Christian friends, when you see a world perishing in sin, and hear the actual deathgroan of hundreds of millions who are making their last fearful leap into hell, and your agonizing soul cries, "Lord, save, ere they all perish," do your self-denying efforts to do and to give, shew to all that what you can do in answering your own prayers, shall not go undone?

Is not our willingness or unwillingness to come up to the work of answering our prayers, as far as it is within our power, a true but fearful test of our sincerity?

SUNDAYS EXCEPTED.

"Every day, Sundays excepted," say the railroad and steamboat notices. So also read the handbills of the museum, the panorama, and perhaps the theatre. It is a compliment to christianity and the Sabbath. And as our eyes rested upon the phrase the other day, the thought was started, that a good many people should be as explicit as the managers of railroads and picture galleries, and qualify their creeds, professions, and pretensions, which are all so many showbills, by saying, "Sundays excepted." Let us see how some of these bills ought to be made out.

"All important business attended to, with decision, toil, and exposure, and no surrendering to cold, rain, mud, a reluctant feeling, or a slight indisposition, on any day of the week, Sundays excepted."

"No propensity to sleep in the day time, yea, great wakefulness, and eyes wide open with interest, on all the themes that address themselves to gain, danger, hope, and fear, and on all the days of the week, Sundays excepted."

"Reading and conversation adapted to the business in hand, and made to subserve the objects and designs of each day, and this rule strictly adhered to, every day in the week, Sundays excepted."

"Disposed to obey God, and respect his institutions, claims, and rights, every day, Sundays excepted."

"A physician with a good practice, and yet able to command time for attendance upon a public lecture on any day of the week, Sundays excepted."

"A professing christian, fond of an easy, accommodating religion, and no objection to card playing, dancing, or a few hours at the bowling ally or the theatre, on any day of the week, Sundays excepted."

"A man for speculation and gain, without honour, given to knavery and extortion, and that would not be taken for a decent respecter of religion on any day of the week, Sundays excepted."

The foregoing is only a rough draft of some of the notices or bills which sundry persons might with eminent truthfulness "stick up" about their premises. The public would thus be advertised of facts, and some foolish mistakes of the community might be prevented.

THE BURDEN OF PROOF OF THE BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY. The state of the controversy between ourselves and our Pædobaptist brethren is as follows:-They assert that Infant Baptism was an ordinance practised in the apostolic church; and this position we deny. Now, by all the laws of sound reasoning, the burden of proof lies upon them. They must first prove their affirmative before we can fairly be called upon to prove our negative; and, indeed, in the absence of proof on their part, our negative stands virtually proven. This has been demonstrated by Dr. Carson in his introduction to his last book on baptism, in which Dr. Whately's assumptions of an

opposite character are vigorously refuted. Surely no man can be called upon to prove Infant Baptism unapostolical until something like proof is advanced that it is apostolical. And clearly if it were an apostolical custom to baptize the children of believers, proof of this may easily be found in the New Testament records.

We are willing, however, in this debate to perform a work of supererogation, and are prepared to prove that Infant Baptism could not have been known in apostolic times. But before we proceed to do so we entreat the reader's attention to the following excellent remarks of Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, in his Treatise on

Rhetoric:-"It is to be observed that in many cases, silence, omission, absence of certain statements, &c. will have even greater weight than much that we do find stated; e. g., suppose we meet with something in a passage of one of Paul's epistles, which indicates, with a certain degree of probability the existence of such and such a custom, institution, &c.; and suppose there is just the same degree of probability that such and such another custom, institution, or event, which he does not mention anywhere, would have been mentioned by him in the same place, supposing it to have really existed or occurred; this omission, and the negative argument resulting, has incomparably the more weight than the other, if we also find that same omission in all the other epistles, and in every one of the books of the New Testament." (p. 70.) It is precisely by this process of reasoning that we are able to shew that Infant Baptism could not have been practised in apostolic times.

1. The New Testament relates many instances of the baptism of men and women, but does not contain a solitary record of the baptism of an infant. Now surely, if in primitive days it had been the rule to baptize the infants of believers with their parents, some plain instance of such a practice would have been recorded. But the absence of the narration of any such case proves that infants could not have been baptized at that period of church history. The four baptized households were believing households, and this explains the reason of their baptism along with their heads. The baptism of households was unusual even in those days, because it was a rare thing for all the members of a household to be converted at the same time; but in four cases it did take place, and in those four cases alone is it recorded that the household was baptized along with the householder. We affirm, then, that not a single instance of Infant Baptism can be produced from the New Testament.

2. No precepts are given either by Christ or his apostles enjoining upon parents the baptism of their children. Now, the duties of christian parents are not meagerly discussed in the New Testament, but are there fully exhibited. Surely, then, somewhere or other, we should have found the baptism of their infants presented to christian parents as their solemn duty, had this been considered in those days a parental obligation.

And

would not parents have been reminded of the responsibilities incurred by them in consequence of having dedicated their children to God by baptism? But where are such responsibilities thus enforced? Where is the fact of having had his children baptized presented to a christian man as an additional reason why he should train up those children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Yet pious Pædobaptist ministers are in the habit of appealing in this strain to the members of their churches, and profess to regard such appeals as quite apostolical in their style. But the entire exclusion from the pages of the New Testament of all such methods of stirring up christian parents to the discharge of their duties, proves that it was not the practice in apostolic times for believers to baptize their infants.

3. Nor are there any incidental allusions or passing references in the New Testament to the existence of such a ceremony as Infant Baptism. Even the ingenuity of the author of the "Horæ Paulina" would fail to discover any such allusion. The inspired canon contains repeated references to the baptism of believers, and to the Supper of the Lord; but we cannot find in it the shadow of an allusion, however incidental or fugitive, to the ceremony of Infant Baptism. This proves that such a ceremony must have been unknown in those days.

4. The controversies with which the primitive church was convulsed respecting the continuance of circumcision, demonstrate that the apostles cannot have enjoined the observance of Infant Baptism as a substitute for Infant Circumcision. Had there existed in the apostolic church the ordinance of Infant Baptism coming in the room of Infant Circumcision, no disputes with regard to the perpetuity of the latter could have arisen, but it must of necessity have died a natural death. But the perpetual strifes concerning the continuance or abandonment of circumcision, which rent the church in apostolic times, proves that there was then no corresponding ordinance in practice.

5. The silence of the apostles at the famous Jerusalem Council, with regard to the substitution of Infant Baptism for Infant Circumcision, satisfactorily proves the same point. If ever there was a time when reference to Infant Baptism (supposing it to have existed) was absolutely necessary and unavoidable, it was at the Council just

named. It must have been spoken of there, if it then possessed any species of entity; simply because it would have for ever silenced the controversy. The dispute, indeed, could not have arisen if it had been clearly understood that Infant Baptism had been given by inspired authority to supersede Infant Circumcision. But if by some misunderstanding such a controversy had arisen, it would have been immediately settled, by a proper explanation of the substantial oneness of baptism and circumcision, &c. &c. How easy would it have been for Peter or James to have risen and said, "Brethren, this debate is superfluous; circumcision is superseded by baptism; we have the former substantially in the latter, though the mode of the rite is altered;" and so forth. But the perfect silence maintained by the apostles on this occasion con

cerning any such mode of settling the dispute, proves that no such mode existed; and that Infant Baptism, as a substitute for Infant Circumcision was to them unknown.

From these considerations, then, we imagine that our negative is proved, and that it is demonstrable, according to Dr. Whately's" Argument from Negative Probabilities," that Infant Baptism cannot have been practised in the primitive church and by apostolic authority. We shall be glad to have any flaw which may exist in our argument pointed out; but confess our own inability to discover wherein the process of proof is defective. We affectionately solicit the serious attention of our Pædobaptist brethren to this method of putting the question.

The Committtee of the Baptist Missionary Society once more appeal to the friends of the Redeemer, and place before them a brief record of its proceedings since the last annual meeting.

I. AGENTS.

The changes that occur in a year among upwards of two hundred brethren and their families are generally not inconsiderable; but during the last year they have been rather fewer than usual. Mr. and Mrs. Cowen, and Mr. Littlewood, who had left their respective fields of labour, have returned to them; the former to Trinidad, and the latter to Nassau. In Africa, the band of brethren there has been weakened by the return to this country of Dr. and Mrs. Prince, a step rendered necessary, in their esteem, by the continued ill health of their daughter. This affliction has compelled Dr. Prince to relinquish all hope of reengaging in a work in which (as he has expressed it) he has found himself "doubly blessed." The illness of Mr. and Mrs. Clark has prevented them also from returning to Africa, though there is hope that a little longer stay in England may be blessed to at least the partial recovery of them both. In the meantime, the "Dove" has gone back to Fernando Po under the com

mand of Captain Milbourne, with Mr. and Mrs. Newbegin and Mrs. Saker, and with Mr. and Mrs. Yarnold, lately accepted as teachers for Clarence.

In India, several changes have occurred. One of the brethren, Mr. Dannenberg, has resigned his connexion with the Society, and is now on his way, at his own expense, to Europe. Others have been laid aside by age and illness, and one (Mr. Leonard) has entered upon his rest. He was present, in early life, at the storming of Seringapatam, and is one of the many pious soldiers who have owed their conversion to the labours of our brethren. He originated the Benevolent Institution in Calcutta for the instruction of country-born children, and was for some time the superintendent of it, an office for which his intelligence and energy admirably qualified him. In the year 1816 he was appointed to Dacca, where his talents and attention raised the Bengali and Persian schools at that station to great eminence. For nearly forty years he has maintained a most consistent character, and has died amid the regret and esteem of all who knew him. It is a singular and not an uninstructive fact, that of the ten or twelve missionaries who became connected with the Society in 1837 (on its re-union

with Serampore), most of whom were either born in India, or had been there for some years, Mr. Leonard is the first who has been removed by death; while, of the ten who were sent out as the result of the appeal of our honoured friend W. H. Pearce, but three remain. This fact speaks decisively in favour of an indigenous ministry; nor less decisively of the importance of having in the field a larger number of European missionaries than may be absolutely required, to occupy the posts that are left vacant by the older brethren. Not a few who are now connected with the Society in India, indeed (it may be said) most, have been engaged in the work for twenty years and upwards; and they are still bringing forth fruit in their old age. A few years more, and all will have left their toil, and have entered upon their reward, without, probably, any long interval between them, and yet we are not preparing to supply their place. Mr. Fink has been compelled by age to leave Chittagong, and Mr. Robinson, Dacca. At Delhi, Mr. Thompson has been labouring for upwards of thirty years, and is the only missionary at the station; while every where our brethren are calling loudly for help, not so much to extend as to maintain their posts.

To India, one missionary (with his wife) has been sent during the year, Mr. and Mrs. Sale. A passage was given to them by the owner of the "William Carey," who complained, however, that the Society could do no more towards exhausting his generous offer of a free passage for as many as they could send. He has again and again expressed the hope that his vessel will never leave the shores of England for the east without carrying, on the same terms, at least one messenger of the cross. Fifty years ago no English vessel could be found to take out the despised yet dreaded missionary; now, the acceptance of a free passage is regarded by an intelligent shipowner as an honour and a reward.

It ought to be recorded with no less grateful feeling, that a mercantile house in Bristol, to whom the Society is indebted for previous acts of kindness, have returned the passage-money of Dr. and Mrs. Prince, and have added other substantial proofs of their interest in the Society's success. The Committee have also reason to know that a more just appreciation of the tendency of the labours of their brethren has become general, and that many who once questioned

whereunto this mission would grow, are prepared to aid it, convinced that legitimate commerce and fair dealing, have nothing to fear, but every thing to gain, from the diffusion of religious truth.

Changes have also taken place, from vari ous causes, at other stations. In Canada, the aid of the Society has been extended to eight brethren, instead of ten, as in previous years. In Ceylon and in the Bahamas, the necessary diminution of the Society's grant has compelled our brethren to close several schools, and to dismiss the teachers. So that, during the year, there have been altogether the following changes :-instead of sixty-eight missionaries reported last year, there are but sixty-seven, and instead of 163 native preachers and teachers, there are now only 145.

These numbers, it will be remembered, are but a faint representation of what is done by the Society abroad. They contain no element to represent the Sunday schools, the tract distributors, the holy and efficient preachers who are to be found in many of the mission churches. The Committee carefully exclude from this list all but such as are, more or less, dependent on the Society for their support.

II. LABOURS.

The labours of these two hundred and eleven agents are of course very diversified. Of the 145 native preachers and teachers, about 100 are engaged during the day in teaching. In all the schools the sacred scriptures are read and expounded, and the missionary visits them often every day. At the close of the day's teaching, and on the Lord's-day, the teacher is the assistant of the missionary in the important work of bible and tract distribution. At certain seasons, too, his time is entirely devoted to this work, and the daily labour of the school is relinquished. Of the native preachers, most are engaged as evangelists and assistants; but several in India, in Ceylon, and in the Bahamas, are pastors of churches; an arrangement that would be extended, but for the fact that it is found more satisfactory to employ the native brethren as evangelists rather than as pastors. So far, of course, as they act in the capacity of pastors, their salaries are generally raised by the churches under their care. The evangelists are engaged daily in reading to the people, and in expounding the scriptures; in accompanying the missionary in his tours through the country, and in his

services in the streets. In all capacities they are found invaluable helps to our brethren.

The work of the missionary is necessarily yet more extensive than that of the native ministry. Some (as Messrs. Wenger and Lewis) give most of their time to the translation of the scriptures. Mr. Leslie at Calcutta, and Mr. Williams at Agra, act as pastors of self-supporting churches. Mr. Leslie has also given much time during the year to the revision of the New Testament in Hindee, and Mr. Williams to the superintending of a considerable body of native preachers. Mr. Pearce and several others devote much of their time to the Bengalis; C. C. Aratoon, Shujat Ali, and the brethren generally in Northern India, to the Mohammedans. Each missionary has his school or schools; and in several of those schools, as at Patna, Calcutta, Serampore, Birbhum, Colombo, and Port of Spain, some of the children are orphans, and are supported by funds for which the missionary is responsible. Each has also a church or churches under his superintendence. Some spend several months in visiting the religious festivals of the people, and preach during the year to many thousands of persons. Others are engaged in preparing tracts and elementary books for the use of the converts. Some, like Mr. Denham and Mr. Pearce, add to their labours the training of young men for the work of the ministry. Others give their time entirely to this work, as Mr. Tinson at Calabar, and Dr. Cramp at Montreal. Some are engaged principally in translating and printing the scriptures, as Mr. Thomas at Calcutta, and Mr. Merrick at Bimbia: all in India are busily engaged in distributing them, the copies being supplied to the extent of 50,000 volumes a year by the liberality of the Bible Translation Society and the American and Foreign Bible Society; while in Africa, America, Haiti, and France, the Bible, in English, French, and Spanish, has been supplied by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Some confine themselves entirely to their work as missionaries, others find it necessary and advantageous incidentally to promote the temporal comforts of the people. In Bengal, our brethren protect the poor convert against the cruelty and injustice of his heathen relatives. In Africa, they aid the cause of civilization by introducing the fruits of the more favoured regions of the tropics and the arts of Europe. In Trinidad

and Tuscarora, they lay the grievances of the people before the government, and obtain relief.

While some of our brethren are thus occupied in diffusing the blessings of the gospel among nations sunk in heathen darkness, others labour among our own countrymen in Canada, or among our neighbours in France. In Canada, the grants of the Society are devoted to the partial support of eight or ten brethren, who are engaged as pastors of small churches in important towns and districts of that vast country, and where, but for the Society's help, it would be impossible to maintain the cause. Several of these brethren travel over extensive regions to tell our countrymen, in the midst of their solitudes, of that God whose worship is associated with all their recollections of kindred and home. In the interior of that colony again, and in central America, our missionary labours among Indian tribes.

This vast diversity of labour is rather apparent, however, than real. Our brethren every where preach one gospel, and have one aim. Whether among the Roman Catholics of France and Trinidad, or the Indians of Canada and Bacalar, the Hindoos, or the descendants of Ishmael and worshippers of the false prophet in India, whether among the barbarous tribes of Africa, or their warm-hearted brethren in the West Indies, they tell to all the same story of peace, and exhibit the same glorious Redeemer. Their agency has every where the same tendency. The school is maintained, because there the children are qualified to read of the Saviour of children for themselves; the tract is distributed, because it is Christ's messenger; and the bible is translated, because it is itself the message. The temporal interests of the people are watched over on the same ground. By seeking to increase their temporal comforts, the missionaries exemplify, in a faint degree, the precepts of Christ, and recommend more forcibly the truths which his death embodied. Every where, and by every means, they preach Christ Jesus the Lord.

The amount of labour performed by our brethren in these engagements it is impossible to state; but some idea of it may be gathered from the fact that in Ceylon there are fifty services held every week, and thirty-two schools under daily instruction; and that, while eighteen stations and substations are regularly supplied, 128 villages