added to the list of towns which have capitulated. The number of prisoners and amount of war material which have fallen into the hands of the victors, would usually be deemed considerable, but now seems too trifling to be recorded. Belfort, a strong fortress in the department of the Haut Rhin, has been invested. On the other hand, Bitsche and Phalsbourg, Mézières and Montmédy, continue to hold out. In the East, the Prussians have occupied Dijon, while Garibaldi has fallen back from Dôle upon Autun; but his son Ricciotti is said to have been successful in a skirmish near Chatillon. The chief interest, however, in military movements attaches to the victory gained at Coulmiers by the army of the Loire, under the command of General d'Aurelles de Paladine, over the Bavarians. After a severe struggle the Germans, who were largely outnumbered, retreated on Toury, which they reached without molestation. They are now strongly reinforced there by the troops under the command of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin and Prince Frederick Charles. Orleans is consequently once more in the hands of the French, who fought gallantly, and seem to have been ably handled. The whole affair is creditable to French patriotism and valour. It is from this quarter alone that there seems any even the slightest hope for the falling fortunes of the country. In some fighting which took place near Dreux, they were not, under Count Kératry, so successful. As we anticipated, the armistice which M. Thiers attempted to negotiate at the suggestion of the four great neutral powers, proved a failure. The Prussians could not, and would not, listen to terms which included the revictualling of Paris without the offer of any military equivalent. For the failure, the French Executive Government incur blame. It is asserted that an appeal to the nation at large would probably have been fatal to their existence as a dominant party; and that they were not sorry, therefore, to bring the matter to an abrupt conclusion. In the midst, however, of these negotiations, the Government in Paris was nearly overthrown by an insurrection of the party of the Commune. The Hôtel de Ville was invaded by a mob headed by Gustave Flourens, and for some hours the members of the Government were prisoners in their hands. By the energy of M. Picard, the Minister of Finance, the leaders of the insurgents were dispossessed; order being restored by the Breton Mobile Guard, who rallied to the defence of the Go vernment. Very grave complications have arisen in another quarter. Russia, in a circular from Prince Gortschakoff, has just repudiated the chief articles of the Treaty of 1856, which restrict the amount of naval force in the Black Sea, and exclude ships of war from the Dardanelles. The tone of the communication was offensive, and the claim urged is preposterous. The rejoinder made by Lord Granville has been dignified and to the purpose. It has been surmised that Russia would not have put forward such pretensions unless she had reason to count upon the support of nations unfriendly to England, and that therefore the crisis is serious. We trust this may not prove to be the case, and that peace may yet be maintained. It is plain, however, that, at such a crisis as the present, the mere enunciation of liberty on the part of one nation to set aside the provisions of solemn treaties without reference to or conference with the contracting parties, whenever a convenient opportunity presents itself, furnishes a strong argument to the Prussians for insisting upon material guarantees from France, and not contenting themselves with the razing of fortresses and neutralisation of territory guaranteed by other nations. What is to hinder France, some years hence, from acting towards Germany as Russia is now acting, and that with the authority of recent precedent? Meanwhile Count Bismarck is busily engaged with the consolidation of Germany into one great nation. Bavaria still holds aloof: but Baden, Würtemberg, and other petty States, have joined the Confederation. In domestic matters there is little to chronicle. Some excitement has been created in large towns, and especially in the metropolis, by the impending elections to the School Boards which are taking place. It is so far gratifying to find that, with very rare exceptions, all the candidates are prepared to uphold religious teaching. The Dunedin scandal has been disposed of by an award of the Archbishop giving Bishop Jenner a grant of money, and relieving the diocese from a prelate obnoxious to it. With great wisdom His Grace has carefully protected himself from embarking in what perchance might prove a possible misadventure of a similar kind in South Africa. In the face of recent deplorable occurrences, it is high time that extra vigilance should be exercised with regard to those who are nominated to situations so conspicuous as those of Colonial bishops, and to the conditions under which they are put forward. We may, in passing, further notice, as an indication of altered feeling among the resident members of our Universities, that at the recent election for members of council in the University of Cambridge, all the successful candidates were Conservatives. The Liberals had, last year, refused permission for a Grace being laid before the Senate for affixing the seal of the University to petitions to Parliament against the University Tests Abolition Act. None of them, on this occasion, were elected. INDEX OF THE ESSAYS, SUBJECTS, INTELLIGENCE, OCCURRENCES, &c. &c. &c. Education Bill, 239, 319, 398, 559, 639. Evangelical Clergy, Secession of Bp. Exeter, Bp. of, First Sermon of, 141. France, Declaration of war against Prus- France, The state of, 400, 879. French Protestantism, Recent works on, Geology, Consistency of, with Sacred Germany, Religious Life in, 570. Hamilton, Bp., Secession from the Evan- Herod, Herodias, and their victim: a Hinds, Bp., and the Christian Observer, 126. Infidelity, Prevalence of, among artisan Ireland, Agrarian outrages in, 157. Irish Church, Reconstruction of, 240. Laity, The Church rights of the, 66. Loss of H. M. turret ship "Captain," 799. 294. Mackonochie, Mr., Judgment of the Marriage of the Princess Louise with Massacre of French priests and nuns in China, 799. Melbourne, Bp. of, Lecture by, on Missions, on Foreign, 561. National Education, Government Bill Notices of New Books, 76, 155, 235, OBITUARY:- Colquhoun, J. C., Esq., 473. Knott, Rev. J. W., 790. Marsden, Rev. J. B, 633. Paris, Siege of, 798, 879. Parliament, Proceedings in, 319, 398, Communion of the Sick, 317. Hymn to be used at Sea, 72. Protestant Non-established Episcopal Churches, 343, 451, 589, 691, 842,927. Autobiography of Dr. F. W. Krum- Autobiography of Rev. T. A. Methuen, Pound's "Story of the Gospels," 550. Reichel's See of Rome in the Mid- Smith's Bampton Lectures for 1869, Sybel's History of the French Revo- Taylor's Past, Present, and Future of 548. Wesley's Place in Church History, 308. 271. Williams' Christianity among the New Religious Anniversaries, 326. Revision of the Authorized Version of Ritual Commission, Third Report of, 159. Ritual Commission-The Lectionary, 481. Ritual Commission and its results, 801. Council at, 80, 160, 240, 320, 560. Russia and the Eastern Question, 950. Science and the Bible, 28, 99. Scripture or Tradition as the Rule of Sequel to the Scene in the Committee- Spain, The crown of, accepted by the Strasburg, Capitulation of, 878. Tests in our Universities, Abolition of, 17. Temple, Dr., Election of, to the See of Temple, Dr., First Sermon of, 141. University Tests Bill, 480, 559, 640. INDEX TO PRINCIPAL Birks, Rev. T. R., 212. VOL. 69.-No. 396. Calthrop, Rev. G., 796. 473. Constantino, Dr., 68. Dale, Rev. T. P., 393. Ellis, Rev. W., 635. NAMES. Finn, Mr. James, 713. 153, 795. 238, 293, 398, 434, 480. |