The First Part only is published as yet, but the other will shortly make its appearance. From what we have seen of it, we conceive that it must form a sine quâ non in the books for instruction in our college at Haileybury, at home, as well as in the library of every one actually serving, in a civil capacity, under the Honourable Company abroad.

Sharpe's Magazine and Burns's Anthems keep up the character they have established. The latter has reached the fourteenth number; twelve of which form Vol. I. From the same house we have received also a second series of halfpenny books.

Several books remain unnoticed; for which we ought to apologize to both authors and publishers: but they came to hand at so very late a period, that it was impossible to do them justice. They must therefore stand over till the next quarter.

Foreign and Colonial Intelligence.

CANADA.-Visitation of the Diocese of Quebec.-The Journal of a Visitation, extending over a portion of the diocese of Quebec, held in 1846, by the Lord Bishop of Montreal, has been published by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, as No. 18 of the series entitled, "the Church in the Colonies." In addition to the usual topics connected with the record of a Visitation, this journal contains a variety of interesting particulars respecting the state of the Church in that diocese. The difficulties which obstruct the progress of Church extension arise, it appears, chiefly from two causes; the pre-occupation of the ground by the Romish Church, and the opposition of the different sects. The cause of the former seems to have been much strengthened by the zealous exertions of the late Bishop of Nancy, M. de ForbinJanson; who, having been superseded in his functions by a coadjutor after the Revolution of 1830, devoted himself to missionary labours, and among others visited Canada. Nevertheless, cases of conversion from the Romish Church occur from time to time; and a very interesting one is mentioned in the journal, of a respectable French Canadian, who was led to embrace the communion of the English Church by the study of an English Liturgy in French, which fell providentially into his hands, and who, of his own accord, insisted on making a public recantation on the occasion of the bishop's visit. In connexion with this case his lordship observes:

"Wherever there is a door thus opened, I conceive that it is our duty to enter in, and I regard it as a call to us which, according to our ability, we are bound to answer; but the successive governors of the Church of England in Canada have been unadvisedly censured by some impatient spirits, not perhaps fully masters of their subject, for not having carried the war right and left, with colours flying and trumpets sounding, into the camp of the Roman Catholic population-a proceeding which, even if God had placed resources at command by which it could have been attempted, would, in the judgment of many persons, not wanting in zeal for the truth of God, have served rather to retard than advance the cause. But it is well known that with the utmost toil and watchfulness, and with the most strained efforts to eke out the means at their disposal, in order to cover our own proper ground, those who have been charged with the interests of the Church of England in this country have not been able to accomplish this point; and often have had anxiety and work enough to keep the ill-provided and dispersed members of that Church in different places, from being ensnared by the enticements of Rome, and absorbed in the mass of her followers.

And I think that it has not been sufficiently considered by some parties, that the effectual planting of the Church of England, and the exhibition of that Church under a favourable aspect in the sober decencies of her ritual and her well-ordered services, and, above all, in the fruits of scriptural religion, shown in the temper, the dealings, the principles, the habits, the whole character and conduct of her faithful and consistent members, constitute a recommendation of their belief which cannot and does not fail of its effect upon the Roman Catholic mind, and not only form a barrier against the encroachments of Rome, but silently and indirectly do more towards operating a change of religious sentiments in her disciples, than some of the zealous efforts which have been used for making inroads among them. Certain it is, that in proportion as it pleases God that we prosper among ourselves, and gather in one stray sheep, who in many parts of the country carry, as it were, no owner's mark, we weaken the cause of Rome,since there is no one thing which holds the Romanist so fast to his religion as the contemplation of those most unhappy distractions, and those most humiliating errors and excesses which it would be too easy for me to indicate among the Protestants in some portions of the land."

To these distractions the Bishop is in other parts of his Journal repeatedly led to advert, in consequence of the efforts made in different parts by dissenters to oppose the establishment or extension of Church missions. It is a painful fact, but one which ought to be recorded, that the activity of dissenters is chiefly directed upon those points where the Church is labouring efficiently to plant the Gospel, while in other parts, where the Church has taken the field but feebly, they show little or no interest in the missionary work. In illustration of this, two cases are mentioned in the Journal, of meeting-houses unappropriated to the use of any particular body of Christians, in which the Bishop performed Divine service. One of these is at Russell-town Flats, of which 66 at present," his lordship says, "we have the benefit; and there are not wanting examples in the diocese, of buildings put up in this kind of way, which have passed ultimately into our hands." The other instance occurred at a small village at the outlet of Lake Memphramagog, where "there is a small place of worship, with a steeple, which might be taken for the church of the village; but it is assigned over to no religious body whatever, and is at present served only by a coloured man, a Baptist by profession, who comes from a distance to preach in it once in four weeks, exciting, from all that I could learn, very little interest, in any shape, upon the subject of religion. The building is much out of repair. Had the government of Christian Britain done its duty before God for its transatlantic subjects, or even kept its pledges to the Church, there might, by the Divine blessing, have been formed here, and in many other unprovided spots where religion is running to waste, a company of united faithful worshippers, walking in the commandments and ordinances blameless."

While the ground is thus abandoned by dissenters in places which

they had pre-occupied, in other places the Bishop has to complain of the opposition immediately set on foot when the Church plants her banner with good auguries of success, and displaying itself in forced measures for the erection of a rival place of worship, and, in the present instance (at Sutton Flats) by a coalition, for this object, of two sects, holding utterly irreconcilable opinions. We may well deplore whatever faults in the Church at large may originally have tended to the production or multiplication of dissent; but here, and in other instances among us, too marked to be mistaken, it is precisely the zeal of the Church, and the promise of her efficiency, which have provoked competition, and prompted the obstruction of her work—and this without any possible plea of arrogant or aggressive proceeding on her part." Another, and still more grievous case of this kind is noticed in the Journal, at the missionary station of Melbourne. There the house of the missionary "stands upon a line and in close proximity with a row of meetinghouses, belonging to different denominations, of whom, within the limits of his whole mission, there are eleven varieties—fostered, unfortunately, in some quarters, by an influence and by resources which might be turned to account in a manner more consonant with the real advancement and hopeful stability of gospel truth. And," the Bishop adds, "there are persons among ourselves who actually persuade their own minds that this is the Christian Church in its legitimate aspect, and that the multiplication of these separately organized bodies, one after another, upon new grounds taken for holding an independent existence, involves neither breach of spiritual unity nor mutual imputation of serious error! Christ may be divided ad libitum: one may be of Paul, another of Cephas, another of Apollos, and so on ad infinitum-but this is not schism; the spirit of schism is rather seen in the disapproval of it, which is presumed to carry a feeling of unchristian ill-will toward those who differ from us!-There are, however, characteristics attaching, in some particular instances, to the divisions here immediately in view, which no sober and well-principled mind could complacently regard."

In the course of his visitation the Bishop inspected the college of Lennoxville, near Sherbrook, and M'Gill College, at Montreal. At the former an examination of the students, the result of which was highly satisfactory, took place on the occasion of the Bishop's visit. With regard to M'Gill College, his lordship was engaged for two days in conference with the other governors, with a view to the adjustment of its affairs, under the circumstances detailed in the following statement :

"There has been what is often called a fatality attending this institution-the bequest of the founder having been for about twenty years in litigation, and difficulties without end having since arisen to impede its prosperity. It is not yet settled how far the claim of the Church of England to give it the character of an episcopal institution can be asserted, or I should rather say, perhaps, how far it can be maintained. Its affairs, however, apart from this question, appear to be, at last, in better train; but it is still weighed down by great embarrassments. It has, thus far, been chiefly efficient as a school of medicine. The build

ings are partially completed, and are upon a handsome scale, and in a noble situation, overlooking the city, and screened in the rear by the abrupt and wooded rise of the mountain which gives name to it,—the royal mountain. The delays, discouragements, and doubts which have obstructed the advancement and clouded the prospects of this college, have been especially of a nature to forbid the idea of making it available as a nursery for the Church in the diocese; and it is to the College at Lennoxville, which by the charter is under the complete control of the Bishop, that we must look for this object. Perhaps, also, the situation of Lennoxville is better suited to a course of preparation for the ministry than the city of Montreal-a gay, wealthy, bustling, busy place, with a large garrison within its limits. Lennoxville, at present, is almost too obscure and backward a retreat; but the scene, and probably at no distant day, will be much changed. The railroad which is to connect Montreal with Portland in the State of Maine, and so with the Atlantic, and which is now [October] proceeding, will pass directly through it, and is expected to give a great impulse to the whole of the eastern townships.

"If M'Gill College should hereafter be so far under the direction of the Church of England, as to make it a proper seminary for a race of clergy in the country, it will then serve for, what it must be hoped will before any great length of time be, the diocese of Montreal; and Bishop's College will still be the reliance for that of Quebec."

With regard to popular education, the Bishop states that there is a provincial statute, entitled "The Elementary Act," which provides for the establishment of schools in the country missions, but on condition that wherever a minority are dissatisfied, on account of the mixture of creeds, with the principal school of the locality, they shall be entitled to claim support for a school of their own, if they have a specified number of scholars of a proper age to send to it. In its practical working, however, this act is found too complicated and difficult of application, the consequence of which is, that many of the settlements are but badly provided with means of education. Some efforts, of which the Bishop speaks in terms of commendation, appear to have been made by the British and North American School Society, to alleviate the wants of the people of Lower Canada in this respect.

The Church statistics of the diocese, given by his lordship, are as follows:-There are in all 102 churches and other buildings exclusively appropriated to the performance of the Church service, of which 27 are of stone, 11 of brick, 64 of wood; 12 are only in progress, 13 in an unfinished state, but used for Divine service, and "a good many others are imperfectly finished, and deficient in appendages which ought to be found in the churches of the English Establishment." Of these 102 churches, 43 have been assisted within the last ten years by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and 29 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. To 23 of them there are parsonage-houses annexed, 7 of which have more or less glebe-land attached to them; both the houses and the glebe having been provided mainly by the instrumen.