but sprinkling and pouring is not a divine fruit, but of POPISH origin, and a novel practice, and contrary to the Gospel term, and to the declarations of Apostles and Counsels.

Page 12.

We are BURIED with Him by Baptism. Thou hearest, O Latin! if thou are not deaf, that we are baptized into his death, and that we are BURIED with Him by Baptism-not however by SPRINKLING (!!) as now ye Latins impiously do.

Page 17.

I think this testimony of this Divine Father (Gregory Nyssen,) was sufficient that those who do not make Baptism an imitation of the death of Christ, are UNBAPTIZED.

Page 18. And again, the word Baptism will NOT EXPRESS ANY OTHER thing BESIDES DIPPING.

Page 49.

Let us hear also the Evangelist Mark for more abundant conviction that Dipping into the water is called Baptism. "And it came to pass in those days," saith he, "Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John IN Jordan, and straightway coming UP," &c. Then let them be ashamed, as many as contemptuously pervert that Baptism which is like to the Baptism of CHRIST.

Page 56.

The Latin does not go DOWN into the water, how indeed does he try to COME UP?

Page 15.

And if they were in truth worshippers of the Holy Trinity, and not as Satan, they would not have dared to take away a single JOT from the Sacrament of divine Baptism.

Page 97.

And besides as we have said, the word Baptism means Dipping, and being performed according to the injunction of the Church signifies the death of the Lord, according to Damascenus; "For Baptism manifests the death of the Lord." But what, I pray, does sprinkling signify? ye yourselves do not know! Perhaps, as I suppose, it signifies that fire which consumed Sodom, because likewise will sprinkling consume both them that teach and defend it.

Page 29.

I think that not one doubt any longer remains, that such things, whether they be sprinklings, or pourings around, or pourings upon, are NOT called Baptism, but IMPIOUS and UNLAWFUL DEEDS.

Page 35.

[It is not the duty of a Translator to alter, censure, or vindicate the language of his Author. Our concern is to shew in what sense a Greek Writer understands a Greek word, and with what indignation he con. demns its perversion. If the Greeks understand the language of their Fathers, that which is in the main their own still, we may ask, Where is apostolical Succession? How many of the Clergy have ever been baptized?]

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION.

J. H.

THE Apostles wrought miracles. Miracles ceased with every man after the apostolic age. The Apostles then can have had, in the proper sense of the term, no successors. Apostolical succession, however" profitable" it may have been, has no foundation in the word of God; it is a fabrication, a forgery, and a gross imposition. It originated in priestcraft, is supported by silly sophisms and ridiculous legends, and has been, in all ages, one of the most prolific aids and appliances to spiritual domination and despotism. In scripture it is unsupported, in logic it is an absurdity, and in history it is a lie.-D. Rhys Stephen, on the True Church.

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF INFANT BAPTISM.

"HE that, in this soul-frozen age, shall go to gather books to warm his soul, (as Paul did sticks to warm his fingers,) will be sure, if he be not wary, to gather vipers into his bosom. For thy comfort, therefore, and encouragement, reader, I do assure thee, this book is free from all such venomous beasts; no toad of malice, nor serpent of deceit, lurks either in the matter or the phrase hereof."

CALAMY, in Preface to C. Love's Sermons.

:

FIRST of all, I have taken care to superscribe, very legibly, my racy and somewhat menacing motto, that it may serve as a beacon to me in the perilous, Mississippi-like navigation on which I am embarking. Although I propose but a short voyage, I expect to encounter gusty winds and shifting shoals, and not seldom jeopardously to graze snaggy protuberances on such occasions, I shall naturally speak sharply and inartificially; but I will take heed that there do not leap out of my mouth, or spring from my pen, either "toads" 66 or vipers." I have not prefixed this motto with a flirting sarcasm; nevertheless, I design not to let it frown me into a glozing, meretricious style of animadversion: I shall not be scared from "striving" and "contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints," nor from repudiating, as earnestly, the traditions of men. I shall not boggle at strong expressions, when they are called for; nor withhold hard names from things to which such names belong. If this be bigotry, I shall be a bigot; if this is to become vile, I will yet be more vile. It suffices me that I do not "aught conceal,” through a base timidity, "nor aught set down in malice." My charity is not of that kind which would gag a brother's lips, and all the charitable consideration I shall forfeit by speaking plainly what I think is not worth a sigh.

Do not conclude, dear reader, that this is the prologue to a gladiatorial conflict. If your taste takes that direction, close these pages, and resort to the meek defenders of venerable customs, and ancient patristical rites. I am no swordsman; I am simply an etcher, or, more harmless still, a penciller. My tiny compositions are no excerptions from ponderous tomes of the leaden ages. Honourable men though they be, I am not one of the systematizers,

"Nor of those learn'd philologists who chase

A panting syllable through time and space;
Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark,
To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah's ark."

No! what I write are spontaneous observations, reflecting the "lights and shadows of things as they pass before me"-" pencillings by the way," intended to be seen, and read, and recollected; not to elicit a vacant "how profound!" and then be placed on the shelf for the benefit of the unborn,-from whom they will get just as much attention as from their admirers now extant, who no more think of reading them, than Robert Hall did Dr. Owen's Preliminary Exercitations to his Exposition of the Hebrews.

Premising thus much, I proceed to sketch certain of the sweet peeps and bird's-eye views which I have been able to catch in the broad and picturesque landscape of pædo-baptism. You will pro

bably, in the sequel, allow that my imperfect sketches reveal glimpses of graceful beauty not easily surpassed; but O! you should ascend an eminence, whence your ravished eye might take in the whole compass of its scenery, and thus secure the sublime effect of its bold contrasts and infinite variegations. Or, if you please to circumscribe the sphere of vision within narrow limits, and by gentle gradations pass over the ample perspective, it will present you with an enchanting series of "dissolving views." Yet everything depends upon the guide you select, and the points of observation to which he conducts you; for, somehow or other, either the objects themselves strangely exchange positions, or your visual organs are affected variously at different times, or the atmospheric medium is subject to extremely fickle alterations; so that unless your guide, by skilful artifices, can counteract the effect of the incessant and fitful changes which occur, you may return without having seen anything but gaunt rocks and rolling mists. I have met with many who had thus not merely lost their labour, but had come back with such an acquisition of chagrin as years scarce sufficed to dispose of. On the other hand, I have often fallen in with visitors, whose glowing descriptions shewed that they had been on the "delectable mountains," or in the "land of Beulah, where the flowers bloom, and the birds sing, all the year round, and the sun shineth night and day."

(To be continued.)

NOTES OF A LISTENER.

THE DIPPING.-Not many days ago, I fell into company with a professional gentleman, a member of a large Independent church. This gentleman knew me to be a Baptist, and straightway, in the presence of other parties, began to speak on the litigated topic. He spoke with much fluency and intelligence, but without attempting more than mere feints of defence in behalf of infant baptism. Indeed, he freely admitted that the principles of the Baptists were invulnerable; whereas, he was sometimes tempted to think the practice of his own party absurd and farcical;-" but," was his conclusion, "you know, Mr. I do not like to be soused in the water." Aye, that, thought I, is the sticking point with the majority of your fashionable professors.

THE FATHERS.-An excellent friend of mine was a hearer of the Rev. Mc C., a kirk minister, and a mighty champion of the Protestant Association. Under the ministry of this eloquent preacher, my friend became decided for God; but on the baptismal question, was better informed than his teacher. An interview on the point being obtained, Mr. C. began in right earnest to dislodge the heretical convictions of his convert, but he resorted to patristic instrumentality, instead of to the testimony of God. He aimed to convince his auditor, that ancient tradition confirmed the Apostolicity of infant sprinkling. He aimed in vain ; but, when will the most strenuous opponents of Popery abide by their own watchword, “The Bible, the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants?" Surely,

the Bible is as sufficient now as ever it was; why, then, not keep to the record? Dr. Wardlaw, (not in his book on baptism) exclaims,"The divine authority of the record has been satisfactorily ascertained; what inquiry, then, can possibly remain, but the inquiry, "What saith the Scripture ?" As to the respect due to the Fathers, hear that greatest of all the Fathers, John Wesley :-Thus he writes, under date Aug. 5, 1754;-" What a company of execrable wretches have they been, (one cannot justly give them a milder title) who have, almost in every age since St. Cyprian, taken upon themselves to govern the church!"

A NEW IDEA. "O Sir," said a young woman, a methodist, "I can't tell you how I feel. I was at the baptism the other night, and I have not been able to sleep since, for thinking about it. I never saw a baptism before, and I had been told it was very different. I thought you had a deep hole dug, like a well, and that if I were baptized, the minister would stand at the top, and let me down by my two hands until my head was under water, and then draw me up again!"

THE GOWN A HOME THRUST.-" Our Doctor," said an Independent Deacon, " had a hard thrust at himself yesterday morning." "How so?" "Why he was launching out against the Puseyites, and among other things, he came down fearfully upon their preaching in white surplices. Now, for the life of me, I could not see wherein the difference was so great between a Puseyite white surplice, and his own black gown." Well said thought I, nor do I see so mighty a difference between the tendency of the Doctor's infant sprinkling, and that of the Puseyites. "Unto the place whence both come (Rome), thither may they return again." A LISTENER.

REPLIES TO QUERIES.

Is the use of Musical Instruments in Christian Worship scriptural?

A DIRECT negative is the most appropriate answer with which this question can be met; and I give this answer in perfect confidence that no scriptural evidence can be brought forward to prove the contrary. True it is, that singers, and players on Instruments, are spoken of in scripture, but in what connexion? decidedly not with christian worship.

It is evident that the Mosaic dispensation recognised and required the use of Musical Instruments; but under the better administration of Christianity, not one proof can be adduced in favour of the use of Musical Instruments in public Christian worship.

The use of Instruments is an introduction of Popery, and the necessary adjunct of a state church; where the cold formalities of worship need some invention of man to keep the formalists awake. Let the advocates of musical instruments shew the scriptural origin of their use in Christian worship. H. L. D.

[The above for an opening of the discussion. Our friends must be brief in their replies.]

REVIVALS.

EAST PARLEY.-The Baptist church at East Parley, for some time prior to the past year, had been in a declining state; the ministration of the gospel was apparently ineffective; the members of the church generally gave painful evidence of growing lukewarmness and indifference to the interests of Zion, and to the awful condition of perishing sinners around them; prayer-meetings were almost deserted, and the few who did attend them offered their prayers to God with that evident coldness and formality which rendered them powerless and ineffectual. As the pastor of the church, I very deeply felt this state of things, and used my utmost efforts to arouse her members from their awful lethargy, and to fix the blame of Laodicean indications on them, for their slothful and faith. less indifference. I plainly set before them their great responsibilities, and endeavoured to convince them that if they individually discharged the duties which they owed to God, and to their fellow-men, in humble dependence on the divine blessing, the Lord would assuredly bless them and make them a blessing. In my public ministrations, and private intercourse with them, I endeavoured to impress upon their minds the necessity of vigorous and persevering effort, combined with simple believ ing prayer, in order to our realizing a revival; and I assured them, that unless they would give the subject their most serious and prayerful consideration, and bestir themselves to serve God according to his will, I could not think of continuing with them. Through the blessing of God, I had the unspeakable pleasure of witnessing, after some time, the developement of the effectual operation of truth on the hearts of many, especially of the younger members of the church, in its practical active influence. The blessed leaven spread rapidly. Prayer-meetings soon became well attended, and unusually interesting; instead of the dull, formal, unbelieving, God provoking word-prayers, which had brought down the frown, rather than the blessing, of the Father of mercies, the prayers of God's people were now characterized by holy fervour and unwavering faith in the divine promises. Many met together in each other's houses, to plead with God his gracious declaration,-"If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.' A judicious zeal for the conversion of sinners delightfully discovered itself, and a holy unction attended the various efforts which were made to win souls to Christ. Special meetings for prayer became numerous and crowded; a deep excitement was produced, and a spirit of earnest inquiry was excited in many a sinner's mind. Inquirers' meetings were commenced, both by the sisters and the brethren; the Lord of heaven and earth attended them, and wrought wonders in the sight of his people. Converts became numerous; and some of the most notorious sinners in the neighbourhood became the trophies of divine grace, and exchanged the obscene language of the drunkard's song for the hymns of Zion. The aged and the young have been subdued, through the powerful influence of divine truth, applied and rendered effectual by the Spirit of God. The glorious work has steadily progressed through the summer, during which, forty-eight have been added to the church in this little hamlet, and many are now seeking the Lord, who, we hope, will ere long surrender themselves unreservedly to God, and then to his people. In this blessed revival, we see and adore the stretched-out arm of the Lord our God, and with grateful joy we ren. der praise to the condescending and omnipotent Spirit of grace, whilst, at the same time, we cherish the conviction that the Spirit of God does not