our souls. How much to the peace and happiness of the believer it would be, if he would, by the assistance of God, remove the obstacle as soon as he per

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produce a distaste for more profit able and serious, books? and, though it seem not so to you, is it not an evil, or an apparent one in the sight of others? and do not the profane inquire," If the subceived it, and, in faith, would fore jeet of religion is exhausted?" go every thing which clogged his do not the undecided, forgetting devotions as soon as he knew that their knowledge is not so what it was. matured, follow your example to their own injury? That professor, who sees no unlawfulness in dancing, novel-reading, or love of dress, has much to fear that pas sion has darkened his mind, and inclination clouded his under standing; and, however strenuous he is for the lawfulness of them, if he consider their effect upon him, in diminishing his religious comfort, and quenching the Holy Spirit, he will see the necessity of avoiding them, if he would be a Christian indeed.

There are many things lawful which are not convenient, as the apostle expresses it: that is, there are many things not forbid, which should, nevertheless, be denied. Although there is in the gospel sufficient to restrain the vicious, and curb the licentious; although there is enough to perfect the man of God, and thoroughly furnish him to all good works; yet there is not every individual thing which the Christian must embrace or reject minutely pointed out. It is evident this could not be done without the character, disposition, and circumstance of every one were distinctly considered. But there is no uncertainty about what must be done; the Spirit, which is given to us, enables us to discern the good and evil; experience soon shows our easily besetting sin, and the weight which retards our progress; and we may soon find out among things lawful, what will be injurious to

We should also remember, that however innocent any thing may be in itself, when used aright, the excess of it makes it an evil. All things are lawful, yet I will not be brought under the power of any. Whatever has an undue proportion of our affections, or draws us from God, must be denied, if we would possess the enjoyments of religion. The various affections of the heart, the inclinations, desires, and propensities of our nature, must be regulated; moderation in all things must be acquired-we must "keep under our body, and bring it into subjection," ere we experience that steady peace, and that unspeakable joy, which the gospel describes. Self-denial, separation from the world, and abstinence from all evil, are requisite to render us so eminent in religion as were the primitive Christians. They had no means of attaining to that exalted degree of holiness, which we have not. Our faith is the same, we contend for the same doctrines; why, then, are not our piety and comfort the same, but because we are deficient in striving against sin? but, because opposing the carnality of our minds, the dominion of our passions, and the gratification of our appetites, are less constant and strenuous, and enter less into any part of our religion.

To close these remarks. "To be what a Christian should be, we must not only abstain from evil, but endeavour to allow only

modes of expression. Thus, because the extraordinary operations of the Holy Spirit, descending on the apostles on the day of Pentecost, are called the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; and Nebu

what will edify us." It is possible for us to have religion so predominate," that whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God." Our business, our recrea tion, and our duties, may all sub-chadnezzar is said to have been serve our religion. Let us not baptized with the dew of heaven ask who is sufficient for these it is inferred, that a few drops things? Our sufficiency is of of water sprinkled on the forehead God. Faith removes all difficul- of a candidate for this ordinance, ties, and the Spirit enables us to is baptizing him. Had our esdo all things. Only let us resolve teemed friends, instead of exnot to love pleasure more than plaining the primary meaning of religion-only let us seek a heart the lawgiver, from these figuraundivided between God and tive ways, in which the word is Mammon-only let us give our-used, have interpreted the figuraselves wholly to the Lord-let us watch and pray-let us believe in him who is able to perfect us in every good thing, and we shall find all things possible to him that believeth.

On the Primary and Figurative Use of Words, in Relation to the Ordinance of Baptism.

IT is impossible for any learned Pædobaptist to deny, that the word Barrio means to immerse -or, in other words, to cover with water, when water is the thing predicated of the subject. All the evidence, both of classic and scriptural literature, would prove such a denial to be untrue. The only way in which it is attempted to maintain that it may mean to sprinkle, is by adducing passages in which the term is used in an allusive, figurative, or secondary manner; and from these allusions, or figures, an ef fort is made to obtain the primary meaning of a plain word in a positive command; rather than by obtaining a knowledge of the primary meaning of the word, to interpret its allusive and figurative

tive mode by the primary, all would have been plain and easy. Nebuchadnezzar was baptized in the dew of heaven, because he was as wet as though he were immersed in it; the apostles were baptized in the effusion of the Holy Spirit, because they were as much filled and surrounded by it, as though they were immersed in it: all this is intelligible; but to say Nebuchadnezzar was entirely soaked by the dew in which he was enveloped, and the apostles were entirely covered with the Holy Spirit that descended upon them from above; and, therefore, a few drops of water sprinkled on the forehead of an individual is baptizing him, is a most preposterous and illogical way of using terms; and were it generally resorted to, would leave no stability in language; no fixed principles on which we could reason, in order to obtain the meaning of any statute, or ordinance, in the world.

By this method of explaining the primary meaning of words by their figurative and allusive expression, it would be easy to shew that all stability in language will give way. Let us try it on one or two common expressions. The

word SWIM, or SWIMMING. | to receive a commission to drown

a criminal; he would naturally suppose he was to put him to death by immersing him in water, and continuing him there till life departed from him. But this word, though so plain in its primary sense, is capable of a figurative application. It is applied to the sorrows of the mind. Dr. Watts, in one of his hymns, says, "I am drown'd in griefs." This is by no means an uncommon way of using the term; and if interpreted in a proper way, there is no danger of mistaking it. By reasoning from the primary to the figurative, or secondary way of using it, we suppose, that to be drowned in grief, means to be oppressed and weighed down by it. But, suppose the executioner were to reason from this allusive, or figurative way of employing the word, and merely to excite a'

Every one knows that to swim means to be in part, at least, surrounded with water, and being upborne by its power to make our way through the flood or stream. This, or something near akin to this, is its primary meaning. If a person were required by his physician, or superior, daily to use the exercise of swimming, so would he understand it. This would be what is required. Nor could he be literally said to swim, unless in a similar way to this. David, however, says, Psalm vi. 6, "All the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears." This is an allusive or figurative method of using the word, and interpreted by its primary meaning all is easy. David's sorrows were very great; tears fell from him during the night in plentiful effusions, But, suppose one who had re-considerable degree of grief in the ceived the command daily, to mind of the criminal-or to throw exercise himself in swimming, water upon him, so as completely were to interpret the literal mean- to soak his clothes-like as we ing by the figurative, and merely talk of being drowned in a shed a few tears, or to throw a shower of rain-would he have few drops of water over himself-complied with the intention of and when interrogated by his the judge who pronounced the physician, or superior, whether sentence? Yet is not this similar he had complied with the com- to the method by which the lanmand, should reply in the affir- guage of the lawgiver of the mative and explaining the way Christian church is interpreted in in which he had done it, should reference to the ordinance of bring this quotation to justify Baptism? himself,-how would his reply be received? Would it not excite pity, ridicule, or contempt, rather than approbatiou? yet in what would this method of reasoning differ from that of those who substitute sprinkling for immersion?

The word DROWN, in its primary acceptation, evidently means to produce death, by suffocating the body in a fluid. Now, if drowning were a capital punishment in this country, and the executioner of the laws were

I much question if the command to baptize had been issued by Christ in our vernacular tongue, and he had used the term dip, and bade his ministers "Go and teach all nations, dipping them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" whether, by searching in different authors for figurative, and allusive, and elliptical methods of using the word, we might not introduce sprinkling as the proper way of performing in it. Thus

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in order to give it full effect, and carry it out into lively and continued operation, they laid the foundation of this charity, which was instituted in the year 1733, for the relief of the families of such ministers of the Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist Denominations, as, at the time of their death, stood accepted and approved by the body of ministers of their own Denomination, and who died so poor as not to leave their widows and children a sufficient subsistence.

"At the first, the annual sum given to the English widows was only five pounds, and to the Welsh | widows three pounds each; but from the liberality with which the Society was supported, the Managers had the pleasure of increasing the Exhibitions, from time to time, until the year 1811, when they diş- | tributed fifteen pounds to the English, and cleven pounds to the Welsh widows. They have since, though with great reluctance, been obliged to reduce them to fourteen and ten pounds respectively.

"The Managers meet on the first Tuesday in every month, from the month of October to the month of May, both inclusive, to receive, and examine, and relieve such cases as 'shall be presented to them from the widows of either of the Three Denominations; and such is the spirit of harmony which has prevailed, that they are not aware of any instance in which a preference has been given to one Denomination over the other.

"Besides these annual donations, in urgent cases, the Managers frequently make a grant of ten pounds to apprentice out an orphan child of a deceased minister, by which means the immediate object is provided for, and the necessitous widow relived from the expense of its maintenance.

"The subscribers have been therefore reduced to a dilemma, either point of which has been pregnant with difficulty.

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"To curtail the annual exhibitions which the poor widows were accustomed to receive, and which they were probably looking at the end of the year for discharging the little debts they had necessarily contracted in the course of it, was distressing in the extreme; but to proceed in granting exhibitions so much beyond the income of the charity, appeared not only unjust, but highly imprudent, and a course which, if persisted in without a reinforcement of its funds, would, in a very short period, annihilate the Society.

"As the lesser evil, it has been concluded, to vote the accustomed exhibitions for the present year, and to make an urgent appeal to the body of Dissenters at large, for their benevolent aid, relying, (in humble dependence upon Divine Providence,) that they will afford seasonable and adequate assistance.

"It has, at the same time, been thought expedient, in order to prevent the widows relying with too much confidence upon a continuance of the same supply, to accompany the exhibition with a communication, that, unless an immediate and very considerable increase should be made to the income of the Society, a reduction must take place in the future exhibitions.

"The subscribers have also felt it their duty (though they have done it with great regret) to adopt the following Resolution, viz. That so long as the exhibitions to the widows already admitted upon their list of recipients, shall exceed the income of the Institution, the Managers cannot, with any propriety, admit New Cases.' However painful The number of recipients at such a circumstance must necessapresent upon the books, is two hun-rily prove, it can only be avoided by dred and twelve; and to discharge the exhibitions for the present year would require the sum of £2750; whereas the annual income, upon which the Managers can with certainty calculate, does not exceed the sum of £2000, or thereabouts, leaving a deficiency of £750.

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a very considerable augmentation of their income, or until the number of the present recipients be reduced.

"The Managers are apprehensive that this Institution is not so extensively known as its excellence and utility deserve; they have, therefore, resolved to make the