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to the church in Dundee, for such expressions placed in similar circumstances to ourselves, of kindness towards us.

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Huddersfield, March 18th.-I have the pleasure to inform you, that the church of Christ here is both happy and prosperous. Since our removal to a new place of meeting, which is comfortable and commodious, we have obtained an attendance considerably greater than formerly. The brethren themselves are regular and orderly, and I think I may say that peace, union, and love characterize all their social meetings. We have had a few conversions lately. A few weeks ago two young persons confessed the Lord Jesus, and were baptized. Last week another friend put on Christ in the same way; and on the first day of this week four others also. Thus seven persons have been added to the saved within a few weeks. Our hopes are good for further increase. I am happy to say that the labors of our beloved Brother Greenwell are instructive and edifying to the churches which he statedly visits; they are also useful to the unconverted, as the firstfruits of his labors in this part are some of those who have recently been added to our number. E. JENKINS.

Park (Wales) March 6.-About 9 years ago, sixteen of the members of the Scotch Baptist church at Ramoth (where the late John R. Jones labored as minister for thirtyfour years) were expelled, as they say, for denying "the work of the Holy Spirit;" also because they contended for "baptism for the remission of sins." Fourteen have been added by immersion during the nine years. We lost two by death, six went back to the world, and five to the Mormonites. Our most sincere love to all the churches of

Christ in England, Scotland, Ireland, and
America. Yours in hope of eternal life,
R. REES.

Wigan, March 17th.-Since I wrote last we have three added to our number by baptism, making five this month, all of them from the world, none having been before connected with any religious body.

T. Coop.

Dornock, March.--Having seen your note in the Harbinger, in which you inform us that Brother Campbell is negociating for one or two evangelists to visit this country during the ensuing summer, I wish to state, for the information of brethren who may be

that, as disciples of Christ, we have agreed when celebrating the death and resurrection of the Lord, on the first day of the week, to lay aside somewhat for the special purpose of supporting these evangelists in advancing Messiah's kingdom; that our fellow-men may be loosed from sectarian bondage, and introduced into the privileges of original Christianity. Our number is but six, and we are all poor in this world's goods; but we know the charity of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be inade rich. Now as it is an item of eternal truth, that he who sows sparingly shall reap sparingly, and that God loves a cheerful giver, our brethren should remember these things, and by adopting the plan proposed, they would be ready, when the time came, to devote their free-will offerings to aid the triumphs of the Redeemer. As every subject of his kingdom desires the salvation of his fellow-men, being themselves favored with this great blessing, I should think they will immediately adopt such a plan. We take 6 Harbingers, one of them being the property of the church, each member having a number of readers for it every month. If other brethren would try this plan, it would assist in circulating the truth. Brethren, pray for us. J. E.

Nottingham.-Four members of the church here, and one from the church in Loughborough, destitute of employment, have emigrated during the last month, three to the United States, and two to the Cape of Good Hope. One has been added to the church here during the same period. J. W.

Lewisham.-We are requested to state that one has been added to the church here during the last month, and that the brethren are more active and happy than formerly.

OBITUARY.-Banff, February 28.-It is with deep sorrow that I have to inform you of the death of our beloved Brother Ingles, who was seized with influenza on the 19th instant, and cut off by it and inflammation on the 24th, much regretted by all who knew him, and especially by the brethren. He was a tried, zealous, and devoted Christian; he was my constant companion and co-operator in the work of the Lord for the last seven years. At his expense we went to Edinburgh to meet Brother Campbell; and he was prepared to do anything that he considered to be in accordance with the will of his God. reflecting upon the ways of God, we are constrained to say it is the doing of the Lord. Our deceased brother was the youngest of all the brethren in the north, being only 26 years of age, but, in Christian attainment he was older than many who are double his age. We have had no additions of late, but we live in good hope. The work is the Lord's,

On

and it will not fall to the ground.

May we be found faithful: we are only here for a short time, but that short time fixes our everlasting destiny. A. CAMERON. [We had the pleasure of seeing our young Brother Ingles in Edinburgh, in August last, with Brother Campbell. On the 14th of January we received from him a Christian letter of inquiry respecting other evangelists being called into the field of labor. In five weeks afterwards he is numbered with the dead. High as the heaven is above the earth, so are our Father's thoughts and ways above ours; still he doeth all things well.-J.W.

Foreign.

In a

Adelaide, South Australia, August 10th, 1847.-Beloved Brother Wallis: May favor, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. letter from an entire stranger, some explanations seem necessary. I was received some time ago into the church in New Zealand by immersion for the remission of sins, having been in this colony nearly two years. I am in connection with a congregation professing New Testament principles, led, in part, by means of your valuable Messenger to discard sectarian names and connections, taking the New Testament alone as their standard and guide. For a time, baptism for the remission of sins was the stumbling block, it being admitted only in a limited formal sense. A free discussion has been conducted in the most brotherly manner. Brother Campbell's Essay on the Remission of Sins, sent by you to this country, has been received, and produced its usual effects. A fortnight ago one was immersed, a presage, we hope, of a rich and abundant harvest. Verily the harvest is great, but the laborers are few and illiterate. We shall pray to the Lord to send more and well instructed laborers into this field. Two young females have since been added to our number.

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REVOLUTION IN FRANCE.-We record in our pages, as matters of fact, that within the last sixty years, there have been three revolutions in France. The first took place in 1793, and continued three weeks before the people accomplished their wishes: but which, in consequence of the interference of other nations, caused a sanguinary war on the continent of Europe that lasted twenty years, terminating with the celebrated Battle of Waterloo, on the 18th June, 1815. The second Revolution took place in June, 1830, occupying only three days, with the loss of some five hundred lives. On this occasion the potentates of Europe, silent though trembling spectators, abstained from taking part against the Revolution, as the wise t and most convenient policy. The third revolution which occurred, in February, 1848, may be said to have continued three hours, when the King abdicated the throne, leaving the government of the nation in the hands of the people, some of the deputies of whom nominated a Provisional Government, which immediatety proclaimed a Republic. This event is one of the most sudden, rapid, effectual, and yet comparatively bloodless, recorded in history, or Not even the enknown to the memory of man. trance of Cyrus into the ancient city of Babylon was more unexpected to the inhabitants of that city than the late Revolution has been surprising to the whole civilized world. It is the theme of universal conversation-and of admiration with many, though not with the cr wned heads and their dependents, who have been made to tremble as if the time of their departure was also at hand. The brethren and all our readers will do well to remember, that a wise and omnipotent, though unseen hand, controls all these events, which, according to the Prophets, and the testimony of John the Apostle, in his apocalyptic vision, shall eventuate in the overthrow of the kingdom of darkness, the elevation of man, and the glory of God. And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth (does not this include all the nations? Ed.) lifted his hand towards heaven, and swore by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heavens and those things which are in it, and the sea and those things which are in it, that there should be no longer delay; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, then the secret of God, as he revealed its glad-tidings to his servants the ProAuckland Government House (New Zea-phets, should be fulfilled (Rev. x. 5, 7.) And the naland) September, 1847. -It is now some time tions were wroth; and thy wrath came, and the time since I last wrote you; I have, therefore, of the dead, (the nations, dead and withered, yielding no fruit to God) when they should be judged, and a concluded to write a few lines by the Thomas reward given to thy servants, and to the saints, and to King. I have seen your last letter to Brothose that fear thy name, small and great, and when ther Taylor, and think you were very low thou shouldest destroy those who destroy the earth. And the temple (or church) of God was opened in heaven, spirited, perhaps out of health when you wrote and the ark (or authority) of the covenant appeared in it. I hope the Lord will help you in every this temple; and there were lightnings, (political and hour of trial; I shall pray for you as a bro- ecclesiastical) and voices, and thundering, and an ther in Christ, and exhort you to put your earthquake, and great hail. Rev. xi. 11, 19.-J. W. trust in the Lord, and to let his word dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Paul the Apostle knew what it was to be afflicted both in body and mind, and yet he says, "Doubtless I count all things but dross and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."

T. MAJANY.

(This is a very excellent exhortation. J.W.) I am afraid of some of the brethren not standing true to the Lord Jesus in this colony; others appear steadfast. Please write me soon. Have you had Bro

ITALY.-The various states of Italy are more or

less agitated by revolutionary movementr, the bearthose governments which have made no concessions. ing of the population being intensely hostile toward Messina, in Sicily, has been bombarded repeatedly by the troops of the King of Naples: they demand a constitution similar to that of England. The population of Italy is as follows:-Two Sicilies 8,566,900; Piedmont and Sardinia, 4.879,000; Roman States, 2,877,000; Tuscany, 1,704,700; Monaca, 7,580; St. Marino, 7.950: Modena, 482,000; Parma and Placentia, 477,000: Venetian Lombardy, 4,749,900; Italian Tyrol, 522,601: Istria, 485,000: grand total, 24,567,238.

A MAN. The man whom I call deserving the na ne, is one whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather than himself: whose high purposes are adopted on just principles, aud never abandoned while heaven and earth afford means of accomplishing it. He is one who will neither seek an indirect advantage by a specious road, nor take an evil path to secure a real good purpose.

FEMALE EDUCATION.-It was a judicious resolution of a father, as well as a most pleasing compliment to his wife, when, on being asked what he intended to do with his girls, he replied, "I intend to apprentice them all to their excellent mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, and be fitted to become, like her, wives, mothers, heads of families, and useful meinbers of society." Equally just, but bitterly painful, was the remark of the unhappy husband of a vain, thoughtless, dressy slattern : " It is hard to say it, but if my girls are to have any chance of growing up good for anything, they must be sent out of the way of their mother's example."

WEAR A SMILE.-Which will you do, smile and make others happy. or be crabbed and make every one around you miserable? You can live among beautiful flowers and singing birds, or in the mire surrounded with logs and frogs. The amount of happiness you can produce is incalculable it yon show a smiling face, a kind heart, and speak pleasant words. On the other hand, by your sour looks, cross words, and fretful disposition, you make scores and hundreds wretched almost beyond endurance. Which will you do? Wear a pleasant countenance: let joy beam in your eyes, and love grow on your forehead. There is no joy so great as that which springs from a kind act or a pleasant deed; and you may feel it at night when you rest, at morning when you rise, and through all the day, when about your business.

BODILY EXERCISE IN EARLY LIFE.-To fetter the active motions of children, as soon as they have acquired the use of their limbs, is barbarous opposition to nature; and to do so under a pretence of improving their minds and manners, is an insult to common sense. It may, indeed, be the way to train up elevated puppets for short-lived prodigies of learning, but never to form healthy, well-informed, and accomplished men and women. Every feeling individual must behold, with much heartfelt concern, poor, little puny creatures of eight, or ten, or twelve years of age, exhibited by their silly parents as proficients in learning, or as distinguished for their early proficiency in language, elocution, music, or even some frivolous acquirement. The strength of the mind, as well as of the body, is exhausted, and the natural growth of both is checked by such untimely exertions.

EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG.-Children should be early taught to look up and find their standard of life far above the common throng. They should not be taught to rest contented in inactivity, or that Providence woul have them satisfied with any small attainment so long as higher attainments are within the reach of their utmost efforts. Providence calls no child to sit down in the dust and amuse itself with such playthings as glow-worms and snailshells. They are called to higher spheres-to soar among the stars, to roam o'er mountain tops, to penetrate the depths, and to commune with angels. They are called upon to rise higher and still higher -never resting satisfied until they have placed their feet above all former foot-prints, and carved their names above all other names. "Excelsior!" should ever be the motto. He who looks upon the children in onr streets, fast growing, many of them. to be vagabonds and pests in society, and is satisfied, either is deaf to the voice of duty and of God, or he is guilty of basely disregarding that voice. He only who is willing to labor for the elevation of the rising race; to guide them into spheres of improvement and usefulness, and to foster within them a disposition to run the race for honorable and meritorious distinction, is a true patriot. He only is true to his nature, true to posterity, true to his country, true to his God.

HAPPINESS.

WHERE shall we seek thee-happiness? oh say! Dost thou abide on earth? If so, with whom? Will riches, power, or rank command thy stay? Will beauty, fame, or wealth procure the boon? Thus have I often questioned, till methought An unseen spirit answered in this strain: ،، Mortal ! think not that happiness is bought With aught so earthly, or with aught so vain. ، Think not to find it pure or unalloyed, Whilst thou dost linger mid the scenes of life; 'Tis only in the realms of heaven enjoyed, There we shall know no care, no woe, no strife. "Seek it above-not in a world like this, 'Tis only there that we may hope to find Ever enduring wells of lasting bliss, Balm to the wounded heart and troubled mind."

THE ORPHAN BOY.

(The following lines, descriptive of fact, were sent to the children of the Sunday School at St. Thomas's church, in this city, by Dr. Hawkes, the Rector.— New York Inquirer.)

I knew a widow very poor,

Who four small children had :
The oldest was but six
years old-
A gentle modest lad.'"
And very hard this widow toil'd
To feed her children four;
An honest pride the woman felt,

Though she was very poor.

To labor she would leave her home,
For children must be fed,

And glad was she when she could buy
A shilling's worth of bread.

And this was all the children had
On any day to eat ;

They drank their water, ate their bread,
But never tasted meat.

One day, when snow was falling fast,
And piercing was the air,

I thought that I would go and see
How these pour .children were.

Ere long I reached their cheerless home-
"Twas searched by every breeze-
When, going in, the eldest child

I saw upon his knees.

I paus'd to listen to the boy:
He never rais'd his head:

But still went on and said, "Give us
This day our daily bread."

I waited till the child had done,
Still listening as he prayed;
And when he rose I asked him why
The Lord's prayer he had said.
"Why, sir," said he, "this morning when
My mother went away,

She wept because she said she had
No bread for us to-day.

،، She said we children now must starve,
Our father being dead:
And then I told her not to cry,
For I could get some bread.
"Our Father, sir, the prayer begins,
Which makes me think that he,
As we have no kind father here,
Would our kind father be.
"And then you know the prayer, sir, too,
A ks God for bread each day:

So in the corner, sir, I went,
And that's what made me pray."
I quickly left that wretched room,
And went with fleeting feet;
And very soon was back again
With food enough to eat.

"I thought God heard me," said the boy :
I answered with a nod-

I could not speak; but much I thought
Of that boy's faith in God.

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REFORMATION.-No. IV.

THE rejection of human creeds by the originators and promoters of the present reformation, was mainly due to a deep reverence for the Divine Scriptures, and a just regard for the supremacy of the Lord Messiah. It was esteemed a desecration of the Sacred Oracles to bring them down to the level of human opinions, or to make them the vehicle through which the dogmas and speculations of men were to be imposed upon the conscience; and it was regarded a presumptuous usurpation that uninspired and fallible teachers should, in solemn conclave, venture to change the laws of Christ's kingdom, and establish new regulations for the government of his people. Hence originated the strong opposition that has been made to clerical assumption, and the urgent appeal to the Word of God itself as the only tribunal to be admitted or acknowledged in the decision of religious questions.

There were various other reasons, however, which co-operated with this veneration for divine authority. The

VOL. I.

evil effects and tendencies of creeds were so obvious and numerous as to furnish abundant motives to opposition. Some of these we have already particularized, as, the impediment they offer to progress in divine knowledge; the obstacle they interpose between the human and the divine mind; the unlawful power which they throw into the hands of the clergy; and the discredit which they bring upon the fundamental principle of Protestantism-the right of private or individual judgment in respect to the meaning of scripture. Another reason for the opposition to creeds, and one which was at least first in action, if not in influence, was their influence in producing and perpetuating religious dissensions. This is the point which we wish now to consider.

It may be asserted, we presume, as a truth at length established by the world's experience, that the various parties or divisions which constitute Christendom can agree only in the general truths and facts of Christianity. To these there has always been a very marked and obvious assent. But

M

when we descend to particularize; to the minutia which may be descried by minds of microscopic intelligence; to the nice distinctions which may be drawn by the acumen of metaphysicians, we find as marked and striking a contradiction. The history of Christianity, indeed, from its very origin until now, might surely suffice to show how utterly vain and hopeless is the attempt to induce the world to adopt any particular set of opinions or systems of doctrines which can be devised by human skill. Yet this is a lesson which men have been slow to learn. This is a discovery which the religious world at large appears to have only just now made, if we may take the Evangelical Alliance as an index to its present convictions. It is, however, one of the leading truths urged upon the community from the very commencement of the present effort at reformation.

Were we, indeed, asked to define theoretically, in terms the most brief and impressive, the reformation which we urge, we should denominate it— A generalization of Christianity. It is in this character that it presents a basis of Christian union. It is in this point of view that it lays aside the differences, the peculiarities, the distinctions, which disunite and mark out sects; and retains the agreements, the universalities, the identities which secure harmony and peace. It proposes the macrocosm of Deity as a substitute for the microcosm of man. It regards Christianity as a boon designed for all, and fitted to secure the happiness of the entire family of man, and prefers to see its blissful influence, like the sun's blest radiance, diffused throughout the whole community, rather than to have only a few of its rays concentrated here and there by the burning-glass of Sectarianism.

We by no means propose, however, as a basis of Christian union, such a generalization as would render Christianity vague and indefinite. To do

this, would be to disnonor the human mind, and Christianity itself. It would be to propose a union in doubt, rather than a union in faith. We regard Christianity as a system, infinite, indeed, in its details and applications, yet so complete in itself, so harmonious in all its parts, that it may be comprehended almost in a single thought, and be clearly defined by the simplest terms. And we would propose such a view of it as would permit a union upon the religion itself, without involving controversies about its minutiæ or its appendages; and such as would present a clear understanding of its nature, claims, and objects, without any scholastic dogmatism upon particular tenets; and, least of all, upon those remote points, those mysteries inscrutable from their very nature, which are declared, but not explained; and fully within the grasp of Faith, though beyond the power of Intellect.

It is true, indeed, that we earnestly plead for the adoption of the Bible alone, and that we concur with the whole Protestant world in admiring the celebrated saying of Chillingworth, that "the Bible is the religion of Protestants." Yet we are not guilty of such inexactness, and such a want of discrimination, as to propose the Bible as the Christian's creed. The whole Bible is certainly to be believed; the Bible alone is to be received as the standard and fountain of divine truth; but it is not to be forgotten that the Bible contains much more than Christianity, and much more even of Christianity itself, than is necessary to the object now before us-Christian union and co-operation. To say that the Bible is our religion, is true, in the sense that the Bible contains our religion. But Judaism is as much a religion of the Bible as Christianity; and, if we make no just distinctions, circumcision is as scriptural as baptism, and flesh as orthodox as faith. There needs

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