Chapter II: Part 2

The paper of W. N. in your November number, whilst it contains some very valuable remarks on the abuse of the term _moral_, appears to aim at overthrowing one particular instance of a very general abuse, and to strike at the branch, whilst it leaves the root to flourish with the same vigour as before. The expression "moral approbation and disapprobation" cannot be deemed an unnecessary application of the term _moral_, because approbation and disapprobation are frequently excited in the mind by _physical_ agents; and although Dr. Wardlaw, in the passage quoted above by W. N., refers the approbation and disapprobation to "_moral_ agents," yet the phrase in question precedes that application, and therefore the term "moral" renders the sentence more clear than it would be, were it needful for the reader to employ the conclusion of the sentence to explain the commencement. The instance quoted from the Quarterly Review is so gross an abuse of language, that little apprehension need be entertained of its repetition. The passage stands like the topmast of a ship-wrecked vessel, to warn others of the shoal on which she was stranded. All the other instances used as illustrations in W. N.'s paper are examples of the evil attendant upon a departure from one principle, viz.: That a simile should never be explained. Of course, this principle presupposes another: That a simile should never require explanation. In the two first instances adduced--"The Lord God is a sun and shield," and "Jesus said, I am the door"--the beauty of the similes would be entirely destroyed by the use of the adjective _moral_, and the only reason why the fourth instance, "A _moral_ blight," is not so glaring an abuse of language as the two former is, that the term blight is so frequently used in a figurative sense, that, when it is so used, we are liable to forget that the expression is figurative. But for this circumstance, the ridiculous character of the phrase would be quite as obvious as the absurdity of speaking of a moral apple, or moral plum. Another instance of the inelegance of explaining a simile is met with in the prayers of those who quote from the Liturgy the passage "We have done that which we ought not to have done, and have left undone that which we ought to have done, and there is no health in us;" but distort the original to "there is no _spiritual_ health in us;" thus destroying at once the strength and harmony of one of the finest specimens of forcible and beautiful composition which decorates English literature. In this case also, as in that of "moral blight," health is so often used in a figurative sense, that we are apt to forget that the expression is a simile; or the phrase "_spiritual_ health" would sound as disagreeably as the commencement of the same portion of the Liturgy, were it altered to "We have erred and strayed from thy _spiritual_ ways, like lost _spiritual_ sheep." All these inaccuracies in composition proceed from attempts to explain similes, an attempt which ought to be cautiously avoided; because a simile is an endeavour to explain or illustrate a subject by means of some analogy subsisting between it and another subject; and it is evident, that an explanation or illustration which requires a further explanation to make it intelligible, is much better omitted; and that an explanation of that which is already clear, is a glaring instance of tautology, and, therefore, a gross defect in style.

A.
_November 20th, 1834_

THE DEPARTURE OF ANOTHER YEAR.

_To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine._

Another year is gone! How solemn the reflection! How replete with instruction! Times and seasons are passing away in rapid succession; and amid the cares and avocations of the present, we seem in a great measure insensible of our near approach to an eternal world. But we are assured that "_The day of the Lord will come_." The purpose for which the world was created, and made the theatre of such mysterious and benevolent transactions, will be accomplished; the reign of grace, in the salvation of men, will terminate; the influences of the Holy Spirit in their regeneration will be no longer necessary; the preaching of the gospel, as the ordained means of conversion, shall for ever cease. Then all mankind, that have lived from the beginning of the world, will enter on a state of endless and unchangeable existence: some, in the presence of God, will enjoy the most exquisite pleasures, and obtain "an eternal weight of glory;" while others will have their abode among unbelievers, and "suffer the vengeance of eternal fire." "Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness!"

Reader! the close of another year has brought you so much nearer the end of your probation on earth. In the space of a few months how many have perished under the stroke of death! Young and old, rich and poor, small and great, have gone down to the grave, where "they rest together, and the servant is free from his master." Before the close of 1835, what multitudes, now in the prime of life, in the pursuit of pleasure, in the possession of riches, in the road to preferment, or having secured the object of worldly ambition, will have passed into the unseen state, and rendered their account to God. The flight of _time_ calls upon the careless and undecided to consider their ways, and turn unto the Lord.

The Christian, too, should testify his gratitude to God for his continued goodness, and "lift up his head, for his redemption draweth nigh." With what seriousness and devotion should we attend to the duties of religion, so that "whether we live, we may live to the Lord; or whether we die, we may die to the Lord; that whether we live, or die, we may be the Lord's!" Let not this day come upon us unawares, and find us in a state of carnal security; but may our loins be girded, our lamps burning, and ourselves like servants waiting for their Lord's return,--"looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." "Wherefore, beloved, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."

T. P.

POETRY.

NEW YEAR'S DAY.

Time, the mundane sphere revolving,
Brings another New Year's Day;
Orb of light, 'mid lengthened shadows,
Glance one soft and lingering ray,
As we muse on
Days receding fast away.

Pledge of joys that may await us
In our future pilgrimage,
Or of heavenly consolation
That may coming griefs assuage,
To believers
Promised in the sacred page.

Many trials now are ended;
Many painful conflicts o'er;
Chequered scenes withdrawn for ever
That can please nor vex us more;
Memory only
Can the faded past restore.

Many dearest forms are sleeping
In the lone forsaken grave;
How we wept when them consigning
To the hand outstretched to save,
As they struggled
Through death's dark and gelid wave!

Many days of grace are ended,
How improved has been the past?
Time's rich grains are softly falling,
Soon may drop for us the last.
Changing seasons
Warn us that we change as fast.

O for happy preparation
For the joys that never fade!
For the everlasting mansion
Death and sin can ne'er invade!
In the likeness
Of our Lord we would be made.

As each new successive period
Hastes that last mysterious one,
Do we shudder, so much dreading
Things invisible, unknown?
Faith reposes
On the Saviour's cross alone.

Sweet to meet our friends in glory,
Tears for ever wiped away
By the guardian hand that leads us
Up the steep and narrow way,
Time's short circles
Lost in one eternal day!

SARISSA.

THE SUMMONS.

"And I heard a voice from heaven."--REV. xiv. 13.

A voice was heard; a voice was heard;
It sounded from heaven's high throne;
And the murmuring air breathed along the swift word
Till on earth its dark import was known.
Though it thrill'd not the ears that were list'ning around,
Nor was heard by the spirits bereaved,
It conducted the soul from the region of death,
To receive, through the Saviour, the conqueror's wreath,
From its sin-woven fetters relieved.

A voice was heard; a voice was heard;
The spirit its summons obeyed;
And to sorrowing Friendship still echoes the word
While she weeps o'er the mouldering dead.
Not a tear can e'er start from those eyelids again;
Not a sigh can e'er heave from that breast:--
But reposing awhile on a pillow of clay,
It will waken renew'd, and then, bounding away,
Will ascend to the realms of the blest.

A voice was heard; a voice was heard;
A whisper,--a whisper from God;
And the soul caught with rapture the welcoming word
As it enter'd its blissful abode.
That voice that awoke from the death-sleep of sin,
And whisper'd, "Thou too art forgiven,"
Stole again on the ear in the accents of love,
Reassur'd of a home with its Father above,
And then wafted the spirit to heaven.

[Greek: Thomas]

REVIEWS.

_Russia: or Miscellaneous Observations on the Past and Present State of that Country and its Inhabitants. Compiled from Notes made on the Spot, during Travels at different times in the Service of the Bible Society, and a Residence of many Years in that Country._ By ROBERT PINKERTON, D.D., Author of "The Present State of the Greek Church in Russia," and Foreign Agent to the British and Foreign Bible Society.--Seeley and Sons; Hatchard and Son.

A traveller, like a witness in court, should be competent and unexceptionable. Both these qualifications are indispensable to secure the confidence of his reader, and the success of his work.

Dr. Pinkerton has very strong claims on the attention of the British public. He resided in Russia many years. He lived in Moscow "the greater part of the years 1810 and 1811, and left that city only forty-eight hours before the French entered it in 1812." He is the author of "The Present State of the Greek Church in Russia." His travels in the service of the British and Foreign Bible Society have been extensive at different times. His being Foreign Agent to that Society, has given him facilities of intercourse with the higher as well as the lower orders of the inhabitants. He is personally well known to many of the clergy and of the nobility, and his intimate acquaintance with the language has enabled him to converse with people of all ranks. The work before us has been compiled from notes made on the spot. Of his competency, therefore, no one can entertain a doubt; and his high Christian character renders him an unexceptionable witness. We anticipate for this volume a cordial welcome, especially among the friends of the Bible Society. The information Dr. P. has given is clear, copious, and important. We shall transcribe a few extracts which cannot fail to gratify our readers.

The territory of this vast empire has increased within the last 364 years nearly twenty-fold. According to the last statistical accounts, the _population_ is upwards of fifty-four millions, of whom about thirty-six millions are native Russians, speaking the same language, and belonging to the national or oriental church. The _military forces_ have also increased nearly ten-fold within the last hundred years; and at the present time are estimated at about 900,000.

The _spiritual academies_ and seminaries contain upwards of 30,000 young men preparing for the sacred profession. Dr. P. says:--

"It is much to be regretted that those young men have so
little time and opportunity, after finishing their academical
course, for making further progress in studies suited to
their profession. The cares of a family (for marriage must
indispensably precede ordination in the Russian church), their
labours among their flocks, the scanty support which most of
them receive, together with their isolated situation in country
villages, where few traces of education and civilized life have
yet entered, render this almost impracticable."

The _Jesuits_ were finally expelled from the empire in 1820. At that time their number amounted to 674.

"On their reaching the frontiers of the empire, the emperor
Alexander ordered them to be supplied with from thirty to forty
ducats each, to bear their expenses to some other place of
residence. But though this mighty force of papal agency was
removed from the Russian territories by one stroke of the
autocratic pen, yet the influence which they had acquired was
not so easily to be annihilated; and there is no doubt, that in
the succeeding intrigues which were played off so successfully
against the Russian Bible Society, their powerful friends in
the capital took a part." p. 62.

_Drunkenness._ On this painful topic, the author has given most melancholy information:--

"Instead of restraining the use of brandy, the government, even
of the present day, affords every facility to the people to
obtain it, in order to enhance the gain derived from this
iniquitous source; which _amounts to nearly one-fourth of the
whole revenue of the empire_."

From his calculation, it appears that there is "the enormous quantity of eighty-one millions of gallons of brandy alone drunk every year by the peasantry of this empire." pp. 75-77.

_Baptism._ Dr. P. says:--

"The cathedral church at Odessa is a noble building, in the
Grecian style, with domes and crosses. One day I entered it,
when the protopope, or dean, was baptizing an infant. The day
was excessively cold, there being upwards of ten degrees of
frost, and the water in the font almost freezing. After the
ceremony was over, I expressed to the priest my surprise that
they did not use tepid water, seeing the infant had to be three
times immersed over head and ears in the icy bath. He smiled at
my compassion, and exclaimed--'Ah, there is no danger: the
child is a Russian.' Indeed, such are the superstitious
opinions of the people, that were the chill taken off the
water, they would probably doubt the validity of the
ordinance." p. 153.

"In Great Russia, the child is baptized usually in the
church, or in a private house; and the prayers, exorcisms, and
ceremonies attending this ordinance, are long and complicated.
The Greeks and Russians always use the trine immersion; the
first, in the name of the Father--the second, in that of the
Son--and the third in that of the Holy Ghost. When a priest
cannot be obtained, they permit lay-baptism; and they never
rebaptize on any account whatever."

The Duchobortzi sect has excited great attention:--

"They make the sacraments consist only in a spiritual reception
of them, and therefore reject infant-baptism. Their origin is
to be sought for among the Anabaptists, or Quakers."

It appears, however, that

"In the Ukraine, or Little Russia, it is customary also to
baptize by sprinkling or pouring water upon the body. This
change the Little Russians, many of whom are Uniats, adopted
from the Roman Catholics, when they were under the power of the
Polish government. However, in cases of necessity, even in
Great Russia, baptism by sprinkling or pouring water on the
body is practised, and held to be valid."

In a note, Dr. P. tells us he witnessed the baptism of an adult, in the case of the Mongolian chief, Badma, who died in 1822. He was lying in bed, in a very weak state. Prince Galitzin was godfather. Instead of immersion, water was poured on his head three times. Immediately after baptism, he received the other sacrament: bread and wine, soaked together in a cup, and given with a spoon. The pious prince evidently felt much; and when the dying man partook of the holy communion, he shed many tears. He died on the third day after his baptism.--p. 157.

_Proverbs._ We can select only a few for the entertainment and instruction of the reader.

Sin requires no teaching.

Thieves are not abroad every night; yet every night make fast.

Praise not thyself, nor dispraise.

Thou wilt not see all the world by looking out at thy own
window.

A fool can cast a stone where seven wise men cannot find it.

Two hares at once, and you catch neither.

His wealth is not on the barn-floor; it is in his brains.

At home, as I like it; in company, as others will have it.

They gave a naked man a shirt, and he says, 'How coarse it is!'

Hast thou a pie? Thou wilt soon have a friend at table.

The largest ass will not make an elephant.

'Freedom,' says the bird, 'though the cage be a golden one.'

Every soldier would be general--every sailor, admiral.

In travelling, and at their sports, men show what they are.

A _Greek_ speaks truth once in the year.

The cow has a long tongue, but she is not allowed to speak.

A golden bed will not relieve the sick.

_Russian Bible Society._ Dr. P. speaks in the highest terms of the Princess Sophia Mestchersky, who was among the first to encourage him to attempt, in 1811, the formation of a Bible Society in Moscow; which in two years was realized.

"From this commencement in 1813 till my leaving Russia, the
princess had published ninety-three different pieces, amounting
to upwards of 400,000 copies, on religious and moral subjects,
which together form eight volumes, 8vo., and which were
gratuitously distributed, or sold at low prices."

Among these are the principal publications of the London Religious Tract Society.

A very favourable account of the religious character of the late emperor Alexander is given, chiefly from the communications of the illustrious princess above mentioned, and written by her at the time of his death.

The Russian Bible Society was founded in St. Petersburg, on the 23rd of January, 1813, and continued in full activity about twelve years under the patronage of Alexander. During the last three years of his reign, he was powerfully counteracted by a strong party formed among the principal nobility and clergy. There were, too, conspirators forming diabolical plans against the peace of the empire, who misrepresented to the government the character and labours of the friends of religion and of Bible Institutions, to turn away attention from themselves, and their own wicked revolutionary designs. But the mind of Alexander was not changed.

When Nicholas his brother came to the throne, the plots of the party above referred to were happily overthrown. But unhappily Seraphim, the metropolitan, with several other prelates, and one or two fanatical monks, had for some years entertained unfriendly feelings towards the Institution. The new emperor's Ukaz was published in 1826.

It is gratifying, however, to find that on the 14th of March, 1831, a new Bible Society, exclusively for the Protestants in the Russian empire, was formed at St. Petersburg, with the sanction of the present emperor; and that the president is Prince Lieven, the minister for public instruction,

"A protestant nobleman of true piety, who laboured in the cause
with indefatigable zeal, during the whole period of the
existence of the national institution."

We have been surprised and delighted to observe Dr. P. speaking of the present emperor as

"Wise, energetic, and humane," "who has begun a reform in
the courts of justice;" "a man of penetration, energy, and
benevolence; who has already given many pleasing proofs of
his sincere desire to advance the spiritual interests of the
Russian people;" "the determined courage and wise management
of the young emperor," &c.--pp. 348, 389, 392.

Surely, then, we may hope the national Bible Society will yet be restored.

The appendix contains seven sermons, as specimens of the style of preaching among the Russian clergy; and the plates, illustrative of the dress and amusements of the people, are from a collection of lithographic costumes which the author brought with him from Russia.

1. _An Examination of the Practice of Infant Baptism, designed to prove that it is inconsistent with the Principles of the New Testament: respectfully proposed for the consideration of all those who are desirous of a Scriptural Reformation of the Church; and who are prepared to follow Truth wherever it may lead._ By a MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. pp. 123.--Hatchard.

2. _A Sermon on the Nature and Subjects of Christian Baptism._ By ADONIRAM JUDSON, D.D., Burmah, p. 84.--Wightman.

Before assent is yielded to the result of any "examination," it is important, besides cautiously considering the nature and amount of evidence which has been adduced in its favour, to reflect on the relative position which, as it respects the particular subject of investigation, the examiner has occupied in pursuing the object of his inquiry, and in relation to which he has now arrived to a conclusion he is anxious--on account (as he believes) of its accordance with divine truth--should influence the conduct of others. If it be undoubted that his education, his tastes, his connexions, and even his prejudices, were all on the side of that conviction which he professes to have derived from patient and persevering research, it seems not unreasonable to require a copiousness and strength of argument, in its support, which, were all the circumstances affecting his relation to it decidedly unfavourable, would, perhaps, scarcely be deemed necessary.

When, however, we witness the comparatively rare occurrence of an individual, surrounded with almost every description of temptation to stifle conviction, and, by his silence at least, to perpetuate a corruption in the Christian church, which for ages has been protected by legislative authority, popular favour, and implicit faith, not only nobly triumphing over every inducement to compromise the interests of truth by refusing to surrender himself to its acknowledged claims, but venturing forth, and assailing error in its most splendid fastness, and pursuing it to its final retreat; and that to, by the employment of arguments whose overwhelming force is partly derived from the peculiar suavity with which they are urged, we are unable to resist such an occasion for exclaiming, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."

The publications which have occasioned these reflections, whose titles are placed at the head of this article, appear to us to present more than ordinary claims to public consideration. The perspicuity of their style, the force of their arguments, and especially the thoroughly Christian temper which pervades them throughout, cannot fail, if they be read, to secure commendation, even where they fail to convince. We can easily suppose it possible to find persons who may affect to despise what is thus, with every circumstance adapted to excite respect, urged upon their attention; but that any well-constituted mind, whatever be its ultimate conclusion on the subject, can treat these pamphlets with indifference, as though that to which they relate were unimportant, or that they were defective in truth and candour, is what we are extremely unwilling to believe. At the same time, we most frankly acknowledge that, owing to certain inconveniences, and, perhaps, even consequences, which we conceive might arise, in some instances at least, from a thorough and an impartial investigation of the evidence adduced by these respective and respectable writers in support of their principles, we are not altogether without apprehension, that by something approaching to a profound silence in certain quarters, or it may be by something even more beneath the dignity of Christian criticism, the powerful, though eminently temperate, appeals of these luminous pages may obtain a perusal far less extensive than is consistent either with the interests of truth, or the merits of its advocates.

Deprecating such a result of these distinguished efforts, we enter upon a more particular notice of the first of these publications. The author designates himself "a member of the Church of England;" and his design is "to prove that it is inconsistent with the principles of the New Testament" to baptize unconscious infants. The work is divided into ten sections, prefaced by a most respectful but spirit-stirring letter "to the Editor of the Christian Observer." From this admirable appeal we extract as follows:--

"This work is the result of many reflections, excited at
different times, through a long series of years, by the reading
of many articles and discussions in the Christian Observer. The
practice of admitting infants to the sacrament of baptism, I
apprehend, must appear to almost all reflecting persons, at
some times, to be of a very dubious character; and if it shall
appear that the fair tendency of those parts of your work which
I refer to, is to render it still more so, then I am persuaded
that you will allow that the publication is, without
impropriety, thus offered to your notice."

He adds:--

"The question respecting the propriety of admitting infants to
the sacrament of baptism must, I conceive, before long, become
a subject of grave discussion _within_ the church. Then the
real importance of the question will become manifest, and it
will be found necessary that it should be more comprehensively
considered in all its bearings, than it has hitherto been. With
regard to the question, as it stands between the church and the
Antipaedobaptist party, excepting the question--whether it is
the duty of Christian governors to promote Christianity--this,
respecting infant baptism, is of more real importance than _all
others_ in dispute between the church and _orthodox_
dissenters.

"The reading of the papers in an early volume of your work, on
Dr. Taylor's Key to the Apostolical Writings, first excited
the reflections which led to my determination to offer, for the
consideration of the Christian public, some thoughts on the
subject of infant baptism."

Again, in this introductory letter, we read:--

"Never before, in any way, were so large a number of
persons, so competent to the task, brought together for its
consideration. In your volumes, men of the deepest piety, of
fine talents, and with minds every way prepared for the
consideration of the subject, have laboured to produce the
scriptural elucidation of the baptismal grace. I am persuaded
that I should not exaggerate, if I were to say that if all the
divines in Christendom had been assembled at the commencement
of the present century, and had held as many sessions as the
council of Trent, for the purpose of settling this question,
the controversy would not have been so happily conducted as it
has been in your pages, nor pursued to a more satisfactory
result. But what is the result? Notwithstanding that nothing
is so manifest as the effects of the operation of divine grace,
for wheresoever it does operate the effects are 'known and read
of all men,' yet in answer to the inquiry, 'What are the nature
and consequences of the grace communicated by the Holy Spirit
in baptism?' the Christian Observer, with all its voices
united, declares, 'We cannot tell.' This issue of the matter is
virtually avowed by yourself incidentally in a short sentence
in the number for October, 1833, where you say, 'The Church of
England certainly assumes far more than the _nudum signum_,
though it does not go to the length of the _opus operatum_.'
Within these boundaries, then, it is admitted that the proper
place of rest is not yet discovered."

And yet once more:

"I now, Sir, with great humility, beg to submit that the church
has made its utmost efforts in this inquiry--that every thing
respecting it has been concentrated in your volumes; that the
best Christian talents have been bestowed upon it in vain, up
to the conclusion of the first third part of the nineteenth
century, and to the commencement of the fourth century of the
Reformation, and that, therefore, it is a fair conclusion that
further inquiry is quite hopeless, the imagined baptismal grace
for unconscious infants being manifestly an undiscoverable,
non-existent thing. I wish here to add, that a reference to
obvious facts leads inevitably to the same conclusion. In the
all-wise providence of the great Head of the church, the matter
has been brought to the test of experiment, which has been
going on upon a sufficiently large scale for more than two
centuries in this country. Two Christian parties have
conscientiously refrained from having their children baptized;
so that, if the baptizing of infants were accompanied with any
measure of the Holy Spirit's influence, the effects would have
been rendered quite evident by the contrast. But what do facts
declare! What spiritual advantages do baptized children
discover themselves to be possessed of which unbaptized
children do not possess, in cases where all other things are
equal! Surely all fair Christian observers of the dispensations
of the King of grace in his church, must be constrained to
allow that the advantages are undiscernible, and therefore can
have no existence."

There is still another passage in this sensible and truly Christian letter, which we must be allowed to present to our readers.

"It may be assumed that I have come to a wrong conclusion;
but, I presume, it will be admitted to be desirable that the
question I have considered should be more satisfactorily
settled than it is at present, and if, as I trust it will
appear, that I have examined it under no influence but the
love of truth, it may be allowed that the work may be useful in
assisting others to come to a _right_ conclusion. Every man who
treats a subject honestly, does something to put it in a right
point of view. I confess, I cannot now hope that, if I am
wrong, I shall live to be convinced of it; but truly I feel no
interest in error, and I take no pleasure in differing from
ministers and brethren in Christ; so that, if I were convinced
of being wrong, I could renounce my present opinions with more
ease than I can now divest myself of a garment."

Whether the able writer to whom these respectful and impressive appeals are made, will so far resist their influence as to make no reply, and attempt no vindication from the charge of a destructive error, so distinctly brought against the church of which he is a member, remains to be seen; yet, after reading the powerful pages to which the preceding extracts are prefixed, if it be expected that the Scriptures _exclusively_ are to be admitted as evidence in repelling the accusation, we must confess ourselves utterly at a loss to conceive how it is possible that any satisfactory _answer_ should be given. But if our author cannot be answered, let him at least be heard. He says:--

"In the present day, no intelligent evangelical writer would
think of advancing such things as Hooker and some other eminent
and good men have said on the subject of baptism. Men of
reflection and genuine Christian character now perceive
themselves here to be but in cloudy regions, where mighty
minds have strangely bewildered themselves, and refrain from
venturing distinct speculations and positive assertions. They
do not come forward with anything like the confidence of their
predecessors. They speak strongly against the _opus operatum_
of Papists, and papistical Protestants; and though they would
not be thought to deny that grace is, in some way, connected
with baptism in the case of infants, yet they frequently make
it evident that they would rather escape from close discussion.
There is a remarkable instance of this in the Bampton Lectures
of the late Dr. Heber, Bishop of Calcutta. He says: 'Both grace
and comfort, if they are not necessarily inherent in the
washing of regeneration, and the eucharistic bread and wine,
may at least be attained by a proper use of those means.'
Surely this obscure and doubtful passage, on a subject simple
and apprehensible enough in Holy Scripture, is something
different to what ought to be expected from a profoundly
learned ruler of the church. What Christian ever thought of
denying that grace and comfort might be attained by a proper
use of these ordinances? On the other hand, are we to be driven
to the mortification of supposing that, in the present day,
others beside Papists can be induced to suppose that grace and
comfort can be _necessarily inherent_ in any thing material?
Upon the whole, I think it is evident to an observer, that
there is some hesitation and want of confidence among thinking
members of the church with regard to this view of baptism: yet
the idea of a mysterious connexion between the _materiel_ (if I
may use the word) of the ordinances and divine grace, has by no
means lost its hold of the mind; which is in a great measure
owing to the magic influence of imaginary sacred words. Such
terms as 'elements,' 'holy mysteries,' have a strange effect in
causing men to feel as though it would be sacrilegious and
presumptuous to open their eyes, and view those divine
institutions in the light of Scripture.

"But the imagination, that the application of the ordinance of
baptism to unconscious infants is a divinely appointed medium
of grace to them, is so incompatible with real facts, that a
philanthropic Christian, who looks around, and has his heart
affected by the real state of society, even in this country, if
he could at that moment be brought closely to reconsider this
opinion, which, at other moments, when facts are forgotten,
raise delightful feelings in his mind, could not but have his
eyes open to the fallacy:--the illusion would vanish at once.
If baptism were a divinely appointed medium of spiritual good
to the minds of infants, then its beneficial tendency must
appear in the development of children in Christian countries.
If this manifestly appeared to be the case, all controversy
would be at an end. But do the instructors of youth discover
it? Has the warmest advocate for the practice of baptizing
children ever ventured such an assertion? And if infants grow
up, believe, and are baptized, is it conceivable that their
heavenly lot will be at all worse than that of those who were
baptized in their infancy; or that, if they die unbaptized,
without any fault of their own, they will in any wise suffer
for the omission? Now if all these questions be answered in
the negative, as undoubtedly they must, what becomes of the
imaginary paradise of blessings and privileges to which baptism
is to introduce the millions of our infants? Why should the
holy Lord God, our Saviour, be represented as mocking his
church by promises of mysterious, pompous nothings?" pp. 65-69.

Thus it is that this author remonstrates with the members of his own communion. But does he neglect to extend the application of the argument to other Paedobaptists? The reader shall be put in possession of the means of judging.

"But if the Church of England rests this practice on such
insufficient grounds, how do the Paedobaptist Congregationalists
support the practice? They appear to me to have scarcely any
ground at all which they can acknowledge, consistently with
their fundamental principles as Congregationalists. They are
supported in the practice wholly by clinging to custom, and by
borrowing the arguments of the advocates of national churches
just for an occasion. It is quite inconsistent with their
principles to acknowledge such a visible church as infants are
professedly introduced to by baptism. They recognise no such
church, except on the occasion of baptizing their children.
They admit of no officers, and allow no government, for such a
church. They consider all apparently unconnected persons as
belonging only to the world, and admit their own children to
become members of their churches exactly in the same way as
they would a stranger coming from a country not professing
Christianity; except that, in their case, they are saved the
ceremony of baptizing, which is the divinely appointed way of
admission into a visible church. National ecclesiastical
establishments, which yet unavoidably resulted from the
practice of infant baptism, they hold to be altogether
anti-scriptural, and founded upon an anti-christian union
of church and state. They have, therefore, no reasonable
pretence for arguing for the practice from the appointment of
circumcision, which can with consistency be used only by those
who think that Christianity was designed to have a secular,
external character. Some of them, indeed, seem ashamed of this
obvious inconsistency, and have recourse to an imaginary
distinction between the covenant of redemption and the covenant
of grace; and instead of professing that by baptism they make
their children members of the visible church, they assert that
by doing so they place them visibly within the one covenant,
though not within the other. But a serious refutation of such a
notion can hardly be necessary; it may be classed with other
unintelligible and unauthorized imaginations.

"The members of the church, retaining their veneration for the
notions respecting the sacraments established as catholic in
the primitive ages, have some specious ground of hope that
the administration of the ordinance to their infants will be
accompanied with a communication of grace, in consequence of
the imagined occult connexion between the 'elements' and the
grace of the ordinance, they have, with something like a
pretence of reason, expected that their children might thereby
be made members of Christ, children of God, and heirs of the
kingdom of heaven. They are persuaded that it is consistent
with truth to speak of baptism for infants as 'the washing of
regeneration,' the laver of regeneration--the well-spring of
divine life, &c., &c., and that in this matter they rightly
exercise Christian submission in following 'the sacramental
host of God's elect.' But the Independents have no pretence of
the kind for this application of a holy ordinance to infants.
They expect their children to derive no benefit from it, other
than what they would derive through their prayers, and from
the blessing of God in bringing them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord. They renounce all deference to catholic
authority in matters of religion and conscience, and profess to
believe that all the light which the case requires is to be
found in the Scriptures, and that it is dangerous to follow any
other. They have also no more right to use the argument drawn
from the baptism of households, than they have that drawn from
circumcision: they are both founded on the same principle--an
assumption that the doors of the Christian visible church
have been opened by our Lord himself to the unconscious and
unconverted, in diametrical opposition to the principles on
which they found their opposition to the established church.
Surely it cannot be, that wise master-builders should much
longer employ themselves in daubing this papal wall with
untempered mortar." p. 39-92.

We are decidedly of opinion that whoever may take upon himself to reply seriously to these statements, will find the undertaking to be neither quite easy nor very agreeable. It may not be improper to state that this is a new and somewhat enlarged edition of a work, published several years ago, by the same author.

Dr. Judson's sermon, which is also a reprint, is perspicuous, elaborate, and irrefragable.

1. _The Management of Bees, with a Description of the Ladies' Safety Hive: with Forty Illustrative Engravings._ By SAMUEL BAGSTER, JUN., pp. 244. Bagster.

2. _Spiritual Honey from Natural Hives; or Meditations and Observations on the Natural History and Habits of Bees: first introduced to public notice in 1657._ By SAMUEL PURCHASE, M.A. pp. 176.--Bagster.

The worthy editor of these volumes has, we think, exercised a sound discretion in publishing them separately. To the initiated in apiarian research, "The Management of Bees" cannot fail to be highly interesting. For our own part, we must confess that, if certain minute descriptions which may possibly offend a refined moral sensibility, could have been omitted, we should have considered the work more valuable on that account. Perhaps our hint may prove available for a future edition. With this exception, we would most cordially recommend this production to the perusal of our readers generally; and to those who are engaged in the study of that part of natural history to which it refers, especially. The engravings are exceedingly creditable to the talent of the artist.

As to the "Meditations" contained in the other volume, they are altogether above our praise. They are eminently instructive and pious, admirably calculated to secure the attention even of the thoughtless, and to promote, in a very high degree, the pleasure and the profit of the considerate. In confirmation, we present our readers with the following specimen:

"If the bee lights upon a flower where there is no honey
(being wasted or gathered before), she quickly gets off, and
flies away to another that will furnish her. Let us not lose
ourselves and forget our errand: our father, Adam, lost our
happiness, and we are sent to seek it; seek it where it is, and
go handsomely to work; say, I am not for riches, they are made
for me; I am not for creatures, they are made for me, and I am
their master; therefore these cannot make me happy: I am made
for eternity, for everlasting life and happiness; therefore,
let me study that; mind that end beyond inferior ends. Why do
men seek wealth, but to be happy? Why pleasures, why honours,
but because they would be happy? If these things cannot bless
and enhappy me, why should I burn daylight? why should I not
off them, as the bee gets off the plants that yield her no
honey, and once, at last, see where my happiness lies, in
pursuing happiness, and where my happiness lies, in God's ways;
the first step whereof is poverty of spirit?" p. 22.

We hope these valuable reflections will be often reprinted.

_Poems on Sacred Subjects._ By MARIA GRACE SAFFERY. Hamilton and Co.; Darton and Harvey.

These poems are from the pen of the widow of the late Rev. John Saffery, of Salisbury, whose name is still fragrant there, and in many other places; whose zealous labours of love in our Bengal Mission, and in the propagation of the gospel in Ireland, will long be remembered.

Rich in Scripture knowledge and in Christian experience, with a lively imagination and a great command of language, the writer has poured out her melodious strains from the fulness of her heart.

Most of the subjects are taken from the Old Testament or the New, and the versification embraces a great variety of metres, with the ease and sweetness almost peculiar to female writers. The whole book of Jonah is finely illustrated in a series of poems which cannot fail to please.

This little volume is introduced by a modest preface, and a "Sonnet inscribed to the memory of the Rev. J. Saffery," which is worth transcribing:--

"Thou hadst a soul for melody to greet,
When thou wert here, among the weary-hearted;
And thoughts of thee are like sweet sounds departed,
That visit time with echoes,--and repeat
Strains that were breath'd beside my pilgrim feet;
As if I heard the voice of my past years,
And thou wert singing in this vale of tears.
But 'tis not in the desert we shall meet--
And who would wish thee where the world is weeping?
Thou hast a blessed minstrelsy on high.
The lyre of praise, o'er which thy song is sweeping,
Hath not a pause like mine--a pause to sigh.
Harps strung for holiest themes to both are given;
But mine is tun'd on earth--and thine, in heaven."

Many others are exquisitely sweet. We have been particularly pleased with one on Jonathan's friendship, which concludes thus:--

"O chieftain! in thy life was seen
That friendship in immortal mould,
To which ambition's hope is mean,
And woman's kindest thought is cold.

"Gilboa! let thy mountain-heath
Like Jesse's gentle harp complain;
There Israel's beauty bow'd in death,
There Jonathan, the friend, was slain!"

The work is very neatly got up, and we are glad to observe that the subscribers' names are numerous, and highly respectable.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

AN APPEAL TO CHRISTIAN LADIES, IN BEHALF OF FEMALE EDUCATION IN CHINA, INDIA, AND THE EAST.

From the last census taken by the Chinese government in 1813, it appears that the population of that empire was then 362,447,183; a population more than twenty times as great as that of Greenland, Labrador, the Canadas, the West Indies, the South Sea Islands, the Cape, Madagascar, Greece, Egypt, Abyssinia, and Ceylon,--_i.e._, more than twenty times as large as nearly the whole field of Christian missions, India and the East being excepted.

In 1821, the missionary, Dr. Milne, calculated the population of Cochin China, Corea, Loo-choo, Japan, and other districts tributary to China, to be about 60,000,000. If there should be in those countries, with Burmah and Siam, only 20,000,000 instead of 60,000,000, they form an important field of missionary labour. The British subjects of continental and ultra-Gangetic India, are 77,743,178; the population more or less under British influence in India, is 33,994,000; making a total under British influence in India, of 111,736,178. Of the 362 millions of the Chinese empire, probably 150 millions are females; and among the 111 millions of India there are about 50 millions more; so that, in these two countries, there are 200 millions of heathen females demanding our commiseration and Christian care.

The condition of the Chinese women is thus described by the missionary Gutzlaff:--"Such a general degradation in religion makes it almost impossible that females should have their proper rank in society. They are the slaves and concubines of their masters, live and die in ignorance, and every effort to raise themselves above the rank assigned them, is regarded as impious arrogance. As long as mothers are not the instructors of their children, and wives are not the companions of their husbands, the regeneration of this great empire will proceed very slowly." As might be expected, suicide is a refuge to which thousands of these ignorant idolaters fly. "The unnatural crime of infanticide is so common among them, that it is perpetrated without any feeling, and even in a laughing mood. There is also carried on a regular traffic in females."

The condition of the Hindoo women is, if possible, worse. They are treated as slaves, may not eat with their husbands, and are expressly permitted by law to be beaten. Degraded and despised, they naturally sink towards the level assigned them by public opinion. They have no mental employment whatever; and being very much excluded by the extreme jealousy of which they are the objects, from missionary instruction, it appears that their miserable condition must be perpetuated, till Hindoo society undergoes a radical change, unless they be improved by Christian schools.

To meet these necessities, a society has been formed of ladies of various denominations, united together by Christian piety, for the wretched female population whom they wish to elevate and bless. Some of the objects to which the Committee will direct their attention, are the following:

1. To collect and to diffuse information on the subject.

2. To prepare and send out pious and intelligent women, as trainers and superintendents of the native female teachers.

3. To assist those who may be anxious to form female schools in accordance with the rules of this society, by grants of money, books, and superintendence.

What Christian lady, to whom this appeal may come, will refuse her co-operation in so good a work! To aid the beneficent legislation of a paternal government in the improvement of so large a population committed to our care; to rescue the weak from oppression, and to comfort the miserable in their sorrow; to give to the infant population of India, and of China, the blessings of maternal wisdom and piety; to teach the men of those nations, that those who are now their degraded slaves, may be their companions, counsellors, and friends; to disgrace, by a knowledge of the rudiments of European science, those fabulous and polluted legends of their sacred books, which are at variance with geographical and astronomical facts; to make them acquainted with the Bible, which now they cannot read; to place them under the instruction of the missionary, from whom they are at present excluded; to bring them to the knowledge of Christ, and to prove that his grace can do more in a few years to bless them, than centuries of heathenism could do to degrade them;--these are the great objects which carried Mrs. Wilson to the children of Hindostan, and Miss Wallace to those of China: but, while "the harvest truly is plenteous, the labourers are few." Other women of equal capacity, and who can show the same perseverance springing from compassion and faith, must follow the good example. And if they offer themselves to this work of the Lord, will not the Christian women of this country, by sending them forth, and supporting them in their work, show to the continent and the world, that gratitude to God and to Christ for the blessings of providence and grace, can kindle in their hearts an earnest and self-denying pity for those who, though they speak in other tongues, and are separated from us by half the earth's circumference, are yet as capable of joy and sorrow as ourselves, and are among those to whom our Redeemer has commanded that the gospel should be preached?

Wives, who are happy in the affection and esteem of your husbands; mothers, who enjoy your children's reverence and gratitude; children, who have been blessed by a mother's example, and a mother's care; sisters, who have found in brothers your warmest friends; Christian women, who feel that you can lend to society its charm, and receive from it a loyal courtesy in return; protected, honoured, and loved--impart your blessings to those who are miserable because they are without them. If your minds are intelligent and cultivated--if your lives are useful and happy--and if you can look for a blessed immortality beyond the grave, do not, for the love of Christ, whose sufferings have been the source of all your blessings, and of all your hopes, do not refuse to make Him known, that the degraded millions of the East may, like you, be "blessed in Him," and, like you, may "call him blessed."

Those readers who desire further information may obtain it from Mr. Suter, 19, Cheapside; by whom contributions will be thankfully received.

EXTRACT FROM THE FORTY-FIFTH QUARTERLY REGISTER OF THE BAPTIST HOME MISSION.

The Committee of this Society desire, humbly and thankfully, to acknowledge the goodness of God for the many favourable openings which appear for the "_spread of the gospel at home_."

Whilst they deeply regret that, for want of means, they cannot employ more labourers, they gratefully record some unexpected supplies to their exhausted funds; they indulge the hope that many of their fellow Christians will follow the example of their friend, Mr. Nice, and others, who have nobly come to the help of the Lord in time of need.

The following extract from the Report of the Auxiliary Society for _Exeter and North Devon_ will, it is hoped, be acceptable as a specimen of that work which all true Christians pray may prosper.

"At _Torrington_, our brother PULSFORD still continues to carry on the work of the Lord with the true spirit of a laborious minister of the word, ever zealous in the work, and watching for the salvation of souls; and the great Head of the church has again honoured him with the reward of his labours. Possessed with heartfelt love for souls, he appears to have continually before him, as his motto, 'Work while it is day; for the night cometh in which no man can work;' he is instant in season and out of season. From his letter of the 15th inst., we make the following extract:--'I have great pleasure in stating that the Lord in his great mercy continues to bless our feeble instrumentality, thirty-two have been brought to the knowledge of the truth, and added to the church by baptism since October last; and we continue to carry the word of life into thirteen villages, in many of which the power and glory of God are seen and felt. Glory be to his name. At _Langtree_, we have long mourned the lack of room, but I am happy to state that a chapel which will contain about 150 is nearly finished. At _Langtree Wick_ we want to do the same, and trust that the great Head of the church will prepare the way for our doing so before long. At _St. Giles_, we have added another room to the one we occupied; and at _Hatherleigh_ we have baptized ten, and as many more appear to be converted to God, and will follow the Lord in that delightful ordinance soon. Our new place of worship at Hatherleigh is covered in, and things wear a very pleasing aspect. O for the downpouring of the Holy Spirit, that the sacred fire may spread from village to village, and from town to town, till the whole world shall be full of the glory of God! Nothing is wanting to obtain this, but the hearty co-operation of all our churches in the great work--the entering into religion with _all_ the heart, and _all_ the soul, each one laying himself or herself out for God, and the eternal welfare of their fellow-creatures. We have four Sunday-schools, in which 280 children are taught the word and way of God, and we trust will yield a future harvest to the church.'"

THE BISHOP OF LONDON AND THE DISSENTERS.

(_From the Times._)