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Maidstone, January 26, 1848.-Our increase in this place is very slow. Two or three have left the town; others who have withdrawn were Calvinists. I am sorry that it should be so; but really if we are to set ourselves to please these creatures, we could not freely use the bible, but must be tied up to the use of a set of phrases to which they have listened all their days, but none of which are to be found in the Word of God. Men are now taught to look for salvation through the medium of their own pious feelings, rather than placing a firm faith on the testimony of God. I will just relate the case of one who united with us from the Baptists, soon after Brother King visited us the last time. The third chapter of John's gospel came in our regular course of reading. When a brother remarked, it was obvious from the teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus, that the salvation of the gospel was conditional-Faith, Repentance, and Baptism; for Jesus has said, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." This was enough. The next thing I heard of him was that he had withdrawn from us, and when called upon by two of us, he said that salvation was unconditional; it did not depend upon any act of either body or mind; and although he had been a Baptist for a dozen years, he said that John iii. 5 ought to be read, "Except a man be born of the flesh and of the spirit," &c. I made use of Bro. Campbell's golden rule, that of substituting the definition for the term, which certainly made it appear very absurd. Yours, J. C. [Surely there are not many Baptists who are equally ignorant of the meaning of John iii. 5 as this man seems to be. But proposing a conditional salvation is the great offence to all Calvinists, yet none of them admit that a man can be saved without faith, repentance, and regeneration; but the general teaching is, that the Holy Spirit produces each of them, and completes the work in a moment, without a single movement on the part of the sinner, or rather on the part of him who had been chosen from eternity, and created for this purpose.]

Wigan, Jan 29.-Last Lord's day afternoon, at our bible-class meeting, we had the pleasure to hear the confession of a young girl, about sixteen years of age, who had been a Sunday scholar. We were gratified to hear her simple faith and confidence in Jesus Christ, as having died for her sins, and risen again for her justification. Some one of the brethren asked her why she wished to be baptized ? Because I have read in the Bible that Jesus said he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: I believe in Jesus Christ, I know that I am a sinner, and I wish to be saved. She said she repented of her sins, and wished to obey Jesus in bap

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tism. We accordingly baptized her, and she is now rejoicing in Jesus her Saviour. About the same hour of the same day, another girl that had been one of our scholars, had asked leave of her father to go to the evening meeting; she was the eldest of five, and whilst in the act of preparing, and washing her sister, her clothes caught fire; there being no one in the house, she ran out, but was dreadfully burnt. I went to see her on Monday morning, when she requested me to read a chapter out of the Testament, and pray for her, which I accordingly did; she appeared to be quite composed, and resigned to the will of the Lord. She entreated her father and mother to obey the commandments of Jesus, and desired me to pray for them and for her little brothers and sisters. She was one of the most affectionate and dutiful girls I ever knew. She died on the Tuesday following. My prayer is, that this mysterious Providence may be made a blessing to her parents, and a warning to us to be always ready, for in such an hour as we think not, the Son of Man cometh. February 6th.--This evening, we had the unspeakable pleasure of hearing a broken down sinner confess his faith in Jesus, and ask for baptism; and we took him the same hour of the night and baptized him. After this the mother of the girl that was burned, expressed her wish to obey Jesus, but she desired us to instruct her more perfectly in the way of the Lord. February 13: this morning, after the meeting, two made their confession, and desired to be baptized: one of them has been a local preacher among the Methodists, and the other is an aged woman. We immersed them in the river Douglas, before a large number of witnesses. Brother Parkinson, who is a valiant soldier for Jesus Christ, addressed the multitude on the leading facts of the gospel, and the blessings promised to those who obey the truth. In the evening of the same day three others expressed their desire to obey Jesus, and be saved by him. We baptized them in the river the same hour, and now they are rejoicing in God their Saviour. May they be preserved faithful unto death, that they may receive a crown of life, which fadeth not away. The day following another was added to Christ by baptism.Yours in Jesus, T. Coop.

Evangelist Fund.-Brother John Hine, treasurer to the Evangelist Fund, desires to acknowledge the receipt of ten shillings from sister S. K. Alcester, Warwickshire, to promote the spread of the gospel. Also ten pounds five shillings from the Church in Nottingham for the same object. [NOTE.--Brother Campbell is still trying to negociate for one or two evangelists to visit this country during the ensuing summer. Should he succeed, which we hope and pray may be the case, the contributions of all the brethren will be required. We therefore recommend to them

not to allow a single month or a quarter of the year to pass over without making some provision for this object. We hope the law case in Scotland will be shortly settled.-ED.]

OBITUARIES.

Nottingham.-Two brethren, members of the Church in Nottingham, have fallen asleep in Jesus since our last issue; one of them aged 50, and the other 63 years. Thus Time is winging us away to our eternal home. Life is but a winter's day-a journey to the tomb.

Bulwell.-Two of our poor brethren, members of the Church in Bulwell, left their native shore, via Liverpool, in November last, to seek employment in the United States. One of them, Henry Holmes, leaving a wife and children behind; and the other, Jas. Hayes, a wife only, to struggle on in this country, until their husbands could send for them across the mighty deep. A letter of recommendation was given to each. On the 13th ultimo a letter was received from New York, from which we give the following extract :New York, January 29, 1848. Dear Brother Wallis-On the 15th instant, Brother H. Holmes, from the church in Bulwell, arrived here alone, without Brother Hayes. From the first day of sailing, Brother Hayes was sick, experiencing considerable depression of spirits. He seemed to have a strong objection to drink sea water, or to take any thing to alleviate his sickness, up to the 29th of December, when he was confined to his bed. In a few days, fever affected his reason, but this was alleviated by vinegar, &c. but although he had the utmost attention paid to him by Brother Holmes, he remained insensible, with short lucid intervals, until the 9th of January. On the second Lord's day in the new year, at six'clock in the morning, (your time) he fell asleep in Jesus. He had been better the day before, and they had retired to rest, when at half past one, Brother Holmes was aroused by a groaning; he hastened up, and procured a light, but Brother Hayes could not speak; he smiled, shook his head, grasped Brother Holmes by the hand, and shortly after fell asleep, calm and composedly as an infant on its mother's breast. At ten o'clock in the morning he was wrapped in a clean sheet, and buried in the world of waters, there to remain until heaven's eternal sping invites him to arise and bloom in fairer fields and under brighter skies.

Brother Holmes is now with us until he has overcome the debilitating effects of his nearly eight weeks' voyage, when he intends to go to Philadelphia; he will do well if this country agrees with his health. I am glad he is come, and still more glad, from the s'atement of his own circumstances, and those of so many others, that I am not a citizen of a country of such concentrated slavery and oppression When, oh, when will the gospel break the oppressor's chains, and bind the people with the cords of love and the bands of a man? Ah, when?

Yours in the hope,

JAMES and SARAH BEADMAN.

Foreign.

Our protracted meeting at Carthage commenced on the Saturday evening before the third Lord's day in September, and was brought to a close on the evening of the

fourth Lord's day, brother Challen laboring all the time. There was but one addition during the meeting, and one since. The prospects for more are very good indeed. Brother Challen's labors were highly acceptable to the brethren, and to the community generally. He is an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures. His native goodness and devotion to the good cause--the tone of piety which runs through his discourses- all conspire to make him a preacher A few such that cannot fail to do good. veterans in this good fight of faith, and vicWe are all tory would inevitably be ours. animation now at Carthage, and feel great hopes of yet seeing joyful seasons in the service of our God. I forgot to say that the two who confessed the Lord as the fruit of this meeting, are persons of excellent character, who will not be likely to disgrace the holy name they have publicly acknowledged. The brethren at Carthage are very anxious you should pay them a visit. Yours in truth and love, B. U. WATKINS.

M'Connellsville, O., October 22, 1847.-Since I last addressed you, I have preached once at Wolf creek, and immersed one more. I have also held a protracted meeting at East Branch church, and enlisted six soldiers into the army of the King--also two others, who had been for some time on the sick list, reported themselves convalescent and ready for duty-making an increase of eight to the numerical strength of the King's army. At Beverley, also, I had the pleasure of obtaining two new recruits. Brother Parkerson preached at Mountsville. The Methodist meeting-house had been obtained for him; but when he came, the door was locked, and "Peter had the key." He preached, however, in another house, and immersed eight persons, five of whom were Methodists-lock him out again, Methodist brethren! Several of those I immersed at Wolf Creek and East Branch were from the Methodist church. Brother Devour, elder of the church at Beverley, preached lately on Olive Green, where the Presbyterians and Congregationalists have been rallying their forces during the last summer with considerable success. After laboring there a while, Brother Devour gave an invitation, and five or six came forward and obeyed the gospel. That this was a glorious display of the triumph of truth, ther Devour's educational advantages are will appear, when it is understood that Brovery limited, and that he has to labor hard at the anvil to support a large family, while the opposing preachers were men of learning. But the word of the Lord is a better hammer and a hotter fire than blacksmiths commonly use, and so it proved in this case: he has produced great excitement in that neighbourhood "Great is the truth above all things, and will prevail."

J. C. ASHLEY.

THOUGHTS ON CIVIL GO-
VERNMENT.

CARTHAGE, OHIO, October 24, 1847.

Dear Brother-Will you permit me to say a word to Brother Green, on Civil Government? I do not intend in this letter to discuss the whole question of the rightfulness of Civil Government. But we wish to show Brother Green that we are not so far apart as he supposes.

vernment, and not be involved in the guilt, which our brother admits to be the very foundation of all these institutions? But you may ask, is not Brother W. a constituent in this government? I answer, no; I am a pilgrim and a stranger, as all my fathers were. I have no continuing city; but I seek one to come. My citizenship is in heaven! May the good Lord keep us all unspotted from the world! B. U. WATKINS.

This THE GOSPEL, GOD'S MORAL
POWER.

Brother G. says: "The Lord himself gave Israel a civil code." is true. Has he done less for his spiritual Israel? If Civil Government be so essential and good, would our heavenly Father withhold it from "them that walk uprightly?" Now I think that the government of Christ is the civilest I have any knowledge of! I do think that Christ in his law and kingdom has given us all things necessary to life and godliness. But if we have "ALL things" necessary in the kingdom of Christ, what business have we with the rulers of the darkness of this world? Brother G. admits that Christ said nothing against human governments, and nothing for them. "If he did not acknowledge Cæsar's right to command, he acknowledged his might, and taught his disciples to do the ame." Very well, then, Brother G. let us follow the example of our blessed Redeemer, and say nothing for, nor against these institutions, but just let them alone. Stand aloof from them, and say like the Saviour, "Who made me a ruler and a judge over you?" And, like Paul," What have we to do to judge them that are without?" If there never was a human Pontifical Government since the flood that was not founded in bloodshed, is there not a little danger that Christians, in taking an active part in these governments, should become partakers in their blood-guiltiness? Can a Christian vote, swear allegiance, vow to support the constitution, and be a constituent part of said go

How transcendent and sublime the power of speech, to convince, to rouse and awe the soul. A Demosthenes utters the thunders of eloquence, and a nation ruslies to the defence of liberty. A Tully speaks, and Senates hang entranced upon the charmed words that glow upon his lips. A Luther utters his words of power, and a world roused, as by the thunder peal of heaven, bursts the long riveted chains of despotism. speaks, and does no power breathe in his words? The world is startled by the eloquence of Earth, and cannot it be moved by the eloquence of Heaven?

God

The apostle of the Gentiles settled this question, in his emphatic and triumphant declaration to the Romans- "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The gospel itself-not any thing else-not the fist of His omnipotence—which creates and annihilates worlds is the power of the Highest, for the salvation of humanity.

What kind of power is that, which is thus potent for human salvation? There are but two kinds of power wielded by the Omnipotent-His physical and resistless might, which creates and destroys-and His intellectual and moral power, which moves upon and influences the intellectual and moral nature of beings, made in His image. We assume,

that the power of the Gospel is of the latter kind.

The Gospel is a message-glad tidings-a communication from the Intelligence of the Universe to the intelligence of earth. In the nature of the case, it can carry with it no other power, than that which affects mind-the potency of arguments and motives. To suppose it charged with physical and resistless energy, to transform the soul, such as that which originally created it, is to imagine something inconceivable, incredible.

good and great, revealing to the adoring gaze of his faith, the immaculate and glorious character of the unseen God in the Man Christ Jesus. It appeals to the gratitude of the soul, by the touching exhibition of the philanthrophy of God, in the dying love of his Son. It enkindles the hope of man, by the entrancing vision of immortality and life eternal, awakening in his spirit new and unearthly aspirations, for the true, the pure, and the eternal.

The Gospel, God's power, the concentrated might of His intelligence and love, thus moving upon the face of the great deep of humanity, evolves from its moral darkness and chaos, the new and fair creation of a re

To assert, that the Gospel, fraught as it is with mighty argument and transcendent motives, is destitute of power to convince and persuade the mind to affect and remodel human characteris to deny to it the moral | generated character - Prot. Union. power, which, in our familiar experience, we know is continually exerted by the words of a mortal upon his fellows.

How admirably is the Gospel adapted to the accomplishment of its object-the salvation of man-from ignorance, from unbelief, and from the dominion of sin-the exaltation and perfection of the character!

As an intellectual agency, it enlightens; revealing to man his true relations to the Universe, revealing to him God and himself-unfolding Heaven's great scheme for his recovery ; dispelling the black cloud of ignorance, the moral death-pall of his spirit. By its incontrovertible facts, and conclusive arguments, it convinces the mind, exorcising the demon of unbelief, silencing the last cavil of infidelity, and removing the last doubt of scepticism.

As a moral agency, it renovates the soul. It rouses into predominant action its highest and noblest principles. It speaks to the conscience, the moral sense of the soul, awakening it to juster conceptions of the right, and to a loftier and firmer control over the wayward spirit. It addresses the reverence of the soul, that principle of man which venerates the

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PROFANITY.-Profane swearing is

a great sin; God abhors it, and often punishes it in this life. He will not hold that man guiltless who takes his awful name in vain; He is jealous of his honor, and he will not suffer any creature to trample upon it with impunity. It is a useless sin, it confirms no man's word; he who seeks to establish his veracity by adding profane oaths to his assertions, gives loud-mouthed evidence that his declarations are untrue.

VIRTUE EMBODIED.-The eloquent Dr. Blair, concluding a public discourse, in which he descanted with his usual ability on the amiableness of virtue-said, if thou were embodied, all men would love thee! His colleague, Rev. Mr. Walker, ascended the same pulpit in the afternoon of the same sabbath; and, addressing the congregation, said, "My reverend brother observed in the morning, that if virtue were embodied, all men would love her. Virtue has been embodied, but how was she treated? Did all men love her ? No; she was despised and rejected of men, who, after defaming, insulting and scourging her, led her to Calvary, where they crucified her between two thieves."

THE FAMILY CIRCLE.

THE OHIO RIVER-We have collected some facts relative to the Ohio which may not prove uninteresting to our readers. The Ohio, including the Allegheny, which may be regarded as the same river, under another name. is 1200 miles long. At Cincin nati, which is about equi-distant from Pittsburgh to its confluence with the Mississippi, it is 534 yards wide, which may be assumed as its average width. Its annual range here, from low to high water is about fifty feet: its extreme range on record is 64 feet. It generally reaches its lowest stages in August, September, and October and its greatest rises are in December, March, May, and June. For a long distance below Pittsburgh, it is frozen over every winter, for several weeks: at Cincinnati it is not thus closed oftener than once in five years, on an average. Its current, when at mean height, three miles, and when higher and rising, four to five miles. Its immedite valley has an average width of one mile. It has the follo ving tributaries, the Monongahela, Allegheny, Beaver, Kanawha, Muskingnin, Hocking, Scioto. Great Sandy, Great and Little Miama, Licking, Kentuchy, Wabash, Salt, Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee, which drain a region of upwards of 130,000,000 acres-an area three times larger than all New England, and as large as all the Atlantic States north of the Potomac.

MANUFACTORIES IN MEXICO.-There are numerous cotton manufactories in Mexico. In 1842 there were 53 factories, having 131,280 spindles, which consumed about 3.000.000 lbs. of cotton annually, being about 2,000,000 lbs. more than the production of that country at that time. The raw material can be produced in Mexico to a far greater

extent.

A NEW EXPERIMENT.-A recent work of science gives the following experiment, which settles questions of importance to philosophy. "Two hundred pounds weight of earth were dried in an oven, and afterwards put in an earthen vessel. The earth was then moistened with rain water, and a willow tree weighing five pounds put therein. During the five years the earth was carefully watered with rainwater, or pure water; the willow grew and flourished, and, to prevent the earth being mixed with fresh earth, or dust blown on it by the winds, it was covered with a me al plate, perforated with a great number of small holes suitable for the free admission of air only. After growing in air for five years, the tree was removed, and found to weigh one hundred and sixty-nine pounds and three ounces. The leaves which dropped from the tree every autumn were not included in this weight. The earth was then removed from the vessel, again dried in the oven, and afterwards weighed: it was discovered to have lost only about two ounces of its weight; thus one hundred and sixty pounds of woody fibre, bark, or roots, were certainly produced; but from what source? The air has been discovered to be the source of the solid element at least. This statement may at first appear to be incredible, but upon the slightest reflection its truth is proved, because the atmosphere contains carbonic acid, and is a compound of 714 parts, by weight, of oxygen, and 386 parts, by weight, of carbon."

MAMMOTH CAVE, UNITED STATES.
BY GEORGE D. PRENTICE.

All day, as day is reckoned on the earth,
I've wandered in these dim and awful aisles,
Shut from the blue and breezy dome of heaven,
While thoughts, wild, drear and shadowy have swept
Across my awe-struck soul, like spectres o'er
The wizard's magic glass, or thunder clouds
O'er the blue waters of the deep. And now
I'll sit me down upou yon broken rock,
To muse upon the strange and solemn things
Of this mysterious realm.

All day my steps
Have been amid the beautiful, the wild,

The gloomy, the terrific. Chrystal founts
Almost invisible in their serene

And pure transparency-high, pillar'd domes
With stars and flowers all fretted like the halls
Of oriental monarchs-rivers dark

And drear and voiceless as oblivion's stream
That flows through death: dim vale of silence: gulfs
All fathomless, down which the loosened rock
Plunges until its far-off echoes come
Fainter and fainter, like the dying roll
Of thunders in the distance: stygian pools
Whose agitated waves give back a mound
Hollow and dismal, like the sullen roar
In the volcano's depths-these, these have left
The r spell upon me, and their memories
Have passed into my spirit, and are now
Blent with my being, till they seem a part
Of my own immortality.

God's hand,

At the creation, hollowed out this vast
Domain of darkness, where nor herb nor flower
B'er sprang amid the sands, nor dews nor rains
Nor blessed sunbeams fell with freshening power,
Nor gentle breeze its Eden-message told
Amid the dreadful gloom. Six thousand years
Swept o'er the earth, e'er human foot-prints marked
This subterranean desert. Centuries
Like shadows came and passed, and not a sound
Was in this realm, save when at intervals,
In the long lapse of ages, some huge mass
Of overhanging rock fell thundering down,
Its echoes sounding through these corridors
A moment, and then dying in a hush
Of sil nce such as brooded o'er the earth
When Earth was chaos. The great mastoden,
The dreaded monster of the elder world,
Passed o'er this mighty cavern, and his tread
Beat the old forest-oaks like tragile reeds,
And made earth tremble. Armies in their pride
Perchance have met above it in the shock
Of war, with shout, and groan, and clarion blast,
And the hoarse echoes of the thunder gun.
The storm, the whirlwind and the hurricane
Have reared above it, and the bursting cloud
Sent down its red and crashing thunder-bolt:
Earthquakes have trampled o'er it in their wrath,
Rocking earth's surface as the storm-wind rocks
The old Atlantic: yet no sound of these
E er came down to he everlasting depths
Of these dark solitudes.

How oft we gaze

With awe or admiration on the new
And unfamiliar, but pass coldly by
The lovelier and the mightier! Wonderful
Is this lone world of darkness and of gloom,
But far more wonderful yon outer world
Lit by the glorious sun. These arches swell
Sublime in lone and dim magnificence.
But how ublimer God's blue canopy
Beleaguered with his burning cherubim,
Keeping their waten eternal! Beautiful
Are all the thousand snow-white gems that lie
In these mysterious chambers, gleaming out
Amid the melancholy gloom and wild

These rocky hills and clifts, and gulfs; but far
More beantiful and wild the things that greet
The wanderer in our world of light: the stars
Floating on high like islands of the blest:
The autumn sun-set glowing like the gate
Of far-off Paradise: the gorgeous clouds
On which the glories of the earth and sky
Meet and commingle: earth's unnumbered flowers
All turning up their gentle eyes to heaven:
The birds, with bright wings glancing in the sun,
Filling the air with rainbow miniatures;
The

green old forests surging in the gale:
The everlasting mountains, on whose peaks
The setting-sun burns like an altar flame;
And ocean, like a pure heart rendering back
Heaven's perfect image, or in his wild wrath
Heaving and tossing like the stormy breast
Of a chained giant in his agony.

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