New Brunswick. As a church, they have been called in years past to pass through many severe trials, but God sustained them; yet for a few years past their his tory has been more favorable. They have now a neat and elegant house of worship, and a parsonage farm on which their pastor lives. At present they number 170 communicants.

The church at Plainfield, was formed of members from this church, in 1838. They have a beautiful house of worship in the village of Plainfield; numbering about 70 communicants,―at present without a pastor.

A few families removed from Piscataway to Cumberland county, forty miles below Philadelphia, at an early day, and a few families of Welsh extraction settled there from the State of Delaware. They were constituted into a church, in 1737. Jonathan Davis was their first pastor. They are situated in a pleasant country, at the village of Shiloh, where they have an ancient brick meeting-house, adjoining to which is their graveyard, where a number of generations have been deposited to wait until the resurrection morn. Among this multitude is a number of worthy ministers, who have finished their work and have gone to rest, and the place where they lie is marked to the stranger by the large marble monument, on which we read a brief history of their lives. The church now numbers 226 communi

cants.

The church in Salem County, New Jersey, was formed by members from the church at Shiloh, in 1811. Jacob Ayars, since deceased, was their pastor. They are well situated, but a few miles from Shiloh. They have a comfortable house of worship, and number near 100 communicants.

In the State of New Jersey there are four churches, four ordained ministers, and about 560 communicants.

sent they are more numerous than in any other State. There is in this State as follows:

In Rensselaer County, two churchesBerlin, 223 communicants; Petersburgh, 142 communicants.

Madison County-Brookfield, three churches; first, 309 communicants; second, 143 communicants; third, 136 communicants; De Ruyter, 145 communicants. Chenango County-Preston, 72 communicants; Otselic, 36 communicants. Otsego County-Lincklean, 122 communicants.

Jefferson County-Adams, 218 communicants; Houndsfield, 44 communicants.

Lewis County-Watson, 45 communicants.

Oneida County-Verona, two churches; first, 113 communicants; second, 20 communicants.

Cortland County-Truxton, 78 communicants; Scott, 181 communicants. Erie County-Clarence, 157 communicants.

Cattaraugus County-Persia, 86 communicants.

Alleghany County-Alfred, 2 churches; first, 448 communicants; second, 165 communicants; Amity, 32 communicants; Scio, 35 communicants; Independence, 100 communicants; Friendship, 133 communicants; Bolivar, 58 communicants; Genesee, three churches; first, 159 communicants; second, 47 communicants; third, 54 communicants.

In the State of New York are twentyseven churches, three thousand four hundred and ninety-one communicants, nineteen ordained ministers, and a number of licentiates."

In Pennsylvania, there are three churches, 136 communicants, and but one ordained minister.

The Seventh Day Baptists in the State of Virginia, emigrated first from New Jersey, and constituted a church in Harrison County, at New Salem, 1745; they now number 58 communicants. Lost Creek, 61 communicants; South Forks Hughes River, Wood County, 20 communicants; North Forks Hughes River, 15 communicants. In Virginia there are four churches, two ordained ministers, and 154 communicants.

The Seventh Day Baptists in Ohio, emigrated from Virginia and New Jersey, and settled in Clark County, Pike, and constituted a church, in 1824; they number 30 communicants; Port Jefferson, 46 communicants; Sciota, 20 communicants; Jackson, 38 communicants; Stokes, communicants. There are in Ohio, five churches, three ordained ministers, probably 200 communicants, as there is a number of settlements where churches will soon be formed.

There are numerous settlements of Seventh Day Baptists, in Illinois, although there is but one small church; there is also a small church in Iowa Territory. There is a number of settlements in Michigan, but no church. In Wisconsin Territory, there is a church numbering near 100 communicants, and two ministers. Besides these, there are scattered families in every State, and in almost all our cities.

There are in the United States about fifty churches, forty ordained ministers, and about six thousand communicants. They are divided into four associations. The Eastern Association includes the churches in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The Central Associa tion includes the churches in the State of New York, east of the small lakes. The Western Association includes the churches in the western part of New York and Pennsylvania. The Southwestern, the churches in Virginia, Ohio, and all west thereof. They have an annual conference that meets yearly. This conference is composed of delegates from the associations and churches, as some churches do not unite with the associations. As they

are strictly congregational in their discipline, and every church is an independent body to transact its own business: all the business done at these meetings is to examine different subjects, and impart instruction to the churches by way of advice, there being no right to interfere with the independence of the churches. Every church holds its meetings of business, where all business is done by a vote from the body, all being equal in power, and no one having any more authority than another.

The officers of the churches are pastors and deacons. The business of the pastor is to instruct the people of his charge, and officiate faithfully in his station as a counsellor; and he should consider it his great business to preach the Word, to reprove the disobedient, to comfort the afflicted, and to feed the flock of Christ with the bread of life, and to administer to them the ordinances of God's house, (baptism and the Lord's Supper;) and it is considered the duty of the pastor to give himself wholly to the work of the ministry, as far as circumstances will admit, "to the edifying of the body of Christ."

The deacons are chosen for life; it is their duty to assist the pastor in his labors, to see that his wants are supplied, and that all the internal affairs of the church are kept in proper order, as it relates to discipline and the temporal necessities of the same, and that the poor be not neglected. And, in a word, they are considered the leaders of the church, and ought always to be men full of the Holy Ghost.

Every church has a clerk, whose duty it is to keep a faithful record, in a book, of all the proceedings of the church, with a record of the names of the members, the time of their baptism, &c.

They have a weekly paper published in the city of New York,which is patronized by the denomination. It has at present about twelve hundred subscribers, at two dollars per year, in advance. Elder George B. Utter is editor and proprietor.

They have a Literary Institution, founded in 1837, at De Ruyter, held by stockholders. The cost was twenty-one thousand dollars. It has been laboring under some difficulties, and therefore has not come up to the first expectations; but

They have an Academy at Alfred, Allegany County, New York, which is in a very flourishing condition, and has upwards of one hundred students. William Winyon, from Union College, is principal, and Miss Caroline Mason preceptress. This is a chartered institution, under the patronage of the State.

For some years they have had a Missionary Society, which holds its meetings annually, at the time of the meeting of the General Conference. Its object is to help feeble churches, and to send the gospel to the scattered families in different parts, where they are not privileged with the means of grace in a church capacity, and to preach the gospel to others as opportunity may present. Within the last twelve months a foreign mission has been established. Elders Solomon Carpenter and Nathan Wardner together with their wives, were set apart, and sailed late last fall for the field of their labors, China. News has just been received of their safe arrival out; but their precise location has not yet been decided on.

They likewise have a Hebrew Missionary Society, whose object is to ameliorate the condition of the Jews in the United States. They have had a missionary employed for that purpose in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, and some tracts were published, addressed to that people; but no visible effects have been produced. At present the society is doing nothing.

They have a Tract Society that is at present in operation, and has been doing something in publishing tracts on different subjects, especially upon our particular views.

As a denomination they wish to be engaged, as far as they possess the means, in the various benevolent enterprises of the day, and in these they have been found active.

CONFESSION OF FAITH.

The following was adopted as the gene

I. We believe that there is one God; "For there is one God," 1 Tim. ii. 5; and that there is no other God, 1 Cor. viii. 4, 6. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Acts viii. 37; and that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and of Jesus Christ, his Son. "If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you," Rom. viii. 9. "God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts," Gal. iv. 6. "Christ in you the hope of glory," Col. i. 27. dwelleth in us," 1 John iv. 6. From these texts, and many more of like import, we believe that there is a union existing between the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that they are equally divine, and equally entitled to our adoration.

"God

II. We believe that man was made upright and good, and had ability to have remained so, but that through temptation he was induced to violate the law of God, and thus fell from his uprightness, and came under the curse of the law, and became a subject of death; and that all of his posterity have inherited from him depravity and death. "God made man upright," Eccl. vii. 29. "God created man in his own image," Gen. i. 27. "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." Gen. iii. 17– 19. "Wherefore as by one man sin hath entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. "The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God." Rom. viii. 7. "And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." 1 John v. 40. "The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. vi. 9. "They did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Rom. i. 28. "There is none that doeth good, no, not one." Ps. xiv. 3. "And were by nature the children of wrath." Ephes. ii. 3.

III. We believe that God so loved the

world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John iii. 16. That he took on him our nature, and was born of the Virgin Mary; that he offered himself a sacrifice for sin; that he suffered death upon the cross; was buried, and at the expiration of three days and three nights, rose from the dead; and that he ascended to the right hand of God, and is the mediator between God and man; from whence he will come to judge, and reward all men according to the deeds done in their bodies. "He took on him the seed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16; and "being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. ii. 8. "But now, in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. ix. 26. "The Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matt. xii. 40. "He is risen as he said." Matt. xxviii. 6. "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat." Mark xvi. 19. "For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." Rom. xvi. 19. He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts xvii. 31.

66

IV. We believe that by the humiliation and sufferings of Christ he made an afonement, and became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world; but that the nature or character of this atonement is such as not to admit of justification without faith, or salvation without holiness. "The Lord hath on him the iniquity of us all." Isran liii, 6, "And he is the propitia.on for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." 1 John ii. 2. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Heb. ii. 9. "Who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim. ii. 4. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have

peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. v. 1. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Heb. xi. 6. " Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14.

V. We believe that regeneration is essential to salvation, that it consists in a renovation of the heart, hatred to sin, and love to God; and that it produces refor. mation of life in whatever is known to be sinful; and a willing conformity to the authority and precepts of Christ. John iii. 3: 2 Cor. v. 17; Ephes. ii. 10; James ii. 17; 1 John v. 2.

VI. As to good works, we believe that they are not the ground of the believer's hope, but that they are fruits essential to a justified state, and necessary as evidence of a new birth. John xiv. 23.

VII. We believe that there will be a general resurrection of the bodies, both of the just and of the unjust. John xxviii. 29.

VIII. We believe there will be a day of judgment for both the righteous and the wicked, and that Jesus Christ shall judge and reward every man according to his works. Acts xvii. 31; Rev. xxii. 12.

IX. We believe that the righteous will be admitted into life eternal, and that the wicked shall receive eternal damnation. Matt. xxv. 46.

X. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are given by inspiration of God, and that they contain the whole of God's revealed will, and are the only infallible rule to faith and duty. Isaiah viii. 20.

XI. We believe that the moral law, written upon tables of stone, and recorded in Exodus xx., to be morally and religiously binding upon the church. Matt. v. 17.

XII. We believe it is the duty of all men, and especially the church of God, to observe religiously the seventh day of the week, as commanded in the fourth precept of the decalogue, Exodus xx. 10. Mark ii. 27, 28; Luke xxiii. 5, 7.

XIII. We believe that a gospel church is composed of such persons, and such only, as have given satisfactory evidence of regeneration, and have submitted to gospel baptism. Acts ii. 41.

XIV. We believe that Christian bap

tism is the immersion in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of a believer in Christ, upon a profession of the gospel faith; and that no other water baptism is valid. Col. ii. 12; Rom. vi. 4; Ephes. iv. 5.

XV. Concerning imposition of hands, we believe it was the practice of the Apostles and the primitive church, to lay hands upon the newly baptized believers; and it should be perpetuated in the church. We therefore practise it. Acts viii. 17; Heb. vi. 2.

XVI. We believe it is the duty of all members of the church, to commemorate the sufferings of Christ, in partaking of the Lord's Supper, as often as the church shall deem it expedient and the circumstances admit. Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xi. 26.

XVII. As we deem it unscriptural to admit to the membership of the church any person who does not yield obedience to the commandments of God, and the institutions of the Gospel, or who would be a subject of church censure, were he a member of the church: so we deem it equally unscriptural and improper, to receive such at the Lord's table, or to partake with them of the Lord's Supper. 1 Cor. v. 11; 2 Thess. iii. 6.

THEIR VIEWS OF BAPTISM.

As a denomination they practise what is termed close communion. Their reasons for this are the following:

To these speculations they have only to apply their own antidote. The word baptize is Greek, and in the English language means just nothing at all, unless they are allowed to translate it. And whom shall they call upon to do it? They will not take the the translation of Baptists, for that may beget partiality; but they chose to take the evidence of men who spoke out before the art of prevarication was so extensively known among Protestants. For when they present Pedobaptist authors, who show the greatest marks of candor, they cannot be objected to. In view of these remarks, in connection with the following quotations, they are willing at all times to submit them to a thinking community, as being the doctrine that is taught in the Holy Scriptures. And to strengthen their faith, they have the testimony of the whole Christian world in their favor.

LUTHER." The term baptize is a Greek work; it may be rendered immersion, as when we plunge something in water, that it may be entirely covered with water. And though that custom is now abolished among the generality, (for even children are not entirely immersed, but only have a little water poured on them,) nevertheless they ought to be completely immersed, and immediately drawn out, for the etymology of the word evidently requires it."

On one term only does this great ques tion rest; and that is, What is the original import of the Greek word "Baptize?" Baptists have and still contend, that the word originally implied immersion. Pedobaptists have contended that it implied merely a religious rite, and meaning many other things, such as sprinkling, pouring, washing, &c.

the whole body under water. Here we perceive how baptism was administered among the ancients, for they immersed the whole body under water; now it is a prevailing practice, for a minister only to sprinkle the body or the head.”

GROTIUS.-"That baptism used to be administered by immersion, and not pouring or sprinkling, appears both from the proper signification of the word, and the places chosen for the administration of the rite, John iii. 23; Acts viii. 28; and also from the many allusions of the Apostles, which cannot be referred to sprinkling." Rom. vi. 34; Col. ii. 12.