by a vote it shall be determined whether the accused is guilty or not; the majority to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. Or whether the church shall set apart men (not women) as judges, who shall sit in judgment, and hear all the testimony, pro and con, in the case; and then decide as to the guilt or innocence of the accused, and report their decision to the church for confirmation. I understand the Apostle Paul to instruct as above (in substance) in all cases that come before the church: "If, then, you have cognizance of a matter pertaining to this life, why do you set those to judge who are of no account in the congregation? For shame to you say it." Here the Apostle had reference to the tribunals in the Roman government. In it Judges were appointed; and some of the ignorant disciples in the church were in favour of going before the Judges appointed in the civil government to have their difficulties adjusted; but Paul condemns that practice, and shows that the least esteemed in the church were better qualified to decided a case by the laws of Jesus Christ than any of the Judges in Cesar's dominions were, and that the jurisdiction of the church extended farther than the jurisdiction of Cesar did. Cesar's Judges had no cognizance beyond human beings; but Christ's judges had cognizance of angels as well as men; for if an angel were to preach any other gospel to them than the one preached by the Apostles, they had power to judge and condemn him as well as men. By attention to the instructions of the Apostle, the whole church, male and female, old men, young men, and babes in Christ, are not detained to hear all the testimony detailed by the witnesses relative to some shameful breach of the laws of the King," that should not even be named amongst them as saints." Nor are fathers compelled to sit in judgment upon their children, nor husbands upon their wives, nor wives upon their husbands and children, nor children upon their fathers and mothers. Thus has the Apostle guarded against the harrowing up all the ties of nature, and putting to the blush all the relatives of a transgressor. I will now detail our practice, as a church, in cases of discipline. If the offence have been originally of the individual kind, when report is made to the Elder he inquires of the reporter whether the laws of the King, as expressed in Matthew xviii., have been properly attended to; and on being answered in the affirmative, he calls upon the church to appoint men to investigate and report whether the accused is guilty of a breach of the King's laws or not, and whether he be penitent and willing to ask forgiveness of God and of the church, or not. If, upon report, he be penitent, he then publicly confesses his fault and asks forgiveness, and is forgiven; but if not, he is separated from the privileges of the church, by confirming the report of the judges thus set apart by the church. Where the offence is of the public kind originally-upon report being made to the Elder, the same proceedings are had as before detailed. In much esteem, I remain your's, M. WINANS. REPLY. MR. M. WINANS. THERE are but few whose approbation of my Essay on Order, or of my general essays on the things pertaining to the kingdom of Messiah the Prince, I more highly appreciate than that of brother Winans. In the present instance I would rather have the concurrence of one whose only guide and directory is the Oracles of God, who has capacity to understand the book according to the most obvious rules of interpretation, who has been an active member of a community meeting every week in honour of the institutions of Jesus, than the concurrence of the most learned prelate or presbyter in things ecclesiastic, north or south. of the river Tweed. As to the reference made by you to that part of the Extra which looks askance at the 18th chapter of Matthew, I would hastily observe that, as the whole matter appears to my mind, there is little or no difference in judgment. I do not consider that the phrase, “Tell it to the church," behooves every soul to hear it in full assembly met; for then all the church must be ear. Nor do I regard the phrase, "Hear the church," as implying that all the church speak; for that would be to make all the church tongue. And still less do I regard any phrase in that discourse as implying that the whole church is to judge the case; for that would be to make the whole church a tribunal, and all its members judges, without regard to witnesses, accuser or accused. In other matters we have no difficulty in understanding such language, because common sense is allowed to operate. When we say the City or the State has been informed of any matter, or have decided a certain matter as a City, or a State, we do not include the whole community, but only those appointed by the people to act in the name or for the sake of the whole community. So was it in the days of the synagogue, so is it in the days of the Christian church. When the Christian community has appointed a committee or a tribunal to examine any matter, and they are reported to the congregation, and the congregation has approved their decision; then he that refuses to hear that tribunal, refuses to hear the congregation, just as much as if the congregation had resolved itself into a committee of the whole and judged the case as a popular assembly. The Baptists have not unfrequently been subjected to all those inconveniencies to which you alluded, by interpreting the 18th chapter too democratically; churches have been rent in twain by the clannish spirit of family connexion, &c. through the full development before every eye and ear of things which ought not to have been named. They seem not to have always thought that the whole church hears, sees, and acts, when those appointed by her hear, see, and act in the works assigned them, and that when the church-the whole community, approbate the decision of any case, it is the same as if the case had been decided on a hearing by the vote of every individual member. Nor does any thing, be it observed, found in the New Testament, in the passage under consideration, nor in any other, forbid an appeal being made to the whole community when there is nothing in the case prohibiting the presence of all, or, what is the same thing, nothing in it revolting to the feelings of any member, male or female; and when nothing short of such an appeal shall, in the judgment of the church, give full and ample satisfaction to one of the parties. But these remarks in passing, to notice that I am not so sure that you have got exactly the meaning of 1 Cor. vi. 4, 5. I should read as 66 66 in the 4th edition of the new version, and as pointed by Griesbach : "If, then," or "since, then," or when, then," as the case may be, "you have the cognizance of such matters, why do you" (the church) set those to judge who are of no account" (the Pagan magistrates) in the congregation. For shame to you I say!" O Corinthians! "So, then, there is not among you a wise man who shall be able to decide between his brethren. But brother with brother is judged, and that by infidels"-the persons of no account in the congregation. It is either ironically spoken, or the Apostle condemns the brethren for suffering their causes to be heard by Heathen magistrates-persons of no account in the Christian community. The judging of angels and the judging of the world doubtless refers to a state of things yet future-we shall judge the world-we shall judge angels—or, what is the same, we are to do those things. I am very sure that if all things are done decently, as they ought to be in the Christian church, such scenes as those to which you allude will never by the Elders of the congregation be permitted to come before all the members any other way than as deciding upon the report, or in sustaining the decision of those appointed in the manner aforesaid to judge the case. In the kingdom, your fellow-servant, Monthly Record of Passing Events. A. C. A ROMISH FATHER'S OPINION OF THE REFORMATION.-In a funeral oration on the late Mr. O'Connell, delivered in Rome, Father Ventura eulogises the (so-called) Liberator of Ireland, for his championship of Popery on a certain occasion, in the following terms :-"Never was placed in a more conspicuous light the shameful origin of the Reformation, the beastly nature of its author, the dissoluteness of its apostles, the blasphemies and contradictions of its doctrines, the baseness of its manœuvres, the hypocrisy of its promises, the turpitude of its motives, the iniquity of its spoilation, the cruelty of its massacres, the horror of its sacrileges, and the mighty misfortunes which it has brought down upon the loveliest countries of Europe." He likewise exultingly states, that, "O'Connell, by having emancipated the Catholic church in England, has given to English Protestantism a blow from which it can never recover. That horrible scandal of the sovereignty of Christianity, that monstrous offspring of the spirit of impurity, combined with the spirit of covetousness and pride, is on the point of expiring." VAUNTED LIBERALITY OF THE POPE.-This most enlightened man of the present age, as some would have him to be, has recently delivered himself in Consistory, of the following sentiments :-" From the measures which, in certain affairs, relating to the civil government of the Pontifical States, we thought fit to adopt, it seems those men have desired to infer that we think so benevolently concerning every class of mankind as to suppose, that not only the sons of the Church, but the rest also, however alienated from Catholic unity they may remain, are alike in the way of salvation, and may arrive at eternal life. We are at a loss from horror to find words to express our detestation at this new and atrocious injustice that is done us." STATISTICS OF POPERY.-The total number of Popish Chapels in England and Wales is 545; in Scotland 85,-besides 22 stations where service is performed; making a grand total of 630 Chapels. Of Popish Colleges there are in England 10, and in Scotland 1; Convents 38, of which 12 are in the London district; Monasteries 11. Of Missionary Priests in England and Wales there are 707, including Priests without any fixed mission; in Scotland 99, making a grand total of 806 Missionary Priests in Great Britain, including the Bishops. These statistics do not indicate the conversion of our country to the Papal See to be very near at hand. AMERICAN STATISTICS OF POPERY.-In the Catholic almanac for 1848, the Catholic population in that country is estimated at 1,190,700. Within the United States there are 3 Catholic Archbishops, 24 Bishops, 890 Priests, and 907 Churches. There are also 13 Colleges; 43 Female Religious Institutions; 66 Female Academies; and 88 Charitable Institutions. During the last year there has been an accession of 76 to the number of Priests, and 95 additional Churches have been erected or dedicated. ENGLAND AND ROME-A measure has been introduced to the House of Lords for giving the sanction of the Legislature to the establishment of diplomatic relations between this country and the Court of Rome, and appears likely to pass through both Houses without encountering serious opposition. His Excellency Monsignor Bedini has also arrived in England on a special mission to the British government from the Pope. THE IRISH CATHOLIC CLERGY have been snubbed by the Pope for their altar denunciations and political intermeddling. The Holy Father requires them to attend strictly to their spiritual duties. To some of them the rescript will be a bitter pill. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY died, on the 11th, within a day of his eighty-third year. He has occupied the archiepiscopal chair for nearly twenty years, and was much beloved for his amiable nature, and respected for his piety. The Bishop of Chester is named as his successor, an appointment that will give great satisfaction to the evangelical party in the Church. THE JEWS.-The bill for the removal of existing obstacles to the admission of Jews into Parliament, has been read a second time with a majority of 73. The number of Jews in England and Ireland is 13,000. The total Jewish populaton of Europe is about 2,250,000. NORTH AMERICAN PASSENGERS.-A bill with the above title has just been published on the subject of the regulation of, and making further provision for, the carriage of passengers by sea to North America. It was introduced into the House of Commons by Mr. Labouchere and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The first clause enacts that no ship shall carry more passengers on board than in the proportion of one passenger to every two tons. By the second clause it is provided that two children under the age of fourteen, shall be computed as one passenger. Each passenger is to be provided with at least three quarts of water a day, and is to be supplied at twice a week with 34lbs of beef or pork, or 34lbs. of bread or biscuits, and in addition thereto, 6lbs of bread, flour, biscuit, oatmeal, or rice. Potatoes, however, may be substituted. The sixth clause provides that a superintendent of emigrants is to be taken in every ship carrying as many as 100 passengers. The fifteenth clause enacts that ships carrying fewer than one passenger to twenty-five tons, shall be exempted from the operation of this act. BOOKS AND PERIODICALS BY POST.-The Gazette of Friday night the 11th ult. contained a Treasury warrant authorizing the transmission by post, on or after the 21st of February, within the United Kingdom only, of printed books, magazines, reviews, and sewed pamphlets, (whether British, Colonial, or Foreign,) subject to the following rates and regulations :-On every package consisting of a single book, &c., if not exceeding one pound in weight, the charge will be 6d.; exceeding one pound, and not exceeding two, ls.; and for every additional pound an additional 6d. Every fraction of such additional pound to be charged as a pound. Packets containing more than a single book, &c., or in length, breadth, or width exceeding two feet, are not to be transmissable under this warrant. The postage is to be prepaid, and only in stamps. The covers to be open at the ends or sides, and nothing to be written upon it but the name and address. Package to contain only printed Double postage charged if not prepaid; and the deficiency is charged double when stamps to the full amount of postage are not attached. matter. The Poet's Corner. For the Gospel Banner and Biblical Treasury. "ONE SOWETH AND ANOTHER REAPETH." THE night is approaching, ye may not delay, Often and much ye have gathered, whereon No work ye bestowed; while the workers have gone: |