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oppose it, and cry, “A ghost! A ghost!" but no matter, the upright and good will cleave to the good, the beautiful, the true, and that which honors God and promotes the happiness of man by the spread of the gospel, will be respected and must finally prevail. But more on these topics again. Meantime we trust this good work of our devoted brother will not be suffered to lie on the table till it be forgotten. W. K. P.

THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE.

Among many beautiful and graphic sketches in the editorials of the "Protestant Unionist," from the pen of brother W. Scott, is the following passage in a late paper. We are glad to learn that the patronage of this very valuable print is constantly increasing.

A. C.

IF the gift of Christ is a miracle of benevolence, and prophecy a miracle of wisdom, surely the resurrection of Christ is a miracle of power, and may well be regarded as a pledge on the part of Heaven that the reason of our hope is not an empty promise, but a promise pregnant with the omnipotence of the godhead. In this way the possibilities of nature are rendered joyful certainties by the promises of revelation, and the probabilities of philosophical conjecture confirmed by the well attested truths of religion. The necessities of our common nature invoke the fact, and the promise of God and the resurrection of the Messiah form a great and proper answer to those who ask of us a reason of this extraordinary expectancy. As the saints of the Most High, we hasten to the day of God and the resurrection. "For now is Christ arisen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept."

The doctrine of the resurrection is an exceedingly defensible one, and therefore the Apostle justifies it by the most powerful and original argument. He puts it in the balances of the sanctuary with other things which might seem to be opposed to it, and proves it is equal-yea, and weightier than they all. If on the one hand, the sins of one man have been attributed to all; on the other hand, the sins of all have been attributed to one. So, he proceeds, "Since by a man came death, by a man came the resurrection of the dead; for as by Adam all men die, so by Christ shall all be made alive." This is weighing the world in scales, and the affairs of mankind in a balance. There is no sublimer reasoning than this in the Bible, or out of it. It is the justification of all God's ways with men, from the first to the last. It is as if gold scales were let down out of heaven from God, and the affairs of men in Adam and in Christ opposed to each other. The resurrection is shown to be the weightier doctrine. Life is superior to death-Christ to Adam.

The resurrection, or the immortality of the body, is defended on another principle-on fact rather than on justice; namely, that

there are in the universe things spiritual as well as things material. There are in the works of God an order of things that is corruptible, and another order of things that is incorruptible-there are the dishonored and the glorious--the weak and the powerful-the animal and the spiritual-two Adams-two bodies-two spirits-the earthly and the heavenly. And as in the order of creation the one is before the other, matter before mind, the animal before the spiritual, and the earthly before the heavenly; it is in harmony with the law of progress which characterizes the universe, that man who has shared through Adam of the sufferings of the one should ultimately, under Christ, ascend into the enjoyments of the other; that the corruptible should put on incorruption, and the mortal put on immortality; and that death, who has destroyed all, should himself be destroyed; and mortality, that has assaulted even the godhead in Christ, should be swallowed up of life by Christ.

The second argument for the immortality of the bodies of the righteous is, if it were possible, still more subtile than the former. It ascends to the heaven of heavens. It rises from the visible to the invisible—from the natural to the spiritual—from flesh and blood to spirit and the kingdom of God; for corruptible bodies may not inherit an incorruptible kingdom.

Has Christ, then, come once for sinners; and will he not come again for his saints! Has he come once for Israel according to the flesh, and will he not come again for Israel according to the spirit? Has he come to sow, and will he not return to reap? Does he plant an orchard, and not eat the fruit thereof? Has the seed-time alone pleasure for him? Has he no joy in harvest? Does he not delight in the ingathering? Has the shouting of the harvest-home no joys for him? Has he saved his people from sin, and will he not save them from death? Has he not shed his blood for us, and will he not share his inheritance? Is this inheritance greater than the heir? Has he given us the latter, and will he withhold the former? Is there any thing equal to himself! "If God has not withheld his own Son, but freely given him up to death for us all, how will he not with him also freely give us all things?" Oh! let us tread lightly the bosom of mother Earth! The jewels of the Almighty lie there--the wealth of Christ is treasur d up there-riches deposited by the Spirit of God lie there--the greatest and the best of Heaven's sons are there-there are Abel, and Noah, the holy patriarchsAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob with his sons-the great legislator, Moses, is there—the brave patriots who, through faith in God, won kingdoms, lie there. Here in the dust, waiting the breath of heaven, slumber the mighty dead- Gideon, and Barach, and David, and Sampson, and Jepthah-the godly of three ages, and of two grand churches--yea, of two worlds!

The resurrection, then, is before us, the promise and the power. The fact itself is like a grand gold chain let down from heaven to link man's soul to God's throne. The promise is sure, and the power is seen in the resurrection of Christ; let us, therefore, make ourselves familiar with the weighty power of God as developed in Christ's resurrection; let us make ourselves familiar with what Paul

styles the power of his "resurrection;" and we shall at last feel that as the power is equal to the promise, the promise will prove equal to the fact.

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A USEFUL EXAMPLE.

WE give the subjoined extract not only because it presents us with the true means by which, according to their own avowals, Presbyterianism is mainly sustained and perpetuated, but because it appears as a lesson of much value in reference to our own duties. Our Saviour introduced the Parable of the Unjust Steward, not to induce his disciples to become worldly-minded or unjust, but for the sake of teaching them a lesson of wisdom, by which, if applied to heavenly things, they might profit; and so we would call the attention of our brethren to the policy of Presbyterianism, not for the purpose of making them resort to human inventions or any innovation upon the prescribed limits of the Word, but with the higher aim of exhorting them to a like diligence in the use of the means, the all sufficient and only legal means for converting the world, which the Lord of life has put into our hands.

It has been generally contended by our brethren, that infant baptism was the foundation and support of the Presbyterian church.. Take away this source of increase, and it must, under its present system, dwindle with the present generations of the earth, and if it do not pass away with them, linger only as an heir-loom, in the bosoms of a few of the first borns. The following extract, which we take from the New York Evangelist, shows that they entertain a very similar opinion, and are by no means insensible of the absolute importance of the fact to the perpetuation of their system:—

"INFANT BAPTISM.-The solemn consecration which Christian parents make to their covenant God of their infant children, is one of vital importance. There is too much reason to fear that many parents forget to perform the solemn vows which they thus make to God, and as a consequence their children grow up in impenitence, and often die in their sins? It is at least a subject worthy of the serious reflection of parents, whether they have trained up their children as they promised to God that they would do when they gave them up in baptism.

It is stated in the Minutes of the last General Association of Massachusetts, that there were added to the churches, on profesison, during the past year, 761 persons. The whole number of adult baptisms reported, is 259, showing that 502 of the 761 who made a public profession of their faith in Christ, or more than two thirds, were baptized in infancy. The whole number of infant baptisms reported, and from whom we may hereafter, judging from past observations, anticipate a large proportion of the converts in our societies of their age, was 1275.

Let parents ponder these facts, and be stimulated to greater fidelity in future towards their unconverted children."

This is the way Presbyterianism takes care of itself. More than two thirds of the adult professors are persons who were committed by baptism, whilst yet they knew not good or evil; and trained up, if not "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," at least in the ways of Presbyterianism, by the diligent catechisms of pious godfathers. We commend their wisdom, and regret that the god-fathers and god-mothers of this generation are wiser than the children of light. There is in this matter real responsibily, and we are persuaded also great dereliction. How, then, shall each answer for his sin? We, in round numbers, say that the present reformation enrols in its ranks two hundred thousand soldiers of the Cross; and as these are all old enough to be responsible, they must of necessity have within their control an amount of influence equal to great effects. How is it manifesting itself? How many general evangelists are in the field, proclaiming the great principles of primitive Christianity? How are those, who are laboring, sustained? And what the number, by their labors, daily added to the saved?

It is but a reasonable calculation, that two hundred thousand intelligent Christians, armed with the truth, may exert a directing influence over one million of people-that is, one-twentieth of our entire population. This, upon every fair principle of judging, may be expected of our brethren. But does the success of our principles warrant us in saying, that the expectation is realized? Great and unprecedented as this success has been, we regret to say that it is not, from all we can learn, equal to the means and opportunities which God has given to us as a people calling the world to his truth. We feel ourselves and we would exhort our brethren to the importance of greater efforts to extend the principles of primitive Christianity, in doctrine and practice. Every soldier of the Cross should feel that he is called to a glorious warfare, and that in subordination to the laws of his Captain he must contend for the faith, earnestly and unceasingly. We are commencing a new year, and with renewed resolutions should we labor "so to let our light shine before men, that others seeing our good works may glorify God." By his example, his daily intercourse with his friends and neighbors, every Christian has it in his power to effect much. Without, indeed, the support of an exemplary church, it is next to impracticable for a ministry, no matter how gifted or devoted, to exert a very great or lasting influence on the community. The church is the light of the world, and let us take heed lest our light be darkness. W. K. P.

OBITUARY.

CHANCERY, Howard Co., Ind., Dec, 1, 1847.

Dear brother Campbell-For the satisfaction of numerous relations and friends, allow me, through your valuable pamphlet, to give a short account of the life and death of my most dear mother. She was born in South Carolina, some time before the Revolution; and losing both her parents soon, was raised by a pious aunt. She was early married to my father, William Smith, both of whom while in the prime of life attached themselves. to the Baptist church, with which they continued in communion till your "Christian Baptist" reached them, about the time you were publishing your new version, a copy of which you sent them to Smith's P. O., Randolph co., Ia., where, with my brother Carey, at that time a Baptist preacher, they were then settled. This created a great excitement in the Baptist church, and in a little while they began to deal with (persecute) them. The church was broken up-father died soon, and my brother Carey moved to Indianapolis, leaving my mother alone in a wicked settlement. But she was still faithful to the Lord. Often have I found her on her knees imploring God for his blessings on her and her children. The Lord heard her; and in the same place, in 1856 and 7, she saw near fifty persons obey the ancient gospel, and a church organized in God's own order-free from both Baptist tradition and persecution. She was thus of the first fruits of the Reformation in Indiana. The Lord permitted her to see her seven children and their companions all, except one son and son-in.law, in his kingdom on earth, and of hearing four of her five sons proclaim the truth in its ancient simplicity. She lived to near the age of 20 years, and spent much of her time after she united with the reformation, in reading the Bible, mostly in your Family Testament. She would often say, "It seems like a new book. Things that used to appear dark are all now as clear as day." For near twelve months before her death she was the subject of a very remarkable spectral illusion. She would often see sights, as of angels in the air, coming with smiles, bearing in their hands all kinds of beautiful flowers, and approaching very near to her. Frequently in open daylight, and when perfectly calm and composed, would she see them and call upon others to look at them; but we could not see them. One day this fall, in time of worship, she saw one of these heavenly beings come into the house and seat itself under the stand, on which was the consecrated loaf, then about

to be broken. They were always smiling and always had flowers in their hands. Were they ministering spirits, waiting to waft her home to the spirit-land?

On the 27th November she breathed her last, after a short illness of six days. She declined all medical aid, as she said. "she was going to her long home, and she did not care how soon." She was always mild and affable; and though severe in reproof, she scarcely ever gave offence. Let mothers n Israel take courage by her example, and seek the salvation of their children! GEGRGE W. SMITH. PULASKI, December 11, 1847.

Dear brother Pendleton-The Ree Island Church, with a numerous circle of relations and neighbors, were, on the 4th day of this month, called to mourn the death of sister SOPHIA CALFEE, wife of our excellent Elder John Calfee.

For about 20 years she has not only lived above reproach, but has adorned the profession of Christianity with a benevolence and piety as active as they were meek, quiet, and unostentatious. There was no poetry in the life of sister Calfee. She never thought it would be known, far less written down an example for the sisterhood,-that she daily taught her domestics the law of the Lord-that the slightest distrustfulness as to their comfort, was wont to call her up in the cold winter night to dispense the clean warm blanket and the cold-defying coverlet. The poor loved her;

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