The price is increased to eightpence. We shall be glad to see it yet enlarged equal to the Congregational Year Book. We regret the absence of the usual information respecting the Baptists of the United States. In the list of American colleges we would have been pleased to see the number of students, &c.

A Baptist Catechism.

Intended for the use of the Elder Scholars and Junior Teachers in Sunday Schools and the Young Members of Churches; and dedicated to the Young Persons of Keppel Street Sunday School in particular. By SAMUEL MILNER, Pastor. (Third Thousand.) London: J. Briscoe, Banner Street, Finsbury.

WE cordially commend this clear, concise, and comprehensive little catechism. Its diligent use will certainly go far to store and seal upon the minds of the young truths most surely believed among us: the ample scripture references appear well and fairly chosen. Our Brother Milner has done the church and her young good service in bringing out this penny book, which may be obtained by schools, post free, for 7s. per hundred, of the Author, 81, Charrington Street, Oakley Square, London.

As a specimen of its lucid style and plain dealing, we quote the following questions and answers on our distinctive practice :

"Q. 91.-What is baptism?

"A.-Baptism is an immersion or dipping of a person in water, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matt. iii. 6; Matt. xxviii. 19, 20; Rom. vi. 4.

"Q. 92.-But is not pouring water on the head, or sprinkling water on the face, baptism?

66 A.-No, it is not. There is no account in the Scriptures of any person being poured upon, or sprinkled with water. These are popish inventions.

"Q. 93.-Are Baptists dissenters, then? "A.-No; they are not dissenters from the original and primitive church. Christ is the only Head of the church. He is a Baptist, and they follow him. He was baptized in Jordan; and all who sprinkle or pour, and call it baptism, are dissenters. There is only one baptism. Eph. iv. 4; 1 Peter iii. 21; Col. ii. 12.

"Q. 94.-But is it not a harmless thing to sprinkle or pour water, instead of dipping the person?

"A.-No, it is not harmless; it is one of the chief pillars of Popery. We are not allowed to add to, or diminish from any of the commands or ordinances of Christ. It is presumption. Deut. iv. 2; Jer. xxiv. 2; Heb. ii. 2, 3.

Q. 95.-Who are the proper persons to be baptized?

"A. Any person who truly believes in the Lord Jesus, and proves it by bringing forth the fruits of faith and repentance. Acts. viii. 37, Matt. iii. 7, 8; Acts viii. 12. "Q. 96.-May not the children of believers be baptized?

"A.-No, they ought not. A father being a believer, does not convey any covenant right thereby to his children. It is restricted to as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts ii. 39; Matt. iii. 9. "Q. 97.-Does baptism wash away original sin?

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A.-No, it does not, nor any other sin; but a believer, by his obedience to Christ in baptism, has the answer of a good conscience towards God. 1 Peter iii. 21.

"Q. 98.-What does baptism signify, then?

"A.-It is an open and public avowal that we renounce our former life of sin, and all other lords over us in spiritual things; and that we believe and trust in the Lord Jesus alone for salvation. Rom. vi. 4-6; Isa. xxvi. 13; Mic. iv. 5; Acts iv. 12. - What does baptism re

'Q. 99. present?

IRELAND. By general consent, Mr. Bright's great speech at Birmingham on Ireland has been pronounced a moderate and statesmanlike manifesto. On the subject of the Irish Church, Mr. Bright regards its abolition as inevitable, but considers it not right to throw the Protestants of Ireland naked and bare upon the country; and would, therefore, give both to the Episcopalians and Presbyterians a portion of the Church property, which is to be regarded as an absolute final gift, but not as a periodical endowment. And even to the Roman Catholics he would give the means, in the poorer parishes, of having a small glebe and modest house for the minister. We say nothing as to the wisdom of this endowment scheme. We observe that at the Great Protestant Meeting, held at the Rotundo, Dublin,

no compromise " in regard to the Irish Church Establishment was the order of the day. This is absurd and short-sighted. These zealous Orange partisans cannot surely think they can put the dial hand back on the face of events in the present day by any imposing array of numbers or titled names. That the Irish Church is doomed, is as sure as any event, not actually past, can be; the only question is one of time and means and mode. The anomaly of Church Establishment set up in any country for but a small proportion of the inhabitants is now out of date.

THE EDUCATION QUESTION.-The forward movement on this subject, to which we have before referred, continues still to agitate nearly all sections of the public. The Bishop of Oxford may be taken as a specimen of a far-seeing leader of his party, and knows exactly how coming events are likely to affect its interests. Formerly, he was a strenuous advocate for State grants for denominational schools, because his Church got the lion's share; but now that the tide is setting in towards State-supported secular schools, he objects to State interference, which is likely to work unfavourably for Church instruction, as distinguished from secular knowledge. A large conference of Nonconformists has been held at Southampton, which showed conclusively how fast opinion on the question has ripened amongst Dissenters. At this meeting there was an emphatic expression of desire for a na

tional secular system, supported out of the taxes. It seems clear that the great majority of voluntaries must have been long silently preparing for so thorough a change of opinion. The speakers even went so far as to advocate compulsory attendance; but the minority on this point was considerable. We consider this point altogether premature, unless in the form of indirect compulsion-such as that which the Factory Acts afford. For the rest, let us get good schools established, and wait the result before calling for a law compelling all parents to send their children to school. The present Government has just expressed its intention to introduce a Bill into Parliament on the subject of Primary Education, so that opportunity will soon be afforded for discussing the question in all its points and bearings.

OXFORD Seems determined to shew itself bigotted to the last. The chair of Political Economy in the University is tenable for five years, its occupant being then required to go through a re-election. It has been ably held by Professor Thorold Rogers, but he has the black mark upon him of being a Liberal in Politics, and, worse than all, of having attended a meeting at a Baptist Chapel, in Oxford, on the Jamaica question, at which he took occasion to hint that Ex-Governor Eyre and the negro-shooters were wrong. This could not be forgiven, and accordingly the recent election was seized by the clergy, on whose votes the result mainly depends, as a fine opportunity for ousting him, which accordingly they have done, and placed a true Tory in the vacant chair.

THE BIBLE SOCIETY.-The last meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society at its Old House in Earl Street, was held February 5th. In this old building the society has carried on its gigantic labours since the year 1816. The new premises are situated in the new Street, now in course of formation from the Thames Embankment to the Mansion House. The speakers dwelt chiefly on the past, and its interesting reminiscences connected with the names of William Wilberforce, Leigh Richmond, Thomas Wilson, Henry Thornton, and others of the founders and early friends of the institution. The solemnity of the scene was enhanced by the sudden rising of Josiah Foster, a member of the Society of Friends, who has been for

nearly fifty years on the Committee, and who well remembered the founding of the Bible Society. This venerable old man affectionately urged those present to maintain the simplicity of the society's constitution. Mr. J. Stoughton, of Kensington, gave the concluding address, dwelling upon the historical associations connected with the district of Blackfriars, where they were assembled-where their Nonconformist forefathers used to congregate for worship when proscribed by law, it not being included within the jurisdiction of London.

THE WESLEYANS.-A plan for bringing about the return of the Wesleyans to the Church has just been proposed in the Northern Convocation. A few Wesleyans of good mark are to be made Bishops, and a few others "priests" with good livings! Already the proposer sees in prospect the Wesleyan Chapels turned into "Chapels of Ease" to the parish Churches, and all their ministers into evangelists, and city missionaries to the Establishment. Unfortunately, the Wesleyans, by their organs, do not appear to be enamoured with the prospect, or grateful for the proposal. So that other sections of Nonconformists need not at present prepare themselves for the momentous conference to which they are invited.

BAPTIST STATISTICS.-We learn from the Handbook just issued that there are in Great Britain and her colonies 2,752 Baptist ministers, of whom 414 are without pastoral charge, and 582 are in the colonies, leaving 1,756 in actual ministerial work in Great Britain and Ireland. There are 224 resident in the metropolis and its neighbourhood, of whom 50 are without pastoral charge, (the names of C. H. Spurgeon and J. A. Spurgeon being curiously included in the list by a printer's mistake). During the year, 29 ministers have been lost by death, and 86 newly added to the roll. Of new churches there are 27, and 19 new chapels have been opened. The increase in membership is above the average, the total reported being 7,757, and the total membership in Great Britain and Ireland is 221,524. The number of Baptist ministers is increased by 171 since last year. About 30 new churches have been formed during the year, and 88 settlements, and the same number of removals have taken place. There are 400 vacant churches needing pastors.

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DEAN ALFORD, in a recent article in the Contemporary Review," boldly identifies

a very large portion of Nonconformist bodies he finds himself divided "by the thinnest possible partition," as far as theological doctrine is concerned. Their hymns--their works on divinity-their attainments in sacred learning and biblical exposition-their piety and their zeal, are all regarded by him as rivalling, if not surpassing those of Churchmen; and, therefore, he is determined to cultivate union with them, in preference to the High Church clergy, who are traitorously using their position and influence in furtherance of blank Popery in the Church England.

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RITUALISM. In a sermon, recently preached at St. Paul's, Walworth, by a Rev. Luke Rivington, the preacher dwelt upon the text, "Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together," as a prophecy of the doctrine of Christ's real BODY being present in the Eucharist! and urged those present to "feast with loving reverence on that body," as a means of perseverance to the end. Such is the ultimate carnal issue of Ritualism.

MISCELLANEOUS.- Mr. H. Ward Beecher is writing a "Life of Christ." Yesterday it was "Norwood," a novel; to-day it is the most sacred of all themes. Nothing comes amiss to this most secular of preachers, and most heterodox of writers. -The distribution of religious tracts and books, so successfully carried on at the Paris Exhibition, is to be continued on the Boulevards on a systematic plan.The abettors of the Barletta massacre in Italy that outburst of priestly fury against the Protestants - have all been brought to justice and sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment, from twenty months to eighteen years.-It is stated that a Roman Catholic Hierarchy is about to be established in Scotland, the Archbishop or Cardinal to be Bishop Lynch, now at Carstairs.

CHURCH RATES ABANDONED.-On the afternoon of Feb. 19th, Mr. Gladstone's Bill for the abolition of compulsory Church rates was read a second time in the House of Commons, without a division, and with the consent of a Conservative Government! The fact caused no small surprise to the Nonconformists of England next morning. Surely, this is at last the beginning of the end of this vexatious question.