of the sacred Scriptures into the French language. The proceedings were most harmonious, and the spirit of conciliation manifested on all sides was very marked. There are doubtless many difficulties in the way, the foremost among them being the unrelenting bigotry of the French episcopate and priesthood, and the denunciations by certain journalists, and bishops of the ultramontane party already threatens the society's existence, which renders it unwise at present to conjecture the result of this extremely happy family. ALL Protestant Christendom has heard, with mingled feelings of sorrow and indig. nation, of the unprovoked massacre of several of their co-religionists in the South of Italy. The deed of blood perpetrated at the seaport town of Barletta, on the Adriatic, is as clearly traceable to priestly instigation and popish bigotry, as the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Last sum mer, Gaetano Giannini was appointed first to visit periodically, and afterwards permanently, to occupy this station, by the Nice Committee of Evangelization. Giannini has written an account of the affair, in which he says, that on St. Joseph's day, (March 19), he observed from the balcony of the meeting-room a man making mena: cing signs, and presently two boys, sons of brethren, aged 13 and 14, came rushing in, saying, "Signor Gaetano, the mob seek your life." The landlord took him, and the two boys, who had refused to return home, saying, "We will die with you," to the roof of the house. The three moved, from roof to roof, endeavouring to enter one house by an open window, but were rudely repulsed. They continued their way in silent prayer, and succeeded in entering another house, and concealed themselves under a bed, but soon found, to their horror, they were in the apartments of a canon; but in this case, as in others, God made their enemies their protectors. The canon, upon discovering them, sent to the Sub-prefect, who sent an officer of the Custom-house, and conducted Giannini to the fort, where he remained until the 23rd, treated by the commandant as a son, receiving from him, with the order of the Sub-prefect for his departure, fifty francs for his journey. The poor landlord of the meeting-room, after conducting Giannini and the boys to the roof, returned to his apartments, to find his wife, with an infant of five months old in her arms, cruelly beaten, and himself was similarly mal treated when he informed the mob Gian a nini had escaped. His apartment was gutted; his furniture, beds, and all carried away or consumed in the flame, as well as everything belonging to the evangelist. The landlord's brother-in-law, who occupied the other side of the house, in like manner, had all his property destroyed; and young man, a brother in the Lord, found in the apartment, was poniarded, and thrown from the balcony upon the burning furniture below. Another brother, father of the boy who was with the evangelist, after seeing all his furniture burned, war barbarously murdered while kneeling and begging for mercy (Rome never shows mercy); but crying to the last, "Christ Jesus is my Saviour." He has left a desolate widow, with two children. Many brethren fled from the country. One of crusade against the Protestants; and on the priests, Postiglioni, had often preached a the day of the massacre brandishing his crucifix, he shouted, "Long live the faith, and death to the Protestants!" Besides the plunder, &c., of the property, the zealots murdered at least three Protestants. Gran"The blood of our Barletta brethren is nini adds, towards the close of his letter, the triumph of the gospel; the fire which has been lighted there is inextinguishable.' This is Rome-modern Rome-the hypocritical and pretended followers of Him who said, "My kingdom is not of this world, else would my servants fight !" Ir is with deep regret that we notice the growing tendency in a number of churches to indulge in Romanizing ritualistic practices. During the absence of the Bishop of London, through indisposition, there may be those among his clergy who feel under less restraint than they otherwise might; but it would seem in the Metropolitan diocese, if things proceed as they have done for some time past, a crisis cannot be far distant. In one of the Protestant churches in Dublin these objectionable novelties have been introduced, and so offensively and persistently practised that the people's feelings have been aroused-the celebration of public worship prevented by the cries of those assembled, and the building closed. Such Protestantism has always had the reputation of being distinctly evangelical, and that any of its doctrines should be found so tainted with Romanizing tendencies as to provoke such scenes must be a matter of sorrow to every Protestant-loving member and well-wisher of Protestantism in the United Kingdom. TIMOTHY OF CROYDON. BRISCOE, Printer, Banner-street, Bunhill-row, Finsbury. THE VOICE OF TRUTH; OR, Baptist Record. "SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE." IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY. JULY, 1866. Expositions and Essays. BREAD FOR THE WILDERNESS. BY J. BLOOMFIELD, Meard's-court Chapel, Soho, London. "This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat."-EXOD. xvi. 15. Concerning the manna observe— II. The sovereignty and order of its bestowment. It was the bread which the Lord gave them to eat. The manna was not theirs by any right: it was not purchased by their meritorious work. No, it was theirs by the gift of God. The doctrine of human merit is not to be found in the ways or book of God. It is a fearful delusion, which originated in the lies of Satan, or in the perverted judg ments of the sons of men. The manna was God's gift, not according to human deservings, but as an expression of God's undeserved favour and goodwill. 1. It was a manifestation of sovereign grace. They had no claim upon God for this extraordinary provision: they never received it because of any personal worth in them. No, it was given them sovereignly. What are the blessings of the everlasting gospel but sovereign bestowments. They are given, not on the ground of creature deservings-not on the ground of creature goodness, but solely on the ground of sovereignty and the riches of distinguishing grace. The gospel is, in every part of it, the expression of grace. The sovereign favours of the truth as it is in Jesus are living bread-satisfying to living souls, and strengthening to Zion's pilgrims. The gospel is free-grace bread: it is not to be bought by human merit, but comes as an illustration of the immensity of God's love and the riches of Divine mercy. The source of the blessings of the everlasting covenant is grace: the language in which the blessings are made known is the language of grace and mercy. The blessings are graciously bestowed. Can you say, I have a right to the bread of life: I have a right to the blessings of the gospel: I have a right to the living_water-to the bread of heaven, and to the garment of salvation? No; you say, It is all of God's grace that I have not been left to perish? It is all of grace that I have an appetite for the bread which cometh down from heaven. Grace produces in me a dissatisfaction with all the flesh-pots of Egypt-with all creature doings—with all the husks of mere ritualism, and with the noisy and empty pleasures of an ungodly world. It fills the true believer in Christ with VOL. V. NO. LV., NEW SERIES. N unspeakable joy when he thinks of the freeness of gospel provision. The Israelites had the manna without money and without price: they had refreshing streams from the rock graciously, and not by human merit. Joseph, when he supplied his brethren with corn, did it freely, sufficiently, and bountifully, and sent their money back in their sacks. The father of the prodigal gave his son a loving welcome, and, without charge, gave him shoes for his feet, a ring for his finger, the best robe to cover him, and freely gave him the provisions of his table. 2. It was gathered daily, with the exception of the Sabbath. Gathering it daily kept them sensible of their dependence on the goodness and power of God. They could not live an independent life, for they were children of want; nor will God suffer his children to live otherwise in gospel things. They are dependent upon God for a daily allowance: they need daily bread and constant support. "He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." We cannot keep any store by us. We think we will sometimes, when we realize the comforts of the Holy Ghost-the savour of the precious truths of the gospel, and the spiritual blessings of God's spiritual and public worship; but how weak we prove ourselves in this! We are dependent upon God for the blessings and comforts of saving religion, and also for the maintenance of them in the enjoyments of our souls. The Israelites had to leave their tents to obtain the manna which came from God': it was gathered without the camp. And have not God's people to leave their tents of worldliness-of self-sufficiency-of ritualism, and of Pharisaism in order to obtain the provision of the gospel of Christ, which is the true spiritual manna which cometh down from heaven. This can only be found where God supplies it. The Lord gave the manna when they must have perished if he had not mercifully interposed. The Lord knows how, and when, and where to bestow his favours. The Israelites gathered the bread which the Lord gave them in the morning, when the light shone around them, and the sun was beginning to shine over their pathway. When is it, ye children of God, you can gather gospel manna? Is it not when the light of God's favour shines and makes day to your souls? Is it not when the Sun of righteousness shines on your pathway and on the truths of God's word. The manna came in the night, but was gathered in the morning. The gospel came in the night of the world's darkness, but it was not realized and enjoyed till the breaking forth of a divine light in our souls. Christ came in the night of Jewish darkness and at the close of their dispensation. The Jews, by reason of the darkness of Jewish prejudices—of criminal ignorance--of cruel enmity, could not see him as the bread which cometh down from heaven; nor did we see any attractions in Christ-any need of the atonement of Christ, or any necessity for or suitability in the communicable fulness of Christ, till a Divine light entered our souls, and made manifest our perishing and ruined condition, and the precious suitability of gospel provisions. When the light entered our minds with saving power, we said, "O Lord my God, early will I seek thee," and the hidden manna which thou only canst supply. O Lord, we come to the Scripture and to the sanctuary, that we may know the truth and the power of God. We come to where thou hast promised to be in the assemblies of thy people, and where thou recordest thy name, for the bread needed for the support of our spiritual life, and for the blessings of thy love. We are looking for that blessed time, when we trust, through the finished work of the Captain of salvation, we shall enter into the glorious presence of God, where there will be, for all born of the Spirit, everlasting rest, exhaustless plenty, endless pleasures, and unfading glories. In the spiritual pilgrimage, everyone who lives on the manna which God hath supplied in the wilderness of this life, shall live and rejoice in the eternal provisions of the heavenly world. He who has gathered manna here below shall enjoy the felicities of God's presence above. What a contrast between the godly and the ungodly! What does the worldling gather? He thinks he gathers figs; but it is impossible to gather figs of thorns. What do the mere butterflies of fashion gather? They gather dying pleasures, wretchedness and death. What does the formalist gather? Dust, which is the serpent's meat-husks, which the swine do eat. What does the miser gather? Gold and curses from men and of God. What does the hero of the battle-field gather? Empty honours and worthless medals, viewed in the light of a vast eternity. But the saints, through the Spirit of God, gather knowledge of truth here-gather the comforts of the Holy Ghost here-gather the satisfaction of the new covenant here, and, in the Lord's time, shall have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory and immortal delight above. What blessings are in reserve for the saints of God! what holy fellowships! what cloudless light! what endless glory! what divine triumphs! and what eternal satisfaction in the likeness and presence of Christ. 3. It was given according to God's measure, and in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the whole community of Israel in the wilderness. It was given to them in the time of their deepest necessity, when they were passing through the wilderness to the land of rest and plenty. The manna was not given to God's creatures in Paradise,-nor when God's Israel were in Egypt,-nor when they were in captivity in Babylon; but it was given to Israel in sufficient quantities in the wilderness. There is no lack in the resources of Christ. There is an abundant fulness in him, and there is an inexhaustible fulness in the everlasting gospel. In the gospel there is bread enough for every soul hungering for it; and by this gospel bread God satisfies his poor. They are satisfied with the quality of this heavenly bread--with the freeness with which it is given, and with its satisfying and strengthening properties. In the gospel, the meal of the new covenant never wastes, nor doth the oil fail. The manna was suitable to both young and old, and both were supplied with it: so the gospel is suitable for the new-born child of grace, and for the fathers and mothers in Israel. There was a sweetness in the manna: is there not a greater sweetness in the gospel to the law-condemned and conscience-stricken sinner? is there not a greater sweetness in the truth of God to believers in Christ. "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth." Men who are pleased with lying vanities, or with false gods and human superstitions, and are contented with forms and ceremonies, will not love the gospel or have any appetite for the bread which God hath given to his people to eat. But let them be quickened into spiritual life, let them know the wounding and condemning power of God's law in the conscience,-let them have some experience of the law as the ministration of death,-let them be driven from every refuge of lies, and be made sensible of the emptiness of the world and of all false religions,—and they will be glad of the bread of life, and they will hunger after that bread of salvation which meets the soul's necessities-satisfies its spiritual appetites, and endears Jesus Christ in his person, work, and fulness. Hungry souls for the bread of God can be satisfied only with the fulness of Christ. You cannot satisfy the hungry by exhibiting fine pictures to them, they want living bread. You cannot satisfy them with good dishes and plates, or with the ornaments of the table,-they want good bread and good water. They want the old corn and wine of the kingdom. They can better put up with a table well spread with gospel provision and but little ornament, than they can with a fine table and table-cloth with no meat and drink. So there is nothing you can substitute for the everlasting gospel, and the rich and manifold blessings of God's immutable and sworn covenant. The wilderness table of Israel had little of the ornamental, but it had a good supply of precious, life-preserving manna upon it. So the glorious gospel of the blessed God is precious food for the soul,-it is strengthening to spiritual life,-and by a gracious participation of this living bread the Lord's people become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Is this gospel bread what you want? Is it the food of your life? Is it more precious than rubies to your hearts? Then what debtors to mercy you are, both for the appetite for this provision, and the fulness and freeness of it. III. The continuance of its descent all the time they were in the wilderness. Notwithstanding their sins, their murmurings, and provoking manners, it continued. They lacked neither bread nor water, nor did their garments wax old. In the fulness of the provision which God gave them daily,-in the freeness of its unconditional bestowment,-in the continuance of its daily supply all their pilgrimage through, we see wonderful illustrations of God's goodness, omnipotent power, abiding faithfulness, and unlimited resources. Did God supply them all the wilderness through? Did they never perish through famine on their way to the land of promise? Did God continue gracious and faithful to them in all their journeyings, and will he not be loving, faithful, and all-sufficient to his people now! Will he suffer any of his people to die for want of the bread of heaven. Will be ever become indifferent to the necessities of his people? Will he hear the young ravens when they cry, and forget the cries of his sons and daughters? No, no; that be far from the covenant God of Israel. He delights in supplying his people with all needed good; he delights in supplying them freely and fully, and he will continue to satisfy his poor with this gospel bread, till they reach the paradise above. Then their trials will be ended-their battles all fought-their journeyings all over-their tears all wiped away. There they shall drink of no purling streams, but of the everlasting fountain itself,-there they shall feed on the eternal felicities and everrevealing glories of the Triune God. There they shall bathe in seas of rest and glory, and join in the hallelujahs of the ransomed and glorified millions. The interest felt in this subject urges one to go on, but space and time bind us to leave off. The Lord bless his people with comfort, guidance, and help by the way; and to him we will ascribe all might, majesty, dominion and glory, for ever and ever. Amen and Amen. THE BELIEVER'S EXALTATION, SECURITY, AND SUPPLY. BY MR. W. LEACH. "He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."- Isaiah xxxiii. 16. "Godliness," we are told," is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" and certain I am, my hearers, that, if God bestows the richest and choicest of his favours upon any one, he will not withhold from them the smaller ones which they continually need. Viewing the text as it applies to the people of God, we discover,— I. Their exaltation. II. Their security. III. Their supply. I. The exaltation of the people of God is set forth in the first clause of the text, "He shall dwell on high ;" and this accords with the promise, Isa. xl. 31,-"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles," &c. Man may be said to dwell where his heart is; and if we are raised up by a spiritual resurrection, and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, then the text will be verified in our experience. The Christain may be said to dwell on high by his thoughts; and in this particular the life of each is opposed to that of the ungodly, who can never rise in their thoughts above that which is earthly. The high nature which a Christian is a partaker of, will be the means of drawing up his mind to heavenly things; and he will be like one dead to the world, and all things around him; and be ready to say with the Psalmist," My meditation of him shall be sweet." Hence it is that we read, in so many places in God's holy word, of "thinking upon the name of the Lord;" and you may depend upon it, if either a man or a woman be in possession of a gracious heart, they will often be thinking of God and of Christ, and their minds will be raised up above terrestrial things. It will likewise apply to the affections, which we are exhorted to set upon things that are above-Col. iii. 2. Not that the child of God is to entertain no regard for those earthly objects to which he stands related, and by which he is surrounded. Oh no!-The danger does not lie here, but in the having them too much in one's affections; for we may experience pain and sorrow in clinging to earthly things too much, but not to those that are spiritual and divine. If Christ be the object of our affections, and we from our hearts can say, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and their is none upon the earth that I desire besides thee;" then we shall dwell on high, and be elevated to the position of those who are the partakers of the divine life and nature, and be removed from those things which bring with them vanity and vexation of spirit. |