Having thus put our readers in possession of the main points at issue, they may expect that we shall give an opinion respecting their truth and importance. We therefore avow our conviction of their substantial accuracy, and certainly should not have loaded our pages with such lengthened extracts, did we regard them as charged with baseless calumnies. As this judgment is in the face of the strong protests of our Baptist brethren, we will briefly state the grounds of our conclusion. Facts that cannot be denied, render these charges probable. Before the Act of Emancipation, the missionaries had not free access to the negroes, and the use of "middle men" was indispensable to the communication of Christian instruction to the slaves. This brought into action, in the first instance, that class of persons, whose incompetency and oppressions are now complained of. Then, our brethren attach the greatest importance to the administration of the ordinance of baptism by immersion, and there is something in the manner of observing it in the West Indies, very likely to lay hold on the imaginations of a superstitious and excitable people. Add to this, the inherent love of ceremonial observances which is found in our nature, and the practice of which leads minds imperfectly instructed to self-complacency, when they have celebrated any religious rite; and we think that zeal for proselytism on the one hand, and the desire to do "some great thing" on the other, render it highly probable that very many of the unprecedented multitudes that have been joined in church fellowship have been hurried into a profession of Christianity, without that knowledge which is essential to its consistent maintenance. This view is in fact sustained by a passage in the circular of the Baptist Mission Committee. Amongst the secondary causes of their success they name "the strong prepossession, in the minds of many of the negroes, in favour of believer's baptism. Their scriptural views of this ordinance originated with American teachers, who had visited Jamaica many years ago, and formed churches, some of which still remain, but which, since the death of their founders, have been injured in many cases by impurity and superstition. . . . The diffusion of the views referred to, has further been greatly promoted by the occupation of some parts of the island by our own missionaries, at an earlier period than by those of other societies. Such is the effect of these causes, that, in many districts, the people would rather hold services of their own, than attend on the ministry of Pædobaptist brethren."

...

The exaggerated importance attached to immersion baptism by the negroes is plain on the face of these sentences, which go far in our minds to strengthen the probability of the truth and justice of the charges in question.

But we have direct testimony. Seventeen Presbyterians—thirteen Independents-three Americans-and two or three Episcopalians—all unite to affirm these statements. We know it is said, True, but they

are all Pædobaptists, and are allied to persecute their Baptist brethren. But if their testimony is disposed of in this summary and charitable manner, still there is the evidence of Baptist missionaries themselves to be met, and the reader should bear in mind that the most pungent paragraphs in all the preceding extracts are from their pens, who at the same time have taken care to purge themselves of the imputation of any sympathy with Pædobaptist opinions. This is the answer given to them, that their dear brethren in Jamaica have insisted on the withdrawment of their supplies, and that they be left without bread, because their "attempts to lower the character of the mission, by calumniating the members of our churches, appear more conspicuous than their endeavours to extend the Gospel and kingdom of Jesus Christ;" and they have been cashiered accordingly!

But have not these charges been met? Yes. Mr. Knibb was sent to England by his brethren in Jamaica, and appeared at Exeter Hall last April, especially for the defence of himself and colleagues. Having made his admirers believe, by the use of very equivocal language, that he narrowly escaped martyrdom in their cause, he rose "amid deafening applause," to ask "their condemnation or their approval." That crowded and vastly excited audience were but ill prepared to adjudicate on such a question, and Mr. Knibb, bearing testimony in his own case, was assuredly an insufficient witness. Committee, however, proposed, and obtained for him and his colleagues, a vote of "unabated confidence;" but the verdicts of Exeter Hall, like those of Westminster, are subject to the dispassionate review of a superior court-that of public opinion.

The

We cannot find, in Mr. Knibb's long speech, any explanation of the method by which the leaders are trained and instructed-nor does he adduce the testimony of any other bodies of Christians in favour of the practices of his own. It is said that there are more than forty Wesleyan ministers, and more than a dozen Moravians, in Jamaica; and that both these denominations employ leaders at their stations. How much more like evidence would it have been to have produced their testimony, instead of the lengthy protests of the very parties that are accused!

To Mr. Green's Review we cannot award much praise, either for temper or argument. Mr. Barrett, in his prefatory remarks, disposes of most of Mr. Green's statements, and truly says, "Mr. Green's pamphlet is a compilation of hearsay evidence-a report of what has been reported to him he has never been in Jamaica-he writes, therefore, of what he hears, and not of what he has seen. Hence, the substantial difference in the character of the evidence adduced on both sides of this painful controversy. One party, composed of Evangelical ministers of every denomination, and some Baptist missionaries, speak of what has come under their own actual observation in Jamaica. The other party, Mr. Green, writes down what has been told him at 6000 miles dis

tance—and told him too, by the accused party themselves. The public will judge between us."

In proceeding to speak of the part the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society have taken in this sad discussion, we deem it right to say that they have been placed in circumstances of peculiar delicacy and difficulty, and that great allowances must be made for their position, and for the progressive manner in which the whole case has opened upon them. From the tone of their last publication, as compared with that of the first, we are inclined to think, that, if they had received at once the body of evidence that is now before them, they would have taken a very different course, and instead of asking a verdict of a crowd at Exeter Hall, they would have sent competent brethren to Jamaica, to judge the whole case upon the spot. Still, as we must speak of their conduct as it is, we venture to think that appearing before the public as the decided apologists and advocates of their Jamaica missionaries was an unadvised step, and the manner in which they laboured to "qualify the evidence" in their circular was not what we should have expected from Christian men, familiar with its laws.

"It is curious to observe," says the Appendix to the Exposition, "the treatment to which the witnesses against the Baptist Mission in Jamaica are subjected. The Presbytery are 'no very large body,' says Mr. Green; therefore what a small body of ministers may say is not worthy of credit. The London Missionary Society's agents 'shuffle-and abuse confidence—and have jaundiced eyes;' therefore, they too know nothing of what they affirm. Mr. Coultart, long since called to his rest and his reward, was 'notoriously of a morbid, melancholy state of mind,' writes Mr. G., and therefore, pathologically considered, he can have no claim to be heard as a witness. Really this is too bad! Why, every witness at the Old Bailey might easily be set aside, if the accused party were allowed to tell the judge his conscientious objections against him :-This one, my lord, is 'jaundiced,' the other one 'shuffles ;' and the last is 'a morbid melancholy man :' the case against me cannot be proved by such witnesses; I must be acquitted. This would be a new thing in the world."

Had we not already exhausted our time and space, we should wish to discuss their doctrine of non-interference with the internal arrangements of missionary churches: as it is, a few remarks must suffice.

We trust that we are as jealous of the rights of the churches of Christ as our Baptist brethren can be; but we own that to concede all the powers of self-government to churches, composed only of people in a state of two-fold transition, from Paganism to Christianity, and from slavery to freedom, is more than questionable, and in fact is to lift up their European pastor into a position that will tempt him to become a despot. "I wish you distinctly to understand," said Mr. Knibb at Exeter Hall, "that no ecclesiastical domination will be yielded to: no not from his holiness the Pope, through all the different grades, down to the directors of our own Society, no one shall ever receive a single right to intrude into the discipline of our churches. If we are honest men, then will we be trusted as honest men. We do not-and let all direc

tors of missionary societies hear it—we do not think a missionary sinks one iota of his right to be regarded as the full pastor of a Christian church, when he collects that church abroad."-Speech, p. 15.

But then of what materials is the church composed? The Independent system of church polity is based upon the scriptural intelligence, the gracious dispositions, and moral courage of the brethren. Let native converts choose as their pastor one of their gifted countrymen, and let the missionary stand only in the extraordinary relation of an evangelist, and it will be well but for such a man as Mr. Knibb to be the irresponsible pastor of a church of poor, weak-minded negroes, is indeed the way to make him what his accusers say he is, "The Pope of Jamaica."

"The accused missionaries, it seems, have employed leaders and given tickets. This may be unscriptural, or it may not. The Committee have not given, and are not going to give, any opinion upon this point. They have never taken it into consideration. There is nothing, either in the constitution or usages of the Society, or in the case itself, which requires that they should do so. They have gone on the principle (publicly and properly laid down by the London Missionary Society) of not interfering with the internal management of the churches. And there, they conceive, that this matter satisfactorily rests."

"The Baptist missionaries have raised and expended large sums of money, without making any public report of the same,'-p. 13. The Expositors are here probably misled by want of acquaintance with a difference which exists between the methods, of the London and the Baptist Missionary Societies. The former, it is understood, require that every expense at a missionary station should be paid out of the funds of the Society, and that all monies raised there should be considered as a contribution to its income. Of course, under such a system, it is proper that the receipt and expenditure of all sums should be reported to the Society, and through them to the public. The Baptist Missionary Society, however, have gone from the first on a different principle. They have desired their brethren to encourage the friends at a missionary station to raise what they could towards its expenses, with a view to relieve the Society at home, and to support the cause entirely when they should be able. On this plan, the Committee have always been informed how much was raised by the churches, and how it was expended on their behalf, in order to the regulation of their own grants; the only use which it pertained to them to make of this information, inasmuch as the Committee had no control over the expenditure, and the British public no claim to the accounts. No doubt, the missionaries were under obligation to render an account of what they had raised in a manner satisfactory to the donors, but nothing further can with any reason be required."—Remarks, pp. 5, 6.

These remarks will show how slight a control the Committee of the parent Society have exercised over their agents in Jamaica. That control has now ceased; for the Baptist churches in the island have resolved "to sustain, without further aid from home, the entire expenses of the work of God amongst and around them." We should feel anxious for the honour and safety of the missionary enterprise, if these native churches, with minds so ignorant, excitable, and superstitious, and with means so abundant, were left to the unobserved dictation of European pastors. But it is consolatory to know that while the infirmities of human nature tend to pervert and corrupt the administration

of the churches, the holy jealousy, the devout vigilance, and we may add the godly rivalry of other Evangelical denominations, aided by the power of the press, will be sure to correct, and, by the blessing of God, restrain them. Since we sat down to this article we have seen a pamphlet just issued from the press, modestly calling upon the Directors of the London Missionary Society to withdraw their agents from the island, to put an end to this quarrel. In our judgment they are now wanted there more than ever; for we believe that the sober, intelligent, and circumspect conduct of Pædobaptist missionaries is, under God, necessary to moderate the proselyting zeal of their Baptist brethren, to preserve a fanatical, though nominally Christian people, from the return of the Obeah and Myall superstitions, and to protect the advocates of liberty to the slaves from the scoffs of the infidel, and the malignant reproaches of the slave-holder.

THE EDITOR'S TABLE.

THE Seven Churches of Asia; their Rise, Progress, and Decline; designed to show the Fulfilment of Scriptural Prophecy; with notices of the Cities of Lesser Asia, visited by the Apostles. By the Rev. Thomas Milner, M.A., Northampton. Second Edition. 12mo. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.

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