of his doctrine: He commanded them to baptize with water all Jews and Heathens who would acknowledge him as the Son of God, and who would join themselves to his followers."Upon this the form of Baptism for adults was read to them; and the minister continued thus:

"Seeing, my friends, that you likewise desire to be baptized with the holy baptism, in order that it may be to you a seal of admission into God's church, and having now publicly made your confession of faith, we cannot refuse the water, and that you should not be baptized. Receive, therefore, in that water which shall be poured upon your heads, the pledge of God's forgiving and cleansing mercy, through the blood of Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit." - The minister, having descended from the pulpit, baptized the five converts; and returning again to it, he further addressed himself to the baptized thus:

"In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the name of all who worship hiu in all places, I, as a minister of his gospel, admit you into the holy universal Christian church. We all, who are gathered here together, acknowledge you from henceforward, to be members of Jesus's body, and to be our beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord. We offer you our hearts, full of sincere inclination towards you; and invite you to unite constantly with us in communion at the table of the Lord. We rejoice with you in the great privilege which you have this day obtained; and wish you all grace and happiness from him with whom you will henceforward stand in the closest relation.

"He who was once in the world, but whom the world did not know,-he, who eighteen centuries since, came to his people,' your forefathers, according to the flesh, but whom they rejected, he is the promised Messiah, whom you have, years since, learnt to know, and now openly acknowledge as the Son of God, by whom the world was made, him you have accepted as your Almighty Saviour: to him you have, in baptism, solemnly dedicated yourselves; and he, in this baptism, has given you the assurance that he will make you his dear children and inheritors of salvation.

"Your descent from Abraham has no longer been deemed sufficient by you. The imaginary claim of recovering privileges long since forfeited, you have changed for hope in Christ; you have overcome your national aversion to a crucified Messiah; you have forsaken father, mother, and relations for that Jesus who is more to you than all these; you have sacrificed to the peace of your mind, interest and the friendship of man. This the grace of our Lord has enabled you to do.

"You have only to thank his divine direction and his Holy Spirit for it. On all occasions, praise his care for you, and his having brought you in the right way; but honour him likewise in future by an unlimited confidence in his grace and omnipoYou will find in his mercy a recompence for all losses

tence.

THE BAPTISM OF MR. LAPIDOTI.

57 and trials. Remain faithful to him, he will not forsake you: be who has all power in Heaven and on earth, who gave his life up for you, will cause every thing to go well with you. Put, with confidence, your earthly concerns in the hands of him who has been so careful for your eternal welfare. Expect joyfully every good from that God who, by baptism, has taken you into union with himself: he will provide for you as for his dear children, and will sanctify you through communion with him!

"Strive then to be his dutiful children, as those who are born of God; seriously considering how much renovation after God's image, how much cleansing from offences,-how much forgiveness of sins, how much power for performing duties, you will still find needful! Let Jesus Christ be always dear and precious to you; for through him only you can be what, according to your confession and promises, you ought to be. Unite more and more with the conviction of his divine mission, and the awfulness of his doctrine, the consciousness of his being indispensably necessary to you. Strengthen your confidence in his mediation and promises, your relation to him, and your zeal for his service, by a repeated participation in the sacrament instituted in remembrance of his death. Let faith in him cleanse your hearts, and continually unite you more closely with him. View this as the principal thing in Christianity, and as the only mean to derive from Jesus advantage for your peace of mind, sanctification, and hope.

"Have you, together with Jewish unbelief, forsworn your vain confidence in external things, and false ideas of morality and virtue? Have you, in baptism, declared that you would cast off all those sins that till now have rendered you unclean ?—then begin from henceforward, being now converted to the Christian faith, to lead a holy life. Let all your words and deeds bear witness of a Christiau disposition, and reverence for God and Je

Put to shame, by your Christian behaviour, the unchristian conduct with which, alas, so many professors shamefully treat their Lord! Do not copy their example. Content not yourselves with being better than them, nor palliate your faults by their defection; but always take the perfect Saviour as your model and take all possible pains to display his image among your fellow-Christians!

"Convince us by this, more and more, that Jesus and his salvation are truly of importance to you: that you have not foolishly, for some particular notions, made so great a sacrifice; but that the gospel was with you a business of the heart, your most pressing necessity and dearest treasure! Refute thereby the evil reports of your relations after the flesh; convince them, by a conduct not to be censured, that the gospel of Jesus does truly amend and make happy; and do not discontinue to pray with true Christian love for their conversion, that hereafter they may with you and us adore Jesus the crucified!

My dear fellow Christians, receive these converts from Judaism into your Christian community with hearts inclined towards them: receive them from the hand of your Lord, as a welcome addition to that body of which you are members. Let your eyes be from henceforward fixed on them with particular attention, yet observe them with indulgent love, and without suspicion. Do not require of them more than you require of yourselves. Should you perceive any thing wrong in their moral conduct, consider that the faith of Jesus Christ, which they have now professed, is the mean appointed gradually to im prove them; and assist them, with brotherly kindness, to proceed in the important, but never-finished work of becoming holy.

"Endeavour yourselves to be examples, exciting them thereto, and take heed that they do not, by their conduct, pat you to shame. Learn from them, to sacrifice every thing for Jesus and his gospel, when needful, and to find in him your chief good, Pray minch for the prosperity of them all, and be zealous with the co-operation of our Lord, to make up to them the sacrifices they have made. Let us now pray with and for them, and with love towards them, recommend them to the grace of God."-Prayer for that purpose was offered; and the minister then said,

"Let us sing from the Lord's prayer, the 10th verse."-- After this verse was sung, the ten younger children were brought to the font, and now the minister addressed the parents thus:

"Dear Brother and Sister in the Lord, if you desire that these your young children should, by baptism, be received into the church of Jesus Christ, we cannot refuse it. They are now children of true believers; and, by your incorporation into Christ, ianity, are already hallowed to the Lord. And though it is true

young children do not understand the meaning of baptism, yet we must not, on that account, exclude them from it.

"Dearly beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, you revere baptism as an ordinance of God, to seal his promises to us and to our serd answer me then, sincerely, the following questions:

"Ist, Though our children are born in sin, and are therefore subject to all misery and condemnation, yet do you not believe that they are sanctified in Christ, and therefore ought to be baptized as members of his church?

"2dly, Do you promise to instruct, or cause to be instructed, these children, according as they shall come to proper understand ing (of whom you are father, mother, and likewise witnesses *) in the doctrine which is contained in the Old and New Testament, and in the Articles of the Christian faith, taught in the Christian church here as the true and perfect doctrine of salvation?

"What is your answer and your promise?"-To each of these questions the parents and witnesses answered with a loud voice, Yes, we will.'

*The already baptized elder sisters and brother stood as witnesses, or Godfather and Godinothers.

ON PREACHING THE GOSPEL.

59

"Gol give you his grace to fulfil this your promise! May he accept these children at your hands, be always with them, and make them partake of that happiness which, by baptism, shall be promised them on the part of God. And you, dear children, so far as you have acquired some knowledge of God your Creator, and of Jesus the great benafactor of mankind, see, in your baptism, that God and Jesus love you, and that you must, in return, love and obey them. From henceforth be instructed gladly; often reflect upon your baptism, and depend upon it, that in the service of God you may expect every blessing from his hands.”

Hereupon the ten children were baptized by the minister's colleague, the Rev. G. Cremer; after which followed, from the Form of Baptism for Little Children, the Evening Hymn; thanksgiving was then sung, and the beacdiction concluded the solemin service.

ON PREACHING THE GOSPEL.

As preaching the gospel is the principal mican which God has appointed for the conversion of sinners and edification of saints, I hardly need remark that it is one of the most important things in the world. If a preacher properly considers that he must be either a "savour of life unto life, or a savour of death unto death" to his hearers, he will feel himself placed in a situation interesting and awful beyond description. The General, upon whose military skill and valour the lives of thousands depend, occupies a station comparatively insignificant to that of a minister, whose errors affect the souls and immortal interests of his congre gation. It is true, he cannot command a blessing on his people: God bestows it when and where he pleases, yet, as God addresses men as reasonable creatures, it is a ininister's duty to bestow as much pains on his sermons, as if the success of them depended entirely on himself.

I may lay it down as an indisputable position, that the design of preaching is to display the glory of God, through his Son Jesus Christ, thereby to convert sinners to him: ministers, therefore, are not to preach themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; that is, they are not to preach in such a strain as shall attract the notice and admiration of the congregation to themselves; but endeavour so thoroughly to engage the hearts of their hearers with God, that, if poible, they shall absolutely overlook the person who speaks to them, and think of nothing but the grand subject of redemption. They should hold the picture which God has painted of him-f in the Gospel, in such a position, as shall shew it to the greatest advantage, and entirely conceal themselves from view behind it. Permit me to offer a few remarks on this momentous subject. I have heard of ministers who were fond of preaching from oid

texts; such as "Put on the great pot," or "Two legs and a piece of an ear." This is a paltry bait for popularity. Indeed, the people may listen attentively to hear what can be said from such unmeaning words; yet they cannot listen with that holy reverence which a religious exercise demands; the bare reading of the text discomposes their gravity; and banishes seriousness from their

minds.

A few others, of a worse stamp, endeavour to make themselves of importance, by trying to fetch out of a text what never was in it. They twist and distort their text, till not a vestige of the word of God remains. One of this description preached from these words, "An instrument of ten strings;" on which he played for an hour and three quarters. He insisted that the instrument was a man, and the ten strings were the five senses of his body, and the five faculties of his soul; and entertained his auditory for some time with a dissertation on smelling and tasting. About two years ago an old woman, on whose face sat the vacant stare of ignorant amazement, told me she had heard such a nice man! She did not believe there was such another in the whole world! he had opened the Scripture in such a wonderful manner! he had shewn her things she never saw before! I asked her what they were? She said he had told her the meaning of Leah's sore eyes: That . they typified the blindness of the Jews, who could not see clearly, and therefore rejected Christ!!! Really, I cannot form my mouth to call these men preachers of the gospel; I am rather inclined to term them Spiritual Mountebanks!*

There is in many people a restless curiosity, which is always hankering after the marvellous: they listen with cold indifference so truths which are plain and intelligible; and greedily swallow the most preposterous absurdities. Hence the numerous advocates of Brothers, Joanna Southcott, and the Kingsland Doctress: and hence the popularity of these empty mystical declaimers. It is

* One of these fanciful abusers of Scripture was, some time since, discoursing on is. al. 20. "He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a tree that will not rol," &c. from which he took occasion to point out the character of a convinced sinner as a man so impoverished, that ́ he had nothing to offer; and the tree that would not rot, as the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom he falleth down, and saith," Deliver me, for thou art my God."

Another of those wise-ncres who are fond of launching out into the deep, ag they call it, having oue day discovered, as he thought, what no one before him ever did, that the nine-und-twenty knives, mentioned Ezra 1. 9, were Typical of the four-and-twenty Elders in the Revelatious, was so transported with the invention, that he determined to make it the subject of his next sermon; nor did he recollect the disparity of the numbers till he had read his text. Being then aware of the impropriety, he told his audience that he perceived he must drop five of them, that the type might better tally with the antitype. The audience were confounded; and one of the deacons, hot so fond of allegory as his pastor, stepped up the pulpit stairs, and told him it would be better to drop the whole; and thus ended' Mr.W ́ise-uare's preachincat !