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THE CHKMSfIAN IMDEX,
* ANIIWIA TMISCEIXA NV.
JESSE MERCER, Editor.
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DO 6 TRIIfALr
From the Religious Herald.
PREDESTINATION.
No. IV.
Mr. Editor, —I believe the last number
concluded by asking—if God not only foresaw
but determined the holiness anil happiness of
some men ? We beg the reader to turn to
the last number, and we shall proceed by re
marking—Scripture answers in the affirma
tive :—lt speaks of an order of beings superior
to men, stiles them (not on account of their
nature, but office) angels; and calls some of
these elect ungels. The Scripture speaks of
that extraordinary person, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and calls him also God's elect: and
’ the nature of the thing requires us to believe
he was chosen to his work, to the utter impos
sibility of its frustration. The same Scripture
tells us that twelve were chosen to the apostle
ship; and some, but not all, (for Judas was
excluded) toobtain eternal life. The converts
among the Jews, are said to be elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. —
The Gentiles afe said to be predestinated un
to the adoption of children, hy Jesus Christ;
and to be chosen in him before the foundation
of the world.
The apostle Paul says, “that the names’ ol
his fellow labourers with Clement, and the
names of some women who laboured in the
Gospel, were in the book of life:” from all
which we conclude, that the doctrine of per
sonal, eternal election, determining the hoik
ness and happiness of a great multitude which
no man can number, is a sound, safe, scriptu
ral doctrine. If it be asked, whether this elec
tion of persons be conditional—that is, whether
they are elected for the sake of their foreseen
faith and obedience? The scripture answers,
“that God ha 9 saved then)), and called them
with an holy calling; not to their
works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, given them in Christ Jesus, before the
world began"—that “thejindness and love of
pyworKsnr* l iigh‘eousiiS"lrtH4:h they. have
done,” but by saving them in a wfty of “mer
cy, by the washing of regeneration, and re
newing of the Holy Ghost.” Therefore St.
Paul calls it ["election of grace,” and argues, 1
“if hy grace, then, it is no more of works ; oth
erwise grace is no more of grace.”—lf it be
asked, whether this decree does not weaken
the interests of morality? The Scripture an
swers by assuring us, “timt God, who, from
the beginning, chose his people to salvation,
chose them through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto lie calls
them by the Gospel, to the obtaining of the
glory of the'Lord Jesus Christ.” The holi
ness of the gospel is therefore a part of the
decree ; it is naturally and necessarily placed
between eternal election, and eternal salvation;
and of so great consequence are “faith, virtue,
knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly
kindness and charity,” that these only “make
our calling and election sure.”
The last artfele in predestination is the
consigning some to future punishment: we
are to learn this also from Scripture. Let it
here be observed in the first place, that Scrip
ture assures us of a distribution of punishments,
as well as rewards, at the last day. “Some
shall a wake to shame and everlasting contempt.
They that havo done evil, shall come forth to
the resurrection of damnation.” No one will
pretend to say, God did not foresee this eyent;
his foretelling it, precludes such an extrava
gant objection. Nor will any one say that
God could not have prevented it; yet he de
termined not to prevent, that is to permit it.
Reprobation is to be considered either as an ab
solute or judicial act- To consider it as a judi
cial sentence, seems most consonant to Scrip
ture and reason. It is then, the righteous
determination of God, to punish such as wilfully
live and die in sin : we say wilfully, because
we deny that God’s decree to punish, forces
any man to be punished. God is represented
in Scripture, as a just and holy being, a being
who, out of love to his creatures, requires
their obedience, but such an obedience us is
proportional to the talents they receive.—
“Those that have sinned without law, shall be
punished without law.” Those that have
sinned in the “law shall be judged by the law!”
Those who have been favoured with the gos
pel, as having “no cloak, (apology) for their
sin,” for whom, if they perish, it will be less
•‘tolerable than for Sodom and Gomorrah.”—
One of the most odious ideas tliat we can form
of God, is to consider him as “reaping where
he has not sown, and gathering where he has
not strewed;” conduct which Scripture every
where disclaims on the part of the righteous
God; positively affirming “that a man is ac
cepted according to that he hath, and n>t ac
cording to that He hath not.” God declares
that “he desireth not the death of a sinner;
that he hath no pleasure in the death ot him
whodietli: that he is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to re
pentance.” lie has commanded the Gospel
“to be preached to every creaturehe exer
cises “riches of goodness, forbearance and long
suffering,” to lead those to repentance, “who
treasure up to themselves wrath against the
day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God.” He condescends to plead,
and expostulate with sinners; to tell the wick
ed “that he will abundantly pardon such as
return to him; to ask them why will you die!”
To say m the tenderest language, “O tlrnt you
had known in this your day, the things that
belong to your peace! O tliat you had hark •
eneduntome! O that there were in them
such a heart! O that they would remember
their latter end!” He tells them that in such
a ease, “their peace shoukl have been as a riv
er, and their righteousness as the waves of the
sea.” In a word, ho “sets before them life and
death,” alarms by the terrors of one, and in
vites hy the delights of the other; and ex
pressly declares after all, that if sinners perish,
“(heir destruction is of themselves.” Ho suys
that “more could not have been done for his
vineyard than he has done;” that when he
“judges the people, the heavens shall declare
his righteousness:” that heaven, with all his
holy prophets and apostles, shall rejoice in his
vengeance, tor “God will be justified when he
speajteth, uad- cfear* when he judges.” The
Scriptures further assign this wilful disobedi
ence as the cause of destruction. If some an
gels are “reserved in chains of darkness, to
the judgment of the great day, it. is because
they kept not their first estate.” If “Sodom
and Gomorrah suffer the vengeance of eternal
fire,” it is because they “gave themselves over
to fornication,” &c. If blackness of darkness
be reserved for any, it is for such “as turn the
grace of God into lasciviousness, denying the
only Ijord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
commit ungodly deeds, separate themselves,”
from the saints among whom they once hypo
critically crept unawares, and with whom,
like the people saved out of Egypt, they once
pretended to be travelling towards the land of
promise: of such men, the annals of the church
give us the history# and such all the prophe
cies tell us we are *o expect. Yet after all,
the apostles would have us to compassionate
such people, “save them with fear, pulling
them out of the fire.” When St. Paul had
been professedly treating this subject m the
Oth of Romans, and asks, “What shall we say
then! The Gentiles have attained, but Israel
hath not attained.—Wherefore? because they
sought it not hy faith. If it be said faith com
eth by hearing”—What! says the Apostle,
“have they not heard ! Yes, verily, did not
Israel know! —Yes, to Israel he suith, all the
day long have I stretched out my hands to a
disobedient and gain-saying people.” The
apostle no where assigns God’s decrees as the
cause of reprobation, but declares they “attain
ed pot, because they sought not.” On this
subject, he quotes a passage on judicial blind
ness, often applied to the Jews in the New
Testament, but never to the Gentiles, taken
from Isaiah’s prophecy; but it ought, to be oli
served, that this prophet appears to have had
a commission of mercy, first proposing to make
their “scarlet sins white as snow;” and hav
ing been treated as the former prophets were,
ho received “in the year that King (T/.ziah
died,” n commission of vengeance, recorded in
tfce sixth chaptemf his propnecV. The ease
ofanir Saviour and his apostles being exactly
similar, their reasoning persuading, all their
doctrines, and all their proof being rejected,
they apply Isaiah’s second mission also, to
that obstinate people, and tell them tini
Owl, in a judicial way, for their wilful obsti
nacy, would give them the. spirit of slum- |
her, and prevent the if believing in future.—
St. Paul’s.sermon at Antioch, exemplifies our
subject: no relates the expectations of their
niicesfm-s; the fulfilment of prophecies in Jesus
Christ, the rejection of him at Jerusalem, and
tells them that through ‘that man was preach
ed the forgiveness of sins.’ He entreats them
to beware lest that come upon them which was
spoken of in the prophets. —“Behold ye despi
sers, and wonder, and perish.” He presses
these matters home in private, and when they
contradicted and blasphemed what ho said, ho
and Barnabas boldly and awfully said, “It was
necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken unto you; but seeing you
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, 10, we turn unto the Gen
tiles.” Thus he did also at Rome, and in so
doing, he had the sanction of his roasters ex
ample; who, when his disciples asked, “ why
speakest thou unto them in parables?” Was
pleased thus to account for his conduct: “ be
cause they seeing, see not—and hearing they
hear not,’neither do they understand: there
fore, by hearing, they shall hear and not un
derstand, by seeing they shall see, and shall
not perceive.” The Scripture further tells us
that God will deal with the Gentiles as ho did
with the Jews—“that they were broken off
for unbelief, and that we stand by faith.”—
That they shall be grafted in again, if they
abidg not still in unbelief, ami that we shall
be cut off’if we continue not in his goodness.
The sum of the whole matter seems to be
that God from all eternity, foreseeing that all
left to themselves, would wilfully and obstin
ately continue in sin—from all eternity, deter
mined to punish some with “everlasting de
struction from his presence,” thereby righte
ously expressing his utter abhorrence of sin.
That to express his infinite love, he determined
to pardon and save others; that in the one case
lie affords the supernatural aid of his Spirit,
anJ in the oilier, he does not deny it, because
it is not sought—it is not asked; and that in
both cases, men act freely, and without vio
lence.
Tnere seems to be but the shadow of a diffi
culty remaining. How can God invite, expos
tulate, plead with sinners, when he foresees
that they will not, and even fore-determines
that they shall not repent, and be saved ? On
this difficult question, what must we answer!
Must we say could not foresee the
event? This cannot bo admitted without
shocking injury to his perfections, as well as
to scripture,- which foresaw and foretold the rC-
joction of the Messiah by the Jews, and the
rejection of the Jews for'murdering the Mes
siah. Must we sav then that God expostulates
with none but the’ elect! But this is rather
cutting the knot than untying it. The reasons
and explications of learned men in defence of
this position are far from satisfactory; and it
seems very clear that God has c unmanded his
ministers to address invitations to all, in the
most extensive sense of the word. Must we
then sav that God is insincere in addressing
them ! This is dreadful: for ifGod can speak
falsely, dangerous is the state of tliose who
trust him. Neither of these inferences can be
admitted : indeed it would answer no end; for
to admit either of these, is to plunge ourselves
into a thousand difficulties, for the sake of re
moving one. Let us then rest where we
WASHINGTON, (Ga.) TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, IBS4.
ought to rest. ’ Let us believe the following
scriptural propositions to be true, and lot us
leave the manner of reconciling them to God,
and apply ourselves to practice: “ Known uu
to God are his works from the beginning.—
Whom ho did predestinate, them he also call
ed: the Lord hath made all things for himself,
even the wicked for the day of evil. The Lord
is patient towards all men; not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to re
pentance. The gospel is to be preached to all
nations, and to every creature; for the obe
dience of faith, wil giveth to all men liber
ally, and upbraideth not. Everyoene Hint ask
eth receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knoeketh it sliall be opened.
Whosoever shall cail on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. There is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord
over all is Tieh in mercy to all that call upon
him.” Let us believe “that without holiness
no man shall see-the Lord;” and that this is
the Father’s will—“ Every one that sesth the
Son and belicveth on him, may have everlas
ting life:” that though “it is not of hifn that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, whosoever
will may come and take of the water of lifo
freely.” I call this a shadow of a difficulty ;
for indeed a man must know very little of
God, very little of himself, and very little of
scripture, not to know that two truths may be
both certain,& yet the harmony of them beyond
Ins comprehension. It is proper for Scripture
as “ the voice of Jehovah powerful and full of
majesty,” to reveal such truths; and it belongs
to faith to receive them, fully persuaded that
things “ impossible with uien are pi ssiblo with
God.”
There are two sorts or parsons who object to
this mode ot reasonsng; the oiie pretend that
it is irrational; the other that it is unscriptur
al. I wish to know of the first, whether in ma
ny cases thousands in the world are not obliged
to receive two truths which they cannot con
ciliate ? For instance, who does not know that
every day the sea running six hours together
from South to North, makes a flood on the
coasts; and after a quarter of tin hour’s pause,
returns back again from North to South, leav
ing the£oast at an ebb! Who does not know
that t.liese are regulated by the course of the
moon ? That the Spring tides or highest
tides are about the now and full of the
moon, and that the highest, happen at the equi
noxes ! Thg moon regulates the tides, the
tides are regulated by the moon. Are these
the less true because thousands cannot account
for them ? Is this phenomenon the less true
because some philosophers ascribe it to the
compression of the atuiosphon!,goiiie 1° jba
power of gravitation, and others more tim
eaous, are afraid to pronounce the cause at all.
The monsoons or trade winds in the East In
dies, blow constantly 0 months ode way &. tlic
contrary way the other six. A constant cast
wind blows under the equator, Is it, not cer
tain that these are altogether unaccountable
to thousands, who yet ha ve the fullest evidence
of the facts! and would it at all affect the
facts, if no one in the world could account for
them ! These, with an endless number of
earthly things, are analogous to heavenly
ones; and we insist on the reasonableness of
faith in both. Those that urge scripture a
gainst us, either deny the truths advanced
because they imagine they are not Bible truths,
or else because they cannet comprehend them.
If any deny such plain truths as those, I have
no desire to converse with such; for it is plain
they are not fully attentive to the language of
scrijiture and reason: if scripture does not as
sert God’sdeerces, und man’s self-destruction,
I know not any truths which it does assert.
If any believer of scripture denies, because he
cannot comprehend tiie harmony of these, he
ought by the same rule to deny the two na
tures ol Jesus Christ; the union of soul nnd bo
dy in man; the resurrection of the dead, and
every other mystery of Revelation and reason.
In a word, God has mad 6 holiness every man’s
duty, the nature of things annexes to it pre
sent peace and future reward; let us therefore
be fully persuaded, that “the Judge of the
whole earth will do right:” that they who
“wait on him shall never be confounded.”
Let us believe that inviolable and eternal rules
of right and wrong will “reward every man
according to his works: and that the wicked”
only “shall be turned into hell.”
flow long shall divinity which ought to lend
the way to other sciences, loiter behind them
all? But I have written enough for one num
ber, and will pause, beseeching the composi
tor to be as attentive lo his copy as possi
ble, though l fear I do not improve in my
writing according lo promise.
From the American Baptist Magazine.
NEANDER ON BAPTISM.
Os all the historians of the Christian
Dr. Ncacder, Professor of Theology in the
Iloyal University of Berlin is now universally
acknowledged to be the best. No one unites
in such perfection all the qualities necessary
to this arduous task, deep evangelical piety,
superior learning, original, impartial, and thor
ough research, rare candor, and acurate philo
sophical discrimination. lie isa member ot
the established church ot Prussia, und conse
quently a Piedobaptist. Yet the mature fruits
of all his investigations respecting Baptism in
the primitive church, are such us must, we
think, dismay our lbedopartist friends, and
may well infuse a modest joy into tiro breast;
of every conscientious Baptist.
We find the following historical statements
of Neander taken from his great work on the
Primitive Church, in the Bibical Repository ;
for April 1834,’ translated from the original j
German by Prof. Robinson.—[Ed. M.vu.
In respect to the celebration of the two
symbols of Christian fellowship, baptism j
and the Lord’s supper, the appointment of j
Christ himself was to t>£ maintained and
transmitted without change; and the pe
culiar shaping of the Christian life in con
nection with the Church among the Gentile
Christians, could not extend its transform
ing influence to them. In baptism the es
sential point was the entrance into fcllow-
skip with Christ, along with which conse
quently was included the be being incorpo
rated into Christ’s spiritual boi y, —the be
ing received into the fellowship of the re
deemed, into the church of Christ. Bap
tism, therefore, in accordance with its char
acteristic feature, was to be a baptism .itito
Christ, into the name of Christ; and it can
be proven, that originally in the formula of
baptism this alone was made prominent.—
The mode of immerision in baptism, which
■foe Jews,'passed over
conseqiP ntly to the Gentile Christians also.
This fornj was doubtless best adapted to ex
press tlur which Christ intended to express
hy this symbol,.—the merging of the whole
man into anew spirit and life. Patti, how
ever, takes occasion to empoly also what
was accidental in the form of the symbol,
—the twofold action of submersion and
emersion, to which Christ in the institution
of the symbol had no regard. As Paul
found in this an allusion both to Christ as
dead and t* Christ as risen, to both the
negative aid positive aspect of the Chris
tian life, —in following Christ a dying to all
ungodliness, and in fellowship with him a
rising again to anew and divine life, —he
therefore made use hereof what was acci
dental in the received form of baptism, iri
order thus allegorically to illustrate the
idea and the object of baptism, in its connec
tion with the whole substance ofChristian
ity.
As now, baptism signified an mitrance
into fellowship with Christ, it readily fol
lowed from the nature of the case, that a
profession of faith in Jesus as the Redeem
er should be made by the candidateat the
time; and in the latter part of the apostol
ic age, there ere traces which point to the
existence of such a custom.
Since baptism was thus immediately con
nected with a conscious and voluntary ac
cession to the Christian fellowship, and faith
and baptism were always united, it is high
ly probable that baptism took place only
iu those eases where both could meet togeth
er, and that the custom of infant baptism
was not practised in this age. Front the
the examples of fhu* baptism ot whole fam
ilies, we carl hv no means infer the exis
tr-rreetffrtTr Dttprfitrtr. Oiie passage
shows the iiicorroctnes ofsucli ail inference;
for it thence appears, that the whole family
ofßtephanus, who all received paptism from
Paul was composed of adult members.—
not only would the lateness ofthe time when
the first distinct mention of infant baptism
occurs, and the long-continued opposition
which was made to it, lead us to infer its
non-apostolic origin ; but it is also in itself
not probable, that Paul, who was so urgent
in making fifth alone the foundation nnd
fundamental condition of every thing Chris
tian and who opposed hitnsclf so emphati
cally to every kind of opus operatum —that
Paul shnnld have introduced or permitted
a custom, which might so easily have been
the occasion of transfering to the rite of
baptism the illusion of a justification thro’
external things, (sarlcika,) against which,
in its applicatem lo circumcision, the same
apostle had ever so vehemently contended.
The reasoning ofPaul to the Corinthians
seems also to imply, that the children of
Christians were not yet incorporated into
the Church by baptism; hut at the same
time, this passage speaks of a sanctifying
influence from the intercourse und fellow
shp existing between parents and children;
through which influence the children of
Christian parents are distinguished from
the children of parents not Christian, and
in consequence of which they may in a
certain sense be termed (hugta,) holy, ,n
distinction from the ( akatharta,) unholy,
profane. Here now we find the idea, out
ofwhich infant baptism must and did af
terwards develope itself, and through which
it is to be justified in the spirit of Paul; al
though on the grounds above mentioned,
it is “not probable that lie himself, under
the relaxioms in which lie stood, actual
ly introduced the custom.
As to the idea, mentioned in the last
paragraph we are willing that all our rea
ders should judge for themselves. Oar
concern as Christian believers, is with the
Facts.
Who will wonder, after this, that the
voting evangelical ministers of Germany
are becoming Baptists? See the letters of
Prof. Sears in our July nnmbcr— Eu. Mag.
PeV-ra! years ago a clergyman in Massa
chusetts attended a small prayer meeting in a I
private house. Observing that one of the per-1
! sons present seemed impressed by the services, |
lie conversed with her after the meeting had
closed, and went his way. The occurrence
was forgotten by him, and he heard no more of
| that unknown individual, until a few weeks
| since, he received a note from a female about
I to sail ia a company ot missionaries to Asia,
| acknowledging her obligations to him as the iu
! strunient employed by the Spirit in first turn
| ing her thoughts decidedly to the claims of re
ligion. She was the one with whom he had
conversed alter the prayer meeting, and her
devotion to the spread of the gospel was its re
sult. Inclosed in the note was a card, on
which was written in the Uurman character,
“ he which converted! the sinner from the er
ror of his way shall save a soul from death, and
shall hide a multitude of sins."— S, S. Jour.
imSCEtLAMEOUS.
From the Christian Gazette.
THE “MOTHER” AT HOIIE,
Revelations xvii. 5.
“How it works." —ln the Dublin Chr.
E.vpminer for January, we find some in
teresting facts respecting the wojrking of
Romafiism in Ireland, arid from the char
acter of its fruits there, a pretty correct
judgment may be formed what the product
will he, if the same tree be permitted to
take root here, and send out its branches
over our land. Our first extract will be
from the account given hy the Rev. Dr.
McLeod, of Campsie, Scotland, after a
lour weeks’ scrutiny into the moral state
of Ireland. He said:
“If they wish to see the horrors of Pope
ry, they must not stop in this country; they
must cross to Ireland, nor stop on her near
borders; they must proceed, as he did, to
Connaught, to Connemara, and the west
ern districts. There they are aroused on
Sabbath morning, not by the solemn sound
of the church bell, but by the clamor of
men and women erecting their booths;
and the afternoon of the holy l day is devo
ted to every kind of revelry, countenan
ced hy the priest and friar !
“The state oflreland was indescribable.
He had himself been in a shop where peo
ple, in broad day light, came in to purchase
a certain sort of thick cloth, to wrap round
the body of a deceased friend, with a view
to mollify the flames of purgatory till ‘fa
ther’ such-a-one hud time to pray him out,
which, from a press of business, they said
ho could not do for eight or nine days-!
The common peoplo believe that not to
know their Bible is their salvation, because
in this case the responsibility falls upon the
priests. There were a number of things
put for Christ and his free salvation, be
side the priest. To deliver some from
pnvgtitwy, n-1: it ml red masses
sary, some of-whicli .cost the poor eighty
pounds. There were in Galway alone,
four thousand who worshipped the Virgin
as the Lady of Mount Carmel, and who
were allowed to wear ‘a charm’ as a per
petual safeguard and saviour ! There were
also ‘holy wells,’ to one of w hich, namely,’
the island ol'Lochdcarg, fire thousand had
resorted in one day, to perform vows and
do penance.” These poor creatures, the
Rev. Doctor himself saw going round these
wells upon their knees, with the blood
oozing out, and the flesh literally torn a
way to the bone. The ferry to this island
was let at two hundred and sixty pounds
perannnm,all paid inpcceby these votaries!
For the crying sin of holding a “Bible
meeting” at Galway, and distributing the
Scriptures, two Protestant clergymen, the
Rev. M. 11. Seymour, and J. M. Wil
son, are thus characterized in a paper in
tlmt town devoted to Romanism, and its
accredited organ:
“The Biblical junta must be put down in
Galway, it is the interest of the people of
Galwayto put down such persons, for if the
devil himself camcupon earth, he would as
sume no other garb hut that of one of these
biblicals.
“Is it to he tolerated that such reptiles as
John Marius Wilson, ct hoc genus omne,
a hell-inspired junta of incarnate fiends,
whom nothing hut the wrath of Heaven
could have sent upon the earth to spread
horror and devastation among the human
race, should be allowed to crawl upon
the earth without being at once trampled j
upon, that the malignant poison of their I
nature,” Air. “We therefore repeat that
such men should not and must not be tole- ;
rated within tho walls of Galway; and we
assert that it is the duty of Protestants and
Catholics, lor the sake of mutual good
w ill, to unite in accomplishing this desira-
i hie object.” “One serpent Ims hence j
been banished Ballinrobe, but there
still remains a greater reptile, John Mari- j
us Wilson, who must at once be trodden j
under foot: we are determined to perse
vere until we TERMINATE IUS ODI-1
OUS CAREER.”
In the same number of the Examiner, i
! we also notice an affray which occurred in j
a Roman Catholic Chapel, in consqtience
of the curate’s reading, after the celebra
tion of mass, the names of several parish- ,
ioners who had neglected to pay their \
dues!—and a similar one for two succes
sive Sundays for the occupancy of a con
tested pew, in which blows were frequent
ly exchanged, and peace for the remaind
er oftlie service secured only by persons
standing between the rival and claimants.
Such scenes are sufficiently disgraceful
in any country. In Ireland we believe
them to bo less the sin oftlie people, than
Vol. 2. No. 40.
of their religious teachers. Where has
Popery been the dominant religion, and it
could be said of it, that its spirit was
“peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entrea
ted!” *
Changing Sides.
The readers of this paper will be pleased
to learn, that quite recently, several per
sons, ministers and candidates for the min
istry, have changed their views on the sub
ject of baptism, and have embraced the sen
timents of our denomination.
Their names as they occur to mind, are
as follows:—Rev. Mr. Halping of Orwell,
Vt., and formerly pastor of the Pedobap
tist church in that town, arid a man of ex
cellent character and liberal education.
Rev. Mr. Nott, of Nashua, N. H., a gen
tleman of high standing, has renounced in
fant baptism, and with him many of his
church coincide in opinion; but he has not
yet adopted immersion as the only mode
for believers. Probably lie will not long
remain where he now is*
A student in the senior class at Andover,
after perusing Prof. Stewart’s late essay on
baptism, arose, add was immersod straight
way, and is now on his way rejoicing.—
His name has slipped from our memory at
this moment.
Mr. Willis, a licensed Pedobaptist min
ister, and a graduate of Union College, at
the last commencement, has recently been
baptized by brother A. D. Gillett, pastor’
ofthe Baptist church in Schenectady, and
is now laboring with the Baptist church itr
Amsterdam. N. Y.
We should not look upon these things
with unholy exultation, but we should hum
bly Thank God, and take courage. We
may he despised by some, but we cannot
doubt of the eternal truth of our principles.’
[iY. Y. Bap. Repository.
DEATH OF HERYEI.
J. Hervey, whose Christian character was
established by sincere piety, love to man mercy,’
and uprightness toward all, exhibited the same
character also in his last painful sickness by
his great patience. Not a single murmur es
him. lie did not receive everf a small part ofa
citrou, without praising God for that love and
care through which he had obtained so much
assistance and comfort for a sick anil frail holly l .
Ds. Stonhouse visited him about three hours
before his death. Hervey addressed him in a
most powerful and feeliug manner, concerning
the momentous concerns of his soul. He en
treated him not to be too much occupied with’
the a fours of this life, but, among his numer
ous engagements, to attend to the one thing
needful. If this is attended to, he continued,
then even the poorest will not want; if this is
neglected, the richest will be poor.
Stonhouse perceived that he spoke with in
creasing difficulty:, and that the agonies of death
approached, and accordingly entreated him to
spare himself, and not to exert himself so much
in speaking. Nay! replied Hervey, you tell
me that I have but a few minutes to live: O let
me employ them to the glory of our great Re
deemer! He then gave an explanation of the
words of Paul. All is yours, whether life or
death, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Here, he said, is the treasure of the Christian,
and a noble treasure it is. Death is reckoned 1
with it. How greatful am lon this account!
for it is the way by which I come to God, the
Author of everlasting life. I know that lie
will gradually, and at the proper season, liber
ate melrorn the bonds of mortality. This lim
ited suffering will endure but for a moment,
and then comes an eternal and unspeakable
glory. Welcome then, O death! Just ait
thou reckoned among the treasures of Christ
ianity ! For me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain!
lie now paused a few moments, and after he
had raised hiniselfa little upon his chair, thought
tho approach of death was apparent in him, he
repeated with a joyful countenance “ Lord now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” li>
a short time after, he fell asleep.
Not long since Mr. Schoolcraft, noted for
his extensive knowledge and valuable public
tions about the West, went on an expedition
to the sources ofthe Mississippi. He has just
’ published a narrative of his journey ings, and
j in his preface mentioned a fe\ facts which
i cannot tail to gratify the philanthropist and
j Christian. No ardent spirit, lie informs us,
was used hy his company from the day ofstart
| ing to the day of return. The labour was
i often excessive, and seemed to require every
thing which cou]d give his men strength.—
! But the vigour, patience, and cheerfulness
I with which they endured fatigue, clearly prov
| ed that the want ofthisstimulantdid not lessen
I their efficiency. On the contrary, Mr. S.
i asserts that with loaded canoes his company
were enabled to travel farther than the mem
! bers of any previous expedition even in light
j canoes.
But Mr - S. informs us that his pally also
halted and rested every Sabbath day. What a
| tale is this! Ilismen lying by every seventh
day, and when travelling destitute ofardent
spirit, and yet outstripping all who went before
them! How clearly docs it show, that God’s
laws all tend to good, and that the observance
of them secures it! How strong the recom
mendation of abstinence from ardent spirit, and
of the keeping of the Lord’s day holy !
[Gmabirr Observer.
Good.—lie is a good man who grieves ra
ther for him that injures him, than for his own
suti’ering; who prays for him that wrongs him,
! forgiving all his faults; who sooner shows mer
cy than anger; who offers violence to his appe
tite to subdue the flesh to the spirit.— Tuylor's
Guide to Devotion.
