able refutation of the doctrine of Destruction, in Dr. Smith's "Illustrations of the Divine Government;" a work already referred to as containing a masterly defence of the doctrine of Universal Restoration.

SABBATARIANS.

NAMES AND RISE.

THE Sabbatarians are so called from their keeping the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath; whereas Christians in general keep the first day of the week, or Sunday, in memory of our Saviour's having on that day risen from the dead *. On the continent they are generally, but improperly, called Israelites.

Before the end of the third century, many Christians not only observed the first (or Lord's) day, but also the Sabbath of the Hebrews, partly, it is thought, out of respect to the con verts from Judaism. I have not, however, been able to trace the Sabbatarians through the different ages of the church; nor am I yet aware how long they had made their appearance in the Protestant church before 1633, the year under which Fuller first mentions them.

DISTINGUISHING TENET.

The common reasons why Christians in general observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath are:-that on this day Christ rose from the dead, and the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles ;-that on it they assembled, preached, administered the Lord's Supper, and made public collections for the support of the poor and distressed disciples;-and, because it has been kept holy by the church for many ages, if not from the days of the Apostles +.

• Even the first day of the week is sometimes called the Sabbath-day, as being substituted in the room of the Jewish Sabbath; but the ancients retained the name Sunday, or Dies Solis, (which is now more generally in use), in compliance with the ordinary forms of speech,-the first day of the week being so called by the Romans, because it was dedicated to the worship of the Sun.

+ The most ancient Christian writers assure us, that the observation of the first day of the week prevailed early and constantly in the church. Thus, Ignatius calls it the " queen of days;” and Melito wrote a book con

They do not, indeed, produce any express text for the change, yet they perceive the Christian Sabbath to have its grounds in Scripture; in the authority of Christ, conveyed through the medium of his inspired Apostles; or, at least, in their example and practice, if not command, (Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2, compared with St. Matt. xxviii. 1): and they believe that the change of the day by them, from the seventh to the first, without any alteration, that we know of, as to the main purpose and design of it, virtually implies, if not proves, a command for its continuance; as it has accordingly been continued and observed from the primitive times, through all succeeding ages of the church, because the chief ends of its institution are always, and ever will be, the same.

"By keeping a Sabbath, we acknowledge a God, and declare that we are not Atheists: by keeping one day in seven, we protest against idolatry, and acknowledge that God who in the beginning made the heavens and the earth: and by keeping our Sabbath on the first of the week, we protest against Judaism, and acknowledge that God who, having made the world, sent his only begotten Son to redeem mankind. The observation, therefore, of the Sunday in the Christian Church, is a public weekly assertion of the two first articles in our Creed, the belief in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord *."

The Sabbatarians, however, think these reasons unsatisfactory, and insist that the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, did not take place till the beginning of the fourth century, when it was effected by the emperor Constantine, on his conversion to Christianity.

A summary of their principles, as to this article of the Sabbath, by which they stand distinguished, is contained in the three following propositions.

1st, That God hath required the observation of the seventh

cerning it. Justin Martyr and Tertullian, in their "Apologies," speak very expressly of stated Christian assemblies held on this day; not to mention Clemens Alexandrinus, Commodian, and many more. Pliny likewise speaks of it as the sacred day of the Christians, a very few years after the death of St. John. Now, is it likely that such an observation should have so early and so universally prevailed, (for it does not appear that it was then disputed), had not the Apostles directed to it?

"The words xpiano dimov (1 Cor. xi. 20) may, with the Syriac version, be very well rendered, “a meal which suits the day of the Lord," or, a "Sunday's meal." It is strange, that in the controversy concerning Sunday no mention should ever have been made of this ancient version.”—Michaelis. • Bishop Horsley's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 255.

or last day of every week, to be observed by mankind universally for the weekly Sabbath.

2d, That this command of God is perpetually binding on man till time shall be no more.

And, 3d, That this sacred rest of the seventh-day Sabbath is not changed, by Divine authority, from the seventh and last to the first day of the week; or, that the Scripture doth no where require the observation of any other day of the week for the weekly Sabbath, but the seventh day only, which is still kept by the Jews, to whom the law on this subject was given.

The Sabbatarians are to be found chiefly, if not wholly, among the Baptists, whence they are sometimes called the Seventh-day Baptists; and they hold, in other respects, the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity, in common with other Christians. Some of them keep our Sunday, or the first day of the week, as well as the Jewish Sabbath, or Saturday; and indeed both these days were days of assembling, and were long held in great veneration, among the primitive Christians. The ancient canons seem to have made them equal, by equally prohibiting fasts on either of them. Thus, "Celebrate" (says the book of ancient Constitutions, that goes under the name of Clement)," celebrate both Saturday and Sunday as festivals; the one being consecrated to the memory of the creation, and the other to that of the resurrection *."

NUMBERS, AND COUNTRIES WHERE FOUND.

The Sabbatarians are but few in number; but they deserve to be distinctly noticed in a work of this nature, on account of their integrity and respectability. There are two congregations of them in London; one among the General Baptists, meeting in Mill-Yard, Goodman's Fields, (now shut up); the other among the Particular Baptists, meeting in Devonshire Square, over which presides the Rev. R. Burnside, author of " Essays on the Religion of Mankind." There is also a family or Ismall society of them at Wattlington, near Oxford; and a few to be found in some other parts of the kingdom. They are to be met with in various parts of the continent; and it appears that our Saturday and Sunday are both kept holy

See the digression of Curcellæus on this question respecting the Sabbath, forming the sixth chapter of his dissertation "De Usu Sanguinis."

The late Dr. S. Stennet is one of those modern divines who have kept both days; for he preached the first day of the week at Wild Street, London, though he was a Sabbatarian.

by the Abyssinian Christians, and some members of the Greek Church.

We are told by Mr. Morse, in his " American Geography," that there are many Sabbatarians likewise in America; as in Rhode Island and New Jersey: and that their doctrine is held by the remains of the Keithian, or Quaker Baptists, and by the Dunkers, or one congregation of Dunkers, at Ephrata, in Pennsylvania. There are likewise a few Seven-day Baptists in Connecticut, who do not keep Sunday, See Benedict's "General History of the Baptist Denomination in America," Boston, 2 vols. 8vo. 1813, vol. ii. pp. 414-422.

AUTHORS PRO ET CON.

This tenet has given rise, it seems, to various controversies, and writers of considerable ability have appeared on both sides of the question.

Mr. Cornthwaite, a respectable minister of this sect or party, published, about the year 1740, several tracts in support of it, which may be consulted by those who wish to obtain more full satisfaction on the subject. The reader may also have recourse to Bishop White, of Ely's, and Dr. Wallis's "Tracts against the Sabbatarians;" Dr. Jenning's "Jewish Antiquities," vol. ii. book iii. chap. 3; Dr. Chandler's "Two Discourses on the Sabbath;" Mr. Amner's "Dissertation on the Weekly Festival of the Christian Church;" Dr. Kennicott's "Sermon and Dialogue on the Sabbath;" and Mr. Orton's "Six Discourses on the Religious Observation of the Lord's Day."

AMERICAN BAPTISTS.

BAPTISTS were found among the earliest British settlers in America. But, on account of the persecutions which they suffered, from those who themselves fled from persecution, they formed no church before 1639, which was nineteen years after the first settlement in New England. In that year a church was formed at Providence, Rhode Island, by the Rev. Roger Williams, who soon afterwards obtained from the British Government a charter for the state of Rhode Island. In that state the Baptists have ever since had an ascendency;

but have always granted to others the same civil and religious privileges which they enjoyed themselves. As in all the other states they laboured under many restrictions and disabilities, their numbers were small for the first hundred years. But after the establishment of the American Independence, to which they had contributed much, they enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of the American Government. That confidence has never been withdrawn from them, and may have contributed to their subsequent prosperity and increase.

In their sentiments they are generally Calvinistic, and reject what is called open communion-that is, administer the Lord's Supper to those only whom they esteem baptized. Their churches, though independent, are united in general, in District Associations. These Associations meet triennially, by their delegates or representatives, in what is called the General Convention. The number of churches composing these Associations is 3520; and the number of ministers 2485. It is computed, from sufficient documents, that the number of Baptist communicants within the United States is 256,636; to which if their adherents, that is, those who are hearers with them, be in the proportion of two to one, the Baptist denomination in these states amounts to 769,908.

The General Convention has already planted several missionary stations among the American Indians, the aborigines of the soil. In the schools connected with these stations, the Indian children are clothed and taught. The Convention has also missionaries at Rangoon, in the Burman empire, and at Chittagong, upon the borders of that empire. Though the Burman government is exceedingly despotic and cruel, and grants no religious toleration, the missionaries at Rangoon have baptized about twelve Burmans, upon a profession of their Christian faith; and have printed tracts and parts of the holy Scriptures, in the Burman language.

The American Baptists have three regular incorporated colleges, possessed of the power of conferring the various academic degrees. Besides these, they have two or three smaller institutions of learning, which are entirely theological. The denomination, it is ascertained, is rapidly increasing in numbers, in literature, and in general respectability. Last year, (1822) there was an addition of 222 churches, and about the same number of ministers. Among their most eminent writers and preachers are, the Rev. Doctors Stillman, Baldwin, Staughton, and Chaplin; and the Rev. Messrs. Bacchus, Benedict, Semple, and Chaplin.

See Bacchus's "History of the New England Baptists,"