-vaunted English Church as by Olished.

st churches met for worship in ouses and in upper rooms, prothe pious themselves, and not erected by monies drawn from

-st churches consisted of "saints aful brethren in Christ," men e washed, sanctified, "justified me of the Lord Jesus, and by the our God;" but the church of consists of all who have been 1 by her ministers in infancy, they be pious persons or wicked on sabbath-breakers or avowed And all these go to compose e church, and can claim all her

S.

irst churches had but two perClasses of office-bearers, "bishops cons;" but the Church of England ops and arch-bishops, deacons h-deacons, deans and curates, ers too tedious to name-perhaps nay claim a title from her himself. knows?

first churches had a voice in g their own pastors and deacons ; Church of England has not the of choosing one of her officefrom the Primate of all England to those semi-ecclesiastics, the vardens-the latter being elected he parishioners, whether attendurch" or not.

rst churches had power to manage ir own temporal and spiritual but the Church of England, as ch, has not a voice even in the on of one of its own members. first churches received no memcept on a personal profession of aith in Christ; the Church of d receives members by a proxy on made on their behalf by those r characters, profanely y'clept, thers and godmothers." baptists erect their own places of p by voluntary contributions; none into communion with them ofessed "saints and faithful brethChrist;" have but two classes of bearers; elect their own pastors acons; manage their own tempo spiritual affairs; and admit none owship with them but those who a satisfactory personal profession

ir faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE BAPTISTS.

Mr. F. seems doomed, by some illfate, to attribute to books and men, terms which they never used. He makes the prayer-book to use the word sprinkling, whereas it never employs such a term in reference to baptism. He applies the expression "founded" to me, and writes it in italics, whereas such a word is not used by me in connexion with his church. This blundering of words shews either that he is deficient in the power of discriminating between the meaning of terms, or that he is a man unaccustomed to reflection and clear thinking. My words, in reference to his church, are, "The English Established Church sprang up about the end of the fifteenth or in the beginning of the sixteenth century." They," the Protestant Church, or before what is baptists, "existed before the English often called the Glorious Reformation." I might have fixed the date of the reformation in the middle of the sixteenth century; but as it was not the work of a day, nor of a year, but of a series of years, and as I wished to give our Protestant Establishment the advantage of all the antiquity which I imagined it could justly claim, I thought it best to err on the safe side in speaking of the period of the Reformation, rather than to fix its date one day later than that on which it was completed.

66

The chain of argument by which Mr. F. endeavours to refute my general statement, and to prove that the English Protestant Church, as established by law, existed prior to the baptists, is distinguished by extraordinary logic, and overshadowed by impenetrable mystery. He claims the popish church as his own when he calls it " our church." He also claims identity with the protestant church. From this twofold relationship we may conclude that he is both a papist and a protestant! But how can this be possible, unless he be a jesuit in disguise, who has stealthily crept into the English

Church for the purpose of trying to corrupt and destroy her, as some of his ecclesiastical superiors are said to have done.

He says, "those eminent divines called the Reformers . . made it their business to purge the (popish) church .. and restore it to its original state." But the Reformers did not succeed in purging the (popish) church of her impurities. What, then, did they do? They cast off the papal yoke, were excommunicated by the pope, and formed a church of their own, commonly called, The English Protestant Church.

66

Mr. F. labours hard to prove that "the Church of England since the Reformation" is not a new one," but only the old popish church reformed; or, as his figure suggests, "the man of sin" appearing in a new dress with his face washed.

66

But the real question between Mr. F. and myself is not whether his church be a new one," nor at what precise period the Reformation took place; but whether the baptists existed prior to the so called English Reformation? If pædobaptist historians are to be credited, they did. Dr. Hurd states that, "in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and many other parts of Europe, many of the baptists suffered martyrdom before the Reformamation took place." He also adds, "Dr. Wall admits that there were some thousands of baptists in the world before the troubles broke out at Munster, in the year 1533." And Dr. Mosheim declares that the origin of the baptists is "hid in the remote depths of antiquity." Again, though I have no where said that his church was a 66 new one," yet, if I might be permitted to offer an opinion on this point, I should be disposed to say that I think it may be a new church, and of much more recent date than the popish church.

I make this out, to my own satisfaction, in the following easy way.

The popish church is "the great whore" " arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls."

She is also "The mother of harlots;" and I am disposed to think that the Church of England, as established by law, is one of her harlot daughters.

I believe she is not so meretricious as her mother; yet I think the family like

an unprejudiced obse perceive that one wa the other is the daugh If the Church of E daughter of the "the I conclude

First, That the da same person with the new and different pers Second,-That the of birth, is younger th

And further, my of it may go for little w the great whore was b Constantine the Grea harlot daughter made about the time of the E

Should these views it will follow that Mr withstanding his asse trary, is a

"a new

came into existence a reformation; and that before, according to the Hurd, Dr. Wall, and baptists existed prior Protestant Church.

Not wishing to occ time at present, and may ever be aided by in the prosecution of y in the kingdom of Chri I am, dear sir, Yours very R.

South Shields, March

NOTICE TO CORRE consequence of the lengt letter, we have not spa notice several commun which are a note fro of Boston, respecting th Oncken, at page 79 of

a query from Haverf ing General and Particu Unitarian Baptists-an church rates from W Bristol. For the same postpone our own remar on the "Antinomian" d church rate question we that Sir W. Clay has gi House of Commons of a entire abolition, and M for amending them. also, that several letters, to Mr. Fryer's letter,

I

gin by sending you a handbill and only one we printed. because it will go far to satisfy me points.

day I called at one of the theatre and there, to my great delight, copy of this handbill in a frame, on the wall. It was there careced in the frame to record the portant event in the history of ly.

sband is a young man of twentyhe wife is rather younger; they e children and the wife's mother ouse, and also a lodger. The is, by trade, a bricklayer. On he called on me and stated that er said to him on the 19th of per, I am going to the theatre to -eaching. Will you go ? I d no; I dont care for preaching. t Sunday he asked me again to t I replied 'no.' The Sunday omfortless day to me, for I never a place of worship. I disliked on the the third Sunday I thought go. I went, and the text was, young man safe?' Every part of vice seemed to pierce me, and I moved that I resolved I would th my wife that night; which I d have done so ever since. My as much delighted with it now

go with you to Queen Street: no, mother, said my wife, you must give me my turn to Queen Street, and you must take care of the children. The Rector of St. Peter's has been twice, and was as much affected as the greatest sinner there. He told me when they rose up and began to sing he

was overwhelmed, for he knew some of them to be of the most depraved class. He has visited three men in his own parish, in which the change, he thinks, is decided; and scores, we believe, have been savingly impressed.

We have only received one into the church who attends there. He had been awakened and trembling for months, but never found peace till he heard a sermon from 'The love of Christ;' after this he came immediately to me. I am anticipating scores to follow him.

God has wonderfully appeared in all this movement. It was laid on my mind with great power. I could not sleep about it. I spent much time in prayer and tears. I had great misgivings for fear it might break in upon our happy state at Queen Street, and disturb us; but all now rejoice.

me

The money question caused thought also, for I found that rent, gas, servants, and various, &c., would cost £60; and I resolved to take it on my own responsibility; and all the money has come to me except about £7, and I have no doubt but God will send me that. I have not had, nor shall receive, a farthing from my own congregation, nor from Chester, except the Rector of St. Peter's giving me a tythe offering for gas.

I licensed the theatre, and asked the police master to send two or three men, as some thoughtless lads might, not from malice but from fun, make a noise; but it has been more like the feeling at funeral services than anything else. I give every policeman who comes a copy of the holy bible, in hope they also may get good.

In all my prayers and anxieties about it, I never prayed that God would fill the place. I do not know how I came to neglect this. Perhaps I thought it was too much; but when I came the first time, I heard the police saying, 'It is no use for you to try, for you cannot get in.'

And

entoring the robing

met one of my deacons in tears. 'Oh,' said he, the crowd surpasses everything you could have thought. When I entered the stage, and saw it, I almost fainted. The scene was quite new to me; the stage, pit, boxes, galleries, all covered with faces. We printed hymns, and furnished some hundreds, and have done so every time. The congregations take them away with them.

I was advised not to give them too much religion, as the class I hoped to have did not understand it; but I made up my mind on that subject.

'Christ and his cross are all our theme.'

I resolved they should have as much about Christ as I knew myself; and that was sufficient to convert the guiltiest of them. We have had fourteen sabbaths, and I feel persuaded that if I had not preached Christ as fully as I have, the congregation would have dwindled long ago. Last Sunday it was on Family Prayer,' and the feeling was intense.

NOTE. My impression is, that you may preach in theatres or in the fields, in cathedrals and town halls, and have firstclass men to preach, but if Christ is not

exalted, no good will get weary of semi-ph with a bit of the gosp the sly. I told the come to help you to hear Christ is the way.

In five years we members. To God to receive six young meeting; one 31 yea 18, 18, 17; the last i

I think there is courage you, and you mence gospel efforts f the working classes. encouragement.

At would add, it requires The general mode of pulpits is scarcely fit have seen. It should point, tenderness, an anecdotes now and th followed by close appl

You ask for explici will do. If you wish vations, please to say deavour to comply wit

THE SCOTTISH COVENANTERS, AND MODERN INFIDELS.-George Gilfillan, in his "Martyrs, Heroes, and Bards of the Scottish Covenant," has these remarks: "That psalm at Drumclog-that short, terrible struggle at Airsmoss those death-scenes at the Grassmarket, intended at first as evidences of sincere protestantism — have now sublimated into proofs of the common faith as it is in Jesus,' and their records are or should be admitted among the general archives of the christian religion. When was there ever, or when shall there ever be, a great suffering for the sake of the infidel cause ? How Voltaire and Rousseau cringed and crouched before the dangers to which they were exposed! How Hume himself would have shuffled had he been called to answer for his 'ideas and impressions of religion!' And suppose our modern sceptics subjected to a fiery trial, we can conceive results rather ludicrous than calculated to confirm the common notions of their sincerity

self innocent by eatin most daring words; and ing' the favourite chil third, by swearing a senses while he had bee and such an obnoxious by withdrawing word statements, till they w right round, and to say trary of what they had first, like the famous g lerus, originally of silk frequent darnings be worsted, and yet rema cally the same! But w for their theories of 'the and no,' or the suprema or the 'oversoul,' or th Saviour,' submit to a mo and how much less to 1 of fire, famine and nak and sword, to banishme more intolerable than itself in its ghastliest forms? God forbid tha