56 THE GREATNESS OF SMALL THINGS. Harbinger, Feb. 1, 62. ture for these bold men. They were af frighted at the mad pranks of liberated mind. Luther might have said as Mil ton afterwards did: "I did but prompt the age to quit their clogs It is not to be wondered at-but to be for ever regretted-that, alarmed at such excesses, they consented to put human fetters on the mind again-to clip the eagle's wings, so that he should no more be able to soar to heaven with his eye on the Sun, but hobble ignobly in the dust, or flap his broken wings in a new protest against the tyranny of human authority. But the revolution had gone too far to be stopped. Men soon outgrew their creed, and a new creed and a new party necessarily succeeded; and with the growth of mind, reformation succeeded reformation; nor has the work yet ceased. We will not pause to discuss the merits or demerits of the successive reformations by which Protestantism has been characterized the various Calvinistic movements in France, Switzer - land, and Scotland - the Anglican We have yet to shew, from the present aspects of the Protestant more ment, that the great end has not been gained; and to inquire after the great work of reformation that still needs to be accomplished. THE GREATNESS OF SMALL THINGS. A YOUNG reader fired-we trust, with a spiritual ambition-writes for a few practical counsels on "attaining the greatest measure of sucess in the religious life." Growth in godliness should be the chief aim of every renewed heart, Young friend, you state that you are already converted. You have already attained a certain measure of piety; the question now is, how to attain the highest and the best. With much distrust of our own judgment, we would commend to you the very simple principle laid down by our Saviour, that whosoever shall do and teach one of the least commandments," the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." The principle is that success and eminence only can be reached by the closest attention to SMALL THINGS. This principle is as true in religious as I. E in secular affairs. Napoleon was the most effective man of modern times. "The secret of his greatness was, that while his plans were more vast and va rious than other men's, he had the talent to fill them up with promptness and precision in every minute partienlar of execution. Numbers, times, spaces, were all distinct to his eye. He knew them all. The wheeling of every legion was mentally present to him. The tramp of every foot was in his ear. The numbers of troops were all supplied-the spaces were passed overthe times were met and so the work was done." Equally applicable is this principle to the vital business of serving the Lord. Success depends upon details You have, perhaps, a vague idea of some wonderful and splendid achievement in godliness that shall come upon 1 Harbinger, Feb. 1, '62. you in a way that you can scarcely tell how. You are quite mistaken in your day-dreams of sudden and supernatural attainments. Your growth, your usefulness, your eminence in godliness, will be measured by your obedience to the very least and humblest commandments of your crucified Master. In this you have his divine example; for the life of Jesus on earth was a patient carrying out of heavenly religion into the minutest actions and events. His startling overpowering displays were few. Only once he assumed an appearance of lazzling glory; but every day and every hour his countenance beamed forth the lastre of a spotless holiness. It was aly upon a single occasion that we Dear of his treading the waves of the sea; but how often did he walk on long ourneys to teach poor fishermen-to visit a humble family of Bethany--to relieve a Canaanitish woman-and to retore the child of a heart-broken ruler. The gentle reproof of Martha for her xcessive absorption in household af fairs, the payment of a few pence in taxes, and the message to impulsive Peter after his resurrection, all show that Christ overlooked nothing and neglected nothing that his divine wisdom deemed worthy of his notice. Holiness in all things, is the beautiful and blessed epitome of our Saviour's life and character. Great principles of godliness, carried out in details, are the apostolic conception of practical religion. Peter presents the only sure method of spiritual growth when he says, "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge," &c. This implies growth by daily addition-by joining one attainment to another. It is the construction of a great spiritual temple by laying stone upon stone. A vast and imposing edifice, made up of small commandments faithfully kept-or rather of great commandments kept in the smallest particulars-is the life of every eminent saint who ever adorned and blessed the world. How do trees grow? How did that imperial elm attain its colossal dimensions? By keeping all the commandments. It obeyed the laws of vegetable growth-it never despised the smallest accretion from the soil beneath, or from the reservoir of air that surrounds it. So must you grow in grace. Despise not the day of small D things. Count nothing a trifle that bears on your Christian character. Excellence in the kingdom of Christ is only attainable by constant, patient, prayerful progress. This progress is to be made by conscientious attention to the least particulars of your daily life. Healthy piety overlooks no command of God-slights none-twists none out of its due place and proportion. Your mistake is, that you are looking for growth by sudden leaps-by occasional tremendous efforts on extraordinary occasions. It is very probable that you will go to your grave without ever encountering a single "extraordinary occasion;" for God may never call you to such. But he will give you innumerable small every day occasions in which to glorify him; and if you do not serve him in "that which is least," neither would your graces be found equal to great emergencies. You are shocked when you read of the stupendous defalcations in public departments: but are you just as scrupulous about cheating the government out of a postage stamp, as you would be of robbing a half million from the "Department of the Interior ?" You are horrified when you read of exactions under the lash on a cotton plantation; but the harsh blow given to your little boy in a fit of passion, or the sharp bargains made with your poor seamstress, are sins of the same kind and color in the sight of Christ. You loathe cowardice in high places. So do I. But your Master also loathes our time-serving spirit when we connive at fashionable wickednesses, or keep our lips closed when we ought to "stand up for Jesus." You applaud the heroism of those missionaries who stood their ground during the late bloody scenes in the East. The same spirit in kind, if not in degree, is demanded of you when you are called upon to walk miles and teach a ragged class of unwashed boys in the missionary school. Peter did not deny his Master on a grand, premeditated occasion. It was when suddenly assailed by a small person with a small taunt, that his heedless lips bolted out the contemptible falsehood. Look out for sudden temptations of Satan to commit "small sins"-they will be the little leaks to sink the ship, the little foxes to spoil the vine of your Christian character. Look out for the first neglects of your closet under the pressure of business or of personal fatigue. Religious declension begins at a neglected closet door. But why go over the whole field of practical Christianity in one brief letter? We write you in order to enforce this one precept, that success in the Christian life depends upon obedience to the least of the commandments." You are right in aiming high. Your ambition is noble. Do not be satisfied with a meagre, half-developed, compromising piety. The world has had quite enough of such. Everything that ought to be be done at all, ought to be done well. 66 Harbinger, Feb. 1. 62 Never take hold of anything without determining to be in that thing successful; if possible, to be eminent. In religion, success and eminence both depend on numberless details of duty faithfully and conscientiously carried out in the strength of God. The Master whom you serve has said, "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." May your strength be equal to your day! T. L. CUYLER. REVIEWS, NOTES ON PASSING EVENTS, CORRESPONDENCE, &c. "ONE LORD- THE DEITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: an Essay by a Member of the Christian Church."London: W. Tweedie, Strand. THE author's name is not given. His design is indicated by the first words of the title : "In considering the term Deity I find a definition of its meaning in the words, the Supreme Divine Being, or the Highest Heavenly Existence. By giving such a definition of the Deity, I am perfectly aware that I am precluded from dividing the Deity into three persons -which would be putting forth three divine beings, to the destruction of the unity of the Godhead, save under the form of a divine firm, which, in effect, would be to sanction the anti-scriptural notion that there are three Gods; in which case all must be equal, and therefore none would be supreme, and the first essential of the Deity would be wanting in each Being, and thus proclaim to all the conclusion of the fool' There is no God;' or one the partners in this suppositious firm of persons must be considered as the principal, and the other two subordinates, which course of explanatory proceeding I deem to be derogatory to the dignity of the divine character of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and shall not, therefore, pursue it. But to continue. According to the orderly arrangement of the subject, it be comes me now to consider what attributes must essentially form the comprehensible Being to whom that term'-DEITY—' rightly applies. They are 1st. Self-existence or the Divine Esse (which is the innermost divine life of God), comprehended under the most sacred name of Jehovah-amongst all sects of professing Christians called the Father.' 2nd. Infinity: or the immensity and eternity of God, springing out of his first attribute, self-existence. 3rd. The Divine love and the Divine wisdom: which are the essence of God; or his outward manifested life-ordinarily re cognised as 'the Son.' 4th. The omnipotence (all power), the omniscience (all knowledge), the omnipre sence (the faculty of being present in all places at once), of God: or the properties by which he works according to his own divine order, and commonly known as 'the Holy Ghost.' Having defined the meaning of the term Deity, and stated the attributes which I deem to be essential constituents of the Deity, I now arrive at the second part of my subject-namely,' Did the Lord Jesus Christ possess those attributes, and thus demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, his claim to be worshipped as God? This question I answer in the affirmative, and shall now essay to prove the truth of my affirmation." Here we have, almost in one breath, Unitarianism, Eternal Sonship, and the Deity of the Lord Jesus. The author appears to have been plucking branches ' from the garden of Swedenborg. Quite a respectable clause for the great mystic is the following:-"The Divine love and the Divine wisdom: which are the essence of God; or his outer and maniordinarily recognized as the Son."" We confess ignorance as to the " essence of God." Neither can we understand how the "outer and manifested life" of any being can fested life British Millennial Harbinger, Feb. 1, 62. THE ACT, SUBJECTS, & DOCTRINE OF BAPTISM. be the essence of that being. Then, again, the Son of God, known to us, is not "the Divine love and the Divine wisdom." We do find the love and wisdom of God dwelling in him without measure, but as the love and wisdom of a man are not the man himself; so the love and wisdom of God are not God himself. True God is love, but He is also light. None know more upon this great theme than did the Apostles, and none can better express what they know. If the author had printed a few texts from the Gospel according to John, without note or comment, in place of his present pages, he would have pleased us far better. THE ACT, SUBJECTS, AND DOCTRINE OF BAPTISM. By T. H. MILNER, Edinburgh. A USEFUL issue of 24 pages, consisting chiefly of testimonies from acknowledged authorities. That a tract coming from one who pleads much for the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, consists almost wholly of human testimony, may at first thought, to some readers, seem remarkable, but this is fully explained and justified by the author's introductory remarks : "The increasing interest which this sub. ject now commands is a manifest token of extended inquiry after Bible truth, and of deepening piety on the part of those who profess regard to the word of God. It cannot but indicate a lamentably low state of religious feeling, when a prominent and divine command is passed over as more worthy of neglect than observance. To manifest such neglect is to supply very direct evidence against one's piety: a truly devout man will ever evince his fear of God by a tender regard to the keeping of his commands. This question is essentially a Biblical one: the Bible must determine it. All parties observe baptism, or something standing for it, because an ordinance so named is in the Bible. By the Bible, therefore, we ought and must determine what is right and wrong respecting the will of God in this particular. We can learn his will nowhere else. But inasmuch as many rely more on expositions of Scripture than on the word of God itself, our purpose in this tract is to give not only passages of Scripture where the ordinance is spoken of, but quotations from leading 59 men of all parties in the question. It will be seen from the quotations submitted, that we contend for no more than what the chief this course, not because it is the best in men of all admit to be the truth. We adopt itself, but merely because it is advisable in the circumstances. If the people had sufficient confidence in the word of God, just to take it as it reads, there could be no need for this appeal to expositors, &c. But since the Saviour, to convince the men of his time, appealed to the testimony of John, seeing all acknowledged him to be a pro phet-and in doing so, said he did it, not that they might be saved-so we, in this that he needed testimony from men, but controversy, appeal to men not because the Scriptures do not themselves determine it, but that the people may be per suaded. Even in regard to the meaning of the word baptize, though not an English term, being transferred, not translated, we ima gine the simple English reader, with only his English New Testament to guide him, need have little difficulty in discovering its meaning. Still it is quite the proper course, when the meaning of a word is in tent scholars. Doing this in the present question, to take the definitions of compecase, the reader is left without a single shadow of doubt. But while the right act depends on the proper definition of the word which specifies the thing to be done, there is more to be considered than the mere act of baptism-there is the act, but there are also the subjects and the doctrine. There called baptism? second, Who are the parare three questions-first, What is the act ties to be baptized? and third, What is the meaning of the ordinance? We pur. pose supplying an answer to all these questions. The subject were not complete without this. We might know the act; but if we did not know the subjects the act would be liable to misapplication. We might know both the act and subjects; but if we did not understand the meaning, we should fail in having those ideas of the ordinance with which its divine Author has invested it. Only when we have all three questions duly answered can we be said to have a Scriptural understanding of the matter." 60 LETTERS TO A. CAMPBELL. this month upon Missions. But as communications from esteemed brethren who are readers of your Harbinger urge me to notice certain remarks which have appeared therein, and which we reprint. I am constrained to ask your attention to another topic. 66 You will remember that in 1859 Brother G. Y. Tickle forwarded a resolution unanimously adopted by our Annual Meeting, then recently held, which resolution set forth that Reports having been circulated in this country, that some of the Churches of Disciples in America admit unbaptized persons to the Lord's Table, it is requested that enquiry be made by the Chairman of this meeting of Bro. A. Campbell, and that the reply be published in the British Millennial Harbinger." You will also recollect that your reply contained the following: "I can say, so far as my knowledge extends, we have no such custom. In all my travels abroad I have not witnessed such an occurrence. That unbaptized persons may have sat down to the Lord's Table amongst our brethren without invitation, is not wholly impossible; but I know of no church that has formally invited them to participate with it on such occasions." It however now appears that what in 1859 you could speak of as not wholly improbable, is now certain and extensive, and defended where we should least have thought of looking for its defence-in your own Harbinger-by your Co-Editors. It may be well to say, that upon this matter I speak the mind or the churches which in this kingdom have declared for the faith and order of the primitive age. I do not know that one of these churches, even if our Colonies be included, would, knowingly, admit an unbaptized person to the Lord's Table. At our last Annual Meeting, owing to the presence of a preaching brother from your side of the Atlantic, the brethren assembled gave another unanimous repudiation of that practice which according to Bro. Errett, prevails in two-thirds of the churches in the United States. We take this stand in obedience to the Lord. Had He left the matter to our discretion we would say to every believer, Come! And could we do as some churches with you are doing, in this and one or two other Harbinger, Feb. 1, '62. points, where we now have hundreds we should have thousands. We too should find it agreeable to the flesh to take down the barrier. To be thought charitable by pious sectarians is, to say the least, pleasant, and to refuse fellowship to some who are truly devout and who are near and dear to us, is to take up a cross we would gladly be saved from. Prove to us, dear brother, that we may do this, and you will indeed have our thanks, and joyfully will our communion be extended. I ask not now, what the position of many of the churches with you really is-we are bound to accept the letters in your Harbinger as completely answering that question but I ask, By what authority they do this thing? and I solicit a " Thus saith the Lord," or an Apostolic example in favor of this practice, or an admission that they have abandoned the platform upon which this great Protestant Reformation was inaugurated. It is said that the practice is not to invite, but only to suffer the unbaptized to break the bread, &c. But commu nion with that class is either right or wrong. If right, then it should be sought-if right, publish the invitation far and wide! If wrong, then to talk about putting the responsibility upon the shoulders of those who avail them selves of the door we have opened, is but self-deception. We have no right to suffer wrong-doing when it is in our power to prevent it. But perhaps it cannot longer be said that the unbaptized are not invited. It may be that an invitation does not immediately precede the breaking of the bread, but when your leading periodical publishes that you " spread the table in the name of the Lord for the Lord's people, and allow all to come who will, each on his own responsibility," and that it is common for the unbaptized to partake, and when you defend this liberty, you do, to all intents aud purposes, by that announcement, invite every pious Romanist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Methodist within reach of your houses of worship, and consequently the papers in the Harbinger are appropriately headed" Communion with the Sects." But let us give some little attention to Brethren Hawley, Errett, Richardson, and Pendleton. Bro. H. says:-" May I not express |