PREFACE.

THE Completion of another Volume of this Magazine, calls for the usual address from the Editor to his readers and correspondents. It is impossible for him to engage in this duty, now for the twentyfirst time, without being affected with a sense of the lapse of years, and of the unavoidable change which it produces, both on himself and his friends. Two or three of the Obituaries contained in the present Volume, are adapted to make an unusual impression of this order. That of the revered Secretary of our Foreign Mission, with whom, for near thirty years, he had been on terms of intimacy, who was the originator of "The Missionary Observer," and "whose praise is in all the churches," is a matter which cannot be passed over without remark. His papers often enriched our pages, and his suggestions, ever given in a kindly spirit, were always welcome. The decease, too, of our senior Missionary, Dr. Amos Sutton, is an event which must awaken deep solicitudes for our interesting and useful Foreign Mission, not only among its aged friends, but also among the young, the talented, and the devoted, that others may be found who will be "baptized for the dead," and worthily fill their places in a heathen land. To the Editor, it will be a happy event, if, while he has a beloved son who is a candidate for these labours, the pages of this Magazine shall contribute to so important a result.

While nothing can be more evident than that a Denominational Periodical, well sustained, is a bond of union, and as such a source of strength, no fact is more apparent than that in the Denomination union and co-operation are pre-eminently required at the present season. This is true of the body when considered in itself, and its institutions, in relation to the losses which it has experienced. It is also correct when viewed in reference to what is without its pale. Infidelity, worldliness, and irreligion are rampant, and require all the checks that christian influence and a christian press can give. All other denominations of christians are on the alert, and ours must be too, if we would prosper and increase. We believe that our form of doctrine and our rules of practice approach most nearly to the primitive and apostolic order and example, and therefore we are bound to employ every means in our power, the press as well as the pulpit, to strengthen our position, and to sustain the hearts of our adherents, and to extend the walls of our Zion.

Some of our elder and talented ministers, who are able to serve the interests of the Periodical and of the Denomination in this way, have been and are too chary, in our opinion, in the use of their pen. We are far from imputing this to indolence, or to indifference to the welfare of the body; and we therefore invite them, with all frankness, to lay aside their retiring modesty, and to enrich our pages, and animate our readers, with their most vigorous lucubrations. We have often, too, felt somewhat disappointed that of our junior breth

ren, for whom we have ever cherished a profound solicitude, so few wield the pen of criticism, of comment, or of controversy, in our Magazine. Capable, by their education, their native talent, and their extensive reading, for this service, why should they not perform it for the benefit of others? While we record our own gratitude, and that of our readers, to the brethren whose labours are conspicuous in our Miscellany, we do most earnestly entreat every one of this class, to feel that its columns present to him a legitimate space and means for promoting the unity, stability, and the prosperity of the Denomination to which he is united.

We know that we address a large number of right-minded brethren, whose stedfast attachment to their own Periodical, like that to their own Denomination, has never wavered. To them we say,— Persevere. Let your preference for your own Magazine continue. It will ever be filled with Denominational interest. Use every laudable effort to increase its circulation among our people, and to augment its value by your contributions and suggestions. And to those who neglect their only medium of Denominational intercommunication by the press, we would say, if we could obtain their attention:-You are General Baptists; you are identified with the Denomination. Do you by this neglect show your interest in its welfare? Do you thus encourage your families and connections to identify themselves with your religious connections? Do you thus contribute to the well-being of that section of the visible church which you have espoused? Alas! is not one great reason for the lamentable defection of our families from the Denomination, and from the ways of piety too, to be found in the indifference of their parents to its publications and proceedings?

We are most anxious to encourage our agents in the churches in their efforts to extend our circulation. We wish also to stimulate the Secretaries of our Churches not to permit any event of importance to occur without some memorial of it being recorded in our pages. Let all Baptisms, Anniversaries, Revival Meetings, be conveyed to us in a clear and condensed form, and we promise prompt attention to their publication. Let Obituaries of every worthy person deceased be forwarded. Let them be brief, characteristic, and affectionate. Our readers will be as happy to peruse such memorials as we shall be ready to insert them. Let care be taken to avoid reflections on others, or anything that might give pain. Let our poetic friends not be discouraged; but as they are prone to express their thoughts in rhyme, let them consult with their minister, or some judicious friend, before they venture to commit their verses to the severe criticism of the public.

Solicitous for the credit and usefulness of our Denominational Magazine, we respectfully request our friends in all the churches to assist us in our labour of love. We may then feel that the conduct of their Magazine has more of the character of a pleasure than a task. With best wishes for the blessing of God to descend on all, we commit this volume to his blessing.

Loughborough, Nov. 20th, 1854.

“WHAT'S IN A NAME?" Very much. | and first christians, have not been It not unfrequently happens that in the very name by which a party is designated, there is involved many of the strangest and most startling facts in its history and progress. Some names have been originally given by enemies, and at length have become so identified with the parties on whom they were cast as a stigma, that they have been insensibly, or even triumphantly, adopted by themselves. In this case the correct understanding of the name involves an acquaintance with the history of the sect, whether it is political or religious.

In some cases, too, the party has chosen its own distinctive appellation, which in process of time has prevailed over the reproach-term of its opponents; so that the use of the latter has been regarded as a proof either of ignorance or ill-nature.

Illustrations of these statements in abundance might be taken from the names given to religious parties of both ancient and modern times. Good men, sincerely anxious to restore christianity to its original purity, and to follow closely the doctrines and practices of the apostles

anxious about any distinctive name they might bear, and have therefore had an offensive one put on them by their enemies; or sincere, though misguided men, earnest in their protest against prevailing corruptions, have been in the same way called by their adversaries by some term indicative of their real or supposed peculiarities. Thus, in modern times, the terms, Quaker, Ranter, Method ist, Puritan, Conventicler, Separatist, and a host of others have been given. We have also names taken from the persons who have been the originators of different sects,- -as Calvinists, Arminians, Arians, Socinians, Johnsonians, Sandemanians, Brownists, Wesleyans, Lutherans, &c. So also some terms are taken from the form and order of church government, as Papal, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Independent. Every one of these terms, as our readers will perceive, involves a history; and indeed some of them cannot be understood without one.

The followers of George Fox were called Quakers by their opponents, but as they chose to be designated by the term "Friends," it is regard