the Lord Jesus Christ, are some of the first and most important effects of the Spirit's work on the heart. These must be included in the work of the Spirit alluded to in this discourse with Nicodemus. Without them he could not enter into the kingdom of God. Whenever the Scriptures plainly mention baptism in connexion with these fruits of the Spirit, the order of words invariably observed is, first these fruits, or what necessarily implies them, and then baptism. "Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John." (John iv. 1.) "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark xvi. 16.) "Repent and be baptized." (Acts ii. 38.) "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. iv. 5.) "Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, &c." (Heb. vi. 1, 2.) If in John iii. 5, by "water our Lord intends baptism, he deviates, in the arrangement of words, from the uniform practice observed by himself and his apostles when they distinctly mention the rite of baptism. Can any satisfactory reason be assigned for such deviation?

2. In the controversy on Baptism, much stress is frequently laid on the order of words. As this must be well known, I need not multiply examples. The following will be quite sufficient: On Eph. iv. 5, Mr. Pengilly says, "We have only to observe here, what we have so frequently noticed before, the apostle puts faith BEFORE baptism, as Christ the great Lawgiver had done. He that believeth and is baptized. One faith, one baptism.' If this passage were to be expressed according to the general practice of the present day, the 'one baptism' must be put before the 'one faith'

and the one Lord.' But who will presume to alter the laws of God, or to reverse the order established by the Almighty." (Scripture Guide.) What force can there be in this reasoning on the order of words, if by "born of water and of the Spirit" our Lord means born of baptism and of the Spirit?

3. If by "water" our Lord intended baptism, would not Nicodemus have fulfilled the requirement of the passage, if he had been first baptized and afterwards renewed in the spirit of his mind? If it be said, "We are taught differently from other portions of the word of God," this is cheerfully admitted, and it is implied in our present objection. But we ask, What did Nicodemus know about these other portions of the word of God? If baptism be alluded to here, this is, for any thing we know, all that Nicodemus was taught on the subject of baptism. We believe that the renewing of the Holy Ghost must precede baptism; but could this be our belief if we knew no more on the subject than we can learn from this passage?

4. From the immense importance of the subject, and the great solemnity with which it is stated, is there not reason to suppose that as much attention would be given to the correct order of words in this passage as in any other portion of Scripture ?

I have endeavoured to state this objection in as few words as possible. If any of your correspondents can prove that there is no force in it, they will, I have no doubt, gratify many of your readers.

I remain, dear Brethren,
Truly yours,

THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Pp. 60. 8vo. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co. This very interesting pamphlet, by the author of that valuable and standard work, "The Annals of the English Bible," is written partly to give a brief statement of the facts but little known, which are contained in that work, and partly, as the title-page announces, to illustrate the paramount duty and imperative obligation of

British christians to other nations in the

present eventful period. We earnestly hope that this pamphlet will secure the attention it justly deserves. The history of the English Bible is but little known. Royalty has swallowed up merit. The disgusting dedication of our mis-called translators doubtless leads most to suppose, that our chief debt of gratitude is to one of the ignoblest monarchs who ever filled our throne; and George the Third's wish that

every child in his dominions might be able to read his bible, has been abundantly paraded. But it is W. Tyndal whom we have to thank for the Bible we daily read, and it was W. Tyndal who told the ignorant clergy of his day, that "the boy who drove the plough in England should know the Bible better than they." And W. Tyndal effected this; did it in banishment, and at the cost of his life. Honour, therefore, to whom honour is due, is the just claim of Mr. Anderson; and he demands some suitable national monument both to Tyndal and his friend and coadjutor Rogers.

We are especially pleased with Mr. A.'s discourse on the text, "that Tyndal gave us our own Bible from a foreign land." He suggests from it England's duty of doing very much more in the way of sending translations from English printing presses to other nations; and heartily do we coincide with him in urging individuals to follow Tyndal's example; not to wait for societies, but themselves and a few friends to undertake, as Tyndal and Rogers did, to give the Bible amply and efficiently to some country. Some wealthy Manchester or Liverpool merchants, if determined to do this, would soon work the details better and cheaper than most societies.

THE SWISS PASTOR. THE LIFE OF THE REV. F. A. A. GONTHIER. FROM THE FRENCH OF HIS NEPHEWS. Pp. 144.

THE HENRY FAMILY MEMORIALIZED. BY SIR J. B. WILLIAMS. Pp. 154.

GRACE DERMOTT; OR, HELP FOR THE AFFLICTED. Pp. 196.

Three interesting additions to the numerous small and cheap books issued by the Religious Tract Society.

The first records another of those lives of high intelligence and ardour dedicated to the service of the Cross amidst the hardships of Alpine Protestantism, with which the lives of Oberlin and Felix Neff, of whose

conversion Mr. Gonthier was the chief instrument, have made us familiar.

The second, besides brief acts of the members of the Henry family already known, gives a full "Memorial" of the rest. The sketches are eight in number. To us all pertaining to this gifted family is interesting. We could wish the Life of Philip Henry by his Son, and his Son's own Commentary, to be in every family.

The third volume is one of a similar class to the "City Cousins," we suppose by the same writer. It is so full of incident, both nature and grace too painted in such vivid colours, that it will be sure of a reading. Some would say there is too much of the novel in it. We should reply it will be read through by hundreds who could not read a homily, and we may hope that its chief lesson must remain in the mind. No one can object more than we do to the substitution of reading requiring no mental effort for that which does; but it is surely a deed of mercy to induce those who will have entertainment, to receive a valuable lesson in that shape which they would not listen to in another. Moreover, the writer has not represented it to be so very easy a thing to overcome the souring tendency of mortifying and painful bodily affliction. Her heroine is in rather high life; but even the poorer classes relish pictures of what they have no experience of.

LESSONS FOR INFANT CLASSES; WITH AN

INTRODUCTION ON INFANT CLASS TEACHING. BY A TEACHER OF BABES. (Sunday School Library, Vol. 3.) Pp. 128. London: Benjamin L. Green.

An extract from this little volume appears in our Page for the Young this month. It is a specimen of sixteen lessons, all excellent and beautiful, and all well adapted to the purpose for which they have been written. We earnestly recommend this, as well as the previous volumes of this admirable series, to our friends engaged in the instruction of the young.

suffer for conscience' sake because they loved the blessed Saviour. Dear children, do you understand what I mean by conscience? When you are going to do something, aud you are not quite sure if it is right, does not a little voice speak within ? "Conscience

whispers it is wrong, and intreats you to beware." And suppose some one should come to persuade you to do some very naughty thing, and frighten you with the fear of punishment if you refused, the little voice within would say, "Dear child, do not do wrong; it is better to suffer than to be naughty." If you listened to conscience and would not be tempted, then you would suffer for conscience' sake.

When Joseph was a boy in Egypt, and lived in Potiphar's house, he suffered for conscience' sake. Potiphar's wife tempted him to forget his master's business, and asked him to come and sit with her; and she took hold of his cloak and tried to keep him; but Joseph would not be tempted, he said, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" This made Potiphar's wife so angry, that she persuaded her husband to put poor Joseph in prison. Do you think he was very miserable? Oh, no; he did not like prison, but he was glad that he had not offended God; he would rather suffer for conscience' sake.

A long time ago there were many little ones in England, who loved to wander about in the sunny fields, and sit together under the shady trees, where they might tell each other the beautiful stories they had heard from the bible; and it was very sweet to the traveller as he passed along the dusty road to hear their childish voices singing hymns of praise to Jesus. These children delighted to go with their fathers and mothers to hear some good minister preach and pray; and they were happy when the Sabbath evening came, and the holy bible was opened, for then their parents talked to them, and they all prayed together to the great God who was their Father in heaven.

This was a time of peace, but it could not always be so. There were many people in England who did not really love God; and the king and the nobles of the land did not like his holy word-they said that the people must not read the bible, and they ordered them all to worship God in the same way as they did. Now the bible said that their worship was not right, and what must these poor christians do, for the king threatened them with dreadful punishment if they did not obey his command? It was a time of fear and sorrow; the little children must not sing in the fields, or listen to the minister, or sit round their bright fires talking of Jesus. Soldiers went over the country

to find them out and carry them to prison. Sometimes they would steal out secretly in the dark night, when they thought their enemies were asleep; and children were brave enough to go with their parents far into the deep, quiet woods, where the bright moon could hardly send her light because of the thickness of the leaves: and there the good minister met his people to read God's blessed word and pray for strength to suffer for conscience' sake. But it was only children who truly loved the Saviour who dared to go; wicked men were often near to watch, and they would suddenly seize them and carry them before the judge. He was a cruel man; sometimes he would order these poor children to be fastened with their mothers to a stake where the faggots were heaped round, and they were burned to death.

I can tell you of one little girl who was only nine years old;-she was taken prisoner with four men,-perhaps one was her father, or perhaps she had gone alone to serve her Saviour. When the people came round the stake to see the martyrs suffer, some of them were sorry for this young child; they thought she could not know much about the bible, and the way to please the Saviour; so out of compassion, they held her back and wished to save her; but though she was so young she was very brave, and rather than deny the Lord Jesus, she cast herself into the flames and perished! Was not this a time of fear? It was indeed; but the people were happy who suffered for conscience' sake, because they knew that God would not forsake them. One good man was tempted to put his name to a paper, promising not to read the bible, and not to preach any more the words of Jesus, and he was allowed to go out of prison; but was he happy? Oh, no; the wicked people smiled upon him, and there was peace all around him, but no peace in his heart; and at last he could not bear it. He thought he would rather suffer all the pain of burning than this dreadful pain of a guilty conscience. What do you think he did? Why he came back to the judge, and told him that he wished to take his name off the paper, for he must read his bible and serve his Master in heaven. The judge frowned upon him, and ordered the faggots to be prepared. As he walked to the stake he sang hymns of praise to the Saviour; he had not felt so happy for a long time, and when the light was set to the wood, and the bright flame

arose, he held up his right hand for all the people to see, and said, “This was the guilty hand which denied my Saviour, it must go first," and he held it in the flame till it was quite burned.

Does the thought of such suffering make you shudder? It lasted a long time, dear children, but at last there came peace again. The cruel judge was dead, and a new king was on the throne, who allowed his people to read the bible, and worship God in the way which conscience told them was right; but many parents and children had been obliged to leave their own country, and cross the sea to find a home in America. There the children could sit together under the trees once more, and talk about Jesus, their heavenly Friend, how he had kept them in the danger, and taken some to dwell with him in the happy land,-and they loved that gracious Saviour better than they had done before.

Let us be thankful to God, dear children, that we live in a peaceful time. God promises that some day we shall sit under our vine and fig tree, and no one shall make us afraid. Is that time come now, do you think? I dare say you will say yes-"I can sing in the garden, and read the bible, and go to God's house of prayer, and no one will be angry with me." And that is true; but you do not know how long it will be so; and you must pray to the Lord to give you strength to suffer for conscience' sake if he

sends the trial. The time of fear cannot quite go until all people love the Saviour; "Perfect love casteth out fear." The heathen who forsake their idols, suffer for the truth's sake, and some day perhaps you and I will have to suffer because we follow Jesus.

Dear children, at some other time we will search in our bibles, and find out what it is right to do, and then we will try to keep fast hold of the truth and never let it go; but you will not be strong enough to do this unless you have great love to Jesus Christ in your heart. What helped the martyr Stephen to bear the cruel stoning of the Jews? and the apostles Peter and John to rejoice when they were beaten ?-the same love to the Saviour which has taught even little children to suffer for his sake, and which will teach you to be obedient to his commands.

Would you not be glad if the peaceful time was come? I am sure you would; then I will tell you how to help to bring it. There are two things you must do: first, give the best love of your heart to Jesus,and then, secondly, try to persuade every one else to do so too. You are a little child, you cannot say much, but you can shew them how pleasant it is to be a child of God. Now let us pray:-O Lord Jesus, give us thy peace, and let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

BLIND MARY.

A SKETCH.

Mary Player, or "Blind Mary," as she was familiarly termed, was born in the small village of Sanding, in Bedfordshire. At an early age, she was removed with her family to Elmdon, in Essex, and from thence to Great Chesterford in the same county, where she passed the remainder of her life revered and beloved by all who knew her.

The advantages of learning, in Mary's early days, were extremely rare, and yet by some means or other, she managed to learn to read. And amongst other good books in which she took great delight, the Bible was held by her in pre-eminent esteem. Over this she was wont to pore with the deepest interest, and to her close and intense

study of its hallowed pages in early life, may doubtless be traced those firm and fixed principles by which her whole after life was so admirably directed, and her deep poverty and heavy afflictions so sweetly sustained. Trained to habits of industry, much of her time was devoted to spinning; but that she might now and then catch a word or a sentence out of her favourite book the Bible, she was accustomed to lay this precious treasure by the side of her wheel, and thus secure food for her mind while she aided her parents in obtaining bread for the family.

When but a child, Mary was remarkable for her conscientious regard to truth. Under no circumstances could she be induced to prevaricate. Her lips abhorred a lie in every form and shape it wears. Her tem

per also was singularly placid, her voice soft and silvery, and her whole demeanour soft and unruffled.

Some little time previous to her reaching her nineteenth year, she was afflicted with a fever, which affected her eyes, and in a few short months wholly deprived her of her sight. This, to any young person, would be deemed a heavy trial. Poor Mary felt it as such; and as the art of teaching the blind to read by embossed or raised letters was not then known, this affliction was at first greatly enhanced by the gloomy foreboding of a total deprivation of her favourite employment, reading the book of God. Upon mature reflection, however, her mind was brought to bow to the will of her Heavenly Father. The thought that all around her were not blind, and that the Scriptures might still be read to her, tended much to allay the anxieties of her mind, and reconcile her to this painful providence. Being naturally possessed of a strong memory and quick perception, much that she had read, as well as what was now read to her, readily became her own; and hence her memory became a storehouse of rich treasures, out of which she often drew advice, direction, and comfort for others, as well as for herself.

How the process of Divine illumination was effected, or under what peculiar circumstances she was first led to give her heart to the Saviour, and herself to the church of God, does not precisely appear. One thing, however, is obvious, and that is, that from a child she had known the Holy Scriptures; and we know that irrespective of all other means, the Divine Spirit is able to make these available unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. iii. 15.) It is not too much, therefore, to presume, that under the gradual teaching of this holy agent, she was brought to the knowledge of Christ, and to the full consecration of herself to his glory and fear. But be the mode of operation as it may, it is well known that she was remarkable for the solidity and consistency of her christian character on the one hand, and for her zeal, punctuality, and cheerfulness on the other. Whatever, indeed, religion may have appeared in others, it never appeared otherwise than lovely and inviting in her.

The ministry under which it would seem she derived great advantage, and by which she was eventually led to declare herself on the Lord's side, was that of the Rev. Matt.

Walker, pastor of the Baptist church, Saffron Walden, Essex. Of the church under the care of Mr. Walker, and subsequently of the late Rev. Josiah Wilkinson, Mary was for nine-and-forty years a highly honourable, loving, and beloved member.

To many, the distance at which Mary lived from the house of God would have been viewed as a sufficient reason for irregular attendance, and especially as for many years she had a weakly body and a diseased leg. But neither distance, weather, nor infirmity had any influence in deterring her from walking three and a half miles and back every Lord's-day, that she might participate in the privileges of the sanctuary, and mingle her praises with the hosannas of Zion. Nor is it unworthy of note, that whoever might be late in the house of God, Mary was always in time, and often long before the time. Indeed, of her it might be said, "She walked with God," and "adorned the doctrine of God her Saviour in all things."

In her the graces of the Spirit shonepre-eminently. Charity, meekness, and humility blended their lovely rays in all her deportment. Her tender expostulations with the erring, her cheering counsel to the disconsolate, and her winning advice and encouragement to the young and enquiring disciple, commanded the admiration of all, and won for her the golden appellation of "a mother in Israel." Like her Divine Lord, she was also an example of quiet submission to the will of her Heavenly. Father in all her sufferings (and these at times were great). Nor was the steadiness and sincerity of her attachment, or the readiness of her disposition to forbearance, less remarkable. In a word, to all with whom she had to do, she was ever kind and attentive, evincing the utmost willingness. to render them any little service in her power. And as she had taught herself many things in which she might be useful to her friends, she might often be found nursing a neighbour's baby, washing out a few clothes, or taking care of the house during their absence, and thus endearing herself to all around her. Amongst other things, she had acquired a considerable facility in knitting gloves and stockings. To encourage her in this useful exercise, many ladies in the village, as well as others, would often find her employment, and thus enable her to obtain many little comforts of which. she must otherwise have been deprived.