In my last I called attention to our failures in a general way. But, perhaps more bitterness was engendered on the subject of sect baptism than upon all other subjects besides.

      From the beginning of the restoration by Campbell until the present there has been a great gap down at sect baptism, yet a number of great men have been guarding it from time to time, and many calling attention to how the unconverted were passing through it into the church, even if they did not try to put it up.

      But never was there such a stir over that gap until the Firm Foundation located its batteries there and began to fire its guns on all who attempted to pass through.

      The fight was right and grand and scriptural, but in making the fight we forgot the Savior's instructions, to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves, and when we could not carry the battle by love; we tried to carry it by storm, force or ridicule, and, when we failed to carry, many of us denounced the other fellow as our enemy, as a liar, and as dishonest, and tried to arouse prejudice against him for the purpose of killing out his influence to stop his work.

      In this fight we made two fatal mistakes, and our brethren who oppose us made one.

      Our first mistake was we made the fight on understanding instead of faith; that is, we suffered ourselves to be forced to affirm the validity of baptism depends upon the man understanding baptism is for the remission of sins, when we should affirm the validity of baptism depends upon a man having faith in Jesus Christ, and teach that no man can believe in Christ without believing his word, and when a man disbelieves the word of God, like all sectarians do on baptism, he does not believe in God.

      Then we should argue, no man can be baptized to obey God when he is baptized because of remission of sins, and the scriptures teach that God ordained baptism for the remission of sins any more than a man can commune to honor God, when God has ordained we eat and drink in memory of him, and instead eat and drink in memory of Napoleon Bonaparte.

      On this we made our first mistake.

      Our second mistake was we soon became judges and would decide whether or not the man had been scripturally baptized, and would call our brethren shakers, and other hard names, who did not act as we did in the matter.

      Our brethren also made a fatal mistake in letting the man become the judge of his obedience to decide whether or not he was satisfied with his baptism.

      With a little caution and education these mistakes could all have been avoided. If we had decided we are not in the taking business, and our brethren are not in the shaking business, and that the subject could not afford to study his own satisfaction, but to God alone this matter must be carried for a decision, then all might have been well with us today.

      Instead of wanting the man to satisfy the preacher or himself, teach him that he must satisfy God. Then we should have taught him kindly that God taught a man must hear the gospel, have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of his sins, confess the Savior unto salvation, and be baptized for the remission of sins, teaching him that obedience to these items only satisfied God. Then in a kind way we could have educated him on what the sects teach-that regeneration precedes repentance, repentance precedes faith, and faith precedes salvation, and salvation precedes baptism, and then show him how he was standing before the judgment bar of God, waiting for sentence to be passed; that God had told him to strive lawfully, and if he could say he had acted lawfully, and had satisfied God, we could have no more to say, and we should have left the man there with his understanding enlightened to have worked out his own salvation. About ninety-nine out of every one hundred would have soon decided their baptism was not accepted by God, and would have obeyed the truth.

      There were many great and good men who had been working along other lines, and who had been accepting sectarians on their baptism, never thinking but what they had been scripturally baptized, and as these men felt that they had been in the lead of the battle for many years and that much depended upon their decision, they were slow to make up their minds as to the right or wrong of the position, and many of us becoming impatient with their conduct, with unkind feelings toward them, and with a power to drive rather than educate and persuade, we became too severe on their position, denounced them too bitterly, and made them our enemies rather than our friends.

      With a better judgment, with more wisdom, more of the spirit of Christ, more love, and more teaching, there no doubt would today be more friends to the position who are our enemies. But enough.--J. D. Tant.