The Gorham Case; or Baptismal Regene- THIS is a cleverly written pamphlet, and The writer observes,-" You say that a We remember reading the very same things and nearly in the very same words, some fourteen years ago, in the writings of Alexander Campbell; and we thought then, and still think such a mode of treating the subject is anything but judicious. We may observe in passing, that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, appears to us to be the peculiar glory of the gospel, and the only ground of hope to the guilty. Nor can we ever look with a friendly eye upon any quibbles, however trite and smart they may be, which seem to militate against the doctrine of acceptance with God through faith in the atonement, which such language appears to us to suppose. We have said already that the pamphlet before us contains many important truths, well stated; but the things to which we have alluded do not suit our taste, because we believe them to be pernicious. After pointing out to the worthy vicar the unscriptural and absurd character of the arguments by which he supported infant baptism;-the writer justly observes,— "One observation of yours is very remarkable 43 viz., that of Judaizing teachers arising and being re- "Infant baptism bears upon it the mark of Antichrist, because its aim and effect ever is to destroy the distinction between the church and the world, inviting them to go hand in hand; and then talks of there being tares and wheat in the Church, where Christ expressly says the field is the world. Matt. xiii. 38-39. Where, for instance, in Great Britain, is the world? It is all Church, either Angelicanism or Dissent; for all have gained the name Christian in infancy, and all come together to God's house, and join in the service, which is solely the privilege of the regenerate, and only intended for them, as none other are subjects; and the Great King can only receive homage from those who own His allegiance in the empire of their hearts." His remarks upon the point "that the regenerate can never fall away from grace,' are just in the Methodistic style, and display little knowledge of the subject. When he says, addressing the vicar, who appears to be a Calvinist, "Yours is a doctrine (viz., that of the final perseverance of the saints) which all worldly men wish to believe," he is grossly misrepresenting the matter, and we think he cannot but be conscious of it. On the contrary, we will venture to affirm that the doctrine is neither believed nor relished by worldly men in general, nor by the majority of religious professors. We have no doubt that if the sentiments of "worldly men" generally could be collected, they would be found to correspond more with the dogmas of "falling from grace," and "that Christ died for all," &c., than with the doctrine alluded to. The cautions given against apostacy, &c., in the New Testament, do not in the least affect the truth of the doctrine that "the regenerate cannot fall from grace," &c., any more than "the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God," affected the conduct of the Jews in crucifying the Saviour. Those who take such defective and one-sided views of divine truth, would do well to peruse the essays of Rednaxela, in the last and the present volume of the Christian Advocate, on Personal Election, and the Invitations of the Gospel. While the pamphlet contains many excellent things, we cannot recommend it as an unexceptionable exhibition of New Testament Christianity. ITALY. Entelligence. DR. Achilli is still under the power of the Inquisition in Rome. The following letter concerning him, abridged from the Evangelical Christendom, will be found interesting It is from one of the English deputation mentioned in our last. "London, 22nd Dec. 1849." "My dear Dr. Steane,-You have asked me for some statement as to the present condition and prospects of Dr. Achilli, and, while obliged to use much circumspection, on account of watchful enemies, who seek to find out our schemes, and endeavour to thwart them; yet I may with safety state a few facts, for the strict accuracy of which I can vouch. "With regard to the Viterbo story-the seduction and assassination of a nun-I have obtained some important information. Not only is this story untrue-utterly without foundation, a pure and baseless inventionbut it was never taken up by the Roman authorities as a ground of accusation against Dr. Achilli. It is true that M. de Corcelle sent home the story to his government, and stated that this was the reason of our friend's imprisonment. It is true that the Roman correspondent of the Times, whose sources of information should, from his own statement, be so very superior, favoured his readers with a graphic version of it; yet, with the declarations of these two gentlemen before me, I am able to affirm that no such accusation was ever brought against Dr. Achilli. On the first interview which my valued companion, M. Meymeis, and I had with M. de Corcelle, he stated to us in the presence of General Baraguay d'Hilliers, that some soupçons had been at first entertained against him, of which he had been acquitted; and from the Roman office of foreign affairs, I obtained the official declaration-that some charges of delitti tenui had been alleged against him, but had not been sustained. Now, soupçons and delitti tenui (slender crimes) are not the terms under which seduction and murder would be classed. The fact is simply this, that he was arrested for his Protestantism, and for that alone; and, fearing that lest their prey should be snatched out of their hands-as, indeed, not even they could yet believe that France would allow religious persecution under her own military rule-this romance was put into circulation, and in some way or other palmed off both on M. de Corcelle and the Times' own correspondent. "Our brother, therefore, is now avowedly suffering for the Gospel, and his bonds will, I trust, redound to the honour and glory of God. Although unable to see him, our suit to that effect having been referred by the him pointedly refused, yet we have obtained Cardinal Vicar to the Pope himself, and by accounts of him that are most cheering. Mr. Freeborn, the British consul, whose exertions in his behalf deserve the warmest thanks, was enabled to see him on the 18th November, and expresses extreme surprise at the calm, cheerful, unruffled spirit with which he is enabled to bear his long confinement; and this statement was confirmed by one who had been for some weeks a fellowprisoner with him. Indeed, I feel that I may, without danger, lay before your readers the translation of a few lines which he was able to convey to us. 'To my dear friends, Mr. Tonna and Mr. Meymeis. 'My dear friends.-Your arrival here is a great comfort to me. I have learned how much the dear brethren have laboured in my behalf, and I render thanks to the Lord for it, because my faith is strengthened by your and their charity towards me. Oh! how I desire to embrace you both and we three to unite in blessing the Lord's name, in this very place, where he himself has conducted me, for ends known to him; and where I have enjoyed consolations such as I can only reveal to you whenever I have the happiness My tribulation has, through him, so many of seeing you. O, how good the Lord is! and such great compensations, that my rejoicing exceeds my suffering, and I can only thank him for all that he does.....I am in good health, and in most cheerful spirits, from God. Salute all the brethren from me. waiting always the dispensations that come The Lord counsel and help you in all that you purpose to do for his glory. The Lord grant me the favour to embrace you. Adieu.' "Can you believe it, that although he has never been examined- -no statement of any kind made to him, except that he is in the hands of the Holy office-no accusation, no list of charges laid before him-yet, can you believe it, that the mock trial was on the point of being concluded when I left Rome; sentence would follow, pronounced with equal secrecy, and neither published nor communicated to the victim, and after sentencejudgment! And that judgment, in a mild form, may be condemnation for twenty years to some distant castle; such, for instance, as Ergartoli, whither he would be secretly conveyed, and never heard of more. "True, he is in the castle St. Angelo, which is garrisoned by French soldiers. True, we have the promise of the French ministry that he should not be removed from it. Still, I repeat, and without being more explicit, I must repeat it earnestly-we may hear at any moment that he is no longer within those walls. The favourable side of the case is, that General Baraguay d'Hilliers expressed much willingness to use his good offices in his behalf, in his interview with the Pope. Will they prevail. "In Sir Culling Eardley's letter, which appeared in your last number, the belief was expressed that French soldiers had assisted to arrest our friend. This surmise is fully confirmed; arrested in the name of the French prefect, he was carried from his home by a corporal's party of Chasseurs de Vincennes, who accompanied and assisted the Roman sbirri. The Chasseurs de Vincennes came from the prefecture, where their battalion was doing duty. I make no comment upon this important fact. Meymeis remains at Rome for the present, to watch proceedings.-Yours, very faithfully, "LEWIS H. J. TONNA." M. "The Times, which has throughout backed the priesthood, has given up the charge brought against Dr. Achilli. It inserts (Dec. 13) a letter from its Roman correspondent, in which he says,-'So far as I can learn, the charges relating to the assassination of the nun of Viterbo are abandoned; and those alone which relate to Dr. Achilli being a Roman subject, a recreant priest, a disseminator of religious books prohibited by law, with a general accusation of leading an immoral life, are persisted in; and on these the tribunal is determined to bring him to trial.' "The immoral life referred to, is marrying a wife. "Lord Palmerston has been very zealous in his behalf. This has brought down upon him the rage of those who support the papacy. The English in general have come in for a share of abuse, on account of their zeal in spreading the Bible. Indeed, the Bible seems to be causing great alarm through Italy. The Pope himself publicly bewails the evils done by Bible Societies; but the state of feeling existing in the Popish party may be best seen by the following extract from the organ of the Jesuits in Paris-The Univers, 25th December. 'No one is ignorant of the trickery of the Anglican societies in Italy, but especially in Rome and in all the provinces of the Roman states, since the Pope left the domain of St. Peter. The Bible Societies of London have lighted down upon the land-they have there concentrated their forces- they have scattered their gold and their pamphlets, con vinced that if the Roman States were once made a conquest to Protestantism, it would be all over with the Pope and his authority, with the church and its doctrine. The intended government of the revolution favoured this propagandaism, while protesting hypocritically its respect for the successor of St. Peter, and its profound veneration for the Catholic religion; the agents of the Bible Society were its most powerful auxiliaries. Under the pretext of liberty of conscience, they carried on the work of the revolutionary government, the ruin of the Pope and the church. The actions of these societies was well known; what not so well known was the patronage under which they worked. Though it had often been said that the Cabinet of London held the string of these intrigues, yet, as is generally the case in diplomatic affairs, there was no grasping the material proof. We know that Lord Palmerston had expressed in a despatch to the government at Gaeta, the wish that Pius IX. might soon return to his capital, it being understood as a condition, that his subjects would consent to receive him; but we had not till now, acquired the proof that the head of the Foreign Office was the official patron of the propagandists of the Bible Society, and that the ambassadors of Great Britain were their officious advocates. These facts have come out in the correspondence published by the agents of the Evangelical Alliance, and they demand attention.' NAPLES. An important ecclesiastical meeting has taken place at Naples, convened by the bishops. They agreed to address the government of Naples a series of demands. A more strict revision of books, more particularly those belonging to foreigners. Great care was to be taken that the English Bible Society should not circulate their works, and that spies should be employed to watch if Englishmen were occupied in distributing the Scriptures. The working of religious societies in England were to be reported. Priests, whose sentiments are supposed to be hostile to the existing state of things, must be carefully watched. The correspondent of the Daily News, dating from Naples, 28th December, says, "They have sent an address to the Pope praying him to declare the church independent of the state in the kingdom of Naples. Father Spaccapietia is occupied in watching the thirst for biblical truth, in fact, a systematic police is employed to scan the sentiments of the people. heard a preacher a few days since exclaim: mind what you are about; you may ere long fall into the deplorable state of the English, and lose all hope of salvation." 1 CENTRAL AMERICA. A private letter from Mr. Alexander Henderson, dated "Belize, Honduras, 21st October, 1849," conveys the painful intelligence of the death of his respected partner in life and fellow helper in his arduous labours, leaving him the undivided care of five children, the youngest of whom is scarcely three years of age. His beloved wife Mary, the second daughter of Mr. John Lovell, of Taunton, Somerset, died at Belize of the intermittent fever, common in the country, after two week's illness. Mr. Henderson writing on the very day of her departure says,-"This morning at four o'clock, she breathed her last-breathing her soul I trust into the hands of her gracious Saviour. Her end was peace, no ecstacies, and no fears. Her mind, being stayed on Divine mercy and all sufficiency, met the conflict of conscious unworthiness, joined with growing weakness, which, though like fiery darts in the hands of the enemy, were quenched in the faith of Jesus, never before so precious as then, as she expressed herself to me." Mrs. Henderson's illness on this occasion was brought on by over assiduity in attending her eldest daughter while suffering under a slight attack of fever, the result of too much exposure on a very hot day. Mr. H. says,"All the mother's tenderest anxieties were awakened in waiting upon her even to excess." In breaking the sad intelligence, he says, "When my dear boy (Jabez) was removed from our sight, I had one left me to stay my grief, although a fellow mourner; now it is not so, I am left to weep alone, and to feel the world's emptiness.....She will be buried in the Baptist burial ground, Freetown, Belize, not however by the side of her boy as I could have wished, for that was on the late Mission premises, which are now sold." Mr. Henderson's allusions to the grief of his children are very affecting. He says,66 My family circle is now broken, and however much we may take care of a broken vessel we do not commonly set our affections upon it. May I be found more devoted to the service of the Lord who condescends to employ me in his work." Our departed sister, Mrs. Henderson, has resided full fifteen years at Belize, in the important character of a Missionary's wife. During the first few years she spent part of her time in teaching an Infant School; and even when her increasing family, and the ravages of the climate upon a European constitution, obliged her to renounce this as a stated employment, she was occasionally seen assisting her husband in this work. Great and repeated have been the trials and afflictions, personal, family, and connected with the cause of Christ, which she has been called upon to suffer in the course of those years. Not many months since, when her husband, after suffering imprisonment and fines, was obliged to absent himself from the persecuted Church, in order to plead the cause with the Government of this country, Mrs. Henderson was found sitting among her sable brethren and sisters reading to them the word of life, on an occasion when the emissaries of opposition intruded upon the meeting for the purpose of denouncing any who should lead their devotional exercises, and they were baffled in their wicked design by the sex of the person engaged. She now lies buried on this foreign strand, the sixth who has fallen out of a band of fifteen Missionaries and their wives, who have left Europe for that place since 1822. The others, with the exception of Mr. Henderson himself, have all left the field. We say all because we have been informed that Mr. and Mrs. Kingdon are about to be withdrawn by the Baptist Missionary Society, and their efforts have long ceased to be in harmony with the Church. All such as are interested in the Mission, and especially those who are acquainted with the position and difficulties of our brother Henderson, will be prepared to sympathise with him and his friends on this occasion, and will not relax in their prayers to God on behalf of the cause of Christ there. GERMANY AND DENMARK. MR. Oncken in a letter dated Jan. 4th, 1850, says, "I beg to thank you and all the dear brethren who continue to think of us in love, and help forward the Lord's work by their prayers and contributions. 6d., has been duly received, and was The amount stated in your letter £13 18s. greatly needed at present, as I am about £130. in advance for the chapel, and our tract funds are quite exhausted. Could I get away on another begging excursion, the debt still on our chapel might soon be collected. But this is almost impossible till I get more assistance from fellow labourers. However the Lord, who has been thus far with us, will provide. "On the last Sabbath of the past year we immersed seven believers, which made the number baptised in 1849, to be 119. Several of the smaller churches have increased 100 per cent, and I trust that independently of what we have seen, many souls have been drawn silently to the Lord by the gospel and the Holy Spirit. "The blessed fact that millions have heard the gospel during the past year, through our feeble efforts, fill my heart with unspeakable satisfaction. We circulated upwards of 25,000 of the Holy Scriptures, 500,000 Religious Tracts on the general truth of Christianity, and several thousand copies of Tracts and Books on truths which, alas! the greater part of Christians are still altogether in the dark. We formed in different parts Sunday Schools, and have about fifty brethren employed as colporteurs, evangelists, and missionaries, besides hundreds of active, zealous members who embrace every opportunity to make known the name of Christ to their perishing fellow men. From what we have been permitted to see, we cannot but draw the happy inference that many precious souls have been brought to Christ, of whom we shall know probably nothing till the great day." SWEDEN. "I keep up an active correspondence with brother Nelson at Gothenborg, and from his last letter dated Dec. 19th, I learn that he was still at liberty, though the King had already instructed the Justice of the Chancellor to proceed against him. The brethren were all to assemble at Gothenborg, on the 28th and 29th of Dec. for prayer, consultation, and edification; and I doubt not but that the Lord whose they are and whom they serve, will have renewed their strength for the battle to which they are called. The necessary measures have been adopted to carry forward the work should brother Nelson be either imprisoned or banished. We have now forty six immersed believers in Sweden, and I trust that notwithstanding the horrid laws of that country, as far as religious liberty is concerned, and the hatred and power of the priesthood, before another year closes the number will have been greatly increased. The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings is with our injured brethren, and he can and will bring them off more than conquerors." Correspondence. ON THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. To the Editor of the Christian Advocate. I My dear Sir,-Will any of your correspondents have the goodness to give a clear exposition of the following question? would take the liberty of suggesting that it may be such an exposition as will fully agree with its contextual connection, What was that day to which Paul refers in Hebrews iii. 13, during the continuance of which the Hebrews were enjoined to exhort one another DAILY? See also Heb. x. 25. While writing, permit me to call your attention to what I must regard as one of the most lamentable "signs of the times" in which we live,-I allude to the prevalent system of elucidating particular Scriptures by accommodation; than which, I believe, no scheme that could possibly be devised can more effectually, or more completely annihilate every distinctive feature which the word of God possesses. I use strong language when I thus write, but a moment's reflection will show the immense importance of eradicating this grievous evil. Mr. Editor, if the word of God has not a clear, definite, and ascertainable meaning, what is the use of troubling you or your correspondents with questions regarding the meaning of particular passages? And if such a definite meaning exists, and is ascertainable, what canon of interpretation, what law of language, what precept of honest dealing with the word of God, will justify, or for a moment countenance the all but universal or practice of bending and twisting the words of Holy Scripture like materials in the hands of an artist, into a thousand shapes, for the purpose of imparting what is called by these expositors, "practical instructions," "scriptural improvements." I confess I know of no such law, nor do I know any writer of the present, or of any other day, that would permit for one moment the same liberties to be taken with his writings, which men daily take with the word of God. I know no class of readers that adopt the same method of interpretation with respect to their favourite authors, as that which Christians take with the Bible; and allow me to add, a more prolific parent of sects and isms is not to be found. It is high time that Christians should have discovered that the words of God are "pure words," yea, "tried and sought out words." Until this is perceived, there will be no end to the varieties of teaching which men exhibit in their expositions of God's Word. I have been tempted to commit these observations to paper, after reading the discourse on "God's judgments and Equity," in your two last Numbers. I am totally ignorant of who "Epenetus" is, my observations cannot therefore bear a personal construction, which I desire above all things to avoid. Let me request attention to the fact-that the events of Isaiah, ch. xxvi. refer to a particular time, called at verse 1, "that day," and during which the wonderful things of this prophecy were to happen. What day was this? Let a careful answer to this question be given, and, as a help, let the question prefixed to this letter be studied |