threw himself, with the Greek garrison, into the fortress of Neo Castro, or Navarino, and on their capitulation to Ibrahim Pasha in 1825, was forced by that Prince to enter his service. After some time he procured his release, and proceeding to Broosa, settled there for a time, but not long after removed to this capital [Constantinople]. His eminent medical skill soon attracted notice, and he was appointed Private and Court Physician

February 1, 1879.]

In 1867 he became one of the founders of the Evangelical Union Church, holding its services, by favour of the Dutch Legation, in this chapel, and was ever after a warm supporter and office-bearer of the congregation, the principles of which entirely harmonized with his own, and to which he had the privilege of having one of his sons minister as pastor for some years.

to Mahmoud, the then reigning Sultan-an tendance on a hospital that was to be opened office which he held with each of Mahmoud's for their use at Scutari, at the expense of successors down to the time of his decease. the Compassionate Fund. Along with this position of high responsibility and honourable distinction, he was greatly esteemed by all classes of the community for the soundness of his judgment, his sterling worth of character, the elegance of his manners, and the extent and accuracy of his information; whilst, from his sympathy and his unaffected piety, he was prized in many a household as "the beloved physician." Just thirty-two years ago I had the privilege of forming his acquaintance in 1846, about the time of his marriage with Miss La Fontaine, the lady whose devoted piety sustained and developed his own, and who now mourns an affectionate husband. Soon afterwards I attended a meeting at which he was called to preside, the object of which was to explain the circumstances which had rendered indispensable the formation of an independent Protestant Armenian Church. Since that time I have ever known him as the friend of civil and religious liberty, and ready to embrace in Christian fellowship all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ. In the struggle of the Bulgarians for ecclesiastical independence he took the warmest interest, and was of eminent service to the cause, believing it to be an indispensable step towards spiritual regeneration. Along with other members of the Turkish Branch of the Evangelical Alliance, he urged on the leaders of that movement the desirableness of their acknowledging the Scriptures as the only rule of faith, and of introducing certain reforms into their Church service; but they either hesitated themselves, or withheld their consent, on the ground that the people were not prepared for such a step. Not long afterwards Dr. Mil-solation. lingen was chosen President of the Branch of the Evangelical Alliance in this capital, and as such he gave us in earlier years the benefit of his presence and counsel in many important negotiations.

He was deeply interested in the evangelization of all the races of Turkey; and on returning from repeated visits to Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Albania, in 1863 and subsequent years, I found none so well acquainted as he with the state of those provinces, or better prepared to appreciate the measures which it seemed advisable to adopt for their regeneration. Nor was his gympathy confined to the Christians; in proof of which I need only say that quite recently, in addition to other efforts for the Moslem refugees, he was ready to undertake the at

The great fire of 1870-an event long to be remembered in this city-marks a stage in his spiritual experience. He had then reached the threescore years and ten, and his nervous temperament was powerfully affected by the shock of the conflagration, in which his own and the lives of his family were exposed to imminent danger, and in which he lost not only much valuable household property, but also two works in manuscript intended for the press, the loss of which we may all equally regret. But by thus loosening his hold on earthly things, shaking the frail tenement of clay, and disappointing, it may be, the reasonable hope of literary distinction, the Lord weaned him from a passing world and drew him closer to Himself, to find his happiness, his strength, comfort, life itself, in fellowship with Christ. The result was strikingly exhibited in his last illness, to the delight of his friends, who knew him as an humble and sincere believer, but who were scarcely prepared-so modest and undemonstrative was his nature-to find him possessed of so distinct a hold of divine truth, and such blessed joy and peace in believing; and with the Word of God dwelling in him so richly as the well-spring of hope and con

It was no ordinary privilege to be with such a man in life's closing hours. Not a murmur escaped his lips, but he repeatedly asked me to offer thanks for divine goodness, and especially for the domestic happiness with which he was encircled. On my asking how long he had enjoyed the steady faith and peace in Jesus he then possessed, he related the circumstances of his conversion I have already mentioned, and assured me that from that time he had ever maintained, amid the carelessness of a medical student's life and the recklessness and dangers of the Greek campaign, that divine spark of faith; and he pointed out to me a small collection of prayers and meditations, which, he said, had been his companion ever since, and had been to him of eminent

service.

On one occasion, when repeating to him Rom. 66 v. 7-10, Ah, yes," said he, "it is all of free grace!" At my last interview, I felt that his faith was stronger than my own, and could not but see and express on that occasion the fulfilment of the promise, "As thy day, so shall thy strength be." And So, amid not a little suffering, he passed away in peace and hope, to be for ever with the Lord.

No one who knew our departed friend with any degree of intimacy could fail to observe that he was no ordinary man. Possessed of vigorous faculties, which he carefully cultivated, and of a wide range of information, he had formed definite opinions on almost every topic, and on many entertained strong convictions, from which it was not easy to move him, and which he was prepared to defend with intelligent argument. Hence the importance of the testimony of such a man to the simple truth of the Gospel.

Some of his last words will be heard with interest. Some years ago, on excavating at Kavak, he discovered the ancient temple of Jupiter Ourius, and also a Byzantine

inscription within the arms of a cross—
"Light of Christ, shine on all." Calling
one of his sons to him, he bequeathed the
stone to the Greek Syllogos a Greek
literary and archæological society in this
city-and then added: "Ever since I took
my stand on the side of liberty, this inscrip-
tion was my prayer. The clouds were then
very thick, but I have lived to see the
mountain-tops receive the first ruddy glow
of that blessed light. I have seen Greece
liberated; and events in European Turkey
show that
that Christ's light is dispelling
the night of Mohammedanism. In Asia,
too, I see the same. Afghanistan, that
centre of fanaticism, is broken into. The
cause of Christ must triumph. Moham-
medanism is effete. The inscription over
the Kavak Castle represents the Cross
riding over the Crescent; it is emblematic,
it is prophetic. Let it be put on my tomb-
stone. But not only Mohammedan dark-
ness do I long the light of Christ should
dispel; I pray it may also shine on the
native Christian churches, shrouded, alas!
in a dark veil of ignorance and superstition.
This is my dying prayer."

AMERICA.

MISSIONS AND THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE | efforts of American Christians under the pro

IN ASIA MINOR.

tection of Protestant England. And for what? That the work begun there may go forward to completion, that the lands of the Bible may illustrate the glory of the Gospel of Christ. One of our objects in going to England was to solicit aid from British Christians

Secretary N. G. Clark, D.D., of the American Board, whose recent visit to London must be fresh in the memory of our readers, a few weeks since delivered an address in Boston, in the course of which he said: "You know that marvellous Providence (I think you all-not to do our work; we wish to do all we understand it as such, and I am sure it will seem more marvellous in ages to come), which, during this late war in the Turkish empire, singled out--not Herzegovina, nor Bosnia, nor Bulgaria-but Asia Minor, where we have done most for the cause of missions, where we have planted most churches, where we have been sending in our sons and daughters for sixty years past; and committed it to the care of Protestant England. We can judge of this Providence more calmly than the English can. We can look at it free from the bias of political feeling, simply from the Christian standpoint; and it becomes to us one of the great events in the history of the Church that Russia should have been called in to break down the political power of Islam, set fourteen millions of people free from Moslem tyranny, and then put that part which has engaged most of the prayer, most of the sympathy, most of the

have done and more too, to meet the pressure of the hour and the opportunities on every hand. We ask them not to help us do our work, but to supplement our work, to meet the necessities of the struggling Protestant communities that have been taxed and retaxed, and overtaxed, and well-nigh taxed to death, that have suffered from prostration of business, and to the last degree from the evils of war. We would have British Christians aid these communities to secure for themselves much-needed church edifices, and the advantages of education for their children; in short, help them to tide over the present distress. We would say to them, There is no need of any other missionary societies; our machinery is complete. Just supplement our work.

We could ask this with the better grace, in view of the fact that the American Board has spent five millions of dollars on English dependencies in India