manner) the doctrines of the Book of Common Prayer, to every purpose and intent above those of the Bible. These Canons, therefore, are Popish; and these Canons, far from remaining obsolete, are enforced, by the Arches Court, to this very day. Nothing, therefore, is wanting, to prove the Court of Arches essentially Popish in principle and practice.-Anti-Monopolist.

OBEDIENCE and HAPPINESS, as illustrated in the Narrative of a Lady in her eighty-fourth year. By T. PoTTENGER. Walker and Scarlett, Bradford. Dyer, London.

We do not know a narrative which more forcibly illustrates the sin of deeming any of Christ's commandments too unimportant to need obedient attention, and the happiness resulting from obedience to Christ, though friends smile or oppose. We subjoin,

A WORD TO INFANT SPRINKLERS."It is of the essence of disobedience and rebellion, to assume to make commutations and substitutions of duty, to transfer obligation to where it would be less inconvenient that it should be enforced, and to affect to render, in the form of preferred and easier services, an equivalent for the obedience which the righteous and supreme authority has distinctly required to be rendered in that harder service which is evaded."-John Foster.

A CHALLENGE TO ALL ENGLAND. In "The London and Dublin Orthodox Journal" (a Roman Catholic Magazine), we find the following rewards offered :—

66 Twenty Guineas Reward to any Protestant who will find, in the New Testament, a single instance of Infant Baptism administered either by Deacon or Apostle."

"Fifty Guineas Reward to any Protestant who will point out a single passage in the Scriptures which states that a woman can hold rule in the Church, or that Queen Victoria, or any of her predecessors, was to be Supreme Head of the Church."

"One Hundred Guineas Reward to any Protestant who will prove from the Scriptures, that the Sign of the Cross was ordered to be used in the administration of Baptism, either by Christ or his Apostles."

WAR.-Judge Jay calculates that 82 per cent. of the whole public expenditure of Great Britain is "offered at the shrine of war!" And a member of Parliament

once asserted in public, that every working man in this country labours, on an average, two hours a-day for the support of war and warlike establishments.

BAPTIST ANNIVERSARIES.-The various anniversaries of the religious Societies belonging to our denomination, which have recently been held in London, have been distinguished by unbroken unanimity of feeling, even where difference of opinion existed, by increased numbers attending them, by augmented liberality in the collections which have been made, and by a high tone of piety, both in the addresses delivered and in the religious exercises accompanying them. We ascribe all this to the spirit of prayer which manifestly pervaded the meetings. A special prayermeeting was held in the Mission-House at the commencement of the first week, and afterwards district prayer-meetings were held in different parts of the metropolis. Their influence was permanent and beneficial.

HAWORTH.-The church and congregation worshipping in West-Lane Baptist Chapel, have resolved to pull down the present building, which is inconveniently small, and to erect a new one on a larger scale.

BAPTISMS. On the first Lord's-day in May, two females at South-Parade Chapel, Leeds; and on the 26th of the same month, nine candidates were immersed. On Lord's-day, May 12th, five persons were added to the 1st Baptist Church at Halifax. Three by baptism, and two upon a profession of faith, having been previously baptized. Two other young friends have expressed a desire to be baptized, but are prevented by those who should have rejoiced in their recovery to God. On April 7th, two young, and on May 10th, two elderly females at Hunslet; one of the latter a member of the Independent church at Holbeck. On the first Lord's-day in May, two candidates in Hall-Green Chapel; and on the 12th, at West-Lane Chapel, Haworth, three candidates were baptized.

Leeds:

PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY J. HEATON, No. 7, Briggate;

To whom all communications for the Editors are to be addressed, Post-paid.

.

No. 7.]

[PRICE 1D.

While the unregenerate, left to the dictates of the carnal mind, fix their affections upon the perishing objects around them or upon themselves, every true member of the Church of Christ sets his heart supremely upon God. And when we consider the blessed object of his love, well may we congratulate him on his choice. What is more fitting, than that the Author of our being should hold the highest place in our affections? And, if we regard the fathers of our flesh with reverence, how much more are we bound to look up to the "Father of Spirits," our true, our only Original, with adoration and love?

But it is not simply as our Father, but because he contains within himself, without limit or end, all that is worthy of our love, that He receives the supreme homage of every believing heart. Among our fellow-creatures we occasionally meet with beings who, to a superior understanding that commands respect, add such benevolence of spirit, and such sweetness of temper and address, that to come into their presence is like entering the very atmosphere of love. Suppose, then, that a being could be found uniting in himself all the excellencies of man and angels combined, with what boundless admiration would that being be regarded by every rightly constituted mind. But all this, and infinitely more than all this, unites in Him on whom, dear readers, your hearts, we trust, are fixed; "whom, having not seen, ye love; and in whom, though ye

see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

How, moreover, is it possible to contemplate the manner in which this glorious Being has manifested himself to his people, without feeling that it constitutes, throughout, the strongest possible appeal to our love. All the perfections of Jehovah entitle him to our profoundest adoration and praise; but they are by no means equally adapted to awaken fallen creatures to gratitude and love; and awful displays of justice and power may arouse the conscience, but leave untouched the heart. But to lay hold of our affections, Jehovah has presented himself under the most endearing names and attributes of love. "God," we are told on his own authority, "is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him." In the wonderful mission of his Son, in his lowly birth, in his benevolent and selfdenying life, and above all, in his deathhis death of shame and blood of vicarious agony and woe-every attribute of the divine character seems lost in love. is it any wonder that a soul, once wretched and lost, but now enabled to call this Being his Portion, his Friend, and his Father, by a covenant ordered in all things and sure, being sealed with the Mediator's own precious blood, should turn from every other object and say, "whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth whom I desire besides thee?" O no, a second place Jehovah never can

And

have, in the heart that knows him and has felt his love.

Hence then, in a publication like this, the object of which is to give a scriptural view of the principles and constitution of the Church of Christ, it is impossible that we can too solemnly remind our readers, that no person can be a member of the Church of Christ, without the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. For says the apostle, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha."

In the Church of England and Scotland, in the Roman, Lutheran, Greek, and other established churches, men are taught that, without faith or love or any other grace, human beings, by means of certain forms, may become members of the Church of Christ; nor is the love of God demanded as a qualification for its privileges. But let no man be deceived, God is not mocked. Systems that set aside thus the love of God, are no churches of Christ; but rather the contrivances of Satan, the enemy of God and man, to corrupt the truth, and deceive the world. Whatever our creed or profession, without the love of God, we can have no part in his church-no place in heaven.

G.

BAPTIST WORTHIES. No. 5.

Henry Denn deserves a prominent place in the temple of Baptist Worthies. Like many of the fathers and founders of our churches, he was trained for the ministry in the Church Establishment of this land, and, for this purpose, received his education in the University of Cambridge. He began his labours at a place called Pyrton, in Oxfordshire, where he made full proof of his ministry for ten years, and lived in the affections of his parishoners.

About the year 1641, the sins of the clergy and the tyranny of the bishops, had so worn out the patience of our forefathers, that a tempest was raised against the Hierarchy; and, being built upon the sand, it fell like a millstone thrown into the sea, the plunge of which was heard and felt in the four quarters of the globe.

At this time Denn was called to preach a visitation sermon before the gentry and clergy of the district in which he lived; and, as he was a fearless defender of civil and religious liberty, he seized the opportunity to expose "the sin of persecution, the vices of the clergy, and the corruptions in doctrine and discipline, which existed in the Established Church." During the delivery of the sermon the clergy were restless and full of indignation, and when the meeting was over, they circulated unfavourable reports about it, which led the preacher to publish it in self-defence. Henceforward he was looked upon as a man of great talents, and competent to aid the Reformation then going forward under some of the best men in England: indeed, many persons considered him "the ablest man in the kingdom for prayer, expounding, and preaching," while his enemies confessed, that "he had a very affec tionate way of preaching, which took much with the people." Denn lived in times of mental activity, of political changes, and of church reform. He was alive to the movements of society, and an ardent lover of justice and liberty. In common with many other learned men, he made up his mind to follow the flowery paths of truth wherever they might lead him; to examine the doctrines and practises of the first christians, and to be guided by the laws of the New Testament rather than by the traditions of men. Pursuing this course, he was soon convinced that infant sprinkling had no authority in the Word of God, and no precedent in the conduct of the Apostles-that it was the germ of Popery, and a main cause of the grand apostacy; and therefore he withdrew from an establishment propped up by the dogma of baptismal regeneration, and united with the Baptist church under the pastoral care of Mr. Lamb.

Having become a minister of the Baptist denomination, he undertook a preaching tour through the counties of Bedford and Cambridge. In the last-named county, he had the presumption to immerse several persons who "believed the things he had preached concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ;" for which

offence he was taken into custody under a warrant from the Presbyterian Committee of management, who judged him worthy of imprisonment for baptizing by immersion, after it had been forbidden by the authority of Parliament. Our Worthy appealed to the House of Commons for protection against this invasion of his rights and liberties, both as a citizen and as a christian; but they gave orders for him to be brought to London, and to be confined in the house of Lord Peters till they could find time for the examination of his case. It is an amusing circumstance that here he met with Dr. Featley, who was then a prisoner for holding treasonable correspondence with the king while sitting as a member of the Assembly of Divines. Scarcely had Denn reached his apartment when the Doctor's book, called "The Dippers Dipt; or the Anabaptists ducked and plunged over head and ears at a disputation in Southwark," was placed in his hands for amusement or conviction. Feeling himself thus called upon to defend the principles and practice for which he was in bonds, he challenged the Doctor to a disputation on Baptism. The challenge was accepted; the parties met, and the first argument was debated-when lo! the sturdy churchman sounded a retreat, on the ground that he was "without license from the government!" Poor Dr. Featley had caught a Tartar! Both of them exchanged the living voice for the pen.

Soon after this intellectual encounter had taken place, our Worthy obtained his freedom, and, though his opinions on Baptism were well known to men in power, he was appointed to the living of Elsby, in Cambridgeshire. In this scene of labour he enjoyed great popularity, and crowds of people flocked to the church in which he preached; but the appointment of a Baptist minister to one of the parish churches was wormwood and gall to the Presbyterians, who began to look upon the ecclesiastical revenues of the land as their exclusive right. Neighbouring ministers envied his popularity, and Edwards ąccused him of preaching against tithes and singing, and of permitting mechanics and soldiers to occupy his pulpit. In connec

tion with his duties as a parish minister, he itinerated in many parts of Kent, preaching at Rochester, Chatham, and Canterbury, and baptizing many persons on a profession of their faith. Having been requested to deliver a lecture at St. Ives, the committee for the county forbade him the use of the church, upon which he went into the church yard and preached under a yew tree to a large congregation. In the year 1646, Denn was imprisoned in Lincolnshire for baptizing by immersion. The ringleaders in this persecution were two justices of the peace, who charged him with the crime of dipping four persons.

Finding so many interruptions to his work, from the intolerance and jealousy of the ruling party, he gave up his living and entered the army of Parliament. He became both a soldier and a divine-one day fighting for his liberties, and the next preaching the acceptable year of the Lord: with the sword resisting the tyranny of King Charles, and with the tongue pleading the cause of King Jesus. He was an actor in the tragedy which our ancestors were then performing amid the gaze of the civilized world; he saw the deadly strife between two English armies; he marched through the land with the victorious troops of Cromwell; he outlived the apostacy of that great man, and became a witness of the reign of terror, which followed the restoration of Charles II.

Denn closed a long, and active, and stormy life, "looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." He wrote several works on the baptismal controversy, and was a zealous defender of immersion. [It is an interesting fact, that a Baptist church existed for a long time at Pyrton, where Denn began his ministry in the Establishment, and that the burial ground belonging to it, was afterwards turned into a garden. J

After his death a clergyman wrote the following epitaph, and placed it on the tomb of our Worthy:

"To tell his wisdom, learning, goodness unto men, I need say no more, but here lies Henry Denn." T. P.

CHURCH OFFICERS.-No. 3.

(The reciprocal duties of Officers and Members.)

"Not as being Lords over the heritage, but being examples to the flock."-1 Peter v. 3.

"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves."-Hebrews xii. 17.

The beauty of Christianity is its union of the utmost freedom, with the most perfect order. "Let all things be done decently and in order, for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the assemblies of saints." Again, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth." How can order be without rule? how can rule be without submission? and how can submission be without loss of freedom? Christianity answers all these questions. And permit us, brethren, to "stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance," for it is when the state of our churches answers these questions happily, that we witness most successfully for pure Church principles, yea, and for saving truth itself.

Order cannot be without rule. And we have shewn, that although the New Testament knows nothing of hierarchies, it does recognize church officers. And though it is silent respecting popes, kings, arch. bishops, lord bishops, rectors, vicars, &c. in "the assembly of God," it does tell us of bishops and deacons, or, in plain English, of superintendents, elders or pastors, and servants. We reject assumed authority with deserved contempt, but we are not anarchists. We acknowledge, with prostrate and unquestioning submission, the rule of "the Great Shepherd of the sheep," and resent, in loyalty to Him, the intrusion of pope, king, or queen, into his throne. We acknowledge too, with thankful obedience, the "under shepherds" furnished to us, not by a patron who has bought or inherited a living,-not by a bishop who has been appointed by worldly rulers, -not even by the Lord Chancellor or the Crown itself, but by the Holy Spirit of God, marking them out by spiritual gifts, which we have ourselves tried (1 Jno. iv. 1.) and found edifying. Yes, we fully acknowledge the supreme Headship of Jesus, and

the rule, in subordination to him, of our bishops and deacons.

But how does control consist with perfect freedom? and how is perfect freedom safe with control? the control, moreover,

not of annually elected officers, but of permanent ones? We answer, there is no magical, no artificial way to this delightful and this attainable result. The spirit enjoined on all Christians generally, and on members and officers respectively, is the only and the sure means to secure individual freedom and general order.

Officers of every kind, and the injunction extends to common Christians, also "are forbidden to love authority and rule." What our Lord says (Matt. xx. 25-28) would, if understood and remembered, utterly annihilate all pride of office on the one side, and all unwillingness to yield obedience on the other. Our Lord, in this instructive passage, tells the ten who were indignant, that the two had wished for the highest seats in his kingdom, that their idea of greatness in his kingdom, was altogether a Gentile, i. e. a heathenish one: that heathens saw greatness in "dominion and authority," but that Christian greatness lay in ministering and serving. "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your servant! but whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your slave!!" Hence every church officer must rule with the humility of a servant; "we are your servants," says an | apostle, "for Jesus' sake." If, now, a church officer must feel as a servant of the member, how much more should a member feel as a servant of the officer,-of him, whom the assembly of God has appointed to guide and lead,-in serving whom he serves, the church itself, and the institution of the Lord Jesus. As a lesson to bishops and deacons, how meekly and gently did the apostles demean themselves in the churches, persuading by the "meekness and gentleness of Christ," classing themselves with the elders and deacons, renouncing all "lordship over their faith," using threatening language only when the case was so desperate that they were authorised to employ miraculous punishments against the contumacious.