gratitude for the superior privileges they enjoy themselves. The Jews were solemnly commanded by Moses to make known the deliverances God had wrought for them to their children, and children's children,+ and the Psalmist in the seventy-eighth psalm recites and inculcates the same grateful remembrance of those deliverances in the following sublime strains:-"For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;" and undoubtedly the three great deliverances in England, before narrated, are equally important to us under the gospel, as those of the children of Israel under the former economy. I presume, therefore, that you will think with me, that public prayer ought to be often offered, that the long predicted downfall of popery might speedily be fulfilled; that suitable tracts should be extensively circulated, and that the superintendents of our sabbathschools should occasionally bring the subject before the teachers and children, in order at once to inform some and fortify others against the stratagems of the priests and other adherents of Rome. I am sorry that a previous communication which I sent you on this subject was not inserted. It will be matter of regret and wonder to me, if it should turn out that yourself, who have so ably written some years ago against popery, should now hesitate to approve of an annual commemoration of our deliverance from it. I conclude with a prayer that the papal and all other anti-christian systems may be destroyed by the breath of the Redeemer's mouth, and the brightness of his coming. And remain, yours sincerely; W. HARRISON.

Birmingham.

ON THE PRACTICAL DIFFICULTY OF A. B. C. D. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. DEAR SIR,-The " practical difficulty," in your last arrested my attention, as one of not unfrequent occurrence, and as deserving a little notice; and since A. B. C. D. solicit remark, permit me, as one to whom such scenes and circumstances are somewhat familiar, to address to them a few words through your excellent periodical.

The position of A. B. C. D. is rather a trying one. The majority of the church to which they belong have invited, as their pas tor, one whom they, as a minority, do not approve. The latter cannot satisfactorily unite with any other body of Christians, and are not able to support a minister themselves.

In this uncomfortable position they will do well to take care lest, by making themselves of undue importance, and cultivating unkind feelings either towards their brethren who have deemed it right to invite the minister in question or that minister himself, they should mar and destroy the happiness and usefulness of themselves or others, place a stumblingblock in the way of inquirers, or give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme.

No course seems open to A. B. C. D. beside the one you have so beautifully pointed out in your excellent remarks; and as an old student of Christianity I submit whether any other can possibly be found that so much accords with the language and spirit of the New Testament. Nor can I but hope that should they be disposed to return to their brethren in the exercise of a right spirit, if they have already withdrawn, they will be gladly received.

A. B. C. D. will permit me, as a lover of fair play and Christian concord, to remind them that their brethren in the majority had an equal right with themselves to vote for or against a candidate for their pastorate; and that, in common courtesy, their judgments and wishes should be equally respected with their own. This consideration, together with the fact that they have "no unkind feeling whatever" against the minister elect, may possibly go far to induce them to adopt the course which at first you prescribed.

As to reports, A. B. C. D. will do well to pay little attention to them, seeing they turn out so frequently to the mortification of those who have acted upon them to be exaggerated or false; and, also, let them beware of a Corinthian spirit which by declaring, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, may lead them to despise him whom the church has selected; and who, although not possessing the distinguished qualifications of the parties mentioned above, may, nevertheless, be a chosen instrument of God's work, to confound the mighty and wise. I am, Sir, yours,

October 7th, 1849.

Εἰρηνοποιός.

ON A PASSAGE IN ATHENÆUS.

To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. MR. EDITOR,-Having, in the course of looking through Athenæus, met with an instance of the use of the word Barrisw, I offer it to your notice, since it seems desirable that all passages of ancient authors, containing the word in question, should be known and examined. The following, then, is the passage :

"Masurius having spoken thus, all wondered at him because of his wisdom. But Ulpianus, when silence was obtained, said, Ye seem to me, my fellow guests, to have been unexpectedly overwhelmed by vehement arguments, and to have been immersed in wine intempered with water. AOKELTE μοι, ανδρες δαιτυμόνες, σφοδροις κατηνπλησθαι λογοις, παρα προσδοκιαν, βεβαπο Tiolaι TE TO аkpary.-Athenæus Deipnos, lib. v., p. 221. Ed. Is. Casaubon, A.D., 1597."

In this passage it has its usual signification of immersion, Casaubon translating it, Et mero tanquam immersi. It is also interesting to observe, that it is a plunging, not into water, and, therefore, not a purifying, but into wine.

I have the honour to be yours, &c.,
Βαπτιστής.

EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT.

An earlier sheet of this number contains a Memorial respecting intended infringements on the divinely instituted day of rest at the metropolitan post office, addressed to the Queen by the ministers of the Three Denominations residing in and near the cities of London and Westminster; and resolutions on the same subject passed by the ministers who constitute the Baptist Board. We are sorry to have to report that neither these, nor the measures of a similar character adopted by other religious bodies have been able to divert the government from their arbitrary and pernicious course. A postponement of the change from the 14th of September, when it was to have come into operation, to the 28th, is all that has been obtained; and that appears to have been granted, not with a view to the relinquishment of the plan but to the difficulties which had presented themselves. The determined refusal of six or seven hundred men, who are the immediate victims, to sell their sabbaths voluntarily, imposed obstacles to the project which could not be surmounted as easily as had been apprehended; but now it appears they have received orders which present to them no alternative but compliance or dismission. We trust, however, that this may be overruled for good. A struggle will now be commenced in good earnest for the suspension of all post office labour on Lord's days, not only in the metropolis but throughout the land. Some inconveniences will

be felt, doubtless, from the non-delivery of letters on the first day of the week in some country towns; but these are trifling in comparison of the benefits that will accrue, and can be no greater than the inhabitants of London have endured all their lives, without repining, no delivery of letters on the Lord's day having ever taken place within the precincts of the metropolis. Before this meets the eye of the reader, the dissenting ministers will have met again, in compliance with a requisition which has already been issued, and we trust that energetic measures will be adopted also throughout the provinces, to put an end to what has long been felt by many to be an unwarrantable violation of that universal and uninterrupted rest from labour which the interests of society require.

It may be advantageous to some church destitute of a pastor if we correct an impression which we find is in existence, that our brother Green, late of Walworth, has determined not to take charge of another church. We are sufficiently acquainted with his views to feel at liberty to say, that it has never been his wish to withdraw from the ministry, though he thought it right to relinquish a station which he had occupied for fourteen years. A man of his ability, in the prime of life and in full bodily vigour, is not likely to remain disengaged long, unless his settlement be impeded by some such misapprehension as that to which we have referred.

A portrait of the Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel, M.A., intended for our January number, is in the hands of the engraver.

A tract has just been published by "The Lord's Day Observance Society," containing this impressive sentence :-" When it is remembered that of the twelve thousand persons holding situations directly from the Postmaster-General, all, with the exception of two thousand in London, are engaged in the every-day business of life some part of the Lord's day, in selling stamps, delivering letters, and despatching mails, it will be seen that, by the utter cessation of such a system, an act of mercy would be performed far exceeding in magnitude, duration, and extent, any that is done by the delivery of letters; inasmuch as such cessation would relieve from toil, and would restore the religious, social, and physical privileges of the sabbath day to this numerous body of persons, and the vast number indirectly caused to labour on the Lord's day by the transmission and delivery of letters. As a proof of the hardships inflicted on letter-carriers, it is a fact which may be relied on, that in many parts of England letter-carriers have often to walk on the Lord's day, as well as on the other six days of the week, twenty miles, or even more, in delivering letters and newspapers."

fashion, that is, bare the length of the leg. Our object was to reach a bazar, some twenty miles in a direct line from Matura, time enough to address the people; but delayed by groups of people at the different rest-sheds, we did not reach it before five o'clock in the evening, when the people had left for their homes, hastened probably by heavyish rain that fell during the last hour of our walk. Wearied and worn, for we had been on the road from six in the morning, preaching, talking, reading, &c., we slept in a native house; at least I tried, but did not succeed from bugs, fleas, and innumerable creeping things. We summoned the household, and as many as we could beside, and preached to them of Christ and his salvation, and I shall not soon forget the daring defiance hurled at the majesty of heaven by the oldest man of the assembly.

Our lodgings.

Next morning, as soon as it was light, we prepared to depart, pursuing the same course as we went, preaching, reading, distributing tracts wherever we could. This, perhaps, was the most successful day as far as meeting with people was concerned. Many times during the day assemblies varying in numbers from ten to fifty, were addressed on the great concerns of the soul. And so we went on our way till we came to a village at six o'clock in the evening. The Buddhist temple, or the Wallouwa or Gentleman's House, must be our resting place. You would possibly smile if you could see the building thus distinguished. The people, however, were very unwilling to take us in. The master, a boy of sixteen just married, was full of anger, and refused to allow us to rest even in the shed in which we sat for a moment or two. We were, however, tired, had eaten nothing all day, and were in the direct track of elephants, and without a prospect of a lodging any where else, and I felt very unwilling to give up possession. All the opposition, however, arose from the expectation of friends that evening on a wedding visit, and when it was found they did not come, the people grew civil, and allowed our request, and gave some rice to my fellow travellers. I satisfied my appetite with a bit of bread and a slice of salt beef I carried with me. At this place the cruel habit of dragging the sick to the jungle to die or recover, as may be, prevails. We tried, as usual, to teach them better, and to lead their minds to the great concerns of the soul. We left a New Testament and some tracts with them, and in the morning went on our way.

Next day's journey.

Spending the day as before, until after a long and difficult walk through a mountainous country, the course of the torrent being the path-way, we reached the extreme point of our course the border of the Kandian coun

try. There we rested at the house of the late Modliar, who was a convert to Christianity, the fruit of the labours of a Wesleyan missionary who was once located there. His wife and son, a young man about eighteen or twenty years of age, occupy the place, though the young man is frequently in Matura, and hears me preach there. Here again we pressed the gospel most earnestly on the household, and all that we could assemble that night and the following morning. This was the only comfortable resting-place we found during the journey.

After a treat of a cup of coffee in the morning, the only time we broke our fast in the morning, we left on the homeward route by another road. The day was spent in the usual way, chiefly preaching in rest-sheds. The villages were empty, the people being employed in their fields. At one shed we found forty-five men. They were preparing the place for the Buddhist priests to read Bana in, so I asked them if I should read a little of the Christian Bana to them, to which, after consulting the elders, they consented. I then read to them the Spiritual Guide, an excellent tract for purposes of that kind, and Mr. Sylva afterwards addressed them. After spending an hour with them, we left tracts, and proceeded, continuing the same things as opportunity afforded until the evening, when we sought the headman's house. There we preached to all we could muster, and continued talking and reading with them until late in the evening, and were glad to lie down in the verandah for the night.

The last day's work.

At day-break we started through a long tract of elephant forest, meeting with few or no people until noon, when we came to an Aratchy's house. There we rested a little, and requested him to collect the men of the village for us. After preaching he gave a little rice. We left him a Testament, and the people some tracts, and departed. The road offering but few facilities for preaching, beyond the groups that we met at the boutignes and rest-sheds, I made up my mind to reach home if possible that night, especially as there was not a place that offered a rest or any thing else beyond plaintains or wild bread fruit, and things of that kind. My last crust was gone; I finished it at the Aratchy's house with a draught of water. Well, after thirteen hours of walking, preaching wherever we could, we reached Matura between seven and eight in the evening, tired, dirty, and, as far as I was concerned, skinned by the sun in such parts of the body as were exposed, looking very unlike a padre, the name by which we go in this country. I suppose the native preacher never had such a day's march in his life, and assuredly it was the longest I have taken in this country,