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only thing required for membership in the Jewish dispensation. Hence, it follows, when we have divine authority for the rejection of Jewish adults, we have, in the same place, divine authority for the rejection of their infants or offspring. If the Christian church were merely a continuance of the Jewish church, it would, then, be a very reasonable question to ask, if the Jews complained of the abridgement of divine authority. But it is presumed, that all who are acquainted with their Bibles, will admit that the Christian church is an entire new church; so that it is neither identical, nor a continuance, nor built upon the Jewish church; but upon a new foundation, "Jesus Christ himself the chief corner stone." Therefore, all who desire to build upon that superstructure, must acknowledge the fact contained in Peter's confession, i. e. "I believe that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God," whether they be Jew or Greek, bond or free. I would recommend the querist to read at least four times over the following passages: (Ezek. xvi. 60-62, Heb. viii. 8 to the end, Gal. iv. 21 to the end)--and they will sufficiently prove his questions.

3. "If infant baptism is not of divine authority, where, or when, did it commence, and who protested against it ?"-After a little reflection and superficial investigation of "the wisdom of men, "it is not very difficult to conclude that infant baptism is of human origin. That it is of great antiquity, we always admit, while at the same time we can prove that "infant sprinkling" is of more modern origin. Suppose we failed to prove the place where, and the time when it did commence, what then? Can any one tell where, and when, the great apostacy commenced? Paul, the Apostle in writing to the believers in Thessalonica, said "The mystery of iniquity already works"-i. e. in the days in which the Apostle lived, the apostacy of which he foretold had actually began its work. Some of its seeds had not only been sown, but had began to germinate. Infant baptism, too, along with the rest, is a plant that our heavenly Father never planted. Its seeds were not sown till late in the second century of the Christian era, when some 66 bishops, in the year A. D. 150, saw some of its blooms, and resolved setting about cultivating and keeping it in order. This is the date when it is put on record. And we give any man the New Testament, from the first chapter of Matthew's testimony, to the last chapter of the Apocalypse-we will also give him the history of the world, from the first year of the Christian era to the present time and if he can prove, that an infant was baptized and admitted into the Christian church sooner than the second century, then we will say, among those who have been born of women, since the days of the apostles, he is the greatest. Before laying

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DORNOCK, AUGUST 14TH, 1849.-We have been highly favoured by a visit of Brother Service, from Glasgow: he came from Dumfries to our place on Tuesday, 31st July, and stopped with us six days, proclaiming the glad tidings; he preached here five times; at Annan, which is two miles from Dornock, three times; and one evening at a village about seven miles distant: the people listening very attentively. Besides this, he daily went from house to house. While he was with us, one made the good confession and was baptized into Jesus; and we are not without hope of more soon following their Saviour. We have all been very much refreshed by his visit. May the Lord prosper the good work in which he is engaged!

W. LATIMER.

RHOSLLANERCHRUGOG, AUGUST 14TH. — Since I wrote last to you, we have received into the church of Christ here, two females from the Baptists, and one brother restored; also five have been added by immersion to the church at Cefn-maur. EDWARD CLARK.

BANFF, AUGUST 10.-I am glad to have to inform you that we have had the pleasant duty to perform of immersing five men into the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, that they may live in the hope of immortal glory at the coming of Jesus Christ. In all of them I have great confidence of usefulness in the kingdom of Jesus, because they are intelligent, honest, and firm, in their general character. We have not had any additions for some years past, and to us it was gratifying, therefore, to give the right hand of fellowship to four on the 22nd of July, and to one on the 29th of the same month, with the full prospect of many following their example. The word of God is like himself, " quick and powerful,” and must prevail. As in the days of the apostles, so now, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all those who believe and obey him. O! that men would understand that God means what he says, and says what he means, that whoever obeys His command will receive what He hath promised.

A. CAMERON.

OLD MILLS, AUGUST 17.-It is with pleasure that I inform you that we have had the indefatigable labours of our beloved Brother Service, from Glasgow, for four weeks. Two young men put on the Lord by baptism, and are added to the church in Dumfries. Our prospect is very encouraging at present; two or three more we are expecting soon to bow to the government of Jesus. If we had a few more such men in the field as Brother Service, I have no doubt that the churches would increase and be edified. He goes from house to house, and converses with the people to win them to the Saviour. His example is well worthy of imitation for those who go forth as evangelists, to preach the gospel to their fellowmen. The churches in this locality are endeavouring to keep him on in the good work, if they can raise funds for his support, which I hope they will be enabled to do, as he is not one of those who wish to make a gain of godliness; having food and raiment he is therewith content. A. HUTCHISON.

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FAMILY CIRCLE.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE APOSTLES.—The commission, as narrated by Matthew, the evangelist, was among the last words which the Lord Messiah spoke on the earth, and before he ascended up on high. To the favored twelve he said, (Matt. xxviii. 18-20) "Go ye, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." But, at the time the Saviour delivered the commission, his disciples were far from being able or prepared to carry to the uttermost parts of the earth, these glad tidings to rebellious man. The following is then recorded by another evangelist, (Luke xxiv. 49) 'And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." Then returned they from Mount Olivet to Jerusalem. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the place where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them witness. Peter, being first in order, having the keys of the kingdom, lifted up his voice and gave them a full exposition of the things which they both saw and heard; for, as there were present Jews and devout men out of every nation under heaven, they were greatly amazed at the things which were done. This is the day, then, in which the twelve apostles were to begin

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at Jerusalem, and from thence to every nation under heaven, to proclaim reformation with respect to God, and faith with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ. But did not their journeyings through distant countries cause them to alter some of the statutes of their king? Ah, no! Whither they went to Corinth, to Ephesus, or to Rome--they proclaimed the same glad tidings in every city. When they went to Corinth, after strenuously debating with the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah, many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized. When they arrived in Ephesus, Paul asked, into what were you baptized? and they said, into John's baptism. And Paul said, John indeed administered the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe in Him who was to come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. In Rome, writing to those who were called to be saints, he says, "Do you not know, that as many as have been baptized into Christ, have been baptized into his death?" Whether they went to Syria, Asia, or Italy, they made no difference-they dare not that which the Lord has spoken must be done-what he has commanded shall stand fast. They had the same important mission to announce to all men, and maintained the same facts to all the people of God, namely-one body, one spirit, and one hope of their calling-one Lord, one faith, one baptism—and one God and Father of all, who is over all, and with all, and in all. To be harmless and blameless in advocating these facts, they asked no stipend, fee, or salary, but wrought with their own hands night and day, that they might not be chargeable to any one; nay, they endured rather the greatest privations. How heroically and faithfully were they to the trust committed to them! Remember the great persecution which arose against the church in Jerusalem, which was the cause of dispersing abroad all the disciples (proclaimers) except the apostles, who remained in Jerusalem, enduring persecution, for no other reason than to proclaim repentance and remission of sins to the betrayers and murderers of their beloved Lord and Master. And three thousand gladly received the word, and were baptized. But, still more strange, the disciples increased to the number of 5000; and many of the priests became obedient to the faith, the Lord adding the saved daily to the congregation. Indefatigable labour ! amazing success! They shrunk not from their duty -they never abandoned their honorable post: though the flames of persecution raged far and wide, they boldly, and without any restraint, proclaimed Jesus. They trembled not at the fiercest lion from the forest, nor the fires which were kindled for their destruction-they feared not their lives unto the death--they knew well that bonds and imprisonment awaited them in every city. Still they toiled and labored, consoling themselves in

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being considered worthy to suffer for the Lord's sake. In all the countries through which they travelled, they altered not one decree: faith, baptism, and a new life, were embodied in their commission to Jew and Gentile, bond and free. In spite of all opposition, they proclaimed the gospel to all nations, announcing that Whosoever believed and was baptized would be saved, and whosoever believed not would be condemned." Now I ask, shall we continue to erect monuments sacred to the memory of those heroes whose renown is that of having led thousands of their fellow-men to the field of battle, making countless numbers of widows and orphans—and not yield our weapons of warfare up to the holy prophets and apostles, when, in so doing, we raise our hearts to heaven, sacred to their memory ?-D. F.

CONTEMPT OF THE PAST.-There is a school among us who talk of the past as though nothing, or next to nothing, had been derived to us from it. In the view of these persons, our own age stands wholly independent of all preceding ages. It does not seem to be suspected that the present, in at least some nineteentwentieths of what it includes, is really the creation of the past. Civilization is of slow growth. Many long ages are needed to realize it. It has required the labour and enterprise of eighteen centuries to place these independent speculators in the condition into which they were born. This is true of all the civilized men of Europe found northward of the Alps and the Pyrenees. In spite of themselves, their outward allotment, and their very habits of thought, have come to them--not as something self-originated, but as something inherited. Quarrel with this dependence as they may, they do owe it to their civilized progenitors that they are not themselves savages. Now we must be allowed to say, that in the language of contempt in reference to the past to which we are sometimes compelled to listen, there is, in our judgment, something more censurable than folly than mere flippancy, or coarseness of feeling. Such conduct betrays a want of gratitude, no less than a want of taste. It is dishonest and ignoble.* The men whom those parties despise after this fashion, are the men

"There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same, and to all of the same. He that is once admitted to the rig t of reason, is made a free man of the whole estate. What Plato has thought he may think, what a saint has felt he may feel, what has at any time befallen any man he can understand. Who hath access to this universal mind is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent. All that Shakespear says of the king, yonder slip of a boy, that reads in the corner, feels to be true of himself. Why all this difference to Alfred, and Scanderberg, and Gustavus? Suppose they were virtuous, did they wear out virtue? Why should we not have a poetry and philosophy of insight, and not of tradition. and a religion of revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?" In this manner Mr. Emerson discourses to our youth about " Selfreliance."

who have been their greatest benefactors. As to the pure folly of this kind of talk, it will suffice to remark, that, next to the resolve not to profit by the experience of ancestors, should come the determination not to profit by that of contemporaries; and the man who has thus decided that he will not profit at all by the experience of others, has only one step in this chain of inconsistency remaining, which is, to decide that he will not profit by experience in any form-not even by his own! So logical and refined may men become in an age so far transcending all others in its developments of wisdom. Absurd as this may sound, it is really nothing more than a veritable rendering of much that passes for brilliant philosophy in our time. One of our philosophical seers has taught, with much earnestness and iteration, that the man who would learn wisdom should

aim to divorce his mind, not only from the past, but as far as possible from all other minds. He is himself a thinker; what need then that other men should think for him? All that man has been, he may be. In himself he possesses all that man has been or is. Why then look abroad for that which may be found at home? There is nothing known he may not know, nothing felt he may not feel. Why then all this concern about the mind of ancestors, or the mind of contemporaries? His own mind is all mind in epitome-the world in little, or rather in great, from its being the world which, in his case, may be subjected to the closest inspection. Strictly to this effect is the teaching of Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson. -Dr. Vaughan.

Fight hard against a hasty temper. Anger will come, but resist it stoutly. A spark may set a house on fire, and a fit of passion may give you cause to mourn all the days of your life.

THE LAW OF LOVE.

POUR forth the oil-pour boldly forth-
It will not fail until
Thou failest vessels to provide,

Which it may largely fill.
But soon as such are found no more,

Though flowing broad and free
Till then, and nourished from on high,
It straightway staunched will be.
Dig channels for the streams of love,
Where they may broadly run-
For LOVE has ever-flowing streams
To fill them every one.
But if, at any time, thou cease

Such channels to provide, The very founts of love for thee

Will soon be parched and dried. For we must share, if we would keep

That good thing from aboveCeasing to give, we cease to have: Such is the law of love.

CONVERTING INFLUENCE.

L.

you

NO. V.

to E.

Bethpage, April 20th.

of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel." What cause of unbounded gratitude we also have, that in the midst of these natural blessings, we have not been left in ignorance of the source from whence they flow; that we, too, are privileged to know that " God hath made us, and not we ourselves"— that we, too, are "the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand !"

Upon the left a prospect presents itself of a more wild and romantic character. It is here that a thousand fountains, which rising upon the hills, and falling in glittering spray from rock to rock, and flowing thence through deep and shady glens to commingle their waters in the valley, have formed at length a large and rapid stream, whose winding course is distinctly traced by steep and rocky cliffs, projecting alternately from either side, until at a distance of eight miles they are lost in the highlands which border the Ohio river. Here and there upon the sides of these ridges, dark green pines grow upon naked rocks down to the water's edge, while their summits are covered with their native forests, and few signs of human habitation appear, except that one may perceive at an immense distance, like a stain upon the sky, in the verge of the horizon, the smoke of a town upon the river, or hear occasionally, borne upon the sultry breeze, the regular breathing of the engines of steam-boats passing

It would be but a poor return, my dear E. for your descriptions of Mexican scenery, to give you an account of the quiet vales and sloping hills of this part of Virginia. Yet I have no doubt would admit that the beneficent Creator has vouchsafed even to us peculiar gifts, could you from this eminence survey with me a landscape which, however familiar, can never lose its charms. At a distance of perhaps 30 miles, a chain of high and irregular hills, covered with groves of trees, and robed in those soft empurpled tints by which "distance lends enchantment to the view," form, by their wavy outline, faintly sketched, as it were, upon the sky, the circumference of an immense circle, whose sweep the eye may follow for more than 80 miles. Within this field of vision, scenery of a varied character presents itself. Upon the right, a succession of hills seem gradually to blend with each other as they become more and more remote; presenting, upon their steep ascents, the rich foliage of the oak or maple; and, upon their summits, extensive ranges of undulating table-land, divided into cultivated farms. The farmhouses, embosomed in blooming orchards, the deep green woods, the clumps of locust upon neighbouring summits, the brighter green of the wheat-fields, and the graceful round-up and down. ed form of lofty eminences dotted But it is when we advance to the over with flocks of sheep, give to this brow of the hill in front that we enpart of the picture the attributes of joy a view the most picturesque and the beautiful. Contentment, security, interesting. A green and fertile valand peace, seem here to reign; fer-ley, about one mile in width and two tility of soil ensures plenty, and in length, spreads itself out like a salubrity of climate health. In viewing this scene, I am reminded of the divine promise to his ancient people-"I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains

beautiful painting upon canvass. Lofty hills enclose it apparently on every side, yet it is evident that they must retire and open a passage both at the upper and lower end for the

stream which is seen to flow through | its whole extent in a serpentine course, distinctly marked by the leafy elms and marbled sycamores which line its banks and lean towards its waters. At the upper end of the valley may be perceived partially concealed by a projecting ridge, the white out-houses and enclosures of the retired and pleasant abode known as Bethany. A little lower down upon an eminence immediately adjacent to the stream, a house of worship may be noticed, almost hidden in a clump of oaks. A few small but neat tenements, with their enclosures, are scattered here and there, and add to the cheerfulness of the scene. A little lower down, however, and upon a considerable eminence near the centre of the valey we are presented with the more imposing dimensions of Bethany College. Here, far from the pride, extravagance, and dissipation of cities, may youth be nurtured and instructed. As no neighbouring fens can infect the purity of the atmosphere around, or poison the springs of life; so no corrupting example can here impair the strength of moral principle, or overcome the power of habitual virtue. Amid these rural and peaceful scenes, the giddy and tumultuous vanities of life may find no place; but studious youth may store their minds with useful knowledge, spending the intermediate hours in social converse, or with some loved companion seated upon a grassy bank musing upon former scenes, or future joys, may be trained to usefulness and honor, in the midst of influences every way calculated to facilitate this object, while they leave unrepressed the genial feelings, and warm affections which, in the spring-time of life, are fountains of delight, gushing forth from unselfish hearts

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'Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed, Less pleasing when possess'd; The tear forgot as soon as shed,

The sunshine of the breast."

volcanic mountains whose intestine fires and flaming tops penetrate into the very regions of perpetual snow, and whose fearful explosions burst forth even beneath the ocean, elevating the earth above its former level, and in the awful convulsions of the earthquake burying thousands in the ruins of their dwellings : nor glory in the charming scenery and genial climate of a region where vice and misery, ignorance and bigotry, tyranny and oppression every where prevail; and where revolutions in government vie in frequency and in desolating power, with, earthquakes and tornadoes. Ah! never would I exchange the peaceful and beautiful scenery of this happy land, blessed with such civil and religious privileges, even for the "perpetual spring," the "never-fading flowers," the "dikes of porphyritic rocks," or all the romantic beauties of the Plateau of Anahuac.

Having thus, I hope, fairly balanced my account with you, as far as these matters are concerned, I wish now to confer freely with you in regard to the important subject of converting influence, to which you have called my attention. Indulge me, however, in the first place, in a few general observations.

It appears to me that this subject of spiritual influence and converting power has never yet been fully and fairly treated by our religious disputants. And I confess I am as little pleased with the manner as the matter of their communications upon the subject. There has been too much confidence and dogmatism; too much moral philosophy, opinionism, and speculation in its discussion.

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The whole subject of mental operations and spiritual agency confessedly abstruse and mysterious. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? The eye cannot see itself-can the mind then understand itself? Can the spirit of man, cloistered within

Boast then no more my dear E. of the narrow precints marked out by a

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