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the duty of imparting to them the blessings of civil and religious light. But the zeal and earnestness which have since been called into action bad not yet been kindled, and Mr. Brown's efforts proved for a time fruitless. He lived, however, to witness the dawn of a brighter day.

In the year 1766, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge endeavoured to form a mission at Calcutta, and sent thither for that purpose the Rev. Mr. Kiernander, who had resided for some time as a missionary on the Coromandel Coast.

Mr. Kiernander laboured with considerable assiduity, but with little success, for many years. He erected a church in Calcutta, which continues to be known by the name of the Mission Church, and in which he performed Divine Service. In consequence of this undertaking, and various other disappointments, his circumstances became embarrassed, and his property, being seized by his creditors, was exposed to sale. This happened in the year 1787, soon after Mr. Brown's arrival in India. On this occasion Mr. Grant came forward, with his accustomed liberality, and purchased the Mission Church for 10,000 rupees, with the view of devoting it exclusively to its original object. In October, 1787, the property was vested in three Trustees; Mr. Brown, Mr. Chambers, and Mr. Grant; Mr. Brown undertaking, in addition to his other duties, to officiate in it This engagement, however, was not satisfactory to the managers of the Orphan Establishment, who insisted on his either renouncing it or quitting their service. He chose the latter alternative, though it was attended with some pecuniary loss; and in August, 1788, he left the Orphan House.

The Trustees communicated these proceedings to the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, sending to them at the same time a copy of the Memoir that had been drawn

up on the subject of a mission to Bengal. The reply of the Society is so creditable to both parties, that I have much pleasure in inserting an extract from it. "I have the pleasure," says Dr. Gaskin, who was then as now the Secretary of this venerable institution, "to inform you, that the contents of your letter were received with much satisfaction, and the part you have acted respecting the concerns of the mission and the Mission Church hath greatly endeared you to the Society." "That you have stepped forward to rescue it from secular uses, and secure it for the sole purpose of religion, is a matter that speaks creditably for you as Englishmen, Christians, and members of our national church. Your act, therefore, is highly approved by the Society; and in the most cordial manner they fall in with your wishes of sending out a new missionary to carry on the sacred purposes they have all along had in view in Calcutta." "The proposal for establishing a mission on a more extensive scale, in Bengal and Bahar, which you were so good as to transmit to my hands, has been listened to by the Mission Committee and the General Board with peculiar satisfaction. They ap

prove its plan, and admire the judgment and piety with which it has been drawn up, and only lament that it is not in their power to give full effect to your wishes. The hope, however, may be encouraged, that the time is shortly coming when efforts for introducing the knowledge of Christ throughout your parts of India may generally take place; and whereinsoever the Society can be aiding to forward such designs they will not be found wanting."

Mr. Brown's life at this period, as well as during the whole of his remaining course, was one of considerable labour."

While he re

tained the superintendance of the Orphan Establishment, be was zealous and indefatigable in the dis

charge of its duties. Besides being chaplain to a brigade in Fort William, he voluntarily undertook, with the approbation of his brother chaplains, the charge of the Mission Church; officiating at each of these points in succession every Sunday. On separating from the Orphan Institution, he received private pupils into his house, and this domestic school was much in request. He paid great attention at the same time to the Free-school of Calcutta, and statedly visited the hospital and gaol, in order to impart religious instruction to the inmates of these places. At the gaol, he was blessed with remarkable success, as indeed he had been in England, in his endeavours to awaken convicts to a sense of their sins, and to bring them to unfeigned repentance. Besides all this, he continued to apply himself assiduously to the acquisition of the native languages, with a view to his being eventually serviceable in translating the Scriptures. His studies in this line, however, were greatly impeded by the necessary attention he was forced to pay to the increasing duties of his ministerial office, and

at

length gave place to more successful labourers in the same field.

The following extracts from his journal will show the devout and pious frame of his mind at this period:-" My anxiety and grief for the mission still continue upon my mind. Nothing remains for me but prayer to the Lord, that he will please to raise up men whose zeal shall never abate of its fervour, and whose exertions shall be unwearied in carrying on so great a work. I hope I may be permitted to say thus much, that I feel disposed to labour wheresoever the Lord shall open a door. My chief delight is, to meditate on and preach the unsearchable riches of Christ; and I would this were my only employment, but that the wish is selfish, and shows me to be too fond of happy moments. I think I am

now where God would have me to be: may I be found faithful in his service!" " My soul thirsteth after a better country, where the inhabitants follow righteousness, peace, and love, and where Jesus walketh in the midst, conversing as a friend face to face. The company of beaven is a most delightful meditation! My friends will there appear in perfect beauty, and the Redeemer himself in the midst, the King of Glory! Oh, my Saviour, what earthly prince can do thus for his best friends! Thou art worthy of all my love, talents, strength, and time. Lord, help me to devote all these fully to thee alone." for the spirit of a Brainerd or a Howard, on whom I have been thinking and conversing this day!" (To be continued.)

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To the Editor of the Christian Observer, THOUGH the character of " a plain man" may suit well enough with the common affairs of life, it carries but little value with it in religious controversy, unless it is united with the character also of a wellinformed man. I bave been led to make this remark by observing in your Miscellany for November last, p. 698, a communication on the baptismal controversy from a writer signing himself Q. C.

Q. C. represents himself as having made, and being astonished with, the discovery of "an important fact," which seems to bim so clear and decisive, that "it defies all the efforts of the most torturing criticism to wrest it from its obvious and natural application."-I imagine the surprise of this writer might have expanded itself through a wider space than that of the arena occupied at present by those "acute disputants on the baptismal controversy" be speaks of, as I am not aware of any commentator, either of early or later date, having made the discovery which Q. C. has; or that it was ever supposed, by any one who

duly considered the passage in question, (Acts viii. 14-16.) that it had the remotest connexion with the subject of the baptismal controversy, much less the "direct bearing" upon it which he assumes. Any seeming bearing lies merely in the sound of the words, which are as follows:-" When the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Hence Q. C. would argue, that the receiving of the Spirit, and the baptism in the name of Christ, are clearly separated, and two distinct things; the one, as we here see, happening some time after the other: therefore the point now so warmly disputed is at once settled beyond a doubt.

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Now, Sir, surely Q C. cannot be so 66 "plain a man,' or so little conversant with scripture facts and doctrines, as to suppose that the persons here spoken of, and of whom it is said, in verse 12, that "when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women;" that these, I say, notwithstanding, continued in their unconverted state, as before, and strangers to the grace of God, till the subsequent arrival of Peter and John. For, if so, then how little reason, alas! had the Ethiopian Eunuch to go 66 on his way rejoicing," if his baptism, which he received at Philip's hands, was thus inefficacious! To admit such an hypothesis as that Q. C. seems to entertain, is, indeed, (to use his own expression,)" torturing critioism," and such as this passage will certainly, I think, continue to defy.

It will not displease this writer, probably, to be referred to the re

spectable father of one of those

acute disputants" he mentions, and to learn what he says on the above passage in his Commentary. I turn to him with the greater readiness, presuming that Q. C. will not suspect this author of any undue bias on the point at issue. In his note on Acts viii. 14—17, Mr. Scott says:"When they (Peter and John) came to the city, and saw the effects of Philip's ministry, they by prayer and imposition of hands obtained for the converts the Holy Ghost; that is, HIS MIRACULOUS GIFTS AND OPERATIONS: for though, as believers, they partook of his RE-generating, sanctifying, and comforting influences, yet they had not before been favoured with his EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNICATIONS. The regenerating influences, here admitted to have been received before, were received atwhat time, then? Certainly, when these converts believed and were baptized, as appears plain from the words before cited. In this passage then, so triumphantly brought forward, we find mention of baptism, apparently as if distinct from the reception of the Spirit, but in reality including, without a doubt, all the ordinary spiritual blessings generally annexed to it. What afterwards took place was the pouring out of those additional EX

TRAORDINARY AND SPECIAL GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST, which were only imparted through the instrumentality of apostolic hands. "It is evident," says Dr. Doddridge, "that here were EXTRAORDINARY GIFTS evidently conferred BY EXTRAORDINARY OFFICERS.

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I might add many more to these testimonies; but I will only lay before Q. C. the words of one, the learned and lucid Estius, as setting the sense of the passage in a clear and perfect light. He says:"Acceperant quidem in baptismo Spiritum Sanctum ad sanctificationem, quia renati erant ex Spiritu Sancto in cujus rei typum super

Christum in Jordane baptizatum descendit in specie Columbæ Spiritus Sanctus. Sed non acceperant ad robur quomodo acceperant Apostoli in die Pentecostes." Where he evidently means the EXTRAORDINARY GIFTS of the Spirit.

These two or three quotations, from authors differing in time and denomination, and of deserved celebrity, may serve to give light to a plain man," and to show Q. C. that the meaning of Scripture is not to be gained by a mere glimpse at the surface, but by much candid attention, careful consideration, and with an honest and good heart."

Bringing these qualifications, as well as that of plainness, to the examination of the baptismal controversy, I trust he will perceive and admit that baptism, in every instance when it is " rightly and duly administered,"* is, according to the sound words of our excellent Church Catechism, "a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righte: ousness; for being by nature born in sin, the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace." I am, &c.

OLD CHURCH.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

MANY have been the papers which have appeared in your publication on the baptismal controversy; and whether or no I ought to consider the following a supernumerary, my decision will await the arrival of your next Number.

"I am a plain man, and have always considered a single fact, well authenticated and of direct

bearing upon the subject, to be

more conclusive than all the abstract reasoning in the world," and also that it looks defiance upon an ocean of abstract reasons assail ing it. But the single plain fact, chosen by your correspondent Q. C. (for that there is choice

*Q. Received.

+ Number for November last, p. 698.

afforded us I shall endeavour presently to show) does not appear to me to be of direct bearing upon the subject, in the light, at least, in which I conceive be views it. For might it not be objected, that they are the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit here mentioned? (Acts viii. 16.) Which supposition will be almost, if not certainly, confirmed by a similar case, related Acts xix. 4-7; where the disciples at Ephesus are said to have believed and been baptized, and that St. Paul, having laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and they spake with tongues. Now, this being the case, the people of Samaria might, notwithstanding, have received that communication of the Spirit which alone, in these days, we are authorized to expect. And we may fairly conclude they must have done so; for it is said, (chap. viii. 12.,) that they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Now, it would be unwarrantable to suppose that the faith of all of them was as unsound as that of Simon Magus; and, if sound, they could not but have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The circumstance, (Eph. ii. 8.) indeed, of Peter and John being sent down to impart spiritual gifts, is an evidence that their profession, time having now been allowed for. its trial, was sincere; and it would seem to have been so ordered by God, in whose sight his heart was not right, that Simon Magus should not partake of this benefit; the method which he afterwards took to obtain it, upon finding himself excluded, fully discovering that he was yet "in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." would infer, therefore, that neither the one nor the other communication accompanied baptism; for it is said that they believed, and were then baptized. And in this view of it, the fact will indeed be irresistible.

I

Should we wish for other facts to the same purport, we have not far to look. In the eighth chapter we have recorded also the case of the Eunuch, to whom Philip having preached Jesus, and he having expressed a desire to be baptized, "Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God." Now faith, we know, is the gift of God; and, moreover, that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord except by the Holy Ghost.

The

Eunuch, therefore, was regenerated; and no person will maintain that he was a second time regenerated in his baptism.

The case of Cornelius (Acts x.) is perhaps stronger. "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."

Once more if circumcision be considered a type of baptism, St. Paul will supply us with an unequivocal definition of the latter, which exactly accords with the above-mentioned instances. Rom. iv. 11. And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised."

66

"These facts commend themselves to every man's conscience with irresistible influence, and defy all the efforts of the most torturing criticism to wrest them from their obvious and natural application."

AMICUS.

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 181.

To

For the Christian Observer.

ON WORLDLY CONFORMITY.

many Christians even, this command of the Apostle will appear a hard saying. It is not at first view evident how a man can live in society, engage in the business of life, and yet do nothing, in word or deed, except what he considers himself as doing according to the will of God. By some persons, ignorant of Christianity, who consider it as something scarcely admitting of definition, but, at all events, requiring those who subject themselves to its laws to be totally dif ferent from those around them, the Christian character has been always viewed as something extremely gloomy and unsocial. That a man may obey the whole Moral Law, they can easily conceive. It may even be admitted by many, that he may thus be a much better member of society, and in every respect a more amiable character. But when the peculiar demands of Christianity are represented to them, and those parts of it which can be only spiritually discerned come under their consideration; when they hear the command, "Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth;" when they are required to abandon "father and mother, houses and lands, for Christ's sake and the Gospel's ;" when they are forbidden to be anxious concerning "what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed ;" they are apt to exclaim, "How can these things be? How can we obey so hard and austere a Master ?"

But there is nothing inconsistent in the idea of keeping one's self unspotted from the world, and yet living in the world. It is perfectly possible "to use the world as not abusing it ;" to enjoy the innocent pleasures and all the comforts which our situation affords, without being conformed to the

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