old country, will readily suggest to the mind of the reader, that considerably differ ent features will show themselves in many of its institutions. Take for instance an association of Baptist churches. It exists perhaps for a century essentially unchanged, except by a gradual increase of its churches and members. Not a few persons will be connected with it the whole of their lives, and associate with it their whole time, talents, and influence. Two or three generations will invest it with much that is hallowed in consistent Christian character, holy zeal, and delightful success. The young think of the association in connection with the holy dead, as well as with the living; and love to speak of the history and the success of institutions with the origin of which their fathers were identified. There is more of what may be termed home feeling in the Baptists of the father-land, than can at present exist in comparatively but a few families, and in only a very few cities of the United States. With what feelings of pleasure may the Baptists connected with the Northamptonshire association speak of their Halls and Rylands, of Fuller and Carey, and Sutcliff, once connected with them, and of the birth of the Foreign Missions in their midst! This union has acted during the last fifteen years with considerable vigor, and has done much in uniting the churches, and increasing, by its influence on the government, the freedom of religion. It sent in 1835 two of its members, the Rev. Drs. Cox and Hoby, to this country to convey an expression of fraternal feelings towards the Baptists of America, who published a volume on the subject, on their return. Latterly they have been assiduously engaged in collecting a library, which they have placed in trust for the use of the denomination. It is worthy of remark that our English brethren seem to embrace every opportunity of making their literature contribute to the advancement of the Baptist cause. Hence their Baptist Magazine, which originated in 1809, is vested in trustees who have appropriated from the profits of its sale not less than $30,000 to the relief of the widows of Baptist ministers. The Baptist Selection of Hymns, devotes annually some seven or eight hundred dollars to the widows and orphans of Baptist ministers and missionaries; while the profits of the Baptist Reporter, a cheap monthly periodical, and of the Baptist Sunday Scholars' Hymn Book are distributed in tracts and cheap publications among the churches, and in neighborhoods destitute of evangelical truth. The comparatively small extent, too, of England, and the denseness of its population, combined with the oppressions Perhaps this may be the proper place against which they have to contend, unite in which to state, that our brethren in Engthe Baptists of that land more closely than land, in addition to their missionary societhey can be united in a country like this. ties, foreign and domestic, have in London Hence their Baptist Union, instituted in a considerable fund for sustaining feeble 1812, now composed of more than a thou-churches, supporting colleges, and supplysand churches, which meets annually by ing young ministers with books. This fund its delegates; the objects of which are, 1st. is furnished principally from the interest of To extend brotherly love and union among legacies left for those purposes by good those Baptist ministers and churches who men of other days. Whether it might not agree in the sentiments usually denomi- have been better to have expended this nated evangelical;-2d. To promote unity money in doing present good, trusting in of exertion in whatever may best serve the the promise and power of Christ to sustain cause of Christ in general, and the inte- his cause in future, is a question which, rests of the Baptist denomination in particu- happily, we are not now called upon to lar;-3d. To obtain accurate statistical in- settle. The Baptists of London, and two formation relative to Baptist churches, or three other large cities, liberally subsocieties, institutions, colleges, &c., scribe for the erection of new houses of throughout the kingdom, and the world at worship, which they forward to needy large;-4th. To prepare for circulation an parties without their ministers leaving annual report of the proceedings of the their pulpits to collect it. Recent moveUnion, and the state of the denomination.ments seem to indicate that the contribu tors to the London Building Fund will become simply a Loan Society. It is a fact well known, that the English Baptists are divided into two great branches, Particular and General, the former holding the Calvinistic view of the particularity of the redemption of Christ, and the other believing it to be general and designed for the whole of mankind; in other things their views harmonize with the systems they thus respectively embrace. The General Baptists are again subdivided into the Old Connexion and the New. The truth is, that a century ago, a kind of hereditary membership, an almost entire disuse of congregational independence, and a strong inclination towards Socinianism crept in among them, so that vital godliness had almost disappeared. In 1770, the late excellent Dan Taylor and a few other good men, formed the New Connexion on sounder scriptural principles; and their piety and zeal have given them a good standing among their brethren; still the Particular branch of the denomination is by far the largest. In the Baptist Union, in their general efforts for the advancement of religious freedom, and generally, in communion, the Particular Baptists and the New Connexion are but one. The Old Connexion has almost died away, and indeed, would long since have lost its visibility, had it not been sustained by endowments of which it has obtained unrighteous possession. The whole history of this branch of the body shows the vast importance of guarding against the slightest departures from the law of Christ, while its present state proves that religious errors, in the end, will work their own destruction. Nor are we less impressively taught that when the members of a body become generally indifferent, and leave the truths and ordinances of Christianity in the hands of a few leading persons, the whole will go on to ruin and decay. The Old General Baptists, once the most numerous, learned, and wealthy branch of the denomination, now present at their "Annual Assembly" in the metropolis of England, some fifty or sixty persons, who begin and end their devotional exercises, sermon, reports and business in some three or four hours. Truly the glory is departed! Neither in Scotland nor in Ireland are the Baptists as numerous as they were two centuries ago, though the last few years have opened a more pleasing prospect of increasing prosperity. Various reasons might be assigned for the decline of the body, while a few years ago their increase was checked by a system which degraded the ministry, setting it aside as a separate order, refusing to support those who devoted themselves to its labors; and by making each and all pastors in turn, introduced confusion and every evil work. Other and better influences are now operating, and by the blessing of God there are "good things to come." There is in England, one subject as to which the Baptists are divided in opinion and practice, and in which they generally differ from their brethren in this country. We refer to the terms of communion. It may be information to some readers, to be told, that while the Free-will Baptists of this country admit unimmersed persons to the Lord's table, their brethren, the General Baptists of England, universally confine this ordinance to those whom they consider to be scripturally baptized. On the other hand, while the Regular Baptists of the United States iuvariably require immersion as a pre-requisite to the reception of the Lord's Supper, believing with the vast majority of Christians of other denominations, that baptism ought to precede that ordinance, many of their brethren in Great Britain do not require obedience to that part of their Lord's will before their reception to Christian fellowship. Nor is this a modern affair. The whole history of the body in that country has shown the existence of the same fact. This is not the place to argue either the one side or the other of this subject; as we have only to do with the facts of the case. In some instances, neither Baptists or pædobaptists alone could sustain a church, and in some of these instances they have been driven to the exercise of mutual forbearance on this matter, that they and their families might have evangelical worship in any form; in other cases, the union has taken place from choice. Two things have certainly been the result. The one is, that in the districts where mixed communion, as it is table. In reference to the Baptist ministry of England, it may be remarked that it contains now, as it ever has done, men of the highest eminence for piety, talents, and by the body, for the training of their pious young men for the pulpit; while not a few are self-made men. Still, it must be confessed, that our brethren in that country are generally below the standard which they ought to reach. The oppression of the hierarchy, the poverty of many of the churches, and other causes compel not a few of the pastors to blend the school, the farm, or the store with their high office; the result is the attainment of no great excellence or success. Little are American Christians aware of their privileges or obligations. called, has prevailed for a century or two, | requisite to communion at the Lord's the predobaptist cause is exceedingly feeble; and the other, that in proportion as the system extends, it introduces the sentiments and the practice of the Baptists in so many instances, among the members of pædobaptist churches, that comparative-learning. Six institutions are sustained ly few of their pastors can say very much against the Baptists. Nor is the fact less certain, that in the advocacy of the peculiarities of the denomination, such as baptism itself, the most able and earnest publications have issued from brethren who have advocated mixed communion, and by them the denominational institutions have been most firmly sustained. Thou. sands of immersed Christians are to be found among Congregational, Methodist, and Episcopalian communicants; while some of these congregations have even gone so far as to construct baptistries in their houses of worship, where the neighboring Baptist pastor is sometimes seen going to immerse some of the members of his pedobaptist brother's church. In no one instance has a regular Baptist church ever invited a pædobaptist to become its pastor; while not a few Baptist ministers have been invited to the pastorate of pædobaptist churches. In the missionary societies, or collegiate institutions, the subject is never made the matter of inquiry or debate; nor is it ever heard that in any of the churches constituted on the mixed system the subject is matter of uneasiness. Whatever may be urged in argument on this topic, it is certain that we cannot compare the circumstances of the two countries so as to justify or condemn the system. Every thing presents an aspect so different on the opposite sides of the Atlantic, that he who hastily condemns his brother, whichever view he may take, may possibly condemn himself in the thing that be alloweth. Before entirely dismissing the subject, it may be remarked that the strictest Baptist churches of England commune with immersed believers, of whatever evangelical church they may be members; that the vast majority of Baptist churches in Great Britain are strict in their fellowship; and that it is believed, that every foreign missionary church connected with the body also requires baptism as a pre On the whole, while in justice we are compelled to award the highest measure of excellence and prosperity to the Baptists of the United States, and while there are defects in our English brethren which we deplore, we must, nevertheless, consider them entitled to our admiration and sympathy. In many things they have acted nobly, and been blessings to the world; and in their present efforts for the emancipation of themselves and their country from the thraldom of an ecclesiastical national establishment, every American must wish them success. We are glad to see their re-publication of the writings of the Baptist Fathers of the best and purest age, their refusal of all favors and funds from the government, and the pecuniary sacrifices which not a few of them make for the objects in view. These prove them to be the worthy sons of worthy sires, and good examples to be imitated by others. The object of our work is instruction; and our readers entirely mistake the design of this article, and indeed, of the whole volume, if they do not make all its statements bear on their own feelings and practice. A good writer has said, that "by the help of history, a young man may, in a good degree, attain to the experience of old age;" and we think that the Baptists of both the old world and the new, have yet to learn from each other much that is important and valuable. I have produced a beneficial result on the Serving one Lord, engaged in the same common cause, and cherishing the same grand principles, may they ever "provoke one another to love and to good works." In connection with the details we have now presented, and those which are yet to follow as to the condition of our public societies, there are two or three remarks we are anxious to bring under the careful consideration of the reader. The first is, that efforts made for the advancement of the cause of Jesus Christ in foreign lands, always produce a delightful influence at home. Take an instance from England. In reviewing their proceedings after the departure of the first missionaries, the committee of the society enumerate among the benefits produced in a few months by the society at home, in the language of the late Dr. A. Fuller, that " a new bond was furnished between distant ministers and churches. Some who had backslidden from God were restored; and others, who had long been poring over their unfruitfulness, and questioning the reality of their personal religion, having their attention directed to Christ and his kingdom, lost their fears, and found that peace, which, in other pursuits, they had sought in vain. Christians of different denominations discovered a common bond of affection; and instead of always dwelling on things wherein they differed, found their account in uniting in those wherein they were agreed. In short, our hearts were enlarged; and, if no other good had arisen from the undertaking, than the effect produced upon our own minds, and the minds of Christians in our own country, it was more than equal to the expense." It would be exceedingly easy to confirm all this, and far more, in the United States. Indeed, we may boldly challenge any man to show a prosperous state of religion in any community where zeal is not cherished in sending the Gospel to the regions beyond them; or to show evangelical foreign missions which have not brought blessings to the church which originated them. There is, too, another way in which foreign missions churches at home. When did a spirit of zeal for the evangelization of our own country experience a delightful revival; and by whom have domestic missions been most liberally supported? We apply the questions either to the United States, or to Great Britain, at the discretion of the reader. The reply must be, that a zeal for home missions originated in foreign operations, and that those who have done most abroad, have ever been most deeply and increasingly convinced of the necessity of evangelical labor in their own land. It is not always true that "charity begins at home:" but it is certain that she never long neglects it. never long neglects it. We have always found that the way to make a congregation liberal in domestic operations, and even in the support of their own individual church, has been to interest them in the labor of the foreign field. One remark more shall bring these observations to a close. The history of every mission has shown the power of the simple teaching of the gospel. No substitute will be accepted and blessed of God. This has been abundantly proved by our English brethren in their labor for Ireland. There was a period when they carefully sought to keep back denominational peculiarities; when they labored to oppose popery, as such; and when they almost entirely confined their efforts to the children in the schools. They failed in their desires for success. Later years have taught them a wiser lesson. They now boldly and affectionately preach the gospel, baptize the believers, constitute churches, and seek in Christ's own way to establish his kingdom. The contest between truth and error becomes closer and more vigorous; both the contending parties feel the power of the weapons employed; and the ultimate result can no longer be doubtful. We have to establish the truth, and that of itself will supplant and destroy error. No body of Christians has ever proved this more fully than the Baptists; let them, then, walk in the good old ways, or, to change the figure, let them fight the enemy only with the naked "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" this has been tried and never failed. Thus may the Baptists of America ever act, remembering who hath said, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." 4 Nothing more clearly indicates the character of a church or denomination for purity and concern for the honor of Christ, than zealous efforts for the extension of his cause throughout the world. Labor, and to a certain extent, liberal pecuniary contributions have distinguished the Baptist body. In England their seven or eight institutions for the education of their ministry, for sustaining their poor churches,―for the evangelization of Britain and of Ireland—and for the diffusion of the pure word of God throughout the world, may well excite our admiration and gratiude. $160,000. Their income and success are both happily increasing. Nor have the Baptists of the United States been behind their British brethren in the holy enterprizes of the day. When it is remembered that our country is rapidly increasing, and therefore demands from every portion of the Christian church the most zealous attention to provide for its moral necessities, it would be unreasonable to expect that it should rival older, more settled, and more wealthy countries in its foreign labors. The direct missionary efforts of the American Baptists originated in 1814, after the Rev. À. (now Dr.) Judson and the Rev. L. Rice had become Baptists in India, and appealed to the denomination in the United States for aid. The thirty-third annual meeting of the Missionary Board was held in May last, in Cincinnati, Ohio, when it was reported that the receipts, from all sources, for the year ending April 1, 1847, were $94,239,71. Of this amount, $2,100 came from the American and Foreign Bible Society, $2,700 from the American Tract Society, $4,000 from the United States Government, and $1,200 interest of permanent fund. Missions are sustained in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. In Asia,Burman and Karen Missions, 2. Maulmain, 2. Tavoy, 3. Arracan; Siam; Assam; China; Teloogoos. In Africa,Bassa Mission. In Europe, France; Denmark; Prussia; Germany; Greece; In North America.-Among the following Indian tribes: Ojibwas, Ottawas, Tuscaroras, Shawnoes, Stockbridges, Delawares, and Cherokees. Summary, 16 Missions, embracing 50 stations and 93 out-stations; 99 missionaries and assist Nothing, however, in the history of the English Baptists has ever attracted more general attention than the origin and history of their Foreign Missionary Society. It was their honor to originate the spirit of zeal in modern times, which bids fair at no distant period, to evangelize the world Their society was formed in a small parlor, at Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1792, by a solemn union of a few poor ministers and others, and a subscription of about sixty-five dollars. From this society proceeded to India the distinguished Dr. Carey, and many others eminently qualified for the discharge of labors directly of a missionary character, and for translating the Holy Scriptures into the various languages of the East. In 1842, they celebrated the Jubilee of the society, when it appeared that the men who had excited no small share of ridicule and contempt, had the high gratification of report-ants, of whom 45 are preachers; 144 naing, that up to 1841, they had translated the Holy Scriptures, wholly or in part, into forty-four languages or dialects of India, and had printed of the Sacred Scriptures alone, nearly half a million copies; that in their 204 schools they numbered nearly 22,000 scholars; that they had 168 missionary stations, 191 missionaries, and over 25,000 members. Their annual income then exceeded $110,000; and the extra fund raised for important specific purposes, as a Jubilee gift, exceeded tive helpers; 108 churches, with 10,000 members; 1,783 baptized the past year; 59 schools with 1600 pupils. Another society connected with the denomination for the same general purposes, exists in the Southern States, called THE SOUTHern Board of FOREIGN MISSIONS. Its second annual meeting was held at Savannah, in May last. The receipts for the year ending May 1, 1847, were $27,469. In China, the Board has 18 missionaries and native assistants, of |