prepared for a union with the kingdom of God in heaven; and thus shall the chain which has bound together in one the hosts of heaven, extend and grasp in its circumference all who have been obedient to the mandates of God.

W. WOODRUFF.

GREAT FIRE IN TURKEY.

One half of the town of the Dardanelles has been destroyed by fire. At half-past eleven A. M. of the 25th of October the fire commenced in the Greek quarter, a gale of wind blowing from the north east at the time. Although it was so early in the day, and two thousand Turkish troops, with twelve fire engines were on the spot the ravages of the all consuming element, and twenty houses were destroyed before any efficacious aid was given. Much might have been done had the engines been in good order; but owing to the gross neglect of Ibrahim Pacha, the Governor of the town, not one of them could be made to work. Had it not been for the assistance of two Turkish soldiers, and the European residents, who occupied themselves in pulling down houses, and regulating the scanty supply of water, the fire would never have been arrested in its progress. The presence of the Pacha was of little use, as his commands being enforced by the whip, no one would work with good will. This terrible fire was not subdued until half-past two A. M. of the 27th, having lasted thirty-nine hours.-The whole of the Greek and Jewish quarters, with the exception of about forty houses, one-half of the Armenian quarter, about one hundred Turkish houses, three mosques, a synagogue, one hundred shops, and a large bath, have fallen a prey to the flames. At least six hundred houses have been destroyed, and, as in many of four to five families lived together, there are about twelve hundred families without a home. Of this number, one-half have taken refuge in the barracks and two adjoining villages, three hundred have found an asylum in the remaining part of the town, and the rest exposed to the inclemency of the weather, or sheltered for the time being in tents. The misery is very great, and the winter approaching. A subscription was immediately set on foot by those who were fortunate in escaping, but will afford only temporary relief, as most of the families have been rendered completely destitute. It is to be hoped that the Sultan will send succor before long, and the charitably disposed persons will be induced to raise contributions in Constantinople, and in different parts of Europe, for the relief of the poor people.

These evil consequences might have been avoided had Ibrahim Pacha paid attention in time to the earnest and often repeated requests of the Consuls and the fire-engines in his charge should be kept in good order and frequently exercised. All classes of people regretted the unavoidable absence at the capital of the military commandant, Thuessein Pach; there is but little doubt that, had he been present, under his able management, added to their veneration for his estimable qualities, his commands would have been obeyed with alacrity, and the fire would never have made such awful ravages.

From the Messenger.

TO EMIGRANTS.

We have now on our books the names of about three hundred saints who wish to go by water, and it grieves us to say that only about sixty out of that number will have means sufficient to carry them through. If some of our wealthy brethren who are now dwelling at ease in the world, would but step forward, and plant this company of poor saints, (that have not the means, nor likely to have,) upon the western soil, how soon would it be before they would have it in their power to return four fold? And how sweet would be the reflections of that mind capable of performing such a noble act. Where is the magnanimity of God's people? Alas, it is in the poor and meek of the earth.

The passage for each person will be fifty dollars, children over five and under fourteen, half price. Each one will need from twenty to twenty-five dollars worth of provisions; the whole amount, seventy five dollars. If we obtain two hundred passengers, in all probability there will be a deduction.

We have been looking for some assistance from another source. A merchant of this city who is now engaged in the Pacific trade, has made us the following propositions; that if he can obtain the government freight consisting of naval stores, to be carried into the Pacific, he will take two hundred of us at sixteen dollars per ton for the room we occupy and fifty more for nothing. As yet this arrangement has not been made, and it remains uncertain whether it will be.

We do not feel to place much dependence on it, lest we are unhappily disappointed. If the arrangement is affected the saints will receive timely notice.

We do not wish any person to give us their names to go by water, and when the time comes for departure to be found missing; by doing so they will bring us into difficulty, and we shall have to be responsible and pay their passage (page1094)

as much as though they went. We have selected out all the names of those who have subscribed sufficient (at the rate of seventy five dollars) to take them through, and we shall depend on their going. And all who wish to join the company will send in their names as soon as possible, so that we may know the exact number going and provide them with births two or three weeks previous to the day of sailing, we wish all to hold themselves in rediness [readiness] to send in a part of their means to furnish all the outlays necessary to be made before sailing.

We have placed the names of some who fell short in subscription on the list of those going. And the amount short will be made up by others who have more than they have need for. The following are their names, Wm. Stout, J. Joyce, J. Hairbaird, Wm. Mack, Wm. Atherton.

For the Times and Seasons.

WATER BAPTISM.

Water baptism is necessary and serves in the gospel for salvation to mankind because it is an ordinance of birth and regeneration. St. Jno. 3:5, Tit. 3:5 "Born of water," regeneration by washing; otherwise man cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Mankind were by the fall alienated from the kingdom and glory of God, and subjected to another kingdom and influence of things.-Hence the Lord God sent him forth; "he drove out the man": Gen. 3:24. In this subjection we are naturally aliens from God, and bondmen [bondsmen] to death and the power thereof; and should ever remain as such if the same power and influences only, that were brought by the fall should forever continue. But baptism serves to relieve man from this alienation and bondage, for it is a portion of the gospel or law of grace and exaltation, brought in according to the plan of redemption, through the atonement made by the shedding of blood.

To the mind not understanding the effects of the fall, or Adam's eating the forbidden fruit, it is impossible to conceive the direct reason of the necessity of water baptism as an ordinance of salvation. The 6th verse of the 5th chapter of 1st John, gives some clue to it: "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood." Also Gen. 9:4. "Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof." The life of man is not as it was before the fall. It was then susceptible of eternal duration, and that because it was governed and controlled by spiritual influence and power. It is now susceptible of temporal duration only, because it is sustained by temporal, or corruptible influences; for the power of this life consists in water and blood. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost bear record in heaven, & are one in purpose. "The spirit, and the water, and the blood have witness in the earth," and agree in one purpose. By the testimony of the spirit we understand what is the truth. Through the shedding of blood, or, the atonement, we have the privilege of the truth; and in the ordinance of water baptism, as a principle of truth, we become the adopted children of God; water baptism as an ordinance of regeneration, because that in the fall, or, in eating the forbidden fruit, water gained a controlling influence over the body temporally; the shedding of blood, as a sacrifice for sin, because that in the fall blood became the principle of life in man temporally; and the testimony of the spirit to witness of the truth, because that under the influence of blood and water in the body, the mind is clogged, stiffened, and darkened, and the body incapacitated to endure the presence of God. Hence the dispensation of his spirit is given that we may be led in the right way; and the shedding of blood required, for we must be restored to the spiritual life; and birth by water granted as the beginning of our exaltation to the presence and glory of God through the gospel.

As the fall left us, so the gospel, or law of grace finds us; and we are no better for the favor of God in this thing, if we do not use it, than as though it had not been given. But it is given, and we have the hope of exaltation to happiness, glory, and power in eternal life, and that too by the exercise of the principle and power of things we find ourselves in actual possession of. By the alienation came in us water for both good and evil, and now by water cometh for us the adoption. See the analogy, and above all see the mercy and goodness of God, which together extend through and exist in relation to not only water baptism, but every principle and ordinance of salvation to mankind.

V. H. BRUCE.

City of Joseph, Dec. 26 1845.

An important case is before the Supreme Court at Washington, in which a fund of about five hundred thousand dollars, deposited in various moneyed institutions in Philadelphia, is involved. The correspondent of the Baltimore Patriot says that it has been litigated since the year 1824, in England and this country, and is a contest for the large fortune of Mr. Apsden, who died about twenty -five years ago in London.-Mo. Rep.

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