The cantons of Basle, Berne, Vaud, Neufchatel, and Geneva have been and are the main strongholds of protestantism in Switzerland. In the first two we have protestantism in its older forms, though not always with its ancient spirit; in the others we have it under a more modern and accommodating aspect.... The state of religious feeling and action in the protestant churches of Switzerland, is, for the most part, painfully feeble and low. Dead forms, parchment orthodoxy, mechanical rites, engross the entire religious interest of multitudes; and with others a lax indifferentism and courteous latitudinarianism confound all religious distinctions, and make religion itself a mere article of worldly convenience. Between these two classes the great mass of those who still adhere to the profession of protestant Christianity in the national churches of Switzerland is divided. The exceptions are comparatively few, and are found principally among the younger clergy. The brightness of some of these exceptions is such as almost to compensate for the gloom amidst which they shine.... It is well known that the church of Geneva was, by the united labours of Farel and Calvin, assisted by those whom they had attached to their school, placed upon a basis of rigid orthodoxy, and supplied with all that appeared necessary to maintain that basis inviolate. A Confession of Faith, a Catechism, a Liturgy, and a Polity were all carefully prepared in accordance with the views divulged in the writings of Calvin; and never, we may say, was church so elaborately nursed into orthodoxy, and drilled into order, as was this..... lowest forms of heterodoxy has been all but openly avowed as her creed..... It is well known to every person that in the course of last autumn a very considerable number of clergymen seceded from the national church at Vaud-that in taking this step they alleged as the reason of their conduct the oppressive proceedings of the government-that in the course they have pursued, very few of the people, comparatively speaking, have sympathized with them-and that since they seceded they have not only been the objects of much popular indignation, insult, and injury, but that the government has formally denounced them as bad subjects, and subjected them to various forms of persecution. . . . . The government is the creature of the mob, and by the breath of the mob's favour it lives. Hence, in exercising their despotic power, the magistrates must take heed that they flow with the stream of popular feeling, neither opposing the prejudices nor resisting the passions of the people. Now, at present, the populace of the Canton de Vaud are inspired with an infuriated hatred of every thing in the shape of true religion. This they showed most conspicuously in February last, when they attacked the chapels of the dissenters, turned them, in some cases, into scenes of debauchery and riot, and committed the most insolent excesses against the inoffensive worshippers. This they have shown repeatedly since, and it is only a short time ago that a peaceful congregation at Montreaux, many of whom were invalids, and several from this country, were dispersed by the mob directing water through the firepumps into the midst of the assembly. In these feelings the magistrates unhappily deeply sympathized; but whether they did or not, their position imposes upon them the necessity of yielding to the popular bias, overlooking these criminal excesses, and even putting persecution under the sanction of law.... There can be no doubt that the church of Geneva suffered deeply from the over-anxious care of its founders, and their determination to leave nothing to be desired or done by the church itself. According to their scheme, every Genevese who should afterwards he born was to find a complete ecclesiastical system ready made and fitted for his reception, without any care or any choice of his own. They acted. as if they repudiated the idea of religion being Of independent churches there are now in purely a personal thing, implying knowledge round numbers sixty, of which fifty are in and conviction on the part of the individual, French and ten in German Switzerland. professing it; with them it was supremely a These numbers are taken rather under than national thing-a matter of law-an element, above truth. Some of these churches are in the constitution under which a man was brought by the mere accident of his birth. The church was with them not so much a religious as a political institution, of which the magistracy of the canton were the directors and the lords..... The history of the Genevese church since the beginning of the seventeenth century, strikingly shows how impotent is mere outward organization to preserve internal stability. For nearly two hundred years that church has had a name to live, but has been dead;" and for more than half a century, one of the very small, not having more than fifteen members, whilst others number as many as 250. The greater part range from fifty to sixty, and this may be taken as the average of the whole. As might be expected, they are larger in the towns than in the country districts. These churches respect the pastoral office, but many of them are at present without pastors, and of those which have pastors the greater part are unable to support them so as to be exclusively devoted to the work. Where there is no pastor, the people gene rally appoint one or more of their own number to discharge, as far as possible, the functions of that office; but such persons are not ordained to the pastoral office, nor are they regarded as ministers, the arrangement being merely in accommodation to existing exigencies, and that the flock may not be left without some superintendence and teaching. None of the pastors, properly speaking, are engaged in business; but where the people are unable to furnish them with sufficient support, some engage in the work of tuition, others have boarding-houses, and others are occupied in literary work. Attempts have been made to increase the supply of ministers for these churches, by the establishment of a School of Theology for the education of pastors, but hitherto poverty and adverse circumstances have, in this matter, hindered success..... These churches meet on the morning of every sabbath for worship (culte). At these morning meetings the word of exhortation and instruction forms part of the regular service, and this is administered by the pas tor, and also by any of the brethren who may feel inclined to speak. With the president of the meeting, who is always a pastor, where such an one is present, or in his absence, some one chosen to fill his place, rests the power of restraining this exercise, and directing it for the edification of the church. At this morning service, also, the Lord's supper is usually celebrated. The greater part of the churches attend to this ordinance only once a month; but in some of the larger societies it is observed every sabbath... Antipædobaptist principles prevail to a considerable extent in these independent churches. For the most part, however, this causes no schism, as the members make differences of sentiment on such points matters of mutual forbearance. In a few cases, secessions have taken place, and churches on the principle of making antipædobaptist views necessary to communion, have been formed. There are also, in the German cantons, some remains of the old anabaptist party; but they are few and unimportant. HOUGHTON REGIS, BEDS. Our readers will be glad to learn that the Rev. M. W. Flanders, who returned from Haiti in a shattered state of health about twelve months ago, has sufficiently recovered to accept a unanimous invitation to the pastoral office from the church at Houghton Regis, near Dunstable. HULL, YORKSHIRE. Mr. D. Wilson, late of Partney, has accepted a unanimous invitation to the pastorate of the third baptist church, Hull, and commenced his stated labours there the first Lord's day in December, 1846. MARGATE. The Rev. J. Sprigg, A.M., of Ipswich, has accepted a unanimous invitation from the baptist church meeting at Ebenezer Chapel, Margate, to become their pastor. RECENT DEATHS. MR. JOHN SHRUBB. Died, Nov. 23, 1846, Mr. John Shrubb, aged fifty, a much respected member of the baptist church, St. Albans. He became a member in the year 1827, and was for several years an active and useful superintendent of the Sunday school. For the last six years he has been a singular instance of extraordinary affliction, but at the same time a bright example of Christian patience. For many months confined to his bed, for weeks deprived entirely of speech and unable to receive any sustenance, his mind was habitually calm and cheerful. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." MR. B. SKERRITT. Died, in the faith and hope of the gospel, Dec. 8, 1846, in the sixty-third year of his age, Mr. Benjamin Skerritt, a deacon of the baptist church assembling in Union Chapel, Cumberland Street, Shoreditch. a prayer-meeting was held in the morning at seven o'clock, and sermons were preached during the day by the Rev. W. Jay of Bath, the Rev. C. J. Middleditch of Frome, and the Rev. T. Winter of Bristol. No collection was made at either service, the church and congregation having resolved to bear all the expense themselves. RESIGNATION. The Rev. G. Hoskins having resigned the charge of the baptist church at Highbridge, Somerset, intends to conclude his labours there on the last Lord's day in the present month. COLLECTANEA. THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY ACCUSED OF The last number of the Christian Spectator, the official periodical of the Religious Tract Society, contains an article on this subject, the essential parts of which we think it right to present to our readers. The attention of the committee of the Religious Tract Society has been called to some articles in the Christian Observer, for August and October, on the omission of passages referring to infant baptism, and other matters also, in the society's "Life of the Rev. Philip Henry," Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted," Adam's "Private Thoughts," &c. At the recommendation of their correspondents they request the attention of the society's friends to the following brief notices of the leading points stated in the Reviews: the market:" thus conveying the idea that it was designed to take the place of the large work, which has been often reprinted. 2. The cause of the omissions is improperly stated, or surmised, to result either from a compact with the baptists to secure their co-operation, or from their undue influence in the society's counsels. On this subject it will sufficient to give the following extract from a published letter to the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, by "the editor of the British Reformers," and one of the society's earliest and most disinterested friends, written when similar misstatements were made some years ago :- "I deny altogether the hidden compact, or agreement, or whatever it may be, which the statements of the Christian Observer have induced many to suppose has been defined, and exists, between the baptists and the members of other denominations in the committee of the Religious Tract Society; or which, as some would conclude, is kept up by repeated discussions upon their respective peculiarities, each watching the other, and occasionally conceding what they believe to be important, in order to preserve a doubtful and external union; the baptists uniformly succeeding in carrying their own ends, and forwarding their own objects. Such is the false idea which some have been induced to form; but it is hardly needful to tell you, that nothing of the sort exists. Having intimately known the proceedings of the committee for twentyfour years, and having gone through their minutes from the very commencement, I can speak decisively hereon, and can say, that no compact or secret treaty exists; that the subject has never been debated; but that the committee have proceeded undeviatingly in the course stated at the commencement, and 1. It appears to be unfair in the reviewer constantly avowed in their addresses. Upon now to notice books which were put on the these, and upon these only, all the proceedsociety's catalogue long ago, under circum-ings of which the Christian Observer has said stances respecting which explanations have been again and again furnished to the Christian Observer, in consequence of objections similar to those now revived. On these points the motives of the committee have been fully, and, to their friends generally, satisfactorily explained; and it was hardly to be expected that these objections would have been renewed, while all the explanations and corrections of misstatements have been passed without notice. As to the books now mentioned, it is desirable to state that Adam's "Private Thoughts" was issued in 1825, the "Life of the Rev. Philip Henry " in 1827, and the "Call to the Unconverted" in 1829. The "Life of Philip Henry" is only about one-fourth of the original work, forming two numbers of a long series of brief Christian biographies; and yet the reviewer represents this little work as taking the place of other editions of the life. He says, "The Religious Tract Society's edition has driven them out of so much, and in so bitter a spirit, are grounded: and it will be seen that any other course would have been inconsistent with those principles. I therefore at once, and fully, state to you, that the surmises' of the Christian Observer, as to the proceedings of the baptists to influence the Religious Tract Society, are unfounded and incorrect; and, to adopt his own words, in reference to an omission in Tindal, made by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, he ought not,' without proof,' to have concluded that such proceedings, or omissions,' arose from party spirit."" The reviewer, in the October number, for the purpose of establishing his assertions that the society has be controlled by baptist influence, remarks, "The Rev. Joseph Hughes held the office of secretary from the formation of the society, in 1799, to his lamented death in 1833; he was its main-spring, he watched its proceedings; his master-mind, his ready pen, his pervading energy, his unwearied diligence, were at its service; he gave it its bent, and nothing was allowed to issue from its press which had not his sanction. But Joseph Hughes was a conscientious and inflexible antipædobaptist, and far from thinking it disingenuous,' he thought it a solemn duty to expurgate from every book and tract which passed the society's threshold, every syllable which appeared to countenance infant baptism." The reviewer is wholly mistaken in these statements. The society had but a small portion of Mr. Hughes's time and assistance. From the formation of the Bible Society, in 1804, he was entirely occupied in the promotion of its important objects, and he became only an occasional attendant on the committee of the Religious Tract Society. He was absent for months together. He only attended one hundred meetings of the committee out of six hundred and twenty-four which were held during the twelve years previous to his death. He was unable to render the least aid in the preparation of the society's works. Unless he happened to be present at the committee, he seldom or ever knew what publications were under consideration. In fact, the society had his name, but not his services, after his union with the Bible Society. On many accounts it was desirable to retain him in connexion with the Religious Tract Society, but he stipulated that he should not be required to undertake any specific labours, or to give attention to its publications. To this the committee assented, under the peculiar circumstances of the case. He never attempted to exercise any control over the committee or its proceedings. His kind and amiable spirit never courted the agitations of controversy, and could he now read the reviewer's statements, he would be surprised at the extent of power and influence ascribed to him. Although it is boldly stated, "that nothing was allowed to issue from the society's press which had not his sanction," the fact is, that he was in entire ignorance of the larger portion of the society's works. The knowledge he had of them was derived only from their announcement to the public. More than once he has come to the committee to recommend the adoption of some work, when he has found it was already published by the society. All the book publications were issued after his connexion with the Bible Society, and for the reasons stated; and by his own express desire, he was seldom consulted on any subject brought before the committee. In the twelve years prior to his death, he offered a sermon of his own, on the "Superabundant Evidence of Revelation," as a tract, which was declined, and recommended the bishop of Chester's sermon on "Peace the result of Faith," which was adopted, and gave a favourable opinion as to the publication of Case's "Mount Pisgah." These were the only publications with which his name is connected in the society's minute books during all that period; though it must not be forgotten that he was the author of some of the earliest tracts. It can truly be stated by the writer of these lines, that during an intimate and uninterrupted connexion with the Religious Tract Society for twenty-six years, he never witnessed on the part of its baptist members, or on the part of any other portion of the committee, the least effort unduly to influence its counsels, and to make the works of the society the means of carrying out any views whatever, but those contemplated by its original plans. Indeed, it will be found, on referring to some works, as the Life of Boardman, and that of Mrs. Judson, that the views taken by baptists, though contained in the original works, were entirely omitted. "I feel persuaded," writes a clerical friend, after reading the recent attacks of the Christian Observer, "that the omissions, so far from being the result of any compact,' or of baptist influence,' in any way, were more probably occasioned by the over scrupulous sensitiveness of a pædobaptist editor." This kind and charitable remark, we believe, describes the feelings which, next to the principles of the society, would have influenced the friends who prepared the works noticed by the reviewer, in omitting some of the passages which are now the subject of complaint; and we believe that all of them were prepared for press by editors who were padobaptists. The grounds of omission, therefore, arose not from any special compact, but from the general principles and plan of the Society, and these are well known to be, 1st, the union of all evangelical Christians, to publish the fundamental and saving doctrines of the gospel; 2ndly, with a view to this co-operation, not to enter into the discussion of the subordinate points upon which such Christians differ.. 5. It is now important to give the present views of the committee, which they believe have been fully stated to, and for some time known by the editor of the Christian Observer, and had he remembered them, he would have noticed in October, 1846, the principles and practice of the society, with the same Christian and brotherly spirit that marked his review in March, 1837. Looking to the great alteration in the times and parties since the works condemned by the reviewer were published by the society, the committee have for several years felt it necessary to pursue a course somewhat different from their predecessors in office. They have, therefore, frequently declined books offered to them because of their prominent notice of debatable points, though not connected with the chief and primary object of the work. They have regretted the loss of valuable treatises, calculated to do much good; but they felt it right to pursue this course rather than allow the integrity of the society to be questioned. In other cases, as in "The Religion of Protestants," by Chillingworth, issued in 1840, they announce the work to be complete, without alteration or abridgment. In page 27 of vol. i. of that work, a note is appended in reference to a particular remark: "Chillingworth here gives views from which many protestants conscientiously differ, considering more or less strongly that mischief has arisen from the earthly ornaments introduced into the church at that time, and at other periods. But this question, as stated here, does not involve any point of doctrine, nor has it any essential bearing upon the subject discussed by the author. The passage is retained, as it is considered important that this great work of Chillingworth should be reprinted exactly as he left it: not a word an expression has been altered or nor omitted." A course similar to this has been adopted in other cases, and will be strictly pursued in future. When a book contains incidental references to baptism, church government, and other disputed points, it will either be declined, or the passages will be retained, with a note. In other works, abridgments, though not referring to such subjects, yet necessary on literary or other general grounds, will be noticed; or, only those books will be issued which are altogether free from the difficulties that have been discussed in this paper. Garbutt, On the Resurrection of Christ," is a work of the latter character, which has been recently adopted by the society. After this explanation, the committee trust that the practice of the society in past years will not appear to have been contrary to its principles; and that the acts of former committees will be judged in the spirit of former times, when the brief and abridged "Life of Philip Henry," the "Call to the Unconverted," and Adam's "Private Thoughts, "and other works, were first published by the society, and by the spirit so strikingly exhibited in the Christian Observer for March, 1837. In concluding this paper, in reply to the painful articles in the review, it is cheering to read one friendly remark in the August number, "We have been much pleased with the Tract Society's Monthly Volumes, and others of its late publications; and, as a whole, its books and tracts constitute an invaluable treasury of Christian instruction and exhortation." GENERAL BAPTIST CONNEXION. The statistical returns of our last association must have awakened in many minds anxious concern for the welfare of our churches. It is evident that we lack above The low all things-spiritual prosperity. state of religion in other denominations, though pleaded by such as are at case in Zion in justification of their inertia, ought really to awaken intense and prayerful desire that an evil so extensive in its influence may be arrested and removed. Under the influence of such emotions, let us explore the humiliating cause of our present depression, and suggest means for our future improvement. Since 1840, we have had a clear addition to our denomination of more than 3,000 members. This is an annual average increase of upwards of 500. This year, however, our clear increase has only been 171, though we have lost fewer by death than in many previous years. We have baptized 1034, and have lost by death 236; yet through the prodigious and unparalleled number of exclusions and withdrawals our clear increase is reduced to 171. "Is there not a cause ?" Let facts declare. In looking over the statistical returns, I find that out of 564 that have left our churches by exclusion and withdrawal, 250 have been separated from ten churches. In the reports of these churches allusion is made to a spirit of carnality and worldly conformity that has crept in amongst the brethren, and produced these disastrous results. Here, then, we have one acknowledged cause of many of our relapses-a cause that we must mark, for, though it has operated in different and distant churches, it has uniformly produced the same calamitous effects. Declension in piety-excommunication from the brethren and shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience-are amongst the evils that follow in its train. The existence of this spirit in our churches is alone sufficient to account for our extraordinary relapses. Having referred to the cause of the unparalelled diminution of members in some of our churches, let us inquire why a greater degree of prosperity has not been realized by the connexion at large. Of the 1034 that have been baptized during the past year, nearly 700 have been added to thirty churches; while the other 100 churches have only added about 300 amongst them. It is deserving of remark, too, that these thirty churches that have been thus blessed have had the fewest exclusions; while the losses have fallen most largely and most disproportionately on those churches that have lacked accessions. Our clear increase as a denomination during the past year would have been greater by 200, if the 100 churches that have lacked accessions had been blotted out of existence. While they have added 300 by baptism, they have lost 500 by exclusion and withdrawal. Is not this having a name to live, and being in reality dead? We cannot conceal the fact, and would to God it could be made to ring in the ears of every member of our churches, that a smaller |