that worketh good." "To them who by patient continuance in welldoing, seek for glory, honor, and immortality," to them will he render "eternal life." The immutable principles by which the general judgment will be conducted are set forth in the 25th chapter of the testimony of Matthew.

But here an objection may arise in the minds of some of my brethren-Does not the Apostle say, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments"? Will not all who are truly pure in heart—all who thus love the Saviour-will they not come and unite with us, embrace the "ancient gospel," and be "baptized for the remission of sins"? To this I reply-It was never the intention of our Lord to convert the world by a theory! He never rested the success of his cause on its intrinsic excellence, or the immaculate purity and sublimity of his doctrines!! No, he relied on the practical exemplification of his doctrine in the lives of his people, for the success of his cause. It was the unity, the love, the purity, the untiring zeal, the active benevolence of his disciples to which he looked for the success of the gospel. Hence our Lord prays that "they all may be one, that the world may know that thou didst send me." Again he says, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another:" "Let your light so shine before men, that others seeing your good works, may glorify your Father in heaven." I could fill up a long essay with quotations to the same point, but forbear.

These things being so, my brethren therefore greatly err in supposing that because we present the ancient truth and simplicity of the gospel in theory, that "all the honest and true-hearted must, of course, at once receive it!" No, my brethren, we must give to the world a practical exhibition of primitive Christianity, before we have any right to expect that great numbers from other denominations will join us. There is a principle in our nature, which I have no doubt was divinely implanted there, that is averse to receive truth from those who are trampling it under foot in practice, while recommending it in theory! While others can with truth and propriety turn and say to us, "Physician, heal thyself," all our boasted excellence of knowledge will be regarded with the same contempt as were the pretensions of the fabled frog of olden time, who, with all conceivable deformity, proclaimed himself the greatest physician in the world, in possession of all the transforming secrets of the healing art! Brethren, we must reform and reform, and become in practice what we are in theory, before we have any right to expect brethren of other denominations to join us. must cultivate personal holiness, and family religion. How sadly are we defective in this last item! I have more than once lodged with families of professed disciples, (my heart sickens while I write it,) not private members, but bishops of churches, who neither prayed in their families themselves, nor did they invite any one else to pray or to read the scripturesl Now I declare, in the fear of the Lord, that, were I a member of a church of pious, humble, praying, Bible-reading Scotch Covenanters, I would not leave them to unite with such a people, if their views were as pure, and their theory as sublime, as the angels of light possess!

We

But these men can declaim most eloquently against the "errors of the sects," and you would think they had a most pure zeal for the

honor of "the Lord of hosts." We are greatly reminded of an ancient man: "And Jehu said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord." But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam."

Brethren, let us be admonished: let us not, in our zeal to correct the errors of others, forget our own hearts! It is the state of the heart, and not of the head-it is the purity of our affections, and not of our views, that is to decide our eternal destiny. The enemy of our souls cares very little how correct our views are, or how enlightened our heads, if he can only keep our affections on the "perishing things" of this world. As a late English writer (Mr. Gurney) has said, "It has always been the device of Satan to transfer the seat of religion from the heart to the head; for it is infinitely easier to learn to think and talk correctly, than to practise the self-denying, heart-searching precepts of our holy religion."

Let us be exhorted, my brethren, if we wish to convert others to our views, to strive for purity of heart, for love, for zeal! Without these, all is vain! We may convert others to our views if we have nothing but theory; but they, also, will only be converted in theory! Men's heads may be converted by argument alone; but their hearts can only be converted by love! O how long will frigid moonshine speculation and theory be substituted for the faith, and hope, and love, and zeal of the ancient Christians!!

My brethren, let us "awake to righteousness;" let us put on the armor of light. We are called with a holy calling! We are called to "glory and courage!" We are called to "conquest and a crown!” Our citizenship is in heaven, whence also we look for the Saviour Christ Jesus the Lord, who will change our vile bodies, and make them like his own glorious body." O glorious hope!! But will the Lord, indeed, receive us to that ineffable bliss! Yes, if true and faithful, he will receive us to his presence where is fulness of joy! "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!" not Jerusalem, the "city of David," but "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem"

"Whose walls are all of precious stones,

Most glorious to behold!

Whose gates are richly set with pearls,

Whose streets are paved with gold."

"If we look for such things, what manner of persons cught we to be?" Let us remember that "there shall in no wise enter into that city any thing that defileth or worketh abomination

"Those holy gates forever bar
Pollution, sin, and shame;

None can obtain admission there

But followers of the Lamb."

But whither have I strayed? I sat down to write an essay on "posi tive ordinances;" but I have been borne along by an impulse that seemed irresistible. My pen followed my heart; and I had rather dwell an hour on the glories of the "celestial land," than to spend a lifetime upon the "dry bones" of controverted themes. However, 1 think I will have a fair beginning in my next; and I will (if the Lord permit) take up the principal ordinances, beginning with the prohibition

of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil," and endeavor briefly to show that they are not those unmeaning ceremonies that they are usually represented to be. We will try to divest them of that forbidding, skeleton-like aspect-that arbitrary frigidity and mysterious nothingness in which they are usually set forth. I trust we may discover that they have both life and beauty, and are admirably adapted to the attainment of the proposed ends-that they are every way adapted to promote oral purity and devotion, without which they are of no avail. CHRISTIANOS.

CHRISTIANS AMONG THE SECTS.

Brother Campbell,

KING & QUEEN, Va., July 6th, 1839.

FINDING you intend to review the essays of CHRISTIANOS after he gets through, I have only to remark that I regret that he has become So "feverish" as to assume premises not sustained in his essays from any Prophet or Apostle in the New Testament. He would make your readers believe it is "trusting in the externals of religion" I am advocating. It is true we can know but little of the internals of religion but by the externals. "By their fruits," says the Saviour, "you shall know them;" "A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things." Now the man whose heart has been purified by faith in the Son of God, reformed his life, and has been immersed for the remission of his sins, is, according to the gospel, a good man-until, by overt acts, he proves his "heart is not right in the sight of God."

When I spoke of "mental religion" I spoke correctly. I meant those who profess the Christian religion without obeying the commandments of the Saviour.

I have said Christianos has assumed premises: He says, "If any man has a controversy with aught in the former essays of Christianos, the controversy must be with the scriptures, and not with the author of the essays; for he has assumed no position of his own: but his position is contained substantially in a hundred passages of scripture,* and most expressly in this-I perceive of a truth that God is no respecter of persons; but that in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.' Now I do not say, that the Pedobaptists do not fear God, but that they do not begin in a right way to work righteousness. Jesus taught John, 'It becomes us to fulfil all righteousness.' Now if immersion, upon our believing he is the Son of God, is a righteous command, and the first to be obeyed after repentthen to talk of being accepted of him, without submitting to this righteousness, (he said must be fulfilled,) seems to me to be abandoning the seriptures or the teaching of the Saviour.

ance,

Christianos has deserted both the common and new version of the New Testament for the criticisms of a Pedobaptist to sustain him in his

Why not say from Genesis to Malachi? Mr. Skinner will say the same.

"Christians among the sects." He must bring from the teaching or practice of the Apostles positive proof that they ever recognized any man or woman from any nation after the Christian kingdom was set up, that such were Christians, which he says is, without immersion into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Until this is done he writes in vain for that purpose. His quoting Dr. Campbell in opposition to the common version and new translation, proves his sayings-"Hence the most irresistible arguments produce no other effect upon the opposing party, than to arouse every energy for self-defence; for as one has said, 'In the heat of controversy men would not know truth if it met them in the face."" I do not wish for better means than the three first essays of Christianos to refute him-indeed, he has refuted himself with his own arguments.

In his notice of my unanswerable argument I expected something better. The question is not whether "all the citizens of these United States are genuine republicans;" but whether ALL FOREIGNERS OR ALIENS ARE CONSTITUTIONAL CITIZENS. It is not a party, brother Christianos, that I am pleading for. God has no party in his kingdom. If the kingdom of heaven is shut against any man or woman on earth that believes Jesus is the Son of God, sectarianism has, and is daily doing so. Every penitent believer in the Son of God is invited to come into the kingdom, and they complain the door is not too "narrow-minded" with us, but too wide; therefore they cannot enter. Such are the reasons the sects assign.

Having shown Christianos cannot prove any sect of professors are Christians from the New Testament, I will leave him in your hands until you get through. He has forgotten you said it was an opinion of yours.

I have been requested by intelligent brethren to examine a subject which I think they are more capable of doing than I am. It is this:"What ought to be our course with the sects in relation to worship?" Under the Jewish economy there was but one set of worshippers, though there were sects. These sects never did prohibit each other from uniting together in the Temple worship. There were two kinds of proselytes or converts to the national religion: the one called Proselytes of the Gate, who worshipped the true God, but did not submit to the Jewish rites: the other, called Proselytes of Justice, who submitted to the whole Jewish religion. These last they allowed all privileges of this life and the life that is to come. It appears from the denunciations of Jesus Christ, that the Scribes and Pharisees were very active in making Proselytes of the Gate; but when made, they made them twofold more the children of hell than themselves. It could not have been the Proselytes of Justice that they made; for the Saviour never would have condemned them for making such converts. But to the question. By the sects, we do not wish to convey the idea, at all times, that the Baptists are included in our remarks. They do sometimes act as bad, if not worse, than any of the sects; but we hope they have, or will see see their error, and reform. All that reform, I can and will, when invited, unite with them to worship God. I am bound to believe every penitent believer that has been immersed into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a Christian; and as long as such give evidence of their love to the Saviour by keeping his commandments, I shall recognize them as Christians, and unite with them to worship God.

There is not a Pedobaptist sect but what prefers the traditions of men to the commandments of Jesus. Even Dr. George Campbell, and Mr. Stewart of Andover, knew as well as any other men that immersion alone was administered by the Apostles to the believers; yet they prefer the traditions of the Fathers. Now how can a disciple worship with such men without being a transgressor against the commandments of Jesus? To worship God, is to worship him not only in spirit, but in or according to truth. Until it can be shown that the Apostles, by whose teaching we are to be saved, did command or practise infant sprink ling, and called a sermon worshipping God and keeping the commandments of Jesus, I am bound, as an obedient subject, to have nothing to do with such worship. I do not say I would not go any day in the week to hear what a Pedobaptist has to say; but to neglect the worship of God with the disciples any Lord's day, when I am able to attend, and no reasonable hindrance on the part of my family's health, is the broad road to apostacy. Look at those disciples that can neglect the Lord's day and his worship to VISIT even the Baptists, who will not let them break the loaf with them once in three months, and how cold and lifeless they are! Now as we cannot worship God with any sect according to "the truth," we surely cannot be in our duty with them who do not worship him in spirit and in the truth. Let us, then, strictly attend to our duty in the congregation of the disciples.

Before 1 close allow me to say how much pleased I am with your Essays on the "Morality of Christians" and "Education." These are subjects that ought to be examined and well understood by every disciple of Jesus. Yours truly,

THOMAS M. HENLEY.

OUR NAME.

INTO what, or into whom have we been immersed? Into Calvin, Luther, Wesley, Campbell, or Reformation? If not, then why nickname us, or we nickname ourselves, when we assume or choose such designations? Shall we be called Disciples of Christ, or Christians? Why not call ourselves Christians? Not because we have another leader than Christ; for he is our teacher. We believe in him-were immersed into his death-and have thus put on Christ. But we have been anticipated. The term Christian in New England, and in some other sections of this land, is a name chosen and appropriated by a party who boast that they are Unitarians-disbelieve in baptism for the remission of sins-and refuse to celebrate the Lord's death as often as they celebrate his resurrection, &c. &c.

Were I, or any brother, to traverse much of New York, New England, and some other sections, and call ourselves Christians, as a party name, we should be admitted by all Unitarians and rejected by all of a different belief. One party would fraternize with us, while the others 34*

TOL. III-N. S.