General Baptist Building Fund.

WE are fast coming to the end of the last of the five years during which the pledges given to the above Fund were to be redeemed. Will those friends and churches who have generously promised various sums permit us to remind them that there are but two more months before the time fixed by the Association terminates-i.e., May 31? No one intends, or would like, to be behind in their contributions. Still "the time is short," and the necessity for immediate action imperative.

We make this appeal the more earnestly, because the circular sent out two months ago on this subject has not yet brought many responses. To quicken any lagging resolve, therefore, we "stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance," and confidently look for the result in the Treasurer receiving a stream of communications bearing the promised subscriptions into the treasury of this Fund.

If further stimulus were needed we believe it will be found in a consideration of the following facts:

The Fund was established in 1866. Since that time it has loaned to the churches a sum of £10,560. This has been lent to sixty-two churches, in various parts of the denomination, in sums ranging from £60 to £500. The town churches have received the larger share, but the villages have had fully two-fifths of the help given. If we reckon that only a quarter of this sum would have been paid in interest-a very small proportion-the amount saved to the denomination is nearly £3,000. But beside saving interest, the principal has been paid off in many cases, so that instead of a debt of many thousands of pounds on the property of the churches, it is free, and the churches so much the richer. This, too, has liberated their hands for other work at home and abroad; and if the institutions of the denomination are not more prosperous in consequence, they no doubt will be.

The monetary help is, however, a small part of the benefit gained. The lifting of crushing burdens of anxiety from the hearts of overstrained ministers, long-suffering deacons, and struggling church members, and the freedom afforded to work for the Great Master with a lighter heart and unfettered finance, is an achievement, the value of which all will feel, and in which all will desire to share.

On these grounds we venture to appeal to churches and individual members who have not yet aided us by promise or gift, to come to our help now, and enable us to complete the work so ably begun by the late Secretary-our indefatigable representative at Rome-by liberal donations between the present date and the end of May.

Should the object be attained, and the amount promised be subscribed, a friend of the Fund has generously engaged to add another £100 to the capital. WM. BISHOP.

THE MAGAZINE FOR MAY.-We are sorry we are not able to insert the memoirs of two of "the Barton Deacons," by Rev. G. Needham, "Hours with Enquirers," by Rev. F. J. Bird, and "Nonconformity," by Rev. E. H. Jackson. They shall appear next month.

No. VII. THE CHURCH AND CONGREGATION AGAIN.

THE following letter from the Rev. THOMAS BARRASS is on a question of such living and personal interest to men and to Christian churches, that we are glad to give it a place on this leaf.

My attention," the writer says, "has been called to your remarks on page 102 of this month's Magazine, and the impression of some is that, in your judgment, those who attend and subscribe should also be welcomed into the church. My reply is, that your remarks scarcely go so far; still, I fear, they are rather fitted to mislead, however unintentionally.

"Either the church is a spiritual organization or it is not. If it be, then we ought not knowingly to welcome into its fellowship those who are unconverted, whether they subscribe or not; and we ought to admit converted people even if they do not subscribe-subscriptions cannot be made a term of membership. Are seat-holders 'comrades' in the most important sense? Some of us are at a loss to know what 'frigid ways, and repellant methods,' are referred to. Our impression is that admission into the church is a very easy thing in these days, perhaps too easy often. Of course we should try to bring into the church those who are Christians;' but how many seat-holders and subscribers there are we could not conscientiously consider as Christians."

Of course the fault is ours, and is due to the cloudy and hazy style in which we have written. That a man ought to write so that mistake is impossible we accept as a fundamental canon of literary style; and since we are wofully misunderstood, we hereby humbly apologize. We hold that the Church of Christ should consist of none but real Christians: but we as stoutly maintain that all real Christians should be in the visible and organized Church of the Lord Jesus; and that it is a perilous deed to put even a small stumbling-stone in the way of one of Christ's "little ones" who is making for the church's door. Indeed, we said FOUR times in thirty-six lines that one business of the church is to bring into real fellowship all the CHRISTIANS in the congregation. But that was not enough so let it be understood that we say it four times more.

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Agreed: but how shall we distinguish "the Christian" from him who is not one ? What are the signs of "conversion ?" A guinea subscription to a missionary society? Paying for a seat at seven and sixpence a quarter? Not obviously and necessarily and yet I count it a high proof of "conversion" to know what to do with money. Indeed I fear I have known some men who professed to have been converted these forty years, and are members of churches, who have not learnt that lesson yet. Beecher said a wise and true thing when he affirmed, "Some of God's noblest sons, I think, will be selected from those that know how to take wealth, with all its temptations, and maintain godliness therewith. It is so hard to be a saint standing in a golden niche." Verily when we see a man who is skilled in the art of using money for the good of men and the glory of God, we may conclude that he is not far from the kingdom.

The signs of conversion are manifold; and I know that one "method," "repelling" some genuine Christians from church fellowship, is that of insisting on a particular type of inward experience as the condition of admission. There is a reluctance to recognize the diversity of the operations of the Spirit: and timid, feeble, and self-distrusting Christians" are debarred the solace and service of church communion. We must get testimony to real and living faith in Christ Jesus; but we have no right to insist that the testimony shall be of a particular colour, expressed in particular phraseology, or disclosed in any one exclusive mode.

It is a source of unspeakable delight to find that "some" of our readers know nothing of "frigid ways and repellant methods;" and I fervently desire the arrival of the same blessing for them all; though I know too much, alas! from letters, and ministerial and other testimonies, to be sanguine of a speedy satisfaction of that desire.

But enough. Knowing, as I do, that there are many Christians, mark the word! outside the Church of Christ, and being more practical than disputative, I proceed to sketch, in a few words, another method of bringing them into

communion-a method that we "worked" at Praed Street for six or seven years, at the beginning of my ministry, with most cheering results-in short, till we ceased to have room for additions. At the Sunday evening service it was announced that a CONVERSATIONAL MEETING would be held on the conclusion of the service, and friends wishing for guidance on matters relating to the Christian life were requested to remain in their seats. Arrangements had been made beforehand for about a dozen friends fairly skilled as religious advisers to be in attendance. A hymn is sung, and prayer offered. The pastor says a few words, encouraging a frank statement of difficulties, or reciting the way in which some troubled one has been helped, and then the conversationalists go to their work-Christian women and experienced men speaking with the women, the pastor mostly fixing upon the young men. The conversation lasts for half an hour, a little less or more; another hymn is sung and prayer offered, and the meeting is over. I have no hesitation in saying that in the course of five or six years, three hundred persons, who gave credible evidence of Christian life, were added to the church mainly by this agency. Many of them are in the church now, and have been extremely grateful for that "easy" way of being led into fuller light and deeper joy. Three of these meetings were held in two months, prayer meetings and the Lord's Supper taking the other evenings. I will only add that recently my colleague, Mr. Avery, has re-introduced this method of work at Praed Street with most gratifying results. JOHN CLIFFORD.

Where do our Ministers come from?

A POOR benighted individual, signing himself "A General Baptist," has written to the Baptist saying that out of our 118 ministers only twenty-six have been educated at Chilwell.

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Clearly that writer is not a full-grown General Baptist; or he would know that our Training Institution has had several local habitations, and figures in the Year Book List of Ministers as "Leicester," Loughborough,' "London," and "Camberwell," as well as Chilwell; just as Rawdon appears in the list by its earlier name of Horton, and Regent's Park by that of Stepney. [N.B.-The Association Secretary would do well to make mistake impossible by giving the present name of the One Institution in each case. That is the only way to keep some men right.]

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The facts of the case are these. Thirty-five ministers are not labelled as from any school of learning: that leaves us eighty-three to account for. that number forty-five have been trained in our own College; four are from undenominational Universities, and one from the Independents; and the remaining thirty-three are from other Baptist Colleges in the proportions of one from Llangollen, two from Manchester, two from Bristol, six from Regent's Park, eight from Rawdon, and twelve from the Pastor's College. Need I add that our Foreign Missionaries in Orissa (with the exception of one) and Rome, the President of the College, the Secretary of the Foreign Missionary Society, and others, not pastors of churches, but doing good denominational work, were trained at Chilwell? No! it is sufficient to have shown that instead of NINETY-TWO being drawn from "other institutions and schools of learning," it is THIRTY-THREE. A slight difference! No mature "General" could err so

egregiously!

But why the Thirty-three? Well, why not! Our own College is not able to supply the needs of our churches, and therefore we must get the thirty-three from other quarters. The churches would not leave their own College if it supplied what they want. But it does not, and at the present rate of ministerial produce cannot. We ought to double our productive power, and must do so right early. Only five of our men in twenty years are found amongst the Particular Baptists; and their departure, if explained, would throw no discredit on the College. We have grown in that time one Independent, and one Churchman, and two men who have not yet found pastorates. I wish other Colleges could show anything like so good a record.

But I do not say we ought to be satisfied. Far from it. The vitality and usefulness of our churches depends unspeakably upon the quality and force of

our preachers. We want more men from our College: and we want more of them better-trained. We ought to bestir ourselves to give some men a much longer term, and have more men under our direction generally. The churches must give more prayer, and men, and money, both to the College and to the Home Mission, or we shall fail in our duty to our time.

As to the method of calculating "the cost of a student," is it not a formidable task? The original cost of the planet itself, and of the particular bit of land we occupy, and of the buildings, and of all the Tutors from Dan Taylor onwards, and of all the books in the library, and of the chemical apparatus, etc., etc., etc., " I ask," in the language of "A General Baptist" in the Baptist, is it not just to place to the cost for the number of students now located at the College ?"

Let us be sensible: and it would not be amiss if even "A General Baptist" made a strenuous effort to be accurate. We might expect it of him, if of nobody else. JOHN CLIFFORD.

To-morrow and To-morrow.

FOR THE YOUNG.

"I WILL plough my field to-morrow," said Jeannot; "I must not lose any time, as the season is advancing; and if I neglect to cultivate my field, I will have no wheat, and as a consequence, no bread."

To-morrow arrived. Jeannot was up by daylight, and was about going out to get his plough, when one of his friends came to invite him to a family festival. Jeannot hesitated at first; but on reflecting a little, he said, "A day sooner or later makes no difference for my business, while a day of pleasure once lost is always lost." He went to the festival of his friend.

The next day he was obliged to rest himself, because he had eaten a little too much, and drunk a little too much, and had a headache. "To-morrow I will make up for this," said he to himself.

To-morrow came; it rained. Jeannot, to his great grief, was unable to go out all day.

The following day it was fine, and Jeannot felt himself full of courage; but unfortunately his horse was sick in his turn. Jeannot cursed the poor beast. The following day was a holiday, and he could not, of course, work. new week commenced, and in a week a great deal of work may be done.

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He began by going to a fair in the neighbourhood; he had never failed to attend it; it was the finest fair held within ten miles. He went afterwards to the christening of a child of one of his nearest relations; and afterwards to a burial; in short, he had so many things to occupy him, that when he began to plough his field the season of sowing was past; thus he had nothing to reap.

When you have anything to do, do it at once; for if you are master of the present, you are not so of the future, and he who always puts off his business till to-morrow runs a great risk of never being able to finish anything. -From the French of P. Blanchard.

The Victorious Peace in the Transvaal.

"Peace hath her victories

No less renowned than war,"

Said Milton to Cromwell; and the moral courage of our Government has illustrated the memorable historic phrase, by securing in the Transvaal a more brilliant victory than any ever won on the field of battle. We have dared to be just and merciful, when strongly goaded by passion and false glory, to display the greatness of our power and the prowess of our arms. It is a grand reversal of the policy of brute force. We could easily have crushed the Boers, and it was exasperating to be beaten by them; but the moral triumph is all the more conspicuous. MR. GLADSTONE and SIR EVELYN WOOD have made the world eternally richer by this deed. It is a victory of Christianity. We have more hope of Old England than ever. God be praised!

Scraps from the Editor's Waste-Basket.

I. THE DISCUSSION ON BAPTISM has startled some of our readers, and set their pens going. One says "I have read with exceeding pain the letters of Mr. Watson and some others in the Freeman, and it seems to me that if Baptist leaders are to treat our Lord's commands after that fashion, we ought as a denomination to cease to exist-that is if they are right. To pay homage to culture and worldliness at the expense of truth is to be unfaithful to our divine Master. Another writes in a more hopeful strain, and is evidently an optimist in spirit. "This breeze from Bouverie Street is an ill wind, but it is sure to blow that which is good for Baptists. It will clear their minds of the error which regards baptism as one indispensable requisite for communion and for church fellowship." A third says "It is nonsense, at this time of day, to try to get people to accept sprinkling or pouring as baptism, when there is scarcely a Pædobaptist to be found who does not admit that immersion is the original and New Testament mode." From a lecture (soon to be printed) on baptism, by the Rev. J. Batey, in which he called up a cloud of witnesses, it appeared that the principal difference between Baptists and other Christians on the matter of baptism is that other Christians say the immersion of believers is right, and forthwith practise the sprinkling of babes, and Baptists say that the New Testament method is that of immersing believers, and forthwith do as they say.

II. AN AMERICAN PÆDOBAPTIST ON DEAN STANLEY'S VIEWS OF BAPTISM.— He says: "If further careful reading reveals no better ground for a belief in sprinkling than that taken by Dean Stanley, I must accept "immersion" as the only form which constitutes baptism. it seems to me that the whole force of his argument, that these changes have been wrought by God's spirit operating in His people, is destroyed by the fact that so large a body of Christians have always protested against any change."

III. THE "CHURCH TIMES" ON THE PREACHER'S WORK.-In the first of a series of articles on preaching, that bitter and scurrilous, vivacious and vehement, sacerdotal organ, the Church Times, thus contrasts "preaching" and "administering the sacraments":"Of course the one most important part of their ministerial

work is the celebration of the Blessed Sacrament of our Blessed Lord's Body and Blood. Everything should centre round that, and a really well arranged "Low Celebration" should have about it, simple as it must necessarily be, an amount of reverence and order which must, as necessarily, reflect upon the minds of those who are present at it." "Of course" that is what the apostles thought when they gave themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

IV. THE AMERICAN CENSUS.-The United States within ten years (of which five, at least, were years of depression) has increased from 38,500,000 people to 50,000,000. The revenue has been steadily growing, notwithstanding a reduction of taxes; in fifteen years after a war which seemed to devastate the entire land, they have paid a third (i.e. £170,000,000 sterling) of the enormous debt, and have re-established specie payments, and have placed their credit on a level with that of the oldest and wealthiest nations. These are witnesses in favour of REPUBLICANISM that will do more to shake Continental despotism, and arouse aspirations for a simpler and more economical national life, than bushels of arguments and tons of rhetoric. Will our census show a stability and a prosperity like it? We shall see.

V. TRACTS FOR THE EDUCATED CLASSES.-The Monthly Tract Society, of which Mr. J. Stabb, 5, New Bridge Street, E.C., is Secretary, aims at producing tracts for the educated classes. The following incident is an eloquent advocate of such quiet work:-"The late Lord Jeffrey regularly received, and read with great interest and attention, the tract that was sent to him through the post. One morning, while a friend was with him, the post brought his letters, and on opening one of them, his Lordship said, 'Oh, here's my monthly friend!' and, passing it over to his friend, he continued, 'Do you know that I have been very much impressed by this thing. It has come to me for a long time. At first I paid no attention to it, and put it in the waste-basket; I was so bothered by lots of things coming to me that I thought it was some trash, and cast it aside; but one day I was led by some accident to read a tract, and do you know, I was very much struck with it? As a literary man it pleased me exceedingly, it was so