are showing that they are the true sons of a great and powerful people, in all that relates to this world. Transportation to this colony is looked upon as doomed. No matter what Ministry comes into office, it cannot be continued without the greatest danger of totally alienating the feelings of the colonists from the mother country. The Melbourne Legislative Council has continued the connection of the state with the religious sects for another year, the Episcopalian Bishop of Melbourne opposing it on the ground that it supported Romanism, and that he would rather renounce government aid than support'Romanism through receiving it. In South Australia there is still abundance of employment suitable for emigrants. The copper mines have not yet commenced working again for want of labor; and our gold fields are deserted, not being considered rich enough for the enterprise of individuals. There has been no visible increase of crime since the gold discoveries; even drunkenness, I believe, has not materially increased. This is no doubt greatly owing to the fact, that the bulk of our male inhabitants are fathers of families, and that they are able to invest their earnings in purchasing land, whilst in the neighbouring colonics the large land allotment system (640 acres at £1 per acre) has prevented the laborer investing his earnings; and the squatter, as the large sheep farmer is termed, has uniformly preferred the single to the married man, if he has not absolutely refused, on some occasions, to employ the latter. In the church we have not progressed much. Some of our brethren still go to and from the diggins. We have one meeting on the Lord's day morning, for attending to the ordinances; one in the evening, when Brother Pearce announces the glad tidings; and one on Wednesday evening for prayer and praise. The writings of Brother Campbell are finding their way into certain circles more acceptably. The New Testament, modern translation, will find many readers. Brethren going from Britain to Australia, ought to take as many as they can afford, as well as the Campbell and Owen Debate. Though they may not be associated with other brethren for years, and may think that they are cut off from the possibility of being useful, yet they need not be so whilst their prayers can ascend to the Giver of every good; and if they have not the ability for proclaiming the word, they can lend a book to their neighbors, which, as its arguments need no immediate reply, nor its assaults any immediate defence, is more apt to carry conviction to the heart than a heated controversy. Campbell and Owen Debate is eminently calculated to break down the prejudices of sectarianism, for, the reader finding Primitive Christianity so ably defended, is next led to inquire what Primitive Christianity is, and is thus gradually led to suspect the ism in which he has been brought up. Whilst sectarians spend their thousands in sending a diluted gospel to the heathen, the churches ought to adopt the cheaper plan of enabling their poorer brethren, whose lot is to be cast in a distant part of the earth, to scatter the seed of truth around them. They should see that he has the means of yielding silent instruction to the inhabitants of his adopted home. I believe that the Harbinger would also be a powerful means of keeping the emigrant Christian mindful of the things wherein he has been taught. Its messages coming monthly, carry back his thoughts to the brethren with whom he lately worshipped, and to the holy name which he has professed. So long as its messages reach him, he is reminded of his privileges and duties as a disciple. When they reach him not, and he is wholly cut off from the privileges of the Lord's house, he forgets that he is only a stranger and pilgrim, and generally, sooner or later, takes his part with the children of the world. It is a great blessing to us in this part of the world, and more so that we are enabled to receive it so regularly, never having missed receiving a single copy, which speaks favorably for the medium of conveyance by which it is forwarded. Your's in the hope, THOS. MAGAREY. [We are always glad to hear from Brother Magarey, and still more glad to learn that Primitive Christianity, as revealed in the New of South Australia. When Primitive ChristiTestament, is planted in the far distant colony anity is clearly understood and practiced in any part of the world, the results are uniformly the same ou every mind. This is, in our opinion, proof of the most satisfactory character, that the Christian system is what it professes to be, a communication of the mind and will of God to the children of men. Thus the Creator of the mind, with its vast capabilities, has given a moral and spiritual system, every way adequate to its susceptibilities and desires in time and eternity. Nor is there any doubt as to this in the minds of those who have been fully initiated into this system of philanthropy and love. What a counterfeit system of Christianity can do, is now obvious to all. But if there were no genuine system, there would be no counterfeits; and we must not neglect or condemn the former on account of the deception resulting from the existence of the latter. Let all the disciples of Christ who emigrate be firm to their principles, and, as far as possible, seek to be united and located together, where they may keep the commandments of Jesus, and thereby become instrumental in saving themselves and others in this the day of the Lord, and of extending the true principles of the Saviour's kingdom in the neighbourhood of their habitations.-J. W.] ITEMS OF NEWS. THE HONORABLE BAPTIST NOEL. The Honorable Baptist Noel, pastor of the Baptist church, St. John-street, London, recently visited the Midland district for evangelical purposes, delivering three discourses and one address in Nottingham. His first discourse on Tuesday evening, July 5th, and his address at the public meeting in connection with the Continental Mission on the following Tuesday evening, we had the pleasure of hearing. The lectures on the intervening Lord's day were attended by overflowing congregations, and at the first there were probably some eleven hundred persons present. The text on this occasion was Acts v. 42:-" And daily in the temple, and from house to house, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ." It should be translated-" They ceased not to teach and to preach that Jesus is the Christ." The most profound silence was observed whilst the speaker expatiated on the following divisions of his interesting and important subject:-1, The tolic subject of discourse, Jesus Christ, or more properly speaking, "Jesus is the Christ" ---2, The zeal and constancy of the apostles and their associates, "daily in the temple, and from honse to house”"-3, The effect produced on the population then in Jerusalem, “ occasion three thousand, and on another five thousand, were converted to Christ"--4, How far is this conduct applicable to us in these days? These, as we thought, were admirable topics of discourse and inquiry. The preacher is free from all affectation, and his manner of address is simple, chaste, and affectionate. Whilst his powers of reasoning seemed to us mediocre in their character, his persuasive eloquence is far above the common range of public speakers. and evidently produced a deep and solemn impression on the congregation. apos on one We shall only indicate the outline of his discourse. Under the three first divisions, the true foundation of human hope of salvation, and the way the thousands in Jerusalem obtained it, were clearly stated. Indeed this was the first time, even in a Baptist chapel, we ever heard Acts ii. 38 so plainly and forcibly pointed out as the means of obtaining the enjoyment of salvation. "The thousands were commanded," said the preacher, "to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins and for the Holy Spirit, and three thousand were converted in one day." So far we listened to an exposition of the primitive preaching of the gospel which we certainly did not expect. On the last head of his discourse, "How far is the apostles' conduct applicable to us," the preacher, in our judgment, failed in its true application. He left the apostles, and associated himself with Episcopalians, Methodists, Independents, Baptists, and others whom he styled "Christians of all classes," exhorting them in a powerful and affectionate manner, to commence immediately the work of converting sinners to God. Alas! if what we had just heard respecting the Jerusalem converts be true--and we fully believe it—then these parties must first be converted to Christ in the same way themselves. Why not have urged upon the intelligent and well-educated men and women in the congregation, to confess their faith in Christ as the Son of God, and thus provide some work for the evangelists and deacons of the church to baptize them into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins? The members of the church would then be commencing their proper work on apostolic ground. How could faith that Jesus is indeed the very Christ, wrought in the heart, be more properly tested and matured, than by an obedient confession of his name in baptism? The Apostles only knew, and therefore only taught, one way of salvation. There is but one Saviour, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh into the presence of the Father but by him. To exhort the parties referred to, to arise and convert the world, and to retire to their homes and pray to God to give his Holy Spirit to produce faith in the heart, are Utopian requests. Nay, must not such prayers be offensive to God? Will He ever give any influences or institutions for the conversion of sinners further than He has already given? Certainly not. And are not these influences and institutions as omnipotent to save now, as they were at the beginning, if properly appropriated? Certainly they are. We may add, that in our opinion, no individual in England possesses more of the essential elements for the conversion of thousands of sinners to God, than the honorable gentleman of whom we have been writing. Two things are necessary for the carrying out of this success: first, to follow carefully the tract of the apostles and their associates in word and deed; and secondly, not to approach even the precincts of that Babylonish and mystical theology, which we have all more or less imbibed with our early education, but which must be entirely abandoned. It belongs to the Apostacy, and is unworthy of any place in the mind and heart of a man like Baptist Noel. At the meeting of the Continental Missionary Society, some interesting statements were made respecting the circulation of the Bible in different parts of the Continent. In France, 30,000 Testaments had been sold in three months, and more than 300,000 in a very few years; and the infidelity there exerted great and potent influence against the progress of Roman Catholicism, which, notwithstanding all the boasting of its priests, thousands are ready to abandon, so soon as opportunity offers, as a baneful heresy. NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. J. W. Here, as in many other places, there have long been Christian brethren standing aloof from each other, who ought to have been closely united in the fellowship of the gospel. This state of division has been much deplored by reflecting brethren, and at last an effort has been made to unite in one church all who hold the "one Lord, one faith, and one baptism" of Primitive Christianity. On Lord's-day morning, April 17th, a meeting was held in New Bridge chapel, affording brethren from different churches an opportunity of expressing themselves on this subject, which meeting eventually carried three resolutions. The first condemnatory of schism, and pledging the meeting to the use of all scriptural means for the promotion of union. The second approving of the foundation which God himself has laid for his church, as the basis of union on which all true believers can unite, without regard to difference of opinion. And the third appointing a committee of six brethren to carry out, as far as practicable, these resolutions. The result has been, that a new church met for the first time in New Bridge chapel, on Lord'sday, May 1st, to attend to the ordinances as delivered to the first Christian church. Six brethren are appointed to take the oversight of the church, and four to act as deacons for six months, when it is expected that the church will be in a proper position to appoint permanent officers. The members of the present church are composed chiefly of the brethren mis-named "Campbellites," and the brethren popularly known as "Scotch Baptists;" but we acknowledge no name or distinctive appellation but the name of Christ, no creed or confession of faith but that which God himself has doctrine or discipline, are decided by an appeal given us; and all matters, whether relating to to the Scriptures alone. In announcing the gospel to sinners we hold, that the addresses delivered by the apostles are the best models, and that it is not by "faith alone," repentance the enjoyment of the remission of sins and the alone, nor baptism alone, that man comes to gift of the Holy Spirit; but by each jointly and in the order of God's appointment. Our permanent place of meeting now is the New Bridge chapel, New Bridge-street, and the hours of public worship there are, half-past ten, a.m. and half-past six, p.m. Signed, in behalf of the church, NICHOLAS GIBSON, MASON WATSON, Presidents. affairs among our brethren in Newcastle-upon[We are quite uninformed as to the state of Tyne, and therefore, in giving publicity to the above, we cannot justly be charged with taking part in any division, if such there have been among them. It forms no part of the creed which we derive from the Bible, to countenance or take part in the divisions amongst brethren in the Lord. These are reprobated throughout the sacred Word, and must, consequently, be highly offensive to its Author, who is God over all, blessed for ever more.-J. W.] FAMILY CIRCLE. INDOLENCE.-The idle are always exposed to temptation. Labor is the condition of health and happiness, of purity and virtue. Bishop Hall says, "Put a narrow-mouthed glass near to a bee hive, and you shall soon see how busily the wasps resort to it, being drawn thither by the smell of that sweet liquor wherewith it is baited; and how eagerly they creep into the mouth of it, and fall down suddenly from that slippery steepness into that watery trap from which they can never rise. Now there are some of the bees that never so much as look that way; they pass directly to their hive without any notice of such a pleasing bait." "I threw a bauble to the sea, From wave to wave unchecked it passed, There is no true nobility without labor. The world would sink into barbarism without it. You see, in the condition of the Indians in our forests, the African in their kraals, and the dull stupid Asiatics in their voluptuousness, what the condition of mankind would be without labor. God is always at work. "My Father hitherto works, and I work," said the Saviour. No cessation, all activity and motion, which are the true conditions of life. Ceaselessly is God at work throughout his mighty dominions. At work in the mineral kingdom-the animal, the vegetable-the moral. "In him we live, are moved, and have our being." The world might have been dispensed with, or the universe might at his bidding return to nothing -or he might so have arranged the system of material nature, as to have met all our wants without our daily toil. Our bread might have been placed upon our tables by unseen hands, and we might have been saved the trouble even of eating it. Houses suitable for man might have been erected without the sound of a hammer, as noiselessly as crystallization goes on in the laboratory of the chemist, or in the hidden mines. And He who clothes the lily of the fields, with a garment more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory, might have arrayed us, too, without the machinery which now is necessary to produce it. The richest tapestry might have been woven of silks and gossamer, enriched with gold and silver, and flashing with the jewelry of heaven, to adorn our dwellings. Carpets more valuable than ever tempted the feet of princes, and couches soft as down, might have been constructed to our hands, and spread for our comfort, and the most luxuriant banquets might have been provided for us. But God does all this for the toad, the viper, and the sloth. He has furnished the earth as a great palace for the benefit of the inferior tribes, and, without their care, he has enriched it with all things necessary for their well-being and comfort. But the condition upon which man enjoys the good things of this life, and partakes of its luxuries, is labor and toil, "in the sweat of his brow." And this calls for, and developes, his energy and patience, his self-denial and heroism.— Better by far that the earth was but one savage mass, without any appearances of life, but possessing in itself the hidden resources for our happiness and existence, than to be fashioned in all the elements of beauty and grandeur, and leave us in the brutal dignity of enjoyment, without exertion.--Every idler should hasten from his ignoble couch to the fields of labor, either of the head or the hands. It is heaven's great ordinance for human improvement and progress. The ancient and heraldic honors of the bony hand, and the sunburnt brow, and the stalwart frame, are more to be prized than the attenuated fingers, the blanched cheek, which like the peach has never been crimsoned on the "side next the sun," and the flaunting robes of imbecile idleness and vanity.--There is no excellence without labor. Genius, with the large eye and the exquisite taste, is always slow and painful in the execution of its tasks. Guido never satisfied himself with an eye, nor a Caracci with an ear. When Domenichino was reproached for not painting a picture, he said, "I am continually painting it within myself." How often Milton sat under a cedar with Eve, and Shakspeare gazed into the passionate eyes of Juliet, before those life pictures A secluded apartreceived their last touch! ment, with nothing but a desk, a chair, and a single sheet of paper, was for fifty years the study of Buffon; the single ornament was a print of Newton placed before his eyes-nothing broke into the unity of his reveries.— Industry is the feature by which the ancients describe an eminent character, "incredilili industria." How incredible the labors of Cicero, Erasmus, Lord Bacon, Usher, and Bayle, and the other great educators of our race!-"All my tragedies," said Alfieri, “I have composed three times. After these three operations, I proceed, like other authors, to polish, correct, or amend."-The historian De Thou, devoted his life in preparing to write his great work. Even in his dreams he was travelling in distant lands, conversing with the learned, and visiting libraries. Pope was never satisfied with his productions. No edition of his works-ever received the last touch from his hands.-Gibbon tells us of his history, "At the first all was dark and doubtful; even the title of the work." He was often tempted THE essays on Church Organization from the pen of Brother Campbell, the third of which appears in this number, will be read with interest by the candid and earnest student of the divine word. Of course, those who teach and publish to the world, that the Christianity of the New Testament has already accomplished all the good that can be realized from such a temporary system, will pass over his observations with a smile of pity, if not of contempt, for their respected author. But not so with those who think it possible, nay probable-if not even certain-that myriads more of the human family may, and will, be converted to Christ, and properly organized into churches, and perfected in character, before he returns to judge the world in righteousness. The remaining essays will be given as they come to hand. SPIRIT RAPPINGS.—The article on Spirit Rappings, with the essay following it, will, we predict, command the first attention of our readers in this number. There is one short yet pertinent interrogation on page 348, second column, which we repeat, that the attention of our readers may the more firmly be fixed upon it:-"Does God enact statutes against nonentities and phantoms?-By no means." On reading this short and striking question, we were led spontaneously to inquire, "Did the Saviour and his apostles enact laws, or give exhortations against nonentities and phantoms? By no means." LETTERS FROM JERUSALEM.-The Letters from Dr. Barclay, of Jerusalem, will still be read with interest and pleasure. During the last month we have had a long conversation with a young man, a native of Nottingham, who, after a residence of six years in Jerusalem, has recently returned to this country. He knows Brother Barclay, and all other missionaries in that city and vicinity. Miss Williams, whose letter we inserted in a former number, is not in connection with our brethren, but is, or has been, associated with four or five others from America, who are Sabbatarians, and who desire to prepare a people from among the Jews in Jerusalem for the return of the Lord to Mount Olivet! This lady is also a native of Nottingham, but has resided in America some 20 years or upwards. These parties are benevolent and self-sacrificing in their enterprize, which has now proved an entire failure. The Harbinger containing her letter has been sent to the British Consul in Jerusalem. informant thinks Miss Williams's remarks on Our the British Consul, with whom he is well acquainted, are too personal and severe, and therefore the whole ought to be known by him in that city. THE JEWS OF THE PRESENT DAY.-We may mention here that we can see no evidence from 66 are not all the Christian Scriptures that the Jews, as such, are now in any sense, the peculiar people of God. In the days of the Apostle Paul, who is our instructor, he said they Israel who are of Israel; neither, because they of God; but the children of promise, whether are the seed of Abraham, are they the children they be Jews or Gentiles, are now counted for the seed." And we hope there will be a large congregation of saints in Jerusalem, when the Lord returns in the clouds of heaven, to take children of God by faith." his people to himself. For ye are are all the "For as many of you (Gentiles) as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus and if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promises." The Jews are no longer peculiar in the sight of God. "This," said Jehovah respecting Messiah, "is my Son, in whom I delight. Hear Him." 66 |