PRIii,SBYTERIAN . .:::.--::-.AYNER' .. & ADVOCATE.
Presbyterian Banner, Vol. V, No. 49•
Presbyterian Advocate, Vol. XIX, No. 44.1
DAVID MeKINNEY, Editor and Proprietor.
TERNS.-IN ADVANCE.
Original Voctrg.
"Go Forward,"
" Go forward," was the voice of God
When Jewish children cried ;
He bade his servant raise his roil,
The waters to divide.
" Go forward," still is God's command,
Whene'er bin children pray ;
He'll lead them to the promised land
If they will but obey.
'' Go forward," Christian, never faint,
God's love thy soul can cheer;
He hears thy spirit's sad complaint,
He sees thy silent tear.
' uGo forward," servant of the Lord;
In heaven thou shalt see
That great, and glorious reward
Which Christ reserves for thee.
"Go forward," aged child of God,
Thy toils are nearly o'er;
Thy feet are nearing Jordan's flood,
They 'II laud on Canaan's shore.
" Go forward," Youthful Christian, go—
Thy way may yet be long;
Thy foes be great, but yet we know
Thy God onn make thee strong. -
" Go forward," fearing, trembling heart,
Let not thy courage fail;
Thy God will not from thee depart,
Nor let thy foes prevail.
Go forward," sinner, in thy ways!
No : turn: thou know'st full well ,
That God who gave thee being says
Thy feet would land in hell/
Sugar Hill, July 25th, 1857
Per the Presbyterian Banner and Advocate
Infant Baptism,—No, 8.
The ancient Corinthians maintained, that
the Jewish Church was the Church of an
inferior God, who bad fallen from his pris
tine virtue and dignity; that the Old Tes
tament Scriptures having been inspired by
this inferior deity, were of no binding au
thority, and that the object of Christ's mis
sion was to destroy his empire, and intro
duce the worship ot the supreme God. The
sect itself has long ceased to exist; but
some of its objectionable opinions re-appear
in those Baptist authors, who decry the Old
Testament Church, as though its religion
were false, and its ordinances of no value.
But who are we that we should speak lightly
of institutions ordained by Infinite wisdom
and purity ! What though the great body
of the Jewish Church, at different periods,
departed from God, and perverted his ordi
nances? The very same things have be
fallen the Christian Church; and if the ex
istence of the former, as a true Church of
God, was destroyed by the general corrup
tion of its members, the same thing must
be affirmed of the latter. We should bear
in mind that the constitution and laws
which God gave to his Church, were good
and pure, however they may have been
abused by men,
Ever since the fall, God has had a Church
on earth, professing the true religion. The
external exhibitious of his grace to that
Church, may be compared to a rivulet, tak
lag its rise from the first promise of a Sa
viour, and the appointment of burnt-offer
ings, and gliding onward to Noah, where it
receives an important tributary. Thence it
passes down to the father of the faithful,
where it is swelled by the influx of a mighty
stream. Then, as a broad, majestic river,
it flows along the channel of the Jewish
nation, till it meets the cross of Christ,
when it overflows its banks, and extends its
healing virtues to all nations of the earth.
Since then, the Jewish and Christian
Churches are substantially the same, the
right of membership in both must be the
same. And as infants, by express authori
ty ot God, were introduced into the one,
they are equally entitled to membership in
the other.
NATURE OP INFANT MEMBERSHIP.
To some persons it sounds strange to
speak of infants as belonging to the Church.
Nembership in the Church is, in their
minds, associated with communing at the
Lord's table, and Voting at ecclesiastical
meetings. But those things are in no wise
essential to church-membership. In the
State of Pennsylvania, little children are
recognized in the constitution and laws, as
citizens of the commonwealth, just as much
so as adults. The State is not only bound
to protect them in their persons and rights
of inheritance, but to make provision for
their education, by establishing schools and
providing teachers. And in some countries,
as Prussia, parents are required by law to
send their children to the schools. Yet
these infant citizens do not anywhere exer
cise the elective franchise, or bold office,
till they reach a certain age, and possess,
certain qualifications. Just so, and in the
same sense, the children of professing Chris
tians belong to the Church, and have a right
to the distinguishing badge of membership.
They are to be enrolled as scholars in the
Church, the school of Christi and their
parents placed under a solemn obligation to
train them up in the nurture and admoni
tion of the Lord. And when they attain
to maturity, if they give evidence of faith
in Christ, and repentance unto life, they
are to be admitted to all the rights and
privileges of adult members.
That infants were members of the Old
Testament Church, will appear if we in
quire,
HOW PERSONS WERE ADMITTED INTO THAT
CHURCH.
How, for instance, would a heathen, who
desired to renounce idolatry and embrace
the true religion, be received into the
ancient Church of God ? What religious
rites were performed on the occasion? The
answer is, that from the time of Abraham,
circumcision was required. See the ac
count of the institution of this ordinance
in Gen. xvii : 9-14. From that time cir
cumcision was the distinguishing mark of
God's professing people. Accordingly, in
Exact xii : 48, 49, we find that the stran
ger who would unite with the Jewish
Church must first be circumcised. But
Were his children to be left out and still
counted as heathen ? No : the same pas
sage says, " Let all his males be °intim
°hied,' Thus we see that when parents
were admitted into the Church, their chil
dren were admitted with them, and sub•
jetted to the same religious rite with them
selves
IMPORT OF CIRCUMCISION
Let us now consider that rite by which
infants of eight days old were recognized as
members of the visible Church, and see if
its import is not essentially the same as that
of baptism.
1. Circumcision bound all its subjects to
obey the whole law. Gal. v: 3 " 1 testify
again to every man that is circumcised, that
he is a debtor to do the whole law." DOes
baptism iniposti stronger obligations than
these?
2. Circumcision was a sign of holiness of
heart. Rom. ii 29 ; "Circumcision is
that of the heart." Dent. xxx :6 ; " And
the Lord thy God will circumcise thine
heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love
the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul." All agree that baptism
is a sign of regeneration.
3. Circumcision being a bloody rite,
pointed to the atonement of Christ. Bap
tism directs our minds to the blood of
sprinkling. Heb. x: 22; 4 4 Having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and our bodies washed with pure water."
4. Circumcision was a seal of the right
eousness of faith. Rom. iv : 11; " And
he received the sign of circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he
had yet being uncircumcised." Can more
be affirmed of baptism ?
Now we are gravely told by Baptist wri
ters that circumcision was intended as a
mark or badge of Hebrew descent and of
temporal privileges, rather than of a relig
ious relation. In proof of this, they urge
that the Ishmaelites and Edmoites were
circumcised. " The Ishmaelites and Edom-
111 A z
ites were apostates from the faith of Abra
ham. And will it be pretended that the
abuse of circumcision by apostates, proves
that it was not the initiating rite of the
Church ? Why not argue, that since Mor
mons practise baptism and yet do not enter
into the Christian Church, baptism cannot
be an initiatory rite ?"—Rice on Bapt,, p.
220. No clearer proof is needed, that cir
cumcision was not a mark of Jewish de.
scent, than the fact that strangers of any
nation, who embraced the true religion, were
circumcised. Says the Divine injunction,
" One law shall be to him that is home
born and to the stranger.—Exod. xii : 48,
49. And if half the world had embraced
the religion of Jehovah, they would all
have been circumcised.
Such is the nature of that ordinance,
which was administered to infants of eight
days old, by the express command of God.
And we can not but perceive that our Baptist
brethren, had they lived under the old
dispensation, with their present views of
Divine ordinances, would have been' most
strenuous opponents of infant circumcision.
Do they objeot to the baptism of infants
because it imposes obligations which the
child can not, at the time, understand?
The same thing might have been urged
against circumcision. Do they argue that
baptism implies holiness of heart and life ?
So did circumcision. It is not, however,
necessary to our main argument, that we
should prove baptism to have come in the
room of circumcision, yet it is very evident
that the two ordinances, if they do not
correspond in every particular, hold the
same place, signify the same things, and
impose similar , obligations.
\ U 11 ~ i 1 3/ w 1
From the previous discussion it is apparent
that infants having once been admitted into
the visible Church by the authority of God,
must retain the right of membership until
the same authority is pleased to revoke it.
But, where, in all the Scriptures, have we
the slightest hint that the right has been
retracted? We call upon the advocates of
"explicit warrant" to answer the question.
The burden of proof rests upon them. Let
them tell us where, in his Word, the God of
heaven has enacted, that though children
were once admitted into his visible church,
they are now forever excluded. Where, T.
say, can they discover the least shadow of
authority for thrusting little children out of
the kingdom of heaven? They can pro
duce.none, either in the Old Testament or
the New. In the absence of such authori
ty, to exclude infants from membership in
the Church, is a virtual attempt- to make
laws for tiod l It is more: it is an attempt
to legislate in opposition to the authority of
Jehovah 1 Fearful, indeed, is the responsi.
bility they assume, who banish from the
nursery of the Church those who have been
placed there by the enactment of heaven,
for whom the Lord Jesus shed his blood,
for whom he has shown the tenderest affec
tion, and of whom he has declared, "of
such is the kingdom of God."
AN "EXPLICIT WARRANT," UNNECESSARY.
And here we see, more clearly than ever,
why the Saviour gave no express command,
to the diciples, to receive infants into the
Church. For, as he made no ehange in
respect to membership, they perfectly under
stood that the same persons were to be
admitted as formerly. The Church being
essentially the same under both dispensa
tions, and baptism having been substituted
for circumcision as the initiatory rite, it
followed, as a matter of course, that infants
still retained the right of membership, and
consequently were to be baptized. And an
express command to that effect would have
been quite as needless as a command to
admit females to the table of the Lord.
Neither the one nor the other could have
been needed for the direction of the Apos
tles, who, being Jews, knew perfectly well
of whom the visible Church consisted. Ac
cordingly, when they, in full Assembly,
decided that circumcision was no longer
obligatory; -instead of authorizing any
change in regard to infant membership,
they left it untouched; a striking proof that
they intended it to remain.—See Acts xv:
23-29. For, if Christ had required them
to exclude infants, there could hardly have
been a more suitable opportunity to an
nounce the change.
And yet there are persons who say,
"Show us an express command in the New
Testament for the admission of infants.
No matter what the Old Testament says in
regard to infant membership; if you can
not find a Thus saith the. Lord for it in the
New, they must be excluded." It is easy
to expose the futility of such reasonings.
Suppose that in a case in which the right
"ONE THING IS NEEDFUL:" "ONE THING HAVE I DESIRED OF THE LORD:" "THIS ONE THING I DO."
PUBLICATION OFFICE, GAZETTE BUILDING, FIFTH STREET, ABOVE SMITHFIELD, PITTSBURGH, PA.
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1857.
I of an infant to an inheritance is contested,
a gentleman of the bar should offer the
following argument to the Court: "It
is true that children were once permitted by
the laws of this Commonwealth to inherit
the estates of their parents. But, those
laws are of a comparatively ancient date.
In the mean time the Constitution and laws
of the. Commonwealth have undergone
various changes. Show us a law of the
last Session of the Legislature, by which the
rights of infants are re-affirmed. Unless
such an enactment can •be found in the
journal of the last Session, infants are no
more to inherit the estates of their parents."
The absurdity of such reasoning 'is obvious;
but it is not. more absurd than the argu
ment that infants are to be excluded from
the Church because there is no express
command in the New Testament for their
admission.
FEMALE COMMUNION
Besides, this reasoning will go to exclude
females from the Lord's Supper. It can
not be pretended that there is any express
command or inspired example recorded in
the New Testament in favor of their ad
mission to that ordinance. Mr. Booth,
indeed, supposed he could find an explicit
warrant for female communion in the words,
"Let a man examine himself," &c.-1. Cor.
xi: 28. For he alleges that the Greek
word ANTHROPOS, man, being of the com
mon gender, denotes both men and women.
But, Peter. Edwards has produced nineteen
instances from the New Testament in which
the word is used to denote the male in dis
tine.tion from the female sex; as 1. Cor. vii:
1. "It is good for a man (anthropo) not
to touch a woman." Thus the boasted
"explicit warrant" is lost in the clouds.
The famous "direct warrant," invented
by Mr. Alexander Campbell, runs thus:
"In 1. Cor. xii: Paul speaks directly of
men and women; and gives them directions
accordingly. He uses the word aner MAN,
fourteen times and guns WOMAN, sixteen
times; then in their stead he puts the pro
nouns ye and you, fourteen times, and gives
these same persons the command concerning
the Supper. On this I will only remark,
that whoever can discover in "explicit
warrant," in such a fog has keener optics
than our own. L. N. D.
For the Presbyterian Banner and Advocate.
Evidences of Regeneration.
Letter ILL— The Great Change.
All things are become new.-2. Cor. v: 17.
MY DEAR FRIEND :—lti former letters I
have spoken of God, his personality, char
acter, and law; of sin, and the consequent
need of regeneration and justification; of
the way of deliverance from sin; of regen
eration, its necessity, nature, the Agent,
means, and end or design. Let ns now
consider, briefly, regeneration and its evi
dences;- and more particularly the evidences
of regeneration, -as this, is the subject
introduced in my last letter, and suggested
by the words of the Apostle, as before
explained : If any man be in Christ, be is
a new creature : old thil.gs are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.-2. Pon
v : 17. What are the evidences of this
great change?
But, let us first take a brief review of
what has been said of regeneration—the
great change itself. This, in the passage
just quoted, is called a new creation, and in
the next verse it is said to be of God; for
all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ: for we are
his workmanship, created - in Christ Jesus
unto good works.-2. Cor. v: 17, 18; Eph.
ii: 10.
Regeneration—this great change is neces
sary because we are sinners, and as such,
unfit for heaven. We have original sin;
and this "consists, Ist. 'ln the guilt (by
imputation) of Adam's first sin,' or the
legal accountability of every sou for that
sin, in which every one federally partici
pated. 2. "In the want of original right
eousness," or an entire destitution of all
holy principles, feelings and tendencies. 3.
"In the corruption of the whole nature;"
that is, not only a privation of all holiness,
but the infection of the nature with posi
tive depravity." Hence, we have, also,
actual sin; and this "consists, int, In any
want of conformity to the law; and 2. In
transgression of the law." Because we are
thus sinful by nature and practice, and
have, in our unrenewed state, no ability of
will to any spiritual good, we must be born
again. This has been abundantly proved in
former letters. See Bible Dictionary; and
Vincent's Catechism, published by the Pres
byterian Board, page 78, Ques. 8,9; and 1.
John iii: 1-10.
"But the natural man receivetla not the
things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness unto him : neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
—l. Cor. ii: 14. The things of the Spirit
are foolishness to the natural man; they are
to him absurd, insipid and distasteful. And
he can not know them. To know, is to
discern the nature of any thing, whether as
true, or good, or beautiful. To know God
is to discern his truth and excellence; to
know the truth is to apprehend it as true
and good. The wise are the good; that is,
those who discern the truth and excellence
of Divine things. The fools are the wicked;
those who are insensible to truth and good
ness What, therefore, the Apostle here
affirms of the natural or unrenewed man is,
that he can not discern the truth, excel
lence, or beauty of Divine things. He can
not do it. It is not simply that he does not
do it; or that he will not do it, but he can
not. We do not say of a clown that he will
not discern the truth, excellence, and beauty
of a poem. The difficulty is not merely in
his will, but in his whole inward state. The
thing is foolishness to him. So the Scrip
tures do not say of the natural man merely
that he will not discern the things of the
Spirit, because the difficulty in his case is
not in the will alone, but in his whole
inward state. He can not know them.
And the reason is, because they are spiritu
ally discerned. They are discerned through
the Spirit. Theref.re, those who have not
the Spirit can not discern them. If the
effect of sin on the human soul is to make
it blind to the truth, excellence, and beauty
of Divine things; if, as the Apostle asserts,
the natural, or unrenewed, man is in such a
state that the things of the Spirit are fool
ishness to him, absurd, insipid and distaste
ful, then it follows that he can discern them
,
only through the Spirit. [He must be born'
again—born of the Split] His inward
state must be changed the influence of
the Spirit before he c ,_ apprehend the
truth and excellence of t e Gospel. There
must be congeniality bet ee'n 'the perceiver
and the thing perceived. ' only the pure in
heart can see God. If o
,r Gospel be hid,
says the Apostle, it is hi :to them that are
lost. The only hope o . the unrenewed,
therefore, is in doing as the blind did, in
the days of Christ. Th ;must go to him
a la
for spiritual discerntnen4and those Who go
to him he will in no wiser cast out. Read
Hodge's Commentary on 4- Corinthians ii:
14, and throughout. It ais excellent—ex
ceedingly valuable. 1
As to its nature, regeWeration is a new
birth; it is a change ofs - .eart.i . It is , =the
infusion of spiritual life, b i'laiptariting,of!
tit
a holy prinwple, writing , t
7....i1aii in the ' ,
heart, restoring the l the
,lost image of God to
soul; enlightening ihci ii grid,'. renewing the
'will, raising up the r ileldibul and uoitiog it
to Christ by faith. As because of sin we
are blind, and have no capacity of spiritual
perception, and can not, Ecern the things
of the Spirit; the Spirit ppens our blind
eyes in this great change - enables us to see
spiritual objects, and giv s new and clear
views of truth and of he enly and Divine
things. The openingot tpe eyes of the
mind, or the giving to „- the power v.
capacity to perceive the things of God, or
the removal of our blindfst and giving us
sight, is regeneration; th new views, the
spiritual illumination attding the removal
e i
of our blindness—the act al seeing—is the
first effect of regeneratio ,
rvand is insepara
ble from saving faith: he', that is spiritual
judgeth all things, discertis' and appreciates
them.-1. Cor. ii: 15. When 'the mind is
thus spiritually enlightent,ed, there is that
faith which unites us to Christ, so that we
are in him, united to him . ; and if any man
be in Christ, he is a new Creature, and is
born again. Our vital Ed - saving union
with Christ depends, not*on the strength,
but the reality of our faith. Where there
is faith, there is regenelation and a new
life. Says Dr. Alexander r "Suppose life to
be given by Divine powertto a dead seed, so
that it springs up and grows; that illus
trates the nature of. regeneration." We
are dead in sin; regenfration makes us
alive; you• bath he quickened. And being
quickened we believe andiare in Christ new
creatures; savingly unitedrtolim.--:-Eph. ii:
1-3; 2.Cor. v: 17, 18. t -
The Acent in regeneration is the Holy
Ghost. It is his works
to enlighten our
minds and renew our wi1153 it is his work to
open our hearts; giie eight to, our blind
minds, and impart a ca, acity of 'spiritu'al
perception and susceptibi ty of holy feeling.
It is his work to quicke the dead in ':sin.
To be born again is to be , rn of the Spirit;
regeneration is the ren I,n_g : ofithe Holy
~ y
Ghost. Spiritual thine .discerned
through the Spirit.—Johri aii` 7, 8'; ' Titia's
iii: 4-7; 1. Cor. ii: 14,15.
The means in regeneration is the Word of
God, the Gospel, the truth; of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth.—Jas.
i: 18. Hence, the importance of reading
the Bible and other good books, and of
hearing the Gospel preached; the importance
of Sabbath Schools, Bible classes, and of
Catechetical and family instruction; and
hence, too, the importance of prayer, and of
all the means of grace. God works by
means.; and in the diligent use of these
means we may hope for his blessing; for
thmigh be does not bless us for the use of
the means, he does bless us in their use.
When he sends his Gospel to a place, it is
because he has designs of mercy toward
some; and while he continues his Gospel in
a place, there is reason to hope that he has
a people there to be reached, and blessed,
and saved by it; and when he removes his
Gospel from a people,' there is reason to
fear that they are doomed to perdition, or
that, the unregenerate among them are to be
left to perish; and when the people send the
Gospel away from among them, it is just
what Satan delights to see, as it gives him
good hopes of holding his subjects without
molestation. As God has given you his
Word and the means of 'his grace, (and so
far restored your health as to permit you
again to visit his house,) use these means,
and pray for his blessing on ,them; for, it is
not a vain thing for you, because it is your
life: for faith eometh by hearing, and hear
ing by the Word of God.—Deut. xxxii: 47;
Rom. x:10-17. .
The end or design of regeneration is the
glory of God. God hath made all things
for his own glory; men by their sins have
broken his law, and dishonored him; when,
in carrying out the scheme of redemption,
he brings them back and restores them to
his favor, renews and justifies and sanctifies
them, it is that they may live to his glory
in this world, and be to the praise of his
glorious grace in the nex.t.—Eph. ii: 4-10.
In a word, as the glory'of God is the end of
creation, so is it'of the new creation. The
song of redemption is Glory to. God in the
highest, and .on earth peace, good will
toward men.—Luke ii: 14.
Now, we must not only have right views
of truth, but a right state of heart, and
these involve each other; the natural man
can not know aright the things of the Spirit;
they are spiritually dis3erned.-1. •Cor. ii
14. Religion, is not a set of notions merely,
nor does it consist in mere feeling, it does
not divorce'the intellect and the emotions;
it concerns, and it controls both. The truth
is to be embraced and, of course, it must be
known, and hence it must be preached, and
preached with all plainness and fidelity, and
the whole counsel of God declared; and the
truth, God's own truth, when perceived, and
embraced, and accompanied by the Spirit,
will produce proper feelings and emotions,
and lead to becoming action. That feeling
which is not produced by the truth and
Spirit of God, is not religious feeling; and,
of course, of no account; it is even worse
than useless—a real injury—as it gives
wrong impressions, and may lead to false and
delusive hopes. Hence, the danger of
mere sympathy and excitement. Usually,
the more excitement, the less religion; the
more noise and confusion, the less real
devotion. All the feeling there is in the
heavenly world, is the result of truth rightly
apprehended; and if we would have right
religious feelings, we must strive ,to have
right views of Divine truth. The soul is
one; while the intellect is wrong, the feel
ings can not be right. To have right feel
ings, we must, have right views. To aid
you, in this important matter, is the bumble
design of these letters; and to accomplish
this design, I have deemed it expedient
to repeat; more than once, 80111 C Of the most
important truths advanced, and shall con
tinue thus to do for your present and eternal
benefit. As Paul said to the Philippians,
To write the same things to you, to me
indeed is not greviOus, but for you it is safe.
—Phil. iii : 1.
It is safe, because truth, Divine truth,
perceived and embraced by the intellect and
the heart, must regulate and control the
affections. There is no other rule by which
they can be regulated, there is no other
power by which they can be controlled, but
the truth and Spirit of God; and the truth
and the Spirit of God are always in'harmony;
they never disagree. 'What is not accord
ing o:God's truth, is not , and can not In
from God's Spirit. Are our feelings, Our,
fact ins and;, affections, irr' harmony with
- God's tiUCli? How shill we know if we do
not hear, and read, and study the truth ? To
the law and to the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them, and no truth.—
Isa. viii: 20.
And yet, true religion consists very much
in right affections, in the right state and
exercise of the affections, in .ffections
purified by the Spirit, and regulated and
controlled by the truth. In regeneration
the heart, or, state of the soul, is changed
by the Spirit of God. As new views of
truth are given, so right principles of action
are implanted; the disposition is changed,
the will renewed, the affections purified and
elevated, so that we have right affections;
the heart is made right with God, and we
freely choose that which is good, and are
influenced and controlled by the motives of
the Gospel and the truth of God. If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old
things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. He is a new man, leading
a new life.-2. Cor. v': 17. This is a great
change; and there must be manifest evi
dences of it. Then, let us consider the
evidences of regeneration. Of these in my
next. Till then, ponder this question:
Have you experienced this change? Adieu.
YOURS, TRULY.
From our Loudon Correspondent.
Debate on India—The Annexation Policy—lndia
Missions and Schools—The American Missionaries
there—Military Education Reformed—Anxiety for
Indian News—lts Arrival and Nature— A Great
Crisis—Special United Prayer—The Jews and
the Peers—The " Morning Post" suspects Rus
sian Intrigue in India—The " Saturday Review "
—The "Maniacal Bigots" and Free Church La
dies—Madeleine Smith and Sentimentalism in Scot
land The Turf and Lord Derby—Dr. Davidson
and his Stlidents—The Irish Wesleyan Conference
and the Deputation from America—Special Post
script about China and India.
LONDON, July 31, 1857.
In the midst of public anxiety, and "like
the .Mr. petrel in the storm,".pro•
. ~
ceeded' on ~t he 27th inst., to king on his
motion ON INDIA, in the hope of damaging
the Government. .He insisted that warn
ings had been given of the coming danger,
and that these had been disregarded; and
he declared that the outbreak in India was
not a military mutiny, but a national revolt.
The recent measures of the East India Com
pany, in annexing kingdoms and deposing
native Princes, instead of the retaining of ,
nationality; the seizure of freehold land;
the dealing with pensions granted in perpe
tuity as if they were only annuities, and
tampering with the religion of the people•
these were the real causes of the revolt. He
condemned the appearance of the Bible in
some of the Government Schools—the al
lowing of widows to marry—the education
of females, and the enactment that no man
should lose his property for changing his
religion. All this gave the suspicion of
proselytism being encouraged by the Gov
ernment. He then harped on the annexa
tion of Oude, stating that after and in come
quence of this, there were outward and visi
ble signs of confederation, in the circulation
of " pancakes" and lotus flowers, as the se
cret symbols of, and stimulants to, insurrec
tion. He admitted, that while prejudice,
to a considerable degree, existed in England,
he could trace no part of the recent disasters
to Missionary exertion—what the people
hated was missionary operations in connex
ion with the governing power. He dwelt
on these topics for two hours and a half, and
spent another half hour in propounding his
remedies. He proposed that a Royal Com
mission should immediately be sent to India,
to inquire into the grievances of the , native
people ; and that the Queen should issue a
proclamation, declaring that she will not
countenance the violation of treaties and the
disturbance of property; and that she re
spects their laws, their usages, their customs,
and above all, their religion.
Mr. D'lsraeli does not stand alone in
thinking that Lord Dalhousie's " annexa
•
hen policy has been one great cause of the
mischief. It was the recorded opinion of .
Monro, and some of the other great men to
whom we are indebted for the earliest con
solidatiog of our Indian conquests, that the
existence of independent, native Princes con
tributed directly to the stability of the Em
pire. On this point, an able weekly paper,
the Saturday Review, writes thus :
A profound knowledge , of Oriental character
taught its author that the Sepoy soldier's view of
his own position would be altogether altered by
the obliteration of native dynasties. So long as
there were kingdoms really or apparenly compet
ing with the English for the primacy of India—
such as the great power of RIINJSET SINGH in the
Punjaub, or even the tinsel royalty of Oude—the
partisanship of the native army was enlisted on
behalf of its paymasters. It regarded itself as
sustaining the dignity and authority of the Com
pany against rivalries more or less dangerous.
But the absorption of all India bas necessarily
changed the native soldier's conception of his re
lation to the Anglo-Indian Government. Over
rating, probably, his share in the acquisition of
this great dominion, he looks upon the Empire as
a prize which he has won, and could win again.
It is natural he should believe that he could easily
take the sceptre from. the hands into which he
committed it, and place it at his pleasure in others.
Hence the importance of the rush made by the
mutineers to Delhi, showing, as it did, their belief
that the crown of all India was at their disposal'.
It is not the first time that the removal of every
visible rival has had this effect on an army. The
same thing happened seventeen hundred years
ago. The instant that the boundaries of the Ro
man Empire had been pushed by the Caesars to
the limits of ancient civilization, the legionaries
turned round on their employers, and put the
throne up to auction.
Still, in the particular case before us, the
argument heems somewhat to fail, from the
fact, urged by the Chancellor of the Excheq
uer, in reply to Mr. D'lsraeli, that the na
tive Princes have come forward to help the
Indian Government in the suppression of
the revolt. " They had all sided," said the
Chairman of the Company, " with the Gov
ernment." So, likewise, the land-owners
were not dissatisfied; they had sheltered the
fugitive officers and their families with the
greatest kindness, and assisted the Govern
ment. So; in the "annexed"Punjaub,
"there was not a finger raised against Euro
pean power," and the native population
gave up mutineer Sepoys to justice.
With regard to missions and educational
measures, Mr. D'lsraeli spoke like himself—
a true Sadducee. He is not for driving
away the missionaries, but he condemns, the
Bible in the library, (it is not in the Gov
ernment school,) and he leaves the misera
ble widow and female neglected as before r.
,The Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted
104." the missionaries themselves were not
oilijected to by rhe natives," and has no idea
of forbidding them; but insists that milita
ry and civil officers shall not any longer
preach in the bazaars, and distribute tracts,
as Col. Wheeler and others have done. Mr.
Whiteside, also, on the. Tory side, did not
attribute the mischief to English missiona
ries; "the native Indians were willing
enough to discuss theological questions, and
it would be recollected, that although the
Americans had no territory in India, they
had missionaries there. The Hindoos, he
said, were not alarmed at the missionaries
being left free, but at the announcement of
Lord Canning, that he would carry out ob
jects which had not yet been fully realized.
On the whole, the missionaries escaped
that rabid attack which might have been
anticipated. Politicians don't like them,
but they must put up with their presence
in India, with such a vis a tergo in their
favor in England.
Lord John Russell gave a new turn to
the debate, not only by deprecating the dis
cussion altogether, but by proposing an ad
dress to the Queen, to assure her of the sup
port of the House in any measures necessary
to produce tranquility and contentment in
India. This motion was very well received ;
it "took the wind out of the sails" of the
opposition, and was finally adopted without
a division, at 2 o'clock in the morning of the
28th inst..
The next night after the above debate,
Sir De Lacy Evans initiated a discussion on
the Military Education of officers in the
army. The liovernuaent then informed the
House that a new system, requiring a cer
tain amount of professional knowledge before
a commission was given, providing special
education for ofEcers , of the staff, and other
wise raising the standard,, would come into
operation in January, 1858
During the whole of the debate, and
throughout the previous afternoon and morn
ing, anxious inquiries were made about the
Indian mail, and up;to 3 o'clock on Wednes
day morning, (the House still sitting,) no
news had arrived. But at 8 o'clock A. M.,
.out_comeslhe Times; :with the Telegraphic
News from Trieste, 'announcing that Delfii
had not fallen,
up till the 17th of June;
that General Bernard had repulsed, with
great slaughter, several sorties made from
the town, and was waiting reinforcements.
It was added that the native regiments at
Calcutta and Barrackpore had been quietly
disarmed; but that while in Madras there
was some agitation, both there and in the
Bombay Presidency, the troops remained
firm to England.
The news was not so bad as was rumored
and feared, still it was very grave; and
while the funds and public securities recov
ered somewhat, the crisis was and is felt to
be alarming. Bengal, at least, must be re
conquered; Delhi nwy be retained by the
insurgents, from the lack of sufficient force
to assault it, for several months to come ;
and 'the future is dark and ominous. A
meeting for special united prayer in relation
to India, was held this morning at Freema
son's Hall, on the invitation of the Evangel
ical Alliance.
The attempted and virtual REVIVAL OF
THE SLAVE TRADE, by the importation from
Africa, of what are called " Free Negroes,"
into the French islands of the West Indies,
led, last week, to an eloquent speech from
Lord Brougham, reminding the country of
the days of his glory in Parliament. The
Government assured him that this country
disapproved of the measure, and would never
countenance any thing of the kind.
The amended attempt of Lord John Rus
sell and his friends, by a new Bill, to obtain
ADMISSION FOR THE JEWS INTO PARLIA
MENT, has no chance of success, the session
being too far advanced for its being even
sent up to the Peers. The Upper House
would, in all probability, have resisted the
proposal, with the same results as before.
Another proposal, by a Mr. Dilwynn, had
the " fatal vise" in it, of proposing that the
House of Commons, by its own vote alone,
should make a law admitting the Jew,
whereas the Constitution requires laws to be
ratified by Queen, Lords, and Commons,
just as in your country, the vote of the two
Houses, with the President's signature, is
essential to the validity of any measure. As
has been remarked, this is " a singular
method of getting rid of the exclusion by
destroying the Constitution itself. It is just
the policy of the Irishman, who enlarged
his house by pulling down all the four walls."
Baron Rothschild has been re-elected-for the
city of London.
The Morning Poit, (Palmerston's paper,)
does not hesitate to attribute to RUSSIAN
INTRIGUE a considerable amount of native
disaffection in India. It -has always been
the policy,of Russia to have numerous agents
in India, under the guise of men of science,
travelers and Merchants, to spy the naked
ness of the land, and to report to the Chan
cery at St. Petersburg. When the last war
was imminent, it was " the direct interest,"
says the Post, " of the Czar, to create a di
version in India; and if the train, so art
hilly laid in 1854 and 1855, has only ex
ploded in 1857, the fault is not attributable
to any want of zeal in the Russian Agents."
It is also suggested that Greek and Russian
Agents would gladly " lay aside their hatred,
to strike a blow at Protestant England,"
and that, therefore, " the legions of Jesuits"
who have been sent to India, the agents of
Cardinal Antoneilli, who hates England in
tensely, may have been doing mischief. All
this is possible, and not incredible. Russia
is the mistress' of diplomacy above all her
rivals, and she 'has long had her eye directed
toward India.
The Saturday Review, from which I have
Philadelphia, Ili South Tenth Street, below Chestnut
By Mail, or at the office, $1.50 per Year, t SEE pßospEcTus
Delivered in the City, 1.75 '
WHOLE NO. 257
given an extract, is a BROAD CHURCH PA
PER of great ability. It has not yet reached
its 100th number, but it is read by an eclec
tic class, who like its freshness and talent,
and consider even its ' scoffing at Evangelicals,
both in and out of the Church, as very racy.
It expresses the latent feeling of those people
in this country, who regard Foreign Missions
with supreme contempt. It would stop the
mouths, and withdraw even from the field,
those "maniacal bigots," the missionaries,
while a "Free Kirk woman," the wife of a
missionary, is to be regarded as an alarmingly
dangerous person ! The Sadducees, you
perceive, would persecute, as well as the
Romish Tractarian Pharisees. An ear
nest, Spiritual, New-Testament Christianity,
they cannot away with.
MADELEINE SMITH, after her acquittal
.at Edinburgh., was reported to 'have gone
away, in disguise, to America. But it ap
pears she instill in Scotland, at a residence
belonging to her father, on the banks of the
Clyde. Large bets had been laid on the
issue of the trial. Rivas a most mysterious
case—one link only in the chain of evidence
was Wanting; and the Scotch verdict of
" Not Proven," leaves her under the cloud
of suspicion, to say the least. She was
brought up in a very gay manner; her fa
ther, an architect, had failed in business, and
started afresh, with large domestic expendi
ture. It is said that a large sum of money will
be presented to her ! if so, it will disgrace
the givers, and will prove that, even in Scot
land, a false sentimentalism has a large influ
ence. The life of the mother of this young
lady, it is said, has been in imminent danger
from grief. A warning to all parents, and
to young people, suggests itself without any
commentary of mine.
The TURF is one of the sources of demor
alization and misery, which good men have
always deplored. William Palmer, executed
last year, was one specimen only of a class
of those "black-legs," who are scoundrels
to
,the very core. Lord Derby, a great pat
ron, hitherto, of the Turf, has-been aroused
by recent transactions in the way of fraudu
lent gambling; to write a letter to the Stew
ards of the Jockey, Club, in which he states
that, "it has become a subject of general ob
servation and regret, that the number of
teen of station and fortune, who support the
Turf, is:gradually diminishing, and that an
increasing proportion of training is in the
hands of persons in an inferior position, who
keep them not for the purposes of sport, but
as mere instruments of gambling." His
Lordship's admission is a gratifying one, as
to the withdrawal of the aristocracy from the
.race bourse. Bat for mere "sport,"
_horses
never were kept, as a. rule. As "instru
ments of gambling," , they are used alike by
nobles, like Lord Derby, and the profes
sional betting man. Forbid all betting, and
the attraction of the race-course diminishes a
thousand fold.
In
connexion with the RETIREMENT OF
DR.. AVIDSON, a 'number of the foriner stu
dents of the Lancashire College, met soon
after his resignation, to present him with a
testimonial, and an address. In his reply,
he referred to his fourteen years' labor in
the College—how he had thought that be
was settled there for life; and, he added,
" the wish of Gesenius was my wish, that I
should be carried to the grave by students.
But the 'dream is all past, and I am com
pelled to seek for occupation elsewhere."
What field he may next occupy, I cannot
conjecture. His scholarship is great; he is
a student con amore, but as a preacher he
would, I presume, not be generally aeoepta
ble. It is not without sadness that one
contemplates his present position, and the
cause of it.
The IRISH WESLEYAN CONFERENCE
lately held its annual session at Cork. The
preaching of the Gospel in the open air is
much practised, and protracted services have
been held in chapels. The day-schools are
55 in number, and give instruction to 2,422.
A. vigorous effort is in progress for increas
ing Wesleyan agency in Ireland. More than
£6,000 had been already raised at home,
while the Rev. Robinson Scott, a deputy to
the United States, had reported the sum
there subscribed as about $62,000. At
the Conference appeared Bishop Simpson
and Dr. McClintock, as a deputation from
the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of America. He gave a
statistical account of the churches, and pop
ulation connected with his division of the
Methodist body. There were 800,000 in
the division to which he belonged, in the
other division about 630,000, while in other
branches there might be 50,000 or 60,000.
Dr. - McClintock gave information as to
the publication department of the Metho
dist Episcopal Church. Bishop Simpson
afterwards referred, in a speech at a public
meeting, to the anti-slavery position of his
denomination, by which "they were offi
cially, completely separated from the South
ern Methodist Church, although they often
met them in a friendly way." He also dwelt
on the treatment received by some of the
anti-slavery ministers in the slave States.
The Irish Conference closed its meetings
full of encouragement as to the future.
From personal and frequent observation, I
can truly say, that the Wesleyans have done
a most important work in Ireland, and were
among the earliest to break ground in Rom
ish districts.
P.S.—FRom CHINA, we have tidings
of two fierce naval conflicts between the Eng
lish gunboats (and perhaps other light ves
sels,) and the Chinese war-junks, which
resulted, after much bloodshed, in the vir
tual annihilation of the Chinese fleet at
Canton. It is astonishing with what com
parative indifference news like this is re
ceived. India absorbs public attention and
anxiety, more and more- Still Mr. MoCleod
Wylie, writing from Calcutta, (this gentle
man is. a Judge in the Company's service,
and an, eminent Free-Churchman,) is not
afraid of our losing India, for the following
reasons : the interest of large classes in
maintaining the existing Government; the
succor and sympathy of independent Princes;
the energy and perseverance of Britain when
she is in earnest ; and last, not least, on the
fact, that in bringing India under our sway,
God, in his wonderful providence, seems to
have - a great end in view, the Christianiza
tion 'of the country, and till its accomplish
ment, it will probably remain: under British
rule. Alas ! how little progress have we
made. toward this end; nay, what judgments
have we provoked ! Honors have been pub
licly • presented to Hindoo Idols; t offerings