Harbinger, Jan. 1, '62. FAITH AND INFIDELITY. -they are seen in the fulfilment of prophecy-they are seen in the effects of the gospel on society--they are seen everywhere. And hence it is, that almost every intelligent person in this country is willing and ready to give an intellectual assent to the Divine authenticity of the Christian religion. But how many of us, like the Eunuch, believe with all our hearts? Ah, this is the question. Before any man can do this, his heart must be set free from its earthly attachments, and allowed to accompany his understanding in the investigation of the truth. This is the one thing needful, so far as it regards human agency. When this is done, we may say that all is done. The intellect, then, immediately conveys the truth to the heart, the heart then influences and directs the will, the will controls the hand, the hand opens the purse, and the purse, properly directed, sets in motion the whole machinery of society for the glory of God and the good of humanity. And hence it is that the believer has no compromise with God. He never stops to inquire how much he must do, or how little he may do, in order to get to heaven. His only question is, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" When this is ascertained, he no longer confers with flesh and blood “Through floods and flame, if Jesus lead, He'll follow where he goes." To set our hearts free, then, from all the undue and evil influences that the world, the flesh, and the Devil have thrown around them, is evidently the second, and I may add, the paramount duty of every man who hears the gospel of the grace of God; and it is also an essential condition of that faith which works by love, and which purifies the soul. I do not say that it is made the duty of any man to do this simply by his own unaided efforts, nor do I say that any man, whatever may be his capacity, can do all this solely in and of himself. In this respect we have no ability to do anything. "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing" (John xv. 5.) We cannot even live a single moment without him. But, nevertheless, he has allowed us to have some agency in the preservation of our own lives, as well as in the lives of others. And just so it is with respect 29 to the discipline and government of our hearts. We can never control and purify them by our own devices; but with the proper use of the means that God has himself provided, and with the gracious assistance that he has promised to give us, we may all do so, and do so most effectually if we will. It is only necessary to change our circumstances, and to place ourselves under the influence of Divine grace, in order to feel a corresponding change in our whole mental and moral constitution. How often, for example, have we felt that our hearts were being gradually weaned from the world and all its vanities, while attending a protracted meeting-while we were listening to the pleadings of the sanctuary, or to the songs of Zion, or to the prayers of God's children! Under these circumstances we have felt that it is good to be with Jesus, and like Peter, James, and John, when they saw his glory on the mount of transfiguration, we may perhaps have wished for tabernacles in some secluded spot, where we might be permitted to remain with him for ever. But ah, how very different are the influences of this vain world. When we neglect even for a short time the ordinances of God, and allow our affections to be absorbed in the things of time and sense, how very hard and how greatly changed is the appearance insensible our hearts soon become; and of every thing else, both within us, and around us! The heavens above us seem to lose much of their brightness; the church too loses many of her charms and attractions; and Jesus himself, it may be, is no longer to us the one altogether lovely. And all this, be it remembered, has been brought about by a change of circumstances which are in a great measure under our own control. O, yes, we have an agency in these matters. Otherwise, God would never have said to each of us, give me thy heart" (Proverbs xxiii. 26) otherwise, he would never have commanded us, " to watch over our hearts with all diligence" (Proverbs iv. 23.) "Son, Let us then, dear reader, give good heed to these admonitions. Let us ever remember that it is not a mere cold assent of the understanding that will save us from our sins; that will serve to make us pure and holy; that will unite us to God as the children of his , dom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. While, then, God is giving us life and reason, and while he is aiding us and warning us by his Spirit and by his providence, let us all be more diligent in turning our hearts from the unsatis adoption; and that will give us a title clear to mansions in the skies. -O, no! it is with the heart, as well as with the understanding, that man believeth unto righteouness. It is this living principle, that, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, fills the soul with love, and joy, and peace, and long-suffering, and gen-fying vanities of this world to him who, tleness, and goodness, and fidelity, and meekness, and temperance. It is this that prepares us for the solemn hour of death; and that, through the infinite grace of God, gives us an abundant entrance into the everlasting king of God, has become unto us wisdom, REVIEWS, NOTES ON PASSING EVENTS, CORRESPONDENCE, &c. ADDRESS OF THE REV. W. LINCOLN to the Congregation of Beresford Episcopal Chapel, Walworth, on Sunday Evening, Nov. 23, 1862, upon his Quitting the Communion of the Established Church. AFTER a sermon on John vi. 16 Mr. Lincoln said "My dear Friends, — Yesterday I forwarded the following note to the Lord Bishop of London : My Lord,-It is due to your Lordship that I should apprise you of my intention forthwith to quit the communion of the Established Church. To the subject of the union of Church and State I have for several years given much and prayerful study. Believing, as I do, that the great church-world, or world-church is Babylon, from which God calls to separation; and believing further, that confederacy with the ungodly religious, and with Tractarians, and with Neologians, is partaking of their sin, I find that I have no alternative but to act as I have indicated. I will not trouble your Lordship with the grounds of my belief; the less need is there for this, as my thoughts upon these matters will shortly, if it please God, be published. 'It only remains for me to state, that I have not quite decided whether to surrender Beresford chapel, or to retain it; however, I will come (D.v.) to a determination by the end of this year, and at once acquaint your Lordship therewith. * * 'I have the honor to remain, my Lord, your Lordship's obedient servant, W. LINCOLN. To the Right Hon. and Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of London.' "Thus by the above my connection with the Church of England is virtually dissol ved." As Beresford chapel is private property Mr. Lincoln has the option of remaining, and thus the Established Church may lose minister, chapel, and congregation. He says "The action that I shall recommend to my friends is this; a few of us well known to each other to be true Christians, should assemble, and before the Lord form ourselves into a church. Then persons wishful to join will state their desire to me, and I shall ask them as to their faith in Christ. Then some one or two of those of the little church thus joined, will either see them or visit them, to form their opinion as to whether they are true Christians. Then if the report of minister and visitors be all favorable, they will be welcomed by the church to the Lord's Supper. Our motto must be this double one: Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;' and,' If any one love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed at the coming of Jesus.' Of course I am quite aware that this attempt on our return out of Babylon to begin to build a little wall, will expose us to the scorn of the Sanballats, and of the Samaritans, or mongrel professors of the day. They may smile at the feebleness of our wall, but then let us know that God Himself will be a wall of of fire for us. "Do you ask me what sect we shall belong to? Ah, my friends, that sectarianism is the bane of the church. I believe it is the world-church with her fearful heresies, as in her catechism and with her worldly ways, that is the cause of it. Oh! for this denominational spirit to be put away. Oh! to be content with the name Christian. But, however, I will be candid, and try and answer that question. My desire in future then will be to get what is good of all, and to form ourselves Harbinger, Jan. 1, '63. A RESIGNATION. into a Free Evangelical Church To many of the prayers in the Prayer Book I have no objection, though I have to some of them. Nor have 1 any objection to a form of prayer, though I have an objection to the use of the same form every Sunday. Therefore if it were wished I would retain much of it. Thus I should still be a bit of a Churchman. Then I shall be an Independent, for my inmost soul recoils from the doctrine of the union of Church and State. Then I shall be a Baptist, for I think, whilst I am about it, of being bap tized. Again, I shall have the Lord's Supper every Sunday evening, and thus be like the Brethren. As respects the in ternal administration, such as admission of members and the like, it is not I, but the Lord who assigns to the church itself a voice herein. See 1 Cor. v. 13. Whilst in blaming the angel of a church for receiving improper characters, he shows that the minister should have a veto. But, indeed, where the Spirit of God is, there church and minister would all heartily and unanimously work together." So Mr. Lincoln cries out against sectarianism and goes on to make another little (very little) sect. He is about to take what he can from each of several sects to make a new one, instead of leaving them all and taking the Bible alone that he may get back to the old A RESIGNATION AND THE writer of the letter given under having learned the way of truth more fully has been baptized and added to the small church recently planted in Bristol. ap Bedminster, December 12, 1862. Dear Brother, I write to inform you that I resign my office as a preacher of the United Methodist Free Churches. As the step is an important one, it is right that yourself and others should know why I take it; this, therefore, I will tell you as briefly as possible. I begin by stating that the doctrines and practices of the churches of the present day have for a long time peared to me to come vastly short of the New Testament standard. Nor is the expression here used sufficiently strong, some of them being as much opposed both to the spirit and letter of its teachings as light to darkness. I ask then for candid answers to the following questions, and while I put them to myself, I would do the same to every individual who is anxious to learn and obey the truth. 1. Is it right to press ungodly people to contribute to the support of the gospel of one 66 31 a bit the only authorised sect formed by the Apostles of the Lord. But 66 a bit of a Churchman," of Baptist," &c. Why not a whole why Christian and nothing else, and why not plant in Beresford chapel a Christian church? We like not the makeweight style in which baptism is thrown in- " I shall be a Baptist, for I think, while I am about it, of being baptized." What place will Mr. Lincoln give to baptism? Will he be baptized and his members not? Will he teach them that baptism is one of Christ's ordinances and grant indulgence to those who prefer to let it alone? The Lord's the one Supper and the Lord's Day as often as the other. Very good, but that should not be borrowed from "the Brethren," but taken from the divine law-book as one of Heaven's statutes. Mr. Lincoln so far only prepares to move out of one of the larger tents of Babylon to erect in the land of Shinar a small one for himself. We honor his disinterestedness and rejoice that he moves as far as he sees, but we entreat him not to stop short of Jerusalem. The Lord's call is not only come out" but come back." 66 THE REASONS FOR IT. 66 Christ, by shaming them into giving before a congregation of people? 2. Is it right to get up tea meetings, with proceedings of a highly frivolous nature, a mixture of jokes and spiritual things -bazaars, excursion trips, &c. for the purpose of raising money for the support of gospel institutions-or should the offerings of God's people be spontaneous, in proportion as the Lord prospers them, and as forming a distinct portion of divine worship? See Acts ii. 42. 3. Is it right for unconverted people to take part in the services of the Lord's house, such as performing on musical instruments, singing in choirs, teaching in Sabbath schools, distributing religious tracts, &c.? 4. Is it right to make invidious distinctions in speaking of preachers of the gospel, styling some reverend, others right reverend, &c.? Is there any authority from Christ for the use of such titles? 5. Is it right to practice the starring system in getting together large and wealthy congregations, upon the same principle that the lessee of a theatre en 32 THE DEAD INTERPRETER. 7. Is it right to force upon infants the religious views of parents? Ought not such things to be left to the discretion of after years? 8. Is it right to baptize infants when there is not even a solitary instance recorded in the New Testament of such a proceeding; and while no account is fur. nished either in the Old or New Testament of any man, woman or child having been sprinkled with mere water for any purpose whatever, either civil, moral, or religious? 9. Is it right to explain away, to suit our own purposes, some of the most obvious truths of the Word of God? Where reason and Scripture unite to teach that baptism must mean immersion, why should we from regard to old prejudices, be anxious to persuade ourselves to the contrary? Harbinger, Jau. 1, '63. What is the plain inference to be drawn from the statement that John baptized at Enon, near Salim, on account of much water being there? In conclusion I would remark, that no command of Christ ought to be trifled with, neither can it be done with safety. He has been pleased to associate faith with baptism for specific purposes, which purposes are frustrated by severing them. What therefore He has joined together let not man put asunder. You will not be surprised then to learn that I have been baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that I have connected myself with a few disciples of the Lord Jesus in Bristol, who, discarding sectarian names and worldly policy, contend for an immediate, full, and uncompromising return to apostolic teaching and usage. I feel considerable pain in breaking connection with so many valued and beloved brethren, who have regarded me with bro therly kindness; but I confer not with flesh and blood, take my stand upon New Testament ground, and resolve to obey God rather than man. Yours affectionately, JOSEPH DERRICK. THE DEAD INTERPRETER. ing notice and in shunning debate; that success is sure if our friends will but work quietly and unobtrusively, taking for their motto PRAY, MEDITATE, WAIT." But what are they to wait for? One of the most recent articles is headed "The Church of the Future," which the writer deals with thus : DEPARTED this life December 1, 1862, | parted were these :-"In the meantime The Interpreter, having just completed we commit our cause to the pioneer asits third year. The most remarkable sociations, simply reminding that all feature in this event is that a prophetic great moral influence spreads SILENTLY impulse came upon the departing in his-that strength will be found in avoidlast moment, by which the dying Interpreter gave us to expect his resurrection after three years. We have looked for the monthly visits of this periodical with pleasure, and received it as one of the best printed and best edited monthlies. All its articles have been anonymous and nearly all drifting unto one sea. In its early days there were excellent papers upon ministry shewing that the parties were not upholders of priestism. After a while, dispensations of probation and mercy, subsequent to the present one, and in which the departed will have opportunities to gain what in this life they have lost, or at least to improve, considerably, their condition, were defended from the Scriptures, as nearly every fancy in its turn is thus supported. Then the Interpreter went down one thousand two hundred copies monthly were reduced to seven hundred, and now it is to sleep three years, after which it too is to enter into a new dispensation and live again. The last words of the de or "Will it ever exist? That is the first question. Is there any prospect, however distant, that mankind will one day review their ecclesiastical beliefs, and voluntarily emancipate themselves from a thraldom of which they are at present not conscious: a thraldom which, whether real imaginary, is associated with their best interests and happiest moments, and into which they have been led, not by choice, but by the roll of centuries,-the ebbing and flowing of that great ocean of events, out of which everything around them has taken birth and shape? "No human being can answer that question with confidence; for to do so, it is yet necessary to know, not only what the history of the church hitherto has been, Harbinger, Jan. 1, '63. THE DEAD INTERPRETER. but what, in the providence of God, it is yet destined to be; whether, in future years, it is, with all its imperfections, to pursue its triumphant march, conquering and to conquer, or whether it is once more to be shattered by persecution, and to be purified in the fires. "That great political changes are in progress, no thoughtful person can now doubt. That it is almost impossible to separate these changes from ecclesiastical interests is the opinion of every experienced politician. That Rome is tottering to its fall; that democracy, with tiger heart, already crouches, as if in the act of springing upon its victim; that events, before the coming shadow of which farsighted men tremble, are now seen looming in the distance,-al these things are certain enough: but it is by no means equally clear that the shock, come when it may, will affect materially institutions less obviously interwoven with the history of States than those of Rome, and still less free churches that disdain State patronage, and are therefore independent of Government control. * * "One thing at least may be safely asserted, and that is, that the church of the future, like the church of the past, whatever form it may take, will be the result neither of discussion, nor of previous ar rangement, but the fruit of events yet unknown and incapable of being foreseen. we say, "Granting, for the sake of argument, that all clericalism is unscriptural-that Christians, if faithful to their Lord, would return at once to a lay eldership, and aban don for ever a ministerial order; granting, all this, who supposes it will be done? Who imagines that any amount of argument, however unanswerable, would avail to overturn the prejudices-even if they be nothing more that have for fifteen hundred years at least grown with the growth, and strengthened with the strength, of almost every Christian man? Who with his senses in a healthy condition really expects that, before any adverse demonstration on paper, were it capable of the highest mathematical proof, or as undeniable as the great facts of the physical universe, national establishments would break up, Episcopacy disappear, Presbyterianism melt away, or even Congregationalism vanish from the scene? Such convictions, followed by such consequences, I are not in harmony with human nature. As reasonable would it be to expect the Ethiopian' to 'change his skin, or the leopard his spots.' "Another thing equally certain is, that no great ecclesiastical change will ever result from the formation of small commu. nities of separatists, such as those which, on one pretext or other, from time to time 33 break off from the great body of believers, meet apart, and congratulating each other on their greater faithfulness, gradually subside into sectarianism. Useful, very useful, as witnesses to neglected or forgotten truths, these bodies frequently are; but nothing as yet indicates that by this agency any great effect is likely to be produced upon the church at large * * First of all, then, might we not, with advantage, get rid of all admitted unrealities in matters of religion, whether they have become such by lapse of timeor whether they never were real, but mere exaggerations or perversions which had their birth in times of excitement, or else compromises with evil then too powerful to be uprooted-but which in either case have been handed down from generation to generation as forms of thought hallowed by long usage, and sustained by texts into the true bearing of which, when viewed in their connexion, it has not been thought needful or perhaps safe to inquire? "How many of these are still clinging even to the simplest forms of Christianity, few probably imagine. How many linger in the purest confessions, blend with the noblest truths, and are announced to unsuspecting hearers as undoubted verities, in expositions both from the press and the pulpit, still fewer will at first sight be prepared to believe. How often Holy Scripture itself is, by the best of men and with the most benevolent intentions-from long and hereditary use, from careless habits, from timid acquiescence in reasonings felt to be unsound, and from a faithless dread of the entire truth - perverted, separated from its context, and used without discrimination, unlawfully and untruthfully, scarcely any person can conceive, whose attention has not been drawn to textual quotations, and to the principle-or rather, want of principle-which is too often manifest in their presentation. "It is not too much to say, that were the words of any ordinary human writer used, or rather tortured, as those of apostles and prophets are every day and hour by men who regard these writings as in spired of God, universal reprobation would quickly punish the criminals, and in so doing to some extent at least remedy the wrong. Secondly, is it not possible to do much more than has ever yet been done, to place Holy Scripture on a pedestal higher and altogether distinct from that which is ordinarily claimed for scientific theology? "Perhaps the most important question of all those that the church will have to decide in these latter days is, the province of reasoning in theology. 'The Westminster divines,' says a recent advocate of things as they are, 'have no difficulty in |