The Express.
London, England, 1857-12-30 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE CALCUTTA AND CHINA

MAILS.'

The Peninsular and Oriental Company have es-
ceived the following message from Marseilles this
morning :
"The steam-ship Vectis, with tho Calcutta and
China mails, arrived at Marseilles list night.
" The mails left for London at ten this morning."

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE AND THE
ASSEMBLY OF SCANDINAVIAN PASTORS.

COPENHAGEN, 1857.
The movement towards Scandinavian union, of
which Europe bee heard so much of late end taken so little
had, has put forth some of Its first fruits in this capital
during last summer, in a meeting of pastors representing the
Mochas of Norway, Bwoden, end Denmark, and amembled
to discus, the means of promoting the growth of religion in
the three countries, and of assimilating as far as pomitele the
three Churches, which, though one in their origin, have, IS
the course of centuries, developed some internal differences.
The meetings, which took place on the 15th, 16th, and 17th
of July, were attended by about 100 Danish, 40 Etwedlah.
end 20 Norwegian clergymen, besides a great number of
candidates for the church and laymen. The proceedings,
which were opened with Divine service performed by the
Danish pastor MAO, and concluded by a sermon preached
by Thomazuler, Bishop of Lund, in Sweden, were character-
ilea by a unanimous tendency in the Swedish and Norwegian
divines to adopt as their future principle of action, end as
the goal of their efforts, that perfect religious freedom which
Denmark has enjoyed Sillce the introduction of the con-
stitutional ?flame, but which Norway, and more particularly

Sweden, me ;till lar from passaging;
Here thanes have already a proof that a Scandinavian union
would tend to strengthen political and religions liberty In
Europe; but the details of the proceedings having had
reference to matters in which the British public do not
take a Wildest Interest to justify my touching mica
them, I shall limit my remarks to an incident which created
• very *rand mastfon hare. During the third meeting,
Dr. F. Emmerich, the president, read to the assembly a
letter jut received from the British branch c f the Evangelical
Alliance, in which Sir Culling Bardley Eardley and few sr
five other gentlemen, on behalf of that association, expressed
their interest in the objests of their Scandinavian brethren ;
their regret at not having been informed In time of the pros
jetted assembly, so as to have been able to send a deputation
le attend 16; their hope that they should meet representative§
of the Scandinavian churches at the impeding great even-
gelkal meeting in Berlin ; their determination, at all events
to send a deputation to attend the next assembly of this;
churches, appointed to be held at Lund, in Sweden, in 1869;
and, finally, proceeded to give utterance to the real object of
the letter in the following paragraph, :

"We cannot prevail on ourselves to clam this brotherly
communication without making you acquainted with the
deep concern which is felt by us, and we may Indeed my
by Britiah Christians generally, on account of the sugaring
endured by many of your brethren and ours on religious
grounds in some parts of the countries in which you dwell;
and without adding at the wee time how fervently we dean
that your brambly may be so honoured as to make known
its sentiments respecting those sufferings in a manner that
Mall leaden their being materially lightened, if not altogether
removed. . _ _

"On use political questions relative to the Duchies of
Schleswig ad Holstein, which may be complicated with this
subject, we express no opinion, but preserve, sit is hems-
In( and proper that we should, a total and respectful Wanes;
but we must not refrain from eying, for Chilies commas&
Went of brotherly love requires it of us, that we are grieved
when we hear of penal fines, and imprisonment, and exile
inflicted upon peaceful Christiana, and above all, upon the
ministers of Christ. .

" Let as indulge the hope that Scandinavia's piston, men
of enlightened minds end loving hearts, and enjoying the
hallowed pleasures of a happy home, will feel for their
fellow believer' in tribulation, and especially take thought for
their brethren of the German race, who are now exiled from
their former congregations, and from the land of their hirtb.
The Lord, who is the hearer of prayer, may In •rwee to
united supplieetions, and by method. which He knows bow
to supply, being about the solution of di/Baubles which se
too hard to Le settled by human skill.
"And we trust that we shall not overstep those limits
within which we are desired to restrain our remarks, if we
specifically advert to what appears to us a mentos of wholly
Mescundlo temerity, the deprivation of many thousands of
Christian people of their worship, their public prayers sad
praises, and the preaching of the word, by appointing the
Garnets of the Lord's house to be conducted in what, to them,
is a foreign tongue. This measure has Leen trJorced is this
Duchy of Schhawig, and we venture, with great reverend,
to suggest whether this is not a grievance which each ea
assembly am we now address might well represent to the
Danish government, with a petition for its removal.
" We leave this matter, however,entirely in your hood', and
we also commend to your active sympathy all the members of
the Christian brotherhood, who in any pert of your sward
countries have to contend with intolerance snot to avow their
religions convictions at theperil of incurring legal penalties."
Now it will, no doubt, be in the recollection of many of
your readers that during the Schleswig- Holstein rebellion at
1110-60, • great number of the German pastors in Schleswig,
with the Geseral-Suterinundent at their head, took an open

part in the rebellion, exhorted their docks to throw off their
sileglance to their lawful sovereign, tent up public prayers In
the churches for the destruction of his sans, and sent their
eons to swell the army of the insurgents. On these grounds,
end on no other, were some few Schleswig peetore• sub-
' iocted to the" penal WO, imprisonment, end exile" (the
number of the latter is not above doe) to which the members
of the Erangelioal Albinos eo pathetically alluded ; and mit is
utterly untrue that any clergyman in the Duchy of Schleswig
has within the last nine years been prosecuted on reli-
gion. grounds, you rosy judge of the painful mama=
which was crested hare in consequence of the evidence
which title letter affords that the British branch of the Been-
gigielicalw oAllian.ce
D:ichts
eU to
ibe;mk fm It
bows
the
an
here that • Dr. Baumgartner—en. of the Schleswig clergy-

own who broke their oath of allegiance to their }flag, ;id
who was in catiaequence ejected from him living—had some

few months parlous to the mooting, to one of whose incidents
I em now adverting, admitted a letter to the Earl of Shafts.
buty, wherein he depicts the state of the Church in Schlftwig
in the darkest who're, and there can be no doubt that it is on
this ez part. statement of the cam that Sir C. Bordley and
his associates formed their judgment, end hare unwit-
tingly been led into doing the very thing which they depre-
cate, viz., interfering in matters purely political. By the
same misrepresentations most likely these gentlemen were

induced into the equal) grieve error which they commit
in reference to what they terra " a measure of wholly Mel-
cusalde severity, the deprivation of many thoueends
of Christie& people of their worahip, hu,' and which
they maintained had been enforced in Schleswig. The
true state of thing. in this :—ln oreaseqemee of a Gem
men Immigration continued for centuries+ the southern Fart
of the Duchy of Schleswig has income quite German, while
the northern part has remained se purely Daniel. In the
middle trade, however, the two populations have met, and
have become intermixed, and in consequence of the German
Influences that prersiled in the duchy up to a very recent
period the German language wu not only the judicial and
governmental language throughout the province, and the
language of the thumb in the purely German districts, but it
wee also need exclusively in the churches in the mined
periehm. The Schleswig-Holstein wee wee lnc greet mea-
sure mused by the rerietanco of the Danes (who had at length
been aroused to a setae of the dangers that threatened these)
to thew encroachments of German upon Danish nationality.
It followed, therefore, sa a matter of sense, that after
having eriLdued the rebellion, and regained its as-
cendancy in the province, the Daniell government
at once proceeded to reinstate the Danish language
in its rights there ; but so far was it front acting with un-
scrupulous severity whet the German population, that not
only has no attempt been made to force the Danish lengunge
Un the purely German dietrime, but even in the mixed
pwriehen and in such where the Daniel, population greatly
prepondristes, German is sued in the churches alternately
with Durish ; and thus falls to the ground the melancholy
story of " many thousand Christian people- deprived of their
womhip, &c.
tiring end riot quite ummemsful et trio were mede during
the Schrewig.Holetein rebellion to represent thin insurrection
' as hariag been got up in defence of hearty and nationality,
I in order thee to SKOV* the sympathy of revolutionary Ger-
many end free England, while the support of the Gentian
' governments wee ensured by other mans. The liberal mu-
+ mirution which the Danes at the very time gave themeless
and extended to Schleawig, and the meaner In which'
rim rinstitution is gradually being recrillavel to the
esl-
gencia of the German decilitre, which, se members of
I the Germania Confederciou, cannot be allowed to form
part e en liberal a system, has sufficiently expoeed the hot-
' lowness of the pretence of liberty and the exceeding yonde-
r ration and impartiality with which the constitutional Danish
goverment proceeded in reinstating the Danish language
end tie Danish elements in Schleswig to their rights, have
equally proved how fur the Donee were from entertaining
any detigue against the nationality of their German fellow-
enhjous. The grounds upon winch English support sod
sympathy ere sought are thereto, now ehitted, end religion
is node to my, the purposes of political agitation.

• A great mazy were lett in (inlet enjoyment of their
liriaxe who, had they beta the eubjeoe of Germs primes,
will mow be ozgatiag their yobtiaal zeiadeede tailing's&