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SPALDICK.

ON Tuesday, April 21, 1818, the Rev. Enoch Manning, (son of the Rev. Joseph Manning,many years the respectable pastor of the church at Spaldick, Huntingdon,) was ordained to the pastoral office over the church assembling at Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. Mr. Clark, of Biggleswade, began the service, by reading and prayer; Mr. Geard, of Hitchen, asked the usual questions, and received the confession of faith; Mr. Manning, senior, prayed the ordination prayer; Mr. Morrel, (Independent minister,) of St. Neots, addressed the minister; and Mr. Ragsdell, of Thrapston, addressed the church: Mr. Brown, of Keysoe, concluded with prayer.

In the evening, Mr. Hemming, of Kimbolton, preached, and closed the interesting services of the day with prayer.

MELBOURNE.

On Thursday, August 20, 1818, Mr. W. Pepper, (a student from Stepney,) was publicly set apart to the pastoral office, in the Baptist church at Melbourne, in Cambridgeshire. Mr. Brown, of Buntingford, read appropriate portions of scripture, and prayed. The introductory address was delivered by Mr. Wilkinson, of Saffron Walden, who also asked the usual questions, and received Mr. Pepper's confession of faith; Mr. Towne, of Royston, presented the ordination prayer; Dr. Newman delivered the

Poetry.

HYMN II.
"Hallowed be thy Name."

On holy holy! holy! Lord,
The great omniscient King;
Hosannas to thy righteous word,
May all thy people sing.
When the bright sun, with glad'ning ray,
Illumes the eastern sky,
Let praise salute the op'ning day,

Thy Name extol on high.

And when the length'ning shades of eve
Shall contemplation raise;
Then may thy hallow'd Name receive
Again the hymn of praise.

And whilst in songs the lips express
Our gratitude and joy;
Let the warm heart Jehovah bless,
And Him our thoughts employ.
Ye distant lands applaud his Name,
On all his goodness dwell;
His holiness aloud proclaim,
His love and mercy tell.

H. L.

charge, from Titus, ii. 15; Mr. Edmonds, of Cambridge, addressed the church, from Phil. ii. 16; and Mr. Pyne, of Duxford, concluded with prayer.

Mr. Carver's place of worship was kindly lent for this occasion.

In the evening, Messrs. Green and Reynolds, (students from Stepney,) prayed; and Dr. Newman preached, from Tim. iii. 14-16.

NOTICES.

THE members of the Baptist congregation at Leeds, in consequence of the great number of applications that have lately been made to them for assistance in building and enlarging places of worship, have resolved, "That a Committee be appointed, who shall meet on the second Monday in February, and the second Monday in August, to examine such cases as may be presented, and to fix the time of their being attended to; and that it is their intention to encourage such cases only as shall be approved and recommended by the Committee."

Leeds, Sept. 3. 1818.

THOS. LANGDON.

Somerset Association, will be holden at
THE next Meeting of the Wilts and
Melksham, on Tuesday, October 13.
Mr. Saunders, of Frome, is expected to
preach.
ROBERT EDMINSON, Secretary.

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HYMN III.

Thy Kingdom come." Hail the glorious Prince eternal, Lord triumphant onward ride; Trample down the foe infernal,

Quell the rebel heart of pride! Lo! Messiah, God's anointed,

Open throw each massy gate; Man's Redeemer he's appointed, Welcome him with regal state. Oh! what rapture fills the story,

Of thy mild paternal reign; All is joy, and peace, and glory,

Free from sorrow, doubt, and pain. May our hearts, as King, receive thee, All thy righteous precepts love; Oh! that we might never grieve thee, But our deeds our faith approve. Let the earth, let all creation,

Gifts and presents to thee bring; Lordly realm, and mighty nation,

Bow before him, CHRIST the KING. Lord! may we the train be swelling, Of the ransom'd, hallow'd throng; May we, in the heavenly dwelling, Sing of Thee, th' eternal song. H. L

THE

Baptist Magazine.

NOVEMBER, 1818.

MEMOIR OF MENNO SIMON.
(Continued from page 368.)

land)," although they are very numerous, have no church in their possession. These persons are worthy of greater commendation than others, on account of the harmlessness of their lives. But they are oppressed by all other sects, as well as by the orthodox," (meaning the Catholics.)

THE learned Cassander, a Catholic, who lived in the time of Menno, says, concerning him and the Baptists with whom he was united, "We can discover in them for the most part the proofs of a godly mind, and that they have departed from the true sense of the holy scriptures, and from the general opinions of the Catholic church, rather from error than from a fixed perverseness of inclination. This appears from their uniformly manifesting the greatest earnestness against the insurrection of Munster, and the confusions consequent thereon, and from their teaching, on the contrary, that the restitution and extension of the kingdom of Christ, consist only in resolutely bearing his cross. Such persons as these merit compassion and better instruction, rather than violent persecution and extirpa-churches allowed them, although

tion."

Of the amiableness of the sect with which Menno was united, Erasmus bore the following honourable testimony, in the year 1529, five years before the insurrection at Munster, in a letter to Alphonsus Fonseca, archbishop of Toledo, dated from Basle: "The Anabaptists" (in Switzer

VOL. X.

.

In a letter to some friends in the Netherlands, Erasmus, speaking of the Zurichers, says, "They are very strenuous that heretics should not be put to death, although they themselves have thus punished the Anabaptists, who were condemned on very inferior points, and who, it is said, have among them a great number of persons that have been converted from lives of the greatest impiety to pre-eminent holiness. The Zurichers, however, think them to be in an error. They have no

they have never entered any town by force, nor sought to strengthen their party by clandestine and secret conspiracies, and by opposition to the secular powers, nor in a single instance despoiled any one of his property."

Menno agreed with the other Reformers, respecting the great and leading doctrines of Christia3 F

nity, as appears from his writ- | wash the feet of their brethren who ings. To this also Heyden, visit them from foreign parts, Hoornbeck, and Cocceius, bore and of messengers from churches. the following testimony, in a let- Others of them perform this cereter to Huldrick, minister at Zu-mony after the celebration of the rich:Many of the disciples of Lord's Supper. They quote in Menno live among us, who are favour of this practice Gen. xviii, esteemed as good citizens. They 4. John xiii. 14. and 1 Tim. v. confess the grace of Christ, and 10. defend it; and strongly oppose the Socinians, who mingle among them."

All of them practise sprinkling instead of immersion. They acknowledge that immersion was the practice of the church, from the age immediately succeeding that of the apostles, down to a very late period. But they say, that it was an early corruption, and that either pouring or sprink

His Works were published in folio, in 1681. The following are the titles of a few of them.

I. "An evident Demonstration of the Saving Doctrine of Jesus Christ." In this work, he treats on the following subjects: 1. The time of grace. 2. Repentance. 3. Faith, which he defines to be, An embracing of the gospel, through the agency of the Holy Spirit. He shows that the believer relies upon Christ and his grace; that he embraces his pro

The distinguishing tenets of his party are the same with those of the ancient Waldenses, not only, as they believe, respecting baptism, but also with respect to oaths, war, and civil offices. Some time, however, after his renunci-ling was the apostolic mode. ation of Popery, he fell into an error, somewhat resembling that of some of the ancient Christians, concerning the incarnation of Christ, but which is now maintained by very few of the Mennonites. From a desire to keep the human nature of Christ as remote as possible from being implicated in that original corruption which proceeds from the fall, he held that, at the incarnation, his human body was not derived, but created. "It must, however," says Mosheim, "be ac-mises; and that he is justified, knowledged, that Menno does not seem to have been unchangeably wedded to this opinion; for in several places he expresses himself ambiguously on this head, and even sometimes falls into inconsistencies. From hence, perhaps, it might not be unreasonable to conclude, that he renounced indeed the common opinion concerning the origin of Christ's human nature; but was pretty much undetermined with respect to the hypothesis which, among many that were proposed, it was proper to substitute in its place."

Some of the Mennonites, likewise, esteem it to be their duty to

not by works, but by faith, which is not of men, but the gift of God; and that this faith is not without fruits, but worketh by love. 4. Baptism. He defends the confining of baptism to believers, from Matt. xxviii. 12. Mark xvi. 16, &c. and by the arguments which are usually adduced on that side of the question; and replies to the arguments in favour of Pædobaptism. In this chapter, he uses a severity of style which the subject does not require, but which was common with the Reformers in general, when they disputed against adversaries who had set them the exam

ple. 5. The Lord's Supper. 6. nister spiritual things, it is but Secession from the church of reasonable they should receive Rome. 7. The calling of minis- temporal ones. He makes this ters in the church. 8. The doc- clear from the case of the priests trines to be preached by minis- and Levites under the legal disters; showing that the scripture pensation, who, ministering in is the only rule of faith. 9. The holy things, had a provision made life of ministers, and their sup- for them. And lastly, from the port. He denies the lawfulness constitution and appointment of of ministerial stipends: this opi- Christ himself, whose ordinance nion is, however, rejected by it is, that they that preach the many of the modern Mennonites. gospel should live of the gosThe following quotations, from pel." Vol. III. book ii. chap. 4. Dr. Gill's Body of Divinity, will Again, It is the business of deaconvey our sentiments upon this cons to serve, "2. The minister's subject:-"The duty of church-table; to take care that a proper members to their pastors is held provision is made for the subsistforth in various passages, respect-ence of himself and family. ing their maintenance, or a provision for the subsistence of themselves and families, which is part of that double honour a ruling elder and a laborious minister is worthy of, since the labourer is worthy of his reward, 1 Tim. v. 17, 18; and he that is taught in the word, and instructed by it to his comfort and edification, should communicate to him that teacheth in all good things, temporal good things, he stands in need of, Gal. vi. 6. This duty the apostle urges and presses, with a variety of arguments, in 1 Cor. ix. 7-14. He argues from the law of nature and nations, exemplified in the cases of soldiers, planters of vineyards, and keepers of flocks, who, by virtue of their calling and service, have a right to a livelihood; between whom and ministers of the gospel there is a resemblance. He also argues from the law of Moses, particularly the law respecting the ox not to be muzzled when it treads out the corn, which he interprets of ministers of the word, and applies to them. He argues the right of the maintenance of the ministers of the gospel from the justice and equity of the thing; that since they mi

Whereas Christ has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of it, and that he that is taught in the word shall communicate to him that teacheth in all good things; the business of deacons is to see to it that every member contributes according to his ability, and that there be an equality, that some are not eased and others burdened. And it lies upon them to collect what the members give; for it is not proper the minister should collect for himself; this would be to prevent the design of the institution, which was, that those who are employed in the sacred office of the ministry of the word should not be hindered in it. Besides, such a practice would not comport with the case and character of a minister, who would be obliged to receive what the people gave him, without making any remonstrance against it as failing in their duty to him. He might also be exposed to the charge of avarice. To which may be added, that a church would not be able to judge whether their pastor was sufficiently provided for or not." Vol. III. book ii. chap. 5. In addition to these weighty and

unanswerable arguments, it may | peasants, rising in rebellion against

be observed, that, even where a minister does not stand in need of the pecuniary aid of the church and congregation, and therefore might not be anxious to receive any such aid, yet a subscription for the remuneration of his labours creates a bond of union amongst the subscribers, which would otherwise be wanting; since they consider themselves as having a common interest, and as united together in the maintenance of the same cause; and also, that it frees them from the uneasy reflection of attending upon a ministry, towards the support of which they yield no pecuniary

assistance.

In this chapter, likewise, he cautions magistrates, learned men, and the common people, against false ministers. He also addresses the Munsterites: this is the part of his works which has been appealed to, in order to prove that the Munsterites and the Mennonites were the same people; the passage to which reference is made, is that in which he calls them his "erring brethren." The fact seems to have been as follows: The Munsterites were originally boors,* or

"The boors of Germany," says bishop Jewel, in his Reply to Harding the Jesuit, "whom you mention, were, for the greatest part, the oppugners of Luther, and were unacquainted with the gospel. They engaged, according to their own statement, by an oath, against the cruelty and tyranny of the landlords; just as they had done twenty years before, in the same parts, in the conspiracy called Liga Sotularica, be fore Luther began to preach. Whatever was the object of the later conspiracies, it is certain that Luther" (and the same may be said of Menne)" conducted himself towards them with the greatest severity. They, moreover, on being questioned concerning their conduct, disowned any connexiou with the evangeli'cal party, or that they knew the same."

their tyrannical lords. Religion does not seem to have been employed by them, in aid of their rebellion, until they were joined and headed by some artful men, who endeavoured, by availing themselves of existing circumstances, to advance their own ambitious designs. These were Munzer and Rotman, who were originally Lutherans, but became Baptists, and John of Leyden, who probably was a Baptist before he joined the insurgents. These men were wild and ambitious fanatics, and had no affinity with the genuine Baptists, who were enemies to war and rebellion. From the latter, however, a few weak persons were seduced to join the insurgents. It was these weak deluded Christians whom Menno addressed as brethren, with a desire to bring them back to the fold of God, and not the general mass, of whom baptism (which they had adopted because their leaders were Baptists) and fanaticism constituted the only religion. In this chapter he shows, that the only sword which Christians ought to use is the sword of the Spirit; and that with this sword Christ so protects his church, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He also admonishes the church, under persecution, to walk in the practice of all Christian virtues.

Sleidan says, "That the tumults in Germany did not originate with the Anabaptists, but with persons of the Popish communion." Perizonius also says, "The general rising of the boors, extending itself over the greatest part of Germany, has, though most unjustly, cast much odium on the Lutherans. For the followers of Luther by no means occasioned the same, but were most avowed enemies to it. Moreover, the insurrection was not excited for the first time then, (1525,) but had already existed a short time ber fore Luther's appearance."

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