before thee, thou holy Lord God. "If thou wert strict to mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand? but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." The longer I have lived, and the more accurately I have watched over my heart, the more evident has it been to me, that I am prone to forget God, though every object above, around, and beneath, ought habitually to fill me with love to his character, and to remind me of his presence. I perceive that I am too unmindful of his incessant and astonishing favours, though "I live and move, and have my being in him," and without him am less than nothing and vanity. I have learnt that I often ignominiously parley with my spiritual foes, when I ought manfully to resist them ;-that I quests of the compassionate Immanuel) have been planted in heathen lands. Many have "cast their idols to the moles and to the bats," and have built their immortal hopes on the cross of the suffering Saviour. The word of life has been translated into languages in which it was never before known. Every fibre of my heart thrills with joy at the recollection, that multitudes, for ages enveloped in the shadow of death, now know, that thou hast so loved the world, as to give thy only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life." They have themselves heard the Redeemer, in sounds sweeter than the melody of angelic harps, proclaiming the animating, the immortal truths, "In my Father's house are many man-am accustomed to deceive myself sions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. I am the resurrection and the life. Because I live ye shall live also. Where I am, there also shall my servants be." Yes, thou adorable Father of mercies, I am come from wit-I too frequently murmur at the nessing thy marvellous goodness to the perishing heathen; and I would join them in their transports of gratitude and praise. Ride forth, almighty Saviour, "conquering and to conquer," till the myriads of the redeemed surround thy throne-till innumerable diadems sparkle at thy feet, and adorn thine head-till earth and heaven bow the knee, and acknowledge thee "to be Lord, to the glory of God the Father." I am come, Lord, from an other year's observation of my own character. And I would review the past year, and every period of my life, with deep humility. I would abase myself in the vain expectation of bliss from earthly scenes, when every circumstance of my history incontestibly proves, that the happiness of an immortal mind consists in communion with God, and the enjoyment of his love;-that divine dispensations, and wish the allotments of Providence to myself and friends were otherwise, whilst it is abundantly evident, that infinite wisdom has directed my way, and managed my concerns;-that I have too commonly distrusted the faithfulness and love of my heavenly Father. O God!" be merciful to me a sinner!" Let the blood of Christ cleanse me from all sin. Lord! make me more humble and penitent, make me wiser and better from the experience of the past year. I come, O my God, from the enjoyment of innumerable mercies. They have been "new every morning, and renewed every even ing;"-in greatness, how have a world of sin and care, how hast they resembled the mountains thou been to me the house of that rise toward heaven; in num- God, and the gate of heaven! ber, they have surpassed the Your hours I would recollect dew-drops of the morning, or the with undissembled gratitude, ye innumerable sands that barrier delightful sabbaths! when I the ocean; in freeness, they have have seen my Saviour through been comparable to the air I have the lattices of ordinances, and breathed, or to the light of hea- have been conscious of a joy ven that has shone around me. unspeakable" in prospect of the How do I regret my entire ina- full vision of his uncreated glory. bility to enumerate thy favours, Ye Ministers of the Gospel! wheor properly to estimate them. ther Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, "My feeble spirit pants beneath, how, with your varied gifts and the pleasing, painful load." Yet graces, have ye instructed, cauwere I to be unmindful of thy mer- tioned, warned, and comforted cies, inanimate creation might me. But where shall I close the well break its silence, and re- astonishing review. Mountain proach me with my base ingra- rises above mountain; and when titude. I will not, I cannot for-I have imagined that I have get thy benefits. How hast thou gained an eminence from whence sought me, a wretched wanderer I could calmly contemplate the from "the fountain of living wa- whole of thy wondrous favours, ters," and brought me to the how have the rays of thy glory streams of everlasting consola- dissipated the clouds that were tion! How hast thou spread a around me, and I have perceived table for me in the wilderness, infinite heights of mercy which even in the presence of my ene- man or angel could never reach. mies! My bread has indeed "O what shall I render to thee for been given me, and my water all thy benefits. Bless the Lord, has been sure. "With this staff O my soul! and all that is within passed I over Jordan, and now me bless his holy name." I am become two bands." How hast thou delivered me, when all creature aid has vanished, and there has been but "a step between me and death!" At thy bidding, new health has glowed on my countenance, new vigour has nerved my limbs. When on the very brink of ruin, and the great enemy already regarded me as his prey, how hast thou interceded for me, and my faith has not failed! Thou Book of God, how through another year has thy lustre been shed upon my path! what additional claims has thy adorable Author acquired to my most affectionate regard, to my highest veneration. Thou sanctuary, hallowed retreat from I come, O my God, from scenes of bereavement and distress. I have seen parents and children conveyed to the silent tomb; I have marked the serenity of their countenances, a serenity arising from faith in him who is the re surrection and the life, with inexpressible delight: I have seen them expire with hopes full of immortality and eternal life. I have heard surviving mourners exclaiming with elevated gratitude and joy, "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation. O my God, let me live the life, and let me die the death of the righteous." And, to awaken me to consi Lord, deration, dost thou ask me, Lord, | bodies shall have revolved a little Whither I am going? longer, I too shall go the way thou knowest. Perhaps, whence I shall not return: my beloved friends, my dear children, shall seek me in the morning, and I shall not be." Lord! let my languishing frame be supported by the omnipotent arm of thy love. Let the light of an eternal day dawn around my dying pillow. Let death be swallowed up in victory. surviving friends was peace! Let say, His end Night dews fall not more gently to the ground, Nor weary worn-out winds expir'd so soft." To serve thee in thy vineyard a little longer. I have sometimes found it, Lord, a heaven upon earth to serve thee, and still employ me for the promotion of thy glory. Yes, let me serve thee, to whom I am under the highest possible obligations, humbly, knowing that my ability to serve thee must come from the aids of thy Spirit; that I have nothing but what I have received, and that, at best, I am an unprofitable servant-wholly, since I am entirely thine, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus-faithDoubtless I am hastening to the fully, declaring, whether men tribunal of God. How certain, smile or frown, the whole counhow exact this judgment, how sel of God-diligently, know- momentous its consequences! ing that the night is at hand, and" Seeing I look for such things, that the slothful, no less than the what manner of person ought I unprofitable servant, shall be cast to be in all holy conversation and into outer darkness-joyfully, godliness." with a consciousness that thy service is element, that " my thy yoke is easy, and thy burden is light"-affectionately, with a soul imbued with that overflowing pity which filled the heart, shone in the eyes, and flowed from the tongue of the Son of God, when "he beheld the city, and wept over it"-perpetually, let me never be so base as to abandon thy service; the longer I live, the more reason will there be why I should serve thee; eternity itself will not be too long to show forth thy praises, and to declare thy glory. Certainly I am rapidly going to the grave. Perhaps, ere this year closes, I may be numbered with the dead. During the past year, many have been carried to their graves. Our fathers, our children, our relatives, where are they? They are gone into eternity; and when the heavenly I hope I am going to the possession of eternal joys. O my God, I trust thou hast begun thy good work in my soul, which thou hast engaged to carry on and complete. Do with me as seemeth thee good; but, O! save me. Kindle in my soul the hallowed fire of thy love, and sin and death shall never be able to extinguish it. Thou hast saved such sinners as I am, and I will not, I cannot despair. I fly to thy mercy, rich and free, and sovereign in Christ Jesus my Lord. I exult in the immortal hope, may I not add, the humble, yet confident expectation, that when all my years on earth are passed away, thou wilt indeed raise me to the enjoyment of thy glory. With the patriarch's joy Or life or death is equal; neither weighs; " REMARKS ON THE CONTROVERSY IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, RESPECTING BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. (Continued from page 316 of our last Vol.) THE next author whom we shall notice as taking a prominent part in this controversy, is the Rev. JOHN SCOTT, M.A. who has published a large pamphlet, entitled, "An Inquiry into the effect of Baptism according to the sense of the Holy Scripture and of the Church of England; in ans wer to the Rev. Dr. Mant's two tracts," &c. pp. 270. Mr. Scott begins by stating Dr. Mant's expressions on the effect of baptism, in opposition to which, he first exhibits his own views of that great moral change which the scripture calls regeneration; and then endea vours to is that more prove, meant by it than the application of baptism; that the baptized persons spoken of in the New Testament, were those who professed faith in Christ;-and whom the apostles believed to be regenerated, before they were admitted to baptism. Much of Mr. Scott's reasoning on this point agrees with Mr. Biddulph's; and might be adopted by any of our brethren. "Turn now," says Mr. S. "to the New Testament; -there we find, indeed, baptism expressly ordained by Christ himself, with the declaration, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' It is the appointed mode of professing faith in him: it is a sign, a pledge, a means of important blessings. As such it is required to be observed, and it is supposed that Christians have 82. not failed to observe it." p. 81, Here we agree with Mr. Scott; giving our own interpretation to the phraseology, we admit that the baptism of a believer is a "sign, a pledge, a means of important blessings." Mr. Scott appeals to the Articles of the Church of England, particular notice is taken of the ninth, which is entitled " Of the original or birth sin." He repels Dr. Mant's reasoning, doubtless in his own view completely;-but in ours insufficiently. On referring to the original Articles published in the time of king Edward the sixth, in the year 1552, we find it is said in the English edition, "This infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are baptized." In the Latin edition it is, "Manet etiam in RENATIS hæc naturæ depravatio." Again, “And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath, of itself, the nature of 66 sin." In the Latin copy it is, Quanquam RENATIS et credenWhen the Articles tibus," &c. were revised ten years after, the Latin expressions were left unaltered; but in the first of those above mentioned, the English translation was rendered, "Yea in them that are REGENERATED," &c. From this comparison of the expressions used, it is diffi cult to avoid the conclusion, that the Reformers in 1552 considered the terms regenerated, (renatis) and baptized, in a very important sense, synonymous. Reasoning from what is said in the Articles which treat" of the Sacraments," Mr. Scott argues, that what applies to one sacrament, is designed to apply to the other also; and as it is said, (Art. 25.) that "in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation," he concludes, that baptism according to the church, can only be considered as beneficial to those who are worthy, or right receivers of it. If Mr. Scott will take the consequences of his own reasoning, and will continue to lay as much stress on worthily receiving baptism, as on worthily receiving the Lord's supper, what will become of his whole system? How can infants worthily receive baptism? He must prove that the worthiness of the sponsors at taches the benefits of worthy receiving to the unconscious recipient. But where is the scrip tural authority for this sentiment? The fathers of the English church virtually confessed that they had none for in 1552 they said," the baptism of young children is to be commended, and in any wise to be retained in the church." Ten years afterwards, when they reviewed the Articles, they still produced no scripture for it, but they then said, "the baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ." (Art. 27.) A 4 It may possibly be said, in reply to the preceding remarks, that the revisions show the care with which the subjects were examined, and that the reformation thus became more complete. Yet on this supposition, the unity of the English church is given up; for the doctrines of the first reformers, and of those who succeeded them, are not the same. Here, also, an inquiry arises, which will greatly perplex Mr. Scott's interpretation of the doctrine of the church, view it on what side we may for if the opinions on the subject of baptismal regeneration did undergo a change, how are we to interpret the expressions in the Liturgy and Articles, which were not changed? If by the sentiments of the first reformers;-then baptism is to be considered as washing away original sin, and as being regeneration. If it be said, this opinion is indefensible, and the latter reformers expressed themselves with more caution than their predecessors;-then the question returns, why was the same language continued in the Liturgy? Our readers will probably think this a digression: we return, then, to Mr. Scott. He thinks that Dr. Mant's chief fault consists, in his having confined his attention to the case of infant recipients of baptism. p. 116. And he adds,' "I must still think, that with the case of infants, and in transferring to subjects incapable of repentance and faith, language which was ORIGINALLY applied ONLY to persons supposed to possess both, much of the confusion which has prevailed was introduced into the subject." p. 116, 117. Here we verily believe that Mr. Scott is right, and that the members of his church would do well to give this plain but importantremarka seriousconsideration. In supporting his own theory, he lays great stress on the office for the baptism of adults. The reason is evident: adults profess faith and repentance, and are presumed in Mr. Scott's sense, to be regenerate before they are baptized. But if we carefully peruse the office, we shall find, that they are spoken of as regenevate AFTER they are baptized, and NOT before the administration of the ordinance. Here, then, we ask, does the church mean, that though professed faith and repentance are pre-requisites to adult baptism, yet that the per |