THE MILLENNIAL HARBINGER. —EXTRA—

No. 4. BETHANY, VIRGINIA: MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 1832. Vol. III.

I saw another messenger flying through the midst of heaven, having everlasting good news to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth, even to every nation and tribe, and tongue, and people--saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgments is come: and worship him who made heaven, and earth, and sea, and the fountains of water.--JOHN.       Great is the truth and mighty above things, and will prevail.

      THE following questions and answers are tendered to our readers on a variety of subjects which have been discussed in our periodicals. The answers here given are the only answers which, in accordance with reason, common sense, and the holy Scriptures, can be given. The proof is not, however, adduced, nor even are the answers fully illustrated; because we presume this has already been done in extenso, in our previous pages. The object here is to give a condensed view of much that has been said and written on these subjects, and in the more striking form of questions and answers. It will also, we hope, be the means of not only reviving the recollections of our constant readers, on all these topics; but will, we anticipate, be the means of giving a proper direction to the minds of those who have not examined these matters with much attention.

      If any person can answer any question in this collection in any terms not in accordance with thy meaning of the answers given, we shall thank him for his reasons. But as at present advised, we rather think it to be out of the pale of any communion with experience, observation, and the inspired writings, to furnish other answers than those given. For proof, where it is required, we refer to all our former writings on these subjects.

      Question 1. IS there any natural and common desire discovered in the human constitution, for the gratification of which there is nothing in existence?

      Answer. There cannot be; unless we become atheists and say there is no God, or deists and say there is no divine revelation.

      Q. 2. But are there any common or natural desires in the human constitution?

      A. The animal appetites and propensities are all natural and universal; so is the desire of happiness, or the full gratification of all our capacities.

      Q. 3. Is the knowledge of our origin and destiny necessary to our happiness?

      A. Yes; and, therefore, it is the most common and natural of all rational desires. [337]

      Q. 4. How would you prove that the desire to know our origin and destiny is a natural and universal desire?

      A. There never was found a nation without some traditionary or fabulous account of its origin; without some prophecy, omen, augury, or sign, by which the future was to be known; and to which the individuals of that nation have had recourse. There cannot now be found an individual who desires not the knowledge of his origin and destiny. It is, therefore, a natural, a universal, and, we may add, a rational desire. The production of only one individual in the enjoyment of reason, who can say that he does not now, and never did, desire to know his origin and his destiny, would suffice to prove that the desire is neither natural nor universal. But in the absence of such an individual, we affirm it to be universal.

      Q. 5. Is man the author of this desire?

      A. No more than he is the author of himself.

      Q. 6. Can man satisfy this desire?

      A. No: for he must have been before man, who can show him his origin; and he must know the whole future of existence, who can intimate to him his destiny. The Creator or Author of man alone can satisfy this desire.

      Q. 7. Has such a communication ever been made to man?

      A. Yes else we must affirm that the most natural, universal, and rational desire in our constitution is the only one for which the Creator has made no provision whatever!

      Q. 8. How could God communicate to man this knowledge?

      A. By a revelation in words.

      Q. 9. Why not by his works?

      A. Whatever may be said about the works of creation attesting the existence and perfections of God, nothing plausible, can be said in behalf of a discovery of man's origin and destiny from the works of creation: for by words alone can the knowledge of the past and the future be communicated to man.

      Q. 10. But can God speak?

      A. Most certainly, if any of his creatures can speak. To say that God could not speak to man, or that he never did speak to him, is, of all propositions, the most irreconcilable to all the principles from which we reason in reference to our rank and standing in the universe, and the character of the moral Governor of the world.

      Q. 11. Has God spoken to man?

      A. That he has, not only do our reasonings from his perfections, from man's rank in creation, from all analogies, from tradition, from miracles, abundantly attest; but the book, the record itself, the thing communicated, the revelation, irrefragably asserts and vindicates its authorship.

      Q. 12. In what language has God spoken?

      A. In the language of man--not in the language of angels.

      Q. 13. Was it his design to be understood in our language?

      A. Most assuredly it was his design to communicate ideas to man; and as there is no way of teaching things unknown but by things [338] known, and of speaking intelligibly to man but by using his own words; so God, in speaking to man, has not only clothed his idea in human speech, but has used our words in the common acceptation of them.

      Q. 14. Could any thing in the language of man be esteemed a revelation from God, if the words chosen by God were not used in their common signification?

      A. No: for if God annexed to our words, or the speech which he had given to man, a secret meaning, a private and peculiar sense, such a communication would rather delude and confound than illuminate the human understanding.

      Q. 15. If, then, God speaks in human language, must not his communications be submitted to the same rules of interpretation as all other verbal communications?

      A. Yes: for were it otherwise, who could understand them? To what other laws of interpretation could they be submitted?

      Q. 16. If an occult meaning, or a cabalistic sense is the sought for in the sacred Scriptures, by what rules, or means, could is be ascertained?

      A. By none: and therefore, no criminality could be attached to the most palpable ignorance of God, even where his word is most accessible.

      Q. 17. But is it not impossible for a natural man to understand spiritual things, in whatever style they may be expressed?

      A. Yes: if the word is not communicated to him. The child of pure nature, the savage, or the barbarian, without a verbal revelation, cannot understand the things supernatural, any more than a man, having eyes, can see natural objects without natural light.

      Q. 18. But if a natural man cannot understand spiritual things when communicated to him in plain language, is it not possible for him ever to become a spiritual man?

      A. Yes: unless we can suppose a man to be spiritual before he has a knowledge of spiritual things. And if a person can be made spiritual without the knowledge of spiritual things, then all to Scriptures are addressed to spiritual men: for how absurd would it be to address natural men on spiritual things, when it is utterly impossible for them to understand them, so long as they are natural men.

      Q. 19. But are the scriptures all addressed to spiritual men--or rather to converted men?

      A. No: unless "wicked men," "stout hearted men and far from righteousness," "unbelievers, despisers, and all ungodly and profane persons," are amongst spiritual men, for all these are directly addressed.

      Q. 20. Can you instance any addresses in the Old Testament or the New to such characters--to natural men, to unbelievers, which intimate that they can understand them?

      A. Very many, of which the following are only a specimen:--

      Old Testament Addresses.--"Look to me all you ends of the earth and be saved, or I am God, and there is none else.--Let the wicked [339] man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.--Hearken to me, you stout hearted and far from righteousness; yon stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears.--I will bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.--How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity, and the scorner delight in his scorning, and fools hate knowledge; turn you at my reproof: behold I will pour out my spirit upon you: I will make known my words to you." To this effect a thousand passages in the Old Scriptures.

      New Testament Addresses.--In the Christian Scriptures we have no lack of such addresses. Thus the harbinger of Jesus speaks--"Offspring of vipers--bring forth fruits worthy of reformation--reason not within yourself--Abraham is ours--reform, or you will be immersed in fire--the chaff he will consume in unquenchable flame." The Lord addressed Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Jerusalem, calling upon them to reform. He addressed the reprobates of that generation, telling them that the men of Nineveh, and the queen of Sheba, should arise to confront them in the day of judgment. He commanded them following him for the loaves and fishes, to labor for the bread which endures to everlasting life. Nay, the Apostles preached to pagans, idolaters, natural men of every shade and complexion of unbelief, and commanded all men every where to reform. Yes, and more still--John says, the testimonies "were written" that natural men, unconverted, infidel men, that sinners, "might believe" that Jesus is the Messiah, and have life through his name. "As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, irreconciled sinners, to be reconciled to God," &c. &c.

      Much of both Testaments is addressed specially and emphatically to natural men. Now if they cannot understand those things which are intended for making them spiritual men, why are they thus addressed? Is it all a farce, a mockery, a delusion! or is it because God can speak to sinners as well as to saints! If God ever spoke to man since the fall, he spoke first to a natural unconverted man--and addressed him as such.

      Q. 21. Might we not, then, say that the portions of God's communications addressed to natural men, are just as intelligible to them, and as well adapted to their conversion, as those parts addressed to christians or saints, are adapted to their understanding, edification, and sanctification to God?

      A. Most rationally and scripturally we may say so--else Paul had no reason nor prudence in becoming all things to all men, that he might gain some--in addressing the Jew as a Jew, the Gentile as a Gentile; in rightly dividing the word of truth, and in answering every man according to his standing with God and men.

      Q. 22. Can you mention any Scripture which commends the revelation to all men as intelligible, and able to make them wise to salvation? [340]

      A. I can. Paul says to Timothy, "From a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ; for all Scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fitted for every good work."

      Q. 23. Who of the New Testament authors writes the most upon the mysteries, or secrets of the christian religion?

      A. Paul.

      Q. 24. Is there any declaration of his which would lead any of his readers to think that he could understand the knowledge which Paul communicates on these secrets of Christ.

      A. Yes: Paul says to the Ephesians concerning the greatest secrets communicated to him, "By revelation God made known to me the mystery, as I wrote to you in few words; whereby, when you read, YOU MAY UNDERSTAND my knowledge in the mystery of Christ."

      Q. 25. Might it not be said that the natural man savors not spiritual things, while the spiritual man savors all things?

      A. Yes; in Paul's sense of these words. The natural man can understand the things addressed to him, and these are all the things that should be addressed to him, so long as he continues out of the kingdom of Jesus--until he believes and obeys the gospel. But when he is naturalized or born again, then may be communicated to him the secrets of the reign: for he can then discover the things of the Spirit. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." The things of the kingdom are veiled from those at a distance from it. They are too far off to discern them. Therefore they should he addressed as unbelievers, exhorted and commanded to do the things enjoined upon such; but after turning to the Lord, a new song is put into their mouth; and a new lesson put into their hands; and thus the book of God adapts itself to all classes and conditions of men.

      Q. 26. How comes it to pass that a book from such an author, on such a subject, and addressed to all mankind, should be so difficult to understand?

      A. There are in religion, as in nature, deep and unfathomable things, which overwhelm, in religious awe, all the powers of the human mind. These are the "things hard to be understood," while the language which suggests them is as plain and intelligible as any other language in the book.

      Q. 27. But is not the gospel one of the plainest things in all the divine communications, and are not all the christian institutions as plain as language can make them?

      A. Most unhesitatingly we must answer yes. To the poor and the ignorant the gospel is announced. As it is designed for their salvation, it must be plain.

      Q. 28. What then are the deep and unfathomable things?

      A. Some of the principles of the divine government; the original and ultimate designs of creation, providence, and redemption; to which department belong all the pages of prophecy yet unfulfilled, [341] and all the prophecies of past times. In reference to these one may say, with the arch-treasurer of Ethiopia, "How can I understand these annunciations, unless some one guide me? But while prophecy always required an expositor, and while there are developements of that incomprehensible mind, which, in religion, as in nature, avouch the grandeur and majesty of Him who modeled the temple of the universe after the counsels of his own will; the word of life, the gospel of salvation, with all its sanctifying institutions, is so perspicuously and familiarly expressed that no honest mind can possibly mistake the path of life.

      Q. 29. To what, then, are we to attribute the numerous and discordant theories of faith and salvation which have fractured christendom into so many sects?

      A. These are not to be charged to the obscurities of the revelation, but to the pride of the human mind. Men will not submit to the righteousness of God. Mysticism, and philosophy falsely so called, have created an aristocracy in the commonwealth of religion, and from the times of the Platonic conversions till now, men have prided themselves in belonging to this aristocracy, in taking rank according to the precedence of mysticism and speculative science, and have thus become the prey of an empty and a deceitful philosophy. Not one in ten thousand of the men of renown in the kingdom of the clergy, have ever stooped to the simplicity that there is in Christ. They have been soaring to the skies in their speculations, and by their own recondite abstractions, have sought for elevation in a kingdom which regards not humility as the high road to honor. They have been interred in the piles of rubbish which they have reared. To them one might apply the lines of the poet--

But while God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. Every one who will sit at the feet of Jesus, will know that the knowledge of salvation is easily acquired; and that the simpleton, or he that becomes a fool that he may be wise, will attain to the full assurance of understanding in the mystery of Christ.

      Q. 30. What! are there mysteries in christianity?

      A. Secrets there were until developed; and until developed to every man, there are mysteries still. But the greatest of all secrets, to this age, is, that christianity consists in simply believing what God has said, and in doing what he has commanded.

      Q. 31. Are there not many honest men on the opposite sides of all theological questions?

      A. Honest to a theory and to the prejudices of education, they are; honest, also, to what they conscientiously apprehend to he the will of heaven; honest, as was Saul of Tarsus, while he anathematized the Messiah--but honest to the Bible they cannot be, who mistake the way of salvation. [342] Q. 32. But how can a man be honest to himself and not honest to the Bible?

      A. In the same manner that many persons are honest to the rules of commerce and the approved course of trade, honest according to civil law and the principles of mercantile education, while the commerce itself, and the principles of traffic approved by the world, are reprobated at the bar of right reason and the Scriptures of truth.

      Q. 33. How can a man be honest to the Bible?

      A. By coming to it without a single inclination to any opinion, theory, or system, whatever; submitting his mind to it, as the sealing wax is submitted to the signet, prepared to receive from it, its own impression. The mind of such a person, like a mirror, reflects the image of the book.

      Q. 34. Will all who approach it thus, receive from it the same impression?

      A. Yes: the same impression, differing only as the substances which are impressed by the same seal, according to their respective qualities. Thus the characters engraved by the same type, will be the same in all the grand outlines; although on paper of different qualities, and on materials of a different fabrication, there may be a considerable variety as respects distinctness and beauty.

      Q. 35. Are there not many who approach the Bible without any bias, who, nevertheless, arrive at very different conclusions, or receive very different impressions?

      A. Not on the matters which are connected with salvation. But it is to be suspected that the number who thus approach the Bible are fewer than any sectary can think. The minds of almost the whole community are polluted with human inventions, from the first dawnings of reason, even before reflection has dared to compare, examine, or decide. From the constitution of the human family, the mind, as well as the body, of one generation is dependent on that which preceded it; and this greatly contributes to the difficulty of reading the book without any prejudice.

      Q. 36. Why are many good people so much divided in their general views of the Scriptures?

      A. "Because they belong to different sects, and have different systems, and they rather make the Bible bow to their own system, received by tradition from their fathers, than make their system bow to the Bible; or in other words, each man, too generally, views the Bible through the medium of his system, and of course it will appear to him to favor it. Just as if A, B and C should each put on different coloured glasses; A puts on green spectacles, B yellow, and C blue: each one of them looks through his own glasses at a piece of white paper, and each concludes he is right, not remembering that he has his spectacles on. Thus to A it appears green, to B yellow, and to C blue. They begin to argue on the subject, and it is impossible for any one of them to convince another that he is wrong--each one feels a conviction next to absolute certainty that his opinion is right. But D, who has no spectacles on, and who is standing looking [343] on, during the contest, very well knows that they are all wrong; he sees the spectacles on each man's nose, and easily accounts for the difference. Thus one professor reads the Bible with John Calvin on his nose, another with John Wesley on his nose, a third with John Gill on his nose, and a fourth with good old Thomas Boston, or the good old lights of Scotland. Thrice happy is the man who lifts the Bible as if it had dropped from heaven into his hand alone, and whose eyes are anointed with the true eye salve that he may see."

Debate truth Walker, 2d Ed. p. 207.

      Q. 37. How many creeds are there in christendom?

      A. One for every day in the year.

      Q. 38. How many sects are there?

      A. As many sects as there are authoritative creeds.

      Q. 39. What is an authoritative creed?

      A. An abstract of human opinions concerning the supposed cardinal articles of christian faith, which summary is made a bond of union, or term of communion.

      Q. 40. Who has made these creeds?

      A. Philosophers, Conferences, Synods, or some individual leader.

      Q. 41. Which is the oldest creed of human contrivance?

      A. Perhaps that irreverently and falsely called "The Apostle's Creed."

      Q. 42. Can you repeat it as received by the Catholic Church?

      A. I can--

      "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages; God of God; light of light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. Was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried: and the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of the father; and is to come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and lifegiver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the son, adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And (I believe) One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church: I confess one baptism for the remission of sins: and I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."

      Q. 43. Can you repeat the creed of St. Athanasius?

      A. I can:--

      "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith.

      Which faith, except every one doth keep entire and inviolate, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

      Now the Catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.

      Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

      For one is the person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost. [344]

      But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, but one Eternal. And also they are not three Uncreateds, nor three Incomprehensibles, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. In like manner the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is Lord. And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord. F For as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every person by himself to be Lord and God: So we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of no one, neither created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding., So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or lesser; but the whole three persons are co-eternal to one another, and co-equal. So that in all things, as has been already said above, the Unity is to be worshipped in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation, that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right faith is: that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and Man. He is God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the world; and He is Man of the substance of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect Man; of a rational soul, and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father according to his Godhead; and lesser than the Father according to his Manhood. Who, although he be both God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ. One, not by the conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by the taking of the manhood unto God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and the flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven: he sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own works. And they that have done good, shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully and steadfastly, he cannot be saved." [345]

      Q. 44. How many articles are there in the Episcopal church of England?

      A. Forty, save one.

      Q. 45. How many in the church of Scotland?

      A. Thirty-three.

      Q. 46. How many in the Baptist creed?

      A. Thirty-four.

      Q. 47. How many in the Methodist creed?

      A. Twenty-five.

      Q. 48. Have these creeds preserved unity and purity in those societies?

      A. No. They have produced divisions, and every evil work.

      Q. 49. What evidences are there that they have produced divisions?

      A. The history of every authoritative creed more than fifty years old.

      Q. 50. How many sects of Presbyterians are there?

      A. Seven in Scotland, besides some new ones in America.

      Q. 51. How many sects of Baptists are there?

      A. As many as there are of Presbyterians.

      Q. 52. How many sects of Methodists are there?

      A. More, for their age, than of the Baptists.

      Q. 53. What evidences are there that they have produced corruptions?

      A. They are known to have produced hypocrisy, false swearing and prevarication, for the sake of livings--strife, envy, hatred, and indeed every evil work. Witness the anathemas, excommunications, and slanders, hurled from all ecclesiastical bodies meeting under their sanction, against all who oppose their pretensions. The old side Methodists, for example, will not now permit even the preachers of reform to enter into a pulpit or meeting house belonging to them in the capacity of preachers; while, before the formation of a new creed, they used to kneel at the same altar. This is also true of Baptists, and even Quakers, boasting of their love of peace and brotherly kindness.

      Q. 54. But will not a creed keep one Lord's table pure?

      A. No; not one.

      Q. 55. What do they resemble?

      A. They are like sieves which will suffer the small grains of wheat to pass through, and retain the large grains of darnel.

      Q. 56. But can we call any table "the Lord's" which excludes from it the Lord's people?

      A. No; unless the Lord's people put on the livery of the man of sin.

      Q. 57. Did not the Apostles receive to the Lord's table all who believed and acknowledged Jesus by an immersion into his death, provided they kept his moral precepts, irrespective of their opinions?

      A. Paul commanded the Roman christians to receive one another without regard to differences of opinion. No man was excluded by Paul for a difference of opinion. [346]

      Q. 58. Ought a man to read any human creed for the sake of assenting to it?

      A. No, unless he read them all; for how can he decide without a comparison?

      Q. 59. But ought he not to compare every one he reads with the Bible?

      A. Yes; but this supposes him to understand the Bible as well as the creed: and surely, if he can decide what is truth from the Bible, he need not trouble himself with the creed. Why impose upon himself the task of reading the creed, since he cannot receive it unless he understand the Bible before he read it?

      Q. 60. Of what use, then, is a creed?

      A. Of much use to build and keep up a party; to cause professors to revile, slander, and hate one another; to hold formalists, hypocrites, and prevaricators together; and to exclude weak christians and honest disciples from popular establishments. They, like strainers, retain all the feculent matter, and suffer the pure liquor to escape.

      Q. 61. Do not all human platforms of church establishments reproach the Bible?

      A. Yes; they all say that the New Testament is incomplete, and that men are either wiser or more benevolent than God.

      Q. 62. How do they say that men are wiser than the Lord?

      A. By arrogating to themselves the skill to keep the church pure by another form of words than the form of sound words delivered by the Apostles. Every new creed says, This is better adapted than the Apostolic writings to preserve the unity and purity of the church: for every new improvement says this is wiser than that for which it proposes itself as a substitute.

      Q. 63. How do they arraign the benevolence of the Author of christian faith?

      A. By insinuating that he was wise enough to foresee that the Apostle's word could not keep the christian community one and undivided, and yet not causing an abstract view, or a summary of essential articles to be appended to the Book, to prevent the necessity of fallible human interposition.

      Q. 64. Can the christian world ever be united or reformed on the principles of any creed?

      A. It is impossible, both from experience and scripture testimony. Other foundation of hope and union can no man lay, which will stand the test of time, but that once laid by Jesus and his Apostles.

      Q. 65, Ought not a christian then to oppose, in all meekness and in all firmness, every authoritative creed, as opposed to the wisdom and benevolence of Jesus Christ?

      A. Most assuredly he ought, if he have vowed allegiance to Jesus as the only Prophet, Lawgiver, Priest, and King, in his Kingdom.

      Q. 66. What is conversion?

      A. Conversion is simply turning from one person or thing to an other. [347]

      Q. 67. What is conversion in order to the blotting out of sins?

      A. It is a turning to the Lord.

      Q. 68. How is it accomplished?

      A. By conviction and persuasion. The Holy Spirit is the advocate or pleader for Jesus ever since Jesus was crowned Lord of all in heaven. He speaks in the Apostles as he once spoke in the Prophets, The words of the Apostles are his arguments, and the signs of his presence with them constituted the seal of their testimony, Their own sincerity was also confirmed by their sufferings and death. The words of the Apostles are the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, and he that resists them resists the Holy Spirit. He that is convinced and persuaded by them, is convinced by the Spirit of God, the advocate for Christ.

      Q. 69. Is any theory upon this subject necessary to effect conversion?

      A. No more than the theory of digestion is necessary to animal health. The theory of conversion, and conversion, are two distinct subjects. Conversion is, on all hands, admitted to be an actual turning to the Lord. No man is converted to the Lord who is only thinking about it, or convinced of the necessity of it, or theorizing about the modus operandi. An actual turning to the Lord, however caused or effected, is the thing in question. The cause, the means, the instrument, the theory, is not conversion; but the turning to the Lord is that which in the scriptures of truth is regarded and designated by this word.

      Q. 70. But may not a good theory contribute to the conversion of an individual.

      A. No. A good theory may be of use to the physician, but is of no use to the patient. Medicine for the patient, and not theory! A theory of the mode of conversion may be of use to the converter, to direct his energies and to guide his operations; but the theory is not to be preached, as all the Apostles by their example show us. In this remote sense a correct view of the means of conversion may be of use to the converted, inasmuch as the preacher or parent, who is the converter or instrument of conversion, is led to a rational and consistent course.

      Q. 71. Is it not too presumptuous for any one to say he has converted another?

      A. It is too presumptuous for orthodoxy, which ridicules the idea of any other agent of conversion than the Spirit of God; but it is not too presumptuous for the style of the New Testament.

      Q. 72. Where are men said by the Apostles to convert one another?

      A. James says, (v. 19.) "If any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Paul says, (1 Tim. iv. 16) "Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; continue in them, for in doing this you shall both save yourself and them who hear you." Jesus said to hill Apostles, "Go, convert the nations." Matth. xxviii, 18. And Paul [348] says, "How do you know, O man! but you may save your wife; and how do you know, O woman! but you may save your husband." 1 Cor. This is too strong for orthodoxy, but not for the New Testament!

      73. Q. But may not conversion be gradual?

      A. A person may be some time in turning; argument after argument may induce him. This may be the work of an hour, a day, or a year, less or more; but when the last argument decides his conduct, he is still not converted until he has actually turned to the Lord. So that not almost, but altogether the change must be effected. Yet still be it remembered that conversion is conversion, and neither more nor less.

      74. Q. Is there not some act called turning to the Lord?

      A. Yes; when Jesus said, "Go, convert the nations," he meant not only that they should preach and teach, but that in converting they should immerse the believers into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

      75. Q. What constitutes a christian?

      A. Faith in Jesus as the Messiah the Son of God, and obedience to him.

      76. Q. What is faith in Jesus?

      A. An assurance, founded on the testimony of Apostles and Prophets, that he is the Messiah the Son of God.

      77. Q. Does not this assurance draw mankind to him, and cause them to repose confidence in him?

      A. All who know his name and character will put their trust in him.

      78. Q. What are the privileges of christians as respects this life?

      A. They are all reconciled to God, justified, sanctified, adopted into the family of God, saved, and constituted heirs of God through Christ.

      79. Q. Are all these blessings, honors, and hopes, secured to all in Christ?

      A. Yes, by the promise and oath of God, God sware to Abraham that he would bless all the families of the earth in his Son.

      80. Q. What do the scriptures mean by being reconciled to God?

      A. Just what is implied in being reconciled to man. When a misunderstanding, alienation, or enmity exists in both parties, they are said to be reconciled to each other, when the causes are removed, and when they are restored to mutual confidence, love, and affection. When alienation exists only in one of the parties, he is said to be reconciled to the other, when his alienation or the causes of it are removed.

      81. Q. Whether do the scriptures represent that God has reconciled us, or that we have reconciled him?

      A. "God has reconciled us to himself," is the language of the book.

      81. Q. How did God reconcile us to himself?

      A. By teaching us that he could not approve or delight in us as sinners, by making his Son a sin-offering for us; thereby making it [349] every way honorable and gracious in himself to forgive us our sins through the blood of his well beloved Son, whom he sent forth from his own bosom in proof of his love to the world.

      83. Q. What is meant by being justified?

      A. It is to have the remission of all our sins, and to stand as righteous persons in the sight of God.

      84. Is it not, then, equivalent in effect to being pardoned?

      A. It is so used by the Apostles; "By him all that believe are justified from all things from which no one could be justified by the law of Moses.

      85. Q. What do the scriptures mean by the word sanctified?

      A. To be sanctified is to be separated to God as respects our relation to him, and to have a purification of heart conformed to that state. Thus christians are said to be holy as respects both their state, dispositions, and behavior.

      86. Q. What do the scriptures mean by being adopted?

      A. Adoption, or receiving into the relation of a son, is the same act, whether God or man be the adopter. On as many as receive Jesus in his character as God's son, he bestows the honor of an induction into the relation of children--of sons and daughters to the Lord Almighty. And more; he communicates to them the spirit of children, so that they can, with feeling, say, "Abba, Father!"

      87. Q. In what sense are christians saved in this life?

      A. From sin. "He shall save his people from their sins;" from the guilt, pollution, and dominion of sin in this life, and from its punishment in the next.

      88. Q. In what consists the inheritance or heirship of christians?

      A. "All things are theirs." Angels, Apostles, and Prophets; the world, life, death, and immortality; Christ himself, "the heir of all things," is theirs, and they are his. Their inheritance is in the heavens--"incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading."

      89. Q. How many salvations are spoken of as belonging to christians?

      A. Three. The salvation of their persons from all the dangers of the kingdom of nature; the salvation of their souls from the guilt, pollution, and power of sin; the salvation of their bodies from the grave and from all the punishment of sin. God is the saviour of all men, especially believers, from physical dangers; he saves the souls of them that fear him from sin and Satan. And he has a salvation to be revealed at the last day, an eternal salvation of the whole person, of which all who are found faithful to death shall be partakers.

      90. Q. What are the chief constituents of the present salvation?

      A. The remission of sins and the Holy Spirit. Pardon of all past sin is necessary to peace of conscience, and is God's free and first gift through faith in his Son, and immersion into his death and resurrection. When the heart is sprinkled from an evil conscience, and the body washed with cleansing water, ours is the spirit of love, joy, peace; for the reign of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in Holy Spirit. Thus in the order of nature the reception of the Holy Spirit is necessarily subsequent to the remission of our sins. [350]

      91. Q. What are some of the chief promises of the Author of this salvation concerning the union which subsists between the Lord and his people?

      1. A. "Come out from among them and be you separate, and I will receive you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

      2. "1 will dwell in them and walk in them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

      3. "If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him."

      4. "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me."

      5. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!" "O! the unsearchable riches of Christ!" "Christ in us the hope of glory!!"

      Q. 93. What is the church of Christ?

      A. The congregation of saints on earth and in heaven.

      Q. 94. What is meant by a church of Christ?

      A. An assembly of persons meeting statedly in one place; built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus himself the chief corner stone.

      Q. 95. Who are the members of a church of Christ?

      A. Those only who voluntarily and joyfully submit to him as lawgiver, prophet, priest, and king: who assume him as their Saviour, die to sin, are buried with him, and rise to walk in a new life.

      Q. 96. What is the constitution of a christian congregation?

      A. The New Constitution detailed by Paul, Hebrews, 8th chapter.

      Q. 97. Are no other articles of confederation necessary?

      A. None for a christian congregation. Jesus is king and lawgiver.

      Q. 98. How are the articles of the christian constitution to be acceded to and adopted?

      A. The articles of the christian constitution are all adopted by every individual, in his immersion into the death and resurrection of the Lord.

      Q. 99. Are christians born into Christ's kingdom by being born of water and the Spirit?

      A. Yes. Thus they become citizens of the kingdom of Jesus.

      Q. 100. But does this make them members of every christian community?

      A. No: their particular membership in any one community is an after act. Their being members in Jerusalem, Rome, or Corinth depends upon their location, personal application, and reception.

      Q. 101. Can any Christian congregation, by any order from the King, refuse to receive any citizen of his kingdom?

      A. No unless he act in a manner unworthy of a citizen. [351]

      Q. 102. But must he not always prove his citizenship before he can be received as a citizen?

      A. The congregation which receives him, must have evidence that he is a citizen.

      Q. 103. Of what nature is this evidence?

      A. The community must either have seen him naturalized, or have testimony from such members of it as have seen him regenerated; but if he have not been born in that place, he must produce letters of recommendation, or written testimony of his naturalization and demeanor as a citizen, before he is worthy of the confidence of any community.

      Q. 104. What constitutes the regeneration or naturalization of a citizen?

      A. His being born of water and of the Spirit.

      Q. 105. What are the social privileges of a citizen in the congregation?

      A. He has certain natural and inalienable rights in this kingdom; amongst which are a christian education, a place at the Lord's table, the affection of all the brotherhood, the right of being heard on all matters which concern his individual spiritual interest, or that of the community; and a part in every privilege, honor, and immunity which belongs to the whole society; for whatever belongs to the whole belongs to each individual member of the body of Christ.

      Q. 106. How may he lose his citizenship in this kingdom?

      A. By committing treason against the King.

      Q. 107. What constitutes treason against the King?

      A. The placing, or an attempt to place upon the throne of legislation and government any rival of the King; or what is in effect the same, a renunciation of Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King.

      Q. 108. Is not any moral outrage upon a fellow-citizen an act of rebellion against the King?

      A. Unless repented of, abandoned, and redressed, as far as in the power of the aggressor, it is an act of rebellion, and may amount in the end to a renunciation of the King.

      Q. 109. Does not the possibility of such occurrences require government or presidency in every congregation?

      A. Every christian community, large or small, is an organized society--not a mob, not a popular assembly--in which there are persons whose business it is to preside over the community, and to execute the laws of the King.

      Q. 110. What are these persons called?

      A. Presidents or bishops, elders or seniors, and deacons or servants of the congregation.

      Q. 111. How are they appointed to office?

      A. By the election or appointment of the community.

      Q. 112. What are the qualifications of the presidents or overseers?

      A. The art of teaching, the art of governing or presiding with effect, and a high reputation for piety and humanity. [352]

      Q. 113. What are the qualifications of the deacons or public servants of the congregations?

      A. That they be business men of known fidelity and integrity.

      Q. 114. Is there any mode of induction into these offices?

      A. Yes; every thing in the christian kingdom that is done is to be done in some manner. Every thing is to be done in the name of the King, or by calling upon his name. Authority is always conferred by the voice and by the hands of the community over which the supervision or presidency is to be exercised. Their own voice and their own hands, their election and their separation and consecration to the work, are necessary to the appointment of all public functionaries.

      Q. 115. What is meant by the discipline of a congregation?

      A. The application of the laws of the Christian King to the behavior of the citizens.

      Q. 116. Are there general laws from the King for the exercise of discipline in the christian assemblies?

      A. There are general rules and special examples found in the apostolic epistles to the congregations; and the Saviour himself for private offences propounded rules of universal acceptance, adapted to all ages and all conditions of men. But experience and prudence will, in reference to all specialities, guide in the application of these laws and precedents, for the preservation of the purity and unity of the congregation.

      117. When the members of any community sin against one another, or commit offences of a private and personal character; and when they are not adjusted in private, but brought into the congregation, are they not to be managed in the public assembly as public misdemeanors or offences against the Christian profession.

      A. Yes, so far as this:--that the congregation, or those appointed by the congregation to judge such grievances, must act upon good and valid testimony.

      Q. 118. Are christian congregations to have any matter decided by a committee?

      A. Not ultimately. The whole congregation must finally act, in all cases which come before it. But as the whole congregation could not in all cases be judges of many matters, they are to appoint what Paul calls "judges," or "secular sects of judicature," for the arbitrament or adjustment of such matters as could not be correctly examined by females and minors.

      Q. 119. But are not the presidents of a congregation appointed, not only to preside in the meeting on the Lord's day, but also to see that the laws of the King be executed in reference to those who offend?

      A. They are indeed called rulers, presidents, overseers and elders, in the New Testament; which terms, in the then current acceptation of them, implied as much as that they had in charge the discipline of the congregation but not in such a sense as to preclude the necessity of all cases of discipline being ultimately decided by the whole community whose organs they are. [353]

      Q. 120. Is there any peculiar meaning in the forms in which the discipline of a christian community shall be practised, which calls for a divine model?

      A. No. The object is to preclude all injustice, unrighteousness, partiality and impurity, from christian communities. The things to be avoided are all pointed out, and the general principles which are to govern a community are propounded; but as there are no supernatural objects to be accomplished, there are no supernatural or extraordinary rules submitted. The only difference between the discipline of the church and any other society is this, that it aims at greater purity in its members, and to secure that object it proposes a more elevated code, and takes the most efficient measures to preclude partiality or injustice in the execution of its laws.

      Q. 121. Is there no divine model of decency and order?

      A. Yes, the visible universe, nature and society, are models of order, and suggest to us our first conceptions of decency. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard!" "Consider the ravens," you that are anxious for the morrow; "Observe the guests who seat themselves at the tables of public entertainments," you that aspire to high places; "Put new wine into new bottles," you that would confound things ancient and modern; "Look at nature," you men who wear long hair. In every great house there are vessels of wood, earth, iron, silver and gold. "Have you not houses to eat in?" &c. &c. &c.

      But there is no divine model of the mode in which every offence shall be tried and decided in a christian congregation. But whether it shall be decided upon the testimony of two, upon the first hearing; by the whole congregation; or whether it shall be communicated first to the presidents of the congregation, and stated by them to the congregation; or whether a committee, or judges be appointed; or whether these shall again report their decision to the whole congregation, are matters which are not decided by a positive law, as if the discipline of a church was, like the ritual of Moses, full of symbolic import, or a part of the positive worship of God. But one thing is evident, that that man is to be treated as a heathen or a publican who will not hear the congregation, whether it speak, every one in turn or through its tongue--the president for the day; or by a committee appointed for the purpose by the parties, if parties there be; or by the congregation; or by the elders whom the congregation has chosen.

      Q. 122. But would it not appear expedient, and, scriptural too, that when there are presidents appointed in a congregation, no matter of discipline come before the congregation until they are apprized of it, and until the case is prepared for the ears of all who ought to act upon it?

      A. There is no positive law that says so: but Paul puts to the blush the Corinthians, for not following their own reason and sense of propriety in a case not more clear nor evident than this. See 1 Cor. vi. 4, 5. [354]

      Q. 123. What are to be the objects of discipline, of reproof; admonition and correction, in a christian community?

      A. Unchristian words and deeds: not men's private opinions, but their individual practices.

      Q. 124. Are men never to be called to an account for their opinions?

      A. No. There is no instance of this kind in the Jewish or Christian scriptures--God alone is judge of thoughts and private opinions.

      Q. 125. But if private opinions are expressed, are they not to become matters of discipline?

      A. By no means, unless a person express them for the sake of compelling others to receive them, or to exclude them from their fellowship if they do not receive them. In that case he is answerable, not for his opinions, but his practices. He is a factionist, is seeking his own honor, making a party, and on these accounts sins against the christian constitution; and such a person, after a second admonition, is to be rejected.

      Q. 126. Are not opinions purely intellectual matters, and not to be regarded as moral principles?

      A. They are purely intellectual matters, and ought to be so regarded; but when any person makes them principles of action, he places them upon the same footing with divine oracles, and demands as much for his own reasonings as for the express commandments of the Great King.

      Q. 127. How do you distinguish between faith, opinion, and knowledge?

      A. Faith is the belief of facts testified, or of testimony; knowledge is the assurance derived from actual and sensible perception by the exercise of our own senses; and opinion is the view which the mind takes of all matters not certified to us by testimony, or our own experience. Thus Newton knew that bodies specifically lighter than water, would swim in it; he believed that king Harry VIII seceded from the Roman Catholic institution; and he was of opinion that the planet Saturn was inhabited.

      Q. 128. Does not the correctness of a person's opinions depend upon the amount of information which chance may have thrown in his way, or upon the strength and activity of his own mind, and consequently are not necessarily a part of his moral character?

      A. As the man who opines that the earth was once a metallic ball, and he who regards it as having always been as flat as a plate, may be equally good citizens, so he that opines that free agency and rationality are the same thing, and he that opines that God in some mysterious way,

may be equally good citizens in the kingdom of Messiah. [355]

      Q. 129. Are not the opinions of men placed upon the same footing with the commandments of God in all the creeds in the christian world?

      A. They are very generally, if not universally so.

      Q. 130. Can you give us a very clear instance of this?

      A. I think we have one in the institution of infant sprinkling, and in every speculative dogma in all the terms of sectarian communion in christendom.

      Q. 131. Do you call infant sprinkling a human institution, founded upon human opinion?

      A. What else can it be called! Inasmuch as there is no testimony that any prophet, priest, king, apostle or lawgiver, in the thirty-nine canonical books of the Old Testament, in the twenty-seven canonical books of the New, in the fourteen apocryphal books of the Old Testament, and in the twenty five pieces called the New Testament--I say, not one instance, in all these, of any prophet, priest, king, apostle, seer, or religious teacher, either sprinkling, or causing to be sprinkled, an infant. As, then, we have no testimony that it is a divine institution, we can have no divine faith in it; and as we never saw it practised by any divine messenger, apostle, or prophet, we can have no divine knowledge of it. It is certainly a human institution, and founded wholly upon human opinion.

      Q. 132. How many reasons can you give why infants should not be sprinkled into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

      A. I cannot tell you how many distinct reasons I could give, but I will give you one which has a hundred in it: it is this--

      Q. 133. How would you set about to find a hundred good reasons in one?

      A. I will give you a specimen--

      1. Where there is no command, there is no obedience.

      2. Where there is no command, there is no transgression. Now, an act which is no duty, and the omission of which is no sin, is one which no wise man, understandingly, can perform in the name of the Lord.

      3. Because, to do a thing in the name of the Lord which the Lord has not commanded, is to take his name in vain.

      4. Because an act done in the name of the Lord, which the Lord has not commanded, is will worship, and obnoxious to his displeasure.

      5. Because, to do a thing in the name of the Lord which he has not commanded, says to him, You ought to have commanded it: and this is an imputation of his wisdom and benevolence.

      6. Because, to legislate to the conscience is to usurp the throne of God; and to command a father to sprinkle his child, when God commanded no such thing, is to place ourselves upon his throne, although we may be ignorant of it. [356]

      In this way, I could find a hundred reasons in this one why infants ought not to be sprinkled.

      Q. 134. But again: On whom is baptism a commanded duty, on the subject, or on some relative of his?

      A. If not the duty of the subject, no man ought to be commanded to be baptized; but the command ought to be--A, take B and baptize him; and let every father baptize his children. But such is not the style of the New Testament: it is--"Be baptized, every one of you." Consequently, it requires obedience in person, not by a substitute, nor by proxy. Now, if it were the duty of a father to have his children sprinkled, the command would read: Fathers, sprinkle your children. It would be the duty, not of the child, but of the father. And thus, if the advocates of sprinkling were to follow up their premises, there would be no such thing as any one presuming to be baptized on his own responsibility. What is my father's duty as a father, is not my duty as a son. If it was my father's duty to have me sprinkled when an infant, and he neglected it, it cannot be a duty of mine to discharge a duty only incumbent on my father, unless there could be produced a command to this effect: "Children, whose parents neglected to have you sprinkled in infancy, when you are free agents, and of full age, be sprinkled, every one of you." But neither Moses in the law of circumcision, nor any christian author of a heavenly calling, ever gave such a commandment as this.

      Q. 135. If all the present fathers of mankind believed in infant sprinkling, they would have their children sprinkled to bring them into the church--would not, then, on their supposition, the whole world be in the church, provided their tradition was universally received?

      A. Certainly: such a church as theirs, if it could only get hold of the fathers and mothers, would have the whole world, with all its passions and lusts, in its bosom.

      Q. 136. And would it not be a blessing to see the church triumphant, and no more world?

      A. Yes: but not the Paidobaptist church--for if it succeeded no better on a large ratio than it does now with its sprinkled infants, it would be a very sprinkled and speckled sort of church triumphant, with all the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, clinging to its paps.

      Q. 137. But is it not a good and comely thing to dedicate our infants to the Lord?

      A. Yes, indeed: but has the Lord commanded us to sprinkle them in his name, to circumcise them, or bore their ears, in order to dedicate them? No: never did he enjoin either circumcision, sprinkling, or branding, in order to acceptable dedication.

      Q. 138. But why this zeal for a human institution?

      A. Because on it rests a fleshly establishment of this world, which would rather dedicate sons and daughters in the manner of Jeptha, or say corban, or cause their infants to pass through a priest's arms to the very edge of a bason, than give up with all that it secures to [357] the interests of the establishment. So some think: but others say it is because of much learning this people can descry it to be a duty to sprinkle infants, having such a deep insight into Bapto, and its daughter Baptizo.

      Q. 139. Is there no one passage in all the Greek Scriptures which could settle this meaning of bapto?

      A. Yes, many of them: but there is one, against which there is no rising up--Septuagint Greek text. Lev. xiv. 15, 16. In one institution we have the three actions of pouring, dipping, and sprinkling, following each other in immediate train, and under a ritual which made life depend on observing the form of an action to an iota, "The priest shall pour the oil into the palm of his own left hand, and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil seven times," &c. Here we have three actions totally distinct, not to be confounded, at the hazard of the priest's life, Surely unequivocal words must be found here, if the language can furnish them,

      Q. 140. And what are the three words found here in the Greek?

      A. They are cheo, bapto and raino--he shall pour, dip, and sprinkle. Who them can doubt that these actions are as distinct as the words which represent them. See the debates with Walker and M'Calla on this argument, which no person has yet presumed to answer.

      Q. 141. But do plot some preachers say that, provided water is at all used, it is not essential in what manner it is applied?

      A. Yes. And "many false prophets are gone forth into the world." Instead of talking of applying water to the subject, they ought to talk about applying the subject to the water. To talk about applying water in immersion, or baptism, is ridiculous in the extreme.

      Q. 142. Did you ever hear of any preacher telling the folks he would baptize them in any way they pleased?

      A. Yes. I have heard both Cumberland Presbyterians and Methodists say they would sprinkle, pour, or dip the subject, just as the subject's conscience required it.

      Q. 143, But had the preacher no conscience to please?

      A. Yes, his conscience was to please the conscience of the proselytes.

      Q. 144. And does it not appear somewhat absurd and irreligious to hear the administrator say his good will and pleasure is to please the candidates, but that their good will and pleasure ought to be to please God?

      A. Yes; but it requires a good many such incongruities to make a sectarian, and to build up a party under a human leader.

      Q. 145. Do not such representations of baptism destroy the divine authority of the institution?

      A. Most unavoidably. Because if it be a matter of indifference how the thing is done, it must be equally a matter of indifference what it means when it is done, or, indeed, whether it mean any thing at all. And therefore, God never commanded any religious [358] observance, never set up any positive institution, without informing us how it was to he done. There is but one immersion, or baptism; not three. When any person or thing is sprinkled, it is not dipped; and when it is dipped, it is not sprinkled: for sprinkling and dipping are two actions, not one and the same action.

      Q. 146. Can any man say, when he puts one drop, or twenty drops upon the face of a child, that he does this by the authority of the Lord?

      A. No: for the Lord gave him no such commandment.

      Q. 147. By whose authority, then, is it done?

      A. By that of the Pope, Clemens the 5th, A. D, 1311.

      Q. 148. Can a man say, when he immerses a professed believer, that he does it by the authority of the Lord?

      A. Yes, for so the Lord commanded, and so the Apostles practised.

      Q. 149. Are all merely sprinkled persons, then, unbaptized?

      A. Yes, they are unimmersed; and we have shown, beyond all rational and scriptural objection, that bapto and baptizo never were translated by the words sprinkle or pour, either by King James' translators, or any other translators, Jewish, Christian, or Pagan, in the world.

      Q. 150. Is there any benefit resulting to the infant from sprinkling, pouring, or dipping?

      A. No: no more than from the sign of the cross, the holy oil, and the consecrated spittle of the "Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Rome"!!

      Q. 151. Has God ever commanded any observance without a promised blessing?

      A. No: never.

      Q. 152. What are the four best arguments against this human tradition?

      A. 1. God never commanded it.

           2. No Apostle, nor Prophet, ever practised it.

           3. No man can show any good which it confers upon its subjects. And,

           4. Its tendency is to destroy every line of demarcation between the church and the world.

      Q. 153. And is there no advantage of any sort, political nor religious, attached to it?

      A. Yes, it is a pretty good expedient for trammelling the conscience of minors, and getting them into a sect before they can judge for themselves. Hence the rapid natural growth of the principal Paidobaptist sects.

      Q 154. Why did not the Apostles address all mankind in the same words?

      A. Because they were not all in the same state.

      Q. 155. But were not all unbelievers in the same state?

      A. Yes: but not of the same views, education, character, and circumstances. [359]

      Q. 156. And is this the reason why some are commanded to repent, and believe the gospel; and others simply to repent; while others are called upon only to believe?

      A. Certainly; for why tell a Jew to believe in God, when he acknowledges his being and perfections? To such persons Jesus said, "Reform and believe the gospel." Why say to a Pagan, like the Jailor, "Reform and be immersed," until he knows the person, mission, and character of Jesus? And why say to believing and penitent Jews, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," when they asked what they should do to be pardoned?

      Q. 157. But did not Saul say that he preached to Jew and Greek reformation towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

      A. This is a fair outline of his course. Because the Jews who knew God and expected a Messiah, needed to be called to reformation in order to faith in Jesus as the Messiah; and the Greek before he could repent or reform must be made acquainted with the true God and his son Jesus Christ, especially before he could reform according to the gospel.

      Q. 158. Were you to be asked by any person what he should do to be saved, how then would you answer him?

      A. If he were a Jew expecting a Messiah, I would say, Repent and believe the gospel. If he were an ignorant Pagan, I would say, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your family. But I would afterwards take care to speak the word of the Lord to him and all his family. If he were a believer in Jesus and penitent, I would simply say, Reform and be immersed in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins; and if he had believed, repented, and reformed, or broke off from his former courses, I would simply say, "Arise and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord." In this way acted the Apostles, as their acts recorded by Luke abundantly prove.

      Q. 159. And would you not preach reformation to christians if they had fallen away in the least from their first works?

      A. Most certainly; for thus did Jesus in the letters addressed to the Asiatic congregations.

      Q. 160. How many great departments are there in the Christian nations, as they are called?

      A. Three--like the three quarters of the globe on one continent.

      Q. 161. How do you distinguish these prominent departments?

      A. There are those who take the scriptures alone for their faith and practice, believe the original gospel, and keep the original institutions: these are called the disciples of Christ, or Christians. There are those who stand off from the foundation, and who build upon human traditions and on the scriptures: these are the different sects which are called the Apostacy. And there are those who belong to neither, are mere spectators, end may be called the world. [360]

      Q. 162. Do not some facetiously call the world, in countries having the gospel, "the big church"?

      A. Yes; they boastingly say, they belong to the "big church." But were it not for the invidiousness of the designation, and that it might be confounded with the antichrist of the New Testament, we would call this world the antichristian church; because it contains within it all that directly opposes Christ and what is properly called Antichrist.

      Q. 163. With these qualifications, then, would you call them the Church, the Apostacy, and Antichrist?

      A. Yes; for as the apostolic writings are all called the New Testament because the new institution is found in the book, and all the Jewish scriptures are called the Old Testament because they contain the old or Jewish institution. So would we call those belonging neither to the kingdom of Jesus nor the kingdom of the clergy, Antichrist; because they have Antichrist in their bosom.

      Q. 164. But are there not many well disposed persons in this big church, who are not opposed to Christ?

      A. Yes; many well disposed persons! but as they are not christians, and as Jesus says that he that is not with him is against him, and he that gathers not with him scatters abroad; so we cannot find any neutral ground to place them on. There are, indeed, the children of disciples, in training for the kingdom of Jesus, which are under the care of the church, and cannot be said to belong to the big or anti-christian church; but all of full age and understanding, who are so far opposed to Jesus Christ as to refuse submission to his institution, do, in fact, belong to the opposition or antichristian church. Of these some may be very good citizens of this world and feel no malignity to Jesus Christ, but rather entertain a pretty good opinion of him; yet, like some well disposed Whigs in England, or Tories in the United States, they live in a country which they do not altogether approve, and do not like the government so well as to submit to it ex animo; but yet do not like to expatriate themselves, or to place themselves under a government which in theory they approve. But in time of war the Tories in America and the Whigs in England have their persons and property in jeopardy, for they must be identified with the enemy so long as they live among them. But more strictly are all out of the church and the apostacy identified with the anti-christian world.

      Q. 165. Do not some glory in being members of the big church?

      A. Yes; but they glory in their shame.

      Q. 136. How is that?

      A. If they would look around their church, they will find in it not only the Atheists, Deists, and Sceptics of all schools and theories: but also all the abominable, unholy and profane; murderers of fathers and of mothers, homicides, menstealers, with all the debauchees and profligates of every name under heaven. They are in church communion with all that tribe of immoral wretches which are the nuisance of the whole race.

      Q. 137. Do not these high-minded and honorable men, as they an [361] called, who aspire to something above bestial sensuality and the most grovelling vices, greatly dishonor themselves by being in such an abominable brotherhood?

      A. Most assuredly if they would only reflect that these most degraded of the human race look upon them as members of their church, and as in full communion with them, they could not, methinks, endure such a fellowship.

      Q. 168. And what of the apostacy--do you place all the sects in the apostacy?

      A. Yes, all religious sects who have any human bond of union; all who rally under any articles of confederation other than the Apostles' doctrine, and who refuse to yield all homage to the ancient order of things.

      Q. 169. Are they all so many streets in the city of Babylon?

      A. Yes, they are separate from one another, and live in different rows and lanes of the great city; but they all together, compose this great ecclesiastical establishment, properly enough called the kingdom of the clergy.

      Q. 170. Why call them the kingdom of the clergy?

      A. Because they acknowledge their government, and are willing that they should rule over them.

      Q. 171. Wherein are they vassals to the clergy?

      A. In giving them the keys of the kingdom of heaven, allowing them only to administer ordinances, and in regarding them as a distinct order of men, with some sort of a divine right to rule and govern the people as their lot and inheritance.

      Q. 172. Are all the sects in christendom more or less under such a system?

      A. Every community whose constitution is more or less than the New Testament, which requires more or less than a belief of the ancient gospel, reformation of manners, and immersion into that faith, for admission into it; and which proposes less or more than obedience to all the christian institutions, for continuance in it, is a limb of the apostacy: because every such community is built upon another foundation than the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ the chief corner stone.

      Q. 173. Would you say that the different Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodistic, and Baptist communities, are built upon any other foundation than the New Testament?

      A. They say so themselves: for they have each formed a covenant or constitution, rules and laws for their own government, and do require more or less than the christian institutions for admission into, or continuance in their communities. None of them will receive or retain all the disciples of Christ.

      Q. 174. Are there, then, no disciples of Christ in these communities?

      A. There are, no doubt, many.

      Q. 175. How, then, can the communities, as such, be in the apostacy?

      A. There are republicans in England, and monarchists in America; [362] yet the English community is not a republic, nor the American a monarchy. So there being christians in any sectarian commonwealth, or a sectarian in any christian commonwealth, does not change the nature or character of such a commonwealth.

      Q. 176. What, then, is the duty of all christians found in these communities?

      A. They are commanded to "come out of them." Rev. xviii. 4. "Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins; and that you receive not of her plagues."

      Q. 177. From whom are they commanded to come out?

      A. From Babylon, the apostacy.

      Q. 178. And do all sects constitute Babylon?

      A. Yes. Do not the streets constitute every city? What is Rome, or London, but its streets, lanes, and houses? And were not the people of God, under the former economy, commanded to come out of Babylon before God destroyed it?

      Q. 179. But are they not commanded not to partake of her sins?

      A. Yes.

      Q. 180. How do the disciples in these sects partake of the sins of the sects?

      A. There are sins of sects as well as of individuals, as there are national sins as well as individual sins.

      Q. 181. And what are the sins of the sects?

      A. They are either the sins which are inseparable from the very existence of the sect, or sins committed by it. For example: The crucifixion of the Messiah was a sin committed by a nation; but the very existence of the Herodians as a community was a sin, because their existence was against the integrity of the nation, and a symbolizing with idolatry for the sake of political interest. Hence the leaven of the Herodians was condemned by the Saviour as against the peace and dignity of the commonwealth of Israel. Thus the sins of the sects are not only the sins which they as sects commit, but their very existence is a sin.

      Q. 182. How is their existence a sin?

      A. In the same sense that the setting up of an imperium in imperio, of a government within a government, of forming a faction in the state, is a sin against the government and state. The one is treason only against our political, the other against our spiritual interests. The former is a violation of the national covenant, the latter of the christian covenant The former is a dividing of the state, the latter a dividing of the body of Christ.

      Q. 183. Are sectarian sins like national sins, in their general character?

      A. In all respects the same. Men will do in confederation, what they could not, what they would not presume to do in their individual character. There is some mercy in a Bank Director, but none in the Board; there is some generosity in an Alderman, but none in the Corporation; there is some humanity in a Papist, but none in the Creed--in an Inquisitor, but not a drop in the Inquisition. So Synods, Councils, Conferences, and sectarian leaders, can sin with a [363] higher hand as the head of a party, than as members of a congregation. But as in national sins all who do not protest against them are guilty of them, so men are said to be partakers of the sins of the confederation to which they belong, so long as they sustain that confederation. Hence, that we partake not of the sins of sects, we are commanded to come out of them.

      Q. 184. Have you any reason to think that any one of the sects just now named would permit the Apostle Paul to be a member with them, were he now on earth in disguise?

      A. Yes, some of them might, if he held his peace and said nothing.

      Q. 185. But as a teacher, would they admit him?

      A. No; not one of them. The Paidobaptists would all cast him out, were it for nothing else than because he would not sprinkle infants, nor keep their sacraments.

      Q. 186. And for what would mere Baptists exclude him?

      A. For saying they should reform; or because he was baptized for the remission of his sins, and taught it to others; or because he would not acknowledge the Philadelphia Confession.

      Q. 187. And can you be a member of that community which you think would exclude Paul, were he now in disguise among them?

      A. No; my soul revolts at the idea of taking a side or stand with them who would exclude from their fellowship the Apostle Paul, or any of the Apostles.

      Q. 188. But why do you think that the sects mentioned would actually do it?

      A. Because they do and will exclude all them who will teach neither more nor less than the Apostles did, who will use no other words or doctrines than are found in their writings.

      Q. 189. What did Jesus mean by saying, "you are the children of them that killed the Prophets": and to whom did he say it?

      A. He said it to them who affirmed that "if they had been in the days of their fathers, they would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the Prophets"; to the persons who builded them monuments, and decorated their sepulchres. And he calls them their children, because they were like them in disposition, and held opinions and principles which would, had they lived in other times, have made them partakers with them in their deeds.

      Q. 190. And are all sects who exclude for nonconformity, as such, the children of them who excluded and condemned the Prophets?

      A. Every man who understands the scriptures, and fears God, will answer, Yes. But in these sects are found many individuals who, like Joseph and Nicodemus, would not consent to the deeds of their party.

      Q. 191. Ought not such, then, to come out, and not partake of their sins, that they may not receive of their plagues?

      A. Reason and Religion both answer, Yes. There is the same reason for coming out of the apostacy as there is for coming out from the large church of Antichrist.

      Q. 192. In addressing christendom ought we, then, to regard as composed only of the three departments, the church of Jesus [364] Christ, the apostacy, and antichrist--or the congregation of Christ, the congregation of sects, and the congregation of antichrist?

      A. Precisely in this character.

      Q.193. What, then, should be the burthen of our exhortations to each?

      A. To the congregation of saints, the message is, "Hold fast your begun confidence unshaken to the end, and walk in Christ": to those who fear God, in the congregation of sects, "Come out of them, my people, that you partake not of their sins, and that you receive not of their plagues"; or, "Come out from among them, and separate yourselves, and I will receive you; and will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and my daughters, says the Lord Almighty." This last commandment, with a promise, is equally applicable to those associated with unbelievers and idolators, whether in the congregation of sects or in the congregation of antichrist. To those in the last congregation the burthen is, Reform, and "save yourselves from this untoward generation." The topics, arguments, and motives, which ought to be presented to each congregation, should always accord with the message addressed to them.

      Q. 194. But cannot a person be a christian, and live out of all christian fellowship?

      A. Yes, if banished to a Patmos, or bound in a prison.

      Q. 195. And can he not voluntarily stand aloof from all those who keep the commandments of Jesus Christ, and be a christian?

      A. No, unless a man can disobey Jesus Christ voluntarily and habitually, and yet be a christian.

      Q. 196. What is the reason of this?

      A. Because christianity is a social religion. Its ordinances, duties, and privileges, partake essentially of the social character. No man can perform any of the social duties, nor enjoy any of the social privileges, out of the christian society. The greater part of all the Apostolic letters are written upon the subject of the social duties and privileges of the christian institutions. A person might as reasonably say he may be a citizen of the United States and live from his birth to his death in Algiers, as to think of being a citizen of Christ's kingdom without naturalization and induction into that kingdom. "Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together," is the command of Paul, Heb. 12.

      Q. 197. But does not the Lord equally bless all the sects in the land?

      A. If he does, then he pays no regard to their sectarian distinctions. And admitting that he pours out his Spirit upon Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, and Presbyterians, does he not teach them that they ought to have communion with one another, as he has communion with them all. Surely, if the Baptists think that the Lord is a guest, or his Spirit an inmate in the heart or communion of the Presbyterians they ought not to break fellowship with them, unless they are more holy than the Holy Spirit!

      Q. 198. Are there not great revivals bestowed upon all sects?

      A. Yes, upon all sects who believe in them, and take the proper means to get them in operation; especially since he days of George Whitefield and George Fox. But these prove nothing against the [365] written testimony of God. The whole machinery which produces them, and all the movements of passion and feeling to which they give birth, are not to be relied on in disproving the testimony of the Apostles. That testimony declares that he that obeys not the Apostles is not of God. "We are of God," say they, "and he that is of God hears us, and he that is not of God hears us not"--and "hereby YOU MAY KNOW the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error." No revivals, excitements, or success, alleged by Catholics or Protestants, can impair this Apostolic word, confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

      Q. 199. How do you reconcile the doctrine of modern revivals with the fact that the Holy Spirit in past ages always taught all its subjects to speak the same things?

      A. I cannot reconcile it at all. For the Holy Spirit in a camp meeting makes all the converts Methodists; at a four day meeting amongst the Baptists, it makes them all Baptists; and at a three days meeting of the Presbyterians, it makes them Presbyterians. Should we say that in "these outpourings" the Spirit makes them christians and the preachers make them sectarians, one might ask us, 'Why not say that the preachers make them christians, and the Spirit makes them sectarians?' But then, says a third, 'If you take away all that makes the sectarian, how much remains to make a christian!' Thus are we embarrassed. The most rational conclusion upon the supposition that the Spirit is the agent in these revivals is, that it cares nothing for the truths at stake between Calvinists and Arminians--between Paidobaptists and Baptists--and in order to signify its total indifference to all these matters, if the Presbyterians, Methodists, or Baptists only appoint a four days meeting or a camp meeting, the spirit which presides over the sects will grant them a revival.

      Q. 200. And what is the conclusion of the whole matter?

      A. "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole happiness of man;" for, says Jesus, "You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you." And, "If any one love me, he will keep my words."

      Let no person say this is a Catechism, to be committed as are those issued from authority, and patronized as sectarian shibboleths. We have no authority to make such, nor do we know who has. We have simply chosen the catechetical mode of communication; and as we get many questions sent to us touching some, or all of these matters, it appeared economical and prudent for us to answer 200 questions at a time. As soon as we get 200 more, we shall allot two days to answer them. If any one can show that an improper answer has been given to any question, we shall take pleasure in correcting it.

EDITOR.

      THE following articles on the CHOLERA have been sent round to the citizens of this county, in the form of a handbill:--

      THE Pestilence called the INDIA SPASMODIC CHOLERA has actually reached the fourth quarter of the globe, and has fearfully commenced the work of destruction on our own continent. Of the first eighty cases reported in Quebec, more than sixty proved fatal. It is spreading in the Canadas, and if it have not already visited, doubtless it will, in a few days, visit the United States, and spread dismay far and wide through this Union. Expecting it soon to appear among us, we feel it a debt we owe to our fellow citizens, from the principles of religion and humanity, to call their attention to the best antidotes and remedies which our reading of the best medical reports issued in Europe and Asia, and the history of the disease have thrown in our way. We intend printing a sufficient number of handbills to supply every family in our county with a copy, and will leave them [366] in the most public places for distribution. It is to be hoped that every printer in the country will, as soon as possible, place in the hands of every housekeeper and head of a family in his vicinity, the necessary information, both as to preventing the disease, and removing it, as far as human exertion can go. Much depends upon being prepared with the necessary remedies, and information to use them, before the disease appears, as it very often does its work in five or six hours.

      The following are the most practical rules and directions, selected from the most approved reports. We are not so careful as to order and arrangement, as we are to give a full outline of the whole, that the reader may have ample data before him.--Editor Mill. Harb.

      Observe the strictest cleanliness, both in persons and dwellings.

      Avoid all chances of being chilled, and keep the body warm, particularly the stomach, bowels and feet.

      Avoid placing the feet upon the cold floor.

      Workmen obliged to work in cold or damp places, would do well to wear wooden shoes or clogs.

      Abstain from sleeping with the windows open.

      Return home at an early hour, in order to avoid the cold and damp of the night air.

      Avoid as much as possible excessive fatigue.

      Whatever may be the weather or the season, do not go too lightly clad.

      Sobriety cannot be too strongly recommended; consequently avoid all excesses of eating and drinking, for it has been observed that drunkards and debauchees have been most exposed to the attacks of the cholera.

      Let your food be principally meat and meat soups; eat as little as possible of charcuterie and salt meats, and abstain entirely from heavy pastry.

      Abstain from undressed food of every description.

      All cold drinks, taken when a person is heated, are at all times dangerous. The water used as a beverage ought to be clear. Filtered water is better than any other. Instead of drinking it pure, it would be better to mix with it two teaspoonfuls of brandy or absinthe to a pint. Water lightly mixed with wine is equally good.

      The excessive use of strong liquors is very pernicious, and taking unmixed brandy when fasting is equally so. Persons who have contracted the habit of doing so, should, at least, first eat a piece of bread. The same objections apply to drinking white wine fasting.

      All beer and cider of bad quality ought to be avoided.

      Every person who feels himself suddenly affected by dull pains in the limbs heaviness or giddiness of the head, a feeling of oppression, uneasiness of the chest, heartburn, or cholic, should immediately apply to a physician.

      Persons thus affected should immediately go to bed, and take, quite hot, an infusion of peppermint and flowers of the lime tree, and heat himself by every possible means.

      Prepared chloric solutions being universally recommended as a [367] useful precaution against infection of any kind, it may be desirable to give the following recipe for making them: Take one ounce of dry chlorate of lime, and one quart of water; pour a sufficient quantity on the powder to make it into paste, and then dilute it with the remainder; strain off the solution, and keep it in glass or earthen vessels, well stopped: a portion of this solution should be poured into a shallow bowl, and placed in every room in the house.

      The chlorate of soda is nearly as good; it is to be used in the same manner, in the proportion of one ounce of chlorate to ten or twelve ounces of water.

      The following plain and sensible recommendations are from European and American Boards of Health:--

      Let no time be lost, and let no person believe that his premises do not require cleansing. Every cellar and cispool in the city should be attended to. Keep on your flannels; keep your feet warm; avoid unnecessary exposures: do not drink a particle of the liquor manufactured in this country of deleterious articles; drink little or no acids; eat few, if any, raw greens, unripe fruit, radishes, or any thing cold for the stomach; take care of cucumbers; eat plain, well cooked victuals, soups, boiled beef; fermented liquors and cider are not advisable; drink very moderately good sound wine or brandy and water. Never get into a passion, for that will bring on the disease, as it excites the nerves. Keep camphor and laudanum; also, cammomile flowers and peppermint in your house. We must not be frightened, but take every thing coolly and collectedly; use the necessary precautions to prevent the introduction of the malady; be prepared for it as if it was at our doors, and rely upon the protection of Divine Providence, with cheerful confidence. A tranquil mind, good spirits, cleanly habits, and temperate living, are excellent guards against the progress of this disorder.

      To prevent the possibility of delay, especially in the dead of night, when the disease is very apt to begin, the Board recommend families to provide the following articles:--

      1. Mixture--Take sulphuric ether and aromatic spirit of hartshorn, of each half an ounce; compound tincture of cinnamon, one ounce: mix and cork up carefully.

      2. Laudanum--An ounce to be kept in readiness.

      3. Pills--"Take of opium twenty-four grains; camphor, 1 drachm; spirit of wine and conserve of roses enough to make a mass of proper consistence: divide into twenty-four pills.

      4. Clysters--Take of laudanum an ounce; tincture of assafetida, two ounces: mix for keeping. Before using, mix three teaspoonfuls with a wine glassful of thin starch; and retain it, when injected, by pressure below with a warm cloth, as long as possible.

      5. Mustard Poultices--Have always at hand four ounces of powdered mustard. A fourth part of this, spread over porridge poultices, will be sufficient for one patient.

      6. Hot Air Bath--The Board have approved of a hot air bath of a [368] simple construction, which may be seen at the Blind Asylum, and made by any carpenter, price about ten shillings. Every family who can afford it ought to have one.

      No time should be lost in sending for medical aid. But when the disease commences suddenly in a violent form, it is dangerous to lose even the time which must pass before such aid can be had. This form is at once known by sudden weakness, a contracted, ghastly countenance, blueness of the lips, and general coldness, accompanying or preceding vomiting, purging, and cramps.

      In such cases, the friends will without delay give a tablespoonful of the Mixtures, No. 1, with 60 drops of laudanum, in half a wine glass full of cold water. Follow this with a table spoonful occasionally of warm spirits and water, or strongly spiced wine. Repeat two tea spoonfuls of the Mixture, with thirty drops of laudanum, every half hour if the first dose fails to relieve. If the mixture be vomited, then give two Pills, No. 3, and repeat one every half hour if the first two fail to relieve or be vomited. But after the vomiting and cramps cease, the Mixture or Pills must not be repeated without medical advice. The Clyster, No. 4, should he resorted to also from the first, and repeated once, if not retained.--[N. B. The doses of the Mixture, Laudanum, Pills, and Clyster, must not be exceeded. For children of 14, half the doses mentioned; and for children of 7, one-fourth is sufficient.]--The Hot Air Bath, or, if it is not at hand, dry heat over the whole body in any shape, such as by hot blankets and hot bricks, sand, salt, or bottles of hot water--together with constant rubbing of the whole body--should likewise be resorted to from the first. The Mustard Poultices should, as soon as possible, be applied over the belly and on the soles and calves, and kept on till the patient complains of the smarting.

      By the time these measures have been put in force, opportunity will have been given for procuring medical advice, which is indispensable for the treatment afterwards. The Board think it necessary to apprize the public, that where this disease has prevailed, blood letting, when resorted to within the first, second, or third hour from the commencement of the attack, has been very generally found useful along with the other remedies, notwithstanding the appearance of sudden weakness and excessive sinking already mentioned.

      Specimens of the Labels are here annexed for the information of medical persons and others in the country who may be applied to for the articles recommended by the Board.

      No. 1--Cholera Mixture--A table spoonful, with 60 drops of laudanum, in half a wine glass full of cold water. If this fail to relieve, repeat two spoonfuls, with 30 drops of laudanum every half hour.

      Half these doses of mixture and laudanum for children of 14. One-fourth for children of 7.

      Do not exceed the doses prescribed; and stop when the vomitting and cramp cease, unless you have medical advice.

      No. 3--Cholera Pills--To be used if the mixture No. 1 be vomited. Two pills at first, and then one every half hour, if the first fail to relieve. [369] Half these doses for children of 14; one-fourth for children of 7. Do not exceed the doses prescribed: and stop when the vomiting and cramp cease, unless you have medical advice.

      No. 4--Cholera Clysters--Injects three tea spoonfuls in a wine glass full of thin warm gruel, and retain as long as possible by pressure below with a warm cloth; if not retained, repeat immediately, but otherwise not.

      Half the dose for children of 14--one-fourth for children of 7.

      No. 5--Mustard Poultices--A fourth part is enough for one person. Dust it thickly over porridge, or mush, poultices, of which apply a large one on the belly, and others on the soles and calves. Remove when the patient complains much of the smarting.

      Antidote to Cholera.--The Board of health of Quebec recommend to every citizen to provide himself with a phial of laudanum and one of peppermint, to be carried about the person, and resorted to immediately upon the attack of the malady.

      Cure for the Cholera.--An effectual cure for the cholera has, it appears, been discovered. Mr. Wakefield, surgeon to Coldbathfields, says,--"It is needless now to enter on the theory of this practice, which, on sound data, has been suggested by Dr. Stevens; but suffice it to say, that experience has assured me of its efficacy and value. After premising that upwards of ONE HUNDRED CASES, more or less malignant, have occurred in that prison, with the LOSS ONLY OF SEVEN, (the first four prior to the adoption of the treatment,) I shall at once describe it:

      "The usual care must be taken to promote warmth by friction--hot dry flannels, hot water bottles to the feet, mustard poultices to the chest, and other parts of the body affected by cramp; but the main reliance is upon the following Powder, to be administered every hour, in half a tumbler of cold water, namely:--Carbonate of Soda, half a drachm; common Salt, twenty grains; Oxymuriate of Potash, seven grains.

      "However irritable the stomach may be, the common Seidlitz powder, or effervescent soda draught, will in most cases quiet it; but when it will retain nothing in quantity, a tea spoon full of the carbonate of soda should he dissolved in half a tumbler of water, and given in such quantities as the stomach of the patient can retain, from a tea spoon full upwards, until the stomach is sufficiently settled to receive the powders.

      "The success of this treatment, which, in many instances, was perfectly surprising, induces me to hope it may be extensively adopted. In cases of the cholera, however, the most unceasing watchfulness and attention to the patients are required.

      "The extreme thirst of the patient, while suffering under the malignant form of the disease, was relieved, and great benefit experienced, by soda water, or seltzer water, as a common drink, in quantities not exceeding a wine glass full at a time."

      The Times says, "We insert this account, because we have made inquiries into the statements which it contains, and find that there is no exaggeration. [370]

      The account of the successful application of the saline treatment has been officially transmitted to Paris."

      The last mentioned remedy seems to merit particular attention.

      In some reports that have appeared, much success is said to have attended a free use of heating remedies. Of this class, it appears to us that Capsicum, better known by the name of Cayenne, would be a very efficacious remedy. Its potency in generating heat, in equalizing the circulation, and determining to the surface, is not surpassed by any article in the Materia Medica; the very thing needed most in the cholera. If the irritability of the stomach would not admit of large draughts, clysters composed of it might be administered with the prospect of much benefit. For one dose, about half a teaspoonful of the powder, in half a pint of hot water, if the stomach can receive it, or in cold water, sweetened with sugar. This should be repeated every 15 minutes, until general perspiration is produced, and the extremities obtain a natural heat. It is not only from the testimony of skilful practitioners in the Thompsonian remedies, but from the testimony of the Edinburgh and Thacher's Dispensatories, that we learn that this medicine "has been used with success in curing some diseases that had resisted all other remedies." So much for the physical antidotes and remedies for this dreadful disease.

      But this pestilence is not to be regarded in the light of any of those common and local diseases with which we have hitherto been visited. This is the creature of no climate, of no latitude, of no soil. It has, in the old world, according to various estimates, slain about fifty millions of our species. It has been extending its ravages in all directions from the spot of its origin, for fifteen years, and has now crossed the Atlantic. The sceptic and the mere naturalist may call it credulity, or what he pleases; but we, and all christians, must regard it in the light of a pestilence sent forth by the Lord of the whole earth as one of God's "sore judgments" inflicted upon idolatrous nations, upon an adulterous and apostate race of professed christians. We must regard it as a prelude of the woes which are fast coming upon all the earth, and specially upon that part of it which has so long abused the oracles of God, and corrupted the christian institution.

      No chemical analysis of the air, no scientific researches, can find for it a natural cause: but if a natural cause were ascertained, still as God always works by means, it would not prove that it is not one of God's evil angels; for he maketh the winds his angels, and flames of fire his ministers to execute his vengeance upon apostate men.

      "If, says the Lord, I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it, in blood to cut off from it man and beast; and, again, "If I send my four sore judgments--the famine, the sword, the noisome beasts, and the pestilence." Thus we see these are called the sore judgments of the Lord, sent forth from him to scourge the people that forget God and forsake his institutions.

      Reformation is therefore the best antidote against this disease. Such a reformation of heart and life, such a forsaking of sin as will issue in a hearty and unconditional surrender to the gospel and its [371] institutions as taught by the Holy Apostles, is the best antidote, both against the fear of this disease, and against the disease itself.

      The Lord will keep the minds of those who are stayed upon him in perfect peace. But no one can have confidence in the Lord, unless he keep his commandments. It is agreed, on all hands, that serenity of mind, peace of conscience, and a pure heart, are the best preventatives of this malady. The mental distress and agonies of those who have been seized with this appaling pestilence in many places, are represented as worse than the fierce spasms which have prostrated the most athletic frame in a few hours. The desertion by friends through fear, the abandonment to oneself, and the horrors of a guilty conscience, evinced on many occasions, have superadded new terrors to a disease itself enough to appal the stoutest heart.

      Britain has suffered less than any other country hitherto visited with this pestilence. Not more than one in a thousand, in London, has died by this fell destroyer; but a thousand in a single day have died in atheistic and licentious Paris. The British Isles, with all their faults, have more of the salt of the earth, more of those who fear God and work righteousness, than any other nation in Europe--perhaps more than all Europe beside. But France, infidel and apostate France; has drunk deep in the cup of vengeance! Her princes and her mighty men have groaned and died!

      These facts speak loudly. "Everyone that has an ear, let him hear."

      To conclude, "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in him will I trust. Surely he will deliver thee from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His faithfulness shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night and for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness secretly, nor for destruction that wasteth at noon day."

A. CAMPBELL [372]

[The Millennial Harbinger, 3, Extra No. 4 (August, 1832): 337-372.]