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T. D. MARTIN. Editor.
VOL AXXV.—New Series, Vol 24.
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Ffom Pie Examiner.
THE BAPTIST CHURCHES.
Notes on their Principles and Practice.
I intended, at an early period, to have
oftvivd some suggestions on the subject• of
tfie licensure and ordination of ministers.
What I should perhaps have done before,
1 will endeavor to do now.
I have often heard our mode of licensing
ministers spoken of with marked disre
spect. It has been said, How can we have
any improvement in the ministry, while
the authority of licensing ministers is held
by the church? What do common, uuedu
"caT(R! ftfWlhretr know abont the 4itness of a
man to pr -ach the gospel? Ido not say
that other men have heard sfich remarks, 1
only say 1 have heard them myself.
Now, with this whole course of remark,
I have not the remotest sympathy. I be
lieve that our mode is not only as good as
any other, hut farther than this, that it is,
more nearly than any other, conformed to
the principles of the New Testament. —
Let. our churches then never surrender this
authority to single ministers, or to coun
cils, or to any other organization whatever.
1 believe that Christ has placed it in their
hands, and they have no rigiit to delegate
it. Let them use it in the manner requir
ed by the Master, and it can be placed in
no safer hands.
In the Episcopal church, the candidate
is admitted to the ministry by the Bishop.
In the Lutheran church, I Relieve, substan
tially in the same manner. In the Pres
byterian church, it is done by Presbyte
ries. ll ive these means been successful j
in keeping the ministry pure in doctrine, j
and holy in practice? How is it in the Es- i
tahlished church of England? llow is it
in the Lutheran churches in Germany, of
whose tender mercies onr own brother
Oncken has had so large an experience?
llow is it with the old Presbyterian church
of Scotland? Os the former condition of
th is last, we may inform ourselves, hv j
reading “Witherspoon's Characteristics. 1 ’ i
llow much they have improved of late
years, the secession of the Free church
might possibly inform us. But to bring
this matter to a test, would we exchange
our ministry, just as it is. for the ministry
of either of these churches at the present
day? Or take our own country, where
freedom of opinion, and the watchfu ness •
of other dvnmiitnilliixis lnv.l <i }>. nvtri'ful |
influence over these churches in matters ;
of admission to the ministry, and look at j
the result. The object of a church of i
Christ is to subdue the world to God.— <
Which mode of admitting men to the min- I
istrv has here been most successful in this
respect? For a long time after the settle
ment of the colonies, Biptist sentiments
were confined almost exclusively to Rhode
Island. Some of our Rhode Island minis
ters were whipped and imprisoned for hold
ing a private religion* meeting in Lvnn,
Massachusetts. The Revolution, however,
abolished, for the most part, the power of
the established ordets, and our sentiments
began to extend. At this period, we were
few and feeble. The men have hut recent
ly died who remembered when our whole
denomination embraced hut two or throe
Associations. The land was filled with
Congregational, Presbyterian and Episco
palian churches. We now, J presume,
outnumber them all, and we should have
outnumbered them to a vastly greater ex
tent, had we not swerved from onr origi
nal practices and principles for the sake of
imitating onr neighbors. We need not
certainly speak lightly of a ministry, or
of ci mode of introducing men to the min
istry which has led to such remarkable re
suits.
We want no change in our mode of li
censing candidates. We do, however,
need that the subject should receive more
Glljf Cljristian 3nbcx.
attention, and shut in this, as in every-/
t!dng connected with the church of Christ,
we should special ly act in the fear of God.
if a church will act in this matter, with
conscientious desire to please the Matter,
we know of no better hands into which
We could entrust the power of admission
to the ministry. Some twenty-five ysars
since. I knew a church refuse a license to
two young men-, to whom, 1 presume, it
•would have been remiilv granted hv al
most any Bishop, or Presbytery. Both
were graduates ot college; one w\w among
I:very was so exceedingly dull, that he
could by ntr possibility interest an audi
ence. He was refused a license because
the brethren could obtain no, cvidence'.thni
he was called tu the work, inasmuch a* be
had no aptness to teach. He, however,
persevered, obtained a license'from .some
chrifeh less scrupulous, and if I mistake
not, wens through a Theological Seminary; 1
and received what is called a thorough
training, but I think he w?? 8 never called
t<t bp the pastor of any din fell, and so far
as I'kn.ow, never entered upon the work of
the ministry. The other was the case of a
young man of brilliant powers of elocu
tion, end very respectable scholarship;
hut* of erratic and eccentric character. -7-
The same - church Defused to license him,
•because they deemed him wanting in the
sobriety of character and consistency of
example which are required in a minister
of Jesus Christ. Subsequent events prov
ed that they di I not act without good rea
son. if all our churches would act in this
manner, we should wgut to go no further
to find a safe depository of the power of
admitting men to the ministry. If, on the
other hand, we are false to ourselvfcs, and
treat tills subject as a matter of form, to
l>e acted upon without much thought, or
much consideiation, it is not our princi
ples, but ourselves that are in fault. Any
system that snail could devise, would make
mischief, if it were treated with the
thoughtlessness which I fear is fast over
spreading many of our churches.
Let us then look fora moment Upon this
subject, as our churches profess to under
stand it. We believe that there is such a
thing as a call to the ministry; that is, that
a man is move 1 to enter upon the work by
fko .11 1 ily. Spirit, * Tin's call is manifested
in two ways; first in his own heart, and”
Secondly, in the hearts of his brethren.—
So far as he himself is concerned, it ap
pears in the form of a solemn conviction
of duty resting upon him, with such weight
that he believes it impossible for him to
please Christ in any other way than in
preaching the gospel. He dares notenter
upon any other pursuit, until he has made
every effort in his power to he admitted to
this work. I beg these remarks to be re
membered. They may he considered by
many as obsolete and behind the age. It
may he so, and yet the age may he wrong.
There is a word of prophecy surer than
this age, or than any age. I know it is
common to hear men, even Baptists, talk
of the choice of a profession, and of bal
ancing in their minds whether they should
ho lawyers, ministers, teachers, or physi
cians. They will say, perhaps, they dis
like the turmoil of politics, the hard and
irregi.lar labor of a physician, the monot
ony of teaching, they are fond of study,
of writing, and of quiet mental improve
ment, and besides, they can enter the min
istry, le married and settled so much ear
lier and s-t nint h more easily than would
he possible in any other profession, that
they, on the whole, prefer it. Now I would
alwavs dissuade such a man from enter
ing the ministry at all. If he could, with
just as clear a conscience, be a lawyer as a
minister, let him be a lawyer by all means.
The church of Christ can do without him.
He proposes to enter the ministry of rec
onciliation from merely selfish motives,
and the Savior has no occasion for his ser
vices. He makes a convenience of the
ministry of the word, he uses it to pro
mote his own objects, he is a hireling
whose own the sheep are not. If he be
gins in this way, in JJiis way he will, un
less the grace of God prevent, continne.
lie will soon tire of the work and leave it.
fpr something else, or he will continue in
it, to shed around him on every side the
example of yvell-e 1 nested, cold, worldly
minded selfishness.
And here, at the risk of being consider
ed a Puritan of the deepest dye, I must
hazard another remark. This notion of
considering the ministry in the same light
as any other profession, to he preferred
merely on the ground of personal advan
tage, is working very grave evils in the
church of Christ I rejoice, however, to
declare that I believe these views to be
much less prevalent among Baptists than
among otlrer denominations. A young
man preparing for the mini-try with these
views, feels himself much in the condition
of anv other professional student. He
takes frequently^a pride in sinking every
thing that smacks of the cloth. lie is anx
ious to appear a man of the world. He
will talk over fashionable insipidity and
personal gossip, with the most amusing
volubility. He converses about his ser
mons, as a young lawyer would about his
pleas’ or political harangues. He isl more
at home at the evening party than at the
bed-side of the dying, and isoftener seen
at the concert than the prayei-meeting.
If any one should suggest that such a life
was not quite consistent with the chafa*
Peafield, Georgia, Tlwrsday, February 7, 1856.
tor a yoaug evangelist, he would proba-..
bly ask, with most amusing innocence,
What is the harm of all this? He means
to discharge bis professional duties, and
this being done, why should he not indulge
bis tastes aud love of society, just as well
as any other professional man? The Apos
tle James seemed to think bis question un
answerable, when he asked, “Doth a foun
tain send forth at the same place sweet wai-
bitter? 0n a fig tree, my breth
ren, bear olive berries, either a vine figs?
so can no fountain both yield salt water
which this can be done. The same lips
can discass the insipidities of fashion du
ring the week, and the solemn'truths of re
pentance toward* God and the eternal
judgment.*,on the Sabbath. Brethren,
these things ought not so to be. •*
Snppose snch a man entqrs the ministry
and assumes the care of souls. He is con
tinually comparing himself with men ot
other professions. > They strive to advance
themselves, why should he nr>k do.the
same? His object is not to convert souls,
but to distinguish himsfelf as a writer, or
speaker, and thus to secure some more eli
.gible professional situation’, a church in a
city, a splendid edifice, a congregation of
the rich, the fashionable, and the well
conditioned. Or,-he may desire flie fame
of a lecturer, or may seek for any'other
form of distinction and notoriety, to which
success in the pulpit may conduct him.—
If the.ministry of the gospel is like other
professions, why should he not? But if
the Holy Ghost has called him to follow in
the footsteps of Christ, and has commit
ted immortal Bouls to his charge, and if he
will be called to account for the proof
which he has given of the ministry; in a
word, if religion be ft reality and no sham,
if the crown of glory he bestowed only on
those who fight the good fight, if only
those who turn sinners to righteousness
shall sliine as the stars forever—why, then
it is a very different matter.
ROGER WILLIAMS.
#
* SPIRITUALISM.
This monstrous delusion be
spreading, notwithstanding its rqpuneia
tion by many of its and
zealons apostles. . Like ogy, the
subject will long W nw
of small information, and, fofatime, carry
some away.
John F. Whitney, Esq., of New York,
has recently had his eyes open to see the
folly and evil of these rapping clubs, and
has manfully published his renunciation
of the whole scheme.
Mr. W. is editor of the New'Tork Path
finder, and has, for months past, edited a
journal exclusively devoted to Spiritual
ism. He represents himself as having
been “at the head of the most extensive
establishment in existence for the investi
gation of the phenomena, publishing one
of the leading journals, devoted entirely
to the cause, and employing about the
premises no less than eiglit mediums, for
public sittings, for investigation and in
structions, and this establishment being
carried on at an expense of over two hun
dred dollars a week,” comes out in bold re
nunciation of the whole craft; still enter
taining belief in the “undeniable evidences
of the existence of disembodied spirits.”
He hire deliberately concluded from this
large experience and observation, that the
whole thing is abominable, and says,
“Now, after along and constant watchful
ness, 6ecing for months and years its pro
gress, and its practical workings upon its
devotees, its believers and its mediums, we
are compelled to speak our honest convic
tion, which is that the manifestations com
ing through the acknowledged mediums,
who are designated as Rapping, Tripping,
Writing and Entranced Mediums, have a
baneful inflnenco upon its believers, and
create discord and confusion; that the gen
erality of these teachings inculcate false
ideas, approve of selfish individual acts,
and indorse theories and principles which,
when carried out, debase and make men
but little better than the brute. These
are among the fruits of modern Spiritual
ism, and we do not hesitate to say, that
we believe if these manifestations are con
tinued to be received, and to bn as little
understood as they are, and have been,
6ince they first made their appearance at
Rochester, and mortals are to he deceived
by their false, fascinating, and snake-like
charming powers which go with them, the
day will come when the world will requirt
the appearance of another Savior to re
deem the world by'its departing from
Christ’s warning to his followers to beware
of wolves in sheep’s clothing, and to try
what manner of Bpirits ye were of.”
And again he says: “Seeing, as we
have, the gradual progress it makes with
its believers, particularly its mediums,
from lives of morality to that of sensuali
ty and immorality, gradually and cautious
ly undermining the foundation of good
principles, we look hack with amazement
to the radical changes which a few months
will bring about in individuals, for its ten
dencies are to approve and endorse each
individual act and character, however good
or bad those acts may be.”
Tha article from which these extracts
are made, concludes as follows ; •
“We desire to send our warning voice,
and if our humble position, as the head of
ft piblit jftftrftftl, ear known advocacy of
THE TRUTH IN LOVE*
, **? “ ■
Sjjritufilism, onr experience, and the con
spfeuous part we have played among !ta
believers, the honesty and ’ fearlessness
wifb which we-have defended the subject,
w*T| weigh anything jn onr favor, we de
sire that onr opinions may be received,
ami those who are moving passively down
tl rushing rapids to destruction, should
pause, ere if be. too late, and save them
se’Hs from the blasting influence which
those manifestations are causing.”
purely, such a testimony, from snch a
roan, must opsm the eyes of some of the
au4.o%ck the craft of the design
’ tr
tractsrfor your paper.— Ch. Chronicle.
CIRCUMCISION—ITS .NATURE, DESIGN
AND PERPETUITY.
BY REV. JOHN WINTER, WHEELING, VA.
Ow-
It having been fully ascertained .1 y
those, who’ had carefully examined thesul-.
ject, and the fact having been fully conce
ied, that-there does not exist in the whole
< f the New Testament, one single precept
or example, or any certain ground, from.
ivhich to draw even an inference of the
practice, or even existence of infant bap
tism, the advocates of that rite have’ had
resource to the Old Tesrament for the foun
dation arid support of a New Testament
ordinance. That foundation and support,
these advocates and propagators of this
rite suppose they have discovered in the
covenant of circumcision, which God made
with Abraham. This covenant, therefore,
has formed variety of explanations
and of extended discussions in connection
with the controversy respecting the ordi
nance of baptism. Circumcision has con
sequently finned a constituent part of this
controversy for three hundred years, equal
ly as real as though it were essential to
the existence of the rite, and as though
God in the revelation of his will had uni
ted them together in an inseparable bond,
never to he broken. And yet when we
come to examine the subject through the
whole range of that revealed will of God,
it is impossible to find a single conjoining
link, or even the most remote intimation
of such a union. All is evidently the work
of human and of earthly logic,
to try to what God has kept
Tn modern ■Rill (ilfrpldved for the
purpose of what is evidently
felt to be the tottering system t of infant
sprinkling, there is nothing that is relied
upon with so much confidence, as that
which is derived from its supposed connec
tion with the Abrahamic covenant. Yet
in the application of this argument to the
subject of this New Testament ordinance,
many things have been obliged to be ta
ken for granted which ought to have been
proved. As, for instance, that the differ
ent covenants which God made with Abra
ham at different times, under dissimilar
circumstances and for different ends, were
nil one and the same covenaut; that the
covenant of circumcision was the coven
ant of grace, and the covenant of grace
Ovas the covenant of circumcision. And
in order to give force and efficacy to this
argument, it is necessary, also, to take for
granted that infants are saved in virtue of
their interest in this covenant, that they
ijxe inducted into this covenant by the rite
(i>f circumcision, that thereby they become
members of the church of God, and of
right are entitled to enjoy its privileges in
virtue of this covenant. It is also claim
ed as a foundation on which to rear this
superstructure, that a visible church ex
isted in the days of Abraham, duly organ
ized, with laws, officers, and ordinances;
aud that this Abrahamic church was the
same in all its essentialities, with the Jew
ish and Christian churches. Nor is it less
confidently claimed, that circumcision was
duly abolished at the establishment of the
Christian dispensation, and that baptism
came in its room without any change in
the law by the Divine lawgiver, and vet,
that the substituted rite has renewed and
enlarged privileges, and that, therefore,
infants now have a rite to baptism, and to
some undefined and undefinable sort of
church membership. Or, at least, that
the infants of believing parents have, in
virtue of parental faith, this privilege con
ferred upon them. AH thesethingß,how
evor, are only a part of what it is neces
sary to take for granted, or to prove, in
order to establish the right of infant hap
tism from this covenant.
Not one of these positions, however,
can he granted. Not one of them, in our
opinion, can he sustained and established
from the word of God. We view all of
them as assumptions, without warrant,
built upon the sand or dependant upon the
inference or sophistry of men.. And,
therefore, the whole superstructure reared
upon them cannot hot fall to the ground.
The covenant made with Abraham as
contained in the twelfth chapter of Gene
sis, and the covenUnt of circumcision as
contained in the seventeenth chapter of
the same book, are essentially different
and distinct in their nature, purposes and
blessings, and cannot as we purpose in the
sdquel of onr remarks to show, be identi
fied as one and the same covenant. Nor
can the covenant of circumcision be mad
to appear the covenant of grace; nor yet
the new covenant promised to be made by
Jehovah with the house of Israel and Ju
dah in Jer.uxi.3l And referred to by
Paul, Heb.- vii. 9,10, 41, where the imper
sections of jhe one is assigned as the
ground of the establishment of the other.
or, even were it granted that the cove
nant of circumcision was the identical
covenant styled by Jeremiah and Paul
the new covenant , would it afford the least
foundation for infant sprinkling or bap
tism. Infants are not saved by the new
covenant, and, therefore, they he
connected with it in ashy manner that rep
resents them as interested in its sating
blessings. The new covenant ha 9 refer
ence to believers, and to that divine trans
formation which is wffeetod . upon.—tludjc,
hearts, and that divine illumination which
they experience, by which they are brought
to ‘■'■know the LetrdT “They shall all know
the Lord,” is its stipulation, and conse
quently cannot include infants. We fully
(relieve, not*oly in the salvation of in
fants, hut also that they must he saved,
as sitiners. and saved in virtue of.that
blood of Jelhis Christ. But their salva
tion, in the application .of the blood, is ef
fected in a different manner from the sal
vation of the actual and criminal trans
gressor ot God’s, law. That gracious be
ing who applies the virtue of the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ to adults through faith,
can, in the gracious economy of his fe
de.nption, apply it to dying infants, with
out faith. Faith, when placed beside the
procuring and meritorious cause of onr
salvation, lias no mor;’ meritorious’ influ
ence than works. It is only the divinely
appointed or constituted medium of salva
tion to adults as bejngs capable of exorci
sing it* It most Ire indisputably manifest
to every creature of intelligence, that the
command to believe can extend no farther
than there exists a capability to exercise
faith. So the commission to preach the
gospel to every creature does not extend
to infants, hut to intelligent beings who
are capable of recognizing its claims and
obeying its commands. And this princi
ple must he equally manifest in reference
to the subjects of baptism.
Nothing is more clear to an inquirer af
ter truth, than the fact that there was no
visible church in existence in the days of
Abraham. There was nothing which had
either the name, organization, officers, or
attributes of a church, and consequently
the idea of the church membership of in
fants baked upon such a supposition must
he a e carmqt find that
the whole records of inspiratiQh furmKh
even the- most remote hint of the existence
6f Inch a churchyffiuch le6S of infant?
membership.’ The very name had at that
period no existence. The covenant of cir
curacision, whatever is its nature, or what
ever blessings it insures, is an everlasting’
covenant, unchanged and unchangeable.
To conclude, therefore, that anything has
superceded it, or come in its room, is illog
ical, incorrect, and unscriptural. >lt is oft
en contended that this covenant remains
the same in its blessing*, but that it is
changed in the manner in which these
blessings are secured and enjoyed. That
is to say, that it remains the same coven
ant, and yet, that it is vastly different in
the nature and recipients of its blessings.
Now, however strange this may appear to
a sober and inquiring mind, yet the con
tinuance ot this identical covenant with re
newed and enlarged privileges, of which
we hear so much in Pedobaptist arguments,
must all be taken for granted to make it
of any avail in the establishment of the
validity of infant baptism.
It is our design in the following columns,
to present the trnb nature of circumcision
—the design which the blessed God had
in its establishment, as far as we can learn
this design from the sacred volume—to
point out and establish the perpetuity of
this covenant, and consequently to exhibit
such scriptural evidence and argument as
shall plainly show, that it at present exists
justas God originally established it, with
out revocation or change; that this coven
ant is dissimilar to ami distinct from the
covenant of grace, or the covenant of re
demption; that it was to Abraham a sign
and seal of the righteousness of faith, even
of that faith which he had while lie was
yet in uneircumcision, that he might be
the father of all them that believe. If we
shall succeed in the establishment of these
propositions, it will give anew aspect to
the controversy respecting infant baptism.
It will of necessity compel its present adr
vacates to seek support for their system
from some other source than that which
can he derived from the covenant ot cir
cumcision.
(To be continued.)
TWELVE QUESTIONS FOR A WET SAB
BATH.
1. If it were any other day, would I be
kept at home by the weather ?
2. Did I ever stay away form my busi
ness, from a party, from an amusement,
for such a rain or snow as this ?
3. If it were a public meeting for some
other purpose than divine worshp, would
I think it too had a day to go out (
4. Would I go to church isl could save
a dollar by it, or gain a customer?
5. If my own church be distant, is there
none that is near where I may he sure of
finding a vacant seat to-day.
6. If I am afraid of spoiling my best
clothes, had 1 not better go in my common
drees, than lose the benefit of the meeting,
and neglect ray duty ?
,7. Hare l se •▼er-wat, orer-iboes, and
J.T. BLAIN, Printer.
umbrella, that will koep me from being
cold and preserve my Sunday dress front
■ - x' 1 ‘
8. Am i no* nearer to the church than
•many who are never kept away by bad ‘
weather!
9. If every one should find an excuse
for absence as easily as I do, what would
be the appearance of our churches on the
Lord’s day?
10. Is it not a dishonour to my Maker,
if tor reasons that would not influence me
in worldly matters, I keep from the stated
worship of the sanctuary ?
, 11.. Ii not a wet Sabbath at home a
more dreary day than one that is diversi-’
fined by going out to church ?
12. Ami willing that my children learn
by my example that they may go to school,
to market, to store, to shows, in wet weath
er—bnt not to ehnrch ?— Presbytei-ion.
GOOD~PREACHXNG.
,Opinious bout sermons and preachers
vary as widely as the diversities of human
temperaments and human taste, but that
preaching only can plaim to be called Good,
which accomplishes fta object, in impress
ing upon the hearer a sense of hie sinful
ness, and his need of Christ Jesus as a
Saviour. Robert Morris once remarked to
* harlcs West Thompson that he liked that
kind of preaching which made “ the con
gregation cower in the pews, and feel as if .
the devil were after them.” M. Bungener,
the eloquent author of the. Preacher and
the King,” has expressed the same idea in
more elegant language : “Earth offers no
grander sight than that of the sacred ora
tor chasing before him his fellow-men, nar
rowing at each step the space in which he
permits them to move, till he has hemmed
them, breathless, between the law that
condemns and the cross that saves.” Such
scenes have been witnessed in congrega
tions, when a Whitefield has swayed with
resistless power a sword of 60oty colliers,
or an E IwarJs, in the wicked town of En
field, has made his hearers tremble, as if
the tiump of jqdgment were about to
sound. We fear that such close and search
ing preaching, pungent without the odium
of personality, is too rare in pulpits. —
Warren Hastings said that when listening
to Burke’s speech in conducting the prose
cution against him, that though he had
before thought himself innocent of any
grave;charges, he then “ felt himself to be
nie most guilty pdfraon.i ****** dJL.
cfed eloquence, productive of similar ef
(fifct9, is greatly needed in our pulpits.—
The hearers often retire from the sanctua
ry, adniiflng the learning and the taste,
or elocution of the preacher, too rarely
heating on their breasts and saying, “God
be merciful to me a sinner.”
INFANT BAPTISM IN NEW ENGLAND.
The Boston correspondent of the Journ
al of Commerce says:
“ A Presbyterian pastor of this city
baptised three infants last Sabbath In his
own house of worship, and, in connection,
gave to their parents quite minute direc
tions as to the duties they owed to the chil
dren. lie gained their assent that they
would perform their duties.
“ In onr Congregational churches we
fear that there is considerable indifference
and neglect in reference to infant baptism.
In one of our oldest churches in the State,
there had not been, a few years since, an
instance of infant baptism for the seven
preceding years Last year there were
seventy Congregational churches in New
Hampshire that, reported no infant bap
tisms. This year ninety-six churches or
about one-half in the State, report none.-
If this indifference continues, the ordi
nance will become extinct in the Congre
tional Church.
Wherever the fundamental Baptist doc
trine of each individual’s direct persona’
responsibility to God is faithfully preach
ed, it extends its influence through entire
communities, affecting, more or less, the
great mass of those who retain their con
nection with some other denomination.
True Religion. —Old Jeremy Taylor, in
describing the religion of a certain pious
female, thus beautifully, though quaintly
remarks : “The religion of this excellent
lady took root downwards in humility, and
brought forth fruit upwards in the substan
tial graces of the Christian; in charity and
justice, in chastity, and modesty, and true
friendship and sweetness of conversation.
She had not so much of the forms and out
side of godliness, but she was careful of
the honor of it, for the moral, useful, spir
itual, essential parts —snch.as would make
one to he, and not *eem to be, religious.”
Facts to be Considered.— The annual
eost of the support of the ministry in the
United States is estimated at $6,000,000;
of lawyers in the United States, $35,000,-
000; of intoxicating drinks, $46,000,000.
It is estimated that the incense alone which
is burned in the Chinese empire, in the
worship of their idols, annually costs
£90,000,000 sterling, or a little more than
one dollar for each man, woman and child.
And wbat does it cost to feed priests, buy
gods, build temples &c. ?
Curious Superstition. —ln many parts
of France, it is said to be the popular be
lief that fire kindled bv lightning, cannot
be extinguished; and that the persons
making the attempt will die before the end
of the year. ‘
Number 6.