And faintly breath'd his trembling lip, "Behold, I fain would be Buried in baptism with my Lord, ere death shall summon me."

With brow benign, like Him whose hand did wavering Peter guide, The Pastor bore his tottering frame through that translucent tide, And plung'd him 'neath the shrouding wave, and spake the TRIUNE NAME,

And joy upon that wither'd brow in wondering radiance came.

And then advanc'd a lordly form in manhood's towering pride,
Who from the gilded snares of earth had wisely turn'd aside,
Following His steps who meekly bow'd to Jordan's startled wave,
In deep humility of soul, this faithful witness gave.

Who next? A fair and fragile form in snowy robe doth come,
The tender beauty in her eye-her cheek in youthful bloom.
Yea, come, thou gentle one, and clothe thyself with strength divine,
This stern world has a thousand darts to vex a soul like thine.

Beneath its smile a traitor's kiss is oft in darkness bound;
Cling to that Comforter who holds a balm for every wound;
Trust in that kind Protector's care who never will forsake,
And thou shall strike the harp of praise e'en when the heart-strings
break.

Then, with a firm, unshrinking step, the watery path she trod,
And gave, with woman's deathless trust, her being to her God;
And when all dripping from the flood, she rose like a lily's stem,
I thought that spotless brow might wear an angel's diadem.

Yet more! Yet more! How meek they bow to their Redeemer's rite, Then pass with music on their way, like joyous sons of light! But lingering on these shores I stay'd, till every sound was hush'd, For hallowed musings o'er my soul like spring-swoll'n rivers rush'd. 'Tis better, said the voice within, to bear a Christian's cross, Than sell this fleeting life for gold, which death shall prove but dross;

Far better, when yon shrivell'd skies are like a banner furled, To share in Christ's reproach, than gain the glory of the world.

66

THERE can be little doubt that the first inhabitants of our world dwelt in the centre of the eastern hemisphere, in the region now marked on our maps as Persia ;" which, although in Asia, is as near as may be in the centre of the three great continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In this region too, there can be little doubt, was the first abode of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. From these parts, as men multiplied, they wandered abroad and peopled the world.

Again, the oldest nations of the earth were to be found in these central parts - Assyria, and Egypt, and other

nations, with their populous cities. So the Bible says, and evidences of its truth have long been found in their ancient and mighty ruins, which yet remain. Egypt has long borne her testimony; and lately Assyria has been made to yield up hers.

Many of the ruins of Egypt are exposed; but many are buried. In Assyria but few remain above the ground. The great cities of Babylon and Nineveh were lost for ages, and the places where they stood were scarcely known. Lately, however, attempts have been made to discover them; and these attempts have been completely successful. Nineveh, the great city, has been found buried beneath the rubbish of ages. Just now we cannot tell you all about what has been found there. But we will by and bye. Now we can only say that they fully prove the truth of Bible history. Many of these remains have been brought to England, and may be seen in the British Museum. Two years ago we were in London, and saw a beautiful panoramic painting of the place from which the remains of the palace of Nineveh were dug out.

Another great discovery has lately been made in this region, which is very interesting, and which also confirms the truth of the Bible. An American paper says:

"The commissioners engaged under the mediation of England and Russia in marking the boundary-line between Persia and Turkey, have recently come upon the remains of the ancient palace of Shushan, mentioned in the books of Esther and Daniel, together with the tomb of Daniel the prophet. The locality answers to the received tradition of its position; and the internal

evidence, arising from its correspondence with the description of the place recorded in sacred history, amounts almost to demonstration. The reader can turn to Esther, chap. i. 6, where he will read of a "pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble," in that palace. That pavement still exists, and corresponds to the description given in the sacred history. And in the marble columns, the dilapidated ruins, the sculpture, and the remaining marks of greatness and glory that are scattered around, the commissioners read the exact truth of the record made by the sacred penman. Not far from the palace stands a tomb; on it is sculptured the figure of a man bound hand and foot, with a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour him. No history could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the lion's den. The commissioners have with them a most able corps of engineers and scientific men, and other interesting discoveries may be expected. The Persian arrow-heads are found upon the palace and upon the tomb. Glass bottles, elegant as those placed upon the toilet-tables of the ladies of our day, have been discovered, with other indications of art and refinement, which bear out the statements of the Bible. Thus twenty-five hundred years after the historians of Esther and Daniel made their records, their histories are verified by the peaceful movements of nations in our day."

And thus the earth yields up from its bosom her dumb but strong-speaking witnesses to the truth of the Holy Scriptures.

THE EARLY BAPTISTS.

IN consequence of the persecutions which commenced in the apostolic age, most of the early churches were broken up, and their members scattered through dif ferent and distant parts of the world. The continuance of those persecutions, with but few interruptions, obliges us to trace the history of baptism, rather than that of baptist churches, along the course of succeeding centuries. Clemens Alexandrinus, Ignatius, and Justin Martyr, were connected with the apostolic age, and their history conducts us through the greater part of the second century. Their descriptions of baptism, as observed in their own times, are in strict accordance with our acknowledged principles. In the third and fourth centuries, numerous errors were prevalent, amongst which we find infant baptism; for the first mention of it occurs in that period, by Tertullian, Origen, and others; and it seems to have been confined to Africa. This error arose from a misapplication of our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus; for on that discourse the strange dogma was constructed, that baptism would remove original sin, and qualify for heaven.

Parental fondness eagerly adopted a doctrine, which mistaken or interested priests declared would secure salvation for children, and ignorance and superstition thus entailed an error on succeeding ages, which no light of Reformation has been able to fully clear away; for it still remains, the relic of a dark period, and an affecting proof of human imperfection and prejudice.