the same Gospel as Peter did on the day of Pentecost, at Jerusalem, which if obeyed by faith in Jesus Christ, will cleanse the conscience from dead works, that the purified may worship God in spirit and in truth. I have baptized the household of one, by the name of Thomas Butler. This makes us five in number who have determined to abide by the truth as it is in Jesus. There is another which I hope will soon put on the Lord by being born of water and of the Spirit.*

Will you have the goodness to ask, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, some of the brethren who are rich, to forward us a few Hymn Books? We have only two. I brought out with me the second, third, and fourth volumes of the Messenger; also Christianity Restored, and the New Translation. We are poor, and you know the books we love cannot be obtained here. We hope the brethren will do all they can for us. I shall never forget the kindness of brother C. Campbell, of Glasgow, but now of America. It was through him I learned to write, after I obeyed the Lord, or I could not have sent to you as I now do. May peace be on the the Lord Jesus Christ. greet you all. May the Amen.

church with you, and on
Brethren, pray for us.
grace of our Lord Jesus

all the brethren in The brethren here, Christ be with you. T. JACKSON.

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR.

ON reading the above we were disposed to ask, Who gave this man authority to preach and baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus, on the far distant shores of New Zealand? The man surely must be mad! He has not been regularly called, ordained, and sent forth by his brethren. Well, well, he is gone forth to dig, plough, and sow proper seed in mother earth, that he may have food for the body, why may he not sow the good seed of the Word of God, that men may be blessed in the Redeemer, and gratefully call him blessed? Has he not the same authority to do one as to do the other? And is it not the way to bring forth fruit to eternal life?"Then they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word." Our prayer is, that they may be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

We are warranted in saying, that the congregation in Nottingham will cheerfully send out a box of books, to help these brethren in the important work in which they are engaged.

PROTESTANTISM.

THE following extract is selected from the Patriot, of May 1st, and is from the speech delivered at the public meeting of the Baptist Irish Society, London. Mr. W. Brock, Baptist minister of Norwich, is the speaker. The sentiments contained in the speech are noble, and if not suffered to end in words, (which, alas, is too often the case), would produce great reformation, in this age of division and strife, throughout professing Christendom. The following extract from the close of the speech is all we can give :

"I hope no Dissenters will ever go cap-in-hand to Lord John Russell again—a man, who has declared, with regard to the Wesleyan

* A letter of a later date from brother G. Taylor, late of Halifax, informs us there are now nine members in the church.

body, what I know is not true, and who has written, I know not what; but I know what he has said about us. He said, when trying to throw dirt on the voluntary principle-and he said it scornfully, and with evident intention to let down the voluntary principle, and its advocates at the same time—“The men who lived to please, must please to live." That was said in his place in the House of Commons; in other words, that the Dissenting ministers of the country, and all other voluntary ministers, are at the mercy of their people, for preaching what their people like, and withholding that they know they do not like. I stand in this body of Protestant Nonconformists, and I ask if that is the man to be called our leader? If that is the man in whose wake we are to follow, for whom we are to canvass, and when we have any great object in view, ask him to take it under his wing? I hope we have got well clear of all parties, and that we shall have wisdom given us from above, never to connect ourselves with a party any more. We are learning. There is popery besides Papal Popery. We want great sifting: we have not got rid of half our chaff-of half our dross. There is amongst us, that which, virtually and absolutely considered, is the bane of Protestantism, the great obstacle to the advancement of the cause of Jesus Christ. It his high time for us to be jealous of everything pertaining to priestcraft; to hold that we have but one Master, Jesus Christ, and that all we are brethren. Some of you have read, no doubt, "Ward's Ideal of a Christian Church," in which he says, he hates Protestantism more and more, that the Reformation was a badly set limb, and so on. There is from the beginning to the end of certain publications, a continual tilt against Protestantism; I do not say what was the animus of the men who uttered such expressions, or what was their aim and object: nevertheless I have some sympathy with them. I confess honestly, frown who may, and scold who may, that I have very considerable doubt as to the value of Protestantism, as Protestantism has been generally understood. What is it? A mere thing of accident. I believe, that if you look with a careful eye upon the Reformation, apart from good, sound, Protestant Nonconformists, you will perceive it has not been a thing of necessity, but of accident; not of principle, but of caprice. It behoves every thoughtful man to look well to the meaning of the term Protestantism, in common vogue. I believe it will turn out differently from what we have thought it was, when we have been defending our Protestantism, and standing up against Popery in certain forms and shapes. I do believe, however, that the difficulties we have met with have arisen from an utterly mistaken apprehension of what Protestantism is, and what the Reformation was. It was rather political than religious; the religion of that great event was accidental, not essential. Let us look at it now that we are coming to these times of sifting and examination, and give up everything that cannot be found in the New Testament and cannot be justified by it. I sit down with entreating every one to look to his or her Nonconforming principles. Ireland is a glorious topic upon which to inculcate a thorough illustration and revisal of all the principles we hold dear. They will bear examination. If there be anything of the earth earthy, let it Give up the dross, never mind who has inculcated it-who

go.

has bequeathed it. Let us stand up, and give up all the dross that has been added and superadded by the wit and selfishness of men, and when we do that, God, even our own God, will bless us, and then, and I believe not till then, all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God."

Mr. Brock has lost all confidence in Protestantism as it now exists. "Let us," says he, "Look at it now we are come to these times of sifting and examination, and give up everything that cannot be found in the New Testament, and cannot be justified by it." We cordially assent to this proposition. Let every professor of Christianity act this noble part. Let that unerring Book end all the strife; and whatever cannot be found in it, or justified by its hallowed principles, be immediately given up.

The following queries are respectfully submitted to the candid examination of every person, who desires to be guided exclusively by the Apostles of Jesus:

First. What proof can be given that the primitive Christians ever made application, either in one form or other, to any person not belonging to the church, for contributions to uphold the institutions of Christ, or to spread the truth throughout the world?

Second. What part of the New Testament will justify the monthly or quarterly observance of the Lord's Supper? (See Acts xx. 7).

Third. What scriptural evidence is afforded since the day of Pentecost, of any person being recognized as a Christian, who had not been immersed in water, in the name of Jesus Christ? (See Acts ii. 48). Will any of the Baptists answer these questions, founding their remarks on the examples given in the Word of God ?—Ep.

MAYNOOTH ENDOWMENT.

THE endowment of the Roman Catholic College at Maynooth, is now certain. The third reading of the bill for that purpose, was carried through the House of Commons, on Wednesday the 21st ult., with a majority of one hundred and thirty-seven in its favour.

ELECTRICITY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE.

REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.

DANIEL, one of the ancient and most celebrated prophets of Israel, predicted some two thousand three hundred years ago, that "many should run to and fro, and knowledge should be increased." The various developments in God's providence, and the words, were to be shut up and sealed to the time of the end. Surely, discoveries have been made, and are now making, which would surprise even to admiration the Prophet himself, were it possible for him to appear amongst us.

There is much said in the Scriptures respecting the earth yielding her increase, and God blessing his people. Now, as the Divine Being does every thing through a medium, and man is the chosen agent to

bring out his purposes, we are led to reflect upon these passages from the fact of electricity now being applied to agricultural purposes. The following extract is found in the Economist. The entire article is too long for selection especially as our pages for June are now nearly filled up, otherwise it is well worthy of being recorded.

The summary is as follows:-The element which now promises to be turned to the increased use of man in a most extraordinary way, is electricity. We have before us the result of one experiment on a considerable scale, which, we think, cannot but prove highly interesting to our readers. It took place in the north of Scotland.

A portion of a field of barley, to which the electric application was made, produced last year, at the rate of thirteen quarters and a half to the acre, while the surrounding land similarly treated in other respects produced the usual quantity of from five to six quarters to the acre. The cost at which the application can be made, is computed at one pound per acre, and it is reckoned to last from ten to fifteen years, the wires being carefully taken up and replaced each year. The writer says, From the experiments which have been made, we are bound to look upon this new discovery, as one likely, before long, to produce as great a revolution in agriculture, as the inventions of the steam engine, and spinning jenny, have done in manufacture. This discovery is likely to present a very full compensation for the exhaustion of Ichaboe. The results of the further experiments which are going forward we will from time to time report.-Economist, April 26th, and May 3rd.

TWENTY-SEVEN OBJECTIONS TO ROMANISM.

17. It is a system of falsehood.

18. It usurps the place of God.

19. It makes religion consist in attachment to the church, not in love to God.

20. It is destructive to all true religion.

21. It means to subjugate this country to foreign power.

22. It is Satan's master-piece to ruin the soul.

23. It has over-run all modern nations except ours.

24. It has never proved a blessing to a people.

25. Its bishops and priests are not citizens of this country.

26. It aims to destroy all who do not embrace it.

27. It has shed the blood of nearly 70,000,000 Protestants, and we dare not trust it.

SEEK not to be rich, but happy. The one lies in bags, the other in content, which wealth can never give.

ITEMS OF NEWS, STATISTICS, &c.