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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/baptistmanualsel02 
 
THE 
 
 BAPTIST MANUAL: 
 
 A SELECTION FROM THE SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION- 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
 DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES; 
 
 AND AS AX EXPOSITION OF THE DISTINGUISHING SENTIMENTS 
 OF THE DENOMINATION-. 
 
 I piaise you — that ye — keep the ordinances as I delivered them 
 to you. 1 Cor. xi. 2. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE SOCIETY'S DEPOSITORY, 
 
 NO. 21 SOUTH FOURTH STKEET. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The increasing demand for The Baptist Manual, 
 
 has induced the Board of the American Baptist Publica- 
 tion and Sunday School Society, to issue a new edition. 
 In order to give a more uniform appearance to the work, 
 they have omitted some of the titles which were prefixed 
 to the different tracts ; they have removed from the 
 plates the numbers intended to designate the pages of 
 the vol. to which the tract belonged, and mother minute 
 alterations have endeavoured to improve the appearance 
 of this interesting manual. The table appended to the 
 44 Brief History of the Burman Mission," has also been 
 corrected to the present time, through the kindness of 
 Br. S. Peck, one of the Secretaries of the Board of 
 Foreign Missions, thus rendering it much more valuable. 
 The object of tliis publication will be learned from the 
 original Preface, which is retained, and the revised 
 edition is now sent forth with the earnest prayer that it 
 may prove an efficient instrument in removing error, 
 and in promoting the practice of the truth. 
 
 Philadelphia, January, 1841. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 5 ^o> 
 
 &£*<% 
 
 The object of the Board of Managers of the Baptist 
 General Tract Society, in sending forth the following 
 selection from the Series of its publications, is three-fold. 
 They wish to engage, more widely, the attention of their 
 brethren in the United States to the Society, and to 
 awaken an interest in its behalf, by diffusing a knowledge 
 of the character of its publications ; to furnish to mem- 
 bers of Baptist Churches, and to Baptist families, a 
 volume of convenient size, which shall be profitable for 
 doctrine, for correction, and for instruction in righteous- 
 ness ; — a volume which, with the Divine blessing, may 
 promote their growth in Grace and in the knowledge of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ; and to furnish to those who may 
 be seeking information respecting our views and prac- 
 tices as a denomination, the means of acquaintance with 
 those views and practices, and with the grounds on 
 which they rest. 
 
 Agreeing with the great body of evangelical Christians 
 of other denominations, in the fundamental principles of 
 doctrinal belief, the Baptists yet differ from many of 
 them in their views of Church order; and in one 
 important respect, that of Christian Baptism — they differ 
 from them all. 
 
 With every other Protestant denomination they take 
 their stand against the corruptions of the church of Rome, 
 but considering Infant Baptism, both in the subject and 
 the mode, as it is practised, to be one of those corrup- 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 tions, they bear their testimony on this point alike against 
 the Papist, the Protestant, and the Dissenter. 
 
 They believe, with their Protestant brethren of every 
 name, that the Bible is a sufficient, and the only rule of 
 faith and practice. With them they repair to the law 
 and the testimony for light and direction : but they are 
 unable to find a Divine sanction for the baptism of any 
 but those who believe ; or authority for considering the 
 use of water in any other form than that of immersion to 
 be baptism. And feeling the obligation to walk in the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord, they fear 
 to follow the example of their brethren of other denomi- 
 nations any further than they can see them treading in 
 the footsteps of Christ. 
 
 The separate position which the views of the Baptist 
 churches in regard to this ordinance, have obliged them 
 to take with respect to the churches of every other 
 denomination, has ever exposed them to animadversion; 
 their principles have often been misrepresented ; and 
 they are, even at this day, notwithstanding that the Bap- 
 tist denomination is now the largest Protestant denomi- 
 nation in the United States, extensively misunderstood. 
 
 The Board have thought it due to the denomination 
 and to the cause of truth, to furnish to the honest 
 inquirer the means of an acquaintance with our senti- 
 ments, in a convenient form : they have accordingly 
 included in the following selection, such tracts from 
 their series as will give the views of the denomination 
 on most, if not all, those points on which they have been 
 misapprehended. The candid will here learn, that 
 although we consider immersion essential to baptism, and 
 baptism essential to church-membership, we do not 
 consider it essential to salvation : that although we are 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 strenuous for the preservation of soundness in the faith, 
 we yet have no fellowship with the faith which is not 
 productive of good works ; and that although we are 
 firm in the conviction that " the purpose of God accord- 
 ing to election" — " the election of grace" — will stand, 
 we yet believe that it is a part of his purpose to employ 
 the instrumentality of his saints in gathering his elect 
 into his kingdom ; and that therefore it is as much their 
 duty to labor for the conversion of the world as it would 
 be if he had left us to gather a knowledge of his purpose 
 solely from his commands. 
 
 This volume is dedicated to the cause of Truth and 
 Piety ; and commended to the candid perusal of all of 
 every name who cherish a love of the one and the 
 practice of the other ; with the prayer that it may 
 minister to the glory of the Saviour, by bringing his 
 people to a close conformity to his image and his 
 will. C. 
 
 Philadelphia, March 11, 1835. 
 
CONTENT 
 
 1. The Great Question Answered, 
 
 2. The Grace of God and a Holy Life. 
 
 3. The Practical influence of Faith. 
 
 4. The Scripture Guide to Baptism, by R. Pengilly. 
 
 5. Practical Uses of Baptism. 
 
 6. Terms of Communion. 
 
 7. Duty of Believers to Profess Religion. 
 
 8. Discipline of the Primitive Churches. 
 
 9. Duty of Church Members to each other. 
 
 10. Duty of Church Members to their Pastors. 
 
 11. Ministerial gifts to be sought out and encouraged, 
 
 12. History of the Burman Mission. 
 
 13. Dialogue on Missions. 
 
 14. Mrs. Wade's Addresses. 
 
 15. The Vineyard — A Parable. 
 
 16. Booth on Communion. 
 
 17. On Bigotry. 
 
 18. Duty of giving Christian Instruction to children. 
 
 19. The Christian's Stewardship, 
 
THE GREAT QUESTION ANSWERED. 
 
 And he brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do 
 to be saved 1 And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved. — Jets xvi. 30, 31. 
 
 
THE GREAT QUESTION ANSWERED, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 That great numbers of people, even in this Christian 
 rzed country, are ignorant in the way of salvation, is too 
 evident to be denied. It is manifestly no part of their 
 concern, any more than if they were in no danger of being 
 lost, or there had never been such a thing as salvation 
 heard of. Nor is this true only of weak and illiterate peo- 
 ple; men, who in all other concerns are wise, in these, 
 things have no knowledge or sense to direct them. The 
 evil, therefore, cannot be ascribed to simple ignorance, 
 which, as far as it goes, tends to excuse; but to be willing- 
 ly ignorant, saying unto God, " Depart from us — we de- 
 sire,not the knowledge of thy ways. " 
 
 God, however, has a witness in every man's conscience. 
 Every man, whatever he may pretend,feels himself to be 
 a sinner, and to need forgiveness. Ignorant and idolatrous 
 as the Philippian Jailer had been all his life, yet, when 
 death looked him in the face, he trembled and cried for 
 mercy. And if it were thus with the heathen, much more 
 with those who have been educated under the light of re- 
 velation. The most careless and thoughtless cannot stand 
 the approach of death. The courage of the most hard- 
 ened infidel commonly fails him at that solemn period. 
 
 Reader ! Are you one of the many who scarcely ever 
 think of these things; and whose chief concern is, what 
 you shall eat, what you shall drink, and werewithal you 
 shall be clothed? Let the anxiety of a heathen reprove you. 
 If like other animals, you were made only to eat and drink, 
 and figure away for a few years, and then to sink into no- 
 thing, you might well throw aside every care, except that 
 which respects your present gratification. But you are of 
 an order of beings distinguished from all others in the 
 * creation. In your nature is united mortality and immor- 
 tality; the dust of the ground, and the breath of the Al- 
 mighty. Life to you is but the introduction to existence, a 
 short voyage which will land you on the shores of eterni- 
 ty. You are surrounded by a number of objects, and feel 
 an interest in each. You build houses, plant orchards, reat 
 animals, and form to yourselves a home; but you are not at 
 
nome. Your feelings associate with these things, but they 
 are not fit. associates for you. You may have a portion in 
 all that is doing in your family, and in your country, yea, 
 in some sort, in all that is done under the sun; out this is 
 not sufficient for you. The time draweth nigh, when there 
 will be an end to all these things, and they will be as 
 though they had not been; but you will still live. You will 
 witness the wreck of nature itself, and survive it; and 
 stand before the Son of Man at his appearing and king- 
 dom. Can you think of these things, and be unconcerned ? 
 
 Or, though you be an immortal and accountable crea- 
 ture, (as your conscience tells you you are, whenever you 
 consult it, and sometimes when you would gladly shut 
 your ears against it,) yet, if yon had not sinned against 
 your Maker, there would be no cause for alarm. A sinless 
 creature has nothing to fear from a righteous God. The 
 approach of an assize, with all its solemn pomp, does not 
 terrify the innocent; neither would judgment or eternity 
 inspire the least degree of dread, if you were guiltless. 
 But you are a sinner, a corrupt branch of a corrupt stock. 
 God placed, as I may say, a generous confidence in our 
 species, and required nothing in return but love; but we 
 have returned him evil for good. You, for yourself, are 
 conscious that you have done so, and that it is in your 
 very nature to do evil. 
 
 Or, though you be what is called a sinner, yet if sin 
 were your misfortune, rather than your fault, you might fly 
 for refuge to the equity of your Maker. But this is not 
 the case. Whatever may be said as to the manner in 
 which you became a sinner, and however you may wish 
 to excuse yourself on that ground, your own conscience 
 bears witness, that what you are, you choose to be, and 
 occasionally reproaches you for being so. You may spe- 
 culate upon sin as a kind of hereditary disease, which is 
 merely a misfortune, not a fault; but if so, why do you 
 feel guilt on account of it any more than of the other ? 
 Why do you not also acquit others of blame, where the 
 evil is directed against you ? You do not think of excus- 
 ing a fellow-creature, when he injures you, upon any such 
 grounds as you allege in excuse of transgression against 
 God. If the party be rational and voluntary, you make no 
 furthe.r inquiry; but, without any hesitation, pronounce 
 6 
 
him criminal. Out of your own mouth therefore shall 
 you be judged. The inability that you feel to do good, 
 is entirely owing to your having no heart to it. It is of the 
 same nature as that of an unprincipled servant, who can- 
 Dot seek his master's interest, but is impelled by his self- 
 ishness to be always defrauding him. You would not hold 
 such a servant blameless. Nor will God hold you so. You 
 are not destitute of those powers which render us account- 
 able beings, but merely of a heart to make use of them for 
 God. You take pleasure in knowledge, but desire not the 
 knowledge of his ways; in conversation, but the mention 
 of serious religion strikes you dumb; in activity, but in his 
 service you are as one that is dead. You are fond of news; 
 but that which angels announced, and the Son of God 
 came down to publish, gives you no pleasure. All these 
 things prove, beyond a doubt, where the inability lies. 
 
 Or, if sin should be allowed to be your fault, yet, if it 
 were a small offence, an imperfection, that might be over- 
 looked, or so slight a matter that you could atone for it 
 by repentance, prayers, or tears, or any effort of your own, 
 there might be less reason for alarm. But neither is this 
 the case. If sin were so light a matter as it is commonly 
 made, how is it that a train of the most awful curses 
 should be denounced against the sinner ? Is it possible, 
 that a just and good God would curse his creatures in bas- 
 ket and in store, in their houses and in their fields, in their 
 lying down and rising up, and in all that they set their 
 hands to, for a mere trifle, or an imperfection that might 
 be overlooked ? If sin were a light thing, how is it that 
 the Father of mercies should have doomed all mankind 
 to death, and to all the miseries that prepare its way, on 
 account of it ? How is it that wicked men die under such 
 fearful apprehensions ? Above all, how is it that it should 
 require the eternal Son of God to become incarnate, and 
 to oc made a sacrifice, to atone for it ? But if sin be thus 
 offensive to God, then are you in a fearful situation. If 
 you had the whole world to offer for your ransom, and 
 could shed rivers of tears, and give even the fruit of your 
 body for the sin of your soul, it would be of no account. 
 Were that which you offered ever so pure it could have 
 no influence whatever towards atoning for your past 
 guilt, any more than the tears of a murderer can atone for 
 6 
 
blood: but this is not the case — those very performances 
 by which you hope to appease the divine anger, are more 
 offensive to him than the entreaties of a detected adulter- 
 ess would be to her husband, while her heart, as he well 
 knows, is not with him, but with her paramours. You 
 are, whether you know it or not, a lost sinner, and that in 
 the strongest sense of the term. Men judge of sin only by 
 its open acts, but God looketh directly at the heart. Their 
 censures fall only on particular branches of immorality 
 which strike immediately at the well-being of society $ but 
 God views the root of the mischief, and takes into consi- 
 deration all its mischievous bearings. Knoiv thou there' 
 fore, and consider, that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou 
 hast done; that thou hast departed from the living God, and 
 that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord of hosts. 
 
 Finally. Though your sin be exceeding offensive to your 
 Creator, and though you can make no atonement for it, 
 yet if you could resist his power, escape his hand, or endure 
 his wrath, your unconcernedness might admit of some 
 kind of apology. Surely I need not prove to you, that you 
 cannot resist his power— what is your strength, when 
 tried. You may, in the hour of health and festivity, and 
 when in company with others like yourself, look big and 
 put out great words, but they are words only. If God do 
 but touch you with his afflicting hand, your strength 
 and your courage instantly forsake you. And will you 
 go on to provoke Omnipotence? If thou hast run with 
 the footmen, and they have wearied tfxee, how ivilt thou con- 
 lend with horses ? If in the land of peace thou hast been over- 
 come, hoiv wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan? — Nei- 
 ther canst thou escape his handj for whither wilt thou 
 flee? If, attentive to thy safety, the rocks could fall on 
 thee, or the mountains cover thee, yet should they not be 
 able to hide thee from the face of him that sitteth upon 
 the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. God hath 
 beset thee behind and before, and laid his hand upon thee. 
 Whither wilt thou go from his Spirit ? AYhither wilt 
 thou flee from his presence ? If thou ascend to heaven, he 
 is there ! Or if thou make thy bed in hell behold he is 
 there ! — The only question that remains, is, whether 
 you can endure his displeasure? And this must surely be 
 a forlorn hope ! By the horrid imprecations which we so 
 6 
 
commonly hear from hardened sinners, who call upon 
 God to damn their bodies and souls, it would seem as 
 if they laid their account with damnation, and wished to 
 familiarize it$ as if they had made a covenant with death, 
 and with hell were at agreement: but when God shall 
 lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plum- 
 met, these refuges of lies will suddenly be swept away. 
 
 Reader ! Can thine heart endure, and thine hands be 
 strong, in the day that he shall deal with thee ? Think of 
 the wrath to come. If it were founded in caprice or injus- 
 tice, supported by conscious innocence, you might pos- 
 sibly bear it$ but, should you perish, you will be desti- 
 tute of this. Conscience will eternally say, Amen, to the 
 justice of your sufferings. If you had mere justice done 
 you, unmixed with mercy, your sufferings would be 
 more tolerable than they will be. If you perish, you 
 must have your portion with Bethsaida and Chorazin. 
 Goodness gives an edge to justice. The displeasure of 
 a kind and merciful being, (and such is the wrath of 
 the Lamb) is insupportable. 
 
 If, after having heard these things, and lived in a 
 country where they are fully declared, you do not feel in- 
 terested by them, you have reason to fear that God has 
 given you up to hardness of heart, and thatthat language 
 is fulfilled in you. Go unto this people, and say, Hearing 
 ye shall hear, and not understand; and seeing, ye shall see 
 and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, 
 and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they 
 closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with 
 their ears* and understand with their heart, and should be 
 converted, and I should heal them. Remember that in Old 
 Testament times, when God blessed his people Israel 
 with singular temporal blessings, he punished their trans- 
 gressions mostly by temporal judgmentsjbut now that we 
 are favoured with singular spiritual privileges,the neglect 
 of them is commonly punished with spiritual judgments. 
 
 But whether you will hear, or whether you will for- 
 bear, I will declare unto you the only way of salvation. 
 That which was addressed to the Philippian Jailer, is 
 addressed to you. God hath so loved the world, as to give 
 his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Mm, 
 should not pensh but have everlasting life. He has giveu 
 6 
 
him not only to teach us the good and the right way, but 
 to be made a sacrifice for sin, and as such to be himself 
 the way. He suffered from the hands of wicked men 5 but 
 this was not all; it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He 
 hath put him to grief, and made his soul an offering for 
 sin. He commanded his sword to awake against him, 
 that through his death he might turn his hand in mercy 
 towards perishing sinners. He hath set him forth to be 
 a propitiation to declare his righteousness, that he might 
 be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. 
 This is the only sacrifice which is well-pleasing to God. 
 All that went before, were of no account but as they 
 pointed to it; and all the prayers and praises of sinful 
 creatures are no otherwise acceptable than as presented 
 through it. It is not for you to go about to appease the 
 divine displeasure, or to recommend yourself to the Sa- 
 viour by any efforts of your own; but, despairing of help 
 from every other quarter, to receive the atonement which 
 Christ hath made. To this you are invited and that in the 
 most pressing terms. He that made him to be sin for us, 
 who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God in him, hath on this ground committed to his 
 servants the ministry of reconciliation, and they, as am- 
 bassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by 
 them, pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 
 
 The blessings of pardon, peace, and eternal life, are 
 compared to a feast, or marriage-supper, which the King 
 of heaven and earth hath made for his Son; and he hath 
 commanded his servants to go forth, as to the highways 
 and hedges, and to invite without distinction; yea and to 
 compel them to come in. Nor is this all: you are exhort- 
 ed and commanded to believe in Christ, on pain of dam- 
 nation. All your other sins expose you merely to the 
 curse of the law; but the sin of unbelief, if persisted in, 
 will expose you, like the barren fig-tree, to the curse of 
 the Saviour from which there is no redemption. 
 
 Say not in thine heart, " All these things I have be- 
 lieved from my youth up." You may indeed have been 
 taught them, and have received them as a tradition from 
 your fathers: but such faith is dead, and consequently 
 unoperative. It is the same as that of the Jews towards 
 Moses, which our Saviour would not admit to be faith. 
 6 
 
ffye believed Moses, saith he, ye would believe me, for he 
 wrote of me. It is no better than the faith of devils, and 
 in some respects has less influence; for they believe and 
 tremble, whereas you believe and are at ease. 
 
 But it may be you will say, I have examined Chris- 
 tianity for myself, and am fully persuaded it is true. 
 Yet it has no effect upon you any more than if you dis- 
 believed it, unless it be to restrain you within the li- 
 mits of exterior decorum. Your faith, therefore, must 
 still be dead, being alone. Believing in Christ is not the 
 exercise of a mind at ease, casting up the evidences for 
 and against, and then coldly assenting, as in a question 
 of science, to that side which seems to have the greatest 
 weight of proof. To one whose mind is subdued to the 
 obedience of faith, there is indeed no want of evidence; 
 but it is not so much from external proofs, as from its own 
 intrinsic glory, and suitableness to his case as a perish- 
 ing sinner, that he feels himself impelled to receive it. 
 The Gospel is too interesting, and hath too much influ- 
 ence on our past and future conduct, to be an object of 
 unfeeling speculation. It is a hope set before us, which none 
 but those who are ready to perish, will ever embrace. To 
 believe it, is to renounce our own wisdom, our own righ- 
 teousness, and our own will, each of which is directly op- 
 posed to it; and to fall into the arms of mere grace, 
 through the atoning blood of the cross. If the good news 
 of salvation be not in this manner believed, it signifies 
 but little what speculative notions we may entertain con- 
 cerning it; for where there is no renunciation of self, there 
 is no dependance upon Christ for justification: and where 
 there is no such dependance, there is no revealed inte- 
 rest in that important blessing; but the curses and threat- 
 enings of God stand in all their force against us. 
 
 If, after all your examinations, you continue to make 
 light of the gospel feast, and prefer your farms, mer- 
 chandizes, or any thing else before it, you will be found 
 to have no part in it. Yet, be it known unto you, that 
 the feast shall not be unattended. Heaven shall not go 
 without inhabitants, nor Christ without reward, whe- 
 ther you be saved or lost. The stone set at nought by 
 man, is nevertheless the head of the corner. Consider 
 then, take advice, and speak your mind. 
 6 
 
THE GREAT QUESTION ANSWERED. 
 PART II. 
 
 Had the question, proposed by the Jailer, been address- 
 ed to the first genius upon earth, unacquainted with the 
 Gospel, it could not have been answered. Had it been put 
 to all the great philosophers of antiquity, one by one, and 
 to all the learned doctors among the Jews, none of them 
 could have resolved it to any good purpose. Nor amidst 
 all the boasted light of modern times, can a single unbe- 
 liever be found, who could know what to do with it. Yet 
 it is a question which arises in every man's mind, at one 
 period or other of his life ; and a question which must be 
 resolved, or we are lost for ever. 
 
 Reader! This important question may have already oc- 
 cupied your mind. An alarming sermon, a death in your 
 family, a hint from a faithful friend, or, it may be, an im- 
 pressive dream, has awakened your attention. You cannot 
 take pleasure, as formerly, in worldly company and pur- 
 suits; yet you have no pleasure in religion. You have 
 left off many vices, and have complied with many reli- 
 gious duties, but can find no rest for your soul. The re- 
 membrance of the past is bitter ; the prospect of the fu- 
 ture may be more so. The thought of God troubles you. 
 You have even wished that you had never been born, or 
 that you could now shrink back into non-existence, or that 
 you were any thing rather than a man. But you are aware 
 that all these. wishes are vain. You do exist; your nature 
 is stamped with immortality; you must go forward and die, 
 and stand before this holy Lord God ! 
 
 If these, or such like exercises, occupy your mind, the 
 question of the Philippian Jailer is yours ; and to you let 
 me address a few directions, included or implied in the an- 
 swer. 
 
 If by this question you mean, What can you do to ap- 
 pease the wrath of God, or recommend yourself as a fit 
 object of his mercy? What can you do as a good deed, or 
 the beginning of a course of good deeds, in reward of 
 which- he may bestow upon you an interest in the Saviour? 
 I answer, Nothing. An interest in Christ, and eternal life, 
 are indeed given as a reward ; but not of any thing we 
 have done, or can do ; no, not by divine assistance ; it is 
 6 
 
10 
 
 the reward of the obedience of Christ unto death. To 
 us it is of mere grace, and as such must be received. 
 Though faith is in itself a holy exercise of the mind, yet, 
 as that by which we are justified, it is directly opposed to 
 doing. " To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned 
 of grace, but of debt ; but to him that worketh not, but 
 believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is 
 counted for righteousness." He that worketh, seeks to 
 obtain life and the favour of God, in some way or other* 
 as a reward ; but he that believeth, receives it as a free 
 gift to the unworthy. And let me apprize you, that this is 
 the state of mind you must be brought to, or you must per* 
 ish for ever. So far as you think of doing any thing, call 
 it what you may, with a hope of being pardoned and jus* 
 tified for its sake, so far you reject the only way of salva* 
 tion, and have reason to expect your portion with unbe* 
 lievers. 
 
 Let me deal freely with you. Yours is a most serious 
 situation. The Gospel-rest is before you ; and if you en 
 ter not in, it will be because of unbelief. You know the 
 answer given to the Jailer; and this is the only answer 
 that can with safety be given to you. Consider, and be- 
 ware, as you regard your eternal salvation, that you take 
 up your rest in nothing short of it. 
 
 But, in the first place, let me declare unto you the Gos- 
 pel of God, which you are directed to believe. If this 
 meet your case; if, rightly understood, it approve itself 
 not only to your conscience, but your whole soul ; if it ac- 
 cord with your desires, as it undoubtedly does with your 
 necessities, all is well, and well for ever. I shall not trou- 
 ble you with the opinions of men as to what the Gospel is, 
 nor even with my own, but direct you to the account given 
 of it by its Author. The New Testament informs us what 
 it is, in such plain and pointed language, that he who runs 
 may read : " God so loved the world, that he gave his om 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, shoulo 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." — " Moreover, breth 
 ren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto 
 you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand ; 
 by which also ye are saved, if ye -keep in memory what 1 
 preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For 1 
 delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, 
 6. 
 
11 
 
 now that Christ died for our sins according to tho scrip- 
 tures ; find that lie was buried, and that lie rose again the 
 third day according to the Scriptures." — " This is a faith- 
 ful saying, (a truth of such importance as to have become 
 a kind of Christian proverb,) and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Jesus Christ came into the ivorld to save sinners, of 
 whom I am chief." — " We preach Christ crucified."— 
 '• I determined >ot to know any thing among you, save 
 Jesus Christ and him crucifed." — " This is the record, 
 that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his 
 Son." 
 
 It is not meant by these brief descriptions of the Gos- 
 pel, that there is no other truth necessary to be believed; 
 but that the doctrine of the cross, properly embraced, in- 
 cludes all others, or draws after it the belief of them. 
 
 The import of this Gospel, is, that God is in the right, 
 and we are in the wrong ; that we have transgressed against 
 him without cause, and are justly exposed to everlasting 
 punishment ; that mercy, originating purely in himself, re- 
 quired, for the due honour of his government, to be exer- 
 cised through the atonement of his beloved Son ; that with 
 this sacrifice God is well-pleased, and can, consistently with 
 all his perfections, pardon and accept of any sinner, what- 
 ever he hath done, who believeth in him. 
 
 What say you to this ? The truth of it hath been con- 
 firmed by the most unquestionable proofs. It first began to 
 be spoken by the Lord himself, and it has been confirmed 
 unto us by them that heard him ; God also bearing them 
 witness with signs, and wonders, and divers miracles. The 
 witness of the three in heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
 the Holy Ghost, is borne to this ; namely, that M God hath 
 given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son ;" and to 
 this also is directed the witness of the three on earth, the 
 Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood. Can you subscribe 
 to this great truth, in all its bearings, and rest the salvation 
 of your soul upon it ; or do you doubt whether you be so 
 guilty, so helpless, and in so dangerous a state as this doc- 
 trine supposes ? Is it as one of the chief of sinners that you 
 view yourself; or does it grate upon your feelings to re- 
 ceive forgiveness in that humble character? In suing foi 
 mercy, are you content to stand on the same low ground as 
 if you were a convict actuallv eroino- to be executed ; or does 
 6. 
 
12 
 
 your heart secretly pine after a salvation less humiliating, 
 in which some account might be made of that difference 
 of character by which you may have been distinguished 
 from the vilest of men, and in which you might be in some 
 degree a co-operator with God ? Does that which pleases 
 God, please you ; or does your mind revolt at it ? It meets 
 all your wants; but none of your prejudices, proud 
 thoughts, or vicious propensities; all these must come 
 down, and be made a sacrifice to it. Can you subscribe 
 to it on these terms? 
 
 I am well aware, that the great concern of persons, in 
 your situation, is to obtain peace of mind; and any thing 
 which promises to afford this, attracts your attention. If 
 this Gospel be believed with all your heart, it will give you 
 peace. This is the good and the old way ; walk in it, and 
 you shall find rest for your soul : but it is not every thing 
 which promises peace, that will ultimately afford it. It is 
 at our peril to offer you other consolation ; and at yours to 
 receive it. 
 
 Consider, and beware, I say again, as you regard your 
 eternal salvation, that you take up your rest in nothing short 
 of Christ! Particularly, 
 
 1. Beware of brooding over your guilt in a way of unbe- 
 lieving despondence; and so of standing aloof from the hope 
 of mercy. Say not, " My sins have been too great, too nu- 
 merous, or too aggravated, to be forgiven." "The blood 
 of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin." Believest 
 thou this ? You are not straitened in him ; but in your 
 own bowels. God's thoughts are not as your thoughts, not 
 his ways as your ways : as the heavens are higher than the 
 earth, so are his thoughts higher than your thoughts, and 
 his ways than your ways. On the sinner that returneth to 
 our God he bestoweth abundant pardon. Tt is not, " If thou 
 canst do any thing, help me ;" but, " If thou canst believe — 
 all things are possible to him that believeth." Of what dost 
 thou doubt? Of his all-sufficiency? He is able to save to 
 the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Of his wil- 
 lingness ? Ought not his gracious invitations to satisfy thee 
 on this head? Can you imagine that he would proclaim, 
 saying, " Whosoever thirsteth, let him come unto me and 
 drink," and yet be reluctant to gratify the desires of those 
 that come to him ? Objections, on the ground of the great- 
 6. 
 
13 
 
 ness of guilt and unworthiness, may seem to wear the face 
 of modesty and humility ; but after all, it becomes you to 
 consider whether they be any other than the workings of a 
 self-righteous spirit. If you could find in your heart to ac- 
 cept of mercy as one of the chief of sinners, all your ob- 
 jections would vanish in a moment. One sees, in your 
 very tears of despondency, a pining after acceptance with 
 God, by something in yourself. Were they put into words, 
 they would amount to something like this — " If I had but 
 somewhat to recommend me to the Saivour, I could go to 
 him with assurance; or if I had been less wicked, I might 
 hope for acceptance." And what is this but making good 
 the complaint of our Saviour? " Ye will not come to me, 
 that ye may have life!" Such longings after something to 
 recommend you to the Saviour, are no other than " going 
 about to establish your own righteousness ;" and while this 
 is the case, there is great danger of your being given up to 
 imagine that you find the worthiness in yourself which your 
 soul desireth. 
 
 2. Beware of dwelling, in a way of self -complacency, on 
 those reformations which may have been produced by the 
 power of conviction. This is another of those workings of 
 unbelief, by which many have come short of believing, and 
 so of entering into rest. There is no doubt but your con- 
 victions have driven you from the commission of grosser 
 vices, and probably have frightened you into a compliance 
 with various religious duties : but these are only the lop- 
 pings off of the branches of sin ; the root remains unmor- 
 tified. It is not the breaking off of your sins that will turn 
 to any account, unless they be broken off by righteousness ; 
 and this will not be the case but by believing in Christ 
 The power of corruption may have only retired into its 
 strong holds, from whence, if you embrace not the Gospel- 
 way of salvation, it will soon come forth with increased 
 energy, and sweep away all your fancied reformations. 
 Nay, it is very possible, that while the lusts of the flesh 
 have seemed to recede, those of the mind, particularly 
 spiritual pride, may have already increased in strength. If, 
 indeed, you dwell on your reformations, and draw comfort 
 from them, it is an undoubted proof that it is so ; and then 
 instead of being reformed, or nearer the kingdom of hea- 
 ven than you were before, your character is more offensive 
 6 
 
14 
 
 to God than ever. Publicans and harlots are more likely 
 to enter into it than you. Besides, if your reformations were 
 ever so virtuous, (which they are not, in his sight by whom 
 actions are weighed,) yet, while- you are an unbeliever, 
 they cannot be accepted. You yourself must first be ac- 
 cepted in the Beloved, ere any thing that you offer can 
 be received. M It does not consist with the honour of the 
 majesty of the King of heaven and earth, to accept of any 
 thing from a condemned malefactor, condemned by the jus- 
 tice of his holy law, till that condemnation be removed."' 
 
 3. Beware of deriving comfort from the distress of mind 
 which you may have undergone, or from any feelings within 
 you. Some religious people will tell you, that these work- 
 ings of mind are a sign that God has mercy in reserve for 
 you ; and that if you go on in the way you are in, waiting 
 as at the pool, all will be well in the end : but such lan- 
 guage requires great qualification. It is not your being 
 distressed in mind, that will prove any thing in your favour, 
 but the issue of it. Saul was distressed, as well as David ; 
 and Judas, as well as Peter. When the murderers of our 
 Lord were pricked in their hearts, Peter did not comfort 
 them by representing this their unhappiness as a hopeful sign 
 of conversion ; but exhorted them to repent and be bap- 
 tized every one of them, in the name of Jesus Christ, for 
 the remission of sins. 
 
 And thus it was with Paul and Silas, when the Jailer was 
 impressed with fear and dismay : they gave him no encou- 
 ragement from thence, but preached Jesus Christ as the only 
 source of hope. If one who had slain a man in Israel, 
 had stopped short of the city of refuge, and endeavoured 
 to draw comfort from the alarm which he had felt, lest the 
 avenger of blood should overtake him, would he have been 
 safe? There is no security to you or to any man, but in 
 fleeing immediately to the Gospel-refuge, and laying hold 
 of the hope set before you. If you take comfort from your 
 distress, you are in imminent danger of stopping short of 
 Christ, and so of perishing for ever. Many, no doubt, have 
 done so ; and that which they have accounted waiting at the 
 pool for the moving of the waters, has proved no other than 
 settling upon a false foundation. Indeed it must needs be 
 so ; for as there is no medium, in one that has heard the 
 Gospel, between faith and unbelief, he that does not believe 
 6. 
 
15 
 
 in Jesus for salvation, if he have any hope of it, must de 
 riv^ that hope from something in himself. 
 
 4. Beware of considering faith itself the meritorious 
 ground of acceptance with God. It is true that believing is 
 an act of yours, and an act of obedience to God. Far be 
 it from me that I should convey an idea of any thing short 
 of a cordial reception of the Gospel being accompanied 
 with salvation : a reception that involves a renunciation of 
 self-righteousness, and a submission to the righteousness of 
 God. But if you consider it as a species of sincere obe 
 dience, which God has consented to accept, instead of a 
 perfect one ; and if you hope to be justified in reward of it, 
 you are still M going about to establish your own righteous 
 ness" under an evangelical name. This is the command 
 ment of God, that ye believe on the name of his Son. 
 Faith is an act of obedience to God, yet it is not as such 
 that it justifies us, but as receiving Christ, and bringing us 
 into a living union with him, for whose sake alone we are 
 accepted and saved 
 
 Finally. Beware of talcing comfort from any impulse. 
 or unfounded persuasion that your sins are forgiven, and 
 that you are a favourite of God. Many are deceived in 
 this way, and mistake such a persuasion for faith itself. 
 When a sinner is driven from all his former holds, it is not 
 unusual for him, instead of falling at the feet of Christ as 
 utterly lost, to catch at any new conceit, however unscrip- 
 tural and absurd, if it will but afford him relief. If in such 
 a state of mind he receives an impression, perhaps in the 
 words of scripture, that God has forgiven and accepted 
 him, or dreams that he is in heaven, or reads a book, or 
 hears a sermon, favourable to such a method of obtaining 
 relief, he eagerly imbibes it, and becomes intoxicated with 
 the delicious draught. The joy of hope, being so new and 
 unexpected a thing, and succeeding to great darkness and 
 distress, produces a wonderful change in his mind. Now 
 he thinks he has discovered the light of life, and feels as 
 one that has lost his burden. Now he has found out the 
 Uue religion ; and all that he read or heard before, not af 
 fording him relief, is false doctrine, or legal preaching 
 Being treated also as one of the dear children of God by 
 others of the same description, he is attached to his flat- 
 terers, and despises those, as graceless, who would rob him 
 6 
 
16 
 
 of his comforts, by warning him against " the lie which is 
 in his right hand." 
 
 I do not mean to say, that all consolation which comes 
 suddenly to the mind, or by the impression of a passage of 
 scripture, any more than by reading, or hearing, is delusive. 
 It is not the manner in which we obtain relief, that is of 
 any account, but ivhat it is that comforts us. If it be the 
 doctrine of the cross, or any revealed truth pertaining to 
 it, this is Gospel consolation ; but if it be a supposed reve- 
 lation from heaven, of something which is not taught in 
 the Scriptures, that is a species of comfort on which no de- 
 pendence can be placed. A believer may be so far misled, 
 as to be carried away with it ; but, if a man have nothing 
 better, he is still an unbeliever. 
 
 If ever you obtain that rest for your soul, which will 
 bear the light, it must be not from any thing within you, 
 but by looking out of yourself to Christ, as revealed in the 
 Gospel. You may afterwards know that you have passed 
 from death unto life, by the love you bear to the brethren, 
 and by many other scriptural evidences ; and from the time 
 of your embracing the Gospel-remedy, you may be con 
 scious of it, and so enjoy the hope of the promised salva 
 tion ; but your first relief, if it be genuine, will be drawn 
 directly from Christ, or from finding that in the doctrine 
 of salvation through his death, which suits your wants and 
 wishes as a perishing sinner. 
 
 DEATH BY ADAM, LIFE BY CHRIST 
 
 Our state by nature makes us tremble ; but the grace of 
 God, in Christ Jesus, gives us consolation. Oh! how pre- 
 cious and sweet must the gift of Jesus Christ unto eternal 
 life be to us, when we rightly consider the sin of Adam, 
 which hath reigned unto death! (Rom. v. 14.) Let us, 
 with faith and repentance, embrace our Saviour, who came 
 to deliver us from the consequences of the fall, and from sin 
 and death, to destroy the works of the devil, and to bruise 
 the Serpent's head. 
 
 Adam, by his fall, plunged us into miser}' ; let us now fly 
 to Jesus, who hath redeemed and saved us. Let us cast our- 
 selves into His arms. He will sprinkle us with the blood 
 of atonement for our sins, and bestow on us grace sufficient 
 to change our hearts, and to establish them ; a covenant 
 firmer than that of nature ; a happiness more lasting than 
 that of the state of innocence. Superville 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD, AND A HOLY LIFE 
 
 There is in many, a strange desire of separating what 
 God hath joined together — the grace of God and the righ- 
 teousness of man. One set of persons exalt the grace of 
 God, and speak in the loftiest terms of the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ; but say little of the duties of man and the obedience 
 which is required of him : as if the bare knowledge of the 
 gospel scheme were to be substituted in the place of true 
 holiness ; or as if it were wholly unnecessary to enter into 
 the detail of that obedience which man ought to perform. 
 Others equally unreasonable, insist exclusively upon the 
 importance of moral practice, and view with jealousy every 
 attempt to give prominence to the doctrines of grace ; as 
 if a blow were thereby aimed at morality, and as if the 
 obligation to a righteous life were thereby undermined. Both 
 are equally in error. The grace of God supplies a most 
 efficacious motive to holiness ; and holiness is the insepara- 
 ble result of the grace of God, when it is received into the 
 heart. The one is the means, the other the end. Can the 
 end be answered without the means ? Look at the success 
 of those philosophising schemes of reformation which in- 
 culcated the beauty and the excellency of virtue, but ap- 
 plied no adequate motive to the mind. On the other hand, 
 can the doctrines of Christianity be of any use, except as 
 they conduce to their proper end ? To allege this would 
 be to degrade the gospel, since its superiority above every 
 other moral system arises from its more powerful effects in 
 meliorating the character and conduct of those who em- 
 brace it. In perfect harmony with this view of the subject 
 we are told in scripture, that the Son of God gave himself 
 10 
 
for us for the express purpose of redeeming us from all im 
 quity, and purifying unto himself a peculiar people zealous 
 of good works. 
 
 In order, therefore, to acquire a ju3t view of the Christian 
 dispensation, we must regard a right system of faith, and a 
 righteous and holy life as indissolubly connected. We must 
 consider it as a vain attempt effectually to reform our con 
 duct, unless we embrace the holy principles which Christiani 
 ty inspires. And on the other hand, we must deem it unnatu 
 ral, and even impious, to hold the truth in unrighteousness ; 
 to exalt the doctrines of the gospel, and to neglect the prac- 
 tical effects which these doctrines were intended to produce 
 Few indeed avowedly separate the doctrines of the grace 
 of God from a righteous and holy life, but many do it prac- 
 tically. Many, who will fully admit the holy influence of 
 the gospel, yet act as if the bare reception of its truths 
 were a kind of compensation for, at least, what they would 
 call the lesser sins of man. Hence, with a strange incon- 
 sistency, they will say, such a person is, without doubt, a 
 religious man, but he is passionate. Another is exceedingly 
 pious, but he is sullen and morose. A third is very devout 
 but he is worldly. Is it not plain that a separation is here 
 made between religion and its practical influence ? It is sup 
 posed that a man can be religious, and yet not gentle : pious, 
 and yet not benevolent : devout, and yet not detached from 
 the world. In the same inconsistent manner do multitudes 
 reason, who are religious on the Sunday, while they bio 
 wholly engrossed with the world through the week : who 
 can attend with the same punctuality the church and the 
 theatre : who would not on any account neglect the preach 
 ing of the gospel, but in their families discover nothing of 
 its benign influence : who very carefully settle the articles 
 of their faith, and hold them strenuously; but. take little 
 pains to regulate their temper, evidently over-looking that 
 necessary duty, as if it were no essential branch of religion. 
 In a word, we are chargeable with the same inconsistency 
 whenever the holy doctrines which we believe are not em 
 braced as principles of action, influencing and regulating 
 our whole conduct, teaching us how to feel, to act, to suf- 
 fer, in our families, in our shops, in our retirements, in oui 
 converse with the world ; in short, in all the various *ircum 
 stances of life. 
 
The inconsistency which I have been condemning, is 
 greatly supported by our resting in general ideas of reli- 
 gion without entering minutely into the details of its duties ; 
 and by our being satisfied with approving generally of its 
 doctrines without a particular application of them to our 
 own cases and circumstances. On the other hand, nothing 
 shows more decidedly a truly upright spirit than the full and 
 complete manner in which religion is applied, with distinct- 
 ness and particularity, to a man's own case, carried through 
 a/1 the business of life, and made to regulate every part of 
 the conduct. It is an easy thing to express an admiration 
 of the scriptures, to speak in high terms of an excellen 
 treatise on religion, or to be loud in commendation of a 
 pious discourse. But the only solid proof which we can give 
 in either case of cordial approbation, consists in the close 
 and faithful application of what we have read or heard to 
 our own consciences ; in the alteration we are induced to 
 make in those parts of our temper and conduct which have 
 been shown to be wrong ; and in the abiding nature of the 
 effects which, through the blessing of God, have been pro- 
 duced in us. Herod knew that John was a just and holy 
 man ; he heard him gladly and did many things because of 
 him. But when John plainly applied his preaching to He- 
 rod's own case, and said it is not lawful for thee to have thy 
 brother's wife, then the insincerity of his heart appeared ; 
 he could not bear the application of the doctrine wdrich he 
 had previously professed to approve ; and he put John to 
 death. 
 
 The true remedy for this evil is the practice of close and 
 diligent and daily self-examination ; and the habit, not mere- 
 ly of reading the scriptures and hearing sermons, but of ap- 
 plying both, with fidelity, to our own circumstances. The 
 words of a particular text are soon repeated: the proprie- 
 ty of the conduct it inculcates is easily acknowledged. But 
 to examine its contents in detail, and to consider with at- 
 tention, and with a view to ourselves, the temper and the 
 practice which it enjoins, is a work of no small labour and 
 self-denial. I trust, that none will think me presumptuous, 
 if, with a view of lessening the difficulty, I should venture 
 to propose a few questions which every individual may ad 
 vantageously put to himself; and on his fair and honest re 
 10 
 
bly to which, as in the presence of God, ought to depend 
 his judgment of his own state. 
 
 We acknowledge that man is a sinful and guilty creature, 
 and that naturally his heart is " enmity against God." But 
 are we conformably to this doctrine resisting that desire 
 which we feel to be independent of God ? and are we strid- 
 ing to bring every rebellious thought into subjection to the 
 rules of his holy word ? Do we feel that there is in ourselves 
 an evil heart of unbelief which leads us to depart from God "' 
 and are we, therefore, afraid of loving other things better 
 than, God, of trusting to human support rather than to him. 
 of honouring man more th&n God, and of valuing the world 
 more than his favour ? Is it our grief that we have bithertr 
 served and obeyed God so imperfectly ; and is it our seri- 
 ous wish and our sincere endeavour to honour him for the 
 future, by setting him ever before our eyes, by making his 
 will the rule of our actions, and his glory our end? Whai 
 nains then are we taking to do this ; and wherein do we 
 show that we are in earnest about it ? Unless we are daily 
 and earnestly engaged in resisting and subduing that enmity 
 against God, his law, government, and authority, which so 
 much prevails in all by nature ; what proof can we have ot 
 being right in our faith ? Too many there are who, wholly 
 selfish in their views and desires, seeking no farther to serve 
 God than they think will be sufficient to prevent their in- 
 curring the dreadful effects of his displeasure. But are 
 these true Christians ? Certainly not. The object of the 
 gospel is to teach us to strive against sin, to love God with 
 all our heart, and soul, and strength, and to make his glory 
 our aim in all that we do. This will readily be acknow- 
 ledged. But let me ask, is it our unvarying endeavour to 
 exercise that habitual regard to God which will influence 
 us in all w T e say, do, or think ? Does every thing bow in our 
 esteem to the will and command of God ? Do we adopt 
 those principles and live that kind of life which we know 
 God will approve ; or is there nothing in either which we 
 can alter for his sake ? Do we labour to maintain in our 
 minds a lively sense of his presence ? Do we exercise a 
 constant submission to his will, a constant dependence on 
 his pow r er, wisdom, and goodness? Are we habitually 
 ♦hanking him for the mercies we enjoy, ascribing them only 
 10. 
 
to his free and unmerited grace in Christ Jesus ; and are we 
 striving by some more substantial proofs than words to tes- 
 tify our gratitude to him ? In our troubles, do we look to 
 him alone for deliverance, resigning ourselves to his holy 
 will, and even bearing affliction cheerfully for his sake ? Do 
 we value him as our chief good, as the only proper object 
 of our happiness ; and do we prove that we do so by pre- 
 ferring no gratification to his favour., by making every re- 
 quisite sacrifice, and renouncing every evil habit, readily, 
 for his sake? In short, do we set him before us as the wit- 
 ness of our actions, the judge of our conduct, the end of 
 all that we do? 
 
 But let me now request my readers to take u/iother view 
 of the subject. They acknowledge, 1 doubt not, that this is 
 a sinful world, and that therefore a Christian is not to be 
 of the world even as Christ is not of the world, but is to 
 make it his study to " mortify his members which are upon 
 the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil 
 concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for the 
 which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children 
 of disobedience." Now allow me to inquire, do we really be- 
 lieve this doctrine ? Let us bring the matter to a point with 
 our consciences. Are we renouncing the spirit of that 
 world, whose friendship is represented as enmity against 
 God ? Are we crucifying the flesh with its affections and 
 lusts? Are we engaged in a secret warfare with all our evil 
 inclinations, and labouring to bring them into subjection, 
 I hat our hearts may be as a temple sacred only to Christ? 
 If this is the case, how do we show it? Are we daily ex- 
 amining ourselves ? With what perverse dispositions are we 
 maintaining this struggle? Are we as much and as earnest 
 ly engaged in subduing ourselves, as in pursuing honour, 
 wealth, or worldly comfort ? In what do we deny ourselves? 
 I ask not what open and public sacrifices we are making — 
 vanity may prompt to these : nor whether we are imposing 
 penances on ourselves — that is comparatively an easy task. 
 But are we mortifying our vanity, curbing our pride, sub- 
 duing our self-will, renouncing our love of consequence 
 and power, giving up our own pleasure ; and especially are 
 we resisting our besetting sin ? Many of the commandments 
 of God, let it be remembered, it is both easy and creditable 
 to fulfil. Herod himself seems to have executed these. But 
 10. 
 
6 
 
 he would not give up the gratification of a criminal passion 
 from regard to those doctrines of which he acknowledged, 
 generally, the truth. 
 
 The due reception of the gospel farther implies the at* 
 tainment of a meek and quiet spirit. Do we then control 
 our anger? Is the power of religion clearly visible in the 
 restraint which we put upon those ebullitions of passion, 
 and expressions of peevishness, which would otherwise 
 break forth ? Can we govern ourselves under provocation ? 
 If others are angry with us, are we calm with them ? But 
 perhaps some one may say, " My passion is soon over." 
 Yes, this is natural to you : but why was it not restrained 
 by religion ? " But has religion," it may be asked, " any 
 thing to do with our petty quarrels and resentments, which 
 are soon excited and soon allayed?" Yes, for religion con- 
 sists in restraining these from a regard to God, and reve- 
 rence to his law. True religion is an habitual restraint on 
 every evil temper: a powerful principle which keeps un- 
 der and subdues every other which stands opposed to it. 
 It is a principle derived from God, and it should be ex- 
 ercised in the resemblance of him who was meek and 
 lowly in heart, and who, when he was reviled, reviled not 
 again, when he sufFered, threatened not. 
 
 Then as to covetousness : are our desires of worldly 
 things moderate ? Are we contented with our present sta- 
 tion, or are we impatiently striving to be delivered from its 
 difficulties ? Are we apt to be cast down when we meet with 
 disappointment, and easily elated by worldly success? Are we 
 making the wealth or the happiness of this world our prin- 
 cipal objects : or are these wholly subordinate to religion 1 
 In a word, are we more anxious to possess the favour of 
 God and his peace in our souls, than to possess any earthly 
 treasures? Religion, it is true, does not require that we 
 should relax in the just and proper duties of our calling, or 
 be less diligent, industrious, and frugal than others ; but 
 then, if we are living as men whose conversation is in hea 
 ven, and w T hose hearts are chiefly set on things above, we 
 shall pursue our business with far less eagerness than 
 others do : we shall be far more anxious that our children 
 should be holy than that they should be rich. Our children 
 themselves should be able to perceive that it would make ua 
 more happy to see them religious than accomplished or rich. 
 
 io 
 
1 would further ask, what it is from which we derive oui 
 pleasures ? Knowing how impure and polluting many of 
 the sources of earthly pleasure are, and how apt to draw 
 away our hearts from God ; are we so indifferent to them. 
 as to renounce them entirely whenever the interests of oui 
 souls require it ? Are our pleasures derived from other and 
 purer sources, sources pointed out and sanctioned by the 
 law of God, which in this, as in every other particular 
 ought to be our guide and director ? ])o we consider eat 
 mg and drinking as principal sources of gratification ; 01 
 do we regard them in their true light, as necessary indeed 
 to the support of our bodies, but at the same time as liable 
 to become instruments of temptation, and hindrances to a 
 holy and spiritual life, and therefore requiring to be regu- 
 lated by the rules of strict temperance? 
 
 Thus also are we to guard against the inordinate love of 
 an earthly object. We are to beware lest we should love 
 even a wife, a husband, or a child, to such a degree, as to 
 forget that God requires the chief place in our affections. 
 In short, we must be habitually employed, would we really 
 be Christians, in watching over and subduing every evil 
 propensity; so that all the thoughts of our hearts may be 
 brought into subjection to the will of God. To hear the 
 gospel preached, to acknowledge its truth, to enjoy a mea- 
 sure of its comforts, is but a small thing. The essential 
 business of religion consists much more in the secret war- 
 fare which I have described ; in carrying our knowledge 
 into practice, and regulating by it our daily conduct. 
 
 There is a class of duties which still remains to be no- 
 ticed, I mean the duties of justice between man and man. 
 The law of God with respect to these is, that we should do 
 unto others as we would they should do unto us ; nay more, 
 that w;e should seek our neighbour's welfare as truly as 
 our own, and some points even in preference to our own. 
 Now how are we acting in this respect ? We acknowledge 
 the rule : are we following it ? Can we withstand the tempt- 
 ation of profiting by the ignorance or carelessness of our 
 neighbour ? Shall we be able to say at the day of judgment, 
 " it has been my rule in life to take no advantage of an- 
 other?" There will be daily occasions of exercising the 
 principle of true righteousness, if we are influenced by it 
 It will lead us to judge favourably of our neighbour's ac 
 10. 
 
8 
 
 tions, nncl to defend him when unjustly accused; to rejoice 
 in his prosperity, to sympathise in his distress, to supply his 
 wants as far as we are able ; and, above all, it will teach m 
 to promote the welfare of his soul. There is nothing, per 
 haps, in which men are apt so much to pride themselves a* 
 in the discharge of their duty to their neighbour ; and yet 
 when tried by the word of God, there is nothing in which 
 they are generally more deficient. 
 
 If any one of my readers should object to this paper as 
 legal, and as manifesting an ignorance of the grace of the 
 gospel, I would entreat him to peruse the second chapter 
 of St. Paul's Epistle to Titus. " Speak thou," says the 
 venerable apostle, " the things which become sound doc- 
 trine. "' But what were the things becoming sound doc- 
 trine respecting which Titus was instructed to preach ? 
 They were the distinct and particular duties of aged men 
 and aged women, of young women and young men, 
 of servants and subjects. We see then how practical 
 the preaching of Titus was required to be, and how par- 
 ticular also; not merely dwelling in generals, as too many 
 are apt to do, and recommending holiness in a loose and 
 vague way; but entering into the detail of the tempers 
 which his hearers ought to possess, of the duties which 
 they ought to practise, of the sins they ought to avoid: 
 bringing religion home to their families and extending its 
 influence to the ordinary business of life : regulating their 
 whole conduct in such a manner as to adorn the doctrine 
 of God our Saviour, and to command the admiration even 
 of heathens. And to confirm this view of the matter, the 
 apostle states it to be the very design of the gospel to pro 
 duce in all men such a conduct as he had recommended. 
 For the grace of God hath appeared to all men, teaching 
 vs that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
 lice soberly in the government of our appetites and passions', 
 righteously in the due discharge of the duties we owe to 
 our neighbour ; and godly in the conscientious fulfilment 
 of the duties we owe to God : and that we should be ever 
 looking forward, as the object of all our expectations and 
 hopes, to the second coming of Jesus Christ, our God and 
 Saviour. 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 The use and importance of faith, as it respects a sin- 
 ner's justification before God, has been often largely in- 
 sisted on; but it is likewise of great use and importance 
 in the daily concerns of life. It gives evidence and sub- 
 sistence to things not seen, and realizes the great truths 
 of the gospel, so that they become abiding and living 
 principles of support and direction while we are passing 
 through this wilderness. Thus it is as the eye and the 
 hand, without which we cannot take one step with cer- 
 tainty, or attempt any service with success. It is to be 
 wished that this practical exercise of faith were duly at- 
 tended to by all who profess to be followers of Christ. 
 We should not then meet with so many cases that put us 
 to a stand, and leave us at a great difficulty to reconcile 
 what we see in some of whom we would willingly hope 
 well, with what we read in scripture of the inseparable 
 concomitants of a true and lively faith. For how can 
 we but be staggered, when we hear perwns speaking 
 the language of assurance, that they know their accept- 
 ance with God, through Christ, and have not the least 
 doubt of their interest in all the promises; while at the 
 same time, we see them under the influence of unsancti- 
 fied tempers, of a proud, passionate, positive, worldly, 
 selfish, or churlish carriage ? 
 
 It is not only plain, from the general tenour of scrip- 
 ture, that a covetous, a proud, or a censorious spirit, is 
 no more consistent with the spirit of the gospel than 
 drunkenness or whoredom; but there are many express 
 texts directly pointed against the evils which too often 
 are found amongst professors. Thus the apostle James 
 assures us, " If any man seemeth to be religious, and 
 bridleth not his tongue, his religion is vain ;" and the 
 apostle John, " If any man love the world, the love of 
 the Father is not in him;" and he seems to apply this 
 character to any man, whatever his profession or pre- 
 
PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. [2 
 
 tences may be, "who, having this world's goods, and 
 seeing his brother have need, shutteth up his bowels of 
 compassion from him." Surely these texts more than 
 intimate, that the faith which justifies the soul does 
 likewise receive from Jesus grace for grace, whereby the 
 heart is purified, and the conversation regulated as be- 
 comes the gospel of Christ. 
 
 There are too many who would have the ministry of 
 the gospel restrained to the privileges of believers; and 
 when the fruits of faith, and the tempers of the mind, 
 which should be manifest in those who have " tasted that 
 the Lord is gracious," are inculcated, think they suffi- 
 ciently evade all that is said, by calling it legal preach- 
 ing. I would be no advocate for legal preaching: but we 
 must not be deterred by the fear of a hard word, from 
 declaring the whole counsel of God; and we have the au- 
 thority and example of St. Paul, who was a champion of 
 the doctrines of free grace, to animate us in exhorting 
 professors to " walk worthy of God, who has called them 
 to his kingdom and glory." And indeed the expression 
 a believer's privilege is often misunderstood. It is a be- 
 liever's privilege to walk with God in the exercise of 
 faith, and, by the power of his spirit, to mortify the 
 whole body of sin; to gain a growing victory over the 
 world and self, and to make daily advances in conform- 
 ity to the mind that was in Christ. Nothing that we 
 profess to know, believe, or hope for, deserves the name 
 of a privilege, farther than we are influenced by it to die 
 unto sin, and live unto righteousness. Whoever is pos- 
 sessed of true faith, will not confine his inquiries to the 
 single point of his acceptance with God, or be satisfied 
 with the distant hope of heaven hereafter. He will be 
 likewise solicitous how he may glorify God in the 
 world, and enjoy such foretastes of heaven as are attain- 
 able while he is yet upon earth. 
 
 When our Lord was upon earth, and conversed with 
 his disciples, their eyes and hearts were fixed upon him. 
 In danger he was their Defender; their Guide when in 
 perplexity; and to him they looked for the solution of all 
 their doubts, and the supply of all their wants. He is now 
 withdrawn from our eyes ; but faith sets him still before 
 us, for the same purposes, and according to its degice, 
 
 74 
 
J j PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 
 
 with the same effects, as if we actually saw him. His spi- 
 ritual presence apprehended by faith, is a restraint from 
 evil, an encouragement to every service, and affords a 
 present refuge and help in every time of trouble. To 
 this is owing- the delight a believer takes in ordinances, 
 because there he meets his Lord; and to this likewise it 
 is owing that his religion is hot confined to public occa- 
 sions; but he is the same person in secret as he appears 
 to be in the public assembly; for he worships him who 
 sees in secret; and dares appeal to his all-seeing eye 
 for the sincerity of his desires and intentions. By faith 
 he is enabled to use prosperity with moderation ; and 
 knows and feels, that what the world calls good is of 
 small value, unless it is accompanied with the presence 
 and blessing of Him whom his soul loveth. And his 
 faith upholds him under all trials, by assuring him that 
 every dispensation is under the direction of his Lord; 
 that chastisements are a token of his love; that the sea- 
 son, measure, and continuance of his sufferings are ap- 
 pointed by infinite wisdom, and designed to work for his 
 everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be 
 afforded him, according to his day. Thus, his heart 
 being fixed, trusting in the Lord, to whom he has com- 
 mitted all his concerns, and knowing that his best in- 
 terests are safe, he is not greatly afraid of evil tidings, 
 but enjoys a stable peace in the midst of a changing 
 world. 
 
 By the same principle of faith a believer's conduct is 
 regulated towards his fellow-creatures ; and in the dis- 
 charge of the several duties and relations of life, his 
 great aim is to please God, and to let his light shine in 
 the world. He believes and feels his own weakness and 
 unworthiness, and lives upon the grace and pardoning 
 love of his Lord. This gives him an habitual tender- 
 ness and gentleness of spirit. Humbled under a sense 
 of much forgiveness to himself, he finds it easy to for- 
 give others, if he has aught against any. A due sense 
 of what he is in the sight of the Lord preserves him from 
 giving way to anger, positiveness, and resentment: He 
 is not easily provoked, but is " swift to hear, slow to 
 speak, slow to wrath;" and, if offended, easy to be en- 
 treated, and disposed, not only to yield to a reconcilia- 
 
 74 
 
PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. [4 
 
 tion, but to seek it. As Jesus is his life, and righteous- 
 ness, and strength, so he is his pattern. By faith he de- 
 rives from him a benevolent spirit, and, according to his 
 sphere and ability, he endeavours to promote the wel- 
 fare of all around him. The law of love being thus 
 written in his heart, and his soul set at liberty from the 
 low and narrow dictates of a selfish spirit, his language 
 will be truth, and his dealings equity. His promise 
 may be depended on, without the interposition of oath, 
 bond, or witness; and the feelings of his own heart, un- 
 der the direction of an enlightened conscience, and the 
 precepts of scripture, prompt him " to do unto others as 
 he would desire they, in the like circumstances, should 
 do unto him." If he is a master, he is gentle and com- 
 passionate; if a servant, he is faithful and obedient; for 
 in either relation he acts by faith, under the eye of his 
 Master in heaven. If he is a trader, he neither dares nor 
 wishes to take advantage, either of the ignorance or the 
 necessities of those with whom he deals. And the same 
 principle of love influences his whole conversation A 
 sense of his own infirmities makes him candid to those 
 of others. He will not readily believe reports to their 
 prejudice, without sufficient proof: and even then he 
 will not repeat them, unless he is lawfully called to it. 
 He believes that the precept, "Speak evil of no man," 
 is founded upon the same authority with those which 
 forbid committing adultery or murder ; and therefore 
 he "keeps his tongue as with a bridle." 
 
 Lastly, Faith is of daily use as a preservative from a 
 compliance with the corrupt customs and maxims of 
 the world. The believer, though in the world, is not of 
 it: by faith he triumphs over its smiles and enticements, 
 he sees that all that is in the world, suited to gratify 
 the desires of the flesh or the eye, is to be avoided, not 
 only as sinful, but as incompatible with his best plea- 
 sures. He will mix with the world so far as is necessa 
 ry, in the discharge of the duties of that station of life 
 in which the providence of God has placed him, but no 
 farther. 
 
THE 
 
 SCRIPTURE GUIDE 
 
 TO 
 
 BAPTISM: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A FAITHFUL CITATION OF ALL THE PASSAGES OF 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT WHICH RELATE 
 
 TO THIS ORDINANCE, 
 
 WITH 
 
 EXPLANATORY OBSERVATIONS ; 
 
 AND ATTENDED BY 
 
 NUMEROUS EXTRACTS FROM EMINENT WRITERS. 
 
 m 
 
 BY R. PENGILLY 
 
 FROM THB NINTH LONDON EDITION, REVISED AND IMPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica. in that they received the 
 word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, 
 whether those things were so.— Acts xvii. 11. 
 
 Whatever pretends to exceed the direction of the Word may safely be 
 rejected, cannot safely be admitted.— Dr. Owen. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I do not know that I can better introduce the following pamphlet to 
 the reader than by stating the origin of it ; its reference to my own case 
 and circumstances, he will kindly excuse. 
 
 From my earliest childhood, I was taught to say, that, * in my bap- 
 tism, — I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor 
 of the kingdom of heaven,"* My instructers would readily admit, and 
 in effect taught, the following sentiments, lately given to the world by 
 different writers : — 
 
 One affirms — " With the water of our baptism, the grace of regene- 
 ration, the seed of the Holy Ghost, the principle of a higher existence is 
 committed to the soul ; it grows with us as an innate impression of our 
 
 being As long as the believer trusts to his baptism as the source of 
 
 spiritual life, all is weli."-j- 
 
 Another adds — " Gn a topic so interesting, I might have well enlarged. 
 I might have told you that only by baptism we are admitted into Christ's 
 fleck on earth -, by baptism we are adopted into his covenant, incorpo- 
 rated into his church. . , .that in baptism all our sins are pardoned, and 
 the Holy Ghost bestowed.''^ And another — " Baptism brings its pri- 
 vileges along with it — is a seal of the covenant — does not lose its end 
 through the indisposition of the receiver/'^ 
 
 These sentiments, as far as I received them, were very gratifying. I 
 seem to have been put, by the kindness of my parents and sponsors, 
 into a situation of unspeakable advantages, and, above all, my heaven 
 was secured, and I had nothing to fear in life or death. 
 
 Being, however, afterward brought under a faithful ministry, I ob- 
 served a most astonishing difference between the statements of the 
 pulpit and the sentiments I had been taught in childhood, as given above. 
 Here I was taught • that all mankind were by nature sinners, depraved, 
 and guilty, — that unless they be brought to repent of sin, to believe in 
 Christ, to seek a.n&.find mercy from God through the Saviour, they must 
 inevitably perish !' — As to what was done for me in infancy, I was 
 assured it profited me nothing. My excellent minister would not hesi- 
 tate to appeal to his congregation, in the inquiries which recently ap- 
 peared in a public paper: — 
 
 "Is not the sponsorial part of the baptismal serviee a fragment of 
 popery, without the shadow of a foundation in the Holy Scriptures ? 
 
 " Are not thousands- of children, who show no signs whatever of spi- 
 ritual regeneration, taught to repeat a deliberate falsehood, from 
 week to week, when, according to the instructions of their catechism, 
 they declare that at baptism they were made ' members of Christ, child 
 ren of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven !' 
 
 " Are not multitudes of young people brought to the rite of confirma- 
 
 * See the Church of England Catechism, and Baptism of Infants. 
 
 t Mr. W. Harness, minister of St. Pancras' chapel, London, in a sermon oa 
 Baptismal Regeneration, pp. 135. 138. 
 
 X W. B. Kuiirht, Perpetual Curate of Mar<ram, and Examining Chaplain to the 
 Lord Bishop of Llandaff, in a Letter on Baptism, p. 26. 
 
 § In Adam Clark's Commentary, at the end of Mark. 
 
 3 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tioii, merely that they may r«new the solemn farce which was performed 
 by their sponsors at baptism ; and that they might take a vow which 
 they never intended to fulfil'?"* 
 
 What these questions implied, and the preceding remarks expressed, 
 appeared to me awfully serious ; and the contrariety of sentiment 
 which prevailed, and which the foregoing quotations exhibit, was ex- 
 ceedingly perplexing. My highest and best interest for time and eternity 
 was here involved. On the one hand, I was told that by my baptism 
 " all was well," and on the other, that the ordinance, as observed upon 
 me, was a " solemn farce !" 
 
 What should I do in this case ] Why this, I resolved, I would do : 
 I would take a New Testament, and go through it, and mark down and 
 distinguish in the margin, all those passages which related to baptism ; 
 and when I had done so, I would read them all over in succession, as 
 one chapter, with care and attention ; and as I knew this blessed book 
 was the only original and divine authority on the subject, here, I in- 
 fered, I should learn correctly what this ordinance did fur children — 
 what was the office of sponsors — and how the ordinance sealed to me 
 the blessing of the covenant. 
 
 To my surprise, the New Testament was entirely silent upon 
 all these points ! I could not find a single passage relating to the bap- 
 tism of infants — nor one relating to sponsors — nor one about baptism 
 bringing me into the covenant, or sealing to me its blessings ! Every 
 passage I could find, descriptive of the persons baptized, either by John 
 or the disciples of Christ, represented them as persons grown up, in- 
 structed, and believing the gospel ; nor could I find any passage relative 
 to their bringiyig their children with them, or at any period to be bap- 
 tized. I found, also, that all the commands and instructions given 
 respecting baptism entirely related to its administration to believers, and 
 not one included the duty of parents in securing, by this all-important 
 ordinance, the spiritual and eternal well-being of their children I 
 
 Now, when I considered the unbounded benefits said to be consequent 
 upon children's baptism, and the solemn manner in which I was required 
 to repeat these statements in early life, as if they were the plainest sub- 
 jects in Scripture, the reader may judge of my surprise in finding them 
 entirely destitute of that sacred authority ! 
 
 In the end, I was brought to believe that the institution was altered — 
 that it was not now observed, where I was early instructed, as originally 
 appointed of Christ. Yet to alter Christ's institutions appeared to me 
 a yery presuming act : it was derogatory to the authority of Christ, 
 and a reflection on his wisdom ; and as I remembered how God mani- 
 fested his displeasure against any alteration of what he had appointed, 
 under the Old Testament, so I inferred he must be equally displeased 
 with any alteration of the New Testament ordinances. A passage I 
 met with in Matthew Henry's Exposition, respecting the conduct 
 and awful fate of Aaron's sons in taking common fire, instead of fire 
 from the altar, to burn incense, I deemed very impressive, and quite 
 appropriate to this subject : — 
 
 * In " Tjte Record," (a paper in the Church of England interest,) for Noyem 
 ber 30, iS"29, headed, ; Questions for the Consideration of the Ecclesiastical 
 Authorities of the Realm.' See afso Mr. Hyatt, cited at p. 63. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 • Not being holy fire, it is called strange Jire ; and, though not 
 expressly forbidden, it was crime enough that God ' commanded it not. 1 
 For, (as Bishop Hall well observes here,) ' It is a dangerous thing, in 
 the service of God, to decline from his own institutions ; we have to do 
 with a God who is wise to prescribe his own worship, just to require 
 what he has prescribed, and powerful to revenge what he has not 
 prescribed.' JVow that the laws concerning sacrifices were newly made, 
 lest any should be tempted to think lightly of them, because they de- 
 scended to many circumstances which seemed very minute, these that 
 were the lint transgressors were thus punished for a warning to 
 others, and to show how jealous God is in the matters of his worship. 
 Being a holy God and sovereign Lord, he must always be worshipped 
 exactly according to his own appointment ; and if any jest with him, it 
 is at their peril."' — On Lev. x. 
 
 My mind was considerably exercised upon this subject. ' Not willing- 
 ly,' I was constrained to say, ' would I jest with Christ's ordinances, or 
 would I support any alteration of his institution. If 1 knew his will, I 
 would observe and keep it ; for the time is coming when I must stand at 
 his bar to give an account of the deeds done in the body ; and if I was 
 one of those who altered his ordinances, or countenanced such a daring 
 presumption, I should have cause to anticipate his divine displeasure.' 
 With these impressions I came to the determination, that, at any risk, 
 what the Scriptures taught on baptism I would endeavour to receive and 
 hold, — that as Christ was to be my only Judge at the last, so he 
 should be my only Guide upon this subject. His command to every 
 disciple is, " follow me ;" and to enable him to do so he added, " Search 
 the Scriptures, for they are they that testify of me." Here I saw the 
 path of duty plainly marked out by the footsteps of my Saviour, and 
 instructions of his word ; and his unbounded love and his infinite dig- 
 nity rendered obedience to him unspeakably solemn and delightful. 
 
 I resolved, also, to read whatever authors I could meet with upon this 
 subject, and though I was soon brought to decide, and acted upon that 
 decision, guided, I hope, by the word of God ; yet for several years there 
 was not an author that fell in my way, whether treating of the subjects 
 of baptism, or the mode of it, or the spiritual intention of the ordi- 
 nance, but I felt disposed to examine his arguments. Nothing surprised 
 me more than the strange diversity and opposition of sentiment which 
 I observed between diiferent very eminent writers. What one labored 
 to establish, another as zealously exploded ; and I am thoroughly con- 
 vinced that the only way for an inquiring mind to obtain solid satis- 
 faction upon the subject is to lay aside all preconceived sentiments and 
 prejudices, and to come, with a teachable spirit, to the fountain-head of 
 information, — to take the New Testament and to go through it, allow- 
 ing one passage to assist in the understanding of another, and here, on 
 Heaven's authority, to form his opinions, and to come to a decision. 
 
 But those portions of Scripture which relate to this ordinance are in- 
 terspersed throughout almost the whole of the New Testament, and for 
 the use of an Ixqxtrer upon this subject, a Tract, containing a com- 
 plete Collection of all those passages, appeared to me exceedingly 
 desirable. Being called, by the grace of Christ, to the all-important 
 work of the ministry in the body of Christians, with which, from con- 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 scientious principles, upon giving up my early views in favor of iniant 
 baptism, I became united, I felt the want of such a pamphlet when 
 referring inquirers to the divine and infallible source of information. 
 Not finding such a work in existence, I resolved to prepare it. My first 
 effort was well received ; and I afterwards enlarged it, by subjoining to 
 each section of Scripture a few explanatory observations, and supported 
 the sense I had given by extracts from the works of eminent paedobap- 
 tist writers. This work is now before the reader, and the following is 
 its arrangement. 
 
 PLAN AND CONTENTS. 
 
 The various portions of Scripture relating to baptism, I have here 
 arranged as Three Chapters. 
 
 Chap. I. The several passages in the Four Gospels, divided into VII 
 sections, as they occur ; page 9 to 27. 
 
 Chap. II. The several passages in the Acts of the Apostles, divided 
 into IX sections, as so many successive instances of baptizing ; p. 27 to 44. 
 
 Chap. III. The several passages in the Epistles, divided into III sec- 
 tions, as they have special allusions ; p. 45 to 52. 
 
 To these Scriptures and their illustration, I have subjoined an APPEN 
 DIX, containing a brief Examination, I. Of the common Reason* 
 and Arguments by which the Baptism of Infants is urged and defended, 
 52 to 70. II. Of the Evidence in favor of Immersion as the Mode, 
 p. 71 to 80. III. Of the Design of the Great Head of the Church in 
 the appointment of this ordinance, p. 80 to 81. And, finally, offering a 
 few general Concluding Observations upon the subject, p. 81 to 86. 
 
 I am not conscious that I have written a single sentence, but as the 
 dictate of sincere conviction ; and, I hope, not one inconsistent with 
 Christian candor. I love my brethren in the faith, notwithstanding 
 upon this particular subject they may differ from me ; and though I have 
 seen no small portion of sarcastic wit brought into the controversy, I 
 have not once borrowed from that treasury ; my cause wanted not that 
 auxiliary. 
 
 I take this opportunity of expressing the satisfaction I have felt in 
 the kind recommendations which numerous ministers have given to 
 this little work, not only in Britain, but in India, and especially in the 
 United States of America, where it has gone through several large 
 editions. But, most of all, my gratitude is due to the Author of all 
 goodness, for the testimonies I have received that " the publication has 
 been eminently useful to many of the disciples of Christ, in freeing 
 their minds from the mists of error, engendered by the doctrines and 
 commandments of men, and leading them into scriptural views of this 
 important institution of the kingdom of heaven." (New Baptist Mis- 
 cellany, for 1S28, p. 109.) I hope the alterations and additions made 
 in the present edition will render it still more acceptable and useful. 
 
 Newcastle upon Tyiie, Jan. 1, 1836. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Passages in the Four Gospels. 
 
 PA08 
 
 Sect. 1. The Mission, Preaching - , and Baptizing of John the 
 
 Baptist, 9 
 
 Of the Mode of John's Baptism, - 12 
 2. The Baptism of Jesus Christ, from the four Evan- 
 gelists, 16 
 
 Christ Baptizing-, by his Disciples, in Judea, 18 
 
 4. John's last Baptizing in JEnon, 20 
 
 5. References of Jesus Christ to John, his Baptism 
 
 and success, ------ 21 
 
 6. Christ represents his Sufferings under the figure of 
 
 " a Baptism," 22 
 
 7. The Commission which our Lord gave his Apostles 
 
 about the Time of his Ascension into Heaven, 
 containing the formal Institution of Christian 
 Baptism, ------ 25 
 
 Conclusion of the Four Gospels, - - 26 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 Sect. 1. The Baptism at the Feast of Pentecost, - 27 
 
 2. Philip Baptizing at Samaria, - 29 
 
 3. The Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch, - 31 
 Of the Mode of the Eunuch's Baptism, - 31 
 
 4. The Baptism of the Apostle Paul, - - 33 
 
 5. The Baptism of Cornelius and his Friends, 34 
 
 6. The Baptism of Lydia and her Household, - 36 
 
 7. The Baptism of the Philippian Jailer and House- 
 
 hold, 39 
 
 8. Paul Baptizing at Corinth, - - - 40 
 Reflection on the Baptism of Households, - 42 
 
 9. Certain Disciples at Ephesus baptized,. - 43 
 Conclusion of the Acts, - 44 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Epistles. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sect. 1. Passages which contain an express Allusion to the 
 
 Mode and Spiritual Design of Baptism, 45 
 
 2. Occasional mention of Baptism, - . 48 
 
 3. Baptism illustrated by Events recorded in the Old 
 
 Testament, ---.._ 49 
 
 Conclusion of the New Testament, - - 51 
 
 Appendix, Part I. 
 
 On the Grounds of infant Baptism, its Rise and 
 
 Benefits, ----- 52 
 
 Appendix, Part II. 
 
 On the Scriptural Mode of Baptism. 71 
 
 Appendix, Part III. 
 
 On the Spiritual Design of Baptism, 80 
 
 Concluding Observations, - - - - 81 
 
 Objections to exclusive Believers' Baptism, 81 
 
 Reasons for the Baptism of Believers only, 85 
 
 Final Address to the Reader, - - - 85 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM, 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE FOUR GOSPELS. 
 
 § I. The Mission, Preaching, and Baptizing of John the Baptist. 
 
 Thb first place of Scripture, where the ordinance of baptism is found, is in the 
 account given of the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. The 
 surname "of 41 Baptist" was most probably given him because he was "sent to 
 baptize" by Divine authority, and was the "first so authorized and employed. As all 
 the four evangelists have given some account of John, I shall unite the testimony 
 of the four, and present it to the reader in a continued relation. 
 
 Mark i. 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, the Son of God. John i. 6, 7. 
 
 There was a man sent from God, whose name ivas John : 
 the same came to bear witness of the Light, that all men 
 through him might believe. Matt. iii. 3. For this is he that 
 was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice 
 of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, make his paths straight. 
 
 Luke i. 16, 17. And many of the children of Israel 
 shall he turn to the Lord their God : And he shall go before 
 him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of 
 the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wis- 
 dom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the 
 Lord. iii. 1, 2. Now — the word of God came unto John, 
 the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 
 
 Matt. iii. 1. In those days came John the Baptist, 
 preaching in the wilderness of Judea ; Luke iii. 3. And he 
 came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the bap- 
 tism of repentance for the remission of sins ; Matt. iii. 
 2. And saying, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
 at hand. 
 
 Acts xiii. 24. John preached the baptism of repent- 
 ance to all the people of Israel ; xix. 4, saying unto the 
 people, that they should believe on him which should come 
 after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 
 
 John i. 19 to 31. And this is the record of John, when 
 the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, Who art 
 
10 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 thou ? He confessed, I am not the Christ. I am the voice 
 of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of 
 the Lord. And they asked him, Why baptizest thou, if 
 thou be not that Christ ? John answered, I baptize with 
 water: but there standeth one among you — who, coming 
 after me, is preferred before me. That he should be 
 manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 
 33. [For God] sent me to baptize with water. 
 
 Matt. iii. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all 
 Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6. And 
 were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 
 
 Mark i. 4. John did baptize in the wilderness, and 
 preach the baptism of repentanee for the remission of sins ; 
 5. And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and 
 they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river 
 of Jordan, confessing their sins. 
 
 Luke iii. 12. Then came also publicans to be baptized, 
 and said unto him, Master, what shall we do ? 13. And 
 he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is 
 appointed you. 
 
 Matt. iii. 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O 
 generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the 
 wrath to come 1 8. Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for 
 repentance : 9. And think not to say within yourselves, 
 We have Abraham to our father : for I say unto you, that 
 God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abra- 
 ham. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repent- 
 ance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
 whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize 
 you with the Holy Ghost and with fire : 12. Whose fan 
 is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and 
 gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the 
 chaff with unquenchable fire. 
 
 Christian Reader : There are THREE INQTJIRIES, in relation 
 to the ordinance of baptism, upon which, I shall imagine, you are 
 desirous of obtaining satisfaction of mind, purely deduced from the 
 Scriptures ; namely, — 
 
 I. Who are proper subjects of Christian baptism, according to the 
 authority of Christ, and the practice of his harbinger and apostles 1 
 
 II. By what mode should the ordinance be administered, according to 
 the same authority and practice ! 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 11 
 
 III. What is the spiritual design of baptism, and in whom is that 
 design realized 1 
 
 These three inquiries will be kept constantly in view in the following 
 pages. In the foregoing section of Scriptures you have a full account 
 of John the Baptist, with reference to his practice, in which you may 
 notice, — 
 
 1. His mission was divine. He was " sent from God." He was 
 raised up by the special purpose and power of God, and employed in a 
 work entirely his own ; succeeding to no one who had gone before him, 
 and followed by no one in the same office. His instructions for his 
 work he obtained by Divine revelation : — " The word of God came 
 unto John," and thus his entire work was of God's immediate appoint 
 ment. 
 
 2. The great object of his ministry was to "prepare the way of the 
 Lord," i. e. of Christ, who was immediately to follow him, according 
 to the prediction of the prophets; Isa. xL 3. Mai. iii. 1. This great 
 design John was to accomplish, 1. By proclaiming repentance — 
 impressing on the minds of his hearers their guilt before God ; the 
 necessity of being sensible of it, and confessing it ; and thus, with con- 
 trition of heart, " to turn to the Lord their God." 2. By announc 
 ing the immediate approach of the long-promised Messiah ; assuring 
 the Jews that his " kingdom was at hand ;" and, 3. By seriously 
 charging and exhorting them to " Believe on him who should come 
 after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." By these labors, attended with 
 the blessing of heaven, he was " to make ready a people prepared for 
 the Lord." And this was happily accomplished, inasmuch as the first 
 disciples of Christ were previously disciples of John. John i. 35 — 47. 
 
 It does not appear, therefore,' that the design of John's mission could 
 be realized in any but in adult persons, or persons come to the years 
 of understanding ; none else could repent of sin ; none else could 
 embrace the glad tidings of the coming Saviour, and thereby be " a 
 people prepared" for the service of Christ ; who, within one year, was 
 to follow John, and receive the people so prepared. 
 
 3. His ministry was to be followed by the administration of the 
 ordinance of baptism. His commission from heaven included this ordi- 
 nance. Baptism, as a divine institution, was unknown in the church 
 of God previous to the mission of John. But he informed his hearers, 
 that the same God who sent him to prepare the way of the Lord, " sent 
 him to baptize with water," John i. 33, and this too was preparatory 
 to the ministry of Christ, as it was fitted and intended to teach the guilt 
 of sin, and the penitent sinner's purification in the way which the 
 gospel of Christ should bring more fully to light. Of that blessed work 
 of purification baptism was an appropriate and impressive emblem. 
 In accordance with these remarks,* we have the excellent 
 
 * In this work I shall introduce numerous extracts from the writings ©f emineitf 
 Paedobaptist authors^ who, though they practised differently from whaf is contended 
 for in these pages ; yet, some upon one part of our inquiry, and some upon others, 
 have fully granted and allowed the Divine authority of what I shall endeavour to 
 point out as having that authority, to tire attention of the reader. As, however, 1 
 
12 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Matthew Henry. " Baptism with water made way for the mam 
 festing of Christ, as it supposed our corruption and filthiness, and signi- 
 fied our cleansing by him, who is the Fountain opened." Of John's 
 express commission from heaven for baptizing, Mr. Henry adds, " See 
 What sure grounds John went upon in his ministry and baptism. He 
 did not run without sending ; God sent him to baptize. He had a 
 warrant from heaven for what he did. . . God gave him both his mission 
 and his message ; both his credentials and instructions." Expos, on 
 John i. 6—14, and 29—36. 
 
 4. The persons John baptized had received his ministry, and were 
 professed penitents. One particular circumstance is expressly asserted 
 by Matthew, and repeated again by Mark, descriptive of the persons 
 whom John baptized, and by the latter it is asserted of " all" of them ; 
 namely, that they confessed their sins. He had preached repent- 
 ance — exhorted to repentance — and of the Pharisees and Sadducees 
 demanded the " fruits of repentance ;" while he peremptorily rejected 
 every plea they might urge, particularly that, in which they gene-all? 
 gloried, that they were the children of Abraham ,- and hence in accord 
 ance with that repentance which John thus preached and demanded, 
 " they were all baptized of him, confessing their sins." Thus his bap- 
 tism is expressly called by Mark i. 4, by Luke iii. 3, and twice by 
 Paul, Acts xiii. 24, and xix. 4, " the baptism of repentance." This being 
 admitted, it will follow, that the persons, yea all the persons, whom 
 John baptized, were those who had received and believed his 
 ministry ; and, as the " fruit" of their conviction, they openly pro- 
 fessed repentance toward God, and faith in the approaching Saviour. 
 Thus, 
 
 Mr. Erskine. "John's baptism was termed the baptism of repent- 
 ance, and baptism to repentance ; because he required of all, whom ho 
 admitted to baptism, a profession of repentance, and exhorted them to 
 such a conduct as would demonstrate their repentance genuine." In 
 Booth's Paedobap. Exam. Vol. II. p. 241. Ed. 2. 
 
 Mr. Scott. " It does not appear that any but adults were baptized 
 by John . . . adult Jews, professing repentance and a disposition to become 
 the Messiah's subjects, were the only persons whom John admitted to 
 baptism." Comment, on Matt. iii. 5, 6. 
 
 Mr. Burkitt. " John's baptism was the baptism of repentance, of 
 which infants were incapable." Expos. Notes on Matt. xix. 13 — 15 
 
 OF THE MODE OF JOHN'S BAPTISM. 
 
 Mr reader will, no doubt, be aware that the ordinance of baptism is 
 administered THREE different ways, in different countries, and by 
 different bodies of Christians; namely, by dipping — pouring — and 
 
 Shall make my work as brief as possible, these extracts must necessarily be short, 
 but care shall be taken to give the real meaning of every writer in the passages 
 cited. Their brevity can form no objection ; or the same objection might be made 
 against passages cited by the apostles in the New Testament. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 13 
 
 sprinkling. He will also be aware, that in whatever way the water 
 be employed, it cannot take away sin. No spiritual benefit can be con- 
 veyed by any one mode more than by another ; but, notwithstanding 
 this, it is a serious and interesting question, which of these has divine 
 authority 1 How did the harbinger of Christ, having God's com.' 
 mand upon the subject, administer the ordinance! By which of 
 these modes was Jesus baptized ? and his disciples by his sanction 1 
 There can be but one mode that has this divine authority ; a devi- 
 ation from this, is a deviation from the revealed will of God, and can be 
 nothing better than a mere human invention. What is that one 
 authorized mode 1 Will the Scriptures afford an inquiring mind satis- 
 faction on this subject? No doubt; they were intended for that pur- 
 pose, on this as well as on every other subject, in which our obedience 
 to God is required. 
 
 Turn then your eye, reader, from the diversified and often varying 
 practices of men, to that unerring and unchangeable source of informa- 
 tion, which, in these pages, we propose to examine. Two inquiries 
 here suggest themselves : — 
 
 I. What does the word in the original language, employed by the 
 Spirit of God to express this ordinance, signify 1 Does it express the 
 action of dipping, pouring, or sprinkling ? 
 
 II. What mode do the circumstances attending the ordinance most 
 evidently favor ? 
 
 I. To express the action by which this ordinance is to be adminis- 
 tered, the word so chosen is BxtttI^cu ; which our translators have not 
 rendered into English by a verb of our own language expressive of the 
 same action, but adopted the original Greek word, which with us is to 
 baptize. To obtain therefore the sense of this word, we will turn to a 
 Lexicon, where the word in question is explained.* The following is 
 from the excellent Greek and English Lexicon of Dr. John- Jokes, 
 which gives the plain sense of words without refining or accommo- 
 dating : — 
 
 " BxTTTce, I dip ; — I dye, stain. 
 
 Bun-Ti^o), I plunge ; I plunge in water, dip, baptize ; bury, over- 
 whelm. 
 
 Bxttt&jusu, lam plunged ; plunge myself in sorrow ; ubmit to, 
 suffer. 
 
 BiTrrto-juz, immersion, baptism ,- plunging in affliction." 
 
 To the unlearned reader it may be proper to observe, that the first 
 of these words is the theme or root of the three following, and gives 
 the primary idea of all ; the first sense of which is to dip. The 
 second is the word chosen by inspiration, to express the action by 
 which the ordinance is administered, to baptize, i. e. to plunge. The 
 
 * We might here call to our assistance lexicographers and other learned writers 
 eHt of numbc r ; but I may with confidence aflirin, that in citing one, we cite every 
 competent authority on the subject ; for. in the proper and primary sense of the 
 word baptize, learned men of all classes and countries are agreed, as I shall shew 
 m the Appendix. 
 
14 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 third is the same, in the passive form, used by our Lord respecting his 
 sufferings, in Matt. xx. 22, 23, and Luke xii. 50. The last is the 
 Scripture name of the ordinance, baptism ,• the first sense of which is 
 immersion. 
 
 According to this authority, to baptize, is, to plunge, to plunge in 
 water, to dip ; and then, figuratively, to plunge or overwhelm, as in 
 sorrow, suffering, or affliction ; and also, that baptism is immersion. 
 I refer my reader to the Appendix, at the end of this pamphlet, (Part 
 II.) for a confirmation of the sense here given ; and requesting him 
 to associate this sense with the words baptize and baptism, when they 
 occur in future sections of Scripture, in order to observe whether that 
 sense harmonizes with other statements connected with the ordinance, 
 we pass on to notice 
 
 II. What mode do the circumstances attending the ordinance, as 
 now administered by John, most evidently favor 1 
 
 1. We should notice the place where John administered this ordi- 
 nance. It was " the river Jordan." If, in reference to the people of 
 Jerusalem, a situation where water might be easily obtained for sprink- 
 ling or pouring was what John required, we read of our Lord at this 
 place, directing the man that was born blind to go and " wash in the pool 
 of Siloam ;" so we read of the " pool called Bethesda," and " the brook 
 Cedron ;" all in or near Jerusalem, (and we read of others in the Old 
 Testament) ; and, without doubt, at some of them the penitent Jews 
 of that city and neighborhood might have received the ordinance, if 
 such were the mode by which John administered it ; and it cannot rea- 
 sonably be imagined he would have required those persons to go the 
 distance of several miles for the convenience of the river Jordan : more 
 reasonable to suppose he would have baptized in every town and village 
 where his ministry had its intended effect ; and, especially, at or near the 
 metropolis. This strongly favers the opinion, that immersion was 
 his mode. Thus, 
 
 Mr. Towersox. " For what need would there have been of the 
 Baptist's resorting to great confluxes of water, — were it not that the 
 baptism — was to be performed by an immersion ? A very little water, 
 as we know it doth with us, sufficing for an effusion or sprinkling." 
 In Booth's Psedobap. Exam. Vol. I. p. 209. Ed. 2. 
 
 2. It is moreover affirmed, that not only was the river Jordan 
 chosen by John for his baptism, but Matthew states, the people " were 
 baptized of him IN Jordan," and Mark adds, " IN the riyer of 
 Jordan." The idea of going ixto the water of a river for the pur- 
 pose of baptizing ix it, by sprinkling on the face, or pouring on the head, 
 is too absurd to be entertained. 
 
 3. John also states himself, "I indeed baptize you (sv CMri,) that is, 
 " ix water ;" not " with water," as it is rendered in the English autho- 
 rized version. The passage was translated in water, in some of the 
 early versions of the New Testament into our language. It is in water 
 in the Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions ; it is so rendered 
 by Montanus, and recently, in our own country, by that pre-eminent 
 scholar, G. Campbell, (Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen,) whose 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 15 
 
 judicious and, in my opinion, unanswerable note upon the place I will 
 lay before my reader. 
 
 Mn. Campbell. ■ So inconsistent are the interpreters last mentioned 
 [i. e. certain Protestant] that none of them have scrupled to render tv 
 ret Icpcf*v«, in Jordan,- though nothing can be plainer than that, if 
 there be any incongruity in the expression in water, this, in Jordan, must 
 be equally incongruous. But they have seen that the preposition in 
 could not be avoided there, without adopting a circumlocution — which 
 would have made this deviation from the text too glaring. The word 
 (Zxrri^vy, both in sacred authors and in classical, signifies to dip, to 
 plunge, to immerse, and was rendered by Tertullian, the oldest of the 
 Latin fathers, tingere ; the term used for deying cloth, which was by 
 immersion. It is always construed suitably to this meaning ; thus it is, 
 & UxTi, m to) Jc^slvh." (that is, in water, in the Jordan.) " But I 
 should not lay much stress on the preposition &, which, answering to 
 the Hebrew (beth), may denote with, as well as in, did not the 
 whole phraseology, in regard to this ceremony, coxccr ix evixc- 
 ix'g the same thixg. Accordingly, the baptized are said to arise, 
 emerge, or asce?id, ver. 16, and Acts viii. 39, from or out of the water. 
 When, therefore, the Greek word [baptizo] is adopted, rather than 
 translated into modern languages, the mode of construction ought to be 
 preserved so far as may conduce to suggest its original import." Let 
 the reader seriously considerwhat follows. " It is to be regretted that 
 we have so much evidence that even good and learned men allow their 
 judgments to be warped by the sentiments and customs of the sect 
 which they prefer. The true partisan, of whatever denomination, 
 
 ALWAYS INCLINES TO CORRECT THE DICTION OF THE SPIRIT BI THAT 
 
 of the parti." Four Gospels, Note on Matt. iii. 11. 
 
 Tertulliax, who lived within a century after the apostle John, men- 
 tions expressly the people (quos Joannes in Jordane tinxit) " whom 
 John dipped in Jordan." In Stennetfs Answer to Russen, p. 144. 
 
 Would it not be absurd to render the passage " John baptized with 
 the Jordan 1" and if, of necessity, it must be " in the Jordan," then it 
 undeniably follows, it must be " in water ;" and baptism in water or 
 in a river, wherever so observed throughout the world, is baptism by 
 immersion. But I hope to satisfy any candid inquirer on this subject 
 in the Appendix. 
 
 Mr. Hervey, when contending that zv signifies in, adds, "I can 
 prove it to have been in peaceable possession of this signification for 
 more than two thousand years." " Every one knows," he observes in 
 another place, that with " is not the native, obvious, and literal mean- 
 ing ; rather a meaning swayed, influenced, moulded by the preceding oi 
 following word." Letters to Mr. Wesley, Let. X. and II. 
 
 Lightfoot axd Adam Clarke. " That the baptism of John 
 was by plungmg the body (after the same manner as the washing 
 unclean persons — was) seems to appear from those things which 
 are related of him ; namely, that he baptized in Jordan, that he bap- 
 tized in Enon, because there was much water there" 4*. In A. Clarke's 
 Commentary, at the end of Mark 
 
16 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Inference. If, then, I am a sincere inquirer after the will of God, 
 and disposed to gather that will from what God has been pleased to 
 reveal in his word for that purpose, I am constrained, from the foregoing 
 Scriptures, to draw the following inference, namely, ' that John baptized 
 none but those who gave him satisfactory evidence of being conscious 
 of their sin and guilt before God, and whom he exhorted to repent and 
 to believe in Jesus ; and as to the Mode, that he immersed them in 
 water, in the Jordan? 
 
 § II. The Baptism of Jesus Christ, from the four Evangelists. 
 
 Our Lord's baptism we next find immediately following the foregoing account of 
 John. This place attaches to it infinite interest, by the infinite dignity of the 
 Person baptized. 
 
 Matt. iii. 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jor- 
 dan unto John to be baptized of him. 14. But John for- 
 bade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and 
 comest thou to me ? 15. And Jesus answering, said unto 
 him, Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to 
 fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Mark i. 9. 
 [Thus] Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was 
 baptized of John in Jordan. 
 
 Matt. iii. 16. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
 up straightway out of the water. Mark i. 10. And — 
 coming up out of the water, Luke iii. 21. and praying, the 
 heaven was opened, 22, And the Holy Ghost descended 
 in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice 
 came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son ; 
 in thee I am well pleased. 23. And Jesus himself began 
 to be about thirty years of age. 
 
 John i. 32. And John bare record, saying, I saw the 
 Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode 
 upon him. 29. 36. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, 
 he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
 sin of the world ! 34. And I saw, and bare record that 
 this is the Son of God. 28. These things were done in 
 Bethabara, where John was baptizing. 
 
 What, my pious reader, shall we say of the Person baptized in this 
 case ! What an honor is hereby attached to the ordinance, and con- 
 sequently to all that duly follow the example of the Redeemer in it ! 
 
 Let the man who slights and contemns this sacred institution, calling 
 it " an useless, unmeaning ceremony, incapable of washing away sin, 
 or of effecting any good," let him read these verses, and view the ha- 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 17 
 
 maculate Sox of Gnn, who had "no sin" to wash away, proceeding 
 from Galilee ciovvn to Jordan "to be baptized." Let him see the "Wis- 
 dom of God" entering the streams, and bowing beneath them, 
 
 "The emblem of his future grave !" 
 
 This, we should suppose, would induce a different sentiment of the 
 ordinance, and silence every objection to the practice of it. And if a 
 eight of CHRIST in Jordan had not that effect, let him hear and see 
 the approbation of the FATHER and SPIRIT testified on this very 
 occasion, and immediately upon his submission to this sacred rite. 
 Never was an ordinance so honored ! Here is a dignity given to it 
 infinitely exceeding any of the rites of the Old Testament. Each Per- 
 son of the sacred TRINITY is specially present, and each Divide 
 Persox gives it the testimony of his approbation ! The blessed Re- 
 deemer submits to be baptized ; the Father, at the instant of his 
 rising from the water, calls him his beloved Son, in whose conduct he 
 was well pleased ,• and the Ditine Spirit, at the same instant, de- 
 scended upon him in a visible form ! O, to have witnessed this scene, 
 how overwhelming ! Nothing, since the commencement of time, has 
 equalled in sublimity and glory this wonderful event. 
 
 Four things are to be noticed in this place. 1. The Reason why 
 Christ would be baptized ; upon which, hear the celebrated and excellent 
 
 Witsics. " Our Lord would be baptized, that he might conciliate 
 authority to the baptism of John — that by his own example, he might 
 commend and sanctify our baptism — that men might not be loath to 
 come to the baptism of the Lord, seeing the Lord was not backward 
 to come to the baptism of a servant — that, by his baptism, he might 
 represent the future condition both of himself and his followers ; first 
 humble, then glorious ,• now mean and low, then glorious and exalted ; 
 that represented by immersion, this by emersion — and, finally, to 
 declare by his voluntary submission to baptism, that he would not delay 
 the delivering up of himself to be immersed in the torrents of hell, yet 
 with a certain faith and hope of emerging." — In Feed. Exam. Vol. I. 
 page 147. 
 
 2. The Time chosen for fulfilling the promise of pouring forth the 
 Spirit upon Christ. This is noticed and improved by the pious 
 
 Doddribge. "Jesus had no sin to wash away, yet he was bap- 
 tized ; and God owned that ordinance so far as to make it the season 
 of pouring forth the Spirit upon him. And where can we expect this 
 sacred effusion, but in a conscientious and humble attendance upon 
 divine appointments ]" Fam. Expos. Improv. of the place. 
 
 3. The Language of Christ, in answer to John; which is thus 
 explained by an esteemed commentator: 
 
 Mu. Scott. Thus it bec.ometh us, SfC. " We never find that Jesus 
 6pake of himself in the plural number ; and it must therefore be allowed 
 he meant John also, and all the servants of God, in a subordinate 
 sense. It became Christ, as our surety and our example, perfectly to 
 fulfil all righteousness ,• it becomes us to walk in all the command- 
 ments and ordinances of God, without exeeption, and to attend on 
 
 b2 
 
18 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 every divine institution — as long as it continues in force. Thus far 
 Christ's example is obligatory." Commentary on Matt. iii. 13 — 15. 
 
 4. The Circumstance immediately following his baptism, namely, 
 his " coming up OUT OF the water," which evidently implies that he 
 went down into it, (as is expressly said of Philip and the eunuch, Acts 
 viii. 38 ;) a circumstance required in no mode of baptism but immer- 
 sion, and hence we infer that Jesus was buried or immersed in the 
 water. To this mode of baptism our blessed Saviour plainly alludes 
 when referring to his overwhelming sufferings, in Luke xii. 50, which 
 we shall come to presently. 
 
 Campbell's Translation. "Jesus, being baptized, no sooner rose 
 out of the water than heaven was opened to him." Four Gospels, 
 Matt. iii. 16. 
 
 Doddridge's. " And after Jesus was baptized as soon as he ascended 
 out of the water, behold, the heavens were opened unto him." In loco. 
 
 Mackxight. Jesus " submitted to be baptized, that is, buried under 
 the water by John, and to be raised out of it again, as an emblem of his 
 future death and resurrection." Apostol. Epis. Note on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 Bishop Taylor. " The custom of the ancient churches was not 
 sprinkling, but immersion ; in pursuance of the sense of the word in 
 the commandment and the example of our blessed Saviour." In Peed. 
 Exam. Vol. I. p. 199. 
 
 I never, my reader, can think of the baptism of this glorious and 
 divine Person — the Son of God — the Lord from heaven — the righteous 
 Judge of the last day — the Author of our salvation, and the Giver of 
 eternal life, but with feelings of the deepest interest. We observe him 
 here proceeding on his long journey, (for Nazareth was three days' 
 journey from Jerusalem, and not less from Bethabara,) the object of 
 which is, " to be baptized." We observe him admitting of no argu- 
 ment against his submission to that rite ; and we ought never to forget 
 how he associated his people, his followers, with himself, " thus it be- 
 cometh us !" the servant as well as the Lord, the members as well as 
 the Head, " to fulfil all" practical " righteousness ;" all that God en- 
 joins and requires. How strong i3 the obligation to realize what the 
 Saviour here intended ! Who will not concur in the pious decision of 
 Mr. Polhill 1 " the pattern of Christ and the Apostles is more to me 
 than all the human wisdom in the world." Nor can any one deny me 
 the following 
 
 Inference. The Baptism of Jesus, as an Example, is fulfilled in the 
 baptism of a Believer by Immersion, and in no other case. 
 
 § III. Christ Baptizing, by his Disciples, in Judea. 
 
 This is the only mention of our Lord's baptizirTe, or of the disGiples by his 
 authority and direction, during his corporeal presence with them; and, conse- 
 quently, it claims our very serious attention. 
 
 John iii. 22. After these things came Jesus and his 
 disciples into the land of Judea ; and there he tarried with 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 19 
 
 them and baptized. 26. And they came unto John, and 
 said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jor- 
 dan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same bap- 
 tizeth, and all men come to him. 27. John answered and 
 said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him 
 from heaven. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease. 
 Chap. iv. 1. When, therefore, the Lord knew how the 
 Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more 
 disciples than John, 2. (Though Jesus himself baptized 
 not, but his disciples,) 3. He left Judea, and departed again 
 into Galilee. — x. 40. And [he] went away again beyond 
 Jordan, into the place where John at first baptized ; — 42. 
 And many believed on him there. 
 
 The import of this passage is simply this, " Jesus went into the land 
 of Judea and baptized certain disciples, — many hearing of him, and 
 remembering what John had preached concerning him, ilocked to him, 
 — and soon it was generally known and said, as the happy fruit of his 
 labors, ' That Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John / 
 upon which the Saviour departed, and went into Galilee. He again, 
 however, visited this interesting place, and many more believed .n him 
 there." 
 
 The only thing to be noticed here, and it is certainly of some im- 
 portance as to our first inquiry, is this, that Christ made disciples 
 before he baptized them. He did not begin by baptizing, and afterwards 
 instructing ; but he first taught them his gospel, and they believing 
 and embracing his word, are thereby " made his disciples ;" and hence 
 they are said to " come to him," to conform to his commandments, and 
 then, secondly, he baptized them. As this is all the Evangelists have 
 recorded respecting Christ baptizing, through the whole of his ministry, 
 this is, consequently, all in which the Practice of Christ is given for 
 the guide of his people. What wc are to understand by " disciples," 
 or " making disciples," is thus described by 
 
 Mr. Owes. "By the disciples of Christ, I intend them, and them 
 only, who profess faith in his person and doctrine, &c. This is the 
 method of the gospel, that first men, by the preaching of it, be made 
 disciples, or be brought unto faith in Christ, and then to be taught 
 to do and observe whatever he commands." In Paed. Exam. Vol. II. 
 p. 275, and 287. 
 
 Mu. Baxter. "A disciple and a Christian are all one." Ibid. p. 288. 
 
 Our Lord, however, may be heard for himself, as to what is intended 
 by his disciples : " Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come 
 after me, cannot be my disciple." Luke xiv. 27. Whatever, there- 
 fore, may be said in favor of infant baptism, it cannot be said, that 
 either Christ's Example or Practice affords it any support; and we 
 shall presently come to his Command on the subject. But, in passing 
 from noticing the Practice of Jesus, let me cite the words of one of the 
 
20 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 most eminent Paedobaptist Commentators on the Bible England ha» 
 ever witnessed : — 
 
 Mr. Scott. " The baptism of Jesus was, doubtless, of adults alone." 
 Commentary, on John iii. 22 — 24. 
 
 § IV. John's last Baptizing, in Mnon. 
 
 The next passage we find on our subject, is contained in few words. It is, how- 
 ever, of powerful import relative to the Mode. 
 
 John iii. 23. And John also was baptizing in iEnon, 
 near to Salim, because there was much water there ; and 
 they came and were baptized. 
 
 Of the Persons here alluded to, as baptized by the Harbinger of the 
 Redeemer, nothing is said descriptive of them, except that " they came" 
 to John, as the penitent Jews had before done at Jordan, and, like them, 
 " were baptized ;" which fairly implies, that it was their own voluntary 
 act thus to seek this holy rite; and if so, they must have been pre- 
 viously instructed. 
 
 But, in reference to our inquiry on the Mode of baptism, this passage 
 is of great weight. We have here the Reasox assigned, on account 
 of which John chose the place where we now find him pursuing the 
 object in which he is divinely employed. He is baptizing in JEnon, 
 " because there was MUCH WATER there." No candid Christian, I 
 think, can object to the following 
 
 Inference. If John chose a place for the purpose of baptizing, on 
 account of one circumstance, necessary for that ordinance, namely, 
 " because there was much water there," then his Mode of baptism re- 
 quired much water : But much water is not necessary for any Mode 
 of baptism but Immersion, and hence, without doubt, that was his 
 practice. The same inference was drawn, with as little doubt, by the 
 illustrious Pa^dobaptists following : — 
 
 Calvix. " From these words, John iii. 23, it may be inferred, that 
 baptism was administered, by John and Christ, by plunging the whole 
 body under water." In Psed. Exam. Vol. I. p. 194. 
 
 Whitbt. " 0« CJxta ttokxx »v &tw, Because there was much water 
 there, in which their whole bodies might be dipped ; for in this manner 
 only was the Jewish baptism performed, by a descent into the water, 
 Acts viii. 38, and an ascent out of it, ver. 39, and a burial in it. Rom. 
 vi. 3, 4. Colos. ii. 1 2." Annot. on the place. See Lightfoot and A. 
 Clarke, at p. 16. 
 
 My reader scarcely need be told, that those who practise sprinkling 
 never go to rivers, or places of much water, to administer the ordi- 
 nance; and, if they should do so, the great quantity of the water 
 could not be assigned as the reason for choosing such places ; because, 
 in their Mode, a very small quantity only is required. Not much 
 
SCRIPTURE GITIDK TO BAPTISM. 2 
 
 candor is necessary to admit the truth so plainly conveyed as in this 
 
 § V. References of Jesus Christ to John, his Baptism, and Success, 
 As tho passage in the preceding section contains the last record of John's bap- 
 tizing, it appears proper to follow it by the testimony Jesus bore to his Harbinge* 
 and his labors. 
 
 Luke vii. 24. And when the messengers of John were 
 departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning 
 John. What went ye out into the wilderness for to see ? 
 26. A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a 
 prophet. Matt. xi. 10. For this is he of whom it is writ- 
 ten, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which 
 shall prepare thy way before thee. 1 1. Verily I say unto you, 
 Among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen 
 a greater than John the Baptist. John v. 35. He was a 
 burning and a shining light. 
 
 Mark xi. 29. And Jesus answered and said unto them, 
 
 will also ask you one question. 30. The baptism of 
 John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31. 
 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall 
 say, From heaven ; he will say, Why then did ye not be- 
 lieve him ? 32. But if we shall say, Of men : (all the peo- 
 ple will stone us : Luke xx. 6,) they feared the people ; 
 for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed- 
 33. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. 
 
 Luke vii. 29. And all the people that heard him, and 
 the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the bap- 
 tism of John. 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected 
 the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized 
 of him. 
 
 Here observe, 1. The Redeemer, in the first of these passages, gives 
 John a pre-eminence above all the servants of God, of the former dis- 
 pensation ; not excepting Abraham, Moses, or Isaiah. His revelations 
 were more signal ; his preaching of more vital importance, and his suc- 
 cess greater. Thus was he more than a prophet. 
 
 * The answer that some have made that the words, " much water," should be 
 K many waters," and refer to many shallow streams, is sufficiently answered by 
 the learned Paedobaptist Expositor, who thus renders and explains the passage: — 
 
 Doddridge. "John was also at that time baptizing at JEnon; and he parti- 
 cularly chose that place, because there was a great quantity of water there, which 
 made it very convenient for his purpose." " Nothing, surely, can be more evident, 
 than that [vSara TroXAa] many waters, signifies a large quantity of water, it being 
 •ometimes used for the Euphrates. Jer. liTl3. (Septuagint.') To whjch, I suppose^ 
 there may be an allusion, Rov. xvii. 1. CompareEzek. xliii. 2, and Rev. i. 15; xiv. 
 2; xix. 6; where the voi r e of many waters does plainly signify the roaring of a 
 high sea." Futn. Expos. Paraph., and Note on the Place. 
 
22 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 2. From the question which the Redeemer proposed to the Jews, 
 Whether the baptism of John was from heaven or of men 1 in order to 
 convict them of their guilt in treating John's labors as they had done , 
 it will evidently follow, that it was " From heaven." Had John's bap- 
 tism been borrowed from Jewish proselyte baptism, it would have been 
 of men, (for that is unknown in the word of God,) and then the ques- 
 tion might have been answered without hesitation, and the design of 
 our Lord, in that case, could not have been realized. 
 * 3. The common people, who heard John's ministry, (the Saviour 
 adds,) "justified God," i. e. approved of the Divine conduct in John's 
 ministry and baptism ; and this they evinced in " being baptized with 
 the baptism of John ;" while classes of higher religious repute, " the 
 Pharisees and lawyers," in contempt of this messenger of God, and his 
 message too, " rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not 
 baptized of him." Here our Lord plainly indicates that the ordinance 
 of Baptism was a part of " the counsel of God," i. e. his mind and will ; 
 and, as far as this rite is contemned, so far the counsel of God is 
 " rejected ;" and it is, emphatically, " against themselves" who thus 
 oppose what God enjoins. 
 
 Inference. If John, who was but a man, is to be so highly regarded, 
 and his baptism considered " the counsel of God ;" so that neglect of it 
 Ihus meets the marked disapprobation of our Redeemer ; — how much 
 more may the Divine indignation be expected on them who slight this 
 sacred ordinance in that still more interesting form, in which we shall 
 presently find it, — enjoined by Hix, whose name is written " King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords !" Surely I may add, "If they escaped not 
 who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape? 
 if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven /" Heb. xii. 25. 
 
 $ VI. Christ represents his Sufferings under the Figure of *a 
 Baptism." 
 
 Matt. xx. 22. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know 
 not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I 
 shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that ) 
 am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 
 23. And he said unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my 
 cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
 with : but to sit on my rio;ht hand, and on my left, is not 
 mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is 
 prepared of my Father. 
 
 Luke xii. 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with ; 
 and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! 
 
 Our Lord, in these affecting and impressive passages, is referring to 
 the greatness of his approaching sufferings, — and, by a metaphor, he 
 calls them " a Baptism." An interesting question from hence arises 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 23 
 
 in reference to our second inquiry, Does sprinkling a little water on 
 the face, or being totally immersed and overwhelmed in a large quan- 
 tity, most appropriately exhibit an image of the severity of the suffer- 
 ings of Christ ? The following extracts will, I have no doubt, contain 
 my reader's opinion : — 
 
 Doddridge thus paraphrases the places : " Are you able to drink 
 of the bitter cup of which I am now about to drink so deep, and to be 
 baptized with the baptism, and plunged into that sea of sufferings with 
 which I am shortly to be baptized, and, as it were, overwhelmed for a 
 time !" " I have, indeed, a most dreadful baptism to be baptized with ; 
 and I know that I shall be shortly bathed, as it were, in blood, and 
 plunged in the most overwhelming distress." Fam. Expos, on the 
 places. 
 
 Witsius. " Immersion into the water, is to be considered by us, as 
 exhibiting that dreadful abyss of Divine justice, in which Christ, for 
 our sins, was for a time, as it were, absorbed ; as in David, his type, he 
 complains, Psalm Ixix. 2, I am come into deep waters, where Ike 
 Jloods overflow me." CEcon. of the Cov. L. IV. C. xvi. § 26. 
 
 Mr. James Hervey expresses himself, on this subject, with great 
 energy. "He longed, (beneficent, blessed BEING !) he longed for the 
 fatal hour. He severely rebuked one of his disciples who would have 
 dissuaded him from going as a volunteer to the cross. He was even 
 straitened, under a kind of holy uneasiness, till the dreadful work was 
 accomplished; till he was baptized with the baptism of his sufferings, 
 bathed in blood, and plunged in death!" Theron and Aspasio, Vol. 
 II. Let. 7. 
 
 " Sir H. Tiielawxet, under whose impressive ministry," says the 
 late amiable Mr. Dore, of London, " my first religious feelings were 
 invigorated, referring to those words of our Lord, exclaimed to this 
 effect: 'Here, I must acknowledge, our Baptist brethren have the 
 advantage : for our Redeemer's sufferings must not be compared to a 
 few drops of water sprinkled on the face, for he was plunged into dis- 
 tress, and his soul was environed with sorrows.' " Sermons on Bap- 
 tism, by J. Dore, p. 39, 
 
 Inference. If our Lord intended the ordinance of baptism to exhibit 
 an image of the overwhelming sorroivs of his soul, in the garden and 
 on the cross, his intention is frustrated by the change of immersion into 
 sprinkling ! And if this be admitted, (and it cannot be denied,) what 
 devout Christian can think of this change but with deep regret I 
 
 § VII. THE COMMISSION 
 
 Which our Lord gave his Apostles about the time of his Ascension into 
 Heaven, containing the formal Institution of Christian Baptism. 
 
 We have already seen that Baptism, as a New Testament ordinance, was insti- 
 tuted of God. and enjoined upon John as the herald and precursor of Christ. It is 
 evident, also, that John administered it upon an admitted or professed acknow- 
 ledgment of faith " in him who was to come after him." Acts xix. 4. But 
 after our Redeemer had come, and finished his work, an alteration was neces- 
 •a*y in this particular circumstance. None on earth, but Jesus, could mak« that 
 
24 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 alteration; and he, as Head and Lord of the church, now does it; requiring it te 
 be administered from this hour, " In the name of the Father, and of the Son. and 
 of the Holy Ghost." This I consider as a renewed institution of rhe same 
 sacred rite, altered only in its reference to the coming of Christ 10 set up his king- 
 dom. And, what adds greatly to the solemnity of it in this renewed form, our 
 Lord delayed its institution till his last moments on earth, and then united it with 
 his final parting and solemn charge, given by Matthew and Mark in the verses 
 following. 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 16. Then the eleven disciples went away 
 into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed 
 them. 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, 
 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19. 
 Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost: 20. Teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
 ever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you 
 always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 
 
 Mark. xvi. 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16. 
 He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he 
 that believeth not, shall be damned. 19. So then, after 
 the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into 
 heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 
 
 How solemn and interesting was this occasion ! The Redeemer had 
 undergone the baptism of his sufferings, last described — he had been 
 bathed in blood in the garden ! — he had sunk into death on the cross 
 under floods of wrath, due to mankind ! But now he is risen triumph 
 ant, and is about to ascend to his glory. 
 
 He had appointed his disciples to meet him on a mountain of Galilee 
 where he was to give them his last most solemn and important charge 
 contained in the verses above. The interesting hour is come ; we maj 
 be sure the disciples are eager to catch every word from their ascending 
 Lord, and that he would give them his directions in the plainest lan- 
 guage possible. 
 
 He begins by encouraging their sorrowful minds, with a view of hia 
 supreme power in heaven and earth — in heaven, to give them the Holy 
 Spirit; to employ the angels in their behalf; and, finally, to bestow the 
 kingdom of heaven upon them. So he had all power in earth, tc 
 gather his church out of all nations ; to subdue or restrain his enemies , 
 and to reign over and dwell with his people as Lord and King of Zion 
 
 Hence the Saviour gives them the " Com^iissiox" for preaching and 
 baptizing, which you, my reader, cannot too attentively consider. If 
 you conceive there is any obscurity in the one Evangelist, the othei 
 will explain him ; and this explanation you will, no doubt, esteem pre- 
 ferable to ten thousand criticisms. By uniting the words of both, 
 they may be thus disposed: "Go ye, therefore, into aU the world; 
 " (each all nations, and preach the gospel to every creature .- him that 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 25 
 
 " bclkveth baptize, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 " the Holy Ghost, and he shall be saved ; but he that believeth not 
 " shall be damned." 
 
 Our great Legislator, who only has right to enact laws for his church, 
 (o whom we must submit, and who will have nothing taken away from, 
 or added to his word, Rev. xxii. 19, has here described to his apostles 
 the person to whom they are to administer this his ordinance, namely, 
 the believer; the person who shall cordially believe the gospel which 
 they shall preach. And if we allow him to have expressed his mind 
 clearly and fully, he restricts the ordinance to the believer alone. He 
 luis given no direction to admit any other to it ; and who will dare to 
 speak where He is silent'? Who shall enlarge or extend the limits He 
 has prescribed ] or, who will dare to go beyond, or attempt to remove, 
 the boundaries He has fixed and established ? Surely the mind of a 
 true disciple recoils at the thought ! Let us now hear the remarks of 
 some eminent Paedobaptist writers on these passages : — 
 
 Mr. Archibald Hall, Predecessor of Mr. Waugh, of London. 
 " How grand and awful is that weighty preface to the institution of 
 Christian baptism ! Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. Who is that daring, inso- 
 lent worm, that will presume to dispute the authority, or change the ordi- 
 nances of HIM who is given to be head over all things to the church 1 
 The solemnity of this ordinance is complete ; and all the purposes of 
 its institution are secured by the authority and blessing of Christ. His 
 laws are not subject to any of those imperfections which are attendants 
 of the best contrived systems among men, and frequently need expla- 
 nations, amendments, and corrections. It is most dangerous and pre- 
 sumptuous to add any ceremony, or to join any service, on any pre- 
 tence, unto Heaven's appointment."* Gospel Worship, Vol. I. p. 
 325, 326. 
 
 Saurijt. " In the primitive church, instruction preceded baptism 
 agreeable to the order of Jesus Christ, Go, teach all nations, baptizing 
 them," &c. In Paed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 274. 
 
 Mr. Baxter has a very forcible passage on the same place. " Go, 
 disciple me all nations, baptizing them. As for those who say they 
 
 * Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, has given us a skeleton of a sermon on this Com- 
 mission of Christ, in which he proposed to consider, "I. The authority he claimed. 
 11. The commission he gave to his Apostles. 1. They were to teach all nations. 
 2. They were to baptize their converts in the name of the sacred Three." Then, 
 ke adds, " But though they first taught adults, and then baptized them, they 
 [IE VERSED this order with respect to infants." 
 
 On reading this last sentence, the inquirer with surprise might ask, Who re- 
 versed this order ? The answer here is, the Apostles. Reversed what order ? The 
 answer is, the order of Jesus Christ ; l first, to teach, and second, to baptize.' Awful 
 thought ! that mortal worms should presume to alter the institutions of the Lord of 
 Glory ; yea, to reverse the order He ordains ! 
 
 Here is a candid confession that the order of Jesus Christ is "reversed, with re- 
 spect to infants." A fact, alas ! too plain to be denied. 
 
 Wk.h respect to the Apostles, however, the charge is not true. They never ee- 
 versed any order or appointment of Christ. He enjoined upon them, in his last 
 words, to "teach men to observe whatsoever he had commanded them;" and any 
 qddins or tuking away, to say nothing of reversing, he solemnly prohibited. Rev. 
 xxii. IS, 19. The order of Christ is reversed, but it was not till the Apostles and 
 primitive Disciples were long in the dust; as I shall show in the Appendix. 
 
 c 
 
26 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 are discipled by baptizing, and not before baptizing, tbey speak not the 
 sense of the text •, nor that which is true or rational ; else, why should 
 one be baptized more than another ] — This is not like some occasional 
 historical mention of baptism ; but it is the very commission of Christ 
 to his apostles, for preaching and baptizing ; and purposely expresseth 
 their several works in their several places and order. Their first task 
 is, by teaching, to make disciples, which are, by Mark, called believers. 
 The second work is, to baptize them, whereto is annexed the promise 
 of their salvation. The third work is, to teach them all other things 
 which are afterwards to be learned in the school of Christ. [Observe 
 what follows.] To contemn this order, is to renounce all rules of order ; 
 for where can we expect to find it, if not here 1 I profess, my conscience 
 is fully satisfied from this text, that it is one sort of faith, even saving, 
 that must go before baptism ; and the profession whereof, the minis- 
 ter must expect." In Psed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 270. See also other 
 authors below.* 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. 
 
 The last Scriptures we cited, close the information which the Four 
 Gospels afford us on the subject of Baptism. Before we pass to the 
 subsequent books, I beg to remind the reader, that we have had before 
 us the practice of John; and the Example, Practice, and Command of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. As yet, we have not met with a single passage 
 or word, which can fairly be interpreted as indicating that any persons 
 should receive this ordinance, or are proper subjects for it, but those 
 who have been first taught the gospel, and who profess to believe it. 
 
 But I am most anxious to impress on the attention of an inquirer 
 the words of Jesus in the Commission, which we have just read. Re- 
 member, reader, that this Jesus is to be our Judge at the last great and 
 awful day ; and that He will not judge us according to the opinions or 
 practices of men, but according to his own word. Upon this command 
 of our Saviour, I would, therefore, beg briefly to add, and leave to the 
 reader's deliberate meditations : — 
 
 1. That we have here the enactment of the Divike Law, in refer- 
 ence to Baptism : and this Law we find delivered in language the most 
 solemn, and in circumstances the most interesting and affecting. 
 
 * Jerome, the most learned of all the Latin Fathers. " They first teach all the 
 nations; then when they are taught, they baptize them with water; for it cannot 
 be that the body should receive the sacrament of baptism, unless the soul has be- 
 fore received the true faith." In Gale's Reflections on Wall, p. 319. 
 
 Poole's Contincators : " Go ye, there/ore, and teach all nations. The Greek 
 is, make disciples all nations: but that must be first by preaching and instructing 
 them; and Mark expounds it, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature ; that is, to every reasonable creature capable of hearing and re- 
 ceiving it. I cannot be of their mind who think that persons may be baptized 
 before they be taught : we want precedents of any such baptisms in Scripture." 
 Annot. in loc. 
 
 Calvin. "Because Christ requires teaching before baptizing, and will have 
 believers only admitted to baptism, baptism does not seem to be rightly adminis- 
 tered, except faith precede." hi Pad. Exam. Vol. II. p. 272. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 27 
 
 2. That this Law of Jesus is not like human laws, which admit of 
 alterations or amendments. None but Jesus has authority to alter : 
 and, coming from the Fountain of heavenly Wisdom, who will presume 
 to improve upon his appointment 1 And 
 
 3. This Law is as delightful to the mind of a Christian, as it is so- 
 lemn. The words, " baptizing them into the name of the Father, Son, 
 and Huly Spirit," imply a public recognition of the glorious change 
 which has taken place in the spiritual circumstances of true converts, ii. 
 their having passed from the family of sin and Satan, into the family 
 of the Tri-c-ve God ! A change, not of the ordinance, but of the 
 power and grace of God. 
 
 We now pass on to the Acts of the Apostles. Here we have an his- 
 torical relation of the labors of the Apostles, for above thirty years after 
 the ascension of Christ ; and here we shall find the baptism of many 
 thousands of persons. If we have misunderstood the will of Christ on 
 this subject, the Apostles surely hid sot, and their obedience to 
 his command will correct our error ; but if, on the contrary, we have 
 rightly interpreted his will, their obedience will confirm our opinion. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 " The penman of this Scripture," the Assembly of Divines, in their argument to 
 h, assures us, " was Luke the Evangelist, (as appears from the first words of it,) for 
 the most part an eye-witness to the things he records, being constantly a fellow- 
 laborer with Paul. His purpose," they add, " in writing this narrative was, as he 
 intimates in his first preface, that the Church might have the certain knowledge of 
 Christ, his sospel. and kingdom ; that our faith might not be built on the uncertain 
 reports of pretenders to truth." Hence, admitting the writer to be a faithful and 
 pious historian, and writing purposely for the direction of the Church of Christ in 
 all following ages: and, above all, under the influence of the Spirit of God, we may 
 safely rely, nof only on the accuracy of the accounts, but on the fulness and suf- 
 ficiency of the information to answer the professed purpose. 
 
 We have here, on infallible record, NINE INSTANCES of the administration 
 of baptism, which we will examine in their own order. 
 
 § I. The Baptism at the Feast of Pentecost. 
 
 On this memorable occasion, which was but ten days from the ascension of 
 Christ, when the Apostles and Disciples were together at Jerusalem, it pleased 
 God to accomplish the promise of sending them the Holy Ghost. By his miracu- 
 lous power they were enabled to speak'in different languages to the multitude 
 then assembled at Jerusalem from different nations : so that every one heard, in 
 his own tongue, the wonderful works of God. Peter delivers to the multitude as 
 impressive discourse, in which he charged the Jews with havins crucified the Lord 
 of glory; but added, that God had raised him from the dead, and exalted him to 
 his right hand, as the only Lord and Christ. Upon this follow the verses relating 
 to theordinance, and descriptive of the subjects of it. 
 
 Acts ii. 37. Now when they heard this, they were 
 pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest 
 of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 
 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized 
 
28 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re- 
 mission of sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost: 39. For the promise is unto you, and to your 
 children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the 
 Lord our God shall call. 
 
 41. Then they that gladly received his word, were bap- 
 tized ; and the same day there were added unto them about 
 three thousand souls. 42. And they continued steadfastly 
 in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking 
 of bread, and in prayers ; 47. Praising God, and having 
 favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the 
 church daily such as should be saved. 
 
 Here we must observe how the apostle Peter obeys his Lord's direc- 
 tion in the Commission. He begins by preaching, and never men- 
 tions a word about baptism, till he evidently found some of his hearera 
 answering the character, " he that believeth." Hence, the persons who 
 were baptized are thus described, — 1. Their hearts were deeply pene- 
 trated by the truth they heard, so that they cried, What shall we do ? 
 2. They are exhorted to repent of their sins. 3. They at length 
 u gladly received the word," and thereon were baptized, and added 
 to the church. 4. They afterward continued steadfast in the doctrine 
 of the gospel, and in the practice of its duties. Not a word of this 
 will apply to infants. 
 
 There is, however, one clause in the 39th verse of the above scrip- 
 tures, " The promise is to you, and to your children," which is com- 
 monly urged in favor of infant baptism ; as if the apostle alluded to 
 some promise, on the ground of which, infant children were deemed 
 proper subjects of Christian baptism. To answer which, let the three 
 following things be considered : — 
 
 1. The promise, to which the apostle alludes, has no relation to m- 
 fant children, it being the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost, joined 
 with its effects, of which infants are incapable. My reader will observe 
 that the people, on this occasion, were astonished at the effects produced 
 by the gift of the Spirit. The apostle assures them, verses 16 — 18, 
 that it was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel ; which prophecy is 
 thus expressed, chap. ii. 28 : "I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
 Jlesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ," &c. The 
 apostle having delivered an impressive discourse, observing his hearers 
 deeply affected and amazed at the gifts of the Spirit, in order to turn 
 their amazement into hope and joy, refers them a second time to this 
 promise, and to their own interest in it, in the following words, ver. 
 38, 39, " Repent, &c. and you [yourselves] shall receive the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost ; FOR [by this I assure you of it] the promise is to 
 you and to your children." Now, as the gift of the Spirit, with his 
 miraculous powers, is the object of the promise, and, as infant children 
 are incapable of that gift, children in infancy cannot be intended. 
 Thus, 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 29 
 
 Whitby. "These words will not prove a right of infants to 
 receive baptism ; the promise here being that only of the Holy Ghost, 
 mentioned in veisee lb, 17, 18, and so relating only to the times of 
 the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost, and to those person? who, 
 by age, were capable of these extraordinary gifts." Annot. on the 
 place. 
 
 Doddridge. u The promise is to you and to your children. 
 Considering that the gift of the Spirit had been mentioned just before, 
 it seems most natural to interpret this as a reference to that passage in 
 Joi 1, which had been so largely recited above, ver. 17, &c. where 
 God promises the effusion of the Spirit, on their sons and their 
 daughters." Fam. Expos. Note on the place. 
 
 2. The word, in the original, racy*, rendered children, signifies pos~ 
 terity ,■ and does not necessarily imply infancy. 
 
 Hammond. " If any have made use of that very unconcludent 
 argument [referring to this passage, Acts ii. 39,] I have nothing to say 
 in defence of them. — The word children there, is really the posterity of 
 the Jews, and not peculiarly their infant children." Works, Vol. I. 
 p. 190. 
 
 Limbobch, a learned divine of Amsterdam. "By tsct* the apos- 
 tle understands, not infants, but posterity ; in which signification the 
 word occurs in many places of the New Testament ; see, among others, 
 John viii. 39. [If ye were Abraham's childhex, ye would do the 
 works of Abraham.] Whence it appears, that the argument which is 
 very commonly taken from this passage, for the baptism of infants, is 
 of so force, and good fob xothixg." Comment, in loc. 
 
 3. The words of the apostle immediately following, explain his own 
 meaning in the most decisive terms: "The promise is to you, and to 
 your children, and to all that are afar off, even to as maxt as the 
 Lord ocr God shall call," — ' to as many of you and your children, 
 and the Gentiles afar off, as God should call by his word and Spirit to 
 this great privilege.' 
 
 Matthew Hexrt. "To this general, the following limitation must 
 refer, even as many of them, as many particular persons in each nation, 
 as the Lord our God shall call effectually into the fellowship of Jesus 
 Christ." Expos, of the place. 
 
 Inference. From the whole, it appears most evident, that none 
 were, in this case, encouraged to hope for Christian baptism, but such 
 as gave evidence of being called effectually by grace ; and xoxe were, 
 in fact, baptized, but such as "gladly received the word" So far, the 
 word of God is our plain guide. 
 
 § II. Philip baptizing at Samaria. 
 
 Acts viii. 5. Then Philip went down to the city of Sa- 
 maria, and preached Christ unto them. 6. And the people 
 with one accoid gave heed unto those things which Philip 
 
 c2 
 
30 
 
 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 spake, hearing, and seeing the miracles which he did. 
 8. And there was great joy in the city. 
 
 12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things 
 concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus 
 Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. Then 
 Simon himself believed also ; and when he was baptized, 
 he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the 
 miracles and signs which were done. 
 
 In this instance, as in the former, the commission of Christ is lite 
 rally fulfilled. Philip began his work by preaching Christ to them ; 
 and when they had heard the doctrines and saw the miracles, they were 
 filled with joy. Not a word about baptizing, till some of the people 
 " believed" the things concerning Jesus Christ ; then " they were bap 
 tized, both men and women." 
 
 Now, if it were the will of Christ that infants should be baptized, 
 and it were true that the Apostles, (like Psedobaptist Missionaries 
 among the Heathen,*) were accustomed to baptize children together 
 with the parents ; then, if any of those " men and women" at Samaria 
 had children, (which surely is highly probable,) Philip must have bap- 
 tized them: but, had he baptized men, women, and children, is it to be 
 imagined that the inspired historian, writing, (as he says,) "of all that 
 Jesus began to do and to teach," and " having had perfect understand- 
 ing of all things from the very first ;" and his avowed design being that 
 his reader " might know the certainty of things;" is it to be imagined 
 that he would particularize the two, out of the three descriptions of the 
 baptized, and omit the third? This I conceive impossible; and there- 
 fore draw this 
 
 Inference. When the Evangelist states, " they were baptized, both 
 men and women," had infants also been baptized, he must have added, 
 to have completed the record of the circumstance, " and children ;" but 
 not making that natural and necessary addition, I infer, that men and 
 women only were baptized ; and that no infants received the ordinance 
 with them ; therefore, that the practice at that time did not exist 
 
 * In the accounts we are often receiving from Paedobaptist Missionaries among 
 the heathen, our brethren naturally inform us of the children, as well as the adults, 
 they baptize. For example, in the " Missionary Register" for the year 1821, at 
 jjage 19, a Report from South Africa, states—" During the year 1819, 20 adults and 
 21 children were baptized." At page 293, a Missionary in Western Africa, states 
 — " September 3d, Sunday— I preached, &c. and then baptized 23 adults and 3 in- 
 fants." Page 294, Nov. 29th,— "On the first Sunday of this month I baptized 34 
 adults and their children; 48 in all." 
 
 Rev. C. Mault writes from Nagercoil, East Indies, in March, 1826: "Last month 
 I baptized 5 adults and 4 children." Rev. C. Barff writes from Huahine, South- 
 Sea Islands, June 5, 1825, "30 were added to the church during our visit, and a 
 number baptized. Among those baptized were 16 infants." — Missionary Chroni- 
 cle, for November, 1826. 
 
 Are not such accounts quite natural where infant baptism prevails ? And why 
 is there a perfect silence throughout the history of apostolical labors on this sub- 
 ject ? Their practice surely was not the same. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BArTISM. 31 
 
 § III. The Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. 
 
 The eunuch described in this chapter was a person of hish authority in the 
 kingdom of Ethiopia, but it would seem a proselyte to the Jewish religion. He is 
 here returning from Jerusalem. Philip is directed to meet him in his way. He 
 found the eunuch reading, as he proceeded in his chariot, the prophet Isaiah, chap, 
 liii. 7. " He \\ as led as a sheep to the slaughter," &c. He is desirous that Philip 
 Should explain to him, Whether the prophet, jn that place, spake of himself or ot 
 some other? and he touk him up into his chariot fur that purpose : upon which the 
 Evangelist adds: 
 
 Acts viii. 35. Then Philip opened his mouth and be- 
 gan at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 
 30. And as they went on their way, they came unto a cer- 
 tain water : r . and the eunuch said, See, here is water ; what 
 doth hinder me to be baptized ? 37. And Philip said, If 
 thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he 
 answered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son 
 of God. 38. And he commanded the chariot to stand 
 still ; and they went down both into the water, both Philip 
 and the eunuch ; and he baptized him. 39. And when 
 they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the 
 Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no 
 more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 
 
 My reader will not need to be reminded of the Commission of his 
 Redeemer, after perusing these verses. We have here a plain example 
 of the practice of the apostles, before they admitted a person to bap- 
 tism. Philip might have deemed the Eunuch, after having heard the 
 gospel, a proper subject for baptism, by being directed from heaven to 
 teach him, — he might have inferred it also, from his sincere request of 
 it ; yet he does not, he dares not, baptize him, until he openly profess 
 to " believe with all his heart ,-" remembering, no doubt, that Christ 
 had appointed the ordinance for such, and for such only. Nothing can 
 demonstrate more clearly than this, that a declaration of faith was 
 
 INDISPENSABLY REQ.UIRED PREVIOUS TO BAPTISM.* 
 
 OF THE MODE OF THE EUNUCH'S BAPTISM. 
 
 We have, in this case, the circumstances attending the administra- 
 Hon of baptism more minutely described than in any other instance re • 
 corded in the New Testament. The reader is requested to observe the 
 following things : — 
 
 ' * Those who contend, that servants and children were all baptized in those 
 days, with, and on account of, their masters and parents, would find it difficult to 
 support their hypothesis in this case. It is the greatest absurdity to suppose that 
 Philip would admit the eunuch's servants to baptism, without any profession, or 
 even instruction, when he would object to the pious master, after he requested it, 
 unless he was able to give a frank and open profession of faith in Christ. But he 
 baptized none but the eunuch ; and, therefore, we may safely conclude, the apos- 
 tles had " no such custom, neither the churches of God." 
 
J2 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 1 . If sprinkling or pouring were the mode of baptism ordained by 
 Christ, and practised by the apostles, we are assured, by the best autho- 
 rity, that travellers through those deserts " never omitted" to furnish 
 themselves with vessels of water for their journeys ; that this provision 
 was " absolutely necessary ;" and, if so, the eunuch had all that was 
 required for the ordinance, without waiting till they came to a place of 
 water. See Doddridge, as presently cited, and Shaw's Travels, as 
 referred to by him. 
 
 2. We are here, however, informed, verse 36, that they proceeded 
 on their journey tuV "they came" (er/, ad) "unto a certain water.*" 
 And it appears that it was the sight of this place of water, that sug- 
 gested to the eunuch his immediate submission to the ordinance. 
 "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" How 
 unmeaning would this be if he had the requisite water before ! 
 
 3. If we admit that the eunuch was not previously provided with 
 water, noiu when they were " come to a water," it would have been 
 easy, and natural to be expected, for one of the attendants to have con- 
 veyed to him as much water as was required, without his, or Philip's, 
 proceeding farther. But, though " he commanded the chariot to stand 
 still," no command is given upon this point, — of bringing water to 
 him. But, 
 
 4. Leaving the chariot, verse 38, " they went down INTO the 
 water ;" (us to Ciceg, in aquam.) Here the reader will remark, It was 
 not sufficient to come to the water, (which we are often told is all that 
 the original means,) for this they had done before ; but here is a second 
 circumstance, — after they had come to it, they went down into it. 
 
 5. The inspired historian also adds, that it was not the eunuch alone 
 that went into the water, but " they went down both ;" and this is 
 repeated again, as if to make quibbling or doubting on this suDject im- 
 possible, "both Philip and the eunuch." Such was the mode of bap- 
 tism, as now established by the Son of God, that it could not, in this 
 case, be administered unless Philip attended the eunuch into the water. 
 And 
 
 6. While in this situation, both of them in the water and surrounded 
 therewith, " he baptized him ;" that is, if the word be translated, " he 
 immersed him," in the name of the Tri-une Jehovah, For this solemn 
 act, the circumstances before noticed were necessary, but for any othei 
 mode they would be absurd. 
 
 7. The sacred rite being performed, it is lastly added, " when they 
 were come up, (U tow CJuru) OUT OF the water," they were parted 
 asunder ; probably to meet no more till they should enter the presence 
 of Him to whom they now rendered this act of prompt and cheerful 
 obedience. 
 
 It is not easy to imagine how the mode of this sacred ordinance 
 could be more minutely described. That we have here an example of 
 Immersion, is allowed by the learned and candid of all denominations. 
 
 Mr. Towerson. " For what need would there have been of — Philip 
 and the eunuch going down INTO this [water] were it not that the 
 baptism — was to be performed by immersion, a very little water, as we 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 33 
 
 know it cloth with us, sufficing for an effusion or sprinkling." In Psed. 
 Exam. Vol. I. p. 209. 
 
 Calvin, in his Comment on this place, observes, " Here we per- 
 ceive how baptism was administered among the ancients, for they 
 immersed the whole body in water." Ibid. p. 194. 
 
 Doddridge. " They both went down to the water. Consider- 
 ing how frequently bathing was used in these hot countries, it is not to 
 be wondered that baptism was generally administered by immersion, 
 though I see no proof that it was essential to the institution. It would 
 be very unnatural to suppose, that they went down to the water merely 
 that Philip might take up a little water in his hand to pour on the eu- 
 nuch. A person of his dignity had, no doubt, many vessels in his bag- 
 gage, on such a journey through a desert country ; a precaution abso- 
 lutely necessary for travellers in those parts, and never omitted by them. 
 — See Shaw's Travels, Preface, p. 4." Fam. Expos. Note in loc 
 See numerous other authors in Booth's Psed. Exam. VoL I. p. 191 
 to 224. 
 
 Inference. If I find one sufficient proof of the mode of baptism in 
 the days of the apostles, whatever that mode may be, I infer that I have 
 ascertained what was their invariable practice. Because it cannot be 
 imagined that the apostles (having probably witnessed, and certainly 
 knowing well, the mode by which the Lord Jesus was baptized, and 
 having all received the same instructions from their Lord and Master,) 
 could be divided either in sentiment or practice. And if immersion be 
 proved in one case, and from thence it be granted that Jesus was thus 
 baptized, and that He commanded the ordinance thus to be adminis- 
 tered, would not the amiable and pious Doddridge, who grants above, 
 u baptism was generally administered by immersion," allow me to infer, 
 (from the authority of Christ's example and command,) that this mode 
 is "essential to the institution]" Here I have an instance of immer- 
 sion, and from this I am authorized to conclude, and I do it with the 
 utmost confidence and satisfaction of mind, that immersion was what 
 Christ ordained, and his obedient apostles and disciples invaria- 
 bly practised ; and, consequently, any departure from this practice, is 
 a departure from the revealed will of Christ ; and such an act can be 
 viewed in no other light than an act of rebellion against his Divine 
 Authority. 
 
 § IV. The Baptism of the Apostle Paul. 
 
 Saul, while breathing out threatenings against the disciples of Christ, is met, 
 in his career of persecution, by the Lord himself, at whose exceedins glory he 
 (alls prostrate on the ground. Ananias, a devout disciple, is directed of God to go 
 to him, and teach him what he is to do; and for his encouragement in visiting the 
 persecutor, he is informed that Saul was praying, and that God had made him a 
 chosen vessel to himself. 
 
 Acts ix. 17. And Ananias went his way, and entered 
 into the house ; and putting his hands on him, said, Bro- 
 ther Saul, Uie Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in 
 
34 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest 
 receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 
 Chap. xxii. 14. And he said, The God of our fathers 
 had chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will, and see 
 that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of his mouth. 
 15. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what 
 thou hast seen and heard. 16. And now why tarriest thou? 
 arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on 
 the name of the Lord. Chap. ix. 18. And immediately 
 there fell from his eyes as it had been scales ; and he re- 
 ceived sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. 
 
 The promptitude of Ananias in baptizing Saul, ' who also is called 
 Paul,' as soon as he had received the message from his Saviour, and the 
 restoration of his sight, shows how strictly this ordinance was observed 
 in the days of the apostles ; and, consequently, how it should be ob- 
 served to the end of time. Paul is exhorted to arise, and be baptized, 
 and wash away his sins, <rc. He was to arise, and yield obedience to 
 the command of Christ, in baptism, and, at the same time that his body 
 received the washing of water, he was to call on the name of the Lord, 
 that his soul might be washed and purified by being, through faith, 
 bathed in the " fountain opened for sin." This spiritual purification, 
 immersion in water would strikingly represent. Thus the pious poet, 
 
 Cowpeb.— " There is a fountain fill'd with blood, 
 Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; 
 And sinners plung'd beneath that flood, 
 Lose all their guilty stains." 
 
 In this instance, we have the spiritual desi&st of the ordinance 
 very plainly referred to. "The meaning is not," says an excellent 
 writer, " as if remission of sins were obtained by baptism ; but that, by 
 means of the ordinance, they might be led to the sufferings, death, and 
 bloodshed of Christ represented in it." 
 
 All our three inquiries are answered in the baptism of this illustrious 
 man. 1. Respecting the Person to be baptized, — Paul was a believer in 
 Christ. 2. To the Mode, — he himself refers when speaking of his 
 baptism, and that of others, comparing it to a burial,- " Therefore we 
 are buried with him by baptism." Rom. vi. 4. And, 3. The Spi- 
 ritual Design is to represent a washing away of sin, obtained in 
 " calling on the name of the Lord." 
 
 § V. The Baptism of Cornelius and his Friends. 
 
 The next instance records the baptism of the first Gentiles received into tho 
 Christian Church. Cornelius was " a devout man, and one that feared God, with 
 all his house." He is directed from Heaven to send for Peter the apostle ; and 
 against his coming, he called together his kinsmen and near friends. The apostlo 
 having taught them the leadin? doctrines of the Gospel, concludes by repeating 
 what Christ had commissioned his apostles to do as their first and chief work, anl 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 35 
 
 the testimony of the prophets concerning him, in the two first verses below ; after 
 which we have tbe ordinance in question. 
 
 Acts x. 42. And he commanded us to preach unto the 
 people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of 
 God to be the Judge of the quick and the dead. 43. To 
 him gave all the prophets witness, that, through his name, 
 whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of 
 sins. 
 
 44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost 
 fell on all them which heard the word. 45. And they of 
 the circumcision which believed, were astonished, as many 
 as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was 
 poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46. For they 
 heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then 
 answered Peter, 47. Can any man forbid water, that these 
 should not be baptized, which have received the Holy 
 Ghost as well as we ? 48. And he commanded them to 
 be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they 
 him to tarry certain days. 
 
 The order of the commission is here also observed. Peter began by 
 preaching ; and never a word of baptism is found, till the people had 
 heard the gospel, and had given certain evidences of their conversion. 
 Then, and not till then, Peter pleads for their baptism ; and, what 
 should be particularly observed, he pleads for it upon the ground of 
 their being, most evidently, true believers, and as having received the 
 Holy Ghost. His language, in verse 47, implies that, if they did not 
 appear to be regenerate persons, any one might object to their baptism ; 
 but, as they had given evidences that could not be disputed, he infers, 
 no one could deny the propriety of their being baptized. Hence, they 
 were converts to the faith of Christ. Accordingly, 
 
 Mr. Holland had infallible authority for his observation. " In the 
 first plantation of Christianity among the Gentiles, such only as were 
 of full age, after they were instructed in the principles of the Christian 
 religion, were admitted to baptism." In Wall's Hist. Inf. Bap. VoL II. 
 c. ii. § 14. 
 
 As to the manner by which these persons were baptized, nothing is 
 said of it, by the sacred historian, beyond the simple fact. It has been 
 suggested, however, that Peter, by the words, " Can any man forbid 
 water," intimates that he required a little water to be brought to him, 
 in a cup or basin, for the purpose of sprinkling ;* but the apostle neither 
 
 * If this suggestion were a fact, it is highly improbable that Peter, receiving a 
 cup of water, would command others to baptize, as he might himself administer^ 
 the same time that he was giving the instructions to others ; and I should certain!? 
 think he would prefer doing so on so interesting an occasion, when the first fruits 
 of the Gentile world were to be received into the church. Instead of this, he 
 assigns that office to some other person. To me, the idea of any man (servant cr 
 
36 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 speaks of little nor much water, hor about bringing it, but simply of 
 water, and, no doubt, he intended as much as the ordinance required. 
 It is most improper to form conjectures upon inconclusive statements 
 of Scripture, against that which, by other Scriptures, is evidently con 
 firmed and established. When persons are said to be baptized, we are 
 bound to infer that they were baptized according to the Pattern and 
 Authority of Christ. This, I conclude, was the case in this, and in 
 every other instance. 
 
 § VI. The Baptism of Lydia and her Household. 
 
 The three following instances, as they relate to " households," are commonly 
 urged in favor of infant baptism; and, indeed, as being the principal support of 
 that practice in the New Testament. The reader will, therefore, the more parti- 
 cularly examine the Scriptures below in reference to the persona that constituted 
 these households, and if he find recorded the baptism of one infant, or any thing 
 in the text which evidently indicates it, he will consider the point as settled for 
 ever in favor of infant baptism ; but if the text does not contain such an indication 
 of infants, but describes the baptized households as consisting of persons arrived 
 at the years of understanding, and so capable of hearing and believing the goa- 
 pel,— and especially if what" is recorded implies that they actually did hear and 
 believe, then it must be granted that adult and believers' baptism receives all the 
 support these instances afford. The first is of Lydia and her household. 
 
 Paul, whose baptism we have just considered, is now become an apostle of 
 Christ. He, with Silas, (and with them, probably, Luke, the writer of this history,) 
 are commissioned from heaven to proceed to Macedonia, and to Philippi, a, chiel 
 city of it, to preach the gospel. Having arrived, they began their work in the fol 
 lowing way, and with the following success : — 
 
 Acts xvi. 13. And on the Sabbath we went out of the 
 city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made ; 
 and we sat down, and spake unto the women which re- 
 sorted thither. 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, 
 a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worship- 
 ped God, heard us : whose heart the Lord opened, that 
 she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 
 15. And when she was baptized, and her household, she 
 besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to 
 the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she 
 constrained us. 
 
 40. And they [that is, Paul and Silas, who afterward 
 had been imprisoned at Philippi] went out of the prison, 
 and entered into the house of Lydia ; and when they had 
 seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. 
 
 Lydia herself, it is evident, had a right to be baptized, according to 
 the order of Jesus Christ, being a Believer. But of what does it 
 
 visiter) forbidding a cup of water to be brought, for the use of the master of the 
 house, at this interesting time, is most absurd, and never could have entered th* 
 apostle's mind. The meaning, I think, certainly is, " Can any man forbid the use 
 & water for the baptism of those persons to whom God has given, wlutt is it\J% 
 wUly move, important, the baptism of the Holy Ghost ?" 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 37 
 
 appear, fiom the text, did her household consist 1 of children, or grown 
 persons T Before we answer this question, we ohserve, there are Four 
 things which a Paedobaptist must admit and take for granted, before he 
 can urge this p 4 ace in his favor; but if he can prove none of them, his 
 argument (to use the lc umed Limborch's phrase) '-is good for nothing." 
 
 1. That Lydia had, at this time, or lately, a husband. 
 
 2. That she had children, and children then in infancy. 
 
 3. That these children were with her at Philippi. 
 
 4. That such children were actually baptized. 
 
 The whole of these admissions I strongly question ; for, 
 
 The 1st is improbable ; for, had she a husband, she was not likely 
 to be thus engaged in business : and especially as no mention is made 
 of him, though the apostles were repeatedly at her house. 
 
 The 2d is uncertain ,• because there are thousands of households 
 where there are no infant children. 
 
 The 3d is incredible ,• for if, as the text indicates, Lydia was come 
 from Thyatira (a journey, including both sea and land, of probably not 
 less than 300 miles) o.v business, it is not to be believed she would 
 bring young children with her, if she had any. 
 
 The 4th is inconclusive ; because the word household or house is 
 used in Scripture when the whole of the family is not included, but the 
 principal part only. See 1 Sam. i. 21, 22. 
 
 The argument, therefore, for infant baptism, grounded upon the bap- 
 tism of Lydia' s household, is extremely weak, as there is xo evidence 
 she had either husbaxd or children- : and certainly, before any 
 such custom can from this case be supported, as an ordinance of the 
 INew Testament, it ought to be uxdxxiabli proved, from the text, 
 that she had infant children, and that they were actually baptized. 
 
 Should it be replied, in favor of infant baptism, that Lydia at this 
 time was probably a resident at Philippi, although originally from Thy- 
 atira, and that consequently her infant children must be with her, — 
 this I would answer, by asking, Must not then her husband be with 
 her 1 But this evidently was not the case, for this reason, — If Lydia 
 had a husband with her, he surely must be one of the " household" — 
 if he was one included in this household, he must have been baptized, 
 because the household was, — if he was baptized and joined in the 
 same union with Paul and Silas as Lydia, would she say, " Come into 
 my house!" or would Luke say, " they entered into the house of Lydia," 
 supposing there was a believing husband at the head of the family 1 
 Impossible. The language employed by the inspired historian evidently 
 implies, ' a single female at the head of a family, and at the 
 head of a business.' And the fair conclusion is, that her household 
 were her servants ; or, if her children, that her husband was deceased, 
 and her children so far advanced in life as to join in her journey, her 
 business, and her worship ; and thus they would be capable of instruction, 
 faith, and baptism, as Christ commanded ; and as in effect plainly stated 
 of the household in the next section. 
 
 But, more satisfactory to the pious reader than ten thousand sur- 
 mises, the question of the persons of Lvdia's household may be an- 
 D 
 
38 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 swered, with the greatest probability, from the last verse above cited. 
 Paul and Silas, being delivered from prison, and quitting the jailer's 
 house and family, according to his own request, ver. 34, 36, they " en- 
 tered into the house of Lydia," (for my reader will remember, this was 
 the only other Christian house in the city, and in this family the only 
 other persons baptized ;) and here, undoubtedly, they would meet with 
 her « household' which they had baptized : having entered, we read, 
 "when they had seen the brethren, they comfohted them, and 
 departed." If then Lydia's household be denominated " brethren/' and 
 were capable of being " comforted" by the word, they must have been 
 
 BELIEVERS IN CHRIST. 
 
 Mr. Whitby seems to consider this unquestionable. " And when 
 she, and those of her household, were instructed in the Christian faith, 
 in the nature of baptism required by it, she was baptized and her house- 
 hold." Paraphrase on the place. 
 
 Limborch. "An undoubted argument, therefore, cannot be drawn 
 from this instance, by which it may be demonstrated, that infants were 
 baptized by the apostles. It might be, that all in her house were of 
 a mature age ; who, as in the exercise of a right understanding they 
 believed, so they were able to make a public profession of that faith 
 when they received baptism." Comment, in loco. In Psedobap. Ex. 
 Vol. II. p. 359. 
 
 Mr. T. Lawson, referring to this argument, says, " Families may be 
 without children ; they may be grown up, &c. So it is a wild infer- 
 ence to ground infant baptism upon." Baptismalogia, p. 92. 
 
 Assembly of Divines. " Of the city of Thyatira — a city of 
 Asia — here dwelt Lydia, that devout servant of God." — " And entered 
 into the house of Lydia : doubtless to confirm them in the faith which 
 they had preached to them — Lydia and HERS hearing of their miracu 
 lous deliverance, could not but be comforted and confirmed in the truth.'* 
 Annot. on Acts xvi. 14. 40. 
 
 The place at which Lydia was taught and baptized must have been 
 remarkably convenient for immersion. The people were " by a river 
 side," ver. 13, and at a place frequented by the Jews for religious puri- 
 fication, by washing in the water. Thus 
 
 Mr. Doddridge. " On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to 
 the side of the river Strymon, where, according to the custom of the 
 Jews, there was an oratory, or a place of public prayer." — " It is certain 
 that the Jews had a custom of building their oratories or proseuchas, or 
 places of public prayer, by the sea side, or near rivers, for the sake of 
 purification." Fam. Expos, on the place. 
 
 Joseph John Gurnet. "Although the baptism practised by John, 
 and by the apostles, did not, in all its circumstances, resemble those 
 Jewish washings to which I have now adverted ; yet it was precisely 
 similar to them in that main particular of immersion in water." Ob- 
 serv. on the Pecul. of Friends, p. 61. 
 
 Inference. If the Divine word which records the baptism of Lydia 
 and her househoid, and subsequently refers to them, is to be my only 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 31) 
 
 guide upon the inquiries before us, I must infer, • that they were all 
 believers in Jesus, and were baptized as their Saviour was.' 
 
 § VII. The Baptism of the Philippian Jarler and Household. 
 
 Paul and Silas, havim: been cast into prison at Philippi, are delivered from 
 Jteir confinement at midnight, by the miraculous interposition of God. An earth- 
 quake shook the foundations of the prison, the doors of it were opened, and the 
 prisoners' bands loosed. The jailer, suspecting the escape of the prisoners, drew 
 bis sword to destroy himself, but which Paul prevented, by assuring him the pris- 
 oners were all there. Then follow his conversion and baptism :— 
 
 Acts xvi. 29. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, 
 and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. 
 30. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do 
 to be saved? 31. And '.ney said. Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 
 32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and 
 to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the 
 same hour of the night, and washed their stripes ; and was 
 baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34. And when he 
 had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, 
 and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 
 
 Here observe, 1. The jailer, bringing Paul and Silas out of the 
 prison, being persuaded that they were the servants of the true God, 
 and were now delivered by his power from their unjust and cruel pun- 
 ishment ; and deeply convinced, at the same time, of his own guilt and 
 danger, urges them to tell him what he should do to be saved? To this, 
 greatest of questions, he received a direct answer. Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. It is probable, 
 many, if not all the jailer's family, alarmed at this awful event, ran to 
 his assistance, as his life, they would consider, imminently in danger, 
 both by the prisoners in order to escape, and especially by the law, if 
 any had fled. Hence Paul indirectly spake to the whole, Believe, and 
 thou shalt be saved, yea, and thy house too, in the same way. 
 
 Doddridge. " Thou shalt be saved and thine house. The 
 meaning cannot be that the eternal salvation of his family could be 
 secured by his faith ; but that — if they also themselves believed, they 
 should be entitled to the same spiritual and everlasting blessings with 
 himself; which Paul might the rather add, as it is probable that many 
 of them, under this terrible alarm, might have attended the master of 
 the family into the dungeon." Farn. Expos. Note on the place. 
 
 2. We may next learn, from the text, in the most satisfactory manner, 
 of what the jailer's household consisted ; that they were not infants, or 
 persons so young as to be incapable of being taught the gospel, and of 
 believing it ; for thus we read, ver. 32, " They spake unto him the word 
 of the Iyjrd, a.sd to ALL that weue in* his house." This house- 
 
40 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 hold is instructed, instructed all, and then baptized. Infants, there- 
 fore, cannot here be included. 
 
 3. Luke further describes the jailer and his household, and shows 
 thereby how the Lord's commission was still strictly obeyed. Paul and 
 Silas first preached the gospel to the whole house, as observed above ; 
 and now we read, verse 34, the jailer "rejoiced, believing in God, 
 with ALL his house." Then it follows, he had no infant children, 
 or those words cannot include them ; for of this faith they would be 
 incapable. 
 
 Matthew Henry. "The voice of rejoicing, with that of salva- 
 tion, was heard in the jailer's house, — He rejoiced, believing in God, 
 with all his house : there was none in his house that refused to be 
 baptized, and so made ajar in the ceremony, but they were unanimous 
 in embracing the gospel, which added much to the joy." Expos, on 
 the place. 
 
 Calvin is still more expressive. " Luke commends the pious zeal of 
 the jailer, because he dedicated his whole house to the Lord ; in which, 
 also, the grace of God illustriously appeared, because it suddenly brought 
 the whole family to a pious consent." Comment, in loco. 
 
 Inference. As the same pre-requisites to baptism are here specified, 
 in relation to the jailer's family, as to himself, viz. 1st, that the word of 
 the Lord was spoken to them as to him ,• and, 2d, that he and they 
 equally believed in God, I must, on inspired authority, conclude, that 
 we have here nothing more or less than a plain example of a believ- 
 ing household baptized, the whole being equally disciples of 
 Christ ; and as to the mode, that it was what the Lord sanctioned by hia 
 example and command, and nothing different therefrom.* 
 
 § VIII. Paul baptizing at Corinth. 
 
 The next instance is the baptism of several persons at Corinth, where we now 
 find the same apostle exerting himself to the utmost for the spread of the Messiah's 
 kingdom. Here, though many opposed themselves and blasphemed, yet he zeal- 
 ously persevered, and his labors were crowned with success; for thus we read : — 
 
 Acis xviii. 4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every 
 sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5. And 
 
 * Some, in opposing the practice of immersion, have imagined great difficulties 
 in this case. They cannot conceive where the jailer could" find a suitable place, 
 and especially in the night, to receive the ordinance in this form. It is not for us, 
 at this distance of time, to state tlie place, as the sacred historian has not done so. 
 The Scriptures affirm that " he and his were baptized :" what do these words 
 mean ? We reply (from the sense of the word, and from the other scriptures) 
 " they were immersed in the name of the Lord Jesus." Then it falls to the part 
 of our opponents to prove that they were not baptized in this way. These ima- 
 gined difficulties have not a particle of weight upon that mind that admits that 
 Christ's authority -was Paul's only guide. 
 
 It may not be improper, however," to remind the reader how exceedingly com- 
 mon the practice of cold bathing was, and still is, in the East. That frequent 
 bathing was usual among the Grecians, Romans, and now is in Turkey, in which 
 country this city Philippi stood, is testified by 
 
 Lord Bacon. "It is strange that the use of bathing, as a part of diet, is left 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 41 
 
 when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, 
 Paul was pressed in the Spirit, and testified to the Jews 
 that Jesus wu* Christ. 8. And Crispus, the chief ruler of 
 the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house : 
 and many of the Corinthians healing, believed, and were 
 baptized. 
 
 A church being formed in this place, Paul afterwards writes them 
 two epistles. In the first of these, he laments the unhappy divisions 
 that prevailed amongst them, in contending for different ministers, as if 
 they had so many Saviours, and had been baptized in their separate 
 names. Upon which he reasons : — 
 
 1 Cor. 1. i3. Is Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for 
 you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 14. I 
 thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and 
 Gaius. 15. Lest any should say that I had baptized in 
 mine own name. 16. And I baptized also the household 
 of Stephanas : besides, I know not whether I baptized any 
 other. 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to 
 preach the gospel. 
 
 Chap. xvi. 15. Ye know the house of Stephanas, that 
 it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted 
 themselves to the ministry of the saints. 
 
 Paul at Corinth, as at all other places, begins his work by " testify- 
 ing" to the people " the things concerning Jesus Christ," and by teach- 
 ing, not by baptizing, he makes disciples to Christ. He continued his 
 labors at Corinth a year and six months, in which time, " many hear- 
 ing" his preaching, " believed, and were baptized." He himself bap- 
 tized but few, namely, Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas, 
 and in this he afterwards rejoiced, as none of them, in their angry con- 
 tentions, and excessive partiality, could say, " they were for Paul ; for, 
 Paul baptized them, and that in his own name ;" for, he adds, the first 
 and chief work for which Christ sent him, was, " not to baptize, but te 
 preach the gospel." 
 
 It is not said, the household of Crispus were baptized, though, had it 
 been so, it is certain they were proper subjects of the ordinance, 
 agreeably to the words of the institution ; for, he " believed on the Lord, 
 with all his house." Their baptism, if obedient to Christ, was a 
 matter of course. 
 
 With the Romans and Grecians it was as usual as eating or sleeping ; and so it is 
 amongst the Turks at this day." In StenneWs Answer to Addinsrton, p. 34. 
 
 Grottos, (the most learned and best informed man in Europe in his time) held 
 H as highly probable, from the practice of the country, tiiat the jail at Philippi 
 was provided with baths, which would admit of the ordinance in this form without 
 ielay. 
 
 »2 
 
42 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 The persons who composed "the house of Stephanas," (the last 
 household said to be baptized,) are not described where their baptism is 
 recorded ; and had nothing, in any other place, been said of them, this 
 would have been the only house left in such uncertainty; but, as if it 
 were the design of the Holy Spirit to leave no room for dispute, as to 
 the proper persons to receive the ordinances of Christ, we find this fa- 
 mily also described at the end of this epistle, as cited above : they were 
 the " first fruits" of the word of God in Achaia, and " they addicted 
 themselves to the ministry of the saints." They exerted themselves in 
 acts of zeal and charity, in reference to their fellow, but poorer, or more 
 afflicted disciples; and hence, (we scarcely need add) could not be in- 
 fant children. 
 
 Doddridge. " They have set themselves, SfC. This seems to imply, 
 that it was the generous care of the whole family to assist their fellow 
 Christians ; so that there was not a member of it which did not do its 
 part." Fam. Expos. Note on the place. 
 
 Guise. "It therefore seems that the family of Stephanas were all 
 adult believers, and so were baptized on their own personal profession 
 of faith in Christ." On the place. 
 
 Hammond. " I think it unreasonable that the apostle's bare mention 
 of baptizing his [Stephanas'] household, should be thought competent 
 to conclude that infant's were baptized by him ; when it is uncertain 
 whether there were any such at all in his house." Works, Vol. L 
 p. 492. In Psed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 358. 
 
 Macknight. "The family of Stephanas seem all to have been 
 adults when they were baptized, for they are said, chap. xvi. 15, to havt 
 devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints." Apos. Epis. Note 
 on J Cor. i. 1 6. 
 
 REFLECTION ON THE BAPTISM OF HOUSEHOLDS. 
 
 We have now found the record of Three Households baptized by the 
 apostle Paul, or Silas, his companion ; Lydia's, the Jailer's, and Ste- 
 phanas'. If it were the constant practice of the apostles to baptize children 
 with their parents, (as our Paedobaptist friends maintain,) we should 
 reasonably have expected, and, no doubt, should have found, in various 
 places of scripture, after naming the baptism of believers, the words 
 added, ' and their children,' or ' and their little ones ;' as families of 
 young children are expressed in the Old Testament. And I infer that 
 this must have been a fact in mani instances, because we find in this 
 book MAJfT thousands of adults believing, and being baptized, or 
 added to the Lord. See Acts ii. 41, iv. 4, v. 14, &c. Would it, then, 
 be probable that three families only would be specified as families, 
 while hundreds, or, it may be, thousands of other families, are not re- 
 ferred to in the most distant way 1 This, I conceive, next to impossi- 
 ble , and, therefore, infer that the baptism of families was compara- 
 tively of rare occurrence. 
 
 But in these tlvree cases we have not the words ' and their little ones ; 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 43 
 
 nor yet ' and their children ;' (and this expression might be used with- 
 out necessarily implying infants,) but the term " house" or " household" 
 is used, which conveys no idea as to the age of the persons intended, 
 nor whether they were the children or the servants of the heads of the 
 families ; and, therefore, had nothing been said descriptive of them, it 
 would have been exceedingly inconclusive to have inferred a prece- 
 dent Fon infant baptism from the use of the word household ; be- 
 cause there are thousands, yea, mi 11 ions of families that have no infant 
 children. The writer of this pamphlet has baptized households; and, 
 among others, a " Lydia and her household," and yet never baptized a 
 child. From the word " household," therefore, to infer the baptism of 
 infants, is completely begging the question. But, as my reader has 
 seen, there is something said of these three households, which describes 
 the constituents of them: from this it is demonstrably certain, 
 that the jailer's and Stephanas' were professedly believers in Christ, 
 and that which is said of them is of infants impossible. And as to 
 Lydia's, if "the brethren" Paul and Silas "comforted" in her house 
 were her household, (and there were no other Christians in the city but 
 the family they had just quitted.) there is no more uncertainty respect- 
 ing them. Thus while households out of number are referred to in the 
 Scriptures, and nothing is added by which we could learn of what they 
 consisted, it has pleased God to give such information of the baptized 
 households, as to lead the reader to infer, that they all were (as the same 
 apostle testifies of the church, of which Stephanas and his household 
 were members,) "called of God to the fellowship of his Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." 1 Cor. i. 9. 
 
 The celebrated Ptedobaptist writers I have cited, candidly allow that 
 the Scriptures, regarding these households, teach nothing further upon 
 our inquiries than what I have endeavoured to make plain to the reader. 
 To his own judgment I cheerfully leave his decision. 
 
 § IX. Certain Disciples at Ephesus Baptized. 
 
 This is the ninth and last place, in the Acts of the Apostles, relative to our 
 present inquiries. The question whether the persons here referred to, were bap- 
 tized txtice, first with John's baptism, and now Christ's, does not affect the object 
 of our examination. 
 
 Acts xix. 1. Paul, having past through the upper coasts, 
 came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, 2. He said 
 unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye be- 
 lieved ? And they said unto him, We have not so much as 
 heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3. And he said 
 unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized ? And they 
 said, Unto John's baptism. 4. Then said Paul, John 
 verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying 
 unto the people, That they should believe on him which 
 should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5. When 
 they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the 
 
44 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Lord Jesus. 6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon 
 them, the Holy Ghost came on them ; and they spake with 
 tongues, and prophesied. 7. And all the men were about 
 twelve. 
 
 That in these persons we have an example of adult baptism is clear, 
 For, 1. They are called "disciples." — 2. They "believed." — 3. They 
 " received the Holy Ghost." — 4. They " spake with tongues and pro- 
 phesied ;" and were in number twelve men. We need not, therefore, 
 add another word respecting them. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE ACTS. 
 
 We have now, Christian reader, passed through all the Acts of the 
 Apostles, and examined all the instances of the administration of this 
 ordinance recorded in this sacred history, and to this place, we can con- 
 fidently assert, That we have no where found a single place or passage, 
 that describes, records, or implies the baptism of any infants. The 
 reader will not suppose this a hasty conclusion, when he hears the fol- 
 lowing Pffidobaptists : — 
 
 Goodwin. "Baptism supposes regeneration sure in itself first. Sa- 
 craments are never administered to begin, or work grace. Read ALL 
 the Acts, still it is said, they believed, and were baptized?' Works, 
 Vol. I. P. I. p. 200. 
 
 Mr. T. Boston - . " There is no example of baptism recorded in the 
 Scriptures, where any were baptized but such as appeared to have a 
 saving interest in Christ." Works, p. 384. 
 
 Limborch. " There is no instance can be produced, from which k 
 may indisputably be inferred that any child was baptized by the apos- 
 tles." Complete Syst. Div. B. V. Ch. xxii. § II. 
 
 Ma. Baxter. (The appeal he makes to Mr. Blake, in this place, 
 might be made, with all confidence, to every Psedobaptist.) " I con- 
 clude, that all examples of baptism in Scripture do mention only the 
 administration of it to the professors of saving faith ; and the precepts 
 give us no other direction. And I provoke Mr. Blake, as far as is 
 seemly for me to do, to name ONE precept or example for baptizing 
 any other, and make it good if he can." Disput. of Right to Sacrari. 
 p. 156. In Psed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 29. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 45 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE EPISTLES. 
 
 We now proceed, lastly, to examine those passages in the Apostolic* 
 Epistles which refer to this ordinance. 
 
 § I. Passages which contain an express Allusion to the Mode, and tht 
 Spiritual Design of Baptism. 
 
 Rom. vi. 3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were 
 baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? 
 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
 death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 
 the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in 
 newness of life. 5. For if we have been planted together 
 in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness 
 of his resurrection. 
 
 Colos. ii. 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also 
 ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of 
 God, who hath raised him from the dead. 
 
 The object of the apostle Paul in these places, and their connection, 
 is to show the churches to which he is writing, the necessity of a holy 
 walk and conversation. To this end he puts them in mind of their 
 baptism, the profession they made in it, and the obligation they took 
 upon themselves to live according to those truths symbolically taught by 
 and in the ordinance. ' Know ye not,' says he to the Romans, ' that so 
 many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ,'' into a profession of 
 his religion, l were baptized into his death,'' into a reliance upon, and 
 conformity to his death, the great design of which was to take away 
 sin ; and, consequently, as our Lord died, and was buried on account 
 of it, so should we die and be buried to the love and practice of it. 
 Then follows this plain and striking allusion to the particular act by 
 which the rite in question is administered, in verse 4, which, with the 
 same allusion in the Epistle to the Colossians, reads to this effect : — 
 
 1 Therefore (that is, to express this very design) we are BURIED 
 ' bt and ix baptisx, with Christ our Lord; and as He was raiseo 
 ' rp from the dead by the glory of the Father, so are we at our baptism. 
 1 WHERE IX we likewise are raised up to walk thenceforth in new- 
 ' ness of life ; and this is not of ourselves, but through the faith of 
 ' the operation of God, who thus raised up his Son from the sepulchre 
 ' to live and reign for ever.' 
 
 In these places the apostle does twice describe baptism as effecting a 
 burial and a resurrection, and as such to be a continued representation 
 of the burial and resurrection of Christ, our Pattern and Lord ; and this 
 is realized only in immersion. 
 
46 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 By these plain allusions to the Mode of the ordinance, the sense of 
 the word " baptize," is most plainly exhibited and confirmed ; and the 
 necessity of " going down ixto, and coming up out of the water" — of 
 "baptizing IN the Jordan," and where "there was much water ;" 
 (which phrases we found in connexion with baptism,) is here evidently 
 explained. Pa?dobaptist divines, of the greatest celebrity for learning 
 and information, have frankly allowed what we have above asserted. 
 We have no difficulty but in making such a selection as would be most 
 highly esteemed by the reader. The following are, perhaps, the most 
 unexceptionable that could be produced. 
 
 Mr. Wall, Vicar of Shoreham, in Kent, and author of that famous 
 work, ' The History of Infant Baptism,' for which he received the 
 thanks of the whole clergy in convocation. " As to the manner of 
 baptism then generally used, the texts produced by every one that 
 speaks of these matters, John- hi. 23, Mark i. 5, Acts viii. 38, are un- 
 deniable proofs that the baptized person went ordinarily into the water, 
 and sometimes the Baptist too. We should not know from these ac- 
 counts whether the whole body of the baptized was put under water, 
 head and all, were it not for two later proofs, which seem to me to put 
 it out of question : One, that St. Paul does twice, in an allusive 
 way of speaking, call baptism a BURIAL ; the other, the custom of the 
 Christians, in the near succeeding times, which, being more largely and 
 particularly delivered in books, is known to have been generally, or 
 ordinarily, a total immersion." Defence of the History of Infant 
 Baptism, p. 131. 
 
 Archbishop Tillotson. "Anciently, those who were baptized, 
 were immersed and buried in the water, to represent their death to 
 sin ; and then did rise up out of the water, to signify their entrance 
 upon a new life. And to these customs the apostle alludes, Rom. vi. 
 2—6." Works, Vol. I. Serm. vii. p. 179. 
 
 Archbishop Secker. " Burying, as it were, the person baptizes 
 in the water, and raising him out again, without question, wa* 
 anciently the more usual method ; on account of which Saint Paul 
 speaks of baptism as representing both the death, burial, and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, and what is grounded on them, — our being dead and 
 buried to sin, and our rising again to walk in newness of life." Lect. 
 on Catechism, L. xxxv. 
 
 Mr. Sam. Clarke. " We are buried with Christ by baptism, &c 
 In the primitive times the manner of baptizing was by immersion, or 
 dipping the whole body into the water. And this manner of doing it 
 was a very significant emblem of the dying and rising again, referred to 
 by St. Paul, in the above-mentioned similitude." Expos, of the Church 
 Catechism, p. 294, ed. 6. 
 
 Mr. Wells. " St. Paul here alludes to immersion, or dipping the 
 svhole body under water in baptism ; which, he intimates, did typify 
 he death and burial (of the person baptized) to sin, and his rising up 
 out of the water did typify his resurrection to newness of life." lllust. 
 Bib. on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 Mr. Nicholson, Bishop of Gloucester. " In the crave with Christ 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 47 
 
 we went not ; for our bodies were not, could not be buried with his ; 
 but m baptism, by a kind of analogy or resemblance, while our bodies 
 are under the water, we may be said to be burikd with him." Expos, 
 of the Church Catechism, p. 174. 
 
 Mr. Doddridge. "Buried with him in baptism. It seems the 
 part of candor to confess, that here is an allusion to the manner of 
 baptizing by immersion." Fam. Expos. Note on the place. 
 
 Mr. George Whitefield. " It is certain that in the words of our 
 text, Rom. vi. 3, 4, there is an allusion to the manner of baptism, which 
 was by immersion, which is what our own church allows," &c. Eighteen 
 Sermons, p. 297. 
 
 Mr. John Wesley. "Buried with him — alluding to the ancient 
 manner of baptizing by immersion." Note on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 Mr. Whitby, author of a Commentary on the New Testament, and 
 more than forty other learned works. " It being so expressly declared 
 here. Rom.vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12, that we are buried with Christ in baptism, 
 by being buried under water ; and the argument to oblige us to a conform- 
 ity to his death, by dying to sin, being taken hence; and this immersion 
 being religiously observed by ale Christians for THIRTEEN 
 CENTURIES, and approved by our Church, and the change of it into 
 sprinkling, even without any allowance from the author of this institu- 
 tion, or any license from and council of the church, being that which 
 the Romanist still urges to justify his refusal of the cup to the laity ; it 
 were to be wished that this custom might be again of general use, and 
 aspersion only permitted, as of old, in case of the Clinici, or in present 
 danger of death." Note on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 The apostle uses the figure of Planting, as well as of Burying, in 
 allusion to baptism, verse 5. " If we have been planted together in the 
 likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrec- 
 tion." This also is in perfect agreement with the same Mode of ad- 
 ministering it. The circumstance in nature, from which the figure is 
 borrowed, is th« same as that employed by our Lord, John xii. 24. 
 " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, 
 but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The seed to be planted 
 must be buried in the soil ; so the Christian in baptism is ' planted in 
 the likeness of the death, that he may be also in the likeness of the 
 resurrection of his Lord.' 
 
 Mr. Mac knight. " Planted together in the likeness of his death. 
 The burying of Christ, and of believers, first in the water of baptism, 
 and afterwards in the earth, is fitly enough compared to the planting of 
 seeds in the earth, because the effect, in both cases, is a reviviscence t» 
 a state of greater perfection." Note on Rom. vi. 5. 
 
 Assembly of Divines. " If we have been planted together, &c. 
 By this elegant similitude the apostle represents to us, that, as a plant 
 that is set in the earth lietb as dead and immoveable for a time, but after 
 springs up and flourishes, so Christ's body lay dead for a while in the 
 
48 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 grave, but sprung up and flourished in his resurrection ; and we also, 
 when we are baptized, are buried, as it were, in the water for a time, 
 but after are raised up to newness of life." Annot. in loco. 
 
 Inference. "With certainty I may gather from the Scriptures at the 
 nead of this section, That the outward form of baptism in the apostolic 
 age was a burial is water. It is made infinitely interesting to the 
 heart of a Christian by that which it was intended to represent, viz. the 
 deatk, burial, and resurrection of the Redeemer ; and here too I may 
 infer the infinite and irresistible obligation the baptized person is undei 
 to devote his life to that Lord to whose death and resurrection he is thus 
 emblematically conformed in the baptismal rite : and I see also in these 
 verses, by what principle and power this is all to be realized, " througt 
 faith, which is of the operation of God." In none destitute of that 
 living principle can this intention of the ordinance be fulfilled. If 
 sprinkling were the mode, and infants the subjects, these passages never 
 could have been written. To the baptism of believers alone, and that 
 administered by immersion, will these passages apply. 
 
 § II. Occasional Mention of Baptism. 
 
 Eph. iv. 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 
 
 1 Cor. xii. 13. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into 
 one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be 
 bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one 
 Spirit. 
 
 Gal. iii. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized 
 into Christ, have put on Christ. 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 29. Else what shall they do which are bap- 
 tized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? Why are 
 they then baptized for the dead ? 
 
 To the Ephesians and Corinthians the apostle is recommending 
 peace and unity ; that they should be all of one heart and mind, so thai 
 there be no schism in the body, as all were one in Christ. To urge 
 which, he puts them in mind of what they had been uniformly taught, 
 that there was but " One Lord, oxe Faith, one Baptism ;" and that 
 ** all were baptized into onk body, whether Jews or Gentiles." We 
 should here observe, (what we have so frequently noticed before,) that 
 the apostle places faith before baptism, as Christ the great Lawgiver 
 had done, He tluit believeth, and. is baptized. " One faith, one bap- 
 ti&m." If this passage were to be expressed according to the general 
 practice of the present day, the order both of Christ and the apostle 
 must be " reversed^ See Simeon, at p. 28. 
 
6CRIPTTRE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 49 
 
 In the above verse to the Galatians, the apostle is thought to be 
 alluding to the change of garments which must necessarily take place 
 after the administration of the ordinance ; to which may allude the 
 expressions, " putting off the old man with his deeds," and "putting on 
 the new man," Eph. iv. 22, 24 ; Col. iii. 9, 10 ; and especially, as here, 
 " putting on Christ," as " the Lord our righteousness." 
 
 Adam Clarke. " When he [the person baptized] came up 
 out of the water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life. He was 
 therefore supposed to throw off his old Gentile state, as he threw off 
 his clothes, and to assume a new character, as the baptized generally 
 put on new or fresh garments." Comment, on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 The last verse cited above, 1 Cor. xv. 29, has obtained many inter- 
 pretations, as the meaning of the apostle in the words, " for the dead," 
 is not certain. 
 
 Joh>- Edwards. " Some of the fathers hold that the apostle's 
 argument in the text is of this sort : If there should be no resurrection 
 of the dead hereafter, why is baptism so significant a symbol of our 
 dying and rising again, and also of the death and resurrection of Christ, 
 The immersion into the water was thought to signify the death of 
 Christ, and their coming out denotes his rising again, and did no leas 
 represent their own future resurrection." In Stennetfs Answer to 
 Addington, p. 105. 
 
 Mackxight. "Christ's baptism was — an emblem of his future 
 death and resurrection. In like manner, the baptism of believers is em- 
 blematical of their own death, burial, and resurrection." Apost. Epis. 
 Note on Rom. vi. 4. 
 
 Inference. If faith preceded baptism in the apostles' days, and the 
 persons who received that ordinance had imbibed the influence of that 
 one Spirit, and had put on Christ as the robe of righteousness, the 
 spiritual adorning of their souls, hoping for their part in the first resur- 
 rection at His appearing and glory, it is most manifest, that none but a 
 genuine convert to Christ could thus be baptized, or enjoy such high 
 and delightful privileges. 
 
 § III. Baptism illustrated by Events recorded m the Old Testament. 
 
 These are the last passages we find in the New Testament which relate to 
 the subject ol our examination. 
 
 1 Cor. x. 1. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye 
 should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the 
 cloud, and all passed through the sea ; 2. And were all 
 baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 20. The long suffering of God waited in the 
 days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, 
 that is, eight souls, were saved by water. 31. The like 
 figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not 
 
 E 
 
50 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of 
 a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The better to understand the apostle Paul, in the first passage above, 
 the reader would do well to peruse the account, in the Old Testament, 
 in Exod. xiv., to which he refers. In verse 22, we are told, that the 
 Israelites " went into the midst of the Red Sea upon dry ground," that 
 the water divided, opening a passage for them, and forming "a wall 
 unto them on the right hand and on the left." We also learn, that 
 " the cloud" which had conducted them, now removed its situation ; 
 stood between the two armies, and overspread and concealed the Israel- 
 ites from their enemies; that it was bright, and "gave light" to the 
 former, while it was " darkness" toward the latter. It does not appear 
 that any water actually touched the Israelites in any sense whatever; 
 and hence, the word " baptized" must be used by the apostle in a figura- 
 tive sense ; and if it has a reference to the mode, we have only to ask, 
 Does the situation of the Jews, " in the cloud, and in the sea," best 
 agree to sprinkling ivith water, or a total burial in it P Paedobaptists of 
 the highest celebrity will answer : — 
 
 " Witsixjs (says Mr. Booth) expounds the place to this effect. • How 
 were the Israelites baptized in the cloud, and in the sea, seeing they 
 were neither immersed in the sea, nor wetted by the cloud 1 It is to be 
 considered, that the apostle here uses the term ' baptism,' in a figura- 
 tive sense', yet there is some agreement to the external sign. The sea 
 is water, and a cloud differs but little from water. The cloud hung 
 over their heads, and the sea surrounded them on each side ; and so the 
 water in regard to those that are baptized.' " In Peed. Exam. Vol. I. 
 p. 185. 
 
 Whitby. " They were covered with the sea on both sides, Exod. 
 xiv. 22 ; so that both the cloud and the sea had some resemblance to 
 our being covered with water in baptism. Their going into the sea 
 resembled the ancient rite of going into the water ; and their coming out 
 of it, their rising up out of the water." Ibid. p. 187. 
 
 By the apostle Peter, in the passage cited, we are taught that as 
 Noah and his family " were saved by icater," so baptism, the antitype 
 of the water of the deluge, " now saves" the believer ; not by a wash 
 ing of his person, or a ceremonial purification, which cannot take away 
 sin ; but the water being a " like figure" in both cases, that is, exhibit 
 ing Christ and his merits, the believer is saved by the sacred 
 reality signified. In this case, baptism is " The answer of a gooa 
 conscience toward God :" both the answer given to inquiry at baptism, 
 and the subsequent testimony of the mind to God, are conscientious, 
 being in accordance with a sincere and heartfelt faith in the merits of 
 the dying and rising Saviour. 
 
 Owen. " I deny not but that there is a great analogy between sal- 
 vation by the ark, and that by baptism, inasmuch as the one did repre- 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 51 
 
 tent, and the other doth exhibit Christ himself." On Hebrews, Vol. IV. 
 p. 138. Williams's Abr. 
 
 Mackxight. ''This answer of a good conscience being made to 
 God, is an inward answer, and means the baptized person's sincere 
 persuasion of the things which, by submitting to baptism, he professes 
 to believe ; namely, that Jesus — arose from the dead, and that at the 
 last day he will raise all from the dead to eternal lite, who sincerely 
 obey him." Apost. Epist. Note in loc. 
 
 Inference. If the exercise of " a good conscience" is associated with 
 the ordinance of baptism, in none but a believer in Christ can this 
 union be realized. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Havixg now, my reader, completed the chief design of this pamphlet 
 in transcribing and laying before you every passage of this sacred 
 volume that relates to the subject of our inquiry, and contains any in- 
 formation, whether on the subjects, mode, or spiritual design of bap- 
 tism, I have, I humbly hope, fulfilled the title I have assumed, in pre- 
 senting you with " the scripture guide to baptism." Our Divine 
 Master commanded us to " search the Scriptures," and I have no doubt 
 but that it would meet with His gracious approbation if this plan were 
 adopted, in reference to any subject pertaining to His cause or kingdom. 
 " To the word and to the testimony," is an inspired maxim in theology, 
 and one from which no Protestant will dissent. " Ye do err," said our 
 Redeemer, "not knowing the Scriptures." 
 
 We ought, therefore, now to be able to answer the three inquiries 
 proposed at the beginning : — 
 
 I. Who are proper subjects of Christian baptism, according to the 
 authority of Christ, and the practice of his apostles 1 
 
 Answer. We have met with the baptism of many thousands of 
 persons, and the ordinance administered on many different occasions ; 
 but we have no where found, through all this sacred book, any one per- 
 son baptized (Christ excepted) that we have the slightest reason to 
 suppose was not first instructed in the doctrines of the gospel, and 
 had professed to believe; but this is either expressly testified, or so 
 implied of all, as to leave no just ground of dispute. 
 
 II. By what mode should the ordinance be administered 1 
 
 Answer. We have no where met with a single verse, word, or cir- 
 cumstance, which indicates the application of water, by pouring or 
 sprinkling ; but wherever any thing is found descriptive of this ordi- 
 nance, iMMERMoy (as the word baptism undeniably signifies) is 
 plainly implied in circumstances, and confirmed by allusions. 
 
 III. What is its spiritual design^ and in whom is it realized 1 
 Answer The passages that have been before us plainly indicate, 
 
52 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 that it was the Divine intention that this ordinance should exhibit and 
 teach the important change produced by the efficacy of grace on a sin 
 ner, namely, his purification from sin, and burial as to the love 
 and practice of it ; his resurrection to a new and religious life ; the 
 union and fellowship into which the Christian enters with the Tri- 
 une God ; and his rising from the dead, through his risen Lord, at his 
 coming. 
 
 Here my pages might close : but when the subject of baptism was 
 first brought under my own examination, and I had read with care these 
 portions of Scripture ; being taught from early childhood to consider in- 
 fant baptism of Divine authority, I felt anxious to propose a few ques- 
 tions to those competent to answer me : and I conceived the generality 
 of inquirers on the subject would feel a similar solicitude. On these 
 questions I have obtained satisfaction to my own mind ; and being de- 
 sirous the reader, if disposed to propose the same questions, should 
 enjoy the same satisfaction, I shall employ an appendix to the fore- 
 going pages, in expressing those questions, and giving such answers as 
 to me appeared conclusive and satisfactory. Whether the reader may 
 consider them so or not, I leave to his own judgment and conscience, 
 and to the influence of that Spirit, whose office it is to " guide into all 
 truth." 
 
 I shall support the answers by citations from eminent Paedobaptist 
 writers, as I have done my foregoing observations ; and sometimes give 
 6uch extracts alone, as the best and most conclusive replies. 
 
 APPENDIX, PART I. 
 
 On the Grounds of Infant Baptism, its Rise, and sup- 
 posed Benefits. 
 
 1. Question. Although in the passages of Scripture 
 you have cited, I have not found an express authority, 
 either by command or example, for the baptism of infants, 
 yet will Paedobaptist divines allow that no such authority 
 is to be found in the New Testament ? 
 
 Answer. Bishop Burnet. "There is no express precept or rule 
 given in the New Testament for baptism of infants." Expos, of the 
 Articles, Art. xxvii. 
 
 Mr. S. Palmer. " There is nothing in the words of institution, nor 
 in any after accounts of the administration of this rite, respecting the 
 baptism of infants : there is not a single precept for, nor example of, this 
 practice through the whole New Testament." Answer to Priestley on 
 the Lord's Supper, p. 7. 
 
 Luther. " It cannot be proved by the sacred Scripture, that infant 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 53 
 
 baptism was instituted by Christ, or begun by the first Christians after 
 the apostles." (In Peed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 4. J See also Goodwijt, 
 Boston, Lixborch, and Baxter, at page 44 of this pamphlet. 
 
 2. What then are we to make of those words of our 
 Saviour, and his subsequent conduct? Mark x. 14, 16. 
 " Stiller the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
 them not ; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he 
 took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and 
 blessed them." 
 
 Answer. If, when our condescending Saviour took these children in 
 his arms, it had been added "and he baptized them," instead of the 
 words "and blessed them," then this passage with propriety might be 
 adduced, and, indeed, would have decided the subject; but as the Holy 
 Spirit has recorded the circumstance, it no more refers to infant baptism, 
 than to infant communion, or infant circumcision. — It is certain Christ 
 did not baptize these children, for he never baptized at all, John iv. 2 ; 
 and if his disciples, who baptized for him and by his authority, had 
 been commanded by their Lord to baptize infants, it is certain they 
 would not have " rebuked" the parents or friends of these children for 
 bringing them. 
 
 But this passage, by fair inference, and implication, contains an ar- 
 gument against infant baptism. Here you observe parents bringing 
 their children to Jesus to crave his blessing upon them ; or, at least, 
 that he would " pray," Matt. xix. 13, that the blessing of heaven might 
 attend them. 
 
 Now let me ask, If baptism would have brought these children into 
 the covenant of grace, or into Christ's church, or secured to them any 
 spiritual benefit, would the Lord Jesus have concealed that circumstance 
 from these parents, and from his disciples ? Would he ' take them in 
 his arms and bless them,' and give them back to the parents without bap- 
 tism., and without a word upon that ordinance 1 Was it ever known 
 that any spiritual benefit was sought from him and he bestowed it not 1 
 Here the spiritual good of these children was sought at his hands, and 
 if baptism was the key, the seal, the door to all the spiritual blessings 
 of the covenant of grace, (as Predobaptists often describe it,) would the 
 Lord Jesus refuse it, — or send them away without it ? This is impos- 
 sible ; and, therefore, I infer that infant baptism is no part of the will 
 of Christ, that it can communicate no good, and ought not to be ob- 
 served. Some of the most learned Paedobaptists are aware that this 
 passage serves not their cause. 
 
 Poole's Coxtixuators. " We must take heed we do not found 
 infant baptism upon the example of Christ in this text ; for it is certain 
 that he did not baptize these children. Mark only saith, He took them 
 up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them." Annot. on 
 the place, in Matt. xix. 14. 
 
 Bisaor Taxlob. " From the action of Christ's blessing infants, to 
 e 2 
 
54 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 infer they are to be baptized, proves nothing so much, as that there is a 
 want of better arguments ; for the conclusion would with more proba- 
 bility be derived thus : — Christ blessed infants, and so dismissed them, 
 but baptized them not ; therefore, infants are not to be baptized." — 
 Liberty of Prophecy, p. 230. 
 
 3. If the New Testament does not afford an authority 
 for infant baptism, upon what grounds do P<edobaptist 
 divines practise and defend it ? 
 
 Answer. Mr. Edw. Williams, (one of its most zealous advocates,) 
 affirms, " The champions [for it] are by no means agreed upon this 
 question, On what is the right of infants to baptism founded?"* 
 
 Their grounds are various and contradictory. The early fathers who 
 practised it, urged the virtue of the ordinance in taking away sin, and 
 securing eternal life ; adding, the certain ruin of those that neglected 
 it.f — The church of Rome holds, " If any one shall say that baptism 
 is — not necessary to salvation, let him be accursed."} — The Greek 
 church, by Cyril, patriarch of Constantinople, affirms, " We believe 
 that baptism is a sacrament appointed by the Lord, which except a 
 person receive he has no communion with Christ."§ — The Lutheran 
 church, and the church of England, hold both the ordinances " as 
 generally necessary to salvation." The former, agreeing with Calvin 
 and Melancthon, 'own a sort of faith in infants,' affording them a 
 right; while the-English church hesitates not to baptize them, " Because 
 they (the infants) promise by their sureties" repentance and faith, 
 " which promise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to 
 perform."H 
 
 Many learned writers, as well as churches, have expressed their views 
 upon this inquiry. Mr. Wall, Mr. Hammond, and many others, hold 
 that the practice of ' Judish proselyte baptism' is the foundation of the 
 Christian rite, and as infants received the former, so they should the 
 latter : but Mr. Owen, Mr. Jennings, and others, have proved that no 
 such practice existed among the Jews to afford such a pattern till gene- 
 rations after Christ.^ — SirN. Knatchbull assumes circumcision as the 
 proper foundation. — Beza, and after him Mr. Doddridge and others, con- 
 sidered the holiness of the children of believers, as making them proper 
 subjects.** — Mr. Matt. Henry and Mr. Dwight contended that 'the 
 profession of faith made by the parents' to be their children's right.-f-f" — 
 Mr. H. F. Burder affirms, " The identical principle which pervades and 
 unites the whole of the argument — is that infants are to be baptized 
 solely on the ground of connexion ivith their parents ,-" and this he 
 explains, — " It is a connexion in the covenant of grace, the covenant of 
 redemption, the everlasting covenant, embracing all that man can desire, 
 
 * Notes on Morrice's Social Relision, p. 68.— t See Orisren, Cyprian, and Am- 
 brose in Mr. Wall's Hist, of Infant Bap. Vol. I. chap. 6. 13.14.— t Catechism of the 
 Council of Trent, Part. II. p. 164.— § Confess. Christ. Fi.lei, cap. xvi.— 1| See Church 
 Catechism, and Paedobap. Exam. Vol. II. p. 491, et seq— IT Mr. Judson's Serm. on 
 Christian Baptism, pp. 62, 63. — ** See Beza and Doddridge on 1 Cor. vii. 14.— 
 ft Treatise on Bnptism, p. 76, and D wight's Theology on the subject. 
 
SCRIPTURE GLIDE TO BAPTISM. 55 
 
 or all that Jehovah can impart."* — An anonymous writer affirms that 
 ■ children by baptism are actually brought into the covenant of grace " 
 This is denied by another, who replies that the " children of believers 
 are really and truly in the covenant of grace before their baptism."-j- 
 
 4. Some of the grounds assumed by those churches and 
 eminent men, appear to have weight. Does not the " ho- 
 liness" referred to, existing in the children of believers, 
 and founded on 1 Cor. vii. 14, afford the ground required? 
 " For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, 
 and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband ; else 
 were your children unclean, but now they are holy." If 
 holy, they are surely proper subjects of baptism. 
 
 Answer. So many good men have thought : but holiness is no 
 where required in God's word as a pre-requisite to baptism. And is 
 there not an absurdity in the thought that baptism, which is the out- 
 ward sign of washing away sin, Acts xxii. 16, should be administered 
 to infants, because they are holy ? 
 
 But what is the holiness intended in the above passage 1 The apos- 
 tle says, it results from an cxbelieveh. being sanctified. Now this 
 sanctification cannot be spiritual ,• for that is the work of the Hory 
 Ghost upon the mind and heart, and in which an unbeliever has no 
 share or part, Acts viii. 21. If attention be paid to the subject upon 
 which the apostle is speaking, his meaning can readily be perceived. He 
 is advising the Corinthians upon the question, ' Whether, if a husband 
 or wife who is converted to Christ, has an unbelieving partner, either 
 Jew or idolator, the believer should separate from the connexion ,-' as 
 in Ezra x. 1 — 14. The apostle advises, ' If the unbelieving partner be 
 pleased to dwell with the believer, the believer should not cause the 
 separation.' Then follows the passage before us, u For the unbelieving 
 nusband is sanctified by the wife ;" or, as Doddridge renders it, " is 
 sanctified to the wife," ecc. 
 
 Now, in what sense can any thing, or person, be sanctified, in which 
 there is no moral or spiritual holiness communicated, and the sancti- 
 fication is not the work of the Holy Spirit ] The Scriptures afford the 
 reply : The temple, the altar, the offerings, the official garments, &c, 
 under the law, were expressly said to be sanctified, when they were 
 appeinted.by God's law, and set apart to certain specified purposes. 
 Apply this to the subject before us. Marriage is an appointment of 
 God ; and when a man or woman enters into that contract, he or she, 
 by God's law, is set apart, or sanctified, to stand in the relation of hus- 
 band or wife; and hence the union is lawful, becoming, and pleasing to 
 God, and shall continue to be so, though one of the parties shall be 
 converted and the other be an unbeliever^ 
 
 * Sermon of the Rizht of Infants to Baptism, pp. 7, 25; cited by ilr. I. Bin. in 
 Strictures on ditto, p. IS. — t In Paedobap. Exam, as before. 
 
 t Mr. Gill, on the verse in question, cites a number of passages from Jewish 
 writings, in which the word swnotijied, in lite phraseology of common use, is used 
 for leguily espoused. If thie reading were adopted iu this passage, It would not 
 
56 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Taking this, which appears to me to be the dense of the passage, the 
 inference which the apostle draws from this sanctification, or legal 
 appointment and constitution b) r Divine law, is natural, " else were your 
 children unclean, but now are they holy." i. e. If the marriage union was 
 not according to the law of God, your children would be the fruit of un- 
 cieanness ; but now, the union being in harmony with God's will, they 
 are " holy ;" they are free from illegitimate impurity. So some of the 
 greatest and best Psedobaptist writers understand the apostle. Thus 
 among a multitude of others : — 
 
 Mr. T. Williams, of London. " The unbelieving husband is sanc- 
 tified by the (believing) wife, &c, so that the connexion is perfectly 
 lawful, and the children are legitimate, or in a ceremonial sense, Ao/y." 
 Cottage Bible, on the place. 
 
 Melancthot*", the Reformer. " The connexion of the argument 
 is this, ' If the use of marriage should not please God, your children 
 would be bastards, and so unclean ; but your children are not bastards, 
 therefore the use of marriage pleaseth God.' How bastards were un- 
 clean in a peculiar manner the law shows, Deut. xxiii." In Psedobap. 
 Exam. Vol. II. p. 375. 
 
 Shares and Vasqjjes. "The children are called holy, in a civil 
 sense : that is, legitimate, and not spurious. As if Paul had said, ' If 
 your marriage were unlawful, your children would be illegitimate. But 
 the former is not a fact; therefore not the latter.' " Ibid. p. 373. 
 
 Camero. " The holiness of which the apostle speaks is not opposed to 
 that impurity which by nature properly agrees to all on account of Adam's 
 offence, but to the impurity of which believing wives were apprehensive 
 from their cohabiting with unbelieving husbands." Ibid. p. 372. 
 
 Inference. If the holiness which is merely legitimacy of birth, is 
 no title to baptism, then the passage we have considered favurs not the 
 baptism of infants. 
 
 5. From this interpretation, it would appear that the 
 children of believers are no better, or more holy by nature, 
 than the children of unbelievers. Is this in accordance 
 with the Scriptures ? 
 
 Answer. Most unquestionably so. Thus Psalm li. 5, " Behold, 
 (saith the son of pious Jesse,) I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did 
 my mother conceive me." Eph. ii. 3, " We (says the apostle Paul, 
 for himself and all the primitive Christians,) were by nature the 
 children of wrath, even as others." Romans v. 12, " Wherefore, as 
 by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; so death 
 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Chap. iii. 9, 10, 
 " What then, are we better than they 1 No, in no wise : for we have 
 
 only convey good sense, but make the reasoning of the apostle evident. If the 
 word holy must be taken in a spiritual sense, and infant baptism inferred from it, 
 the word sanctified, being evidently hereof a kindred meaning, would unquestion- 
 ably afford equal ground" for the caption of the unbelieving parent ! Nor should 
 it be forgotten, that the word children in this place, as in Acts ii. 39, signify 
 posterity of *ny a«e. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 57 
 
 before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin ; as 
 U is written, there is none righteous, no not one." And our Saviour 
 adds, " That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born 
 of the Spirit is spirit. Ye must be born again." John iii. 6, 7. 
 
 Church or England. " Original sin is the fault and corruption of 
 the nature of every man ; and therefore in every person born into this 
 world it deserveth God's wrath." Articles, Art. far. 
 
 Mr. Dohringtox. "Although the parents be admitted into the 
 new covenant, the children born of them are not born within that cove- 
 nant, but are, as all others, born in a state of rebellion and misery." 
 Vindieat. of the Church, p. 44. 
 
 Mr. Adam Clarke. " All are born with a sinful nature, — there has 
 never been one instance of an immaculate human soul since the fall of 
 Adam. Through his transgression all come into the world with the 
 seeds of death and corruption in their own nature ; all are sinful — all 
 are mortal — and must die." On Rom. v. 12, 13. 
 
 Mr. Doddridge. " As we all proceed from a corrupt original, we 
 do not more evidently bear the image of the earthly Adam in the in- 
 firmities of a mortal body, than in the degeneracy of a corrupted mind." 
 Fam. Expos. Improv. on John iii. 1 — 10. 
 
 6. But God was pleased to promise to Abraham to be 
 « a God to him and to his seed." Gen. xvii. 7. Now 
 believers in Christ are Abraham's spiritual seed ; must not 
 they, therefore, and their seed, be included in that promise, 
 and possess the same spiritual benefits ? 
 
 Answer. The statement introducing this question is an important 
 truth, that God promised to be ' a God to Abraham and to his seed ;' 
 and so it is true that believers in Christ are Abraham's spiritual seed, 
 and also that the God of Abraham is equally their God : but it would 
 be not only not true, but an alarming and dangerous error, to assert 
 that the children of believers are, on that account, also the spiritual 
 seed of Abraham, and enjoy the same benefits. The children of believers 
 must themselves become believers, must possess the same faith with 
 their parents, and be Christ's genuine disciples, in order to be included 
 in that promise and blessedness. 
 
 Hear the apostle Paul, Gal. iii. 6, 7, " Abraham believed God," i. e. 
 in reference to the coming Messiah, " and it was accounted to him for 
 riguteousness. Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the 
 same are the children of Abraham :" ver. 29, " and if ye are Christ's, 
 then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." And 
 ver. 9, " So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful 
 Abraham." 
 
 No doctrine can be more dangerous, (because calculated to be fatally 
 delusive,) than this, ' That because persons are born of pious parents 
 they are therefore under some peculiar spiritual and advantageous die- 
 
58 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 tinction, on account of which they are entitled to sacred privileges, and 
 do not need equally with others the same converting grace and mercy, 
 and the same atoning sacrifice/ John the Baptist applied the axe to 
 the root of this tree, at the dawn of this dispensation. " Think not 
 to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our Father." Ye are 
 a " generation of vipers ! Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath 
 to come V y So our Redeemer, when the Jews uttered their usual vaunt, 
 ** We be Abraham's seed," replied, " I know that ye are Abraham's 
 seed. If God were your Father, ye would love me. Ye are of your 
 .father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John viii. 33, 
 37, 42, 44. Such is Christ's testimony of the carnal circumcision ! 
 
 If, then, Abraham's own descendants were not his spiritual seed, while 
 destitute of faith and love, surely none can contend that the unbeliev- 
 ing descendants of believing Gentiles can be that spiritual seed. 
 
 Mr. Edw. Williams exposes this error in strong terms, in his 
 Notes on Morrice's Social Religion. " Our author takes considerable 
 pains to maintain a favorite point, which I shall pronounce a very pre- 
 carious hypothesis. It is that of hereditary grace, if I may so express 
 the notion, — that all the children of the godly are absolutely interested 
 in all new covenant blessings. . . . But that interpretation of the Abra- 
 hamic promise, Gen. xvii. 7, which Mr. M. and some others have 
 adopted, and which considers the words in their undistinguished appli- 
 cation, is REPLETE WITH VERT ABSURD CONSEQUENCES. Jehovah, 
 
 surely, was not the God of Abraham and of his unbelieving descen- 
 dants in the same respects. . . . The New Testament saints have nothing 
 more to do with the Abrahamic covenant than the Old Testament 
 believers who lived prior to Abraham." Notes, p. 312 — 317. 
 
 Matt. Henry. " Grace doth not run in the blood, nor are saving 
 benefits inseparably annexed to external church privileges ; though it 
 is common for people thus to stretch the meaning of God's promise to 
 bolster themselves up in a vain hope. . . . The children of the flesh, as 
 such, by virtue of their relationship to Abraham — are not therefore the 
 children of God." Expos, on Rom. ix. 6 — 13. 
 
 7. But did not circumcision bring those that received it 
 into the covenant of grace ? 
 
 Answer. No : in no case whatever. The covenant of grace (as 
 Mr. Burder expresses it, cited at p. 54,) is ' the covenant of redemption, 
 the everlasting covenant.' Nothing can bring into that covenant but 
 the grace of God in Christ Jesus. It existed from the beginning of the 
 world, and righteous Abel enjoyed its blessings. It has been an ever- 
 flowing river, communicating its saving streams to the church of God 
 through all ages, and all dispensations. Enoch, Noah, and, no 
 doubt, thousands of others, though uncircumcised, enjoyed the blessed- 
 ness of this covenant before Abraham was born. Circumcision, there- 
 fore, is no part of the ' covenant of grace ;' and that it did not bring 
 Abraham into it is undeniably clear, for he enjoyed it and all its blessed- 
 ness many years before circumcision was instituted ; when he was, says 
 the apostle, " aot in circumcision, but in uncircumcision." Rom. iv. 10. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 59 
 
 And that this rite did not bring children into the covenant of grace is 
 equally evident, from the addresses of all the holy prophets and apos- 
 tles, and of Christ himself, to those who had thus received that rite, and 
 who are addressed as persons entirely destitute of the grace of God, and 
 being by nature the children of wrath even as others. See, among 
 innumerable passages, Isa. i. 2 — 15, John viii. 42 — 44, Eph. ii. 3, Acts 
 vii. 51, 52. 
 
 8. In what sense, then, is circumcision ' a seal of the 
 covenant,' if it had not this efficacy ? 
 
 Answer. Common as it is to denominate circumcision a seal of the 
 covenant, it is no where so denominated in the word of God. In one 
 place, Rom. iv. 1 1, it is called a seal of righteousness ; but except the 
 whole verse be cited, the sense of the apostle is entirely lost. The 
 words are these : " And he (that is, Abraham) received the sign of 
 circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet 
 being uncircumcised." In no other place is circumcision called a seal; 
 and let my reader try, after carefully looking at the whole passage, to 
 make this applicable to infants, or to infant circumcision or baptism, or 
 to unbelievers in any case, if he can. He will remark, 
 
 1. Circumcision is here spoken of, not in reference to its general 
 administration to the Jewish nation, but to Abraham in particular. 
 2. It is spoken of, not as it might be received by aperson destitute of vital 
 piety, for it is called " a seal of the righteousness of faith, &c." 3. It 
 is not spoken of as sealing what was in future to be bestowed or en- 
 joyed, but of a blessing long before possessed — " of the faith which he 
 had, yet being uncircumcised." 
 
 I appeal to the serious judgment of the reader, what a perversion of 
 the sense of God's word it must be, to call circumcision, from this 
 passage, * a seal of the covenant,' or, ' a seal of righteousness,' thereby 
 referring to the national administration of that rite to the Jews, and as 
 sealing to them the blessings of salvation, when the apostle so guar- 
 dedly expresses himself as sealing only what a true ash ultimo faith 
 had previously obtained ! This passage can apply to none but to Abra- 
 ham, and those of his posterity, who, like their progenitor, possessed a 
 converting and saving faith. 
 
 Venema. " Circumcision was a seal of the righteousness of faith, 
 as the apostle affirms ; but this only in respect of such Israelites as were 
 believers." In Pscdobap. Exam. Vol. II. p. 268. 
 
 9. Why, then, was circumcision administered to infants 
 at all? 
 
 Answer. It pleased God to enter into a particular covenant with 
 Abraham, which he had not done with the other patriarchs, though 
 they equally enjoyed the blessings of the covenant of grace , in which 
 particular covenant, described in Gen. xvii. 1 — 14, the Almighty prom- 
 ised to Abraham, " I will multiply thee exceedingly — make thee 
 " exceeding fruitful ; and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall 
 " come out of thee. — And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed alter 
 
60 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 ■ thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for 
 u an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God." 
 
 My reader need not be told, that an earthly kingdom is here 
 promised to Abraham and his seed. He was to multiply into a nation, 
 or nations, and kings were to arise amongst them ; the land of Canaan 
 was to be their country, and their perpetual residence. In it they were 
 to dwell from generation to generation, and to continue a separate people 
 from all other nations, until the special promised seed, that is 
 Christ, should appear, in whom, as afterwards declared, Gen. xxii. 
 17, 19, " all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." 
 
 To this covenant it pleased God to append the institution of circum- 
 cision. Thus it is given, Gen. xvii. 9 — 23 : — " Thou shalt keep my 
 " covenant, therefore ; thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations* 
 " This is my covenant which ye shall keep, — Every man child amongst 
 "you shall be circumcised; he that is eight days old, he that is born 
 " in thy house, or bought with money of any stranger, must needs be 
 " circumcised ; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlast- 
 " ing covenant. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were 
 " bom in his house, and all that were bought with money, every male 
 " among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of 
 " their foreskin in the self-same day, as God had said unto him." 
 
 My reader will here perceive how the rite of circumcision pertained 
 to Abraham's household. Every male from eight days old, and every 
 servant, or purchased slave, of any age, willing or unwilling, must submit 
 to this rite ; and if he refused, " that soul (it is added,) v. 14, shall be cm 
 off from his people." Can this rite, thus indispensably administered to 
 all the males of a house, because the master received it, be to them the 
 seal of the covenant of grace 1 This, I think, no enlightened Christian 
 can for a moment imagine. 
 
 The Divine intention in making this ordinance a national rite, and 
 requiring it to be so strictly observed upon all the male offspring of 
 Abraham, and to those who were incorporated among thffin, appears 
 evidently to be, their separation as a people from the rest 
 of the world, that in them, in after ages, God might accomplish 
 his wise and gracious purposes ; first, in the coming of the promised 
 Seed, the Saviour of sinners ; and beyond that event, in what the 
 prophets have foretold of Israel, to be fulfilled at a period yet to come. 
 For these designs, God was pleased to separate the Jews, by this indeL 
 ible sign upon their persons : and as it was to be a national distinction, 
 it must necessarily be a national rite, and in effecting this separation 
 the Divine wisdom appears in applying it in early infancy. 
 
 Witsitjs. " The descendants of Abraham were separated by cir- 
 cumcision from other nations, and renounced their friendship ; as appears 
 from the open declaration of the sons of Jacob, Gen. xxxiv. 14, 15. A 
 circumcised person, say the Jews, ' has withdrawn himself from the 
 whole body of the nations.' And, indeed, circumcision was a great 
 part, and as it were the foundation of the middle wall of 
 partition." Econ. of the Cov. Book iv. ch. 8. § 20. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO PAPTISM 61 
 
 Mr. Erskine. " When God promised the land of Canaan to Abra- 
 ham and his seed, circumcision was instituted for this, among other 
 purposes, to show that descent from Abraham was the foundation of his 
 posterity's right to those blessings." Theolug. Dissert, p. 9. 
 
 10. In what sense then are we to consider the Abra- 
 hamic covenant as continued into the gospel dispensation, 
 and enjoyed by Christians ? 
 
 Answer. My reader, by comparing Gen. xv. 5, 6, 18, and chap, 
 xvii. 1 — 14, will observe that the covenant (or rather covenants) made 
 with Abraham were two-fold. 1. Spiritual and internal, pertaining 
 to Abraham's acceptance with God, and salvation, as a believer in the 
 coming Messiah ; and which was all realized in Abraham's believing 
 posterity, as we have already shown. 2. Worldly and external, pertain- 
 ing to the land of Canaan ; with which were to be united the services of 
 the temple, a worldly sanctuary, a material altar, carnal sacrifices, and 
 a changing priesthood ; and the whole of this was intended as " a sha- 
 dow of good things to come." See Heb. vii. 23, ix. 1 — 10, and x. 1. 
 
 Now, all that is spiritual and internal in this covenant, and as 
 enjoyed by Israel under it, is what is called 'the covenant of grace' and 
 is continued in the Christian church by the Holy Spirit ; while what is 
 worldly, external, and typical, is fulfilled and done away in the coming 
 of Christ, and in the spiritual privileges of his church. We have 
 now, as Christians, no worldly kingdom, nor have we a temple, altar, 
 or sacrifices, as the Jews ; nor are we required to be separated from the 
 nations of the world, so as to be one distinct nation ; and hence no 
 carnal distinction is necessary. — " My kingdom (said Christ) is not of 
 this world." John xviii. 36. It is not worldly in its nature, seat, form, 
 government, or privileges; but spiritual, and, as such, denominated 
 " the ministration of the Spirit ;" and consists " in righteousness, peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. xiv. 17. 2 Cor. iii. 7. 
 
 Yexema. " Circumcision, according to a two-fold covenant, inter- 
 nal and external which then existed, Lad likewise a two-fold aspect, 
 spiritual and carxal. The former referred to the internal covenant 
 of grace : the latter to a legal, typical, and external covenant. That 
 was concerned in ' sealing the righteousness of faith,' as the apostle 
 asserts : this in the external prerogatives of Judaism, and in conferring 
 external benefits. That was peculiar to the believing Israelites ; this 
 was common to the whole people." In Psed. Exam. Vol. II. p. 243. 
 
 11 Is there, then, nothing typical in the rite of circum- 
 cision ? 
 
 Answer. In replying to this question, it is my happiness to be able 
 to refer my reader to an authority which, as a Christian, he will esteem 
 decisive and infallible. Circumcision was a type, but not of baptism, 
 (a figure, a type of a figure !) but of « the circumcision of the heart' and 
 1 the putting off the sins of the flesh' And this blessed work is 
 accomplished, not on babes in age, but ' babes in Christ ,-' born from 
 above, and children of God. Hear the infallible authority to which I 
 
 F 
 
(52 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 refer, Rom. ii. 28, 29, "For he is not a Jew, (an Israelite indeed,) which 
 " is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, (in God's ultimate 
 " design,) which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one 
 " inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart ; in the spirit 
 " and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men hut of God." Phil, 
 iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, 
 " and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 
 Col. ii. 11, " Circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, 
 " in the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the ciroum- 
 " cision of Christ." 
 
 12. According to this, baptism was not instituted in the 
 room of circumcision, and so became its end and fulfil- 
 ment. 
 
 Answer. It is certain that this was not the case. 1st. Because 
 when the apostles and elders were assembled at Jerusalem, to consider 
 the question, Whether those who were turned to God from among the 
 Gentiles should be circumcised ? Acts xv., not a word was said about 
 the end and fulfilment of the Jewish rite in the Christian : and had 
 this been the known appointment of Christ, this must have been the 
 decision of the subject. 2d. Because had this been the appointment of 
 the Saviour, it would have been an affront to his authority to continue 
 circumcision for another day after he had substituted baptism in its 
 place ; but circumcision was observed, even by the apostle Paul, long 
 after Christ had instituted the New Testament rite. See Acts xvi. 3. 
 This would have been a similar impropriety to the offering of ' a sacri- 
 fice for sin,' according to the law, after Christ had ' put away sin by the 
 sacrifice of himself!'* 
 
 13. As you allow that circumcision was a seal in re- 
 ference to Abraham as a believer ; is not baptism equally 
 a seal under the New Testament, in a believer's case ? 
 
 Answer. If it be so, it must be understood in the same sense in 
 which the apostle expressed it in the case of the patriarch ; and then 
 k would be " a seal of the righteousness of the faith which the believer 
 had, yet being unbaptized." But we cannot do better than allow the 
 New Testament to answer our inquiries ; and here I am no where 
 taught that any external ordinance is a seal of the covenant of grace, 
 
 * The absurdity of urging the baptism of infants from the institution of circum- 
 eisioi), 'will appear by observing, 1st. That male children only were to receive that 
 rite ; and 2d. That men servants and slaves were equally commanded to be cir- 
 cumcised when the master was, and that upon pain of being cut off, or put to death. 
 If that Divine command, therefore, be applied as descriptive of the subjects of 
 baptism, it will equally require the baptism of servants and purchased slaves, will- 
 ing or unwilling, as well as of infants ; and it would restrict the Christian ordinance 
 to~the male sex alone. This being so plainly contrary to the revealed will of 
 ChrisL on baptism, proves the fallacy of the doctrine. 
 
 In the word of God I see no connexion or resemblance between circumcision and 
 baptism, except in this, that they were both initiary ordinances ; the one into the 
 body politic of Israel of old, the subjects of which rite are all the male inhabitants 
 —the other into the body of Christ, which is his church, and the subjects of which 
 are all believers in him. To this the apostle seems to refer in Col. ii, 11—13. 
 
SCRirTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. G3 
 
 but most plainly instructed, (in beautiful harmony with the spiritual 
 nature of the Messiah's kingdom,) that the work of the Spirit om the 
 heart is the only seal of that covenant. 
 
 2 Cor. i. 22. " Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of 
 the Spirit in our hearts." 
 
 Eph. i. 13. " Ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." 
 
 Eph. iv. 30. " Grieve not that Holy Spirit, whereby ye are sealed 
 unto the day of redemption." 
 
 Char.vock. " God seals no more than he promises. He promises 
 only to faith, and therefore only seals to faith. Covenant graces, there- 
 fore, roust he possessed and acted, hefore covenant blessings be ratified 
 to us." Works, Vol. II. p. 781. ed. I. 
 
 Vitrixga. * The sacraments of the New Covenant are of such a 
 nature as to seal nothing but what is spiritual, nor to be of any 
 advantage, except in regard to those who really believe in Jesus Christ." 
 In Pxd. Exam. Vol. II. p. 268. 
 
 14. How, then, is the doctrine of the Church of Eng- 
 land to be understood, by which we are taught, that a child 
 by baptism is " incorporated" and " grafted into the body 
 of Christ's Church ;" and in another place, " made a 
 member of Christ, a child jof God, and an inheritor of the 
 kingdom of heaven?" 
 
 Answer. To support that doctrine by any thing said in the Scrip- 
 tures of this ordinance, (as the reader of the preceding pages must be 
 aware,) is impossible : to make it agree with the analogy' of faith as 
 taught by the concurring testimony of the whole of Divine revelation 
 is equally impossible. What is here attributed to baptism, the Scrip- 
 tures ascribe to the omnipotent agency of the Holt Ghost in regene- 
 ration, and to the infinite efficacy of the Redkemer's cross in securing 
 eternal life ! ! See 2 Thes. ii. 13. 1 Pet. iii. 18. Baptism, then, is 
 here said to do, what nothing short of the power and grace of God is 
 able to perform ; and that children, as they advance in life, should be 
 taught to express and believe such a doctrine, and to consider themselves 
 in the possession of such spiritual advantages, merely by having re- 
 ceived this external rite, destitute as it is of all saving efficacy, is inex- 
 pressibly lamentable and dangerous ; because it might prove, as it is 
 fitly calculated to be, fatal to their souls ! 
 
 Mr. Johx Htatt, (the late excellent minister of the Tabernacle, 
 London.) "If the church of Christ is his body, and every real be- 
 liever is a member of that body, how important the question, Are we 
 members of the body of Christ? Millions have been taught to say, 
 that in baptism they are made members of Christ, who have given 
 indubitable proofs that they uttered falsehood ! ! The members of the 
 body of Christ are united to him as a head ; and there are no dead, no 
 unsanctified members. All are useful, active, and obedient. Ah ! my 
 hearers, beware of deception — beware of substituting the name for the 
 reality — the form of godliness for the power. Surely, licentious cha- 
 racters cannot presume that they are members of the mystical body of 
 
64 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 the Son of God- A holy head, and impure members ; a pure fountain, 
 and corrupt streams; a good tree, and bad fruit; — these are anomalies. 
 If you are united to him, you are of one spirit with him." Sermons 
 on various Subjects, p. 363. 
 
 15. But if infants are not to be received into the Church 
 by baptism, and they should die in infancy, is not their 
 salvation endangered ? 
 
 Answer. By no means. How can the want of that endanger sal- 
 ration which God hath nowhere enjoined or required 1 Did not our 
 Lord receive tjxbaptized children into his arms, when on earth, and 
 bless them, and send them away unbaptized ; and without uttering a 
 word about baptism 1 See question 2. And who then will say that 
 baptism is necessary that He should receive them to himself in heaven ; 
 especially when they remember his gracious declaration in reference to 
 these unbaptized children, " Of such is the kingdom of heaven ?" See 
 Mark x. 14, and Matt, xviii. 10. 
 
 Persons dying incapable of faith in Christ, are without doubt saved* 
 not by water, nor by the work of man; but by the blood of Christ, 
 and by the power of the Spirit. In like manner persons dying in faith, 
 but having no opportunity of being baptized, as the penitent on the 
 cross, are saved by the same infinitely efficacious, and the only suffi- 
 cient means. 
 
 If we do for our children what God hath required, we shall find this 
 quite sufficient, without attempting to do what God hath not required. 
 And should it please God to remove them from us in infancy, it is bet- 
 ter to commit their souls to the merits of Christ, than to the unautho- 
 rized application of water to their bodies. The former we are sure saves : 
 1 John i. 7. And we are equally sure baptism cannot save ; Acts viii. 
 13, 23 ; and is not necessary to salvation, Luke xxiii. 43. To apply 
 baptism for salvation, therefore, is making a false saviour of the ordi- 
 nance, and implies a criminal unbelief in the all-sufficiency of Christ. 
 
 16. Admitting the want of Scripture authority for infant 
 baptism, on what other authority is it supposed to be ori- 
 ginally founded ? 
 
 Answer. Some have urged in its behalf apostolical tradition. 
 Others, a council of bishops, held at Carthage, A. D. 253. Higher 
 authority it has not ; and neither of these can Protestants admit. 
 
 Mr. Field. "The baptism of infants is therefore named a tradition, 
 because it is not expressly delivered in Scripture that the apostles did 
 baptize infants ; nor any express precept there found that they should 
 do so." On the Church, 375. 
 
 Bishop Prideaux. " Psedobaptism — rests on no other Divine right 
 than Episcopacy."* Fascicul. Contro. Loc. iv. § iii. p. 210. 
 
 * Tn the Edict drawn up in the year 1547, by command of Charles V. Emperor 
 of Germany, to allay disputes between the Romanists and the Reformers, Tra- 
 dition is expressly slated aa the ground of infant baptism: " Habet praeterea Eccle- 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 65 
 
 17. If this be granted, when was infant baptism sup- 
 posed to be introduced ? 
 
 Answer. There is no certain evidence of it earlier than the begin- 
 ning of the third century, after Christ. At that period it was practised 
 in Africa, and is mentioned, for the first time, by Tertullian, about the 
 year 204, in his work entitled " De Bapusnio," which I shall cite pre- 
 sently. 
 
 Curcelljecs, (a learned divine of Geneva, and professor of Divinity.) 
 " The baptism of infants, in the two first centuries after Christ, was 
 altogether unknown ; but in the third and fourth was allowed by some 
 few. In the fifth and following ages it was generally received. The 
 custom of baptizing infants did not begin before the third age after 
 Christ was born. In the former ages, no trace of it appears — and it 
 was introduced without the command of Christ." In Paed. Exam. 
 Vol. II. p. 76. 
 
 SiLMASirs and ScicEitrs. " In the two first centuries no one 
 was baptized, except being instructed in the faith, and acquainted with 
 the doctrine of Christ, he was able to profess himself a believer ; because 
 of those words, He that believeth, and is baptized." Ut supra. 
 
 Vexema. "Tertullian has no where mentioned psedobaptism among 
 the traditions or customs of the church, that were publicly received, and 
 usually observed. — For in his book, De Baptismo, he dissuades from 
 baptizing infants, and proves the delay of it to a more mature age is to 
 be preferred. Nothing can be affirmed with certainty, concerning the 
 custom of the church before Tertullian, seeing there is not any where, 
 in more ancient writers, that I know of, undoubted mention of infant 
 baptism." Ut supra, p. 74. 
 
 The passage alluded to, containing the FIRST MENTION of in- 
 fant baptism, is the following : — 
 
 Tertcleiax. " Pro cujusque personae conditione ac dispositione, 
 etiam atate, cunctatio baptismi utilior est, precipue tamen circa parvu- 
 los. Quid cnim necesse est sponsores etiam periculo ingeri 1 Quia et 
 ipsi per mortalitatem destituere promisiones suas possint, et proventu 
 malae indolis falli. Ait quidem Dominus, Nolite illos prohibere ad me 
 venire. Veniant ergo dum adolescunt, veniant dum discunt, dum quo ve- 
 niunt decentur : fiant Christiani, dum Christum nosse potuerint. Quid 
 festinat innocens setas ad remissionem peccatorum 1 Cautius agetur in 
 ssecularibus ; ut cui substantia terrena non creditur, divina credatur. 
 Norint petere salutem, ut petenti dedisse videaris. ... Si qui pondus 
 intelligant baptismi, magis timebant consecutionem quam dilationem : 
 fides integra secura est de salute." De Baptismo, cap. xviii. 
 
 sia traditiones, kc. quas qui convellit, is negat eandem columnam esse et firma- 
 mentum veritatis. Hujus eeneris sunt Baptismus parvulorum et alia." i. e. " The 
 Church moreover has traditions handed down to these times from Christ and the 
 apostles, through the hands of the bishops : which whoever would overturn, he 
 most deny the'same (viz. the Church) to be the pillar and snround of tnuh. Of this 
 sort are the baptism of little ones, and other things." In Dr. RyluniVs Candid 
 Statement, Notes, p. 28. 
 
 F 2 
 
66 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 "The delay of baptism may be more advantageoas, either on account 
 of the condition, disposition, or age of any person, especially in refer- 
 ence to little children. For what necessity is there that the sponsors 
 should be brought into danger ? because either they themselves may 
 fail of the promises by death, or be deceived by the growth of evil dis- 
 positions. — The Lord, indeed, says, Do not forbid them to come to me. 
 Let them, therefore, come when they are grown up ; when they can 
 understand ; when they are taught whither they are to come. Let 
 them become Christians when they can know Christ. Why should this 
 innocent age hasten to the remission of sins 1 Men act more cau- 
 tiously in worldly things ; so that Divine things are here intrusted with 
 whom earthly things are not. Let them know how to seek salvation, 
 that you may appear to give to one that asketh. . ..If persons understand 
 the importance of baptism they will rather fear the consequent obliga- 
 tion than the delay : true faith alone is secure of salvation." 
 
 Now I request my reader to observe — 1. That there is confessedly no 
 mention of infant baptism in the writings of any of the Fathers, before 
 Tertullian, in the beginning of the third century ; though the baptism 
 of believers is repeatedly found, in various authors ; some of which I 
 shall cite in the next part of this appendix. 2. That when infant bap- 
 tism is first mentioned, in the Christian Father above quoted, it is in a 
 passage where the rite is referred to, not as of something of universal 
 practice and approbation ; but where it is opposed and reasom d 
 agaixst as something unknown in the age of Christ and the apostles, 
 and destitute of their authority, for with him their authority would not 
 have been questioned for a moment ; and as something implying dan- 
 ger in reference to sponsors, and absurdity relative to children. Thus, 
 
 Regaltius, the learned annotator upon Cyprian. " In the Acts of 
 the Apostles we read that both men and women were baptized when 
 they believed the gospel preached by Philip, but not a word of infants. 
 From the age of the apostles therefore, up to the time of Tertullian, the 
 matter remained in obscurity, [or doubtful, in ambiguo ;] and there were 
 some who from that saying of our Lord, Suffer little children to come 
 unto me, to whom the Lord nevertheless did not command water to be 
 administered, took occasion to baptize even new-born infants. And as 
 if, (seculare aliquod negotium cum Deo transigeretur,) they transacted 
 some secular business with God, they offered sponsors or sureties to 
 Christ, who engaged that they should not revolt from the Christian 
 faith when grown up ; which indeed displeased Tertullian." In Sten- 
 netfs Answer to Russen, pp. 69, 73, and in Mr. Wall's Hist. Vol. II. 
 chap. 2. 
 
 18. Tradition from the apostles, is declared by the 
 church of Rome to be the authority for infant baptism ; is 
 this said to be its authority where the practice is first men- 
 tioned ? 
 
 Answer. No such authority is ever once hinted at. 
 
 Vesema " Tertullian dissuades from baptizing infants — which he 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 67 
 
 certainly would not have done, if it had been a tradition, and a public 
 custom of the church, seeing he was vert tenacious of traditions; 
 nor, had it been a tradition, would he have failed to mention it 1" See 
 after next question. 
 
 19. Do we find any other innovation introduced into the 
 Church of Christ, about the same period? 
 
 Answer. Several. We never read of — 1. The consecration of the 
 baptismal water ; 2. The use of sponsors ; 3. The imposition of hands 
 at baptism ; 4. The use of material unction at confirmation ; 5. Offer- 
 ing prayers and oblations for the dead, &c. ; we never read of any of 
 these in any Christian writer before Tertullian ; and hence, learned 
 Paedobaptists infer that they were introduced about that time. Thus, 
 Mr. Pierce, speaking of the third of these, says, that Tertullian is "the 
 most ancient author that mentions this rite ;" and adds, " We make no 
 doubt it began about the time of Tertullian." Vindication of Dissenters, 
 Pt. III. ch. vii. pp. 172, 175. We come to the same conclusion, for 
 the very same reason, respecting the baptism of infants. The celebrated 
 and learned divine I cited in the former question seems willing to admit 
 this: — 
 
 Vsrai. "I conclude, therefore, that poedobaptism cannot be 
 plainly proved to have been practised before the time of Tertullian ; 
 and that there were persons in his age who desired their infants might 
 be baptized, especially when they were afraid of their dying without 
 baptism-, which opinion Tertullian opposed, and, by so doing, inti- 
 mates THAT PJEDOBAPTISX BEGAN TO PREVAIL." In Pxd. Exam. 
 
 \ T o\. II. pp. 79, 80. 
 
 20. Did the first Christian Fathers, who supported the 
 baptism of infants, suppose that some spiritual benefit was 
 communicated to them by that ordinance ? 
 
 Answer. They did. — They held that baptism was necessary to sal- 
 vation ; that forgiveness accompanied it ; that infants by it were purged 
 from the pollution of original sin ; and that all persons dying without 
 baptism were lost. Thus, 
 
 Cyprian, A. D. 253. " As far as lies in us, no soul, if possible, is 
 to be lost. It is not for us to hinder any person from baptism and the 
 grace of God; which rule, as it holds to all, so we think it more espe- 
 cially to be observed in reference to infants, to whom our help and the 
 Divine mercy is rather to be granted ; because by their weeping and 
 wailing at their first entrance into the world, they do intimate nothing 
 so much as that they implore compassion." 
 
 Ambrose, A. D. 390. " For no person comes to the kingdom of 
 heaven, but by the sacrament of baptism. — Infants that are baptized are 
 reformed back again from wickedness to the primitive state of their 
 nature." 
 
 Chrysostom, A. D. 398. " The grace of baptism gives cure without 
 pain, and fills us with the grace of the Spirit. Some think that the 
 heavenly grace consists only in the forgiveness of sins ,- but I have 
 
68 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 reckoned up test advantages of it." " If sudden death seize us before 
 we are baptized, though we have a thousand good qualities, there is no- 
 thing to be expected but hell." See the original of these passages in 
 Mr. Wall's Hist, of Inf. Bap. Vol. I. ch. 6, 13, 14 ; and II. ch. 6. 
 
 These extracts, which I might have increased a hundredfold, are 
 sufficient to prove that some of the Fathers, from about the middle of 
 the third century, considered baptism as essentially necessary to salva- 
 tion ; and in this false view of the ordinance, the baptism of infants 
 originated. To this agree the following learned writers : — 
 
 Suicerxjs, Professor of Greek and Hebrew at Zurich. " This opi- 
 nion of the absolute necessity of baptism arose from a wrong under- 
 standing of our Lord's words, Except a man be born of water and of 
 the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven" In Psed. Exam. 
 Vol. II. p. 129. 
 
 Salmabius, the very learned historian and critic. "An opinion 
 prevailed that no one could be saved without being baptized ; and for 
 that reason the custom arose of baptizing infants." Ibid. p. 128. 
 
 21. But if a profession of repentance and faith was al- 
 ways required before baptism in the apostolic age, how 
 could Christian ministers, or churches, so early as the days 
 of Tertullian, admit of the baptism of infants, by whom 
 no such profession could be made ? 
 
 Answer. The deficiency, in reference to infants, was ingeniously 
 supplied by introducing " sponsors." They would not dispense with 
 the profession, but they would admit it by proxy. Two or three per- 
 sons, and, in the case of an infant of high rank, from twenty to an 
 hundred, were admitted as "sureties," who professed, in behalf of an 
 infant, to repent, renounce the devil and his works, and to believe the 
 doctrines of the gospel. These sureties are first mentioned by Tertul- 
 lian, A. D. 204, in the passage I have copied, pp. 65, 66, where they are 
 called " sponsors," i. e. persons who answer, and make themselves 
 answerable for another. 
 
 Here is religion by proxy ; real, personal, experimental religion ! a 
 thing unheard of before since the world began. But when so many 
 strange absurdities were introduced into the church, as those before 
 mentioned, p. 67, we need not be much surprised at this. To a reader, 
 however, who knows by his own experience, and by the concurrent 
 testimony of every part of the Bible, that there is no religion but that 
 which is between God and the soul, and is God's gift, and in which 
 another can have no share or part, it is grievous to reflect seriously on 
 this alarming innovation. 
 
 22. But do modern Paedobaptists entertain the sam« 
 view as the ancients, as to the necessity of baptism ta 
 salvation ? 
 
 Answer. The majority of professed Christians have ever avowed, 
 and do still avow, the same doctrine 1 The church of Rome ha# 
 honored those who dare deny it with an " anathema ;" and the Greek 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 69 
 
 church, though not so ready to anathematize, entertains the sarna 
 opinion. The reformed churches, and the different denomination! uf 
 
 Protestant Psdobaptist* whether bearing the name of Episcopalians, 
 Presbyterians, Independents, (Jongregartionalists, or Wesleyans, white 
 they generally disavow that doctrine, yet they hold opinions, which, 
 when fairly carried out to their consequences, come little short of the 
 same amount. They have seen in the doctrine of the ancients, and of 
 Rome, ' that no one can be saved without their baptism,' too plain a 
 demonstration of the ' little horn' of antichrist,* — the mystery of ini- 
 quity which began to work in the apostles' days.f — to avow that doc- 
 trine in the same terms- But let me ask my respected brethren in these 
 communities, If baptism makes its subjects, as some of them say,{ 
 " children of God and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven ;" or, as all 
 of them, by their leading writers, have said, that it brings its subjects 
 " into the church of Christ" or " into the covenant of grace," or " seals 
 to them the benefits of that covenant," and which is " the covenant of 
 redemption, embracing all that Jehovah can impart ;" whether this is 
 not tantamount to the doctrine guarded by Rome's anathema ! If bap- 
 tism brings into, or seals the benefits of, the covenant of grace, it will 
 bring to heaven ; for God hath joined these two together. And if there 
 be not another way of bringing into this ' covenant of grace and 
 redemption' what must become of those who are not brought in, and 
 who die in that situation 1 Thus pressed to consequences, I see no 
 other conclusion to be come at from these premises, but that of Chry- 
 Bostom, just cited, horrible as it sounds ! Let my brethren who would 
 recoil at the thought of that conclusion, examine rigidly and honestly 
 whether the virtues they join to the rite of baptism afford not the just 
 and fair ground of it. And if the conclusion be denied, let them deny 
 the premises from which it is drawn ; but while they avow the pre- 
 mises, I must be allowed to insist upon the conclusion. 
 
 23. If no spiritual or saving benefit necessarily attends 
 the ordinance of baptism, (which evidently is, and ever has 
 been, conceived as the basis and reason of infant baptism, 
 by the majority of those that have practised it,) why is the 
 ordinance administered at all ? and of what use is it in the 
 church of Christ? 
 
 Answer. " God is his own interpreter." The ritual ordinances 
 appointed of God in his church were never, under any dispensation, 
 intended by him to carry salvation with them. For that purpose 
 " neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision," as the 
 apostle affirms ; and the same may be said of baptism and the Lord's 
 supper. Salvation proceeds from a source entirely distinct and separate 
 from these ordinances. It may be fully enjoyed without them ; and 
 they may be administered, and repeated a thousand times over, without 
 it. The penitent malefactor was saved without baptism : Simon Magu* 
 was baptized without part or lot in salvation. 
 
 • Daniel vii. S-21 f * Tbes. ii- 3— iQ. t See Authorities at pp. 54, 55. 
 
70 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 What, then, you inquire, is the use of baptism ? I reply, It is a 
 solemn, sacred institution of Jesus, intended by him, as I have before 
 observed, to exhibit and to teach the way of salvation. It saves 
 m no way of itself; but it presents a figurative and an impressive 
 representation of saving, — of that real saving, which is through the 
 purifying merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. As such Christ 
 instituted it ; and as such it is the duty and privilege of his followers 
 to observe it, till he come. Thus the apostle Peter, cited p. 49, when 
 he says, Baptism saves ; he immediately guards against error upon this 
 subject, — it is not the putting away the filth of the flesh, or impurity, 
 or sin of any kind, which can only be cleansed by the blood of Christ. 
 But it saves as a " figure ;" it symbolically presents " the fountain 
 opened for sin and uncleanness," and to that fountain it directs the 
 penitent to flee, and therein by faith " to wash away sin, calling on the 
 name of the Lord." Acts xxii. 16. When this is realized, then baptism 
 affords the answer of a good conscience, satisfied that Christ is obeyed, 
 guilt purged away, and the soul saved through the blor «d of the Lamb. 
 Psedobaptist divines affirm the same. Thus, 
 
 Mr. David Davidson, on 1 Peter hi. 21. " Lest any should imagine 
 spiritual deliverance secure by the external rite, in any other sense 
 than figuratively, the apostle adds, that the baptism he chiefly meant 
 was the cleansing of the conscience, which is by faith in Christ. The 
 same figure and reality are repeatedly thus stated. Se*» F.ph. v. 26 ; 
 Tit. iii. 5 ; Heb. ix. 14." Commentary on the New Test. p. 459. 
 
 24. Who is theirs* Christian writer that defended the 
 baptism of infants ? 
 
 Answer. The first that mentioned the practice at all wa* Tertullian. 
 \. D. 204. It was named next by Origen, A. D. 230. Fut the first 
 writer that defended the practice was Cyprian, A. D. 253. At this 
 period the plan of admitting a profession by sponsors became so general, 
 at least in Africa where it commenced, and the security the rite afforded 
 of eternal life was deemed so important, that the practice of i\ became 
 general. Hence Synods and Councils were held to sanction the prac- 
 tice, and to consider the time after birth when the ordinance may be 
 properly administered. Thus, the very learned writer cited before — 
 
 Regaltius. " Most men thinking this opinion of Tertullian unsafe, 
 were of Cyprian's mind, that even new-born children ought to be made 
 partakers of the laver of salvation ; which was pitched upon in th« , 
 decree of this Synod, and so the doubt was taken away.' * In > 
 Stennetfs Answer to Russen, pp. 69 — 73, and in Mr. WalVt Hist 
 Vol. II. ch. 2. 
 
 * Regaltius here refers to a Synod, the decision of which took away any farther 
 dovbt as to the propriety or necessity of infant baptism. The reader should b« 
 informed that during the lives of the African Fathers, Cyprian and Augustine, seve» 
 ral eeneral meetings of the ministers of that district, which were called Councils 
 •r Synods, were held at Carthage, and Milevis, to consult and decide on certain 
 •ubjects. At the first of these, held at Carthage, A. D. 253, sixty-six of thos^ mi 
 sisters, or bishops as they are called, being present, with Cyprian fortheir president 
 me Fidus, a country bishop, submitted two questions for decision, the latter of 
 rhich was " Whether an infant, before it was eight daYsold, might be baptized, k 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 71 
 
 APPENDIX, PART II. 
 
 On the Scriptural Mode of Baptism. 
 
 Ix my first section, I promised my reader to refer again to the Mode 
 *f Baptism, and expressed my hope to satisfy any candid inquirer on 
 the subject ; and this I conceive I shall do, not by the quantity of 
 what I shall write on the subject, for I shall be very brief, but by stating 
 ttrguments, which I consider irresistibly convincing and decisive. In 
 Viis part, as in the former, I shall suppose my reader disposed to put 
 fiquiries involving all the leading points of the controversy. 
 
 1. Question. Are the most learned and competent 
 writers agreed, that the sense you have given, at p. 13, of 
 (he words chosen of God to express this ordinance, 
 [baptize and baptism,) is their ordinary and most proper 
 sense ? 
 
 Answer. More competent authority the learned world does not 
 afford than the following : — 
 
 Witsitjs. " It cannot be denied that the native signification of the 
 words £*a7w and fieurligm, is to plunge, to dip." Econ. of the Cov. 
 L. IV. c. xvi. § 13. 
 
 Calvin. "The word baptize, signifies to immerse, and the rite of 
 immersion was observed by the ancient church."* 
 
 Zajjchics. "The proper signification of baptize is to immerse, 
 plunge under, to overwhelm in water." 
 
 Alstedius. " To baptize, signifies only to immerse ; not to wash, 
 except by consequence." 
 
 need required V* He ureed his objections, from which the reader may form some 
 idea of these African bishops, 1. " That an infant in the first days after its birth is 
 unclean, so that any of us abhors to kiss it !" This kiss of peace was an African 
 accompaniment of baptism. 2. He questioned " Whether so young an infant be a 
 perfect human creatc-re!" The Council decided against him, as seen in Cy- 
 prian's Letter to Fidus. of which, at p. 67, is an extract. 
 
 In the councils over which Augustine presided, from A. D. 416 to A. D. 420, the 
 bishops were disposed to go much farther than at any former period. They en- 
 acted their canons, and pronounced their anathemas, in the pure spirit of antichrist. 
 Thus in the Milevitan council, fourteen or fifteen being present, as deputies from 
 the whole, they decreed "Placuit ergo omnibus episcopis," &c. "It is therefore 
 the pleasure of all the bishops. thatVhosoever denieih that infants newly born of 
 their mothers are to he baptized ... let him be accursed." And in the " Synodial 
 Epistle of the Council of Carthage to Innocent" of Rome, the same imprecation 
 occurs. "Quicunque negat parvolos per bapiismum Christi a perditione liberari." 
 &c. <: Whoever denies that infants are by Christian baptism delivered from per- 
 dition, and Brought to eternal salvation, let him be anathema." In Mr. "Wall's 
 Hist, of Inf. Bapt. Vol. I. chap. xix. § 28. Robinson's Hist, of Eapt. chap. xxii. 
 Mr. GUI's Argument from Apost. Trad, considered, p. 22. The authority of these 
 canons being admitted at Rome, "the doubt of infant baptism" yielded co-exteu- 
 sively with that authority. 
 
 * See this author and those that follow cited at greater length and their worka 
 referred to in Booth's Padob. Exam. Vol. I. pp. 44 to 65. Eighty-two such auU*o 
 rities are mere adduceJ 
 
72 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Beza. " Christ commanded us to be baptized ; by which word it 
 is certain immersion is signified." 
 
 Vitringa. " The act of baptizing is the immersion of believers in 
 water. This expresses the force of the word." 
 
 H. Altingius. " The word baptism, — properly signifies immer- 
 sion ; improperly, by a metonomy of the end, washing." 
 
 Scapula. " To baptize, — to dip or immerse, as we immerse any 
 thing for the purpose of dying or cleansing in water." 
 
 Mr. Leigh. " The native and proper signification of it [baptize] 
 is, to dip into water, or to plunge under water." 
 
 Bossuet, bishop of Meaux. " To baptize signifies to plunge, as is 
 granted by all the world." 
 
 To the above I might add many living authors : — 
 
 Mr. E wing, of Glasgow. " ~E>x7r}i£a>, in its primary and radical sense, 
 1 cover with water. It is used to denote, 1st. I plunge, or sink com- 
 pletely under water." Gr. Lexicon, sub voce.* 
 
 Edinburgh Reviewebs. " They tell me, (says Mr. Carson,) that 
 it was unnecessary to bring forward any of the examples to prove that 
 the word signifies to dip, — that I might have commenced with this as 
 a fixt potnt universally admitted." In Carson's Answer to 
 Edin. Prcsbijt. Review, p. 9. A. D. 1832. 
 
 2. As in one branch of the Christian church, the Greek 
 language has been continued from the age of the apostles, 
 and with them the words ,&ist7/£» and /WV^* {baptize and 
 baptism), remain unaltered, and in common use to this day, 
 — let me ask, How do they understand the words 1 and 
 how administer the ordinance I 
 
 Mr. R. Robinson. "The native Greeks must understand then- 
 own language better than foreigners, and they have alwats understood 
 the word baptism to signify dipping ,• and, therefore, from their first 
 embracing of Christianity to this day, they have always baptized, and 
 do yet baptize, by Immersion. This is an authority for the meaning 
 of the word infinitely preferable to that of European lexicographers. 
 In this case the Greeks are unexceptionable guides "-f- Hist, of Bapt. 
 pp. 5, 6. 
 
 * Mr. Ewing, the author of a very useful Greek lexicon, gives several other 
 senses to the word, and at length contends that it will admit of sprinkling. If this 
 were trim, it would not materially affect our present inquiry ; because we cannot 
 admit that our Lord would employ a word to express this ordinance, which, in the 
 fust, plain, and most common use of it, signifies immersion, if he intended sprink- 
 ling, supposing the word would hear that sense in a distant and unusual interpre- 
 tation of it. But it is demonstrated by Mb. Carson, in his recent elaborate woik 
 on baptism, that the word has but one proper sense, namely, that which Mr. Ewino 
 admits above as its first sense.— Mr. Cox makes the following appeal to Mr. E. :— 
 " I now once airain demand of Mr. Ewing to point me out the lexicon, which does 
 not give dipping, plunging or immersing as the unquestionable, settled, and uni- 
 versally admitted primitive signification of the contested terms." On Baptism, 
 p. 83. 
 
 i Mr. Robinson was an Anti-paedobaptist. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 73 
 
 3. But what is denominated the " Greek Church" is 
 now extended over an immense portion of the globe ; is 
 the same mode of baptism observed in all the nations 
 included in it ? 
 
 The Paxtalogia, under the article ' Greek Church,' thus explains — 
 • That part of the Christian church which was first established in 
 Greece, and is now spread over a larger extent of country than any 
 other established church. It comprehends in its bosom a considerable 
 part of Greece, the Grecian isles, Wallachia, Moldavia, Egypt, Abys- 
 sinia, Nubia, Lybia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Cilicia, Palestine. . . . 
 It may be observed, that amid all their trifling rites, they practise trine- 
 immersion, which is unquestionably the primitive manner."* 
 
 Mr. Wall. " The Greek church, in all the branches of it, doea 
 still use immersion." Hist, of Inf. Bapt. Vol. II. p. 376, Ed. 3. 
 
 Sin P. Ricaut. "Thrice dipping or plunging, this church holds 
 to be as necessary to the form of baptism, as water to the matter." la 
 Psed. Exam. Vol. I. p. 268. 
 
 4. Is there any evidence in the writings of the first 
 Christian fathers after the apostles, respecting the mode 
 of baptism as administered by them, and in their times? 
 for it is not likely that the mode observed by Christ and 
 the apostles would be immediately changed. 
 
 Answer. The first Christians after the days of the apostles could 
 never bring themselves to make so great a charge in an institution of 
 Christ, as to substitute sprinkling for immersion. Such a change 
 would require several ages to bring the public mind to receive it ; as 
 every one, acquainted with church history, knows was the case. There 
 was a disposition early manifested to make ceremonial additions to 
 Christ's appointments, such as consecrating the wafer, &c, but there is 
 no evidence whatever of altering the mode of this ordinance, except as 
 a recourse or expedient for dying persons, &c, for above 100.0 years, as 
 I shall attest presently. 
 
 If then we can ascertain the mode of baptism in the first centuries 
 following the apostles, without doubt it will be what the Lord ordained. 
 And happily there is abundance of evidence upon this subject. I shall 
 cite a few short passages, and the references may lead the reader, if 
 disposed, to a deeper investigation: — 
 
 Batixabas, Paul's companion. An epistle ascribed to him has 
 escaped the ravages of time. Two passages refer to baptism ; in one 
 he says, " Blessed are they, who, fixing their hope on the cross, have gone 
 " down into the water." The other, " We descend into the water, . . . 
 "and come up out of it, bring forth fruit, having in our hearts reve- 
 rential fear, and hope through Jesus." Epist. cap. xi. 
 
 * ' Trine-immersion.' or immersing the person three times, once in the name of 
 each of the Divine Persons, was in use in the beginning of the third century. Ii 
 was practised in Enela'-id till the sixteenth century ; and is stifl rigidly observed 
 in the eastern churches. 
 
 G 
 
74 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Hermas, honored by Paul's salutation, Rom. xvi. 14. A Latin 
 version of his work, entitled, ' the Pastor,' or Shepherd, is extant. In 
 it he speaks of the apostles accompanying the persons to be baptized 
 into the water. " The apostles and teachers — preached to them that 
 " before were dead, and gave them this seal ; for they, (apostiii, &c. 
 " descenderunt in aquam cum illis,) went down with them into the 
 water, and came up again." See this and other allusions in Lib. 1. vis, 
 8, sect. 7 ; and Lib. III. similit. 9. 
 
 JrsTitf Martyr. About A. D. 140, Justin Martyr wrote ' An Apo- 
 logy for Christians, addressed to the Emperor, the Senate, and people of 
 Pome.' In this work he describes the doctrines and ordinances of the 
 Church of Christ ; and on baptism has the following passage : — * I will 
 4< now declare to you also after what manner we being made new by 
 " Christ have dedicated ourselves to God, lest, if I should leave that 
 " out, I might seem to deal unfairly in some part of my apology. They 
 " who are persuaded and do believe that those things which are taught 
 " by us are true, and do promise to live according to them, are directed 
 " first to pray and ask of God with fasting, the forgiveness of their former 
 " sins ; and we also pray and fast with them. Then we bring them to some 
 " place where there is water, and they are baptized by the same way of 
 " baptism by which we were baptized : for they are washed (w tw vJu.ti) 
 " in the water in the name of God the Father, Lord of all things ; and 
 " of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit." Justin Mart 
 Apolog. II. sect. 79.* 
 
 Tertuixian, A. D. 204. " Because the person [to be baptized,] in 
 K great simplicity ... is let down in the water, and with a few words 
 " said, is dipped." Homo in aqua demissus, et inter pauca verba tinctus. 
 Again, when speaking of the vain anxiety to be baptized in the Jor- 
 dan, — " There is no difference whether one is washed in a sea or in a 
 " pool, in a river or in a fountain, in a lake or in a channel ; nor is 
 ** there any difference between them whom John dipped in Jordan, and 
 " those whom Peter dipped in the Tiber :" quos Joannes in Jordane, et 
 quos Petrus in Tiberi tins it. He also uses the words, " In aqua mer- 
 gimur," i. e. " we are immersed in the water." De Bapitismo, cap. 
 2, 4, 7. 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen, A. D. 360. " We are buried with Chvisv 
 *' by baptism that we may also rise again with him ; we descend with 
 " him that we may also be lifted up with him ; we ascend with him 
 
 * Upon this passage of Justin Mr. Wall remarks, "This is the most ancient 
 account of the way of baptizing, next to the Scripture ; and shows the plain and 
 simple manner of administering it." And Mr. Reeves, the learned translator 
 oif Justin, adds, in a note, " 'Tis evident from this place of Justin and that of Ter- 
 tullian, (de Cor. Mil. c. 3,) that Ponds and Rivers were the only Baptisteries or 
 Fonts the church had for the first two hundred years. The Catechumen being 
 brought to the baptistery, was thus interrogated, Dost thou renounce the devil 1 — 
 Dost thou renounce the world ? Sec. &c. Ans. I do renounce them. — Next he made 
 an open confession of the faith, the bishop asking him, Dost thou believe in God? 
 &x.. to which the person answered, I do believe. And this form of interrogation 
 the apostle is thought to refer to when he styles baptism the answer of a good con- 
 grieve tmcards God."— After this confession is made, the candidate (Mr. Reevei 
 ad>!g) was " thrice plun/ied under water at the naming of the Three Persons in 
 the blessed Trinity." Apologies, Vol. I. p. 97. Note. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 75 
 
 ♦'that we may also be glorified with him." Orat. 40. In Stennetft 
 Answer to Russen, p. 144. 
 
 Basil, A. D. 360. " Ek t§w/ mi; *m*hnn, n &c. " By three im- 
 
 u mersions the great mystery of baptism is accomplished." In Sten- 
 nett, as above. 
 
 Ambrose, A. D. 374. "Thou wast asked, Dost thou believe in 
 " God the Father Almighty 1 Thou saidst, I do believe, and wast im- 
 " mersed, that is, thou wast buried, (mersisti, hoc est, sepultus es.) Thou 
 " wast asked again, Dost thou believe on our Lord Jesus Christ and his 
 " crucifixion 1 Thou saidst, / believe, and wast immersed again, and 
 so wast buried with Christ."* 
 
 Ctril, of Jerusalem, A. D. 374. " As he, I »Jvrtm n rue Stetn, who 
 u is plunged in the water, and baptized, is encompassed by the water 
 u on every side ; so they, that are baptized by the Spirit, are also wholly 
 covered all over :" &c* 
 
 Chrtsostom, A. D. 398. " To be baptized (ku. xiruSvirSzi) and 
 plunged, and then to emerge or rise again, is a symbol of our descent 
 into the grave, and our ascent out of it ; and therefore, Paul calls bap- 
 tism a buriaL" HomiL XL. in 1 Corin. 
 
 5. Do learned Paedobaptists grant that this practice of 
 immersion was the general, and esteemed the only legiti- 
 mate, mode of baptism, among the early Christians ; and 
 that in this they were obediently following the instruction 
 of Christ and the apostles ? 
 
 WiTsirs affirms, — " It is certain that both John the Baptist, and 
 the disciples of Christ, ordinarily practised immersion ; whose example 
 was followed by the ancient church, as Vossius has shown, by produc- 
 ing many testimonies from the Greek and Latin writers." Earn, of the 
 Cov. Lib. IV. cap. xvi. § 13. 
 
 Mr. Bower. " Baptism by immersion was undoubtedly the apos- 
 tolical practice, and was never dispensed with by the church, except in 
 case of sickness,'' &c. Hist, of the Popes, Vol. II. p. 110. 
 
 G. J. Vossius. " That the apostles immersed whom they baptized 
 there is no doubt. . . . And that the ancient church followed their exam- 
 ple is very clearly evinced by innumerable testimonies of the fathers." 
 Disputat. de Bap. Disp. I. § 6. 
 
 Mr. Reeves. " The ancients carefully observed trine-immersion, 
 insomuch that by the ' Canons Apostolical,' either bishop or presbyter 
 
 * The sense of immersion is so clearly conveyed in these passages, and repeated 
 over ol so many forms of expression, that it is quite impossible to misunderstand 
 the ancients upon the subject. I will transcribe the Latin of Ambrose, and the 
 Latin version that accompanies the Greek of Cyril. 
 
 Ambrose. " Interrogatus es, Credis in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem ? Dixisti, 
 Credo: et mersisii, hoc est, sepultus es. Iterum interrogatus es, Credis in Domi- 
 num nostrum Jesum Christum, et crucem ejus? Dixistf, Ciedo, et mersisti; ideo 
 et Christo es sepultus." De sacram. Lib. II. cap. vii. Paris, 1632. 
 
 CYRrL. " Sicut enim is qui in aquis immerdtur et baptizatur undiquaque ab aquig 
 cindtur ; sic et llli a Spinui haptizati et obvoiuti perfecte sunt." Catechu. XVII. 
 § xiv. Pans, 1720 
 
76 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 who baptized without it was deposed fro?* the ministry." See the 
 Canons, 42 to 50. Reeves' Apologies of Justin, &c. Vol. I. p. 97. 
 
 Encyclopedia Ecclesiastica. (This splendid work, now publish- 
 ing, A. D. 1835, under the patronage of the highest authorities in the 
 British nation, both in church and state, after stating the reasons urged 
 in defence of sprinkling, proceeds,) " Whatever weight, however, may 
 be in these reasons as a defence for the present practice of sprinkling, 
 it is evident that during the first ages of the church, and for many 
 centuries afterwards, the practice of immersion prevailed; and which 
 seems indeed never to be departed from, except where it was adminis- 
 tered to a person at the point of death, or upon the bed of sickness, — 
 which was considered indeed as not giving the party the full privileges 
 of baptism, — or when there was not a sufficient supply of water. Ex- 
 cept in the above cases, the custom was to dip or immerse the whole 
 body. Hence St. Barnabas says, We go down into the water," &c. 
 &c. Article, Baptism. 
 
 6. Admitting this evidence as demonstrative of the ori- 
 ginal practice, must it not be a display of ignorance and 
 weakness to oppose or contradict it ; and, indeed, to ridicule 
 that mode, as some do, a profane contempt of the wisdom 
 and authority of Christ ? 
 
 Mr. Wall, (who explored all the voluminous writers of antiquity in 
 search of evidence of infant baptism,) says, " This [immersion] is so 
 plain and clear by an infinite number of passages, that as one 
 cannot but PITY the weak endeavors of such Psedobaptists as would 
 maintain the negative of it, so we ought to disown and show a dislike 
 of the profane scoffs which some people give to the English Anti- 
 paedobaptists merely for the use of dipping ; when it was, in all proba- 
 bility, the way by which our blessed Saviour, and for certain, was 
 the most usual and ordinary way by which the ancient Christians did 
 receive their baptism. 'Tis a great want of prudfnce as well as 
 of honesty to refuse to grant to an adversary what is certainly 
 true, and may be proved so. It creates a jealousy of all the rest that 
 one says." — " The custom of the Christians in the near succeeding 
 times [to the apostles] being more largely and particularly delivered in 
 books, is known to have been generally or ordinarily a total immer- 
 sion." Hist, of Inf. Bapt., Pt. II. ch. ix. §2. And its Defence, p. 131. 
 
 Professor Campbell. " I have heard a disputant, in defiance of 
 etymology and use, maintain that the word rendered in the New Testa- 
 ment baptize, means more properly to sprinkle than to plunge ; and in 
 defiance of ale antiquity, that the former was the earliest, and — 
 the most general practice in baptizing. One who argues in this manner 
 never fails with persons of knowledge to betray the cause he ivould 
 defend; and though with respect to the vulgar, bold assertions gene- 
 rally succeed as well as argument, and sometimes better ; yet a candid 
 mind will always disdain to take the help of falsehood, even in the 
 support of truth." Lectures on Pulpit Eloquence, Lect. x. p. 304. 
 
 EorxauRGH Reviewebs. " We have rarely met, for example, with 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 77 
 
 a moTe weak and fanciful piece of reasoning, than that by which 
 Mr. Evving would persuade us that there is no allusion to the mode by 
 immersion, in the expression • buried with him in baptism.' Thw 
 point ought to be fraxklx admitted, and indeed cannot be denied 
 with any show of reason." In Mr. Carson's Answer, as before, p. 40. 
 
 7. How long was immersion continued as the general 
 practice among all Christians ? 
 
 Bishop Bossuet. " We are able to make it appear, by the acts of 
 Councils, and by the ancient Rituals, that for THIRTEEN HUN- 
 DRED YEARS, baptism was thus [by immersion] administered through- 
 but the whole church, as far as possible." In StennetVa Answer to 
 Russen, p. 1 76. 
 
 Stackhouse. "Several authors have shown, and proved, that this 
 immersion continued, as much as possible, to be used for thirteen 
 hundred tears after Christ" Hist, of the Bible, P. 8, p. 1234. See 
 also Mr. Whitby, cited at p. 47. 
 
 8. At what period, and on what aceounts, was the cus- 
 tom of pouring, or sprinkling, first introduced ? 
 
 Answer, There is no earlier record, that Mr. Wall could discover, 
 than in the case of Novatian, about the middle of the third century. 
 This man while unbaptized, as Eusebius records, (Eccles. Hist L. VI. 
 c. 43,) * fell into a dangerous disease, and because he was very like to 
 die, was baptized in the bed where he lay," (» kkivyi tt^i %ySivrst., i. e. 
 sprinkled over in bed ; or water poured all over him, the word signi- 
 fies,) " if that might be termed baptism." Novatian recovered ; and by 
 the following circumstance we have remarkably preserved the view 
 which the Christian church generally took of his baptism. The See 
 of Rome became vacant, A. D. 251. Two persons were chosen to 
 succeed, namely Cornelius, ' chosen by the major part,' and this Nova- 
 tian, in a ' schismatical way.' Cornelius writes a long letter to Fabius, 
 Bishop of Antioch, in which he describes the case of Novatian, and 
 says, (as Mr. Wall translates it,) " that Novatian came not canonicaHy 
 to his order of priesthood, much less was he capable of being chosen 
 bishop :" Let the reader mark the reason assigned, " For that all the 
 u clergy, and a great maxy of the Laity, were against his being 
 " chosen Presbyter ; because it was not lawful, (they said) for any one 
 " that had been baptized in his bed, [Greek, as above, poured over,] as 
 ■ he had been, to be admitted to any office of the clergy." Wall's 
 Hist. Part II. ch. ix. § 2. 
 
 Here is the first recorded case of affusion, either pouring or sprink- 
 ling, for baptism ; and here we have a serious objection taken against 
 the person so baptized on account of it ; an objection in which " all the 
 clergy" were united. What was the objection 1 Was it against his 
 situation, as being sick in bed 1 or against the mode of the ordinance ] 
 This is important to be ascertained. I answer, It was against roth ; 
 for soon after this time these two objections against such a baptism 
 were exhibited. 1. There was an objection against a person sick, 
 because, as the Council of Neocsesarea affirmed by the 12th canon, 
 g2 
 
78 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 " He that is baptized, when he is sick, ought not to be made a priest, 
 for his coming to the faith is not voluntary, but from necessity." 
 And, 2. As to the mode, while Novatian was living, one Magnus sub- 
 mits this question to Cyprian — " An habendi sint Christiani legitimi, 
 co quod aqua salutari non loti sunt, sed perfusi V i. e. " Whether they 
 are to be esteemed right Christians, who are not washed in the 
 water, but only sprinkled V* Cyprian answers, that the baptism was to 
 be esteemed good, " necessitate cogente," " necessity compelling to it, 
 and God granting his indulgence" I leave the reader to reflect on the 
 force of this evidence. 
 
 From this period, A. D. 250, onward, sprinkling was permitted, but 
 only in a case of necessity, and in prospect of death ; originating in a 
 false view of the necessity of the ordinance to salvation. " France 
 (says Mr. Wall) seems to have been the first country in the world where 
 baptism by affusion was used ordinarily to persons in health." This 
 affusion, or pouring, in the church of Rome, was first tolerated in the 
 eighth century, while immersion was still the established law of the 
 church ; and so things stood for several hundred years. In the six- 
 teenth century, pouring was generally adopted. The Rituals of that 
 church prove this to a demonstration. See Robinson's History of Bap- 
 tism, p. 525 ; and Bishop Bossuet, just cited. 
 
 The Church of England held the original practice of dipping longer 
 than those of the continent. " Perfunduntur (says Erasmus, A. D 
 1530,) apud nos, mcrguntur apud Anglos." i. e. " With us (the Dutch) 
 they have the water poured on them ; in England they are dipped." 
 The Rubric to this day instructs the clergyman, " he shall dip in the 
 water discreetly and warily ;" but it allows an exception, " but if they 
 shall certify that the child is weak, it shall suffice to pour water upon 
 it." The Catechism requires the youth to express the form of baptism 
 only as by immersion, " Water wherein the person is baptized." In 
 the early history of this church "the offices or liturgies (says Mr. 
 Wall) did all along . . . enjoin dipping, without any mention of pour- 
 ing or sprinkling." In A. D. 1549, first appeared the exception for 
 ' weak' children : four years afterward the word thrice, after the order t» 
 dip, was omitted. Sprinkling began to prevail about A. D. 1550, and 
 "within the time of half a century, from A. D. 1550 to 1600, pre- 
 vailed to be the more gexeral ; as it is now almost the only way 
 of baptizing." Mr. Wall's Hist, of Inf. Bap. Pt. II. ch. ix. § 2. 
 
 9. In what proportion of the Christion world has im- 
 mersion been continued dow*. io the present time ? 
 
 Answer. Ma. Wall. " What has been said of this custom of 
 pouring or sprinkling water in the ordinary use of baptism, is to be 
 understood only in reference to these western parts op Europe •. 
 for it is used ordinarily nowhere else. The Greek church does still 
 use immersion ; and so do all other Christians in the world except the 
 Latins. All those nations of Christians that do now, or formerly did 
 submit to the authority of the Bishop of Rome, do ordinarily baptize 
 their infants by pouring or sprinkling ; but all other Christians in the 
 world who never owned the Pope's usurped power, do and ever uid 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 79 
 
 djp their infants in the ordinary use. ... All the Christians in Asia, all 
 in Africa, and about one-third part of Europe, are of the last sort." 
 Hist, of Inf. Bap. Part II. ch. ix. p. 37G. Ed. 3. 
 
 Docs my reader wish me to proceed any further 1 To my mind the 
 subject is perfectly settled ; because the evidence adduced before us has 
 been, not in criticisms upon words, but in plain historical facts ; facts 
 admitted by every Christian writer that has examined the subject; and, 
 as they include the practice of the apostolic age, they are decisive upon 
 the subject. 
 
 The contention, therefore, that the word Bapihe has other senses 
 beside to immerse, and that the prepositions rendered i?ito and out of, 
 in the baptism of the eunuch, may be rendered to and from the water; 
 all this is perfect quibbling and trifling when the fact is conceded, that 
 Jesus, and his apostles, and the primitive Christians, observed and 
 authorized the ordinance in this form. Thus the late editor of Calmet, 
 after warmly contending against the views of the Baptists, adds, " Here 
 again, I say, let me not be misunderstood ; I believe that immersion was 
 practised by John." Why, granting this, he grants me all : for if this 
 was the form in which ' the Lord of glory' was baptized, and what he 
 authorized, I want no more. 
 
 To a person disposed to question the evidence for immersion, I wouki 
 beg to propose the following inquiries, founded upon those historical 
 facts briefly given in the foregoing pages, and which he may mere fully 
 examine in the works I have referred to : — 
 
 1. How came it to pass, that the early Christian writers expressed 
 the rite of baptism by such Greek and Latin words and phrases (ex 
 elusive of baptizo) as signify, to be plunged; to be buried,- to be 
 dipped; to be immersed; to be let down in the water, and to be 
 encompassed by the water on every side ? 
 
 2. How came it to pass, that when affusion or sprinkling was had 
 recourse to, as an expedient in prospect of death, and the person re- 
 covered, he was not deemed so properly baptized as to be admissible to 
 any sacred office 7 
 
 3. How came it to pass, that the fathers should name, as suitable 
 places for baptizing, " the sea, a pool, a river, a fountain, a lake, a chan- 
 nel, the Jordan, the Tiber ;" and that the baptism may be alike " in" 
 any one of them 1 
 
 4. How came it to pass, that by the authority of the ' Canons Aposto- 
 lical,' if a Bishop or Presbyter baptized by any other way than immei • 
 sion, yea, trine-immersion, he should be deposed 1 
 
 5. How comes it to pass, that those Christians with whom the com 
 mand of the Lord Jesus to baptize is in their xatite toxgue, have, 
 in all ages of their history, observed this mode ! 
 
 6. How comes it to pass, that the aktiext rituals of those 
 churches in which pouring and sprinkling now prevail, solemnly 
 exjoixed, or do still enjoin, the mode of immersion ! 
 
 7. How came it to pass, that the whole Christian world, however 
 afterward divided, uniformly observed immersion, except in sickness, 
 for thirteen hodred years] 
 
80 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 Nov*, though the evidence I have produced upon these points from 
 ancient and modern writers be brief, which it would have been much 
 easier to have extended than to have thus compressed, it is beyond 
 doubt, that ivhat the above inquiries state, are 
 
 INCONTROVERTIBLE HISTORICAL FACTS. 
 
 And if the New Testament contained no decisive evidence on the 
 subject, the above facts afford a most indisputable proof that immer- 
 sion was the original, and if so the divinely authorized mode; 
 and consequently that which should be invariably and unaltera- 
 bly observed to the end of time ; for who can alter what Christ 
 ordains ? 
 
 APPENDIX, PART III. 
 
 On the Spiritual Design of Baptism. 
 
 That this sacred ordinance was intended by the Great Head of the 
 Church to be symbolical, and to teach by an expressive and visible 
 sign what the gospel taught by the word preached, is a truth too evi- 
 dent in the New Testament to be doubted ; and that the particular form 
 or mode of it was to be indicative of some important truths, and that 
 its observance was to have a beneficial iufluence on the Christian 
 church, are equally clear. We have now in few words to state, what 
 the ordinance was intended to teach, what to exhibit, and what practi- 
 cal influence it should have on the church of Christ. 
 
 1. It was to teach the sinfulness of man, and the necessity of puri- 
 fication from sin, in order to eternal life. These truths are implied in 
 Peter's words, when exhorting to the ordinance, " Repent and be bap- 
 tized for the remission of sins ;" and in Ananias', " Arise, and be bap- 
 tized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." 
 Acts ii. 38. xxii. 16. 
 
 2. Baptism was intended to teach and to signify the Christian's 
 entire abandonment of a life of impiety, and his entrance upon a new 
 life of devotion and dedication to God. The metaphors of a death and 
 burial express the former, and a resurrection the latter. Hence the 
 apostle, Rom. vi. 8, declares the Christian " dead with Christ ;" and 
 not only dead, but * buried with him ;" and here Christ's own institu- 
 tion is introduced to confirm the apostle's doctrine ; " therefore we are 
 buried with him by baptism into death," &c. See the Scripturei 
 at p. 45. 
 
 3. Baptism was intended to exhibit our Lord's overwhelming 
 sufferings — To this most interesting circumstance our blessed Re- 
 deemer does himself allude in affecting terms. See pp. 22, 23. 
 
 4. No less does baptism pre-represent what the Christian anticipates 
 as the destiny of his own human nature, when he shall descend like 
 
0CRIPTORE (irini: to BAPTISM, 81 
 
 his Redeemer into the grave, am 1 , at his Saviour's second coming be 
 raised to glory. So the apostle, " Else what shall they do who are 
 baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all." In no way but 
 immersion does the ordinance answer this and the foregoing designs. 
 
 5. And, finally, this sacred rite, in reference to its subjects, appears 
 evidently designed to form a line ef .separation between the world and 
 the church. A baptized person, in the primitive age, was considered as 
 having come out from the ungodly, and assumed the character and 
 profession of a follower of Christ. " As many of you as have been 
 baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Gal. hi. 27. Just as when 
 a person, entering the service of an earthly prince, puts on the aft ire 
 by which the servants of that prince are distinguished, so the Christian, 
 by baptism, puts on, as a garment, an open profession of his Lord and 
 Master ; declaring that he is no longer his own, or the servant of sin 
 and Satan, but bought with a price, and now surrenders himself to him 
 that loved him and died for him. This entire separation of the church 
 from the world our Saviour most plainly taught in John xv. 19. xvii. 6, 
 9, 20, 21, and xviii. 36. As did also the apostles; see, as an example, 
 2 Cor. vi. 14 to 18. In none but believers can this practical use of 
 baptism be realized. 
 
 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 In closing my little work I must request my reader's 
 attention to a few thoughts, suggested by the general 
 objections of opponents to the practice for which I have 
 contended; and add my rea?ons, in a summary form, for 
 abiding strictly by that practice. 
 
 I. Objections to exclusive Believers' Baptism. 
 
 1. In the form of objection to the principles of the Bap- 
 tists, relative to this ordinance, it has been remarked that 
 4 The majority of Christians, with whom are associated an 
 immense number of great, good, and learned men, have 
 held, and do hold, the opposite views ;' and (it is asked) 
 1 Can they all be wrong V 
 
 Answer. I admit that a large majority of the professed Christian 
 inhabitants of the world, with whom are joined many most eminent 
 writers, are against us. But is a majority never wrong, — never fojnd 
 on the side of error ! Let my reader, whoever he may be, ask • Whe- 
 ther the majority of professed Christians do not think differently from 
 him upon some equally important points 1 and how little does he think 
 of the consequence of numbers upon those points !' The Chinese 
 plead their majority against Christians ; the Catholics against Pro- 
 testants ; &c. &c, but who feels the force of an argument in the plea ? 
 — And " as to great men and great names (says Mr. A. Clarke) we 
 
82 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 find them enrolled and arranged on the side of ael controversies;" 
 and I will allow my opponent to reckon them up by hundreds, or thou- 
 sands, and place them all on the side of infant baptism ; — I will take 
 and place on the other side, Christ and his apostles, and then I appeal 
 to my reader, Who has the best support, though my number be but 
 4 a little flock' in the comparison 1 
 
 Now I must be allowed to insist upon it that I have Christ and 
 the apostles with me, giving their sanction to believers' baptism ; and 
 all will admit, that their sanction is not to be found on the opposite 
 side. Much then as I venerate the great, good, and learned men 
 referred to, as not they, but Christ is my Lord and Master, and is to be 
 my sole Judge at the last day, I hesitate not to quit my connexion with 
 any majority, or with any particular eminent men, supposing I am 
 found in a minority, if Christ is with me there. 
 
 2. It has also been objected ' That our principles are of 
 recent origin ; and were unknown previous to the appear- 
 ance of certain enthusiasts in Germany, at the time of the 
 reformation.' 
 
 Answer. Our principles are as old as Christianity. We acknow- 
 ledge no founder but Christ. With enthusiasts in Germany, or in any 
 age or country, we have no connexion, and our forefathers never had. 
 Enthusiasts may be designated by the same name, but that proves 
 nothing. — Persons holding our distinctive principle, i. e. ' the baptism 
 of believers only' have appeared in all ages of the Christian era. From 
 Christ to nearly the end of the second century there were no others ; 
 at least, if there were any, their history is a blank.* After infant bap- 
 tism was introduced, many did not receive it, and many opposed it. 
 
 How else can we account for the case of Ambrose, Jerome, Augus- 
 tine, and others, who, says Bishop Taylor, " were born of Christian 
 parents, and yet not baptized until the full age of man, and more T'f 
 How else can we account for the pressing exhortations found in early 
 writings, addressed to professed Christians, to come to baptism H 
 How, especially, can we otherwise account for the awful anathemas 
 pronounced at different times by the dominant party, upon those that 
 denied infant baptism 1 
 
 If my reader has opportunity to make himself acquainted with the 
 history of the numerous bodies of Christians which appeared at differ- 
 ent periods, while popery was dominant in Europe, he will find that 
 there were many mtriads of persons, who, for several centuries 
 before the Reformation, lifted up their voice against that spiritual domi- 
 
 * It may be proper to state, that Mr. Wall thought that there was a passage in 
 Irenaeus, in the second century, favorable to infant baptism. " Christ," says Ire- 
 nseus. " came to save all persons by himself; all, I mean, who by him (renascun- 
 tur in Deum) are regenerated to God ; infants, and little ones, and youths, and 
 elder persons." Now, if the word regenerated had no other sense than baptized*, 
 and Christ came to save only those who received that ordinance, and by it, then 
 this passage would be, what Mr. Wall calls it, " the first express mention of infapt 
 baptism." But as it is, it is begging the question to cite it at all on the subject. 
 
 t Dissuasive from Popery, Ft. II. p. 117. 
 
 t See Basil's Oratio Exhoit. ad Bapt. in Mr. Wall's Hist. Pt. I. ch. xii. § 3. 
 
9CRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 83 
 
 nation ; and that those several sects held the distinctive principle of the 
 Baptists, given above ; or in their own words, as recorded by Mr. 
 Mosheim, " That no persons whatever were to be baptized before they 
 came to the full use of their reason :" " Because to all infants, that 
 know nothing of faith, in whom there can be no desire of regeneration, 
 or confession of faith, &c, the will, faith, and confession of another, 
 seem not in the least to appertain." Eccles. Hist. Cent. XII. ch. v 
 § 7. and in Stennett's Answer to Russen, p. 84. 
 
 Such was the avowed sentiment of the followers of GuxDriPHrs 
 in Italy ; of the Berengarians in France ; of the Paterines in the 
 Dutchy of Milan ; of the Petrobrusians and Hebricians in Lan- 
 guedoc and Provence ; and of the followers of Arnold, of Brescia, 
 who suffered at Rome, A. D. 1155. — All these are sometimes included 
 in the general name of Waldenses, and their history may be tracec 
 backward from the time of the reformation through several centuries 
 " Some of the popish writers own (says President Edwards) that that 
 people never submitted to the church of Rome. One says ' The heresy 
 of the Waldenses is the oldest heresy in the world.' It is supposed 
 that this people betook themselves to this secret place among the moun 
 tains, to hide themselves from the severity of the heathen persecutions 
 which were before Constantine the Great. And thus the woman flei} 
 into the wilderness from the face of the serpent. Rev. xii. 6 and 14." 
 (History of Redemption, Period III. Pt. ii. 1.) To this agrees Beza, 
 who says, " As for the Waldenses, I may be permitted to call them the 
 eeed of the primitive and purer church." On baptism their confession 
 is given in these words — " We believe that in the ordinance of baptism, 
 the water is the visible and external sign, which represents to us — the 
 renovation of our minds through Christ Jesus, and by this ordinance 
 we are received into the holy congregation of God's people, previously 
 professing and declarixg our faith, and change of life." See 
 Jones' Hist, of this people, Vol. II. pp. 49, 50, 70. 2d Ed. 
 
 To the Waldenses succeeded the Mennonites ; i. e. the Baptists, 
 or Anabaptists, as they are sometimes contemptuously called, at this 
 time an extensive body in various nations on the continent of Europe. 
 Thus, the learned Mr. Mosheim says, " The true origin of that sect 
 which acquired the denomination of Anabaptists ... and derived that 
 of Mennonites from the famous man to whom they owe the greatest 
 part of their present felicity, is hidden in the depths of antiquity .. . 
 The Mennonites are not entirely in error when they boast of their 
 •descent from the Waldenses, Petrobrusians, and other ancient sects, 
 who are usually considered as witnesses of the truth in the times of 
 general darkness and superstition." Eccles. Hist. Cent. XVI. Sect. III. 
 pt. ii. ch. iii. My reader may judge from this of the nature of the 
 objection as to the recent origin of Baptist principles.* 
 
 * In reference to Great Britain, in particular, during the first centuries, it may 
 be affirmed, that from the first introduction of Christianity into it, until Pope Gre- 
 gory (A. D. 5%,) sent over Austin to this country with a number of monks to con- 
 vert the people to the Catholic faith, we have eood reason for believing that 
 believers' baptism alone prevailed in this country"; for Austin, findins differences 
 to c xist between his views and the British Christians, called their ministers to 
 lather, an«I proposed "Three things," in order to their having his favor and pro- 
 
84 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 3. On the mode, it is objected ' That it is more trouble- 
 some, and inconvenient than the usual mode of sprinkling; 
 and quite a cross to submit to it.' 
 
 Answer. I admit this, as certainly the feeling of human nature : 
 but, I beg to inquire, Is the trouble and inconvenience too great, and 
 the cross too heavy to be borne, if I have proved that Christ sanctioned 
 that mode by his command and his example ] Who, as a Christian, 
 if present on the banks of Jordan when Christ was baptized, would 
 refuse or object to be the next person to be baptized after Christ, and 
 in the same way ] And if then, when the Holy Spirit was visibly 
 descending, and the Father's voice was heard, you would cheerfully 
 have entered the streams of Jordan, is not the ordinance the same now, 
 equally binding, endearing, and as much under the eye and the bless- 
 ing of heaven ? Without doubt : and surely your Redeemer has done 
 enough, and suffered enough for sinners, to entitle him to this act of 
 obedience from them, supposing it does give them a measure of trouble, 
 and inconvenience, and a cross to bear after him. Hear his own words, 
 — " He that taketh not his cross, and folio weth after me, is not worthy 
 of me." Matt. x. 38. 
 
 4. But, it is added, ' The quantity of water can matter 
 nothing ; any more than the quantity of wine or bread in 
 the Lord's supper.' 
 
 Answer. This is granted, providing only there be a sufficient 
 quantity to fulfil Christ's command. It is not the quantity that is con- 
 tended for, but a conformity to the pattern of Christ ; and any departure 
 from that pattern renders the act no longer an act of obedience to him. 
 
 5. But, objects another, ' I have, I hope, received the 
 baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is the thing signified ; 
 and I do not see the necessity of submitting to this rite, as 
 it cannot take away sin, or do me any good.' 
 
 Answer. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is made, by the apostle 
 Peter, the very reason why those that received it should receive this 
 ordinance- — " Can any man forbid water that these should not be 
 baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we !" (See 
 p. 35.) And as to the good the ordinance can do, and its inability to 
 take away sin, I again refer to him who had no sin to take away, and 
 needed no good from religious services, yet travelled a long journey ' to 
 be baptized,' and silenced every objection against it by affirming 
 " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." 
 
 tection. The second of these things was, " That ve give Christendome tc 
 children," i. e. that they should baptize them: good proof that they did not do sc 
 before. And it is known that Pope Gregory, above referred to, decreed as follows 
 — " Let all young children be baptized, "as they ought to be, according to thetradi 
 tions of the Fathers." What an evidence is this" of the omission of infant bap 
 tism, and the kind of authority by which it was authorized and urged ! Sea 
 Ivimey's Hist, of the English Baptists, Vol. I. pp. 42 — 15. 
 
 The reader should also be informed, that infant communion began about the 
 same time as infant baptism, and attended it till about A. D. 1000. It was admi- 
 nistered for the same reason, i. e. on account of its saving efficacy. In the East i« 
 is still continued. 
 
SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 85 
 
 II. Reasons for the Baptism of Believers only. 
 
 1. Because I am quite sure that I have plain Scripture autho- 
 rity for believers' baptism ; but to authorize the baptism of infanta 
 not a word, in inspiration, is to be found. 
 
 2. Because the baptism of believers is in harmony with the doctrines 
 of the gospel, and the nature of Christ's kingdom, which 'is not of 
 this world,' but spiritual, and extends no further amongst men than 
 faith and Christian experience extend. John i. 11 — 13. 
 
 3. Because baptism, being an act of obedience to Christ, must have 
 Christ's command, or authority ; the baptism of believers only has 
 this; (see p. 26.) "Can that be obedience," inquires Mr. Baxter, 
 " which hath no command ? Who knows what will please God but 
 himself: and has he not told us what he expects from us V 
 
 4. Because the doctrine of infant baptism, namely, ' that children by 
 it are brought into the covenant of grace, which is the covenant of re- 
 demption, or ' the benefits of that covenant sealed to them,' is opposed 
 to all the leading doctrines of the gospel, whether according to the views 
 of Arminians or Calvinists. What, in this case, becomes of the doc- 
 trine of God's Election ? of the necessity of Repentance ? of the New 
 Birth ? of Conversion ? of Faith in Christ 1 and of Justification 
 through Faith 1 &c. &c. All these are superseded by baptism, if the 
 above doctrine be true. 
 
 5. Because of the dangerous practical tendency of infant baptism. 
 If children, advancing into life, believe the above doctrine, they are 
 likely to rest satisfied in the ' benefits sealed,' and without any further 
 concern, without faith or piety, live in the hypocrite's hope, and perish 
 with ' a lie in their right hand !' 
 
 6. Because infant baptism goes to unite the world with the church of 
 Christ. Have not the vilest infidels in Christendom received ' the seal 
 of the covenant, and been grafted into the church, the body of Christ V 
 How grossly absurd ! How lamentable, that they should have cause 
 to pour contempt upon Christianity by the errors and follies of its 
 professors ! 
 
 7. Because I would not have the impression on my mind while in 
 this life, or the remembrance at the Bar of future Judgment, that I had 
 ' reversed' Christ's order, which is the case in infant baptism, (see Si- 
 meon, p. 25,) or altered the mode which his wisdom ordained ; pre- 
 ferring to follow my Saviour's plain and endeared example, and to abide 
 by his sacred and authoritative instructions. 
 
 FINAL ADDRESS TO THE READER. 
 
 I will now imagine that you, my reader, are convinced that I have 
 the truth with me on this subject : allow me, then, in behalf of Christ, 
 to exhort you practically to attend to this sacred institution. Do you 
 
 H 
 
86 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 ask, What Is prerequisite to baptism P I answer, these three things : 
 (1.) To see and feel that you are a sinner, and need the remission 
 of sins, Acts ii. 38. (2.) That you believe that Jesus is the Son of 
 God, and rely on him as your only Saviour, Acts viii. 37. (3.) That 
 you feel willing to forsake all ungodliness, and to devote your future 
 life to the service and glory of your Redeemer ; willing, and not 
 ashamed, to put on Christ, and follow him to the skies. Rom. vi. 4 ; 
 Gal. iii. 27. 
 
 If these things are found in you, and you are convinced of the will 
 *f Christ, delay not doing his will. " If ye love me, (said he,) keep 
 my commandments." Do not entertain frivolous excuses. 
 
 1. Do not say ' you are too young/ At twelve years of age your 
 Lord appeared in public, doing the will of his Father ; if you have 
 reached that age, it is high time to commence a life of dedication to 
 Christ. Go, youthful reader, and follow the Lamb in the morning of 
 life. Who knows but your sun may go down at noon ! His promise 
 is, " They that seek me early shall find me." 
 
 2. Do not say ' you are too old.' If you have far exceeded the age 
 above mentioned, and yet hear the Saviour's voice, 'follow me,' you are 
 not too old to obey his endeared and binding commands. 
 
 3. Do not say ' what good can it do you V Behold your Lord enter- 
 ing the waters of Jordan ! Are you wiser or better than he 1 Beware 
 that you reflect not on his wisdom. 
 
 4. Does the ordinance appear a cross to you 1 and especially so, as 
 it is something that does not fall in with the taste and fancy of the 
 world 1 Thank God for that. Christ never intended his religion, or 
 his ordinances, to suit the fancies of unregenerate men ; and the more 
 objectionable this ordinance is to such persons, so much more effectual 
 is it as a line of demarcation between the world and his church, as the 
 Lord Jesus intended. And as to the cross, — do you think it is too 
 heavy 1 Behold him passing through the baptism of his inconceivable 
 sufferings for you ! Behold him carrying the cross upon which he 
 was suspended for many hours ; and thereon, by his dying pains, work- 
 ing out eternal redemption for you ! And will you, turning from 
 these unparalleled scenes, say ' the cross of baptism is too heavy for 
 you i* Impossible, if you feel aright. 
 
 To bear his name— His cross to bear, 
 
 Our highest honor this ! 
 Who nobly suffers now for him, 
 
 Shall reign with him in bliss. 
 
THE PRACTICAL USES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Extracts from a Circular Letter of the Northamptonshire (Eng- 
 land) Baptist Association. 
 
 That Christian baptism is properly administered only 
 by immersion, and to those who make a credible profes- 
 sion of faith in Christ, it is no part of our present design 
 to prove. Addressing ourselves to you, we shall take 
 each of these particulars for granted. The sole object 
 to which we now request your attention is, the influence 
 of this ordinance, (where it produces its proper effects) 
 in promoting piety in individuals, and purity in the 
 church. 
 
 There is no part of true religion that is merely specu- 
 lative: the whole is designed and adapted to sanctify the 
 soul. We may presume," therefore, that if baptism be 
 an ordinance of God, and of perpetual obligation in the 
 church, it is of importance to Christian practice. 
 
 But it is not on presumptive evidence that we wish to 
 rest the improvement of this institution, any more than 
 the institution itself: neither snail we go about to con- 
 nect with it acknowledged duties by imaginary alliances; 
 but shall confine ourselves to those uses of the ordinance 
 which are actually made, or suggested in the New Tes- 
 tament. We could address many things to parents, and 
 things of importance too, on bringing up their children 
 in the nurture and admonition of the Lord: we could 
 also urge it upon the children of believers, that they 
 were cast upon the Lord from their earliest infancy: but 
 as we find nothing of this kind in the Scriptures connect' 
 
2 
 
 ed with baptism, however important these things would 
 be in their place, they would be altogether irrelevant 
 while treating on this ordinance. 
 
 Baptism is a Divine institution pertaining to the king- 
 dom of the Messiah, or the gospel dispensation. John 
 received it "from heaven," and administered it to the 
 Jews, who, on his proclaiming that "the kingdom of 
 heaven was at hand," confessed their sins. Jesus gave 
 sanction to it by his example; and, after his resurrection, 
 when all power in heaven and earth was committed to 
 him, confirmed, and extended it to believers of all na- 
 tions. Whatever circumstantial differences there might 
 be, therefore, between the baptism of John and that of 
 Christ, they were substantially the same. There were 
 things in former ages which bore a resemblance to it; as, 
 the salvation of Noah and his family in the ark, the pas- 
 sage of the Israelites through the sea, divers washings 
 or bathings prescribed by the Mosaic ritual, &c. but the 
 thing itself existed not, till it was revealed to the imme- 
 diate forerunner of Christ. 
 
 The principal design of it appears to be, a solemn and 
 practical profession of the Christian religion. Such was 
 the baptism of John, who "said unto the people, that 
 they should believe on him who should come after him; 
 that is, on Christ Jesus." And such was that in the 
 times of the apostles. Paul, addressing himself to the 
 churches in Galatia, who, after having professed to be- 
 lieve in Christ, cleaved to the Mosaic law as a medium 
 of justification, thus speaks: "The law was our school- 
 master to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified 
 by faith: but after that faith is come, we are no longer 
 under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of 
 God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as 
 have been baptized into Christ, have tut on Christ." 
 The allusion is to the putting on of apparel; as when one 
 that enters into the service of a prince, puts on his dis- 
 tinguishing attire: and the design of the sacred writer is 
 to remind those of them who had before professed the 
 Jewish religion, that by a solemn act of their own they 
 had, as it were, put off Moses, and put on Christ. There 
 is a putting on ot Christ which is internal, and consists 
 in relinquishing the former lusts, and being of the mind 
 
of Christ; (Romans xiii. 14.) but that which is referred 
 to appears to be an open profession of his name, to the 
 renouncing of every thing that stood in competition with 
 him. It was therefore true of "as many as had been 
 baptized," whether they abode in the truth or not. And 
 even their being u the children of God by faith in Christ 
 Jesus," seems to express what they were in profession, 
 rather than what they were in fact. They had by their 
 baptism disowned all dependance on the privileges of 
 birth, and the adoption which pertained to them as the 
 children of Abraham; declared their acquiescence in that 
 power, or privilege, to become the sons of God, which 
 the gospel imparts to them that believe. The mention 
 of this was perfectly in point, as it greatly heightened 
 the evil of their defection. The amount is, That as many 
 as were baptized in the primitive ages were voluntary 
 agents, and submitted to this ordinance for the purpose of 
 making a solemn and practical profession of the Chris- 
 tian faith. It was their oath of allegiance to the King 
 of Zion; that by which they avowed the Lord to be their 
 God. Hence a rejection of it involved " a rejection of the 
 counsel of God." (Luke vii. 30.) The sin of the Phari- 
 sees and lawyers consisted not in their refusing to sub- 
 mit to baptism as unbelievers; but in embracing the 
 Messiah, and so putting on the badge of his profession. 
 Their rejection of the sign was justly construed as a 
 rejection of the thing signified; as when a rebel refuses 
 to take the oath of allegiance, it is construed as a refusal 
 of submission and subjection to his rightful prince. 
 
 Such, brethren, is the profession we have made. We 
 have not only declared in words, our repentance towards 
 God, and fafth towards our Lord Jesus Christ; but have 
 said the same things by our baptism. We have solemnly 
 surrendered ourselves up to Christ, taking him to be our 
 prophet, priest, and king; engaging to receive his doc- 
 trine, to rely on his atonement, and to obey his laws. 
 The vows of God are upon us. We have even sworn to 
 keep his righteous judgments; and, without violating the 
 oath of God, cannot go back. If it be a sin not to con- 
 fess the Lord Jesus, through fear or shame, it is a still 
 greater sin after we have confessed him, to turn from 
 the holy commandment 
 
The religion of Jesus consists partly of truths to be 
 believed, and partly of precepts to be obeyed; and the 
 ordinance of baptism furnishes motives for a faithful ad- 
 herence to both. 
 
 We have been baptized " in tlie name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;" and have thu9 
 practically avowed our belief in them. It was at Jordan 
 that the Father bore witness to his well-beloved Son, and 
 that the Holy Spirit descended upon him; hither, there- 
 fore, in the early ages, men were directed to repair, 
 that they might learn the doctrine of the trinity. If we 
 relinquish this doctrine, we virtually relinquish our bap- 
 tism. Of this there need not be a more convincing proof 
 than the inclination which has been discovered by those 
 who have renounced the doctrine, to disuse the form of 
 baptizing in the name of the Sacred Three. 
 
 We have also professed by our baptism to embrace 
 that great salvation which is accomplished by the united 
 influence of the Sacred Three. We have in effect de- 
 clared our acquiescence in the freeness of the Father's 
 grace, in the all-sufficient atonement of the Son, and in 
 the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit: for these 
 are the principal things by which, in the New Testament 
 account of the economy of grace, each is distinguished. 
 Nor can we renounce them, without virtually renouncing 
 our baptism. 
 
 The immersion of the body in ivafer, which is a puri- 
 fying element, contains a profession of our faith in Christ, 
 through the shedding of whose blood we are cleansed 
 from all sin. Hence, baptism in the name of Christ is 
 said to be "for the remission of sins." (Acts ii. 38. xxii. 
 16.) Not that there is any such virtue in the element, 
 whatever be the quantity; nor in the ceremony, though 
 of Divine appointment: but it contains a sign of the way 
 in which we must be saved. Sin is washed away in bap- 
 tism in the same sense as Christ's flesh is eaten, and his 
 blood drank, in the Lord's supper; the sign, when right- 
 ly used, leads to the thing signified. Remission of sin is 
 ascribed, by Peter, not properly to baptism; but to the 
 name in which the parties were to be baptized. Thus 
 also Saul was directed to " wash away his sins, calling 
 on the name of the Lord." Nearly akin to this is the 
 
idea conveyed to us in the first epistle of Peter: "The 
 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while 
 
 the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, 
 were saved by water. The like figure whereunto baptism 
 doth noiv save us, (not the putting away of the lilth of 
 the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards 
 God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter iii. 
 20, 21.) The salvation of Noah and his family by the 
 ark was a figure of our salvation by the death and resur- 
 rection of Jesus Christ. The ark for a time was sur- 
 rounded, as it were, with waters from above, and from 
 beneath: but it survived its trial, and those who were in 
 it were at length brought safe to land. Christ also for 
 a time sustained the deluge of wrath due to our sins; but 
 survived the trial, rising triumphantly from the dead, 
 and thereby saved us from everlasting death. Of this 
 great transaction baptism is a like figure. It is another 
 sign of the same thing. The resemblance of baptism by 
 immersion to the death and resurrection of Christ, and 
 the suitableness of one to signify our faith in the other, 
 are manifest. It is thus that baptism doth now save us . 
 not as putting away the filth of the flesh; (for all the vir- 
 tue contained in the ordinance itself is "the answer of a 
 good conscience toward God") but as affording a sign of 
 our salvation by the victorious resurrection of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 And as we are taught by our baptism to adhere to the 
 doctrine of God our Saviour, so we are furnished with 
 motives to adorn it by a holy conversation. Thus it is 
 introduced in the epistles to the Romans and Colossians 
 as a sign of our being dead, and buried, to the principles 
 and pursuits of the present world: and, by faith in Christ, 
 raised as into a new world. (Romans vi. 5 — 12. Col. 
 ii. 12.) The death of Christ is emphatically mentioned 
 . as that into which we are baptized — M Know ye not, that 
 so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were 
 baptized into his death ? Therefore, we are buried with 
 him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ died, and 
 was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
 even so we also should walk in newness of life." Christ's 
 dying for sin afforded a most powerful motive for our 
 dying to it; and the immersion of the body in baptism, 
 
being " in the likeness" of the former, furnishes an ad- 
 ditional motive to the latter. 
 
 The leading idea suggested by a death and burial 
 seems to be that of separation from the world. There is 
 no greater line of separation than that which is drawn 
 between the dead and the living. The dead know not 
 any thing; and have no portion in all that is done under 
 the sun. Such is the line which is drawn by the faith 
 of the operation of God, between the world renewed and 
 the world depraved; of which, baptism is the appointed 
 sign. If, after this, we are found among evil doers, we 
 may well be considered and shunned as a kind of appa- 
 ritions, which have no proper concern in the affairs of 
 mortals. 
 
 The apostle applied this reasoning against a conformi- 
 ty to abrogated ceremonies. " If ye be dead with Christ 
 from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living 
 in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" (Col. ii. 
 20.) The same reasoning is applicable to other things. 
 If we be dead with Christ, why, as though living, are 
 we subject to the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 and the pride of life, which are of the world? Why are 
 any of us conformed to this world; and not rather trans- 
 formed by the renewing of our minds? If we be dead, 
 and our life be hid with Christ in God; why are not our 
 affections set on things above, and not on things on the 
 earth? We cannot but express our concern, that persons 
 professing godliness should be carried awav by the course 
 of this world, as many are; meanly imitating the ungod- 
 ly; whose conduct they ought rather to reprove. Such 
 imitation, so far as it operates, contains a virtual re- 
 nunciation of our baptism. The ideas of baptism and a 
 separation from the world, whether connected by us or 
 not, are strongly associated in the minds of men in ge- 
 neral. After this, we cannot unite with them in evil, 
 without drawing upon ourselves their most pointed cen- 
 sures. They may labour to seduce us for the sake of 
 comforting themselves; and while accomplishing their 
 purpose may suppress their private thoughts of us, and 
 even compliment us for our liberality: but if we comply, 
 their pretended esteem will be turned into reproach. 
 Nor ought we to consider this as an evil; but rather as a 
 
mercy. God hath hereby set a hedge about us, which 
 tends more than a little to preserve us from temptation. 
 If any think otherwise, and feel uneasy that they cannot 
 act like other men, without drawing upon themselves 
 the censures of mankind, it is a dark sign that their 
 hearts are not right in the sight of God. 
 
 Nor is this ordinance adapted merely to separate be- 
 tween believers and unbelievers, individually consider- 
 ed: its design is also to draw a line of distinction between 
 the kingdo?n of Christ, and the kingdom of Satan. What- 
 ever may be said of baptism, as it is now generally un- 
 derstood and practised, and of the personal religion of 
 those who practise it, it was originally appointed to be 
 the boundary of visible Christianity. This is a principle, 
 which, if properly acted upon, would go far to prevent 
 the confounding of the church and the world ; and 
 which, consequently, tends more than any thing of the 
 kind to counteract ecclesiastical degeneracy and corrup- 
 tion. Had the Christian church in all ages admitted 
 none to baptism, from whomsoever descended, but those 
 who professed to repent and believe the gospel, it is 
 scarcely conceivable that any others would have been 
 admitted to the Lord's supper: and if so, a stream of 
 corruption which has actually deluged it with antichris- 
 tianism, would have been diverted at the spring-head. 
 The church might indeed have been corrupted from other 
 causes, but these would have been merely accidental. 
 Hypocrites and formalists might have imposed themselves 
 upon it, as they did in some degree in the apostolic age; 
 but they would have been intruders. Whatever of this 
 kind might have existed, believers could not have been 
 constitutionally joked together with unbelievers. The car- 
 nal descendants of godly people could not have claimed 
 a place in Christ's visible kingdom. The church could 
 not have become national, embracing as its children all 
 who are born in a Christianized country, without any 
 profession of personal religion. Princes and nobles, it* 
 worthy, would have been received into its communion a9 
 brethren; but not as rulers or patrons: and if unworthy, 
 refused; even though an exposure to persecution had 
 been the consequence — But if persons be admitted to 
 baptism without any profession of personal religion, or 
 
upon the profession of others on their behalf, their ad- 
 mission to the Lord's supper will in most cases follow as 
 a matter of course. Indeed it ought to follow: for though 
 amongst evangelical dissenters these things are separated, 
 yet from the beginning it was not so. Neither scripture 
 nor the practice of the ancient churches affords a single 
 example of a baptized person, unless his conduct was 
 grossly immoral, being ineligible to communion And 
 if all who are now baptized, be admitted to the supper, 
 the line of separation will be broken ; the church will be 
 no longer iS a garden enclosed:" but an open wilderness, 
 where every beast of prey can range at pleasure. Thus, 
 indeed, it was foretold it should be. The writer of the 
 Apocalypse, describing the corruptions which should 
 prevail in the visible church during the twelve hundred 
 and sixty years' reign of antichrist, represents it under 
 the form of the outer court of the temple being left out 
 of the measurement as profane, and given to the Gentiles 
 to be trodden under foot, in like manner as the holy 
 place and holy city had been trodden down by the hea- 
 then, in the time of Antiochus. 
 
 As the principle of believers' baptism, properly acted 
 upon, would prevent the admission of all unconverted 
 characters, except hypocrites and self-deceivers, so it 
 would have its influence in repelling them. The habits 
 of some hypocritical characters, it is true, would render 
 it an easy thing to overleap this boundary; but it is equal- 
 ly true, that, to others, it would be an effectual bar. 
 There are not a few in the religious world, who would 
 like well to be members of a Christian church, especial- 
 ly where the pastor is a man of respectability, provided 
 tliey could be admitted without drawing upon themselves 
 the laugh of the irreligious. There is reason to believe, 
 that many persons of genteel connexions, who wish to 
 be thought religious, and whose consciences approve of 
 believers' baptism, are withheld by this kind of shame 
 from offering themselves to our churches. An ordinance 
 which thus operates, possesses a mark of its pertaining 
 to that kingdom which is "not of this world," and into 
 which it is " hard for a rich man to enter. " 
 
 As the leading idea suggested by a death and burial 
 is that of separation irom the world, so the principal 
 
thing denoted by a resurrection is an entrance into a 
 new state of being. Such is that " newness of life," of 
 which the emersion of the body from the waters of bap ■ 
 tism is a sign, and to which it furnishes an important 
 motive. The religion of Jesus does not consist in mere 
 negatives. It is not enough that we be dead to the 
 world: we must be alive to God. "With real Christians, 
 old things are passed away? and all things are become 
 new. Unless our baptism, therefore, be merely a sign, 
 or an unmeaning ceremony, our hopes, fears, sorrows, 
 joys, companions, principles, and pursuits are opposite 
 to those of this world. Even a partial return to it is 
 inconsistent with our baptismal vows. If those who pro- 
 fess to be dead to the world cannot walk in the course 
 of it, without being considered and shunned as a kind of 
 apparitions; those who are alive from the dead cannot 
 return, without resembling a living character who should 
 take up his abode in a sepulchre. 
 
 A few general reflections will conclude this epistle. 
 
 The baptism of a number of serious Christians is an 
 interesting and impressive spectacle. Often on such 
 solemn occasions, have we witnessed the falling tear; 
 not only from the parties baptized, and others immedi- 
 ately connected with them, but from indifferent specta- 
 tors. We could appeal to the consciences of many se- 
 rious Christians, whether they did not receive their first 
 convictions of the reality of religion at such opportuni- 
 ties ? We could appeal to all of you who have been in 
 the habit of attending the administration of this ordi- 
 nance, whether it has not frequently furnished you with 
 the most solemn and tender reflections? Has not the 
 sight of a number of young Christians, offering them- 
 selves willingly to the Lord, touched the secret springs 
 of holy sensibility? Yes: you have been reminded by it 
 of your own solemn engagements, and led to inquire in 
 what manner they have been fulfilled. You have re- 
 membered the days of your espousals, when you first 
 went after your Saviour, as in the wilderness, and have 
 been sweetly impelled to renew the solemn surrender. 
 Nor have your reflections been confined to yourselves: 
 you have considered these new accessions to the church 
 of God as supplying the place of others that were taken 
 
10 
 
 away, and as fulfilling the promise, " Instead of thy 
 fathers, shall be thy children." Thus, when the rank's 
 of an army in a besieged city are thinned by repeated 
 engagements, and the hearts of survivors are ready to 
 faint, a reinforcement arrives: a body of new compani- 
 ons throw themselves in to its relief, and inspire them 
 with new vigour. 
 
 Further: If the foregoing remarks be just, the impor- 
 tance of believers' baptism must appear in a very differ- 
 ent light, from that in which some have represented it. 
 If the ordinary acknowledgments of many who live in 
 the neglect of this ordinance, and disapprove of the zeal 
 of others who submit to it, may be considered as ex- 
 pressive of their principles, their conduct is not owing 
 to a solid conviction, arising from impartial inquiry ac- 
 companied with prayer, that it is unscriptural, or that 
 they have already been baptized according to the insti- 
 tution of Christ; but to a notion that it is of little or no 
 account. If it be of little or no account to bind ourselves 
 to the Lord, in the way. of his own prescribing; to con- 
 fess his name before men; to avow our being dead to the 
 world, and alive to him; to preserve the church from 
 being constitutionally corrupted, and yoked together 
 with unbelievers; to obey his commandments who saith, 
 u Repent and be baptized, every one of you :" and to 
 follow his example who yielded obedience to this insti- 
 tute, saying, "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righte- 
 ousness" — then may this excuse be admitted. But 
 if these things be important, then is believers' baptism 
 important; and all attempts to depreciate it are offensive 
 in the sight of him who is the Lord and Lawgiver of 
 Zion. 
 
 Finally, brethren, it becomes us to beware lest that 
 which is good in itself should, through the corruption of 
 our nature, become an occasion of evil. There is per- 
 haps no temptation more common among religious peo- 
 ple, than to think too highly of themselves on account of 
 their advantages. Where such a spirit is cherished, 
 baptism may become an idol, and the table of the Lord 
 itself a snare. It is more than possible that some may so 
 value themselves on account of their baptism, as to make 
 it a substitute for a life of holiness and universal righte- 
 
11 
 
 ousness. It appears that some amongst the Corinthians 
 approached too near, at least, to this spirit. They had 
 been baptized, — they had eaten and drank at the table of 
 the Lord, — yet they trifled with idolatry, and worldly 
 lusts. * ; I would not that ye should be ignorant (saith 
 Paul) how all our fathers were under the cloud, and all 
 passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Mo- 
 ses in the cloud and in the sea: and did all eat the same 
 spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; 
 for they drank of that spiritual rock which followed 
 them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them 
 God was not well pleased; for they were overmrown in 
 the wilderness. — These things were our examples. — - 
 Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand^-th cake heed 
 lest he fall!" (1 Cor. x.) As if he had said, 'Are you 
 members of a community which hath the promised pre- 
 sence of Christ? Our fathers also were under the cloud. 
 Hath God interposed in your favour? Thty passed 
 through the sea, as on dry land. Have you been baptiz- 
 ed? So where they. They descended in a body into the 
 sea; were buried, as it were, by the cloud above them, 
 and the waters on each hand of them; and alterwards 
 ascended on the other side. Have you been admitted to 
 the holy supper? They also ate of that food, and drank 
 of that stream, the spiritual intent of which was much 
 the same. Yet all this afforded them no security, when 
 they provoked the Divine jealousy. Notwithstanding 
 these privileges they fell, and were destroyed of the de- 
 stroyer. These things are recorded for our admonition.' 
 — Of what a-ccount then will our baptism be to us, if in- 
 stead of being dead to the world and alive to God, we be 
 the reverse? Will baptism save us? No: it will bear 
 witness against us! 
 
 And though we may not fall into so fatal an error, as 
 to substitute baptism in the place of holiness, righteous- 
 ness, and godliness; yet if we cherish a fond conceit of 
 ourselves, magnifying our advantages, to the neglect of a 
 spirit of humble watchfulness; our baptism, instead of 
 aiding us, will become a snare. We do not always act up 
 to our advantages. It is very possible that Christians 
 who are behind us in this particular, may, notwithstand- 
 ing, be before us in their general character. It were 
 
12 
 
 vain and foolish to imagine, that our possessing the truth 
 in one instance, will secure us from error in every other , 
 or that our fulfilling this command of Christ, however 
 important, will ensure a course of universal obedience. 
 
 Let us never forget that, however adapted this or that 
 ordinance, form, or mode of church government, maybe 
 to promote our spiritual interests, yet if we rest in the 
 means, they will deceive us$ or rather, we shall deceive 
 ourselves. It is the presence of Christ only that can keep 
 us alive, either as individuals, or as churches. While, 
 therefore, we recommend the means which he hath pre- 
 scribed, we devoutly add, with the apostle, " The grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the 
 communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all!" Amen, 
 
TERMS OF COMMUNION. 
 
 Circular Letter of the Hudson River Association, 1824, 
 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren, — In accordance with a 
 resolution passed at our last annual meeting, "the 
 terms of communion," will claim your attention, as 
 the subject of our present circular address. It is to be 
 regretted that the signs of the times saould ever indicate 
 the expediency of presenting this subject to jour consi- 
 deration, in a controversial shape; but since necessity is 
 laid upon us, we desire to enter upon its investigation 
 with all that alacrity which the love of revealed truth, 
 and supreme regard for Zion's King, and unyielding at- 
 tachment to the order of his house, are calculated to in- 
 spire. 
 
 The phrase "communion," or "fellowship," is used 
 in different senses in the sacred writings. It frequently 
 denotes that holy enjoyment of the divine presence, and 
 that soul-comforting participation of the Redeemer's ful- 
 ness, which it is the privilege of believers to realize. 
 The saints are joined to the Lord by one Spirit; they 
 draw water out of the wells of salvation; God is their 
 dwelling-place in all generations ; and it is therefore said, 
 truly their fellowship is with the Father, and with Ins 
 Son Jesus Christ. This fellowship does not necessarily 
 stand connected with church government or relationship; 
 it is neither confined to time nor place, nor does it bend 
 to the control of earthly circumstances. It is felt by- 
 Jacob with a stone for his pillow; it drives away the fears 
 and pains of the thief upon the cross: it cheers the hearts 
 of Paul and Silas, though beaten with many stripes and 
 thrust into the inner prison; and it converts the desolate 
 Isle of Patmos into a paradise of heavenly raptuie. The 
 
terms of this communion, all centre in the rich and dis- 
 tinguishing grace of God. 
 
 The expression is sometimes used in a large and com- 
 prehensive sense, to describe that fraternal affection 
 and spiritual intercourse, which all those who love oui 
 Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth, may righteously 
 maintain with each other. Individuals attached to the 
 different denominations of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, 
 Roman Catholics, Quakers, &c. may have good reason 
 to entertain a favourable opinion of each other's Chris- 
 tian exercises; they mav unite their efforts to multiply 
 and distribute copies of the Bible, and send the gospel 
 of salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth; they may 
 take sweet counsel together, and be mutual helpers of 
 each others' joy; a^d their communion will be propor- 
 tioned to the evidence which the parties furnish, of main- 
 taining a close walk with God. If tee walk in the light 
 as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another 
 But as this felloivship in the Gospel is enjoyed by indi 
 viduai believers who never unite with a particular church; 
 as it exists in different degrees, according to the strength 
 of their confidence that God has begun a good work in 
 the heart, without any reference to the ordinances or 
 regulations of his house, it is an entirely different thing 
 from church fellowship, and is by no means to be con- 
 founded therewith. 
 
 In modern phraseology the word " Communion," is 
 employed, by common consent, as expressive of that 
 fellowship which experimental Christians have with the 
 Saviour of signers, and with one another, in the ordi- 
 nance of the Lord's supper; and this use of the phrase 
 seems to be justified by the Apostle's language, 1 Cor. 
 x. 16, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the 
 communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we 
 break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ / 
 The single point, therefore, which we have now befoie 
 us is, to answer the inquiry, What are the indispensable 
 terms of this communion? or, in other words, what pre- 
 requisites of admission to the Lord's supper are marked 
 out, in the New Testament, for the observance of the 
 chuiches of Christ to the end of the world? To this in- 
 quiry we reply, regeneration, baptism, and a conversation 
 
3 
 
 such as becometh the Gospel of Christ ; and in proof of the 
 correctness of this reply, we appeal to the law and to the 
 testimony. 
 
 The children of God are bound to give thanks always 
 to tneir Heavenly Fatl-.er, because he hath from the be- 
 ginning chosen them to salvation, through sanctification 
 of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, whereunto they are 
 called by the Gospel; and then, as lively stones, are built 
 up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiri- 
 tiuii sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ ; and to 
 manifest their attachment to the laics, doctrines, and or- 
 dinances, once delivered to the saints. The primitive 
 churches, constituted under the immediate direction of 
 the inspired apostles, were composed of self-condemned 
 sinners, who were by nature children of wrath even as 
 others; but being pricked in their hearts and quickened 
 by the Spirit of God, fled for refuge to the hope set be- 
 fore them in the GospeL They believed the testimony 
 given of God's dear Son, and having gladly received the 
 truth, were baptized both men and ivomen. To the first 
 Gospel church in Jerusalem it is sa*id, the Lord added 
 daily such as should be saved, and they continued stead- 
 fastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers. The church at Co- 
 rinth consisted of those who were sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus, called to be saints, and who called upon the name 
 of Jesus Christ our Lord. The members of the church 
 at Colosse, had put off the old man with his deeds, and 
 put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after 
 the image of him that created him : and the brethren at 
 Rome, were the called of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, 
 called to be saints. Now if these apostolic churches were 
 erected upon correct principles, (and who so contuma- 
 cious or schismatic as to deny it?) thev are certainly to 
 us infallible guides, and present us with a perfect pat- 
 tern. If they received only such as professed to be born 
 of God, and gave evidence that they were begotten again 
 to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from 
 the dead, we should imitate their example; and if there 
 come any unto us and bring not this doctrine, we are 
 commanded not to receive him into our house, neither bid 
 him God speed; for he that biddeth him God speed; that 
 
is,Tie that welcomcth to the privileges of the church, him 
 thai abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, is partaker of 
 his evil deeds. It is therefore an established principle 
 in Baptist churches to require of all candidates for ad- 
 mission, a declaration of what God hath done for their 
 souls; and when satisfactory evidence of a change of 
 heart is exhibited, theirs/ scriptural term of communion, 
 is elicited by the church. Should this fundamental prin- 
 ciple ever be abandoned, we hesitate not to say, the tine 
 gold will become dim, the glory will depart from us, 
 and the vengeance of Him who walketh in the midst of 
 the golden candlesticks may be justly apprehended. 
 
 That Baptism is a " Term of Communion," is mani- 
 fest from the design and order of that ordinance, as well 
 as from the uniform practice of the apostles. 
 
 It is the design of Baptism, among other important 
 particulars, to exhibit the existence of a new relation- 
 ship, and to declare to all around, the interesting fact, 
 that the individual baptized has come out from the world, 
 and enlisted under the banner of Christ. In this view 
 of the subject, it is not merely the answer of a good 
 conscience towards God, but it is also a grateful and 
 public recognition of that grand line of distinction which 
 the Redeemer has established between the kingdom oj 
 darkness, and that kingdom which is not of this world. 
 For as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put 
 on Christ. Gal. iii. 17. Therefore we are buried with 
 him by baptism into death, that like as Christ vjas raised 
 up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we 
 also should walk in newness of life. Rom. vi. 4. As i( 
 is evident that a man must enter into the kingdom, be- 
 fore he can be entitled to the immunities of a subject; 
 that he must be received into the fellowship of a parti- 
 cular church, before he can enjoy the privilr-cres of that 
 church; even so, it is equally plain, that Baptism, upon 
 profession of faith in the Messiah, must remain an in- 
 dispensable term of communion, until it can be proved 
 that unbaptized persons w r ere added to the churches 
 planted by the apostles in different paL'ts of the world. 
 And this will appear yet more abundantly if we consi- 
 der, — 
 
 7'he order which is uniformly observed in the New 
 
Testament, with reference to Baptism and tlie Lord's 
 Supper. When the Great Head of the church sent forth 
 his ministering servants to build up his kingdc-.n in our 
 ruined world, he gave them commission in the following 
 words : — Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost, — teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you. This language is 
 lucid and definite. It directed them first to teach, or, 
 as it is elsewhere expressed, to preach the Gospel to every 
 creature. "When the word preached was accompanied 
 by an unction from the Holy One, men were made wise 
 unto salvation; they were effectually taught; they icere 
 made disciples; and then, and not till then, were the 
 apostles commanded to baptize them. After this, they 
 were to instruct them to observe all things enjoined up- 
 on them by the Saviour; and among the all things, who 
 dare deny to the Lord's supper a place? Since the Re- 
 deemer has sufficient wisdom to devise the most suitable 
 ordinances, either for the comfort of his people, or as a 
 test of their obedience; and since all power is given him 
 to make laws in Zion, and fix the order of their observ- 
 ance ; to his authority all Christians should certainly 
 submit. But it is plain that baptism must precede the 
 communion, not only because the Lord Christ hath so 
 decreed, but because this order is necessary in the very 
 nature of things, if there be an adaptation of the sign to 
 the thing signified. We must first be made alive, before 
 we need bread to sustain life; and in like manner, the 
 ordinance which shadows forth the washing of regenera- 
 tion and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, must of neces- 
 sity, go before that which holds out to us in a figure the 
 bread which came down from heaven, whereof if a man 
 eat, he shall live for ever. That this statement is cor- 
 rect, we most assuredly gather from the unvarying prac- 
 tice ot the Apostles themselves. 
 
 The preaching of Peter, upon a certain notable occa- 
 sion, produced such an astonishing effect that thousnnds 
 cried out. Men and brethren what shall we do to be saved? 
 The preacher promptly replies, Repent and be baptized in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, for the remissior of sins. What 
 follows? They that gladly received the tvo*d were bap- 
 2G 
 
tizud. After baptism they were added to the church in 
 Jerusalem, and then, participated in the communion, or 
 the breaking of bread. 
 
 The conduct of Paul was precisely similar to that of 
 his brother Peter. He came to Corinth, and taught the 
 word of God among its inhabitants. Many of the Co- 
 rinthians hearing, believed and tvere baptized. These 
 baptized believers were then constituted into a gospel 
 church, and kept the ordinance of the Lord's Supper as 
 delivered to them by the Apostle. Acts xviii. 1 Cor. ii. 2. 
 If therefore, the uniform practice of the Apostles justly 
 challenges our imitation, we must inviolably adhere to 
 the order which they have established. 
 
 The last term of church communion we have named, 
 is a godly walk and conversation ; and this position is 
 easily maintained, both upon the principles of reason and 
 revelation. The children of God are holy brethren : a 
 royal priesthood — a peculiar people, zealous of good 
 works. This description of them is given by one who 
 cannot err; and it woild certainly be incongruous and 
 unnatural for such persons to be unequally yoked together 
 ivith unbelievers. How can two tvalk together except they 
 be agreed? What communion hath light with darkness, 
 and what fellowship hath Christ witlCBelial? are ques- 
 tions which need no comment; — they answer themselves. 
 In extending the right hand of fellowship, therefore, a 
 church must be satisfied that the individual soliciting 
 admission has scriptural views of himself, and of God, 
 and of the way of salvation by Christ alone, and of the 
 work of the Spirit, and of the holy tendency of divine 
 truth; and hence we are directed to mark and avoid 
 those w r hose erroneous sentiments cause divisions and 
 offences contrary to the doctrine which we have learned. 
 Rom. xvi. Moreover the candidate for church commu- 
 nion must not only converse about the tilings of God in 
 a proper manner, but his deportment must correspond 
 with his holy profession. If any man that is called a 
 brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a 
 railer, or a drunkard, or cm extortioner, ice must not keep 
 company with such an one, no not to eat. 1 Cor. v. 11. 
 and that cuur-se of conduct which cuts off from the church 
 one who is already a member, must be, by parity of 
 
reasoning, an insurmountable obstacle against admission 
 to its privileges. ■ 
 
 Our sentiments with reference to the terms of com- 
 munion, have, in different ages and countries, occasion- 
 ed the opprobrious epithets of fci bigoted, uncharitable, 
 self-righteous," &x. to be heaped upon us with an un- 
 sparing hand; but these are weak and powerless weapons 
 when employed against those who are armed with the 
 sword of the Spirit, in defence of a divine institution. 
 We shall close this epistle by replying briefly to some 
 of the most plausible objections which are constantly 
 urged against the sentiments we have advanced. 
 
 First objection. " You lay too much stress upon bap- 
 tism by making it an indispensable term of communion. 
 
 To fnis we reply; — We pay no greater regard to it, 
 nor do we give it a higher place in our system, than the 
 Lord Christ hath enjoined, or the Apostles and primi- 
 tive Christians, by their example, have warranted. And 
 here we may ask, why should more stress be laid upor 
 the Lord's supper than upon baptism; and why should 
 many professing Christians so earnestly advocate the 
 observance of the former, while they pervert, or entirely 
 neglect the latter? Were not both ordinances instituted 
 by the same Lord, and do they not, therefore, come to 
 us clothed with the same authority? We know that 
 Paedobaptists are in the habit of calling baptism a non- 
 essential; an external rite; a mere ceremony ; &c. If 
 this be true, we would inquire, what more is the supper? 
 Is it a Saviour? But if these sacred institutions, be in- 
 deed, as we believe, signs of important and essential 
 truths, baptism is unquestionably as significative as the 
 breaking of bread, and exhibits, emblematically, a large 
 proportion of the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel. 
 Upon an investigation of the New Testament, we find 
 that baptism, of the two, is much the more frequent' y 
 mentioned, and baptized believers are affectionately and 
 repeatedly exhorted, so to walk in Christ Jesus their 
 Lord, as in that ordinance they have put him on. Taking 
 then the Holy Book as our only and all-sufficient rule 
 of faith and practice, we have the highest authority for 
 saying, We give to baptism, which Christ appointed as 
 the first gospel institute, as a test of his children's obe- 
 
dience, and a lively emblem of their renewal by the 
 Holy Ghost, exactly the situation which the master of 
 the nouse has designated; and with a thus saith the Lord 
 sounding in our ears and penetrating our hearts, it is 
 not possible that we should listen to the doctrines or 
 commandments of men. 
 
 A second objection, charges us with causing a separa- 
 tion between the children of the same Heavenly Father. 
 
 Suppose we grant that baptism is an insuperable bar 
 Her in the way of our communing, in church capacity, 
 with unbaptized persons,* does it necessarily result from 
 this concession, that the blame righteously attaches itself 
 to the skirts of our garments? Shall those who under- 
 stand and keep the ordinances, in their nature, order, 
 and design, as they were originally delivered to the 
 churches, be condemned? and those who depart from 
 them, and embrace a "figment of their own imagina- 
 tion," be justified? God forbid! We hesitate not to 
 say, most explicitly, that baptism is a separating line, 
 but it is one of the" Lord's own making, and we endea- 
 vour constantly, both by preaching and example, to en- 
 lighten the minds of our Paedobaptist friends on the 
 subject. We warn them of their errors; we hold up to 
 them the truth; we point them definitely to chapter and 
 verse; and we exhort every believer among them, quite 
 as often as they wish to hear us, to arise and be baptized 
 and wash away their sins, (in a figure,) ccdling upon the 
 name of the Lord. — We are honest and sincere in these 
 declarations, and in making them thus plainly, it must 
 be evident to the candid and judicious, that we cannot 
 have any by-ends, or measures of mere expediency to' 
 promote. We wish the truth, and the truth alone as it 
 is in Jesus, every where to prevail; and we are grieved 
 in heart, that those whom we respect and love on so 
 many other accounts, should, in this particular, persist 
 in treading the pathway of disobedience, boldly rejecting 
 the counsel of God in not being baptized according to his 
 commandment. If our veracity and Christian affection, 
 touching this whole matter, be unjustly called in ques- 
 tion, we are permitted to adopt the language of a Bap- 
 tist, and say: Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our 
 conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with 
 
fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, we have had our 
 conversation in the icorld, and more abundantly to you- 
 ward. 2 Cor. i. 12. 
 
 A third objection states, that it is the Lord's table, and 
 therefore we have no right to hinder those who wish to 
 approach it. 
 
 That it is the Lord's table,h the appropriate and suffi- 
 cient answer to this objection. Were it ours, we might 
 cheerfully admit to it the objector and his friends; but 
 since it is confessedly the Lord's table, we dare wel- 
 come to it only such as he invites. The disciples were 
 baptized before Christ instituted and administered to 
 them the supper. John the Baptist was sent to prepare 
 a people for the Lord, and the disciples were evidently 
 among the number of those who justified God; and if so, 
 they must have been necessarily baptized with the bap- 
 tism of John; otherwise they could not have been obe 
 dient hearers and doers of the word, and imitators of the 
 example of their Lord and master. Luke vii. 29. Mat. 
 iii. 23, 17. 1 Peter, ii. 21. In perfect conformity with 
 this view of the subject, are the words of Peter: Where- 
 foiv of these men which have companied with us, all the 
 time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, be- 
 ginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day 
 that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be 
 a witness with us of his resurrection. Acts, i. 21, 22 
 Here we learn that Peter and his brethren began their 
 Christian profession at the baptism of John, and hence 
 the inference is irresistible, that there were none but 
 Baptists with our Lord when be gave them the bread and 
 cup, and said, Do this in remembrance of me. As the 
 sacred oracles, therefore, uniformly teach that Chris- 
 tians, in the Apostles' days, were baptized before they 
 came together in one place for the breaking of bread, we 
 are confirmed in the sentiment, that the only guests invi- 
 ted to partake of this feast are such as have been, upon 
 profession of their faith, buried with Christ in baptism; 
 nor can we approach the table with the unbaptized, with- 
 out acting in direct opposition to the precept and exam- 
 ple if Him, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom 
 and knovAedge. 
 
 A fourth objection is presented in this shipe: Wt 
 
10 
 
 conscientiously believe ourselves to be baptized; you are 
 not the judge; to our own master we stand or fall. 
 
 This objection brings us at once to the question, 
 What is Christian baptism? Is it sprinkling, or is it 
 pouring? With the New Testament in our hands, we 
 most confidently and unhesitatingly answer, neither. It is 
 immersion in the name of the Father and of the Son and 
 of the Holy Ghost. And here we cannot but say to our 
 cavilling friend, when were you baptized? " In infancy." 
 Are unconscious babes, or the unbelieving, unprofessing 
 seed of pious parents, proper subjects of baptism? 
 Whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, 
 upon the testimony of God we are obliged to answer, no. 
 — These things were not so in the beginning; for it is 
 written, Then they that gladly received the word were 
 baptized; Acts 2. And the Jailor was baptized, he and all 
 his, straightway, and rejoiced, believing in God with all 
 his house. Acts xvi. Consequently those who believe 
 and rejoice in Christ Jesus are, according to the Scrip- 
 tures, the only persons to whom we are authorized to 
 administer the ordinance of baptism. But we are told 
 that whether Paedobaptists have perverted christian 
 baptism, both in its design and subjects, or not, we have 
 no right to judge. This is equivalent to sayWig that an 
 individual ought to be admitted to church fellowship 
 because he thinks himself entitled to that privilege, with- 
 out reference to the opinion which the church may en- 
 tertain upon the 3ubje.ct. It requires no argument to 
 prove the °b?uroity of this position. To adopt it would 
 speedily ultimate in the dissolution of any society. — 
 That there must be an agreement in sentiment between 
 a church and a candidate for admission to its privileges; 
 arid that the church must necessarily judge of the candi- 
 date's qualifications, are both self-evident and scriptural 
 truths. Since Christ then has commanded us to hold 
 fust till he come, and to contend earnestly for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints, we are under the most sacred 
 obligations to exhort one another daily; to warn the un- 
 ruly; to "took diligently lest any man fail of the grace of 
 God; and to be ?ery careful, not only to venerate his 
 institutions ourselves, but also that they be observed in 
 
11 
 
 their purity, by all such as solicit communion with us at 
 the table of the Lord. 
 
 A fifth objection, viz. That the saints will all commune 
 together in Heaven, and ought therefore to do so on earth, 
 is thought to be a very strong one, but really we are not 
 able to perceive its force. We rejoice in the anticipa- 
 tion of that perfect union and uninterrupted fellowship, 
 which the general assembly and church of the first bom, 
 whose names are written in Heaven, shall, to all eternity, 
 enjoy: but whatever may be the terms of communion in 
 the world of glory, we are fully persuaded that while 
 here, the revealed will of Christ, and not what shall take 
 place after death, should be the only man of our counsel, 
 a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path; and we are 
 equally certain, that when we see Jesus as he is, and 
 love him as we ou^ht, the least of his commandments 
 will not be esteemed either trifling or nonessential. 
 
 The last objection which our limits will allow us to 
 notice, supposes that strict communion is inconsistent 
 with brotherly love and Christian forbearance. 
 
 By adverting to the distinction made in the commence- 
 ment of this letter, between communion with God, our 
 feliow-christians, and a particular church, this objection 
 will be stripped of ail its difficulties. It will there be 
 seen that real believers may hold converse with the Deity, 
 and love each other as brethren in the Lord, without 
 walking together in church relationship. The Baptists 
 differ from all others in their views of a Gospel Church, 
 and the scriptural qualifications for admission to its 
 privileges; but these views we believe to be coincident 
 with the directions of the Saviour, and the example of 
 Apostles and primitive Christians, and having maintain- 
 ed them in the face of persecution, danger, and death, 
 from the days of Paul to the present moment, we cannot 
 abandon them, until convinced that we have hitherto 
 misapprehended altogether the language of the New 
 Testament. Nor can this course of conduct be righ- 
 teously construed into a breach of brotherly love and 
 Christian forbearance, until it can be proved that we 
 ought to love men more than we love God, and that the 
 charity which rejeiceth not in inquity, but rejoiceth in 
 the truth, requires us to disregard the commandments 
 
12 
 
 and dispense with the ordinances of our Lord and Sa- 
 viour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Finally, brethren, Farewell! Adhere steadfastly to 
 the doctrines and ordinances of Christ, as he hath deli- 
 vered them to us; and as there is one body and one spirit, 
 even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one 
 Lord, one faith, one baptism, so we beseech you, that ye 
 walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with 
 all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbear- 
 ing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of 
 the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord be with you all, 
 Jlmen. 
 
A PERSUASIVE 
 
 TO 
 
 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DUTY OF BELIEVERS TO MAKE A PUBLIC 
 PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 
 
 There are many individuals, who appear to have re 
 ceived the truth in love, and whose conduct in other re- 
 spects is such as becomes the gospel, but who live in the 
 habitual neglect of its positive institutions. For real or 
 avowed unbelievers to do this, would occasion no sur- 
 prise; but that those, who profess to love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and who cherish the hope of eternal life through 
 him, should thus seem to disregard his authority, is 
 not a little surprising, and may well be considered as 
 one of the peculiarities of the present state of religion 
 amongst us. Nothing of this kind appeared in the times 
 of the apostles. Converts to Christianity were recog- 
 nized by an open profession of the name of Christ, and 
 admission to the fellowship of the church. The ardour 
 of primitive believers admitted of no hesitation or de- 
 lay: they never stopped to inquire how little they might 
 do for Christ, and yet go to heaven; nor thought of reck- 
 oning this or the other ordinance not essential to salva- 
 tion: but, burning with love to the. Redeemer, and zeal 
 for his righteous cause, they made haste, and delayed not 
 to keep his commandments. No sooner was Saul convert- 
 ed, than he essayed to join himself to the disciples. Anti- 
 cipating the pleasure that would result from an obedi- 
 ence to the divine command, and desirous of being num- 
 bered amongst the followers of the Lamb, the Eunuch, 
 on believing that Jesus was the Son of God, exclaimed, 
 with an agreeable surprise, See, water I what doth hinder 
 me to be baptized? The Philippian Jailer, believing in 
 God, with all his house,was baptized, he and all his straight- 
 way, even the same hour of the night in which Paul had 
 
S] CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 spoken to them the word of the Lord. When the Sa- 
 maritans believed Philip, preaching the things concerning 
 the kingdom of God, and thename of Jesus Christ, they were 
 baptized, both men and women. In those times, as many 
 as gladly received the word, were baptized; and continued 
 steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers. But how different is 
 all this from the reluctance and supineness of professors 
 in later times, who seem glad of any plea that may ex- 
 empt them from obligation, or extenuate their remiss- 
 ness in respect to an open profession of the name of 
 Christ, and a practical submission to the institutions of 
 his church ! For a change so no\el in the visible state of 
 Christianity, we are led to inquire the causes and as a 
 means of correcting so prevalent an evil, to point out the 
 importance of gospel fellowship, as binding upon the 
 followers of Christ. 
 
 First, Let us inquire the reasons why those who 
 
 PROFESS TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST FOR SALVATION, LIVE IN 
 THE NEGLECT OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 It will be readily apprehended, that, by Fellowship in 
 the Gospel, something more is meant than a friendly in- 
 tercourse with individual Christians, or a stated attend- 
 ance on the solemnities of the Sabbath ; that it relates to 
 lhat state of union peculiar to a Christian society which 
 includes a public profession of the name of Christ, and 
 a solemn engagement to walk together in all his com- 
 mandments and ordinances blameless. It is of the ne- 
 glect of these important duties that we complain, and 
 would now attempt to suggest a few hints tending to re- 
 move the impediments which may lie in the way. 
 
 There may be some amongst us, who, while their ge- 
 neral conduct is such as entitles them to some respect, 
 are, nevertheless, conscious of living in some known sin, 
 and who may, therefore, feel it necessary to decline any 
 immediate connexion with the church of God — Certain 
 ly, where this is the case, we do not solicit any associa- 
 tion with them; but would rather exhort such persons 
 to confess and forsake their sins, that they may find 
 mercy. The fellowship of Christians is of a holy na- 
 ture: it is a fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus 
 Christ: they have intercourse with God as the moral go- 
 
 82 
 
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. [4 
 
 vernor of the world, through Jesus the Mediator; their 
 object is to carry on the cause of truth and righteous- 
 ness, to promote the Redeemer's glory, and mutually 
 to labour after a conformity to his will; but it will be 
 impossible to enter into these designs, or contribute to 
 their accomplishment, if sin has dominion over us. 
 There may be much civility, and many expressions of 
 friendship; but where purity of heart and nearness to 
 Clod are not carefully maintained, there can be none of 
 that Christian tenderness, oneness of spirit, holy free- 
 dom, and brotherly affection, in which the communion 
 of saints so much consists. If we ivalk in the light, as he 
 is in tlie light, we have fellowship one with another, and the 
 blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Living in 
 s'm, therefore, or having sinned and not repented, not 
 only disqualifies us for the fellowship of Christians on 
 earth, but also renders us unmeet to be partakers of the 
 inheritance of the saints in light. 
 
 Some, though not living in any known or positive sin, 
 may think, nevertheless, that a relation to the church of 
 God would lay them under greater obligations to a strict 
 and holy life than they wish to take upon them, and 
 hence prefer a state of freedom from such restraints. 
 It is allowed that such a connexion does indeed imply 
 the most sacred of all engagements: we covenant to be 
 the Lord's; renouncing all other lords who have had do- 
 minion over us, we make mention of his name only. 
 Having named the name of Christ, we are required to 
 depart from all iniquity. Having sworn, we are bound 
 to perform it, that we will keep his righteous judgments. 
 And is it, indeed an object of dread to be bound to 
 Christ and his service, by a solemn surrender of our- 
 selves to him? If there be any amongst us who are of 
 this opinion, we do not immediately invite them to our 
 fellowship ; but would rather urge them to inquire, 
 whether their hearts be right in the sight of God ? The 
 obligation to universal holiness, though it is directly 
 acknowledged, and in a sense confirmed by an open pro- 
 fession of the name of Christ, yet it does not depend 
 upon any such engagement on our part. Christ's ser- 
 vice is not a matter of discretion. Whatever we are 
 
 82 
 
6 1 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 or whatever we profess to be, our obligation is radically 
 the same. 
 
 It may be pleaded by others, that church-fellowship is 
 not essential to salvation, and that, therefore, we may go 
 to heaven without it. Positive institutions are not, in- 
 deed, so essential to salvation, as that it could not in 
 any case be obtained without them; but it does not fol- 
 low, that, therefore, they are in no case necessary to 
 salvation. We are sure that living in known sin will 
 exclude us from the kingdom of heaven, and, for aught 
 we know, living in the neglect of known duty may do the 
 same. And if it be true, that Christ becomes the author 
 of eternal salvation to all them who obey him, a disobedi- 
 ence to his commands may exclude us from an interest 
 in his salvation, as well as a rejection of his truth. But 
 if it were otherwise, and supposing we might go to hea- 
 ven without attending to church ordinances, yet what 
 selfishness does it discover ! What disregard for the au- 
 thority of Jesus; what want of love to him and zeal for 
 his glory, to live in the neglect of known duty on the 
 presumption that our own salvation may not be endan- 
 gered by it ! Is it lovely, is it worthy of a child and ser- 
 vant of God thus to act ? It might suit a professor whose 
 religion is nothing but selfishness; but let such remem- 
 ber that they have not the love of God in them : for this 
 is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. 
 
 It is to be feared that some are kept from a public 
 profession of Christ by mere worldly motives. They 
 have some flattering prospects in life, and their tempo- 
 ral interest would suffer by it. They have relations and 
 friends who feel averse to religion, and would be offend- 
 ed at their openly professing it. The fear of being dis- 
 inherited, or sustaining loss in their worldly circum- 
 stances, induces some persons to conceal their princi- 
 ples, in hope that some future opportunity may be more 
 favourable to their avowal, without subjecting them to 
 temporal inconvenience. But this temporising with 
 religion, and treating it as a subordinate concern, is 
 of serious importance; it implies a practical denial of 
 Christ before men, and will, we fear, expose the party, 
 if he die without repentance for it, to a denial by Christ 
 
 82 
 
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. [6 
 
 before the Father another day. Lord, said one, / will 
 follow thee; but let me first go and bury my father — Let 
 me first go and bid them farewell who are at home, says 
 another. Jesus answered, let the dead bury their dead: — 
 f>llnw thou me — No man having put his hand totheplough, 
 and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. 
 
 The dread of reproach is the occasion of preventing 
 some from following the Lord more fully. A general 
 and loose profession of the Christian name is common 
 enough, and to take up with a worldly religion attaches 
 no stigma to its professor; but to enter into the spirit 
 of the gospel, to come out from amongst the common 
 herd of nominal Christians, to be separate, to follow the 
 Lord fully, and to keep his ordinances as they ivere de- 
 livered, will subject us to the charge of singularity, and 
 that not only from the grossly immoral, but also from 
 the devout and honourable. But shall we, therefore, be 
 ashamed of Christ before men, and withhold ourselves 
 from the communion of such as are walking in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless? 
 If any man be ashamed of me and of my words, saith our 
 Lord, of him will I be ashamed before my Father and the 
 holy angels. Rather let us go forth unto him without the 
 camp, bearing his reproach. He who would please the 
 world, and accommodate his religion to the prevailing 
 taste, undertakes more than he can perform, if he 
 would be the servant of Christ. 
 
 Faithful found 
 
 Among the faithless, faithful only he: 
 
 Among innumerable false, unmov'd, 
 
 Unshaken, unsedue'd, unterrifyM, 
 
 His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal: 
 
 Nor number, nor example with him wrought 
 
 To swerve from truth." Mii/row. 
 
 Others may be deferring an attendance on divine or- 
 dinance still they receive some particular impressions to 
 convince them of their duty. — They think it right for 
 those who love Christ to own and foUow him, and are 
 willing to be considered as his friends, only they are 
 waiting at the pool for the moving of the waters, in hope 
 of receiving some kind of extraordinary intimations of 
 the divine will, respecting their immediate duty. — Many 
 
 82 
 
7 J CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 persons appear to be looking for something of this sort, 
 and because they do not receive it, conclude it is the 
 mind of God that they should not comply with his ordi- 
 nances; at least that they should not comply with them at 
 present. — It is allowed, indeed, that impressions are de- 
 sirable, provided it be truth or duty that is impressed, 
 otherwise they deserve no regard: but let these be as 
 desirable as they may, the want of them can never justi- 
 fy our living in the neglect of known duty. Nor are 
 they at all adapted to show us what is duty, but mere- 
 ly to excite to the performance of what may be prov- 
 ed to be duty without them. If the want of such im- 
 pressions, or of such a state of mind as we are wish- 
 ing for in a state of inactivity, would excuse us in the 
 neglect of church" fellowship, they would also excuse us 
 in the neglect of other religious duties. But such pleas 
 are highly delusive, and serve only to discover our want 
 of love and zeal in the cause of Christ. 
 
 Natural timidity appears to beset some, and keep them 
 back from an open profession of the name of Christ. 
 They feel it desirable to own Christ before men, and 
 are convinced of their obligation so to do; but they are 
 deterred by the publicity of such an engagement, and 
 imagine themselves unable to make a good confession 
 before so many witnesses. — The natural diffidence of 
 some persons may indeed render this very formidable; 
 but it should be remembered that to gain some advan- 
 tage, or avoid some inconvenience in worldly affairs, such 
 objections are generally overcome: and why should they 
 be deemed insuperable in a matter of far greater inv- 
 portance ? Our strength is small indeed, if we faint here. 
 What should we do in times of persecution, when call- 
 ed to confess Christ at the peril of our lives ? Our bless- 
 ed Lord openly avowed our cause in the face of danger: 
 he neither failed, nor was discouraged: but endured the 
 cross, despising the shame. Cold indeed must our 
 hearts be towards him, if we can suffer a few imaginary 
 difficulties to hinder us from owning his righteous cause. 
 
 Finally, some are deterred from a compliance with 
 this duty by a fear lest they should not be proper subjects. 
 — It is not owing to any dislike to the ways of the 
 Lord, nor indifference to the glory of Christ, that 
 
 82 
 
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. [8 
 
 6ome amongst us are living in the omission of his or- 
 dinances: they regularly attend on the worship of God* 
 manifest good will to the Redeemer's cause, join in 
 social prayer for its prosperity, and are lovers of good 
 men; but fear they are not qualified to fill up a place in 
 the Christian church. The doubts which they enter- 
 tain of their own personal religion, the supposition that 
 some eminent endowments and a larger degree of Chris- 
 tian experience are necessary to such a connexion, toge- 
 ther with the fear of deceiving others, and of being them- 
 selves deceived, not only excuse them in their own ac- 
 count from a public profession, but seem to justify and 
 commend them in such a line of conduct. We do not 
 wish to persuade any persons to profess that of which 
 they are not conscious. But if it be indeed a matter of 
 doubt whether they be true Christians, we may be al- 
 lowed to express our surprise, that they in general dis- 
 cover so little concern about that all-important ques- 
 tion. To be walking in such darkness as not to know 
 whither we are going, is far from being desirable; and, if 
 we have any proper sense of things, it must be very- 
 painful. And is it really a matter of doubt, whether 
 you be a believer, or an unbeliever; a friend to Christ* 
 or an enemy; whether from your heart you wish well or 
 ill to his kingdom in the world; whether your soul unites 
 with those who love him, or with those who love him 
 not ? Remember there is no neutrality here: He, that is 
 not with me, saith Jesus, is against me; and he, that go- 
 thereth not with me, scattereth abroad. We are either 
 Christ's friends or his enemies; believers, or unbelief 
 ers. We either embrace the gospel or reject it, In 
 other cases, we are not at a loss in judging who or what 
 we love and habitually prefer, nor in determining whose 
 side we are of, or to whose interest we feel attached. 
 If our heart be not with Jesus, by no means let us give 
 him our hand; but if it be, even though we may not ei> 
 joy the comforts of religion in so great a degree as some 
 other Christians, it becomes us, nevertheless, to ex- 
 press it by an open profession of his name. If with the 
 heart we believe unto Hghteousness, let us make confession 
 with the mouth unto salvation. 
 
 Secondly, We proceed to point out the importance 
 
 82 
 
9 ) CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 of Christian Fellowship, as binding upon the fol- 
 lowers of Christ. 
 
 If there were no other considerations to induce us to 
 give up ourselves to a Christian Church, the require- 
 ments of our Lord and Saviour ought to be deemed suf- 
 ficient. Those who pay no practical regard to this 
 duty, generally live in the neglect of the ordinance of 
 Baptism, which Jesus declared was becoming him and 
 his followers; and also of the Supper, which he enjoined 
 upon us when taking his leave of the world. The ten- 
 derness of this, his dying request, ought to overwhelm 
 all hesitation, and confound the very idea of delay. 
 That a sinner should ask to be remembered of the Sa- 
 viour is nothing surprising; for if he forget us, we are 
 entirely undone: but that the Lord of glory should ask to 
 be remembered, and remembered as dying for us, is 
 kind and condescending beyond expression. He who 
 can deny such a request must surely be at a loss to 
 prove himself the friend of Christ: Ye are my friends, if 
 ye do whatsoever I command you. 
 
 The importance which attaches to individual Chris- 
 tians in uniting with churches, must bear some propor- 
 tion to the importance of the existence of those church- 
 es; for, if it be a matter of small account for any one 
 Christian to unite in fellowship, it may be the same for 
 another, and so for all; which is the same thing as sup- 
 posing it to be a matter of little consequence whether 
 there be any Christian churches in the world. But 
 Christian society seems to be no less necessary for the ad- 
 vancement of the interest of Christ, than human society 
 is for promoting the interest of man. Where do we or- 
 dinarily see the work of conversion carried on, except 
 where a Christian church is established, and the word 
 and ordinances are administered ? When Christ ascend- 
 ed up on high,/*e gave gifts to men; and wherefore ? That 
 the Lord God might dwell among them. It is under a so- 
 cial character that Christians are denominated the house 
 or temple of God, in which he deigns to dwell; where 
 his beauty is beheld, and where we inquire after truth. 
 It is the body of Christ, which being fitly joined together 
 and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, ac- 
 cording to the effectual working of the measure of every 
 
 82 
 
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. [10 
 
 part, maketh increase unto the edifying of itself in love. 
 The natural inference from these representations is, 
 that if we have any regard for the interest of Christ, or 
 any desire for walking in fellowship with him, we should 
 surrender ourselves up to him, and to the fellowship of 
 saints according to his will. If we would find the Shep- 
 herd, we must go forth by the footsteps of the flock. 
 
 We doubt not but that there are godly individuals 
 scattered up and down in the world, who have little or 
 no opportunity of enjoying the fellowship of saints; but 
 it is seldom known that such persons arrive to any con- 
 siderable eminence in spirituality or usefulness. The 
 eye, or the hand, is singularly useful in the body; but ii 
 separated, it would be otherwise. The most honoura- 
 ble member cannot say to the least honourable, and still 
 less to the body, I have no need of thee. And if those who 
 are lawfully prevented, suffer for the want of Christian 
 fellowship, what may be expected of those who volun- 
 tarily neglect it? If the Lord in his providence call us 
 to walk alone, we may hope that he will, at least in some 
 measure, make up the loss of public means by a greater 
 blessing on private ones: but if the former be slighted, 
 he will assuredly withdraw his blessing from the latter. 
 
 The neglect of positive institutions under the Old Tes- 
 tament, was sometimes punished with temporal judg- 
 ments. The Lord sought even to slay his servant Mo- 
 ses, for having omitted to circumcise his son in Midian. 
 And probably it is in allusion to the infliction of calami- 
 ties for such neglects, that it is said in prophecy, IVho- 
 so will not come up to the feast of tabernacles, upon them 
 shall be no rain. Under the gospel dispensation, it is 
 God's usual way to punish, not by temporal, but spirit- 
 ual judgments; and whether the neglect of his ordi- 
 nances be not generally accompanied with a suspension 
 of spiritual blessings, let experience determine. 
 
 The principle from which Christian fellowship arises 
 is love; and this is of so much importance as to be made 
 by the scriptures a test of personal religion. We know 
 that we have passed from death unto Ufa, because ice love 
 the brethren: he that loveth not the brethren, abideth in 
 death. But if we love the brethren, we shall desire to 
 be one with them in the tenderest ties; to join them in 
 
 82 
 
I 1 3 CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 
 
 benevolent labours, to pray and praise with them, to 
 sympathise in their sorrows, and rejoice in their joysj 
 in short, to cast in our lot with them, that whatever 
 good thing the Lord their God may bestow upon them, 
 he may bestow upon us. This is the natural opera- 
 tion of love: and without such a tendency, it cannot 
 be genuine. The renewed heart beats spontaneously 
 after the closest possible union with God and his peo- 
 ple. Its language is, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to 
 return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, 
 I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy people 
 shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Wliere thou 
 diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so 
 to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and 
 me! David, even in praying for the salvation of his own 
 soul, did not ask for a separate blessing, but for a share 
 in the portion of the people of God. Remember me O 
 Lord, with the favour which thou bearest to thy people : O 
 visit me with thy salvation : that I may see the good of thy 
 chosen : that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation ; 
 that I may glory with thine inheritance .' 
 
 The simplicity of gospel ordinances must render an 
 inattention to them inexcusable. Under the former dis- 
 pensation, the positive institutions of religion were nu 
 merous and complicated. The distance, also, which 
 the Israelites, and especially the proselytes from among 
 the Gentiles, had to journey at the times of their solemn 
 assemblies, was very great when compared with ours. 
 God required of them great labour and expense, yet the 
 godly amongst them cheerfully complied. And now 
 that he hath brought the bread of life home to us, raining 
 manna, as it were, around our tents, shall we, there- 
 fore, make light of it? If the Lord had bid us do some 
 great thing, should we not have done it ? Then how 
 much rather, when he saith, "Wash and be clean ?" 
 
 One of the most interesting ideas given us of the ce- 
 lestial world is that of a state of glorious society. An- 
 gels and saints innumerable, ten thousand times ten thou 
 sand, and thousands of thousands, vie with each other 
 in love and praise, while every creature in heaven and 
 earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, unite in as- 
 cribing blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, 
 
 82 
 
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. [12 
 
 unto him who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb 
 for ever and ever. And how are we to be fitted for this 
 blessed state, but by associating with the people of God 
 cm earth ? Thus we become better prepared for glory. 
 Nay, more: It is thus that we actually partake of it. — 
 By cordially uniting with the friends of Jesus in this 
 world, we unite with the whole family of heaven and earth, 
 which is but one. Hence it is that believers in the pre- 
 sent life are represented as already come unto Mount 
 Sion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Je- 
 rusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the 
 general assembly and church of the first-born which 
 are written in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Me- 
 diator of the new covenant. 
 
 If these sentiments be properly considered and felt, 
 they will not only stimulate those to prompt obedience, 
 who have hitherto neglected the institutions of Christ, 
 but impress us all with a sense of our great advantages, 
 and cause us to rejoice with trembling. We stand on 
 high ground: we walk as upon the borders of heaven: 
 let us watch and pray, lest we be found cleaving to the 
 earth, notwithstanding these distinguished privileges. 
 Nay, it is not impossible that from these heights some 
 of us may fall, like the inhabitants of Capernaum, into 
 perdition I 
 
 Finally, It may not be unprofitable for those of us who 
 are ministers and members of churches to inquire whe- 
 ther the neglect of which we complain may not, in 
 part, be owing to something in us ? If a minister be un* 
 interested, and consequently uninteresting in his workj 
 if there be but little savour in his spirit, or profit arising 
 from his communications; if the people be haughty, 
 covetous, self-willed, litigious, and conformed to this 
 world; there will be but little encouragement for young 
 Christians to cast in their lot with them. Or, if none 
 of these evils be remarkably apparent, yet if there be a 
 want of holy affection and free conversation, it will not 
 he much otherwise. It is by our having fellowship with 
 God, that godly minds will be induced to have fellow- 
 *hip with us. We will go with you y say they,/or we havt 
 heard that God is with you ! 
 
 82 
 
THE DISCIPLINE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRXMXTXVS CHURCHES. 
 
 When the apostles, by the preaching of the word, had 
 gathered in any place a sufficient number of individuals to 
 the faith of Christ, it was their uniform practice, for the 
 further promotion of his kingdom in that place, to form 
 them into a Religious Society, or Christian Church. Being 
 thus associated in the name of Christ, divine worship was 
 carried on, Christian ordinances observed, holy discipline 
 maintained, and the word of life, as the light by the golden 
 candlesticks, exhibited. Among them our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as the high priest of our profession, is represented 
 as walking ; observing the good, and applauding it ; point- 
 ing out the evil, and censuring it ; and holding up life and 
 immortality to those who should overcome the temptations 
 of the present state. 
 
 Let us suppose him to walk amongst our several church- 
 es, and to address us as he addressed the seven churches 
 m Asia. We trust he would find some things to approve; 
 but we are also apprehensive that he would find many things 
 to censure. Let us then look narrowly into the Discipline 
 of the primitive churches, and compare ours with it. 
 
 By discipline, however, we do not mean to include the 
 whole of the order of a Christian Church ; but shall at 
 this time confine our attention to that part of church-go- 
 vernment which consists in — a mutual watch over one 
 
 ANOTHER, AND THE CONDUCT WE ARE DIRECTED TO PUR- 
 SUE IN CASES OF DISORDER. 
 
 A great part of our duty consists in cultivating what is 
 lovely, but this is not the whole of it ; we must prune as 
 well as plant, if we would bear much fruit, and be Christ's 
 14. 
 
disciples. One of the things applauded in the church of 
 Ephesus was that they could not bear those who were evil. 
 
 Yet we are not to suppose from hence that no irregulari- 
 ty or imperfection whatever, is an object of forbearance. 
 If uniformity be required in such a degree as that every 
 difference in judgment or practice shall occasion a separa- 
 tion, the churches may be always dividing into parties, 
 which we are persuaded was never encouraged by the 
 apostles of our Lord, and cannot be justified in trivial of 
 ordinary cases. A contrary practice is expressly taught 
 us in the Epistle to the Romans; (Chap, xiv.) and the 
 cases in which it is to be exercised are there pointed out. 
 An object of forbearance however must be one that may 
 exist without being an occasion of dispute and wrangling 
 in the church : It must not be to doubtful disputations, ver. 
 1 . it must also respect things which do not enter into the 
 essence of God's kingdom, the leading principles of which 
 are righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, ver. 
 [6, 17. That which does not subvert the gospel of the 
 kingdom, nor set aside the authority of the king, though it 
 be an imperfection, is yet to be borne with. Finally, it 
 must be something which does not destroy the work of 
 God, or which is not inconsistent with the progress of vital 
 religion in the church, or in one's own soul. ver. 20. In all 
 such cases we are not to judge one another, but every 
 man's conscience is to be his judge, ver. 23. 
 
 In attending to those things which are the proper objects 
 of discipline, our first concern should be to see that all our 
 measures are aimed at the good of the party and the J&nonr 
 of God. Both these ends are pointed out in the case of the 
 Corinthian offender. All was to be done that his spirit 
 might be saved in the day of the Lord, and to clear them- 
 selves as a church from being partakers of his sin. If these 
 ends be kept in view they will preserve us from much er- 
 ror ; particularly, from the two great evils into which 
 churches are in danger of falling, false lenity, and unchris- 
 tian severity. There is often a party found in a community, 
 who, under the name of tenderness, are for neglecting all 
 wholesome discipline ; or if this cannot be accomplished, 
 for delaying it to the utmost. Such persons are commonly 
 the advocates for disorderly walkers, especially if they be 
 their particular friends or relations. Their language is, "He 
 14. 
 
that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. My brother 
 hath fallen to-day, and I may fall to-morrow." This spirit, 
 though it exists only in individuals, provided they be per- 
 sons of any weight or influence, is frequently known to im- 
 pede the due execution of the laws of Christ ; and if it 
 pervade the community, it will soon reduce it to the lowest 
 state of degeneracy. Such for a time was the spirit of the 
 Corinthians; but when brought to a proper sense of 
 things, what carefulness it wrought in them, yea what clear- 
 ing of themselves, yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea 
 what vehement desire, yea what zeal, yea what revenge. 
 In opposing the extreme of false tenderness, others are in 
 danger of falling into unfeeling severity. This spirit will 
 make the worst of every thing, and lead men to convert 
 the censures of the church into weapons of private re- 
 venge. Persons of this description know not of what man- 
 ner of spirit they are. They lose sight of the good of the 
 offender. It is not love that operates in them ; for love 
 worketh no evil. The true medium between these- extremes 
 is a union of mercy and truth. Genuine mercy is combined 
 with faithfulness, and genuine faithfulness with mercy; and 
 this is the only spirit that is likely to purge iniquity. (Prov. 
 xvi. 6.) Connivance will produce indifference; and undue 
 severity will arm the offender with prejudice, and so har- 
 den him in sin : but the love of God and of our brother's 
 soul are adapted to answer every good end. If we love 
 God, like Levi, we shall know no man after the flesh, nor 
 acknowledge our nearest kindred ; but shall observe his 
 word and keep his covenant. And if we love the soul of 
 our brother, we shall say, " He is fallen to-day, and I will 
 reprove him for his good : 1 may fall to-morrow, and then 
 let him deal the same with me." Love is the grand secret 
 of church discipline, and will do more than all other things 
 put together, towards insuring success. 
 
 In the exercise of discipline it is necessary to distinguish 
 between faults which are the consequences of sudden 
 temptation, and such as are the result of premeditation and 
 habit. The former requires a compassionate treatment; the 
 latter a greater portion of severity. The sin of Peter in 
 denying his Lord was great, and if noticed by the enemies 
 of Christ, might bring great reproach upon his cause; yet, 
 compared with the sin of Solomon it was little. He first 
 14. 
 
gave way to licentiousness ; then to idolatry, and on find- 
 ing that God, as a punishment for his sin, had given ten 
 tribes to Jeroboam, he sought to kill him. Cases like this 
 are immediately dangerous, and require a prompt and de- 
 cided treatment, and in which hesitating tenderness would 
 be the height of cruelty. " Of some have compassion, mak- 
 ing a difference; others save with fear, pulling them out 
 of die lire ; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." 
 v 'Jude 22, 23. See also Gal. vi. 1.) 
 
 In all our admonitions regard should be had to the age 
 and character of the party. An elder, as well as other men, 
 may be in fault, and a fault that may require to be noticed; 
 but let him be told of it in a tender and respectful manner. 
 While you expostulate with younger men on a footing of 
 equality, pay a deference to age and office. " Rebuke not 
 an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men 
 as brethren." (1 Tim. v. 1.) 
 
 In the due execution of Christian discipline there are 
 many things to be done by the members of churches indi- 
 vidual] ij; and it is upon the proper discharge of these du- 
 ties that much of the peace and purity of a church depends. 
 If we be faithful to one another there will be but few 
 occasions for public censure. Various improprieties of 
 conduct, neglects of duty, and declensions in the power of 
 godliness, are the proper subjects of pastoral admonition. 
 It is one essential branch of this office to " rebuke and ex- 
 hort with all long-suffering." (2 Tim. iv. 2.) Nor is this 
 work confined to pastors : Christians are directed to ad- 
 monish one another. (Rom. xv. 14.) Indeed there are 
 things which a wise and affectionate people will be con- 
 cerned to take upon themselves, lest a prejudice should be 
 contracted against the ministry, which may prevent its 
 good effects. This is peculiarly necessary in the settling of 
 differences, in which whole families may be interested, and 
 in which it is extremely difficult to avoid the suspicion of 
 partiality. 
 
 In all cases of personal offence, the rule laid down by 
 our Lord, in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, ought to 
 be attended to ; and no such offence ought to be admitted 
 before a church till the precept of Christ has been first 
 complied with by the party or parties concerned. 
 
 In manv cases where faults are not committed immedi- 
 14. 
 
ately against us, but which are unknown except to a few 
 individuals, love will lead us to endeavour to reclaim the 
 party if possible, without any further exposure. A just 
 man will not be willing, unnecessarily to make his brother 
 a public example. The scriptures give peculiar encourage- 
 ment to these personal and private attempts. " If any of 
 you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know 
 that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way, 
 shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins.' 
 (James v. 19, 20.) 
 
 In cases of evil report, where things are said of a brother, 
 in our hearing, which, if true, must affect his character, and 
 the purity of the church, it cannot be right to go on to report 
 it. Love will not lead to this. Many reports we know are 
 unfounded ; or if true in the main, they may have been ag- 
 gravated ; or there may be circumstances attending the 
 case, which if fully understood would make things appear 
 very different frcm the manner in which they have been 
 represented. Now it is almost impossible that any one but 
 the party himself should be acquainted with all these cir- 
 cumstances, or able to give a full account of them. No 
 time therefore should be lost, ere we enquire at the hand 
 of our brother, or if on any consideration we feel that to 
 be unsuitable, it would be proper to apply to an officer of 
 the church, who may conduct it with greater propriety. 
 
 There are cases of a more public nature still, in which 
 much of the peace and happiness of a church depends upon 
 the conduct of its members in their individual capacity. 
 The charge given by the apostle to the Romans, (chap, 
 xvi. 17, 18.) though applicable to a church, yet seems to 
 be rather addressed to the individuals who compose it. 
 u Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divi- 
 sions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have 
 learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good 
 words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." 
 The characters to be avoided appear to be persons whose 
 object it is to set up a party in the church, of which they 
 may be the heads or leaders ; a kind of religious dema- 
 gogues. Such men are found, at one time or other, in most 
 societies ; and in some cases the peace of the churches has 
 been invaded by strangers, who are not of their own cora- 
 14, 
 
6 
 
 munity. Let the "brethren" have their eye upon such 
 men. u Mark them:" trace their conduct, and you will 
 soon discover their motives. Stand aloof from them, and 
 "avoid" striking in with their dividing measures. In case 
 of their being members, the church, collectively consider- 
 ed, ought, no doubt, to put away from amongst them such 
 wicked persons : but as every collective body is composed 
 of individuals, if those individuals suffer themselves to be 
 drawn away, the church is necessarily thrown into confu- 
 sion, and rendered incapable of a prompt, unanimous, and 
 decided conduct. Let members of churches, therefore, be- 
 ware how they listen to the insinuations of those who 
 would entice them to join their party. Men of this stamp 
 are described by the apostle, and therefore may be known, 
 particularly by three things — First, by their doctrine ; " it 
 is contrary to that which has been learned of Christ." 
 Secondly, by their selfish pursuits : " they serve not our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies." Thirdly, by 
 their insinuating whining pretences of affectionate regard 
 towards their partizans : " by good words and fair speeches 
 they deceive the hearts of the simple." 
 
 To this may be added, there are duties on individuals in 
 their behaviour towards persons who lie under the censure 
 of the Church. If they still continue in a state of impeni- 
 tence, persist in their sin, or be irreconciled to the church's 
 proceedings with them, it is of the utmost consequence 
 that every member should act a uniform part towards 
 them. We may, it is true, continue our ordinary and ne- 
 cessary intercourse with them as men, in the concerns of 
 this life : but there must be no familiarity, no social inter- 
 change, no visitings to them, nor receiving visits from 
 them, nothing in short that is expressive of connivance at 
 their conduct. — " If any man that is called a brother be a 
 fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a 
 drunkard, or an extortioner, we must not keep company 
 with such an one, no not to eat." (1 Cor. v. 11.) If indi- 
 vidual members act contrary to this rule, and carry it free- 
 ly towards an offender, as if nothing had taken place, it 
 will render the censure of the church of none effect. Those 
 persons also who behave in this manner will be considered 
 by the party as his friends, and others who stand aloof as 
 his enemies, or at least as being unreasonably severe ; 
 14. 
 
which will work confusion, and render void the best and 
 most wholesome discipline. We must act in concert, or 
 we may as well do nothing. Members who violate this rule 
 are partakers of other men's sins, and deserve the rebukes 
 of the church, for counteracting its measures. 
 
 With respect to those things which fall under the cogni- 
 zance of a church in its collective capacity, we earnestly 
 recommend in general, that every thing be done not only 
 with a view to the honour of God, and the good of the par- 
 ty, as before observed, but with a special regard to the 
 revealed will of Christ. That some kind of order be pre- 
 served, in every community, is necessary to its existence. 
 Decency, reputation, and even worldly policy, will in- 
 duce us to take some notice of gross immoralities: but this 
 is not Christian discipline : nor will it be productive of its 
 salutary effects. In the choice of officers, few if any church- 
 es would elect a profligate: but if opulence be allowed to 
 supply the place of spirituality, or ambitious or litigious 
 characters be preferred on the principle of expediency, as a 
 means of keeping them in better humour, is it not carnal ? 
 So, in matters of discipline, few churches would suffer a 
 grossly immoral or litigious character to continue amongst 
 them unnoticed: but if, instead of a calm, impartial and de- 
 cided procedure, we enter into pusillanimous compromises 
 with the offender, consenting that he should withdraw of his 
 own accord ; if the crimes of rich men be either entirely 
 overlooked, or but slightly touched, lest the cause should 
 suffer from their being offended ; or if the misconduct of 
 poor men be disregarded, on the ground of their being per- 
 sons of little or no account, are we not carnal, and walk as 
 men ? Brethren ! Are there any such things amongst us? 
 Search and consider. Such things ought not to be. The 
 private withdrawment of an individual, if it be without good 
 reason, may justify a church in admonishing him, a»d, if he 
 cannot be reclaimed, in excluding him : but it cannot of 
 itself dissolve the relation. Till such exclusion has taken 
 place he is a member, and his conduct affects their repu- 
 tation as much as that of any other member. With regard 
 to a neglect of discipline lest it should injure the cause, 
 what cause must that be which requires to be thus sup- 
 ported ? Be it our concern to obey the laws of Christ, and 
 leave him to support his own cause. If it sink by fulfilling 
 14. 
 
8 
 
 his commandments, let it sink. He will not censuro us for 
 not supporting the ark with unhallowed hands. And if it 
 be criminal to fear the rich, it cannot be less so to despise 
 the poor. Let brotherly love abound towards both. Do all 
 things without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 
 
 We cannot enumerate all the particular cases which fall 
 under the cognizance of a Christian church, but shall men- 
 tion a few which are recorded in the Scriptures for our imi- 
 tation. 
 
 A DEPARTURE FROM THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL, OR ANY 
 
 of its leading doctrines, is an object of Christian disci- 
 pline. " I would they were even cut off that trouble you — 
 I have a few things against thee, because thou hast them 
 that hold the doctrine of Balaam — so hast thou also them 
 that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I 
 hate. — A man that is an heretic, after the first and second 
 admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is sub- 
 verted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." (Gal. 
 v. 12. Rev. ii. 14, 15. Tit. iii. 10.) 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that the only passage in the New 
 Testament wherein heresy is introduced as an object of 
 discipline, makes no mention of any thing as composing it 
 but what relates to the principles of the party. It may be 
 supposed that those who were accounted heretics by the 
 apostles were as impure in their lives as they were anti- 
 christian in their doctrine, and that they were commonly 
 disturbers of the peace and unity of the churches : but 
 however this might be, neither of these evils are alleged as 
 the reason for which the heretic was to be rejected. All 
 that is mentioned is this: He is subverted, and sinneth, 
 being condemned of himself. 
 
 He is " subverted ;" that is, his professed faith in the gos- 
 pel is in effect overturned, or rendered void ; consequently 
 he requires to be treated as an unbeliever. He is M con- 
 demned of himself;" that is, the gospel being a consistent 
 whole, he who rejects some of its leading principles, 
 while he professes to retain others, is certain to fall into 
 self-contradiction ; which, if clearly pointed out in a M first 
 and second admonition," and he still persist, he will be 
 compelled obstinately to shut his eyes against the light, 
 and thus, " sin" against the dictates of his own con- 
 science. 
 
 14 
 
9 
 
 It has been asked by persons who disapprove of all 
 church proceedings on account of a difference in religious 
 principles, Who is to judge what is heresy ? We answer, 
 Those who are to judge what is immorality in dealing with 
 loose characters. To suppose it impossible to judge what 
 heresy is, or to deny that the power of so deciding rests in 
 a Christian church, is to charge the apostolic precept with 
 impertinence. It is true, the judgment of a church may 
 be erroneous as well as that of an individual ; and it be- 
 comes them in their decisions to consider that they will all 
 be revised at the great day: but the same may be said of 
 all human judgment, civil or judicial, to which no one is so 
 void of reason, as on this account to object. 
 
 In CASES OF NOTORIOUS AND COMPLICATED WICKEDNESS, 
 
 it appears, that in the primitive churches, immediate ex- 
 clusion was the consequence. In the case of the incestuous 
 Corinthian, there are no directions given for his being ad- 
 monished, and excluded only in case of his being incorrigi- 
 bly impenitent. The apostle determined what should be 
 done — In the name of the Lord Jesus when ye are gather- 
 ed together to deliver such a one unto Satan. We cannot 
 but consider it as an error in the discipline of some church- 
 es where persons have been detected of gross and aggra- 
 vated wickedness, that their exclusion has been suspended, 
 and in many cases omitted, on the ground of their profess- 
 ed repentance. While the evil was a secret it was persisted 
 in, but when exposed by a public detection, then repent- 
 ance is brought forward, as it were in arrest of judgment. 
 But can that repentance be genuine which is pleaded for 
 the purpose of warding off the censures of a Christian 
 church 1 We are persuaded it cannot. The eye of a true 
 penitent will be fixed on the greatness of his sin, and he 
 will be the last to discern or talk of his repentance for it. 
 So far from pleading it, in order to evade censure, he will 
 censure himself, and desire nothing more than that testi- 
 mony may be borne against his conduct for the honour of 
 Christ. 
 
 But allowing that repentance in such cases is sincere, 
 still it is not of such account as to set aside the necessity 
 of exclusion. The end to be answered by this measure is 
 not merely the good of the party, but the " clearing" of a 
 Christian church from the very appearance of conniving at 
 14. 
 
10 
 
 immorality ; and which cannot be accomplished by repent- 
 ance only. Though Miriam might be truly sorry for her 
 sin in having spoken against Moses, and though she might 
 be healed of her leprosy ; yet the Lord said unto Moses, if 
 her father had but spit in her face, should she not be 
 ashamed seven days ? Let her be shut out from the camp 
 seven days; and after that let her be received in again. 
 (Numb. xii. 14.) 
 
 We do not suppose, however, that every notorious fault 
 requires immediate exclusion. The general rule given is — 
 
 that NOTORIOUS EVILS SHOULD MEET WITH A PUBLIC RE- 
 BUKE. Them that sin, rebuke before all, that others also 
 may fear. (1 Tim. v. 20.) But this proceeding does not 
 appear to amount to exclusion ; it is rather of the nature 
 of a censure or reprimand, accompanying an admonition. 
 To us it appears that the circumstances attending a sin, 
 ought to determine whether it require immediate exclusion 
 or not. If these be highly aggravating ; if there appear 
 to have been premeditation, intention, and perseverance in 
 the crime, put away from amongst yourselves that wicked 
 person: but if circumstances extenuate, rather than 
 heighten the evil, solemn admonition, accompanied with 
 rebuke, ought to suffice, and no exclusion to follow but in 
 case of incorrigible impenitence. 
 
 There are also faults which do not come under the de- 
 nomination of notorious sins, wherein directions are given 
 for recovering the offenders without amy mention being 
 
 MADE OF EXCLUSION, EITHER IMMEDIATE OR ULTIMATE. 
 
 There is perhaps in all the churches a description of men 
 whose characters are far from being uniformly circum- 
 spect, and yet not sufficiently irregular to warrant their 
 being separated from communion. They are disorderly 
 walkers ; busy-bodies in other men's matters, while negli- 
 gent of their own ; in a word, unamiabie characters. Now 
 those that are such we are directed to exhort, and charge 
 that they conduct themselves as becometh Christians. If 
 after this they continue disorderly, observe a degree of dis- 
 tance in your conduct towards them ; withdraw your inti- 
 macy; let them feel the frowns of their brethren : yet be 
 not wholly reserved, but occasionally explain to them the 
 reasons of your conduct, affectionately admonishing them 
 at the same time to repentance and amendment of life. 
 14. 
 
11 
 
 " Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every 
 brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition 
 which he received of us. — For we hear that there are some 
 who walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but 
 are busy-bodies. Now them that are such we command, 
 and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness 
 they work, and eat their own bread. And if any obey not 
 our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no com- 
 pany with him that he may be ashamed : yet count him not 
 as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." (2 Thess. 
 iii. 6 — 15.) If churches were to consult only their own 
 reputation, they would often discard such persons at an 
 early period : but where there is reason to hope that the 
 heart is right in the main, great forbearance must be ex- 
 ercised, and long perseverance in endeavouring to recover. 
 How many imperfections were discovered in the conduct 
 of the twelve apostles, while their Lord was with them, and 
 what an example of forbearance has he left us ! One cha- 
 racter reclaimed is of greater account and more to the ho 
 nour of a Christian church, than many discarded. 
 
 Finally, a watchful eye upon the state of the church, and 
 of particular members, with a seasonable interposition, 
 may do more towards the preservation of good order than 
 all other things put together. Discourage whisperings, 
 backbitings, and jealousies. Frown on tale bearers, and 
 give no ear to their tales. Nip contentions in the bud. 
 Adjust differences in civil matters among yourselves. 
 Bring together at an early period those in whom miscon- 
 ception and distrust have begun to operate, ere ill opinion 
 ripen into settled dislike. By a frank and timely explana- 
 tion in the presence of a common friend, that may be heal- 
 ed in an hour, which, if permitted to proceed, a series of 
 years cannot eradicate. Be affectionately free with one an- 
 other. Give tender and faithful hints where it appears to 
 you that one of your brethren is in danger of being drawn 
 aside from the principles or spirit of the gospel. Let all be 
 given, from their first entering into connexion with you, to 
 expect them. If any one take offence at such treatment, 
 give him to understand that he who cannot endure a cau- 
 tion or a reproof, is unfit for Christian society ; and is in 
 the utmost danger of falling" into mischief. 
 14. 
 
12 
 
 The free circulation of the blood, and the proper dis- 
 charge of all the animal functions, are not more necessary 
 to the health of the body, than good discipline is to the 
 prosperity of a community. 
 
 If it were duly considered how much the general inte- 
 rests of religion, and even the salvation of men, may be 
 affected by the purity and harmony of Christian churches, 
 we should tremble at the idea of their being interrupted 
 by us. The planting of a church in a neighbourhood 
 where the gospel is preached, and the ordinances of Christ 
 administered in their purity, is a great blessing. It is a tem- 
 ple reared for God, in which he designs to record his 
 name, to meet with his humble worshippers, and to bless 
 them. We have seen churches of this description, in the 
 midst of a career of spiritual prosperity, edifying one an- 
 other in love, and gathering souls to the Redeemer's stan- 
 dard, all in a little time, blasted and ruined by some un- 
 happy event that has thrown them into disorder. One of 
 the members, it may be, has acted unworthily — he is re- 
 proved — his relations or particular acquaintances take on 
 his side — discipline is interrupted — the church is divided 
 into parties — hard things are said on both sides — the bond 
 of love is broken — tender minds are grieved, and retire — 
 worship is but thinly attended, and the enjoyment of it is 
 vanished — God's friends mourn in secret, and his enemies 
 triumph, saying, aha! so would we have it! Truly it is a 
 serious thing to occasion the ruin of a Church of Christ ! 
 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God de- 
 stroy! A. Fuller. 
 
 Humility makes a man peaceable among brethren, fruit- 
 ful in well-doing, cheerful in suffering, and constant in holy 
 Walking. Humility fits us for the highest services we owe 
 to Christ, and yet will not neglect the lowest service to 
 the meanest saint. Humility can feed upon the meanest 
 dish, and yet it is maintained by the choicest delicacies, as 
 God, Christ, and glory. Humility will make a man bless 
 him that curses him, and pray for those that persecute 
 him. A humble heart is a habitation for God, a scholar foi 
 Christ, a companion of angels, a preserver of grace, and 
 meet for glory. Humility is the nurse of our graces, pre- 
 server of our mercies, and the great promoter of holy duties, 
 1 *■ . B hooks. 
 
TEE DUTIES OF 
 
 CHURCH MEMBERS 
 
 TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 BY J. A. JAMES. 
 
 I. The first, and that which indeed seems to include 
 every other, is love. 
 
 The stress which is laid on this in the Word of God, 
 both as it respects the manner in which it is stated, 
 and the frequency with which it is enjoined, sufficiently 
 provee its vast importance in the Christian temper, 
 and its powerful influence on the communion of believ- 
 ers. It is enforced by our Lord as the identifying law 
 of his kingdom. " This is my commandment, that ye 
 love one another as I have loved you." John xv. 12. By 
 this we learn that the subjects of Christ are to be known 
 and distinguished amongst men, by their mutual affec- 
 tion. This injunction is denominated the new command- 
 ment of the Christian economy ; not that love was no 
 duty before the coming of Christ ; but it is now placed 
 more prominently amongst the duties of believers ; is 
 urged on fresh grounds, enforced by a more perfect 
 example, and constrained by stronger motives. The 
 dispensation of Jesus Christ is a system of most won- 
 derful, most mysterious grace 5 it is the manifestation, 
 commendation, and perfection of divine love. It ori- 
 ginated in the love of the Father, and is accomplished 
 by the love of the Son. Jesus Christ was an incarnation 
 of love in our world. He was love living, breathing, 
 speaking, acting, amongst men. His birth was the na- 
 tivity of love, his sermons the words of love, his mira- 
 cles the wonders of love, his tears the meltings of love, 
 his crucifixion the agonies of love, his resurrection the 
 triumph of love. Hence it was natural, that love should 
 be the cardinal virtue in the character of his saints, and 
 that it should be the law which regulates their conduct 
 towards each other. 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS [_2 
 
 And it is worthy of remark, that he has made his 
 love to us, not only the motive, but the pattern of our 
 love to each other. This is my commandment, that ye 
 love one another as I have loved you, John xv. 17. Let 
 us for our instruction dwell upon the properties of his 
 love, that we may know what should be the character- 
 istics of our own. His was real and great affection, and 
 not a mere nominal one : so let us love not in word and 
 in tongue only, but also in deed and in truth. His was 
 free and disinterested, without any regard to our deserts: 
 so ours should be independent of any regard to our own 
 advantage. His was fruitful unto tears, and agonies, 
 and blood, and death : so should ours in every thing 
 that can establish the comfort of each other. His was 
 a love of forbearance and forgiveness ; so should ours be. 
 His was purely a spiritual flame; not loving them as 
 rational creatures merely, but as objects of divine af- 
 fection, and subjects of divine likeness. His was un- 
 cliangeable notwithstanding our weaknesses and unkind- 
 nesses : thus we are bound to love one another, and 
 continue unalterable in our affection to each other, in 
 opposition to all those little infirmities of temper and 
 conduct which we daily discover in our fellow Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 The Apostles echoed the language of their Master, 
 and continually enjoined the churches which they had 
 planted, to love one another, and to let brotherly love 
 abound and increase. It is a grace, so important that, 
 like holiness, no measure of it is sufficient to satisfy the 
 requirement of the Word of God. It is the basis, and 
 cement, and beauty of the Christian union. The church 
 where it is wanting, whatever may be the number or 
 gifts of its members, is nothing better than a heap of 
 stones, which, however polished, want the coherence 
 and similitude of a palace. 
 
 In the best and purest ages of the church, this virtue 
 shone so brightly in the character of its members, was 
 so conspicuous in all their conduct, was expressed in 
 actions so replete with noble, disinterested, and heroic 
 affection, as to become a proverb with surrounding pa- 
 gans, and call forth the well known exclamation, " See 
 how these Christians love one another !" A finer eulo- 
 
 91 
 
3 ] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 gium was never pronounced on the Christian church ; 
 a more valuable tribute was never deposited on the al- 
 tar of Christianity. Alas ! that it should so soon have 
 ceased to be just, and that the church as it grew older 
 should have lost its loveliness by losing its love. 
 
 But it will be necessary to point out the manner in 
 which brotherly love wherever it exists will operate. 
 
 \. In a peculiar complacency in our fellow members, 
 viewed as the objects of divine love. 
 
 Complacency is the very essence of love ; and the 
 ground of all proper complacency in the saints, is their 
 relation and likeness to God. We should feel peculiar 
 delight in each other as fellow heirs of the grace of 
 God ; partakers of like precious faith, and joint sharers 
 of the common salvation. We must be dear to each 
 other as the objects of the Father's mercy, of the Son's 
 dying grace, and of the Spirit's sanctifying influence. 
 The love of Christians is of a very sacred nature, and 
 is quite peculiar. It is not the love of consanguinity, 
 or friendship, or interest, or general esteem ; but it is 
 an affection cherished for Christ's sake. They may see 
 many things in each other to admire, such as an amia- 
 ble temper, public spirit, tender sympathy ; but Chris- 
 tian love does not rest on these things, although they 
 may increase it, but on the ground of a common rela- 
 tionship to Christ. On this account they are to take 
 peculiar delight in each other, as being one in Christ. 
 " These," should a believer exclaim, as he looks on the 
 church, " are the objects of the Redeemer's living and 
 dying love, whom he regards with complacency ; and 
 out of affection to him, I feel an inexpressible delight in 
 them. I love to associate with them, to talk with them, 
 to look upon them, because they are Christ's." 
 
 2. Love to our brethren will lead us to bear one ano- 
 ther's burthens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. vi. 2. 
 
 When we see them oppressed with a weight of anx- 
 ious care, instead of carrying ourselves with cold in- 
 difference and unfeeling distance towards them, we 
 should cherish a tender solicitude to know and relieve 
 their anxieties. How touching would such a saluta- 
 tion as the following be, from one Christian to another: 
 " Brother, I have observed, with considerable pain, that 
 
 91 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS ^4 
 
 your countenance has been covered with gloom, as if 
 you were sinking- under some inward solicitude. I 
 would not be unpleasantly officious, nor wish to obtrude 
 myself upon your attention, farther than is agreeable ; 
 but I offer you the expressions of Christian sympathy, 
 and the assistance of Christian counsel. Can I in any 
 way assist to mitigate your care, and restore your tran- 
 quillity ?*' At such sounds, the loaded heart would feel 
 as if half its load were gone. It may be, the kind in- 
 quirer, could yield no effectual relief, but there is balm 
 in his sympathy. The indifference of some professing 
 Christians to the burthens of their brethren is shock- 
 ing; they would see them crushed to the very earth 
 with cares and sorrows, and never make one kind in- 
 quiry into their situation, nor lend a helping hand to 
 lift them from the dust. Love requires that we should 
 take the deepest interest in each other's case, that we 
 shculd patiently listen to the tale of wo which a brother 
 brings us, that we should mingle our tears with his, 
 that we should offer him our advice, that we should sug- 
 gest to him the consolations of the gospel ; in short, we 
 should let him see that his troubles reach not only our 
 ear, but our heart. Sympathy is one of the finest, the 
 most natural, the most easy expressions of love. 
 
 3. Love requires that we should visit our brethren in 
 their affliction. 
 
 " I was sick and ye visited me, I was in prison and ye 
 came unto me ; — for as much as ye did it unto the least 
 of these my brethren, ye did it unto me;" such is the 
 language of Jesus Christ to his people, by which he 
 teaches us how important and incumbent a duty it is for 
 church members to visit each other in their afflictions. 
 Probably there is no duty more neglected than this. 
 Christians often lie on beds of sickness for weeks and 
 months successively, without seeing a fellow member 
 cross the threshold of their chamber door. How often 
 have I been shocked, when upon inquiring of the suffer- 
 er whether such and such an individual residing in their 
 neighbourhood had been to visit them, it had been said 
 in reply, "Oh! no Sir, I have now been stretched on 
 this bed for days and weeks. My pain and weakness 
 have been so great, that T have scarcely been able to col- 
 
 91 
 
5 J TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 lect my thoughts for meditation and prayer. The sight 
 of a dear Christian friend would indeed have relieved 
 the dull monotony of this gloomy scene, and the voice 
 of piety would have been as music to blunt my sense of 
 pain, and lull my troubled heart to short repose 5 but 
 such a sight and such a sound have been denied me. 
 No friend has been near me, and it has aggravated sor- 
 rows, already heavy, to be thus neglected and forgotten 
 by a church, which I joined with the hope of finding 
 amongst them the comfort of sympathy. But alas! alas! 
 I find them too much occupied with the things seen 
 and temporal, to think of a suffering brother, to whom 
 wearisome nights and months of vanity are appointed." 
 How could I help exclaiming, " O, Christian love, bright 
 image of the Saviour's heart! whither hast thou fled, 
 that thou so rarely visitest the church on earth, to shed 
 thine influence, and manifest thy beauties there?" 
 There have been ages of Christianity, so historians in- 
 form us, in which brotherly love prevailed amongst 
 Christians to such a degree, that, fearless of the infec- 
 tion diffused by the most malignant and contagious dis- 
 orders, they have ventured to the bed side of their bre- 
 thren expiring in the last stages of the plague, to ad- 
 minister the consolations of a hope full of immortality. 
 This was love ; love stronger than death, and which 
 many waters could not quench. It was no doubt im- 
 prudent, but it was heroic, and circulated far and wide 
 the praises of that dear name which was the secret of 
 the wonder. 
 
 How many are there, now bearing the Christian 
 name, who scarcely ever yet paid one visit to the bed 
 side of a suffering brother. Shame and disgrace upon 
 such professors!!! Let them not expect to hear the Sa- 
 viour say, "I was sick, and ye visited me." 
 
 That this branch of Christian love may be performed 
 with greater diligence, it would be a good plan for the 
 pastor, at every church meeting, to mention the names 
 of the afflicted members, and stir up the brethren to visit 
 them. It would be particularly desirable for Christians to 
 go to the scene of suffering on a Sabbath day, and read the 
 Bible and sermons to the afflicted, at that time, as they 
 are then peculiarly apt to feel their sorrows, in conse- 
 
 91 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH" MEMBERS | 6 
 
 quence of being cut off from the enjoyments of public 
 worship. 
 
 4. " Pray one for another," James v. 16. 
 
 Not only with but for one another. A Christian 
 should take the interests of his brethren into the closet. 
 Private devotion is not to be selfish devotion. It would 
 much increase our affection did we devote more of our 
 private prayers to each other's welfare. 
 
 5. Pecuniary relief should be administered to those who 
 need it. 
 
 "Distributing to the necessities of the saints," Rom. 
 xii. 13, is mentioned amongst the incumbent duties of 
 professing Christians. How just, how forcible is the 
 interrogation of the Apostle, 1 John iii. 17, "Whoso 
 hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, 
 and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, 
 how dwelleth the love of God in him ?" Nothing can be 
 more absurd, than those pretensions to love, which are 
 not supported by exertions to relieve the wants of the 
 object beloved. It must be a singular affection which 
 is destitute of mercy. So powerfully did this holy pas- 
 sion operate in the first ages of the church, that many 
 rich Christians sold their estates, and shared their af- 
 fluence with the poor. What rendered this act the 
 more remarkable is, that it was purely voluntary. It 
 is not our duty any more than it was theirs, to go this 
 length ; still, however, it is evident both from general 
 principles as well as from particular precepts, that we 
 are under obligation to make some provision for the 
 comfort of the poor. This duty must be left" in the 
 statement of general terms, as it is impossible to define 
 its precise limits. It does not appear to me to be at all 
 incumbent to make regular periodical distributions to 
 the poor, whether in circumstances of distress or not. 
 Some churches have a registered list of pensioners, who 
 come as regularly for their pay, as if they were hire^ 
 servants. If they are old, infirm, or unprovided fo^ 
 this is very well ; but for those to receive relief, who 
 are getting a comfortable subsistence by their labour, 
 is an abuse of the charity of the church. The money 
 collected at the Lord's supper, should be reserved for 
 times of sickness and peculiar necessitv. 
 
 91 
 
T] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 It should be recollected, also, that public contribu- 
 tions do not release the members from the exercise of 
 private liberality. The shilling a month which is given 
 at the Lord's supper, seems in the opinion of many, to 
 discharge them from all further obligation to provide for 
 the comfort of their poorer brethren, and to be a sort of 
 composition for the full exercise of religious charity. 
 This is a great mistake ; it ought rather to be consider- 
 ed as a mere earnest, or pledge of all that more effec- 
 tive and abundant liberality which they should exercise 
 in secret. Every Christian who is indulged with a con- 
 siderable share of the bounties of providence ought to 
 consider the poorer members of the church, who may 
 happen to live in his neighbourhood, as the objects of 
 his peculiar care, interest, and relief. 
 
 6. Forbearance is a great part of love. 
 
 "Forbearing one another in love." Eph. iv. 2. In a 
 Christian church, especially where it is of considerable 
 magnitude, we must expect to find a very great diversity 
 of character. There are all the gradations of intellect, 
 and all the varieties of temper. In such cases great 
 forbearance is absolutely essential to the preservation 
 of harmony and peace. The strong must bear with the 
 infirmities of the weak. Christians of great attainments 
 in knowledge should not in their hearts despise, nor in 
 their conduct ridicule the feeble conceptions of those 
 who are babes in Christ ; but most meekly correct their 
 errors, and most kindly instruct their ignorance. This 
 is love. In very many persons there will unhappily be 
 found 'some things, which although they by no means 
 affect the reality and sincerity of their religion, consi- 
 derably diminish its lustre, and have a tendency, with- 
 out the caution of love, to disturb our communion with 
 them. Some have a forward and obtrusive manner; 
 others are talkative; others indulge a complaining, 
 whining, begging disposition; others are abrupt, al- 
 most to rudeness, in their address. These, and many 
 more, are the spots of God's children — with which we 
 are sometimes so much displeased, as to feel an aliena- 
 tion of heart from the subjects of them, although we 
 have no doubt of their real piety. Now here is room 
 for the exercise of love. These are the cases in which 
 
 91 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MK.MBF.KS | 8 
 
 wo arc to employ that charity winch covereth all things. 
 Arc we to love only amiable Christians? Perhaps, after 
 all, in the substantial parts of religion, these rough cha- 
 racters far excel others, whom courtesy and amiableness 
 have carried to the highest degree of polish. I do not 
 say we are to love these individuals/or their peculiari- 
 ties, but in spite of them. Not on their own account, 
 but for Christ's sake, to whom they belong. And what 
 can be a greater proof of our affection for him, than to 
 love an unlovely individual on his account? 
 
 If you had the picture of a valued friend, would you 
 withdraw from it your affection, and throw it away, be- 
 cause there was a spot upon- the canvass, which in some 
 degree disfigured the painting? No : you would say, it 
 is a likeness of my friend still, and I love it, notwith- 
 standing its imperfection. The believer is a picture of 
 your best friend ; and will you discard him, neglect 
 him, because there is a speck upon the painting ? 
 
 7. Love should induce us to ivatch over one another. 
 
 Am I my brother's keeper ? was an inquiry suitable 
 enough in the lips of a murderer, but most unsuitable 
 and inconsistent from a Christian. We are brought 
 into fellowship for the very purpose of being keepers 
 of each other. We are to watch over our brethren, and 
 admonish and reprove them as circumstances may re- 
 quire. I do not mean that church members should pry 
 into each other's secrets, or be busy bodies in other 
 men's matters, for that is forbidden by God and abomi- 
 nable in the sight of man. 1 Thess. iii. 11. 1 Pet. iv. 15. 
 Much less are they to assume authority over each 
 other, and act the part of proud and tyrannical inquisi- 
 tors. But still we are to " exhort one another daily, lest 
 any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." We 
 are not to suffer sin to be committed, or duty to be omit- 
 ted by a brother, without affectionately admonishing 
 him. What can be more incumbent, more obligator v, 
 than this ? Can we indeed love any one, and at the same 
 time see him do that which we know will injure him, 
 without entreating him to desist ? M Brethren, if any man 
 be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore 
 such an one in the spirit of meekness." Gal. vi. 1. 
 
 Let us then take heed against that Cain-like spirit 
 which is too prevalent in our churches, and which leaxls 
 
9] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 many to act as if their fellow members were no more to 
 them than the stranger at the ends of the earth. Strik- 
 ing are the words of God to the Jews, " Thou shalt not 
 hate thy brother in thy heart 5 thou shalt in any wise re- 
 buke him, and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. xix. 17. 
 Not to rebuke him then when he sins, is instead of lov- 
 ing him to hate him. This neglect is what the apostle 
 means by being partakers of other men's sins. The 
 admonition to "warn the unruly," 1 Thess. v. 14. was 
 delivered not merely to ministers, but to private Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 I know no duty more neglected than this. It is one 
 of the most prevalent defects of Christians. Many a 
 backslider would have been prevented from going far 
 astray, if in the very first stages of his declension some 
 brother, who had observed his critical state, had faith- 
 fully and affectionately warned and admonished him. 
 What shame, and anguish, and disgrace, would the of- 
 fender himself have been spared, and what dishonour 
 and scandal would have been averted from the church 
 by this one act of faithful love ! 
 
 I am aware it is a difficult and self-denying duty ; but 
 that cannot excuse its neglect. Love will enable us to 
 perform it, and the neglect of it violates the law of Christ. 
 
 II. Church members should cultivate peace and har- 
 mony one with another. 
 
 " Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
 Ephes. iv. 3. Be of one mind, live in peace. 2 Cor. iii. 
 1 1. Follow after the things which make for peace. 
 Rom. adv. 19." It is quite needless to expatiate on the 
 value and importance of peace. What society can ex- 
 ist without it ? I shall therefore proceed to state what 
 things are necessary for the attainment of this end. 
 
 1 . Ahmbers should be subject one to another in humility. 
 
 " Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the 
 elder. Yea, all of you, be subject one to another, and 
 be clothed with humility." 1 Pet. v. 5. Now from 
 hence we learn, that some kind of mutual subjection 
 ought to be established in every Christian church. This 
 of course does not mean, that some members are to 
 make an entire surrender of their opinions and feelings 
 to others, so far as never to oppose them, and always 
 
 91 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBKRS [tO 
 
 to be guided by them. It is not the subjection of an in- 
 ferior to a superior, but of equals to one another ; not 
 that which is extorted by authority, but voluntarily con- 
 ceded by affection ; not yielded as matter of right, but 
 given for the sake of peace : in short, it is the mutual 
 subjection of love and humility. Young and inexperi- 
 enced persons ought to be subject to the aged 5 for what 
 can be more indecorous than to see a stripling standing 
 up at a church meeting, and with confidence and flip- 
 pancy, opposing his views to those of a disciple old 
 enough to be his grandfather ? Youth loses its loveli- 
 ness when it loses its modesty. They should hearken 
 with deference and most reverential attention to the 
 opinion of the aged. Nor does the obligation rest here ; 
 it extends to those who are equal in age and rank: Church 
 members should be subject to each other ; they should 
 not be determined at all events to have their own way, 
 but should go as far as principle will let them, in 
 giving up their own views and predilections to the rest. 
 Every one should hearken with respectful attention to 
 the opinions of others, and be willing to sacrifice his 
 own. The contention ought not to be for rule, but for 
 subjection. Instead of haughtily exclaiming, " I have 
 as much right to have my way as any one else," we should 
 say, " I have an opinion, and will mildly and respectfully 
 state it ; yet I will not force it upon the church, but 
 give way to the superior wisdom of others, if I am op- 
 posed." There should be in every member a supposi- 
 tion that others may see as clearly, probably more so, 
 than himself. 
 
 The democratic principle in our system of church 
 government must not be stretched too far. The idea 
 of equal rights is soon abused and converted into the 
 means of turbulence and faction. Liberty, fraternity, 
 and equality, are words which both in church and state 
 tjave often become the signals in the mouths of some, 
 for the lawless invasion of the rights of others. It has 
 been strangely forgotten, that no man in social life has 
 a right to please only himself; his will is, or ought to 
 be, the good of the whole. And that individual violates 
 at once the social compact, whether in ecclesiastical or 
 civil society, who pertinaciously and selfishly exclaims, 
 
 91 
 
11 "| TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 " I will have my way." Such a declaration constitutes 
 him a rebel against the community. Yet alas! how 
 much of this rebellion is to be found not only in the 
 world, but in the church 5 and what havoc and desola- 
 tion has it occasioned. Unfortunately for the peace of 
 our societies, it is sometimes disguised, by the deceit- 
 fulness of the human heart, under the cloak of zeal for 
 the general good. Church members should enter into 
 these sentiments, and thus comply with the apostolic 
 admonitions, "Let nothing be done through strife or 
 vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem 
 others better than themselves." Phil. ii. 3. "In honour 
 preferring one another." Rom. xii. 10. 
 
 2. To the preservation of peace, a right treatment of 
 offences is essentially necessary. 
 
 We should ever be cautious not to give offence. 
 
 Some persons are rude, dogmatical, or indiscreet ; 
 they never consult the feelings of those around them, 
 and are equally careless whom they please and whom 
 they offend. They say and do just what their feelings 
 prompt, without the least regard to the consequences 
 of their words and actions. They act like an indivi- 
 dual who because it pleases him, discharges a loaded 
 musket in a crowded street, where some are almost 
 sure to be wounded. This is not the charity which is 
 kind, courteous, and civil. A Christian should be ever 
 afraid of giving offence; he should be anxious not to in- 
 jure the wing of an insect, much more the mind of a 
 brother. The peace of his brethren should even be 
 more sacred than his own. It should be his fixed de- 
 termination never, if possible, to occasion a moment's 
 pain. For this purpose he should be discreet, and mild, 
 and courteous in all his language, weighing the import 
 of words before he utters them, and calculating the con- 
 sequence of actions before he performs them. He should 
 remember that he is moving in a crowd, and be careful 
 not to trample on, or jostle his neighbours. 
 
 We should all be backward to receive offence. 
 
 Quarrels often begin for want of the caution I have 
 just stated, and are then continued for want of the back- 
 wardness I am now enforcing. An observance of tlic^e 
 two principles would keep the world in peace. There 
 are some people whose passions sue like tow, kindled 
 
DUTIES OF CHUKCH MEMBERS [12 
 
 into a blaze in a moment by the least spark which has 
 been designedly or accidentally thrown upon it. A 
 word, a look, is in some cases quite enough to be con- 
 sidered a very serious injury. It is no uncommon thing 
 for such persons to excuse themselves on the ground 
 that their feelings are so delicately sensible that they 
 are offended by the least touch. This is an humiliating 
 confession, for it is acknowledging that instead of being 
 like the cedar of Lebanon, or the oak of the forest which 
 laughs at the tempest, and is unmoved by the boar of 
 the wood, they resemble the sensitive plant, a little 
 squeamish shrub, which trembles before the breeze, 
 and shrivels and contracts beneath the pressure of an 
 insect. Delicate feelings !! In plain English, this means 
 that they are petulant and irascible. I would have a 
 text of Scripture written upon a label, and tied upon the 
 forehead of such persons; and it should be this — " Be- 
 ware of dogs." 
 
 We should never suffer ourselves to be offended, un- 
 til, at least, we are sure that offence was intended; and 
 this is really not so often as we are apt to conclude. 
 Had we but patience to wait, or humility to inquire, we 
 should find that many things were done by mistake, 
 which we are prone to attribute to design. How often 
 do we violate that charity which thinketh no evil, and 
 which imperatively demands of us to attribute a good 
 motive to another's conduct, except a bad one is proved. 
 Let us then deliberately determine, that, by God's grace, 
 we will not be easily offended. If such a resolution 
 were generally made and kept, offences would cease. 
 Let us first ascertain whether offence was intended, be- 
 fore we suffer the least emotion of anger to be indulged; 
 and even then, when we have proved that the offence 
 was not committed by accident, let us next ask ourselves 
 whether it is necessary to notice it. What wise man 
 will think it worth while, when an insect has stung him, 
 to pursue and punish the aggressor ? 
 
 When we have received an injury which is too seri- 
 ous to be passed over unnoticed, and requires explana- 
 tion in order to our future pleasant intercourse with the 
 individual who inflicts it, ive should neither brood over it 
 in silence, nor communicate it to a third person, but go 
 directly to the offender himself , and state to him in private 
 
13] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 our views of his conduct. This is most clearly enjoined 
 by our divine Lord — " Moreover, if thy brother tres- 
 pass against thee, go and tell him his fault between the* 
 and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained 
 thy brother." Matt, xviii. 15. Many persons lock up 
 the injury in their own bosom; and instead of going to 
 their offending brother, dwell upon his conduct in si- 
 lence, until their imagination has added to it every pos- 
 sible aggravation, and their minds have come to the 
 conclusion to separate themselves for ever from his so- 
 ciety. From that hour, they neither speak to him, nor 
 think well of him; but consider and treat him as an alien 
 from their hearts. This is not religion. Our duty is 
 to go, and to go as speedily as possible, to the offender 
 The longer we delay, the more serious will the offenc* 
 appear in our eyes, and the more difficult will it be to 
 persuade ourselves to obtain the interview. 
 
 Others, when they have received an offence, set off to 
 somefriend, perhaps to more than one, to lodge their com- 
 plaint, and tell how they have been treated. The re- 
 port of the injury spreads further and wider, exaggerated 
 and swelled by those circumstances, which every gossip 
 through whose hands it passes, chooses to add to the ori- 
 ginal account, till in process of time it comes around to 
 the offender himself, in its magnified and distorted form, 
 who now finds that he in his turn is aggrieved and ca- 
 lumniated; and thus, a difficult and complicated case of 
 offence, grows out of what was at first very simple in its 
 nature, and capable of being adjusted. We ought to 
 go at once to the party offending us, before a syllable 
 has past our lips on the subject to a third person; and 
 we should also close our ears against the complaints of 
 any individual, who would inform us of the fault of a 
 brother, before he has told the offender himself. 
 
 Sometimes when persons have received a supposed 
 offence, they will endeavour to gain information from others 
 in a circuitous and clandestine maimer, in order, as they 
 think, to conduct the affair with prudence. This is 
 crooked policy, and rarely succeeds. It is next to im- 
 possible to creep with a step so soft, and to speak with 
 a voice so muffled, as to escape detection; and if the in- 
 dividual surprise us in the act of ferreting into holes 
 
 91 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS (j 4 
 
 and corners for evidence, it will be sure to excite his 
 indignation and disgust. No, go to him at once, and 
 alone. This is the command of Scripture, and it is 
 approved by reason, Matt, xviii. 15 — 17. This single 
 admonition is worth all the volumes that philosophy 
 ever wrote, and ought to be inscribed in letters of gold. 
 It cannot be too often repeated, nor can too much stress 
 be laid upon it. Third persons, whose ears are ever 
 open to catch reports, should be avoided as the plague; 
 they are the mischief-makers, quarrel-mongers, and 
 pests of our churches. 
 
 Great caution, however, should be observed as to the 
 spirit in which we go to the offending brother. All the 
 meekness and gentleness of Christ should be in our 
 temper and manner. We should dip our very tongue 
 in the fountain of love. Every feeling, every look, 
 every tone of anger, should be suppressed. We should 
 noc at once accuse our brother of the injury, for the re- 
 port may be false; but modestly ask him if it be correct. 
 All attempts to extort confession by threatenings should 
 be avoided ; and instead of these, nothing should be 
 employed but the appeals of wisdom, the gentle per- 
 suasions of love.* If we succeed in this private inter- 
 
 * There is a veiy interesting description of the manner in which 
 private offences should be treated, in that inimitable book, " So- 
 cial Religion Exemplified." Part of a dialogue, I here transcribe, 
 as showing the manner and spirit in which this very difficult mat- 
 ter ought to be managed: — 
 
 "Neophttus. If Epenetns please, and with the good leave of 
 the company, 1 would further request a brief account of private 
 offences, that probably occurred among these professing brethren. 
 
 " Epexetus. I shall then gratify my young friend, which I am 
 persuaded will not be ungrateful to the company. Upon a time, 
 in some discourse which Egwan (of whom you have heard some- 
 thing before) and one Hyderus had, wherein they differed in opin- 
 ion, the latter told the former that he was an insignificant fellow, 
 whose thoughts were not to be regarded. Egwan said in answer, 
 that he took it very ill of him. The other replied, You may take 
 it as you please. So their conversation ended in a cloud. Egwan 
 had but little rest that night. Is it so, then, he says to himself, 
 and yet did Christ redeem me ? Did the Spirit of the Lord visit 
 my heart ? Did the church of Christ receive me ? And must 1 
 (though weak and feeble) be called insignificant ? Tossed through 
 the nig-ht in much uneasiness, he thought to go in the morning to 
 one of the elders to complain. He got up and as usual, in the 
 
 01 
 
15]] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 view to gain our brother so far as to produce a little 
 relenting, we ought to cherish, by the kindest expres- 
 sions, these beginnings of repentance, and to avoid all 
 demands of unnecessary concession, all haughty airs 
 of conscious superiority, all insulting methods of dis- 
 pensing pardon. "Brother," we should say, "my aim 
 
 first place committed himself to God: but while he was at prayer, 
 mourning" over his present uneasiness, that word came into his 
 mind, If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his 
 fault between thee and him alone. He quickly saw, that it was not 
 his immediate business to divulge it to any body, — no, not to an el- 
 der; but to go directly to the brother who gave him the offence. 
 Accordingly, he desired God to give him meekness of wisdom 
 from above, and to bless his design. So he went to Hyderus, and 
 spoke to him as follows: 
 
 Egwan. Brother I have had a very uneasy night; you spoke, I 
 think, very unadvisedly with your lips, to say no worse of it; you 
 have grieved me much, and surely you have sinned against God. 
 I have judged it my duty to come and have some talk with you 
 about it; and have mentioned it to none but the Lord. You know 
 you called me, in disdain, An insignificant fellow. Pray, what do 
 you think of the expression, and of the spirit in which it was 
 spoken ? 
 
 Hyderus. Truly, I think it was not worth your while to come 
 to me about it. I charge you not with pride; yet pray does it not 
 look very much that way, that you should make it your business 
 to come hither to prove yourself valuable and significant ? 
 
 Egwan. I came with no other design than to tell you my 
 grievance. For if I am such a person as, with disdain, you de- 
 scribed me, then am I not regarded by the Redeemer; have no por- 
 tion in him; nor doth his Spirit dwell in me; nor hath he ever taken 
 notice of me; otherwise, sure, I should be entitled to a place in the 
 esteem of his children. Why did the church receive me ? You 
 have censured the whole church, as well as myself. 
 
 Hyderus. I do not pretend to justify what I said; but think you 
 greatly aggravate it; whereas, you might as well have been easy 
 without taking any notice of it. 
 
 Egwan. And suffer the sin to he upon you ? Brother, nothing 
 is desired but repentance for sinning against God. I hope I am 
 willing to think meanly of myself, but am not so willing that any 
 thing appertaining to the Redeemer's kingdom should be treated 
 with derision or disdain. 
 
 Hyderus. Dear brother, I disdain you not; you discover your- 
 self to be a Christian of good improvement. I am sorry to have 
 so sinned against God and you, and desire that brotherly love and 
 tender respect may continue. 
 
 Egwan. J men,- 1 am satisfied, dear brother. 
 
 Chhistophilus. What a speedy, happy end was put to this of- 
 fence ! Oh, what endless strife of tongues, evil surmisings, ani- 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS f 1 6 
 
 was not to degrade you, but to convince you $ and since 
 you see and acknowledge your fault, I am satisfied, and 
 shall forgive and forget it from this moment." 
 
 If the offender should refuse to acknowledge his fault, 
 and it should be necessary for us to take a witness or 
 two, which is our next step in settling a disagreement, 
 we must be very careful to select men of great discretion 
 and calmness; men who will not be likely to inflame, 
 instead of healing the wound ; men who will act as me- 
 diators^ not as partizans. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary in order to offences being 
 removed, that the offender, upon his being convicted 
 of an injury, shoidd make all suitable concession; and it 
 will generally be found, that in long continued and com- 
 plicated strifes, this obligation becomes mutual. Who- 
 ever is the original aggressor, a feud seldom conti- 
 nues long, ere both parties are to blame. Even the ag- 
 grieved individual has something to concede : and the 
 way to induce the other to acknowledge his greater 
 offence, is for him to confess his lesser one. It is the 
 mark of a noble and ingenuous mind to confess an 
 error, and solicit its forgiveness. " Confess your faults 
 one to another,'' is an inspired injunction. The man 
 who is too proud to acknowledge his fault, when his 
 conduct demands it, has violated his duty, and is a fit 
 subject for censure. There are some persons, so far 
 forgetful of their obligations to Christ and to their bre- 
 thren, as not only to refuse to make concession, but 
 even to give explanation. Their proud spirits disdain 
 even to afford the least satisfaction in the way of throw- 
 ing light upon a supposed offence. This is most crimi- 
 nal, and is such a defiance of the authority of the Lord 
 
 mosities, and popular clamour, spring and prevail in some places, 
 for want of observing such a method as this ! 
 
 Neophytos. Bat what if Egwan had gone to the elder first, 
 as he thought once to do ? 
 
 Epenetus. Why, then he would have been reproved for taking 
 such a wrong step; would have been better informed, and sent 
 about his business. 
 
 Neophttus. But what if Hyda-us had justified himself and per 
 sisted in his sin? 
 
 Epbsetxjs. Then Egwan must have taken another opportu- 
 nity, and desired a brother or two to go along with him; that they 
 might use their joint endeavours to bring the offenderto repentance. 
 
!7j TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 Jesus, as ought to bring the individual before the bar 
 c>f the church. 
 
 We should be very cautious not to exact unreasonable 
 concession. A revengeful spirit is often as effectually 
 gratified by imposing hard and humiliating terms of 
 reconciliation, as it possibly could be by making the 
 severest retaliation. No offender is so severely punish- 
 ed, as he who is obliged to degrade himself in order 
 to obtain a pardon. And as all revenge is unlawful, 
 •we should be extremely careful not to gratify it at the 
 a ery time and by the manner in which we are dispens- 
 ing pardon. - To convince a brother, not to degrade 
 I dm, is the object we are to seek 5 and especially 
 should we endeavour to show him, that his offence is 
 more against Christ, than against ourselves. 
 
 When suitable acknowledgments are made, the act 
 of forgiveness is no longer optional with us. From that 
 moment every spark of anger, every feeling of a re- 
 vengeful nature, is to be quenched. "Let not the sun 
 go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the 
 devil." Ephes. iv. 26, 27. If we suffer sleep to visit 
 our eyes before we have forgiven an offending, but pe- 
 nitent brother, we are committing a greater offence 
 against Christ, than our brother has committed against 
 us. The man that takes a revengeful temper to his 
 pillow, is inviting Satan to be his guest. Such a man 
 would probably tremble at the thought of taking a har- 
 lot to his bed; but is it no crime to sleep in the embrace 
 of a. fiend? The word revenge should be blotted from 
 the Christian's vocabulary by the tears which he sheds 
 for his own offences. How can an implacable Chris- 
 tian repeat that petition of our Lord's prayer, " For- 
 give me my trespasses as I forgive them that trespass 
 against me ?" Does he forget that if he uses such lan- 
 guage while he is living in a state of resentment against 
 a brother, he is praying for perdition — for how does he 
 forgive them that trespass against him ? By revenge. 
 How strong is the language of Paul. "Grieve not 
 the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the 
 Jilay of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and 
 clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, 
 with all malice: and be kind one to another, and ten- 
 der-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, foi 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS |_ld 
 
 Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." Ephes. iv. 30 — 32 
 What motives to a forgiving spirit !! Can that man 
 have ever tasted the sweets of pardoning mercy who 
 refuses to forgive an erring brother ? Go, Christian 
 professor, go first to the law, and learn thy twice ten 
 thousand sins; go in imagination to the brink of the 
 bottomless pit, and as thou hearkenest to the bowlings 
 of the damned, remember that those howlings might 
 have been thine; then go the cross, and while thou 
 lookest on the bleeding victim, which is nailed to it, 
 hearken to the accents of mercy which breathe like soft 
 music in thine ear, " Go in peace, thy sins are all forgiven 
 thee." WhditjWill you, can you return from such scenes, 
 with purposes of revenge? No; impossible. An impla- 
 cable Christian is a contradiction in terms. " Bigots 
 there may be, and have been, of all denominations; 
 but an implacable, irreconcilable, unforgiving Chris- 
 tian, is of the same figure of speech, as a godly adul- 
 terer, a religious drunkard, a devout murderer." 
 
 The last step in reclaiming an offender, is to bring 
 him before the assembled church. " If he will not hear 
 thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the 
 mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be 
 established; and if he shall neglect to hear them, tell 
 it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, 
 let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." 
 Every effort that ingenuity can invent, affection prompt, 
 or patience can conduct, ought to be made, before it be 
 brought to be investigated by the brethren at large. 
 If every trivial disagreement be laid before the church, 
 it will soon become a court of common pleas, and hare 
 all its time consumed in adjusting matters of which it 
 ought never to have heard. 
 
 An offence ought never to be considered as removed, 
 vjitil love is restored. We should never rest until such 
 an explanation has been given and received, as will ena- 
 ble us to return to harmony and confidence. A mere 
 cessation of actual hostilities may do for the intercourse 
 of the world, but not for the fellowship of the saints. 
 There is no actual strife between the tenants of the se- 
 pulchre; but the cold and gloomy stillness of a church- 
 yard is an inappropriate emblem of the peace of a Chris- 
 tian church. In such a community we expect, that not 
 
19] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 only will the discords and sounds of enmity be hushed, 
 but the sweet harmonies of love be heard; not only that 
 the conflict of rage will terminate, but be succeeded by 
 the activity of genuine affection. 
 
 TVhen once an offence has been removed, it should never 
 be adverted to in future. Its very remembrance should 
 if possible be washed from the memory by the waters 
 of Lethe. Other causes of disagreement may exist, 
 and fresh feuds arise; but the old one is dead and buried, 
 and its angry ghost should never be evoked to add fury 
 to the passion of its successor. Nor should we, when 
 in our turn we are convicted of an error, shelter our- 
 selves from reproof, by reminding our reprover, that 
 he was once guilty of a similar offence. This is mean, 
 dishonourable, unchristian, and mischievous. 
 
 Every Christian shoidd bear reproof with meekness. 
 Few know how to give reproof with propriety, still 
 fewer how to bear it. " Let the righteous smite me, 
 it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall 
 be as excellent oil, which shall not break my head." 
 How small is the number who can adopt this language 
 insincerity. What wounded pride, what mortification 
 and resentment are felt by many when their faults are 
 told to them. When we have so far sinned as to de- 
 serve rebuke, we ought to have humility enough to 
 bear it with meekness ; and should it be delivered in 
 greater weight, or with less affection than we think is 
 proper, a penitential remembrance of our offence should 
 prevent all feelings of irritation or resentment. The 
 scripture is very severe in its language to those who 
 turn with neglect, anger, or disgust from the admoni- 
 tions of their brethren. "He that despiseth reproof 
 sinneth." Prov. x. 17. "He thathateth reproof is brut- 
 ish." Prov. xii. 1. "He that is often reproved, and yet 
 hardeneth his neck, shall be suddenly destroyed, and 
 that without remedy." Prov. xxix. 1. Such persons 
 are guilty of great pride, great neglect of the word of 
 God, and great contempt of one of the ordinances of 
 Heaven, and thus injure their souls by that which was 
 given to benefit them. 
 
 Do not then act so wickedly as to turn with indigna- 
 tion from a brother that comes in the spirit of meekness 
 to admonish and reprove you. Rather thank him for 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS [20 
 
 his fidelity, and profit by his kindness. I know not a 
 more decisive mark of true and strong piety than a will- 
 ingness to receive reproof with meekness and to profit 
 by admonition, come from whom it might. 
 
 2. If the peace of the church be preserved, the mem- 
 bers must watch against, and repress, a tattling dis- 
 position. 
 
 There are few circumstances which tend more to 
 disturb the harmony and repose of our societies, than 
 a proneness in some of their members, to a gossiping, 
 tattling disposition. There are persons so deeply in- 
 fected with the Athenian passion to hear or tell some 
 new thing, that their ears or lips are always open. 
 With insatiable appetite they devour all the news they 
 can by any means collect, and are never easy until it is 
 all disgorged again, to the unspeakable annoyance and 
 disgust of others around them. It is one of the myste- 
 ries of God's natural government, that such should gain 
 a sort of adventitious consequence by the mischief they 
 occasion, and be thus sheltered from scorn by being 
 regarded with dread. The tattler is c/ this description: 
 I mean the individual who loves to talk of other men's 
 matters, and especially of their faults: for it will be 
 found, that by a singular perversity of disposition, 
 those who love to talk about the circumstances of 
 others, rarely ever select their excellencies as matters 
 of discourse, but almost always fix upon their failings , 
 and thus, to borrow a simile of Solomon's, they resem- 
 ble the fly which neglects the healthful part of the 
 frame to pitch and luxuriate on the sore. 
 
 In the case of tattling there are generally three par- 
 ties to blame; there is first the gossip, then the person 
 who is weak enough to listen to, and report the talesj 
 and lastly, the individual who is the subject of the re- 
 port, who suffers his mind to be irritated, instead of 
 going, in the spirit of meekness, to require an expla- 
 nation from the original reporter. 
 
 Now let it be a rule with every church member, to 
 avoid speaking of the circumstances, and especially of the 
 faults of others. Let this rule have the sanctity of the 
 laws of Heaven, and the immutability of those of the 
 Medes and Persians. Let every individual resolve 
 with himself thus : " I will be slow to speak of others. 
 
21] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 I will neither originate a report by saying what I think, 
 nor help to circulate a report by repeating what I hear." 
 This is a most wise regulation, which would at once pre- 
 serve our own peace and the peace of society. We 
 should beware of saying any thing, which by the per- 
 verted ingenuity of a slanderous disposition, may be- 
 come the basis of a tale to the disadvantage of another. 
 It is not enough, as I have hinted, that we do not origi- 
 nate a report, but we ought not to circulate it. When 
 it reaches us, there it should stop and go no farther. 
 We should give it to prudence, to be buried in silence. 
 We must never appear pleased with the tales of gossips 
 and newsmongers, much less with the scandals of the 
 backbiter,* our smile is their reward. If there were no 
 listeners, there would be no reporters. In company let us 
 always discourage and repress such conversation. 
 
 Let us avoid and discourage the hollow deceitful prac- 
 tice of indulging a tattling disposition under the cover of 
 lamenting over the faults of our brethren. 
 
 Many who would be afraid or ashamed to mention 
 the faults of a brother in the way of direct affirmation 
 or report, easily find, or attempt to find, a disguise for 
 their backbiting disposition in affected lamentations. 
 "What a pity it is," they exclaim, "that brother B. 
 should have behaved so ill. Poor man, I am sorry that 
 he should have committed himself. The petulance of 
 his temper is exceedingly to be regretted. He does 
 not much honour religion." "And then," replies a 
 second, " how sorry I am to hear this report of sister 
 C* how the world will talk, and the cause of Christ 
 suffer by such unwarrantable things in the conduct of 
 a professor. It will not be a secret long, or I would 
 not mention it." "Oh," says a third, "I have heard 
 whispers of the same kind in times past. I have long 
 suspected it, and mentioned my fears some months ago 
 to a friend or two. I thought she was not the person 
 she appeared to be. I am very sorry for her, and for 
 the cause of Christ. I have long had my suspicions, 
 and now they are all confirmed. I shall tell the friends 
 to whom I expressed my fears what I have now heard." 
 In this way is a tattling disposition indulged in the cir- 
 cles of even good people, under the guise of lamenta- 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS [_22 
 
 tion for the sins of others. " Odious and disgusting 
 cant," would a noble and honourable Christian ex- 
 claim, with hallowed indignation, " which of you, if you 
 really lamented the fact, would report it? which of you 
 has gone to tha erring individual, inquired into the truth 
 of the matter, and, finding it true, has mildly expostu- 
 lated ? Let your lamentations be poured out before God 
 and the offender, but to none else." 
 
 Others, again, indulge this disposition by running 
 about to inquire into the truth of a report which they say 
 has reached them, respecting a brother. Have you heard 
 any thing of brother H. lately ? they ask with a sig- 
 nificant look. "No;" replies the person. "Then I 
 suppose it is not true." " Why, what have you heard ? 
 Nothing I hope affecting his moral character." " Not 
 very materially; but I hope it is false." The tattler can- 
 not go, however, without letting out the secret, and then 
 sets off to inquire of another and another. Mischief 
 making creature. Why had he not gone, as was his 
 obvious duty, to the individual who was the subject of 
 the report, and inquired of him the truth of it ? Aye, 
 but then the story would have been contradicted at 
 once, and the pleasure of telling it would have been 
 ended. 
 
 There are cases in which a modest disclosure of the 
 failings of others is necessary. Such, for example, as 
 when a church is likely to be deceived in the character 
 of an individual, whom it is about to admit to com- 
 munion. In such instances, the person who is aware of 
 the imposition that is likely to be practised, should go 
 directly to the pastor, and make him acquainted with 
 the fact; instead of which some persons whisper their 
 suspicions to any and to many, except the pastor. It 
 is perfectly lawful also to prevent any brother from be- 
 ing betrayed into a ruinous confidence in pecuniary 
 matters by informing him of the character of the indi- 
 vidual by whom he is about to be deceived. Siknce, 
 in such cases, would be an obvious injury. 
 
 Be slow to speak, then, is a maxim which every 
 Christian should always keep before his eyes. Silent 
 people can do no harm ; but talkers are always dan- 
 gerous. 
 
23*] TOWARDS EACH OTHER. 
 
 III. Besides these things, there are duties which 
 members owe to the church in its collective capacity. 
 
 1. They are bound to take a deep interest in its con- 
 cerns, and to seek its prosperity by all lawful means. 
 
 Every one should feel that he has a personal share in 
 the welfare of the society. He should consider that hav- 
 ing selected that particular community with which he 
 is associated, as his religious home, he is under a so- 
 lemn obligation to promote, by every proper effort, its 
 real interest. He is to be indifferent to nothing which 
 at any time affects its prosperity. Some members, from 
 the moment they have joined a Christian church take 
 no concern in any of its affairs. They scarcely ever 
 attend a church meetings they know neither who are 
 excluded, nor who are received. If members are add- 
 ed, they express no delight; if none are admitted, they 
 feel no grief. They fill up their places at the table of 
 the Lord, and in the house of God; and beyond this, 
 seem to have nothing else to do with the church. This 
 is a most criminal apathy; a Christian ought to be as 
 tremblingly alive to the welfare of the religious society 
 to which he is united, as he is to the success of his 
 worldly affairs. 
 
 2. They are bound to attend all the meetings of the 
 church, at least so far as their circumstances will allow. 
 They had better be absent from sermons and prayer- 
 meetings, than from these. How can th&y know the 
 state of the society, if they are not present when its af- 
 fairs are exhibited and arranged ? or how can they ex- 
 ercise that proper confidence in the piety of the bre 
 thren, which is essential to fellowship, if they are ab- 
 sent at the time of their admission ? 
 
 3. They slwuld most conscientiously devote their gifts, 
 graces, and abilities to the service of the church, in an or- 
 derly and modest way ; neither obtruding their assist- 
 ance when it is not required, nor withholding it when it 
 is solicited. Those who have gifts of prayer should not 
 be backward to exercise them for the edification of their 
 brethren. Those who have penetration and sound judg- 
 ment, should render their counsel and advice upon every 
 occasion. Persons of large and respectable worldly con- 
 nexions may often use their influence with great benefit 
 to the temporal affairs of the society. 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS, &C. ['24 
 
 And there is one line of charitable exertion, whiiJi 
 would be peculiarly beneficial, and which has been too 
 much neglected in all our societies; I mean the practice 
 of respectable members reading the Scriptures, religious 
 tracts, and sermons, in the habitations of the poor. I am 
 aware that this is an age when many run to an fro, and 
 when lay preaching is carried to a very improper and 
 mischievous extent. Some who have no other qualifi- 
 cation for preaching than boldness and ignorance, are 
 every Sabbath employed, of whom it might be said, 
 that it is a pity they have not the gift of silence. Un 
 fortunately, those who are most qualified, are frequently 
 least disposed ; while the least qualified, are the most 
 zealous. But how many wise, judicious, holy men, 
 are there in our churches, who would be most honour- 
 ably, and most usefully employed, in reading the words 
 of life, and short evangelical sermons, in the cottages 
 of the poor. Let a convenient house be selected, and 
 the neighbours invited to attend: and who can tell what 
 vast benefit would accrue from such a scheme ? By the 
 blessing of God upon these efforts, reformation wouli 
 be wrought in the lower classes; religion would gain an 
 entrance where it could be introduced by no other 
 means ; and our churches be replenished with holy, 
 consistent members. Persons of respectable circum- 
 stances in life, especially, should thus employ them- 
 selves, as their situation gives them greater influence. 
 Females may be thus engaged, without transgressing 
 either against the injunction of the apostle, or the mo- 
 desty which is so becoming their sex. I am astonished 
 that means of usefulness so simple, so easy, and so efli- 
 cient, are not more generally employed. 
 
 4. It is due to the authority of the church, that every 
 member should cordially submit to its discipline. With- 
 out this, order would be destroyed, and the reign of 
 anarchy introduced. This, indeed, as we have already 
 considered, is essentially implied in the very act of 
 joining the church; and no one ought to think of such 
 an act of union, who is not determined to submit to its 
 rules and its decisions. 
 
 Op* The foregoing tract is taken from the Church Membei's 
 Guide, a book which deserves to be in the hands of every 
 Christian. 
 
THE DUTIES OT 
 
 CHURCH MEMBERS 
 
 TO THEIR PASTORS. 
 
 FBOM THE CHURCH MKMBER's OT7IDE, BY J. X. JAMBS. 
 
 Ii is the will and appointment of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 ihe king and head of his churches, that they should behave 
 towards their pastors, as his ministers, who come in his 
 name, bear his commands, and transact his business* and 
 who are to be treated in every respect, in a manner that 
 corresponds with their office. In a subordinate sense, 
 they are ambassadors for Christ, and are to be received 
 and esteemed in a way that corresponds with the authori- 
 ty and glory of him who commissions them. Whoever 
 slights, insults, or neglects them, in the discharge of their 
 official duties, disobeys and despises their divine Master, 
 who will keenly resent all tJ?e injuries that are offered 
 them. No earthly government will allow its messengers 
 to be rejected and insulted with impunity, much less will 
 the Lord of the church. Those who entertain low thoughts 
 of the pastoral office, and neglect its ministrations* who 
 speak contemptuously of their ministers ; who excite a 
 spirit of resistance to their counsels, admonitions, and 
 reproofs* who endeavour to lessen that just reverence, to 
 which for their works' sake, and on their Master's behalf 
 they arc entitled, certainly despise them, and not only 
 them, but Him that sent them also, and for such conduct 
 will incur the heavy displeasure of Christ, Luke x. 16. 1 
 Thess. v. 13. 
 
 But to descend to particulars; the duty of church mem« 
 bers towards their pastors includes: 
 
 I. Submission to their just and scriptural authority. 
 
 It is readily admitted that the unscriptural, and there- 
 fore usurped domination of the priesthood is the root 
 whence arose the whole system of papal tyranny; which, 
 sp-ri n ging up like a tree of poison in the garden of the Lord, 
 withered by its shadow, and blighted by its influence, 
 
 92 
 
DUTIES OF CHUmOH MEMBERS [2 
 
 almost every plant and flower of genuine Christianity. 
 It is matter of no regret, therefore, nor of surprise, if a 
 ceaseless jealousy should be maintained by those who un 
 derstand the principles of religious liberty, against the en- 
 croachments of pastoral authority. Still, however, there 
 is authority belonging to the pastor; for office without 
 authority is a solecism. "Remember them that have 
 the rule over you," said Paul to the Hebrews, xiii. 7. 
 " Obey them that have the rule over you. Submit your- 
 selves, for they watch for your souls," ver. 17. "They 
 addicted themselves to the ministry; submit yourselves io 
 such " 1 Cor. xvi. .5, 16. These are inspired injunc- 
 tions, and they enjoin obedience and submission on Chris- 
 tian churches to their pastors. The authority of pastors, 
 however, is not legislative or coercive, but simply decla- 
 rative and executive. To define with precision its limits, 
 is as difficult as to mark the boundaries of the several co 
 lours of the rainbow, or those of light and darkness at the 
 hour of twilight in the hemisphere. The minister is to 
 command, yet he is not to " lord it over God's heritage." 
 This is not the only case, in which the precise limits of 
 authority are left undefined by the Scriptures. The duties 
 of the conjugal union are laid down in the same general 
 manner: the husband is to rule and the wife to obey; yet it 
 is difficult to declare where in this instance authority and 
 submission end. In each of these instances the union is 
 founded on mutual love, confidence, and esteem, and it 
 might therefore be rationally supposed, that under these 
 circumstances general terms are sufficient, and that there 
 would arise no contests for power. If the people see that 
 all the authority of their pastor is employed for their be- 
 nefit, they will not be inclined to ascertain by measurement 
 whether he has passed its limits. The very circumstance 
 of his prerogative being thus undefined, should on the one 
 hand make him afraid of extending it, and on the other, 
 render his church cautious of diminishing it. It is my 
 decided conviction, thatin*o??ie of our churches, the pas- 
 tor is depressed far below his just level. He is considered 
 merely in the light of a speaking brother. He has no 
 official distinction or authority. He may flatter like a 
 sycophant, he may beg like a servant, he may woo like a 
 lover; but he is not permitted to enjoin like a ruler. His 
 opinion is received with no deference, his person treated 
 
S] TO THEIR PASTORS. 
 
 with no respect, and in the presence of some of his lay ty- 
 rants, if he say any thing at all, it must be somewhat simi- 
 lar to the ancient soothsayers, for he is only permitted to 
 peep and mutter from the dust. 
 
 Those persons who are anxious to strip their pastors 
 of all just elevation, cannot expect to derive much edifi 
 cation from their labours; for instruction and advice, like 
 substances falling to the earth, impress the mind with a 
 momentum, proportionate to the height from which they 
 descend. 
 
 II. Church members should treat their pastors with 
 distinguishing honour, esteem, and love. 
 
 " Let the elders that rule well be accounted worthy of 
 double honour, especially they that labour in the word 
 and doctrine. " 1 Tim. v. 17. "Know them that have the 
 rule over you, and esteem them very highly in love, for 
 their works' sake." 1 Thess. v. 11, 12. To prescribe in 
 what way our love should express itself, is almost need- 
 less, as love is the most inventive passion of the heart, 
 and will find or make a thousand opportunities for dis- 
 playing its power. Love is also practical, as well as in- 
 genious, and does not confine itself either to the specu- 
 lations of the judgment, or the feelings of the heart. It 
 breathes in kind words, and lives in kind deeds. Where a 
 minister is properly esteemed and loved, there will be the 
 greatest deference for his opinions, the most delicate atten- 
 tion to his comfort, a scrupulous respect for his character. 
 Some people treat their minister as if he could feel nothing 
 but blows. They are rude, uncourteous, churlish. In- 
 stead of this, let him see the most studious and constant 
 care to promote his happiness and usefulness. When he 
 is in sickness, visit him; in trouble, sympathise with him; 
 when absent from home, take a kind interest in his fami- 
 ly; when he returns, greet him with a smile; at the close 
 of the labours of the Sabbath, let the deacons and leading 
 members gather round him, and not suffer him to retire 
 from his scene of public labours without the reward of 
 some tokens of their approbation, if it be only one friendly 
 pressure of the hand. Let him see that his prayers, and 
 sermons, and solicitude, render him dear to the hearts of 
 his flock. It is astonishing what an influence is some- 
 times produced upon a minister's mind and comfort, even 
 by the least expression of his people's regard. Of this we* 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS ^4 
 
 have a beautiful instance in the life of Paul. On thai 
 important journey to Rome, which was to decide the 
 question of life or death, he appears to have felt a season 
 of temporary depression when the imperial city presented 
 itself to his view. In silent meditation he revolved, not 
 without some degree of dismay, his approaching appeal 
 to a tribunal from which he had nothing in the way of 
 clemency to expect. For a little while the heroism of 
 this exalted man was somewhat affected by his situation. 
 At this juncture some of the Roman Christians, who had 
 been apprised of his approach, came out as far as the Ap- 
 pii-forum, and the three taverns, to meet him, " whom, 
 when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage." 
 From that moment fears of Nero, of prison, and of death, 
 all left him. He sprung forward with new ardour in his 
 career, prepared to offer himself in sacrifice on the altar 
 of martyrdom. If then the love of these brethren, who 
 had travelled a few stages to meet Paul, produced so hap- 
 py an effect upon the mind of this illustrious apostle, how 
 certainly might the members of our churches calculate 
 upon a similar influence being produced upon the hearts 
 of their pastors, by even the smaller expressions of their 
 affection. 
 
 III. Attendance upon their ministration, is another duty 
 which church members owe their pastors. 
 
 This attendance should be constant, not occasional. 
 Some of our members give unspeakable pain to their 
 pastors by the irregularity of their visits to the house of 
 God. A little inclemency of weather, or the slightest in- 
 disposition of body, is sure to render their seats vacant. 
 Sometimes a still more guilty cause than this exists. Oh ! 
 " Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in Askelon, lest the 
 daughters of the Philistines triumph." Many professors 
 do not scruple to devote a part of the Sabbath to travelling. 
 They do not probably set off upon a journey in the morn- 
 ing of the Sabbath, and travel all day, but they set off 
 perhaps on Saturday evening, and arrive at home late on 
 Sunday morning; or they leave home after tea on Sunday 
 evening, and thus take only a part of the hallowed day 
 from its destined purpose. This practice, it is to be fear- 
 ed, has much increased of late, and is become one of the 
 prevailing sins of the religious world. Such persons de- 
 serve to be brought under the censures of the church. 
 
5] TO THEIR PASTORS. 
 
 Some persons are irregular in their attendance through 
 the distance at which they live from their place of public wor- 
 ship. Oftentimes this is unavoidable; but it is a great in- 
 consistency for professing Christians voluntarily to choose 
 a residence which from its remoteness from the house of 
 God must often deprive them of the communion of the 
 saints. Such a disposition to sacrifice spiritual privile- 
 ges to mere temporal enjoyment, does not afford much 
 evidence that religion is with them the one thing needful, 
 or that they have the mind of David, who thought the 
 threshold of the sanctuary was to be preferred to the sa- 
 loon and the park of the palace. Injurious as the prac- 
 tice necessarily must be to the individuals themselves, it 
 is still more so to their servants and children. 
 
 Professing Christians should feel the obligations to at- 
 tend week day services. Most ministers have often to com- 
 plain, that they are half deserted on these occasions. Sure- 
 ly, with such hearts and amidst such circumstances as ours, 
 it is too long to go from Sabbath to Sabbath without the 
 aid of public worship. All persons have not the command 
 of their own time; but in the case of those who have, the 
 neglect is inexcusable, and argues a very low state of re- 
 ligion in the soul. 
 
 A minister has a right to expect his members at the 
 meetings for social prayer. The Christian that neglects 
 these betrays such an utter indifference to the interests of 
 the church, and the comfort of the pastor, as well as so 
 much lukewarmness in his own personal religion, as to be 
 a fit subject for the exercise of discipline. 
 
 I V. Earnest prayer. How often and how earnestly did the 
 great apostle of the Gentiles repeat that sentence which 
 contained at once the authority of a command and the ten- 
 derness of a petition — " Brethren pray for us. " In another 
 place, he ascribes his deliverance and preservation to the 
 prayers of the churches — " You also helping together by 
 prayer for us." 2 Cor. i. 1 1. Surely then if this illustrious 
 man was dependent upon, and indebted to the prayers of 
 Christians, how much more so the ordinary ministers of 
 Christ ! Pray then for your ministers; for the increase of 
 their intellectual attainments, spiritual qualifications, and 
 ministerial success. Pray for them in your private ap- 
 proaches to the throne of grace; pray for them at the fa- 
 mily altar; and thus teach your servants and children to 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERb I* 
 
 respect and love them. Reasons both numerous and co- 
 gent enforce this duty. It is enjoined by divine authority 
 It is due to the arduous nature of their employment Lit- 
 tle do our churches know the number and magnitude of 
 our temptations, discouragements, difficulties, and trials 
 
 " 'Tis not a cause of small import 
 The pastor's care demands, 
 But what might fill an angel's heart, 
 And fill'd a Saviour's hands." 
 
 Our office is no bed of down or of roses, on which the 
 indolent may repose with careless indifference, or unin- 
 terrupted slumbers. Far, very far from it. Cares of op- 
 pressive weight; anxieties which can be known only by 
 experience; labours of a mental kind almost too strong 
 and incessant for the powers of mind to sustain, fall to 
 our lot, and demand the prayerful sympathy of our flocks. 
 And then as another claim for our people's prayers, we 
 might urge the consideration of their own interest, which 
 is identified with all our efforts. We are to our people 
 just what God makes us, and no more, and he is willing 
 to make us almost what they ask. A regard to their own 
 spiritual profit, if nothing else, should induce them to bear 
 us much on their hearts before the throne of divine grace. 
 Prayer is a means of assisting a minister which is within 
 the reach of all. They who can do nothing more, can 
 pray. The sick, who cannot encourage their minister by 
 their presence in the sanctuary, can bear him upon their 
 hearts in their lonely chamber: the poor who cannot add 
 to his temporal comfort by pecuniary donations, can sup- 
 plicate their God "to supply all his needs according to 
 his riches in glory by Christ Jesus:" the timid, who can- 
 not approach to offer him the tribute of their gratitude, 
 can pour their praises into the ear of Jehovah, and entreat 
 him still to encourage the soul of his servant: the ignorant, 
 who cannot hope to add one idea to the stock of his know- 
 ledge, can place him by prayer before the fountain of ce- 
 lestial radiance: even the dying, who can no longer busy 
 themselves as aforetime for his interests, can gather up 
 their remaining strength, and employ it in the way of 
 prayer for their pastor. 
 
 Prayer, if it be sincere, always increases our affection 
 for its object. We never feel even our dearest friends to 
 be so dear, as when we have commended them to the good- 
 
7] TO THEIR PAS'ORS. 
 
 ness of God. It is the best extinguisher of enmity, and the 
 best fuel for the flame of love. If some professing Chris- 
 tians were to take from the time they spend in praising 
 their ministers, and others from that which they employ 
 in blaming them, and both were to devote it to the act of 
 praying for them, the former would find still more cause 
 for admiration, and the latter far less reason for censure. 
 
 V. Members should encourage others to attend upon the 
 ministry of their pastors. 
 
 Let us go up to the house of the Lord, is an invitation 
 which they should often address to the people of the world, 
 who either attend no place of worship at all, or where the 
 truth is not preached. A minister cannot himself ask peo- 
 ple to attend his place of worship, but those who are in the 
 habit of hearing him can; and it is astonishing to what an 
 extent the usefulness of private Christians may be carried 
 in this way. I have received very many into the fellowship 
 of the church under my care, who were first brought un- 
 der the sound of the gospel by the kind solicitations of a 
 pious neighbour. To draw away the, hearers of one faithful 
 preacher to another, is a despicable ambition — mere secta- 
 rian zeal: but to invite those who never hear the gospel, 
 to listen to the joyful sound, is an effort worthy the mind 
 of an angel. Shall sinners invite one another to iniquity 
 — to the brothel, the theatre, the tavern — and Christians 
 not attempt to draw them to the house of God ? This is 
 one way in which every member, of every church, may be 
 the means of doing great good; the rich, the poor, male 
 and female, masters and servants, young and old, have all 
 some acquaintance over whom they may exert their influ- 
 ence; and how can it be better employed than in attract 
 ing them to those places 
 
 " Where streams of heavenly mercy flow, 
 And words of sweet salvation sound?" 
 
 VI. It is incumbent on church members to make known 
 to their pastor any thing of importance that occurs within the 
 scope of their observation, or the course of their experience, re- 
 lating to his church and congregation. 
 
 For instance, their own spiritual embarrassments, trials, 
 temptations; the declensions, backslidings, and sins of 
 others, which they imagine may have escaped his notice, 
 and which they have first tried by their own personal ef- 
 forts to remove. If they perceive any root of bitterness 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MKMBl.US [8 
 
 growing up, which they have not strength or skill enough 
 to eradicate, it is then manifestly their duty to inform him 
 of the circumstance. If they perceive any individual 
 whose case has been overlooked, any one in circum- 
 stances which need sympathy or relief, any who are strug- 
 gling with affliction, but are too modest or timid to dis- 
 close their situation: they should bring all such occur- 
 rences under his notice. Especially should they encourage 
 by their own personal attentions, any persons in the congre 
 gation who appear to be under religious concern; in such 
 cases they should put forth all their tenderest solicitude to 
 shelter and cherish these hopeful beginnings, and intro- 
 duce the subjects of them to their minister. There are 
 some Christians — but do they indeed deserve the name ? 
 —who would see all the process of conversion going on in 
 the very next seat to theirs, and observe the fixed attention, 
 the anxious look, the tearful eye, the serious deportment— 
 and all this repeated one Sabbath after another — without 
 the least possible interest, or ever exchanging a single 
 syllable with the inquiring penitent ! Shame, shame on 
 such professors ! Can the love of Christ dwell in such 
 cold and careless hearts ? Can they have ever felt convic- 
 tion of sin? How easy and how incumbent is it to intro- 
 duce ourselves to such individuals; a word, a look, would 
 be received with gratitude. 
 
 VII. Zealous co-operation in all schemes of usefulness pro- 
 posed by the pastor, whether for the benefit of their own so- 
 ciety in particular, or the welfare of the church, and the world 
 at large^ is the duty of Christians. 
 
 This is an age of restless activity, practical benevolence, 
 and progressive improvement. One scheme of benefit of- 
 ten contains the germs of many more. The love of inno- 
 vation and the dread of it, are equally remote from true 
 wisdom. Zeal, when guided by wisdom, is a noble ele- 
 ment of character, and the source of incalculable goods 
 A church ought always to stand ready to support any 
 scheme which is proved to their judgment to be beneficial 
 either to themselves or others. It is most disheartening 
 to ministers, to find all their efforts counteracted by that 
 ignorance which can comprehend nothing strange, that 
 bigotry which is attached to every thing old, by that ti- 
 midity which starts at every thing new, or by that avarice 
 which condemns every thing expensive. Usage* and cus- 
 
9] TO THEIR rASlOilb. 
 
 toms that are venerable for their antiquity, I admit, should 
 not be touched by hot spirits and rude hands, lest in re- 
 moving the sediment deposited by the stream of time at 
 the base of the fabric, they should touch the foundation 
 itself: But where the word of God is the line and the 
 plummet; where this line is held by the hand of caution, 
 and watched by the eye of wisdom; in such cases, innova- 
 tion upon the customs of our churches is a blessing, and 
 ought to receive the support of the people. It is a scan- 
 dal to any Christian society, when the flame of ministerial 
 zeal is allowed to burn, without enkindling a similar fire. 
 
 VIII. A most delicate and tender regard for the pastor's 
 reputation. A minister's character is the lock of his 
 strength; and if once this be sacrificed, he is like Samson 
 shorn of his hair, a poor, feeble, faltering creature, the 
 pity of his friends and the derision of his enemies. I 
 would not have bad ministers screened, nor would I have 
 good ones maligned. When a preacher of righteousness 
 has stood in the way of sinners, and walked in the counsel 
 of the ungodly, he should never again open his lips in the 
 great congregation, until his repentance is as notorious 
 as his sin. But while his character is unsullied, his friends 
 should preserve it with as much care against the tongue 
 of the slanderer, as they would his life against the hand 
 of the assassin. 
 
 When I consider the restless malignity of the great ene- 
 my of God and holiness, and add to this his subtlety and 
 craft; when I consider how much his malice would be 
 gratified, and his schemes promoted, by blackening the 
 character of the ministers of the gospel; when I consider 
 what a multitude of creatures there are who are his vas- 
 sals, and under his influence, creatures so destitute of 
 moral principle, and so filled with venomous spite against 
 religion, as to be prepared to go any lengths in maligning 
 the righteous, and especially their ministers, I can account 
 for it on no other ground than that of a special interposi- 
 tion of Providence, that the reputation of Christian pastors 
 is not more frequently attacked by slander, and destroyed 
 by calumny. But probably we see in this, as in other cases, 
 that wise arrangement of Providence by which things of 
 delicacy and consequence are preserved, by calling forth 
 greater solicitude for their safety. Church members 
 *hould therefore be tremblingly alive to the importance 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS [10 
 
 of defending; their minister's character. They should nel* 
 ther expect to see him perfect, nor hunt after his imper- 
 fections. When they cannot but see his imperfections — 
 imperfections which after all may be consistent with not 
 only real, but eminent piety— they should not take plea- 
 sure in either magnifying or looking at them; but make 
 all reasonable excuse for them, and endeavour to lose 
 sight of his infirmities in his virtues, as they do the spots 
 of the sun amidst the blaze of radiance with which they 
 are surrounded. Let them not be the subject of conversa- 
 tion even between yourselves, much less before your chil- 
 dren, servants, and the world. If you talk of his faults in 
 derision, who will speak of his excellencies with admira 
 tion ? Do not look at him with suspicion, but repose an ho 
 nourable confidence in his character. Do not make him an 
 offender for a word, and refuse to him that charity and 
 candour of judgment, which would be granted to every 
 one else. Do not magnify indiscretions into immorali- 
 ties, and exact from him that absolute perfection, which 
 in your own case you find to be unattainable. Beware of 
 whispers, inuendoes, significant nods, and that slanderous 
 silence, which is more defamatory than the broadest ac- 
 cusation. 
 
 Defend him against the groundless attacks of others. Ne- 
 ver hear him spoken of with undeserved reproach, with- 
 out indignantly repelling the shafts of calumny. Express 
 your firm and dignified displeasure against the wittling 
 that would make him ridiculous, the scorner that would 
 render him contemptible, and the defamer that would 
 brand him as immoral. 
 
 Especially guard against those creeping reptiles which 
 infest our churches, and are perpetually insinuating that 
 their ministers do not preach the gospel, merely because 
 they do not incessantly repeat the same truths in the same 
 words; because they do not allegorize and spiritualize all 
 the facts of the Old Testament, until they have found as 
 much gospel in the horses of Pharaoh's chariot as they 
 can in Paul's epistles; and because they have dared to en- 
 force the moral law as the rule of the believer's conduct. 
 This Antinomian spirit has become the pest of many 
 churches. It is the most mischievous and disgusting of 
 all errors. If the heresies which abound in the spiritual 
 world were to be represented by the noxious animals of 
 
1 1 J TO THEIR PASTORS. 
 
 the natural world, we could find some errors that would 
 answer to the vulture, the tiger, and the serpent: but we 
 could find nothing that would be an adequate emblem of 
 Antinomianism, except by a creation of our own we had 
 united in some monstrous reptile, the venom of the wasp, 
 with the deformity of the spider, and the slime of the snail. 
 IX. Liberal support. The Scripture is very explicit on 
 this head: " Let him that is taught in the word communi- 
 cate unto him that teacheth in all good things," Gal. vi. 
 6 " Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? 
 --even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach 
 the gospel, should live of the gospel." 1 Cor. ix. 7, 14. 
 The necessity of this appears from the injunctions de- 
 livered to ministers to devote themselves exclusively to 
 I he duties of iheir office. 2 Tim. ii. 4. 1 Tim. iv. 13, 15. 
 I by no means contend that it is unlawful for a minister 
 to engage in secular concerns; for necessity is a law 
 which supersedes the ordinary rules of human conduct: 
 And what are they to do, whose stipend is too small to 
 support a family, and who have no private source of sup- 
 ply ? A minister is under additional obligations to pro- 
 vide for things honest, not only in the sight of the Lord, 
 but of men; to owe no man any thing, to provide for hi* 
 own house; and if he is not enabled to do this by the libe- 
 rality of his flock, and has no private fortune, he must 
 have recourse to the labour of his hands. It is to the deep, 
 and wide, and endless reproach of some churches, that 
 although possessed of ability to support their pastors in 
 comfort, they dole out but a wretched pittance from their 
 affluence, leaving them to make up the deficiency by a 
 school; and then with insulting cruelty complain that 
 their sermons are very meagre, and have a great same- 
 ness. Such congregations, if they were treated as they 
 deserve, would be put upon abstinence for at least a twelve 
 month, or until they were willing to support their pastor 
 in comfort. They love him dearly with their lips, but hate 
 him as cordially with their pockets. They keep him poor 
 to keep him humble, forgetting that as humility is no less 
 necessary for themselves than for him, this is an argument 
 why the articles which minister to their pride, should be 
 retrenched in order to support his comfort. This is cer- 
 tainly not drawing them with the cords of love and the 
 bands of a man, but treating them like animals who are 
 
DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS (_ 1 2 
 
 tamed into submission by hunger, and kept humble by be- 
 ing kept poor. It is curious to hear how some persona 
 will entreat God to bless their minister in his basket and 
 his store, while alas ! poor man, they have taken care that 
 his basket should be empty, and his store nothingness it- 
 self. Is not this mocking both God and his minister with 
 a solemn sound upon a thoughtless tongue ? 
 
 Many rich Christians spend more in the needless wine 
 they individually drink, than they contribute towards the 
 support of their pastor; and others give more for the su- 
 gar that sweetens their tea, than they do for all the advan- 
 tages of public worship. A reproach of this kind yet 
 rests upon multitudes, which it is high time should be 
 rolled away. 
 
 It is extremely difficult, where a matter of this kind 
 must be left to voluntary contribution, and the dictates of 
 individual liberty, to lay down particular rules; all that 
 can be done, is, to state general principles, and leave these 
 to operate in particular cases. Let all Christians therefore 
 consider what is a just and generous reward for the labours 
 of a man, who is devoting his life to assist them in obtain- 
 ing an inheritance incorruptible, undefined, and that fadeth 
 not away; an exceeding great and eternal weight of glo- 
 ry: — who, in assisting them to gain eternal life, exerts at 
 the same time an indirect, but a beneficial influence upon 
 all their temporal prosperity — who by his ministrations, 
 soothes their cares, lightens their sorrows, mortifies their 
 sins, throws a radiance over their darkest scenes, and gilds 
 their brightest ones with additional splendour? who brings 
 heaven down to earth for their comfort, and elevates them 
 from earth to heaven; and who, after mitigating for them 
 the ills of time with an anticipation of the joys of eternity, 
 is prepared to attend them to the verge of the dark valley, 
 and irradiate its gloom with the visions of immortality. 
 
 Let it not be thought that what is given to a minister 
 is a charitable donation; it is the payment of a just debt. 
 It is what Christ claims for his faithful servants, and which 
 cannot be withheld without robbery. I spurn for myself 
 and for my brethren, the degrading apprehension that we 
 are supported by charity. We are not pensioners upon 
 mere bounty. Our appeal is to justice; and if our claims 
 are denied on this ground, we refuse to plead before any 
 other tribunal, and refer the matter to the great assize 
 
MINISTERIAL. GIFTS 
 
 TO BE 
 
 SOUGHT OUT AND ENCOURAGED. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 Permit us, dear brethren, to ask your attention to a 
 subject, which yields not, in point of importance, to 
 any other connected with your duties and your welfare. 
 
 We need say nothing concerning the rank which the 
 Christian ministry occupies among the means by which 
 the Saviour's kingdom is to be spread through the 
 earth. Nor need we inform you, that the number of 
 faithful ministers is now inadequate to supply our 
 churches at home, while there are many fields in our 
 own land which are white unto the harvest, and hea- 
 then countries appeal to us, by their crimes and mise- 
 ries, to send them the messengers of salvation. 
 
 It appears to us that this deficiency of ministers must 
 be attributed to a neglect of duty on the part of the 
 churches. We cannot suppose that God is inattentive 
 to the wants of his church and of the world, and pur- 
 posely withholds a competent supply of ministers. 
 
 Wrong notions, it is believed, exist concerning the 
 nature of a call to the ministry, and in regard to the 
 duty of the churches to seek out and foster ministerial 
 talent. 
 
 We firmly believe that no man ought to enter into 
 the ministry, whom God has not called to the service. 
 But the question is, how is the call of God to be as- 
 certained ? That a miraculous intimation of his will is 
 to be expected, no rational man, at the present day, 
 believes. This will must, then, be learned from the 
 feelings which the Holy Spirit produces in the mind of 
 the individual himself; from the gifts of heart and of 
 
MINISTERIAL GIFTS. (^ 
 
 intellect with which he is endowed; from the course of 
 providence; and from other circumstances. 
 
 Two things are necessary to prove a call to the mi- 
 nistry to be from God. The first is, that the individual 
 possess a sincere desire to be thus employed. He must 
 feel a strong concern for the glory of God, and for the 
 salvation of men. His heart must be moved with de- 
 sires to proclaim the love of Christ to dying sinners, 
 and to persuade them to be reconciled to God. He 
 must feel such an impulse of soul towards this point 
 — such a concentration of his thoughts and affections 
 — that he cannot, with a quiet mind, engage in any 
 other employment. He must be willing to part with 
 prospects of emolume-nt, and to forego all worldly ad- 
 vantages, for the sake of his Saviour and of his fellow 
 men. These are some of the feelings which will occu- 
 py the heart of a man, whom God designs for the mi- 
 nistry. Of these feelings the individual himself is the 
 only judge, beeause he alone can determine whether 
 they are sincere, strong and permanent. 
 
 But another necessary thing is, that he possess suit- 
 able gifts. We mean not, that he must be qualified 
 immediately to preach, because no man is qualified to 
 preach with profit, until his mind has been furnished 
 with adequate knowledge, and he has learned how to 
 communicate that knowledge. By suitable gifts we 
 mean a sound understanding, a capacity and a desire 
 to learn, an aptitude to teach, a reasonable degree of 
 ability to be useful to his fellow men as a minister, 
 when his mind shall have been cultivated as much as 
 circumstances may allow. 
 
 Of these points, the individual is not a competent 
 judge. His brethren must judge for him. The church 
 has thus a duty to perform. She ought to watch the 
 character and conduct of her young men. An indi- 
 vidual, whom God designs for the ministry, will usu- 
 ally show the bent of his disposition, by his zeal for the 
 support of Sabbath schools, by his pertinent exhorta- 
 tions in the conference room, and by his prayers in so- 
 cial meetings. If the ministerial spirit exist within him, 
 it will find occasion to display itself; and in most cases, 
 a church is convinced of the call of a young man to the 
 
 86 
 
3J MINISTERIAL GIFTS. 
 
 ministry as soon as he is himself, and sometimes sooner. 
 In such cases as this, it is the duty of pastors, deacons, 
 and other members of the church, to converse with such 
 persons, to inquire concerning their feelings, and to 
 give them all proper encouragement. If the individu- 
 als have themselves been thoughtful and anxious con- 
 cerning their duty, such an affectionate and judicious 
 conversation may remove their doubts, and confirm 
 their decisions, by bringing in aid of their own convic- 
 tions, the opinions of their brethren. 
 
 It is believed that a very different course is frequent- 
 ly pursued. Young men are left to struggle with their 
 feelings without one word of advice or encouragement. 
 The more modest they are, and therefore the more de- 
 serving of sympathy, the more reluctant they are to 
 disclose their feelings, lest they should be attributed to 
 pride and presumption. A sense of unfitness, the great- 
 ness of the work, doubts concerning duty, all throng 
 upon the mind, and often produce inconceivable dis- 
 tress, which one word of kind sympathy and advice 
 from a pastor or Christian friend would remove. Many 
 young men, it cannot be doubted, are overcome by these 
 anxieties, doubts, and fears, and relinquish the thought 
 of the ministry, who ought to preach the gospel. It 
 is a mistake to suppose, that if it be a man's duty to 
 preach, he will force his way through every obstacle. 
 A man may neglect his duty to preach, as he may ne- 
 glect any other duty; and he is the more liable to neglect 
 this duty, because the conscientious mind will consider 
 it as a far less sin to refuse to preach, though it be a 
 duty, than to preach when it is not. If his doubts pre- 
 por derate in the smallest degree, the mind of a conscien- 
 tious man will be very liable to abandon the design; and 
 thus the very best ministers may be lost to the church. 
 
 But if a young man surmounts his doubts and dis- 
 couragements, and makes his case known to his bre- 
 thren, he is sometimes treated with cold suspicion, and 
 obstacles are thrown in his way on purpose to test the 
 strength of his zeal. If, at last, by dint of perseverance, 
 he forces the church to give him a license, so much time 
 may have been wasted, that it is too late to enter upon 
 the work with advantage. 
 
 86 
 
MINISTERIAL GIFTS. [4 
 
 There may be cases, too, in which a young man may 
 not have thought of the ministry, who may neverthe- 
 less furnish evidence of piety, talents and zeal, which 
 would make him useful as a minister. It is undoubted- 
 ly the duty of pastors and Christians to converse with 
 such a person, in a judicious manner; to inquire res- 
 pecting his feelings; to ask him if it is not his duty to 
 preach the gospel; to urge him to reflect and pray on 
 the subject; to invite him to speak and to pray in confer- 
 ence and prayer meetings, and thus give his mind a di- 
 rection towards the object. No reason can be given, 
 why it is not as much our duty to use the proper means 
 in this case, as it is to persuade a sinner to be recon- 
 ciled to God; and God may, in both cases, employ us 
 as instruments to accomplish his will. 
 
 We think, brethren, that there has been, and still is, 
 a failure in duty, on this subject, among our churches. 
 "We earnestly entreat you to think of these suggestions, 
 and let your attention be more directed to the young 
 men among you. Let not selfishness induce you to de- 
 tain them from their duty. The cause of God needs 
 ministers. Millions of our fellow men are dying every 
 year, without any one to tell them of the love of Jesus. 
 Let, then, every young man in our churches, inquire, 
 with a prayerful heart, Is it not my duty to preach the 
 gospel ? Let every church be a faithful and affectionate 
 nursing mother to the young servants to the Redeemer. 
 
 But, brethren, have we not neglected the yet more im- 
 portant duty, to pray for an increase of ministers. While 
 we hold fast the belief, that God alone can call and qualify 
 his true ministers, does not consistency, as wellas piety, 
 require us to offer continual and importunate prayer, that 
 he will bestow on his churches the inestimable gift of 
 faithful pastors and teachers, and commission a suffi- 
 cient number of evangelists, who may preach the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ in destitute places and in hea- 
 then countries ? Our Saviour has said, with special em- 
 pliasis, "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he will send 
 forth labourers into his harvest." Let us henceforth pray 
 more for this blessing, and for help to perform the duty 
 which has been insisted on in this tract. Thus may our 
 efforts accompany our prayers, and God, even our own 
 God will bless us, and grant us the desire of our hearts. 
 
 American Baptist Publication and S. S. Society, 21 South Fourth 9t., Phila, 
 
BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMDERICAN BAPTIST MISSION 
 
 IN BURMAH. 
 
 In the month of February, 1812, five young men, 
 who had formerly been fellow-students at Andover, 
 sailed from this country to commence a foreign mis- 
 sion under the patronage of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions. It was owing 
 to their urgent solicitations and moving appeals, that 
 the churches were aroused, and this first Board of Mis- 
 sions constituted. They sailed for Calcutta with in- 
 structions to proceed to Burmah, if it were judged 
 practicable to establish a mission there ; and as they 
 were the earliest missionaries from this land, they 
 would of course hasten at once to Serampore, to obtain 
 the sympathies and advice of the venerable men who 
 had so long been laboring in the field. Mr. Judson, 
 who was one of the company, reflected during the 
 voyage, that the Serampore brethren were Baptists 5 
 and supposed very naturally, that he might be called, 
 while sharing their hospitalities, to defend the Pedo- 
 baptist opinions which he professed. Such anticipa- 
 tions led him to a careful re-examination of the grounds 
 of his faith, and, eventually, to a thorough change in his 
 views. After a very serious and reluctant struggle, 
 Mrs. Judson was compelled by a consciousness of right, 
 and the clear demonstrations of the New Testament, 
 to join her husband. Accordingly, they were both bap- 
 tized and admitted to the church at Calcutta, September 
 6th, 1812. Mr. Rice who had sailed in another ship 
 and arrived somewhat later, was the subject, without 
 the slighest concert, of a similar change of feelings, 
 and was baptized in November. This event led natu- 
 rally to a dissolution of the connexion o\ Messrs. 
 Judson and Rice with the Board under whose patron- 
 age they went out, and threw them upon their own re- 
 
 1 
 
2 BRIF.F HISTORY OF THE 
 
 sources, or the event of some new arrangements at 
 home. A spirit of opposition to their enterprize, 
 which manifested itself at Calcutta, and the peremp- 
 tory refusal of the East India Company to suffer their 
 continuance within their dominions, led the missiona- 
 ries to embark for the Isle of France. While at this 
 place, Messrs. Judson and Rice thought it expedient 
 that the latter should return at once to this country, 
 and endeavor to awaken a spirit of missions among 
 the Baptist churches. 
 
 He accordingly sailed in March, 1813, and was wel- 
 comed on his arrival in the United States, with great 
 cordiality and affection. He was soon instrumental 
 in awakening an extensive missionary feeling, and a 
 large number of missionary societies were originated 
 in- various parts of the country ; and in April, 1814, 
 the Baptist General Convention was formed in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The will of Providence was, perhaps, never more 
 distinctly intelligible, than in the circumstances which 
 led to the establishment of the American Baptist mis- 
 sion in the Burman empire. Mr. Judson received no 
 encouragement in respect to the station, from his 
 friends at Serampore. The ground had already been 
 tried. But such were the obstructions, resulting from 
 a barbarous nation of idolaters, a despotic government, 
 where change of religion in a native would be visited 
 with death, and a language of difficult acquisition, that 
 all former attempts had failed. The missionaries, few 
 in number, who had been deputed by the Serampore 
 brethren to go thither, had left in discouragement, and 
 gone to other fields. Not a native had listened to the 
 word of eternal life. Of the good seed of the king- 
 dom, none had been sown. After long deliberation as to 
 the course which they should pursue in their present 
 embarrassing and unforeseen condition, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Judson resolved to attempt a mission at Penang or 
 Prince of Wales' Island, situated on the coast of Ma- 
 lacca, and inhabited by Malays. As no passage to 
 that island could be obtained from the Ible of France, 
 they sailed for Madras in May, 1813, with the hope 
 of obtaining a passage thence to Penang. But here 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 3 
 
 they were disappointed. No passage to that place 
 could be procured. Fearful that the English govern- 
 ment in Bengal, would, on learning their arrival, send 
 them to England, they resolved, after a stay at Madras 
 of a few days, jto take passage in a vessel bound to 
 Rangoon. Thus by a wonderful series of providential 
 occurences, they were impelled, contrary to their ex- 
 pectations and plans, to the Burman empire ; and, 
 amid hazard and discouragement, Mr. Judson resolved, 
 in the name of God, there to set up the Christian 
 banner. 
 
 RANGOON. 
 
 Mr. Judson arrived at Rangoon in July, 1813. On 
 his arrival, he found a mission-house, occupied by the 
 family of Mr. Felix Carey, which now became his home. 
 Mr. C. soon left the station for an office under govern- 
 ment; and thus the mission was abandoned into the 
 hands of the American Baptist Board. 
 
 In October, 1816, Mr. and Mrs. Hough joined the 
 mission family at Rangoon, having left the United 
 States the preceding December. 
 
 In March, 1817, four years after the commencement 
 of the mission, the first inquirer presented himself to 
 Mr. Judson. His appearance and manners excited high 
 hopes ; and, at the close of his first visit, the mission 
 family felt, that there was reason to thank God and 
 take courage. 
 
 In September, 1818, Messrs. Colman and Wheelock, 
 who had sailed from Boston in November, 18 17, were 
 added to the mission family at Rangoon. Mr. Judson 
 had already completed the translation of the gospel by 
 Matthew, and a zayat was built for religious worship, 
 where he sat from day to day, to converse with all who 
 came, on the things of the kingdom. The zayat was 
 erected on a road, lined on both sides with pagodas ; 
 and hence called Pagoda-Road. 
 
 On the 27th of June, 1819, the first baptism occurred 
 in the Burman empire. Moung Nau, the subject of 
 it, gave a most satisfactory and interesting account 
 of his mental exercises, and was admitted, with an 
 unspeakably joyful welcome, to baptism and the 
 church. 
 
4 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 This first baptism seemed like the first fruits of a 
 revival. The number of inquirers began to multiply, 
 and at some, meetings, especially of the females, the 
 Holy Spirit was evidently present. On the 7th of No- 
 vember following, two more converts were baptized. 
 Individuals of rank and eminence were becoming 
 zealous inquirers, and the holiest anticipations of the 
 missionaries seemed on the point of being realized. 
 But such was their success, that the fame of their 
 operations could not be kept from the ears of the em- 
 peror. Fearing the worst temporal consequences, 
 praying for divine guidance, and pursuing what seem- 
 ed to be the only course expedient, Messrs. Judson 
 and Colman left Rangoon for Ava, the capital of the 
 country, to seek the imperial favor and toleration, and 
 safety for the baptized Burmans. Their petition, 
 however, was disregarded, their hopes were blight- 
 ed, and they returned to tell the sad tidings to their 
 converts. They had previously arranged th-at Mr. 
 Colman should go to Chittagong, a place under 
 British protection, so that in case of the worst, all the 
 missionaries might find there an asylum from perse- 
 cution. They expected, when they disclosed their ill 
 success to the disciples, that they would be filled with 
 apprehensions, and perhaps be ready to renounce their 
 Christian profession. But, on the contrary, they re- 
 mained steadfast in the faith, and seemed willing that 
 the will of the Lord should be done. M Only stay 
 with us," they exclaimed, " till there are ten con- 
 verts ; then one can teach the rest ; and the emperor 
 himself will not be able to destroy the new religion." 
 
 Mr. Colman shortly after went to Chittagong. Mr. 
 Wheelock, whose health soon failed, died on his pas- 
 sage to Bengal, whither he was going for medical aid. 
 Mr. Hough was at Serampore, superintending the 
 printing of a Burman tract. Mrs. Judson's health 
 had become so impaired, that a voyage to Calcutta be- 
 came indispensable. And so feeble was she before 
 the time for her departure arrived, that Mr. Judson 
 felt it necessary that he should accompany her. Thus 
 the station must be left awhile without a missionary 
 — the dependant sheep, led by no earthly shepherd. 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 5 
 
 But through the tender mercy of God, before the ship 
 could get away, seven more Burmans gave satisfacto- 
 ry evidence of a change of heart, and applied for bap- 
 tism. They were accepted by the church, and added 
 to the little band of believers ; so that the proposed 
 ten was now filled. 
 
 While at Calcutta, Mrs. Judson's health gradually 
 recovered, and she returned to Rangoon with her hus- 
 band, in January, 1821. Soon after their return, 
 another convert was baptized, Mounglng, who is ndw 
 a native pastor. During the absence of the mission- 
 aries, he had been endeavoring to spread among his 
 friends the knowledge of a crucified Saviour. 
 
 In November, 1821, Dr. Price, with his family, ar- 
 rived to join the mission. Just as he landed, Mrs. Jud- 
 son, in consequence of returning illness, was forced to 
 leave all the endearments of that land of her affections, 
 and return to America. She proceeded by the way of 
 England. Having visited different sections of this 
 country, and spent the winter at Baltimore, where she 
 prepared for the press a history of the Burman mission, 
 her health was so far recovered that she was able to re- 
 turn to Rangoon the following summer. After being 
 instrumental in thus enlisting many affections in the 
 Burman mission, both at home and in England, she 
 sailed again for India. She was accompanied in her 
 return by Mr. and Mrs. Wade, who were appointed 
 to join the station at Rangoon. They sailed from 
 Boston in June, and arrived at Calcutta, October 19th ; 
 soon after which they sailed for their final destina- 
 tion. 
 
 Ava. As the history of the station at Ava forms a 
 kind of episode in the history of that at Rangoon, this 
 seems to be the fittest place for its introduction* Soon 
 after the arrival of Dr. Price, intelligence of his medi- 
 cal skill was conveyed to the capital. He was imme- 
 diately summoned to wait on the emperor. Hoping 
 that a favorable opportunity might now open for 
 the introduction of the gospel into the heart of the 
 realm, Mr. Judson resolved to accompany the Doctor. 
 Government-boats were furnished at the public ex- 
 pense, and they were received with respect and kind- 
 
 1* 
 
6 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ness. Upon their arrival, Dr. Price was authorized 
 to build himself a house, where he might live on terms 
 of familiarity with the public officers, and in the en- 
 joyment of perfect toleration. Until the country was 
 thrown into a state of commotion, he was able indi- 
 rectly to advance the objects of his mission. His medi- 
 cal skill rendered him an object of favor and respect, 
 and it was fondly hoped, that, in this golden* city, the 
 grand point of attraction to the Burman empire, the 
 church of Christ was about to be established on a ba- 
 sis which could not be shaken. 
 
 But events were destined soon to occur, which 
 nipped the hopes of Christians in the bud. A 
 war between the British and Burmese governments 
 commenced about this period, which rendered the 
 missionaries objects of suspicion and ill will. Be- 
 cause their language was the same, and their pe- 
 cuniary affairs were transacted through British agents, 
 they were imagined to be spies for England. As the 
 armies of the East India Company advanced from 
 town to town, Messrs. Judson and Price were seized 
 and imprisoned, and treated with the utmost severity. 
 For a year and seven months, they were held in con- 
 finement ; often driven by savage persecutors from 
 prison to prison ; immured in the death-prison, and 
 saved from a violent death only by the interposition 
 of a friendly Governor, and the constant intercessions 
 of Mrs. Judson. 
 
 A few passages are extracted from Mrs. Judson's 
 narrative of the scenes through which the mission- 
 aries passed during the war.f 
 
 ii On the 8th of June, just as we were preparing for 
 dinner, in rushed an officer, holding a black book, 
 
 * When anything belonging to the emperor is mentioned, the 
 epithet " golden" is attached to it. When he is said to have heard 
 anything, " it has reached the golden ears ;" a person admitted to 
 his presence " has been at the golden feet ;" the perfume of roses is 
 described as grateful to ■ the golden nose." 
 
 •j- For a detailed account of these events, the reader is referred to the 
 Memoir of Mrs. Judson, where will be found an extended history of 
 appalling sufferings, every sentence of which possesses the most in- 
 tense and thrilling interest. 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 7 
 
 with a dozen Burmans, accompanied by one, whom, 
 from his spotted face, we knew to be an executioner, 
 and a 'son of the prison.' ' Where is the teacher?' 
 was the first inquiry. Mr. Judson presented himself. 
 1 You are called by the King,' said the officer ; a form 
 of speech always used when about to arrest a crimi- 
 nal. The spotted man instantly seized Mr. Judson, 
 threw him on the floor, and produced the small cord, 
 the instrument of torture. I caught hold of his arm ; 
 4 Stay, (said I,) I will give you money.' 'Take her 
 too,' said the officer ; ' she also is a foreigner.' Mr. 
 Judson, with an imploring look, begged they would 
 let me remain till further orders. The scene was now 
 shocking beyond description. The whole neighbor- 
 hood had collected — the little Burman children were 
 screaming and crying — the Bengalee servants stood 
 in amazement at the indignities offered their master — 
 and the hardened executioner, with a kind of hellish 
 joy, drew tight the cords, bound Mr. Judson fast, and 
 dragged him off I knew not whither. In vain I beg- 
 ged and entreated the spotted face to take the silver, 
 and loosen the ropes ; but he spurned my offers, and 
 immediately departed. I gave the money, however, 
 to Moung Ing to follow after, and make some further 
 attempt to mitigate the torture of Mr. Judson ; but in- 
 stead of relieving their prisoner, when a few rods from 
 the house, the unfeeling wretches again threw him on 
 the ground, and drew the cords still tighter, so as al- 
 most to prevent respiration. 
 
 " The officer and his gang proceeded on to the 
 court-house, where the Governor of the city and 
 officers were collected, one of whom read the order of 
 the King, to commit Mr. Judson to the death-prison 
 into which he was soon hurled, the door closed — 
 and Moung Ing saw no more. What a night was now 
 before me! I retired into my room, and endeavored 
 to obtain consolation from committing my case to God, 
 and imploring fortitude and strength to suffer what- 
 ever awaited me. But the consolation of retirement 
 was not long allowed me, for the magistrate of the 
 place had come into the verandah, and continually 
 called me to come out, and submit to his examination. 
 
8 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 I did so, and he inquired very minutely of everything 
 I knew ; then ordered the gates of the compound to 
 be shut, no person to be allowed to go in or out, placed 
 a guard of ten ruffians, to whom he gave a strict 
 charge to keep me safe, and departed. 
 
 "It was now dark. I retired to an inner room 
 with my four little Burman girls, and barred the doors. 
 The guard instantly ordered me to unbar the doors 
 and come out, or they would break the house down, 
 and seemed resolved to annoy me as much as possi- 
 ble. My unprotected, desolate state, my entire un- 
 certainty of the fate of Mr. Judson, and the dreadful 
 carousings and almost diabolical language of the 
 guard, all conspired to make it by far the most dis- 
 tressing night I had ever passed. You may well im- 
 agine, my dear brother, that sleep was a stranger to 
 my eyes, and peace and composure to my mind. 
 
 " The next morning-, I sent Moung Ing to ascertain 
 the situation of your brother, and give him food, if 
 still living. He soon returned with the intelligence 
 that Mr. Judson, and all the white foreigners, were 
 confined in the death prison, with three pairs of iron 
 fetters each, and fastened to a long pole, to prevent 
 their moving! The point of my anguish now was, that 
 I was a prisoner myself, and could make no efforts 
 for the release of the missionaries. I begged and en- 
 treated the magistrate to allow me to go to some mem- 
 ber of government to state my case ; but he said he 
 did not dare to consent, for fear I should make my 
 escape. I next wrote a note to one of the King's 
 sisters, with whom I had been intimate, requesting 
 her to use her influence for the release of the teachers. 
 The note was returned with this message — She ' did 
 not understand it,' — which was a polite refusal to in- 
 terfere ; though I afterwards ascertained that she had 
 an anxious desire to assist us, but dared not on ac- 
 count of the Queen. The day dragged heavily away, 
 and another dreadful night was before me. I en- 
 deavored to soften the feelings of the guard, by giving 
 them tea and segars for the night ; so that they allow- 
 ed me to remain inside of my room, without threat- 
 ening as they did the night before. But the idea of 
 
BURMAN MISSION- 9 
 
 your brother being stretched on the bare floor in 
 irons and confinement, haunted my mind like a spec- 
 tre, and prevented my obtaining any quiet sleep, 
 though nature was almost exhausted. 
 
 "On the third day, I sent a message to the Gover- 
 nor of the city, who has the entire direction of pri- 
 son affairs, to allow me to visit him with a present. 
 This had the desired effect ; and he immediately sent 
 orders to the* guards, to permit my going into town. 
 The Governor received me pleasantly, and asked me 
 what I wanted. I stated to him the situation of the 
 foreigners, and particularly that of the teachers, who 
 were Americans, and had nothing to do with the war. 
 He told me it was not in his power to release, them from 
 prison or irons, but that he could make their situation 
 more comfortable ; there was his head officer, with 
 whom I must consult, relative to the means. The 
 officer, who proved to be one of the city writers, and 
 whose countenance at the first glance presented the 
 most perfect assemblage of all the evil passions at- 
 tached to human nature, took me aside, and en- 
 deavored, to convince me, that myself, as well as the 
 prisoners, was entirely at his disposal — that our future 
 comfort must depend on my liberality in regard to 
 presents — and that these must be made in a private 
 way, and unknown to any officer in the government! 
 What must I do, said I, to obtain a mitigation of the 
 present sufferings of the two teachers ? i Pay to me,' 
 said he, 'two hundred tickals, (about a hundred dol- 
 lars,) two pieces of fine cloth, and two pieces of hand- 
 kerchiefs.' I had taken money with me in the morning, 
 our house being two miles from the prison — I could 
 not easily return. This I offered to the writer, and 
 begged he would not insist on the other articles, a* 
 they were not in my possession. He hesitated foi 
 sometime, but fearing to lose the sight of so much 
 money, he concluded to take it, promising to relieve 
 the teachers from their most painful situation. 
 
 " I then procured an order from the Governor for 
 my admittance into prison ; but the sensations pro- 
 duced by meeting your brother in that wretched, horrid 
 situation, and the affecting scene which ensued, I 
 
10 RRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 will not attempt to describe. Mr Judson crawled to 
 the door of the prison — for I was not allowed to 
 enter — gave me some directions relative to his release ; 
 but before we could make any arrangement, I was 
 ordered to depart, by those iron-hearted jailers, who 
 could not endure to see us enjoy the poor consolation 
 of meeting- in that miserable place. In vain I pleaded 
 the order from the Governor for my admittance ; 
 they again harshly repeated, 'Depart, or we will pull 
 you out.' The same evening, the missionaries, to- 
 gether with the other foreigners, who paid an equal 
 sum, were taken out of the common prison, and con- 
 fined in an open shed in the prison enclosure. Here 
 I was allowed to send them food, and mats to sleep on ; 
 but was not permitted to enter again for several 
 days." 
 
 Mrs. Judson was now continually annoyed and ter- 
 rified by the movements of government and petty 
 officers 5 the mission-house was searched by official 
 order, and its contents confiscated, though not alJ 
 removed. For several succeeding months, she was 
 unwearied in her efforts to procure the release of her 
 husband and Dr. Price, to supply them with food, to 
 effect a mitigation of their sufferings, or a reprieve 
 from immediate execution. The birth of a daughter 
 during this distracting period, adds an interest to the 
 events which needs no comment. 
 
 " During these seven months, the continual extortions 
 and oppressions to which your brother, and the other 
 white prisoners were subject, are indescribable. Some- 
 times sums of money were demanded, sometimes pieces 
 of cloth, and handkerchiefs ; at other times, an order 
 would be issued that the white foreigners should noT 
 speak to each other, or have any communication with 
 their friends without. Then, again, the servants 
 were forbidden to carry in their food, without an 
 extra fee. Sometimes, for days and days together, I 
 could not go into the prison till after dark, when I 
 had two miles to walk, in returning to the house. O 
 how many, many times, have I returned from that 
 dreary prison at nine o'clock at night, solitary and 
 worn out with fatigue and anxiety, and endeavored to 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 1 1 
 
 invent some new scheme for the release of the prison- 
 ers. Sometimes, for a moment or two, my thoughts 
 would glance toward America, and my beloved friends 
 there — but for nearly a year and a half, so entirely 
 engrossed was every thought with present scenes and 
 sufferings, that I seldom reflected on a single occur- 
 rence of my former life, or recollected that I had a 
 friend in existence out of Ava. 
 
 44 You, my dear brother, can judge from the above 
 circumstances, how intense were my sufferings. But 
 the point, the acme of my distress, consisted in the 
 awful uncertainty of our final fate. My prevailing 
 opinion was, that my husband would suffer vio- 
 lent death ; and that I should, of course, become a 
 slave, and languish out a miserable, though short 
 existence, in the tyrannic hands of some unfeeling 
 monster. But the consolations of religion, in these 
 trying circumstances, were neither * few nor small.' 
 It taught me to look beyond this world, to that rest, 
 that peaceful, happy rest, where Jesus reigns, and op- 
 pression never enters. 
 
 Sometimes Mrs. J. procured for the prisoners a 
 partial relief, but it was only temporary, and then 
 some fresh instance of oppression would occur, re- 
 newing her most fearful apprehensions. Such an 
 instance is narrated below. She had been permitted 
 to make for Mr. J. a little bamboo room in the prison 
 enclosures, where he was allowed to spend portions 
 of his time, and she could occasionally sit with him. 
 One morning he "sent me word that he and all the 
 white prisoners were put into the inner prison, in five 
 pairs of fetters each, that his little room had been 
 torn down, and his mat, pillow, Sec. been taken by xhe 
 jailers. This was to me a dreadful shock, as I 
 thought at once it was only a prelude to greater evils. 
 
 44 1 was determined to see the Governor, and know 
 the cause of this additional oppression ; and for this 
 purpose returned into town the same evening, at an 
 hour I knew he would be at home. He was in his 
 audience room, and, as I entered, looked up without 
 speaking, but exhibited a mixture of shame and af- 
 
12 BRIKF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 fected anger in his countenance. I began by saying, 
 Your Lordship has hitherto treated us with the kind- 
 ness of a father. Our obligations to you are very 
 great. We have looked to you for protection from 
 oppression and cruelty. You have in many instances 
 mitigated the sufferings of those unfortunate, though 
 innocent beings committed to your charge. You 
 have promised me particularly, that you would stand 
 by me to the last, and though you should receive an 
 order from the king, you would not put Mr. J. to 
 death. What crime has he committed to deserve such 
 additional punishment ? The old man's hard heart 
 was melted, for he wept like a child. ' I pity you, 
 Tsa-yar-ga-dau, (a name by which he always called 
 me) I knew you would make me feel ; I therefore for- 
 bade your application. But you must believe me 
 when I say, I do not wish to increase the sufferings of 
 the prisoners. When I am ordered to execute them, 
 the least that I can do is, to put them out of sight. I 
 will now tell you (continued he) what I have never 
 told you before, that three times I have received inti- 
 mations from the Queen's brother, to assassinate all 
 the white prisoners privately ; but I would not do it. 
 And I now repeat it, though I execute all the others, 
 I will never execute your husband. But I cannot re- 
 lease him from his present confinement, and you must 
 not ask it.' I had never seen him manifest so much 
 feeling, or so resolute in denying me a favor; which 
 circumstance was an additional reason for thinking 
 dreadful scenes were before us. 
 
 " The situation of the prisoners was now distress- 
 ing beyond description. It was at the commencement 
 of the hot season. There were above a hundred 
 prisoners shut up in one room, without a breath of air, 
 excepting from the cracks in the boards. I some- 
 times obtained permission to go to the door for five 
 minutes, when my heart sickened at the wretchedness 
 exhibited. The white prisoners, from incessant per- 
 spiration and loss of appetite, looked more like the 
 dead than the living. I made daily applications to 
 the Governor, offering him money, which he refused ; 
 
BURMAN MISSION 13 
 
 but all that I gained, was permission /or the foreign- 
 ers to eat their food outside, and this continued but a 
 short time. 
 
 " After continuing in the inner prison for more 
 than a month, your brother was taken with a fever. I 
 felt assured he would not live long, unless removed 
 from that noisome place. The Governor, being worn 
 out with my entreaties, at length gave me the order in 
 an official form, to take Mr. J. out of the large prison, 
 and place him in a more comfortable situation ; and 
 also gave orders to the head jailer, to allow me to go 
 in and out, all times of the day, to administer medi- 
 cines, &c. I now felt happy indeed, and had Mr. J. 
 instantly removed into a little bamboo hovel, so low 
 that neither of us could stand upright — but a palace 
 in comparison with the place he had left." 
 
 Again she says, "I used to carry Mr. J. 's food 
 myself, for the sake of getting in, and would then re- 
 main an hour or two, unless driven out. We had been 
 in this comfortable situation but two or three days, when 
 one morning, having carried in Mr. Judson's breakfast, 
 which, in consequence of fever, he was unable to take, 
 I remained longer than usual, when the Governor in 
 great haste sent for me. I promised him to return 
 as soon as I had ascertained the Governor's will, he 
 being much alarmed at this unusual message. I was 
 very agreeably disappointed, when the Governor in- 
 formed me that he only wished to consult me about 
 his watch, and seemed unusually pleasant and con- 
 versable. I found afterwards that his only object 
 was to detain me until the dreadful scene about to 
 take place in the prison, was over. For when I left 
 him to go to my room, one of the servants came run- 
 ning, and with a ghastly countenance, informed me 
 that all the white prisoners were carried away. " 
 
 After several hours of agonizing suspense, she 
 learned their destination, and resolved to follow them. 
 The Governor, who commiserated her condition, said 
 to her, " ' You can do nothing more for your husband, 
 take care of yourself.' With a heavy heart I went to 
 my room, and having no hope to excite me to exer- 
 tion, 1 sunk down almost in despair. For several 
 2 
 
14 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 days previous, 1 had been actively engaged in build- 
 ing my own little room, and making our hovel com- 
 fortable. My thoughts had been almost entirely oc- 
 cupied in contriving means to get into prison. But 
 now I looked towards the gate with a kind of melan- 
 choly feeling, but no wish to enter. All was the 
 stillness of death, no preparation of your brother's 
 food, no expectation of meeting him at the usual din- 
 ner hour, all my employment, all my occupations 
 seemed to have ceased, and I had nothing left but the 
 dreadful recollection that Mr. Judson was carried off, 
 I knew not whither. It was one of the most insup- 
 portable days I ever passed." 
 
 After a distressing ride the next day, with her in- 
 fant in her arms, she reached "that never to be for- 
 gotten place, Oung-pen-la. " There she found the 
 white prisoners ; but it were vain to attempt a sketch 
 of the agonies under which they had been goaded 
 thither by iron-hearted monsters. For these par- 
 ticulars, as well as a narrative of a six months' resi- 
 dence at that place, the reader is referred to Mrs. 
 Judson's Memoir. Her own personal, bodily dis- 
 tresses were seemingly beyond human endurance ; 
 for amidst privations, toils, and dangers, she was 
 seized with an illness which continued more than two 
 months, during which, a Bengalee male servant was 
 the only attendant for herself, her sick child, and Mr. 
 J., who was likewise ill in prison. At length, the 
 Burmese government, alarmed by the rapid approach 
 of the English army toward the " golden city,' 1 sent 
 an order for Mr. J.'s release and instant removal to 
 the camp, that he might negociate a peace. This, 
 after considerable delay, was effected ; and one con- 
 dition of it being an immediate discharge of all 
 the foreigners held in confinement by his Burman 
 Majesty, the missionaries were set at liberty, and 
 placed under British protection. 
 
 One additional fact illustrative of the savage spirit 
 by which those were actuated, on whose tender mer- 
 cies the missionaries were dependent, and exhibiting 
 the protecting care of an over-ruling Providence, must 
 not be omitted. 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 13 
 
 Sometime after their arrival at Oung-pen-la, they 
 learned that the white foreigners had been sent there 
 for the express purpose of being sacrificed. An of- 
 ficer who had just come into favor with the Emperor, 
 had ordered this, and it was only delayed that he 
 might be present to witness the horrid scene. But 
 while he was preparing an army to march against 
 the English, he was suspected of high treason, and 
 instantly executed, without the least examination. 
 
 Missionary efforts throughout the country were sus- 
 pended for a long and gloomy period ; and if the God 
 of missions were not the wise and glorious governor of 
 the universe, accomplishing his own purposes in the 
 most mysterious ways, this might have seemed the 
 death-blow of our efforts in that region. After the war, 
 Dr. Price remained at Ava. Here he had under his in- 
 struction the sons of some of the highest officers of 
 government. His journals narrate several interesting 
 conversations with the young princes. He lectured 
 to them on various branches of natural philosophy, 
 and intermingled and deduced arguments and reasons 
 for the religion of the Bible. But in the midst of his 
 usefulness, God saw fit to take him from the service 
 of earth to the purer and holier services of heaven. 
 He died, near Ava, in February, 1828. The station 
 was not resumed till April, 1833, when Rev. E. Kin- 
 caid left Rangoon for that place. 
 
 At the commencement of the war, Messrs. Wade 
 and Hough, the only missionaries at Rangoon, were 
 ordered to execution; and their lives were saved only 
 by the cowardice of their Burman oppressors. When 
 they were liberated by the advance of the British army, 
 they sailed immediately for Calcutta, to await the 
 course of events. During this interval in their work, 
 Mr. Wade superintended the printing of a Burman 
 dictionary, prepared chiefly by Mr. Judson ; and thus 
 accomplished an invaluable service for future mission- 
 aries. 
 
 After an absence of two years and three months, 
 the missionaries returned to Rangoon. Some of the 
 disciples were dead ; and of some, no news could be 
 obtained. A few were anxiously waiting to know the 
 
10 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 plans of their spiritual leaders, designing- wherever 
 they should go, to go with them. None, it is believed, 
 had apostatized from the steadfastness of their faith. 
 
 In consequence of the arrangements of the British 
 government, it was thought proper to leave the station 
 at Rangoon for a while, and establish one in its stead 
 at Amherst, to which a large proportion of the popu- 
 lation had removed. It was supposed this town would 
 become the capital of the Company's possessions gain- 
 ed by the war. Schools were here established, which 
 began to give much encouragement — especially the 
 school for girls, under the care of Mrs. Wade. But 
 the British garrison was eventually removed to Maul- 
 mein, and the town of Amherst suffered to decay. 
 The population gradually retired, and finally, the mis- 
 sionaries also — regretting the change most of all, be- 
 cause it removed them from the place where rest the 
 ashes of Mrs. Judson, and from which, in October, 
 1826, her spirit ascended to the Redeemer. 
 
 Mr. Judson, at the time of her death, was at Ava, 
 whither he had accompanied an Embassy from the 
 English Government. He thus writes of Mrs. J's. 
 death to her mother : 
 
 u I left your daughter, my beloved wife, at Amherst, 
 the 5th of July last, in good health, comfortably situ- 
 ated, happy in being out of the reach of our savage 
 oppressors, and animated in prospect of a field of 
 missionary labor opening under the auspices of Bri- 
 tish protection. It affords me some comfort, that she 
 not only consented to my leaving her, for the purpose 
 of joining the present embassy to Ava, but uniformly 
 gave her advice in favor of the measure, whenever I 
 hesitated concerning my duty. Accordingly, I left 
 her. After my arrival at Ava, I received several let- 
 ters from her, written in her usual style, and exhibit- 
 ing no subject of regret or apprehension, except the 
 declining health of our little daughter Maria." 
 
 After mentioning a letter from the English Super- 
 intendant at Amherst, which, though it spoke of Mrs. 
 Judson's being slightly ill, was yet of such a tenor as 
 to make his "mind quite a* ease, both as it regarded 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 17 
 
 the mother and the child," he says : — li My next com- 
 munication was a letter with a black seal, handed me 
 by a person, saying he was sorry to inform me of the 
 death of the child. I know not whether this was a 
 mistake on his part, or kindly intended to prepare my 
 mind for the real intelligence. I went into my room, 
 and opened the letter with feelings of gratitude and 
 joy, that at any rate the mother was spared. It was 
 from Mr. B , Assistant Superintendant of Am- 
 herst, dated the 26th of October, and began thus : 
 
 " 'My dear Sir, to one who has suffered so much, 
 and with such exemplary fortitude, there needs but 
 little preface to tell a tale of distress. It were cruel 
 indeed to torture you with doubt and suspense. To 
 sum up the unhappy tidings in a few words — Mrs. 
 Judson is no more.' 
 
 " At intervals, I got through with the dreadful let- 
 ter— " 
 
 The subjoined particulars, are from a subsequent 
 letter to the same person, after his return to Amherst. 
 
 a I have been on a visit to the physician who at- 
 tended her in her illness. I am now convinced that 
 everything possible was done; and that had I been 
 present myself, I could not have essentially contri- 
 buted to .avert the fatal termination of the disease. 
 He says, that from the first attack of the fever, she 
 was persuaded she should not recover; but that her 
 mind was uniformly tranquil and happy in the pros- 
 pect of death. She only expressed occasional regret 
 at leaving her child, the native Christians, and the 
 schools, before her husband or another missionary 
 family could arrive. The last two days she was free 
 from pain. On her attention being roused by reite- 
 rated questions, she replied, 4 I feel quite well, only 
 very weak.' These were her last words. 
 
 "The doctor is decidedly of opinion that the fatal 
 termination of the fever is to be ascribed to the weak- 
 ness of her constitution, occasioned by severe priva- 
 tions and long protracted sufferings which she endured 
 at Ava. Oh, with what meekness, patience, magnan- 
 imity, and Christian fortitude, she bore those suifer- 
 2* 
 
18 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ings! And can I wish they had been less? Can I 
 sacrilegiously wish to rob her crown of a single 
 gem ?" 
 
 Moung Thah-a, a native convert, commenced 
 preaching at Rangoon, after the war, and several per- 
 sons were converted. The missionaries at Maulmein 
 were so well satisfied with his character and qualifica- 
 tions, that they ordained him, in January, 1829, pastor 
 of the Rangoon native church. His success has been 
 very pleasing. During the year 1831, seven new con- 
 verts were baptized, and the state of religion became 
 more interesting. On the arrival of Mr. J. T. Jones, 
 in Feb. 1831, the station was again taken under the 
 charge of our missionaries, and the native preachers 
 labored under their direction. Mr. Jones or Mr. Jud- 
 son, for a considerable time, supplied the station, and 
 gave away daily a large amount of tracts. 
 
 The effects already produced, and which, with the 
 blessing of God, are likely to follow a free circulation 
 of these and corresponding publications, may be im- 
 agined from the following facts, selected from many 
 reported in the journals of the missionaries. Mr. 
 Kincaid says, June 28, 1832, " Within this immediate 
 district, there are many inquirers ; and for four weeks, 
 I have had many visitors from the interior of the 
 country. By these individuals, I learn that in many 
 places, there is considerable excitement about the new 
 religion, and that this excitement has been produced 
 by reading the tracts and portions of the Scripture, 
 which have been carried away by persons visiting this 
 city. One person from Thong-oo, about 200 miles 
 from this, has come for the purpose of knowing what 
 he shall do to be saved. His eyes are open, and he 
 is filled with admiration and love. He is one of the 
 government men in that city, and a person of superior 
 understanding. He says he knows many there, who 
 are convinced that this is the true religion. Some 
 time since, Moung En visited Pegu and a number of 
 the villages in the district, preaching and distributing 
 tracts. He related that many listened and some dis- 
 puted. An inquirer from Pantenau, three or four days' 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 1$ 
 
 distance, called on me. He has read the i View of the 
 Christian Religion* and the ' Golden Balance/ and 
 gives some evidence of a saving change." 
 
 " In Rangoon," says Mr. Jones, ** the native teacher 
 who goes about the city from day to day, stated that 
 the number of those who believe in the Eternal God 
 and secretly pray to him, is not small. Through fear 
 of their rulers, they are not yet prepared openly to 
 avow their attachment to the truth. They make no 
 offerings to the priests, nor prostrate themselves at 
 the pagodas ; which nevertheless, they occasionally 
 visit, to avoid the reproach of their acquaintances." 
 
 Even the Viceroy, for a time, seemed no way op* 
 posed to the operations of the brethren. Two of them 
 called on him, and were received with distinguished 
 kindness. They presented the Catechism of Geogra- 
 phy and Astronomy, the Chronological Table, and a 
 map of the world prepared in Burman, which he ex- 
 amined with lively interest, and asked many questions. 
 " The remarks which he made concerning different 
 places and the Christian Religion," says Mr. Wade, 
 " evinced the knowledge he had obtained of these 
 subjects, and proved that he had read much in th© 
 books which have been circulated among the people." 
 The missionaries, however, do not place an undue es* 
 timate on this branch of labor, nor propose for a mo- 
 ment to make a substitute of it, for preaching the 
 gospel. The number of the church up to the latest 
 date (1833) is forty-two. 
 
 MAULMEIN. 
 
 When the town of Amherst was abandoned, tha 
 British soldiers and a large number of natives remov- 
 ed to this place. Mr. and Mrs. Boardman, who sail 
 edfrom America in July, 1825, established themselves 
 here in the summer of 1827, and remained for a while 
 alone. Several persons listened with attention, and 
 a flourishing school was commenced for boys. The 
 school for girls at Amherst had excited so much in- 
 terest, that eleven of them — more than half — removed 
 thence to Maulmein. Among the members of this 
 
20 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 school was Mee-Shway-ee, whose memoir has been 
 published in this country, and deserves a place among 
 the most precious of our monuments of juvenile piety. 
 
 As Maulmein is the station of the British soldiery^ 
 it has become also the most prominent point of the 
 operations of the mission. It is marked in mission- 
 ary history, as a heathen town, which has been bless- 
 ed with a revival of religion. The female school has 
 been particularly distinguished; and a number of the 
 scholars have been baptized. The whole number of 
 baptisms, from January, 1828, to March, 1830, was six- 
 ty-two. During the year 18.31, one hundred and thirty- 
 six persons were baptized at this station. 
 
 The revival at Maulmein was largely shared by the 
 British soldiers. They presented so interesting a 
 field of labor, that Mr. Kincaid, on his arrival in 
 November, 1830, assumed the task of preaching to 
 them, and afterwards became the pastor of the church 
 in the army. It was thought expedient to make this 
 band of believers a separate church from the native 
 converts. Before the detachment left the place, the 
 church numbered one hundred and thirteen members ; 
 eighty-nine of whom were added during the year 1831. 
 
 In the region around Maulmein are several villages 
 of Karens — a people who will be more particularly 
 noticed under the next head. In an excursion of six 
 weeks among them early in 1832, Mr. Judson baptized 
 twenty-five converts. During the year embraced in the 
 Report of the Board for 1833, sixty-six were admit- 
 ted by baptism — bringing up the number of the Ka- 
 ren church attached to this station to seventy-seven. 
 Eight were also added to the native church at Maul- 
 mein. The total number of members in the three 
 churches at this place, in 1833, was four hundred and 
 six. 
 
 This is the seat of the printing-establishment, where 
 Messrs. Bennett, Cutter and Hancock assiduously 
 labor to prepare tracts and portions of scripture for 
 distribution. This is also Mr. Judson's principal resi- 
 dence, where he is devoting himself to the completion 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 21 
 
 of his translation of the Bible. It is hoped it will be 
 finished in May, 1834. An account of the employment 
 of the press will be given in a subsequent page, un- 
 der the head printing. 
 
 TAVOY KARENS. 
 
 By recommendation of the Board, and the advice 
 of the brethren at Maulmein, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman 
 commenced a station at Tavoy, in April, 1828. They 
 were accompanied by two native Christians, of whom 
 one was a Karen, approved by the church, but not 
 baptized, till his arrival at Tavoy. 
 
 Mr. B. had no sooner arrived, than information was 
 brought him of the Karens, a race of people who re- 
 side at some distance from Tavoy. He was assured 
 that they would embrace the Christian religion, and 
 invited to visit them. Their language differs from the 
 Burman. In some of their characteristics, they re- 
 semble the North American Indians. 
 
 The Karens have now become the chief attraction 
 at Tavoy. When Mr. Boardman visited them, he 
 found them an exceedingly honest and devout people. 
 They had among them a sorcerer or priest who had 
 in his possession a book, to which .they all paid re- 
 ligious worship. It was left among them some years 
 previous by an individual, who enjoined upon them 
 several superstitious observances, and this among the 
 rest. It had been for twelve years, the chief object 
 of their curiosity to find out the contents of this book. 
 On hearing of the arrival of Mr. B. at Tavoy, they 
 supposed he must be the teacher, a belief in whose 
 coming had been the chief article of their creed, and 
 who, they expected, could explain the book. Too 
 impatient to wait till the rains were over, and Mr. B. 
 could go to them, they sent a deputation to him, a dis- 
 tance of three days' journey, with the sorcerer and his 
 book at their head. After unwrapping it in Mr. B.'s 
 presence, with great veneration, they presented it to 
 him. It was an English prayer book. He imme- 
 diately told them it was a good book — that they must 
 worship not the book itself, but the God of whom it 
 spoke. Through the Karen Christian, who accom- 
 panied him from Maulmein, he was able to converse 
 
22 niULF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 much with them on religious things. They listened 
 with great interest, and urged him to visit them, 
 which he did as soon as was practicable. 
 
 This incident has led to the developement of the 
 most encouraging, important, and laborious branch of 
 the Burman mission. Several visits have been made 
 among the Karens, which have been invariably mark- 
 ed by a happy issue, and an astonishing spirit of in- 
 quiry has been awakened among them. 
 
 A church was soon formed at Tavoy, consisting of 
 ten members, of whom seven were Karens, and one 
 the head man of a village. 
 
 When the station was assuming an air of the high- 
 est interest, the intense labors of Mr. and Mrs. B. 
 had so impaired their health, that they were obliged 
 to leave, for a while, and retire to Maulmein. But 
 the Karen converts, in the mean while, were not in- 
 active. " Their manner," says Mrs. Boardman, "has 
 been such as to remind us forcibly of what we read 
 respecting the Apostles and primitive Christians. 
 The chief, Moung So, and Moung Kyah, have taken 
 such parts of the Scriptures as we could give them, 
 and gone from house to house, and village to village, 
 expounding the word, exhorting the people, and uniting 
 with their exertions, frequent and fervent prayers." 
 Such a course of means, steadily pursued, served to 
 water the seed sown, and cause it to vegetate and 
 spring up, and bear the harvest which Mr. B. on his 
 return, was allowed to gather in. 
 
 It was not till December, 1830, after an absence of 
 seven months, that he resumed his labors, and thea 
 under the pressure of great weakness. He took with 
 him Ko-Ing, an ordained preacher, and Ko-Thah-byoo. 
 No sooner had he reached Tavoy, than his faithful 
 Karens gathered about him from the country, bring- 
 ing with them many who gave evidence of true con- 
 version to God, and wished for baptism. Successive 
 days were spent in a scrupulous examination of the 
 candidates, and in the course of six weeks the best 
 satisfaction was obtained of twenty-three, who were 
 admitted to the rite. While Mr. B. was filled with 
 joy in beholding such trophies of redeeming love, in- 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 33 
 
 telligence was brought, that a far greater number in 
 remote villages, which he had formerly visited, had 
 obtained like precious faith, and were desirous to give 
 the same proof of their attachment to Christ, but 
 were unable to come to town. On receiving this in- 
 formation, together with an urgent request that he 
 would without delay come to them, he consented, 
 though he was at the time so exhausted by sickness 
 as to be unable to ride or walk. A zayat was prepar- 
 ed for him at a distance of three days' journey, and 
 everything was made ready for him to commence the 
 undertaking. It was at this juncture, so interesting 
 and important, that Mr. Mason arrived. Nothing 
 could be more in time, if we consider all the circum- 
 stances which followed. — Nothing could be more re- 
 freshing to Mr. Boardman than the countenance of a 
 brother, sinking as he was under accumulated weak- 
 ness, and with so great a work just before him — a 
 brother with whom he might intrust those sheep in 
 the wilderness, for whom he had cherished so great 
 solicitude, and from whom it was plain he must soon 
 be taken. 
 
 Mr. Mason, on first seeing the emaciated form of 
 Mr. Boardman, hesitated respecting his contemplated 
 journey ; but when he perceived the ardor of his soul, 
 and how much his heart was set on accomplishing the 
 work proposed, he forbore all objections, and resolved 
 to accompany him. On the 31st of January, 1831, 
 they started, Mrs. B. in company, and Mr. B. borne 
 on a cot. 
 
 After three days, they reached the place, without 
 any very sensible exhaustion. M During our stay, 
 however," says Mr. Mason, u he so evidently lost 
 strength, that Mrs. B. on one occasion advised him 
 to return ; to which he replied with more than com- 
 mon animation, ' The cause of God is of more import- 
 ance than my health, and if I return now, our whole 
 object will be defeated — I want to see the work of the 
 Lord go on.' Wednesday morning, it was apparent," 
 says Mr. Mason, " that death was near. He consent- 
 ed, provided the examination and baptism of the 
 candidates could that day be completed, to return. 
 
24 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Accordingly, a little before sunset, he was carried out 
 in his bed to the water side, where, lifting his languid 
 head to gaze on the gratifying scene, I had the plea- 
 sure to baptize in his presence thirty-four individuals, 
 who gave satisfactory evidence to all, that they had 
 passed from death unto life." He was so much ex- 
 hausted that he could scarcely breathe. But his soul 
 was in perfect peace. When the baptism was over, 
 he said ' I feel now that I am done, and am ready to 
 depart, and can say from my heart, Lord, now lettest 
 thou thy servant depart in peace.' 
 
 On the second day of his return, it was concluded, 
 with his approbation, to take him in a boat down a 
 stream which was near. 
 
 " At about 12 o'clock," says Mrs. B. " the boat was 
 ready, and only a few steps from the house. The 
 Karens carried out Mr. Boardman first — and as the 
 shore was muddy, I was obliged to wait till they could 
 put him into the boat. They then took me imme- 
 diately to him ; but O, what was the agony of my soul 
 when I saw that the hand of death was on him. I 
 spoke to him, but he made no answer, though I fan- 
 cied that he tried to move his lips. Without a strug- 
 gle or a sigh, he breathed out his happy spirit into 
 the presence of his Redeemer, with the faithful Ka- 
 rens kneeling around him in prayer." 
 
 Mr. Mason returned to Tavoy, and took charge of 
 the station. About forty individuals have since been 
 added to the church — -most of them Karens, and re- 
 siding in nine or ten different villages. The whole 
 number baptized at Tavoy, during the year 1831, was 
 ninety-six. 
 
 Early in January, 1832, Mr. Mason set out again for 
 the Karen country, and was absent about two months. 
 Our limits will only allow us to report some of the clos- 
 ing events. After travelling over several very difficult 
 passes in mountains, in pursuit of those who had not 
 heard the gospel, and distributing many tracts, he re- 
 turned to the well-known village of Moung-So, late in 
 February, when he writes, — " I cry no longer ' the 
 norrors of heathenism,' but the ' blessings of missions!' 
 1 date no longer from a heathen land. Heathenism has 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 25 
 
 fled these banks. I look on fields cultivated by Chris- 
 tians, and see no dwellings but those inhabited by Chris- 
 tian families. When brother Boardman visited this 
 people, three years ago, they were worshipping demons, 
 and in the practice of all the vices connected with uni- 
 versal darkness ; but he preached to them the gospel, 
 ' with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ;' and 
 behold, all things have become new!" Here, the con- 
 verts from the adjacent country gathered around Mr. 
 Mason, and a course of examination for baptism be- 
 gan, which terminated the third day with the admis- 
 sion of twenty-seven. Many of these dated their 
 Christian experience ten or twelve months back, 
 and some even more, — affording to their pious ac- 
 quaintances and others, the best opportunity of deter- 
 mining the sincerity of their profession. 
 
 Mrs. Boardman, says, "most of them live two or 
 three days' journey distant ; but, by their frequent 
 visits to us, over almost impassable mountains, and 
 through deserts, the haunt of the tiger, evince a love 
 for the gospel seldom surpassed. What would the 
 Christians in America think of travelling forty or 
 fifty miles on foot, to hear a sermon and beg a Chris- 
 tian book ? A good Christian woman, who has been 
 living with us several months, told me that when she 
 came, the water was so deep that she was obliged to 
 wait till the men in the company could cut down trees, 
 and lay across the streams for her to get over on ; and 
 sometimes she forded the streams. The reason of 
 their coming at so bad a time was, we had appointed 
 a church fast, and sent to the Karen Christians living 
 near, to unite with us ; but a rumor of it spread be- 
 yond the mountains, and they were so afraid that they 
 should not observe it at the right time and in the right 
 way, that a large company of the best disciples cam« 
 immediately to inquire about it. As far as we can 
 learn, they manifest the same tenderness of conscience 
 and fear of doing wrong, on every subject ; and I can 
 say with truth, that the more we become acquainted with 
 them, the more reason we find to love them as Chris- 
 tians, and to believe that the work is of God. Some 
 of them have lived on our premises month after month, 
 3 
 
26 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and then conduct has been most exemplary; and we 
 have not heard of an instance of immorality among 
 any of the church members during- the past year." 
 
 The Karen disciples manifest a truly missionary- 
 spirit. They had heard by report, that some of their 
 kinsmen according to the flesh, dwelt in Siam, who 
 had never heard the name of Jesus. They knew 
 nothing of the purpose of our missionaries to form a 
 station in Siam, nor of Mr. Mason's wish to visit the 
 Siamese Karens. But when he began to make inqui- 
 ries preparatory to such a tour, he found he was an- 
 ticipated. Several had already gone to proclaim to 
 them the glad tidings of the gospel. 
 
 The spirit of inquiry among the Karens around 
 Tavoy seems not at all diminished. On the contrary, 
 deputations and appeals are often sent from a long dis- 
 tance in the interior, entreating the missionaries to 
 send one of their number to make known to them the 
 way of life. 
 
 MERGUI. 
 
 In October, 1831, Mr. and Mrs. Wade, by the advice 
 of the brethren, made a visit to Mergui, and tarried 
 little more than five months. On arriving, Mr. W. found 
 the inhabitants were numerous, and made up of Bur- 
 mans, Chinese, Portuguese, Mussulmans, Sec. He 
 was received by Mr. Maingy, the civil commissioner, 
 with kindness, and a place of residence was assigned 
 him ; but on commencing his labors, he found few at 
 first who were disposed to hear his message, or receive 
 his books. He took a zayat, which he occupied a 
 part of each day, and received those who called for 
 conversation. He had the satisfaction to perceive an 
 increasing attention on the part of the people, from 
 week to week, and a growing desire for books, till, on 
 some occasions, he gave away from thirty to one hun- 
 dred and fifty a day. A spirit of inquiry was also 
 awakened, which resulted in the hopeful conversion 
 of several individuals. Early in his visit, he was 
 found by certain Karens from the neighboring jun< 
 gle, and earnestly solicited to go to them ; and having 
 obtained the assistance of Ko-Ing, a native preacher 
 from Tavoy, and Ko-Manpoke, from Maulmein, he 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 27 
 
 readily consented. He was received by them with all 
 readiness, as other brethren have been in other villages 
 of that interesting people. During his stay of two 
 weeks, multitudes of them heard the gospel, and 
 lasting impressions appeared to be produced on the 
 minds of the principal chief and of some of his ad- 
 herents. Before leaving Mergui in March, Mr. Wade 
 deemed it his duty to regard the request of several 
 applicants for baptism ; and, on mature examination, 
 five were admitted. After the administration of the 
 sacred ordinance, the new converts, and such other 
 native disciples as determined to remain, were em- 
 bodied as a church of Christ, and Ko-Ing appointed 
 to be their pastor. 
 
 The efforts of Mrs. Wade during the time, in school 
 teaching, will be reported most satisfactorily in her 
 own language. She says, " When we went to Mergui, 
 not expecting to remain in the place many months, it 
 was not thought expedient to incur the expense of 
 building a school-house ; but I found twelve or four- 
 teen girls and women, who were willing to learn to 
 read, with the assistance of a father or brother at 
 home, and come to me for recitation and religious in- 
 struction nearly every day. Two of this number 
 learned to read, and committed the catechism and 
 short prayers ; another had just begun to read ; four 
 others, who had before learned, made good pro- 
 ficiency in committing select portions of Scripture, 
 prayers, Sec, (three of this number were from sister 
 Boardman's school at Tavoy,) and three others had 
 nearly finished the elementary lessons. These ten 
 promise to continue their studies, though we are re- 
 moved from them. This is all I was able to do in the 
 way of schools, during our stay at Mergui. We are 
 encouraged, however, in reflecting that the last great 
 day may show that even this feeble effort was not en- 
 tirely in vain ; for the first woman, soon after be- 
 ginning to learn, appeared serious, attended family 
 worship and daily instructions, and was the first 
 baptized. Two other individuals also gave some evi- 
 dence of piety, and earnestly requested baptism. -But, 
 for the present, it was thought best to defer it. 
 
28 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Feeling the importance of implanting the princi- 
 ples of religion in the minds of children, schools have 
 been regarded by the Board from the beginning as 
 among the most important objects. But the number 
 of laborers in Burmah is so few, and their cares so 
 pressing, that other occupations more strictly connect- 
 ed with preaching the gospel, have attracted their atten- 
 tion. Schools, however, have not been neglected, nor 
 have they been useless. Their establishment was a 
 favorite object with Mrs. Judson ; and, except at Ran- 
 goon, no station has been formed where there was not 
 a school in connexion. 
 
 At Ava, Dr. Price instructed the young princes. 
 At Amherst, before the station was relinquished, a fe- 
 male school had already begun to diffuse light and ho- 
 liness. And it was in Mrs. Wade's female school at 
 Maulmein, that the first openings were visible of that 
 revival, which resulted in the addition of many redeem* 
 ed sinners to the church of God. 
 
 Although the early circumstances of the mission 
 prevented the establishment of a school at Rangoon, 
 at the beginning, yet an attempt has been made. In 
 August, 1831, Mr. Jones took preparatory measures 
 for the instruction of children born in the country, 
 whether wholly or partially of Burman descent, Re- 
 ligion was regarded as a prime object in the system 
 of instruction, and much interest was taken both by 
 the missionaries and the parents of the children, in the 
 two schools of Mr. and Mrs. Jones. On their depart- 
 ure for Siam, the schools fell into the hands of Mr. 
 Kincaid ; and we grieve to say, that a letter, dated July 
 27, 1832, brings information that they had been bro- 
 ken up by the command of the viceroy. Knowledge, 
 however, is the possession of the mind; and when it 
 is once implanted, man cannot take it away. The ac- 
 quisitions of these few months, carried into all the 
 walks of life and distributed through the country, we 
 trust, will prove to be the good seed of the kingdom, 
 springing up hereafter, and bearing fruit, an hundred 
 fold. 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 29 
 
 The schools for children at Maulmein, taught chief- 
 ly by the missionaries' wives, are increasingly in- 
 teresting as means of doing good. The Karen school 
 established above Maulmein, on the river, is taught by 
 Moung-Doot, and as he and his wife are both pious, 
 they may be expected to exert the best influence, not 
 only on the children, but on the parents. 
 
 There is a school for adults at Maulmein, containing 
 twenty pupils, under the instruction of Moung Tsan- 
 loon. In a late excursion among the Karens contiguous 
 to that place, Mr. Judson selected three interesting 
 young men to enter the school, designing to qualify 
 them to read and interpret the Scriptures to their 
 countrymen. Through their influence, the light of 
 knowledge will be carried into the Karen wilds, and 
 the Christians, it is hoped, will thus be enabled to ad- 
 vance the more rapidly in holy attainments. 
 
 The schools at Tavoy are more interesting and suc- 
 cessful. In a letter from Mrs. Boardman, dated in 
 January, 1832, she says : "On our removal to Maul- 
 mein in 1830, our day schools in Tavoy were en- 
 tirely broken up ; and it was not till last April, that I 
 found myself sufficiently at leisure to attempt anything 
 in that way again. I then opened a school with five 
 scholars, under the care of a respectable and intelli- 
 gent Tavoy female. We met with much encourage- 
 ment, so that other schools have been since established, 
 and our number of day scholars is now about eighty ; 
 which, with the boarding-schools, two village-schools, 
 and about fifty persons who learn during the rainy 
 season, in the Karen jungle, make upwards of one 
 hundred and seventy under our instruction. The 
 scholars in the jungle, of course, cannot come to us 
 often j but a great many have been in to be examined 
 in their lessons, and we are surprised and delighted at 
 the progress they have made. 
 
 "The children of the day schools in town, and some 
 of the teachers, attend worship on Lord's day. About 
 forty can repeat Mrs. Judson's catechism, and some 
 have added to that the account of the ' creation,' 
 the ' prodigal son,' the « rich man and Lazarus,' and 
 part of the 'sermon on the mount.* The little girls, 
 
30 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 about forty in number have many of them made good 
 progress in needle-work. But what gives me far 
 greater pleasure, is the interest with which they listen 
 to religious instruction, and the affectionate, docile dis- 
 position they manifest. They are very much ridiculed 
 for studying the Christian books ; but they bear it pa- 
 tiently. One little boy, eleven years old, in the boarding- 
 school, has committed to memory 800 verses of Scrip- 
 ture, besides a short compendium of astronomy, 
 geography, and chronology. 
 
 " One of the female schools, containing eleven scho- 
 lars, is extremely interesting. Five of the scholars 
 are members of the church ; two have asked for bap- 
 tism, and one of the remaining four is a very hopeful 
 inquirer. They attend worship in Burman every 
 morning and evening, and the female prayer meeting 
 Wednesday forenoon." The same letter says, " I 
 have no doubt that village-schools could be establish- 
 ed with ease throughout the province, if some person 
 acquainted with the language and manners and cha- 
 racter of the Tavoyans, could devote all his time to the 
 object. We have had two applications from villages a 
 few miles distant, and have established one school with 
 twelve scholars. More than ten children in another 
 village are waiting, ready to enter as soon as the 
 school-house is finished. We have now seven schools in 
 operation, besides the two on our premises, and those 
 in the Karen jungle. The Karens throughout the 
 province, believers and unbelievers, are exceedingly 
 anxious to have their children taught to read." 
 
 VILLAGE PREACHING. 
 
 This has been pursued with very encouraging suc- 
 cess. The evidence which it gives of the spirit of 
 inquiry throughout the country, and the zeal of the 
 people to hear of the religion of Christ, is most grati- 
 fying to the minds of the missionaries. The first ex- 
 cursion of this kind was made by Mr. Boardman 
 around Tavoy. Similar ones have since been made 
 by Mr. Mason, and by Mr. Judson around Maulmein 
 and between Rangoon and Prome. They go with two 
 or three converts to aid them in the work, and pro- 
 
BUUMAN MISSION. 31 
 
 vide themselves with large quantities of tracts. At 
 every village where the people will listen, they stop 
 and preach ; give tracts to those who will receive 
 them — in some instances at every house — and, if cir- 
 cumstances seem to require it, they prolong their 
 stay, or leave one of the native converts for a while, 
 to instruct them more fully. In some cases, the 
 whole village has come to hear, and many have been 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth. The follow- 
 ing, from Mr. Mason's journal, is a specimen of the 
 encouragement met with during these tours. " Before 
 sunrise this morning I received a visit from the chief 
 of a neighboring village, who introduced himself with 
 a present, and said, he came to request books for his 
 village, and to show me the way there. 
 
 While putting up tracts, he was careful to observe, 
 * There are many houses in my village.' He went 
 round with me to every house, and exhorted the peo- 
 ple to examine the books, and consider the doctrines 
 therein taught. 
 
 Besides the tracts thus distributed, many from dis- 
 tant regions receive them at the missionary stations, 
 and carry them to every part of the country. Some 
 interesting cases of conversion have occurred, of per- 
 sons whose attention was first excited by tracts, found 
 far in the interior. The following case, which came 
 to the knowledge of Mr. Judson, deserves notice. " A 
 man and wife near the head of the Pa-tah river, 
 though not baptized, and never seen by any foreign 
 missionary, both died in the faith ; the man enjoining 
 it on his surviving friends to have the ' View of the 
 Christian Religion,' laid on his breast and buried 
 with him." 
 
 In the first part of the year 1832, Mr. Judson made 
 two excursions among the Karen villages, and his vis- 
 its were every where sought with interest. On the 1 1th 
 of March, 1832, while passing up the river, he fell in 
 company with a boat full of men ; and when he in- 
 quired whether they wished to hear the gospel of 
 Christ, an elderly man, the chief of the party, replied, 
 that he had already heard much of the gospel, and 
 there was nothing he desired so much as an interview 
 
32 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 with the teacher. "We accordingly went to the shore," 
 says Mr. Judson, "and spent several hours very de- 
 lightfully under the shade of the overhanging trees, 
 and the banner of the love of Jesus. The old man's 
 experience was so clear, and his desire for baptism 
 so strong, that though circumstances prevented our 
 gaining so much testimony of his conduct since be- 
 lieving, as we usually required, we felt that it would 
 be wrong to refuse his request. After the ordinance, 
 he went on his way rejoicing aloud, and declaring his 
 resolution to make known the eternal God, and the 
 dying love of Jesus, on all the banks of the Yoon-zalen, 
 his native stream." "The dying words of an aged 
 man of God," continues Mr. Judson, " when he 
 waived his withered, death-struck arm and exclaimed 
 1 the best of all is, God is with its' — I feel in my very 
 soul. — Yes, the Great Invisible is in these Karen wilds. 
 That mighty Being, who heaped up these rocks, and 
 reared these stupendous mountains, and poured out 
 these streams in all directions, and scattered immor- 
 tal beings throughout these deserts, — he is present by 
 the influence of his Holy Spirit, and accompanies the 
 sound of the gospel with converting, sanctifying pow- 
 er." 
 
 PRINTING. 
 
 On the arrival at Calcutta of Mr. Hough, who was 
 a printer as well as minister, the Serampore brethren 
 presented our mission with a press and types. This 
 department of labor, however, began to assume a 
 more vigorous and encouraging character, on the ac- 
 cession to the mission of Mr. Bennett, in 1830. He 
 has been incessantly occupied in printing tracts and 
 portions of the Scriptures, till the present time. 
 Messrs. Cutter and Hancock have since been added to 
 this department, and four presses are now at work. 
 The translation of the New Testament is complet- 
 ed, and the whole of it is now in circulation. Twen- 
 ty other works have also been prepared by the 
 brethren — all but one of which — the Burman Gram- 
 mar — are designed for circulation in the country. 
 Since the arrival of Mr. Bennett, it is estimated that 
 he has published at least 250,000 tracts, which can be 
 
BURMAN MISSION. 33 
 
 issued at the rate of eight octavo pages for a cent. 
 In addition to the tracts, a letter from Mr. Bennett, 
 dated December 19th, 1832, says, I am happy to say 
 that the New Testament is now out of press. It 
 makes a volume of 624 octavo pages, and has been 
 printed in eight months and twenty-eight days from 
 the commencement of the composition to the close of 
 the presswork. Three thousand copies have been 
 printed — so that the number of pages is 1,872,00Q!! 
 — The whole number of pages printed since my re- 
 turn from Bengal on the 15th of March last, is 
 2,388,000. The number of Tracts 30,000 — and a Spell- 
 ing Book of thirty-six pages in the Karen language, 
 3,000 copies. The characters for the latter are like 
 the Burman except six or eight, and we make the 
 Burman fonts answer for both as far as they will. I 
 am now engaged in book-binding, as the Testament 
 is out, and we wish as soon as possible to furnish the 
 native Christians with a copy. There is no room 
 here to be idle. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jones left the Burman mission to 
 establish a new station at Siam, at the close of 
 September, 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Wade returned to 
 America, in consequence of the state of his health, 
 and arrived in May, 1833. They were accompanied 
 by two native converts, a Burman and Karen. After 
 a year's residence in this country, they are hoping, 
 with fresh vigor and a large reinforcement of mis- 
 sionaries, to return to the scene of their toils. 
 
 The whole number of American missionaries now 
 in Burmah is eighteen. 
 
 There are also in the service of the mission two 
 native preachers, and several native assistants, who 
 serve as school-teachers, tract-distributors, See. 
 
 The amount of success which God has given to the 
 mission, has been steadily increasing. 
 
 FUTURE EFFORTS. 
 
 The increasing amount of missionary exertion will 
 increase the amount of expense. The addition of 
 laborers to the different fields, has drawn largely on 
 the treasury ; and their future support will, of course, 
 require an augmentation of liberality on the part of 
 
34 B1UEF HISTORY OF THE 
 
 the churches. An appeal for that augmentation, we 
 trust, will not be in vain. For we rejoice to believe 
 that the Christian community are ready to bestow of 
 their abundance, to promote the cause of the Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 While we look with pleasure on the evidence that 
 we have not labored in vain, manifested in the pre- 
 ceding pages, let us remember how much remains to 
 be done. Supposing a generation of men to continue 
 thirty years, since our mission commenced in Burmah, 
 two-thirds of her eight millions (the lowest estimate) 
 have gone to the awards of eternity. And how few 
 of them have heard the name of Jesus'. A few — a 
 precious few — have joined the hosts of the redeemed. 
 But where are the remainder? 
 
 DUTY OF THE BAFriST DENOMINATION-. 
 
 In view of these facts, two things are required of 
 us. 1. Ji spirit of self-denial This must exhibit h- 
 ■self in a willingness to contribute, to the extent of 
 our meaus, for the sustentation of the cause. Let us 
 not give the trifles which we shall not feel ; but let 
 us offer to the Lord an oblation worthy of our grati- 
 tude as Christians, and worthy of our professions as 
 pitying the souls of men. 
 
 There are some, too, among our churches, who must 
 offer themselves to God. A band of four thousand mis- 
 sionaries would be far more worthy of our churches, 
 than the little company of four thousand who now bear 
 the heat and burden of the day. Let ministers seek out 
 in their churches, and encourage suitable missionaries. 
 Let not parents and friends kill their ardent feelings, 
 and quench their missionary spirit. Send them, if 
 they will go. Resign them to the work to which 
 their heavenly Father has called them, and in which 
 you feel so high an interest. And let the young men 
 break away from the endearments of home and na- 
 tive soil ; resist the obstructions in their way, and 
 enter on the apostolic work of saving souls. 
 
 2. The church must cultivate a spirit of prayer. 
 This, and the spirit of missions, have a reciprocal 
 influence. Pray much for the heathen, and a missiona- 
 ry spirit wakes up, of course. We cannot look for 
 the conversion of the world, till there is more of (er- 
 
liUKMAN SIISSlON. 
 
 35 
 
 vent piety, more of deep, absorbing devotion, more love 
 of communion with heaven among us. We must re- 
 turn to primitive piety, and then we shall have primi- 
 tive success. Prayer must become the very atmos- 
 phere breathed by the church; and holiness must be 
 stamped upon the lines of every countenance. — " Arise, 
 O Lord, into thy rest, thou, and the ark of thy strength." 
 
 MISSIONARIES. 
 
 The following table contains the names of all the 
 missionaries sent to the Burraan Empire by the Baptist 
 Board of Foreign Missions, with the date of their arrival 
 there, &c. 
 
 Missionaries. I Arrival. 
 
 Adoniram Judson lJuly, 1813 
 Mrs. Ann H. Judson! " " 
 George H. Hough, Oct. 1816 
 
 printer 
 Mrs. Hough I " " 
 
 Edw. W. Wheelock!Sept. 1818 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 At Maulmain, 
 
 Died at Amherst, Oct. 24, 1826. 
 Left the mission in 1826. Since resi- 
 dent at Calcutta and Maulmain. 
 
 Mrs. Wheelock 
 James Colman 
 Mrs. Colman 
 
 Jona.D. Price, M.D Dec. II 
 
 Mrs. Price 
 
 Jonathan Wade 
 
 Mrs. D. B. L. Wade 
 
 Geo. D. Boardman April 1827 
 
 Mrs. S. B. H. Board 
 
 Drowned on his passage from Ran- 
 goon to Calcutta, Aug. 1819. 
 
 Married to Mr. Jones of Calcutta ; 
 died 1831. 
 
 Died at Cox's Bazaar, Chittagong, 
 July 4, 1822. 
 
 Married to Amos Sutton, Eng. Bap. 
 Miss. Orissa. 
 
 Died at Ava, Feb. 14, 1828. 
 
 Died at Rangoon, 1822. 
 Dec. 1823 At Tavoy. 
 
 man 
 Cephas Bennett 
 
 Mrs. S. K. Bennett 
 Eugenio Kincaid 
 
 Mrs. A. Kincaid 
 Mrs. B. Kincaid 
 Francis Mason 
 Mrs. H. M. Mason 
 John Taylor Jones 
 Mrs. E. G. Jones 
 
 Jan. 1830 
 
 Nov. 
 
 ^ov. 1832 
 " 1830 
 
 Feb. 1831 
 
 I " " 
 
 Died near Tavoy, Feb. 1831. 
 Married to A. Judson at Tavoy, 
 | April, 1834. 
 
 (At Tavoy.) On a visit to this 
 country, 1840-1. 
 
 (( CI u (I « 
 
 (At Ava.) Temporarily at Akyab, 
 
 Arracan. 
 Died at Maulmain, Dec. 19, 1831. 
 Married to E. Kincaid in 183-J. 
 At Tavoy. 
 u U 
 
 Removed toBangkok,Siam,in 1833 
 Died at Bangkok, March 23, 1838* 
 
36 
 
 BURMAN MISSION. 
 
 Oliver T. Cutter, 
 
 printer 
 Mrs. H. B. Cutter 
 Thomas Simons 
 Royal B. Hancock, 
 
 printer " " 
 
 Mrs. A. B. Hancock " " 
 Miss S. Cummings " " Died at Maulmain, Aug. 1834. 
 MissC. J. Harrington June 1833 Married to T. Simons. 
 IVathan Brown 
 Mrs. E W. Brown 
 Abner Webb 
 
 Feb. 1832 Removed to Asam in 1836. 
 Jan. 1833 At Maulmain. 
 " " At Tavoy. 
 
 Removed to Asam in 1836. 
 
 «( ' u u n 
 
 " Returned to America, March, 1833. 
 
 U U H U <i 
 
 1834 At Maulmain. 
 
 " Died, Oct. 5, 1837, at Maulmain. 
 " Married at Tavoy to E. L. Abbott, 
 ' April, 1837. 
 1836 At Mergui. 
 
 At Amherst. 
 
 Mrs. C. S. Webb 
 Justus H. Vinton Dec. 
 Mrs. C. H. Vinton 
 Hosea Howard M 
 
 Mrs. T.P.Howard 
 Sewall M. Osgood, 
 
 printer | " 
 
 Mrs. E. B. Osgood I " 
 Miss A. P. Gardnerj " 
 
 Lovell Ingalls Feb. 
 
 Mrs. M. D. Ingalls 
 
 James M. Haswell j " 
 
 Mrs. J. M. Haswell " 
 Elisha L. Abbott 
 
 I 
 
 Miss E. Macomber u 
 Edw. A. Stevens Feb. 
 
 Mrs. E. L.H.Stevens •' 
 
 Lyman Stilson " 
 
 Mrs. L. B. Stilson " 
 
 Durlin L. Bray ton " 
 
 Mrs. H.F.Brayton " 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 The American Baptist xMission in Burmah, com- 
 menced in the year 1813. At the date of the Annual 
 Report of the Board, April 29th, 1840, there were eight 
 missions in Asia: Tavoy mission; Rangoon; Ava, Ar- 
 racan ; Siam and China; Asam, and Teloogoos. These 
 comprised 15 stations, and 21 out-stations; 22 preach- 
 ers, 2 preachers and teachers, 3 preachers and printers, 
 2 printers, and 31 female assistants ; making in all 60 
 missionaries and assistants. There were 66 native as- 
 sistants, and 29 churches. 170 had been baptized dur- 
 
 H I (At Rangoon.) Temporarily at 
 
 Sandoway, Arracan. 
 " Died at Maulmain, April 16, 1840. 
 
 1838 At Maulmain. 
 it it i< 
 
 " C Removed to Ratnree, Arracan, 
 " I in Feb. 1839. 
 " At Mergui. 
 
BITRMAN MISSION. 37 
 
 ing the preceding year, and ihe number of members 
 was 1450. The amount of printing executed during 
 the year was, at the Maulmain press, 8,124,000 octavo 
 pages; at Tavoy, 1,642,666 pages; ai Bangkok, 
 1,500,000 pages. The printing executed at the Maul- 
 main press from the commencement, amounted to 
 55,050,200 pages. 
 
 The whole Bible has been faithfully translated by Mr. 
 Judson ; and a large number have been distributed, 
 either entire, or in extracts printed separately. Tracts 
 have been widely and successfully circulated, and the 
 light of Divine truth, has thus been brought in contact 
 with the benighted minds of millions of heathen. 
 
 Schools have been sustained, and very many children 
 instructed, not only to read, but to understand the truth, 
 and many have been made savingly acquainted with that 
 truth, by which alone they can be freed from the yoke 
 of ignorance, superstition and sin. 
 
 But much is yet to be done. Millions are perishing 
 for lack of vision. The labourers need to be increased, 
 and the labour greatly enlarged before a tithe of the im- 
 mense population of Asia can hear of Jesus, or learn the 
 way of life. To send these labourers, and to sustain 
 this labour, American Baptists are called upon to be ac- 
 tive, and liberal, and prayerful, denying themselves if it 
 be necessary for the accomplishment of so glorious a 
 work ; remembering the self-denial of Him who though 
 He was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through 
 his poverty, might become rich. 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE 
 
 BETWEEK 
 
 TWO BRETHREN, A. 8c B. 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BAPTIST DEiVOmTVATlOiV. 
 
 BY A FRIEND TO ZION IN GEORGIA. 
 
 Brother A. Good morning, brother B. I am truly 
 glad to see you at my house so early this morning. I 
 hope you have something pleasing and profitable to re- 
 late to me and my family concerning religion ? 
 
 Brother B. Nothing very particular; but my mind 
 has been running a great deal, of late, upon this Mis- 
 sionary and Anti-missionary business ; and, as you 
 know, I am what people call an Anti-missionary man 
 — and, as / know, you are what people call a Mission- 
 ary man, I thought I would just walk over, and have 
 a serious, Christian, and brotherly chat with you on 
 the subject. 
 
 A. With all my heart, my dear brother. But, I 
 hope our conversation on this interesting and import- 
 ant subject, is to be not only serious. Christian, and 
 brotherly ; but, also, cool and dispassionate — candid 
 and plain, as between brethren. And, indeed, I hope 
 we shall enter upon this subject with hearts lifted up 
 to Almighty God in prayer ; that our conversation 
 may be to the edification of ourselves, the benefit ot 
 others, and the honor and glory of God. 
 
 B. I agree to all this ; and hope, and trust, it may 
 be as you say — for my own part, I wish to know what 
 is right. 
 
 A. My brother, if we must enter on this subject, 
 
 the first thing, (if we would go correctly to work,) is 
 
 to settle the meaning of the word Missionary ; about 
 
 which there is so much ado. I would, therefore, 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [% 
 
 ask you, my brother, — what is the meaning of this 
 word ? 
 
 B. Why, I have always understood the word Mis- 
 sionary to mean a money-hunter, or a person going 
 about the country preaching, or rather pretending to 
 preach the Gospel, when, in reality, he is only hunting 
 money ; and begging people out of their hard earnings, 
 as he says, for religious purposes, when, indeed, it is 
 only to be put into his own pocket; thus cheating the 
 people, and carrying on a great imposition and specu- 
 lation. 
 
 A. If this be the idea you have attached to that 
 word, it is no wonder you have been so opposed to 
 Missionaries. If I understood the word as you do, I 
 should be as strenuous in my opinion as you are, or 
 perhaps more so. But I would further ask, — How do 
 you define the word Apostle. 
 
 B. Why, Apostle, I always thought, meant one of 
 the preachers in the days of Jesus, while he was here 
 on earth, such as Peter and Paul, and others. 
 
 A. Peter and Paul were certainly Apostles, though 
 Paul was not called to preach the Gospel, till some 
 time after our Saviour had, in person, left this world. 
 But permit me to observe, my brother, you have given 
 no definition of the word Apostle, as to its literal or 
 proper signification. 
 
 B. Will you be so kind as to let me hear your defi- 
 nition of Apostle and Missionary too ? for I should be 
 glad to know the proper meaning of them both. 
 
 A. I will with pleasure. And here, before I pro- 
 ceed, suffer me to say, I am truly sorry that you do 
 not know the origin of these words ; that is, you do 
 not know the languages from which they are derived ; 
 for if you did, we should have no difficulty on the sub- 
 ject. And further, if you were acquainted with the 
 proper meaning of these words, and knew from whence 
 they are derived, 8cc. &c, I am persuaded that all those 
 prejudices which now possess your bosom, would be 
 done away. 
 
 The fact is, both these words signify the very same 
 thing. They both come from words, or verbs, which 
 signify to send, or to send forth $ and when used a* 
 135 
 
3] 
 
 A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 names, they signify persons sent, or sent forth. The 
 only difference between the words is that of sound ' 9 
 one following the sound of the Greek — the other the 
 Latin. The word Apostle comes from the Greek verb 
 Apostello. The word Missionary, from the Latin verb 
 Mitto ; but these both signify, in English, to send, or 
 to send forth. Therefore, the word Missionary, in its 
 literal sense, signifies any one sent, or sent forth, on 
 any business or matter whatever ; but when the word 
 Missionary is used in a religious sense, it signifies a 
 minister of the Gospel, or one sent of God, to preach 
 the Gospel : — consequently, every minister of the 
 Gospel, who is indeed sent of God, is a Missionary, 
 whether he knows it or not, or whether he believes it 
 or not ; of course, every word which our opposing 
 brethren say against Missionaries, is just so much said 
 against themselves, if indeed they are sent of God to 
 preach the Gospel! Now, my brother, is it not a pity 
 that people, yea, ministers of the Gospel too, should 
 calumniate, vilify and abuse themselves, and yet not 
 know it!! Oh! my dear brother, well might we 
 adopt the language of the prayer of the dying Jesus 
 in this case, and say, — " Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do." 
 
 B, Well! but brother A. you cannot show me the 
 word Missionary in the New Testament, nor in the 
 word of God ? 
 
 A. I knew that as well as you. But, my brother, re- 
 flect for one moment, and you will certainly find that 
 this mode of argument is too frivolous for any man ot 
 sense. And, more especially, I wish you to remember, 
 that if it proves anything it proves too much. But as 
 I am aware that this is considered a strong argument 
 by you and your party, I shall therefore take some pains 
 in showing you, that it is no argument at all, or, as al- 
 ready said, if it will prove anything, it will prove too 
 much. I ask you, my brother, — Do you find the word 
 4< immersion" in the New Testament? Or do you find 
 the expression, "imputed righteousness of Christ" in 
 the word of God ? You certainly do not. Now re- 
 member that this is the very same argument of which 
 those make use who practise sprinkling ; and also of 
 1^5 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. I 4 
 
 .hose who deny the doctrine of the imputed righteous- 
 ness of Christ. They cry out, " You can't show us im- 
 mersion in the New Testament," nor " the expression 
 imputed righteousness of Christ, in the word of God. " 
 And they think, or seem to think, they have complete- 
 ly stopped the mouths of those who hold to both. Now 
 what are you to do ? You must see that according to 
 your own arguments, and in order to be consistent 
 with yourself, you must drop the practice of immer- 
 sion, and give up the doctrine of imputed righteous- 
 ness. You must further see, that inasmuch as you 
 bring forward the same argument against the Mission- 
 aries, which those other persons bring against the Bap- 
 tists ; therefore, I say, you must see that if your argu- 
 ment is good, so is theirs ; and if theirs is not good, 
 neither is yours. There is no way of getting round 
 or over this. 
 
 B. But then, we have men enough among the Bap- 
 tists who know the Greek language, in which, as I have 
 been told, the New Testament was-originally written 
 and they all say, the word baptize signifies to immerse: 
 and I believe them. Indeed, I have heard you explain 
 the thing to my entire satisfaction. 
 
 &. True, my brother, the Greek word, rendered 
 baptize in our present version, signifies to immerse, 
 dip, plunge, Sec. ; and so the Greek word, rendered 
 Apostle in our version, signifies Missionary, or one 
 sent. The truth is, neither of the words was ever trans- 
 lated into English, properly speaking, but only altered 
 a little in their termination, while the original Greek 
 words were retained. If you do not feel free to believe 
 me, go and ask others who know the original, and are 
 not warped by sectarian prejudice,— go and consult the 
 translation of Doddridge, Macknight, and G. Campbell, 
 and you will find what I say to be correct.' And now, 
 my brother, I hope you will learn, and remember for 
 the future, that to speak lightly of the word Missiona- 
 ry is the same as to speak lightly of the word Apostle. 
 1 do humbly trust that you will never deride, nor yet 
 be frightened at this word any more, or speak hard 
 things of those who bear the name. You said you 
 believed those who were acquainted with the Greek* 
 135 
 
5] A PLAIN DIALOGUE- 
 
 8cc. when they told you thus and so concerning the 
 word baptize — why then will you not believe them, 
 when they tell you the proper meaning of the words 
 Missionary and Apostle ? 
 
 B. But do you not believe there is a speculation 
 going on in this Missionary business ? 
 
 Ji. I candidly do not. Nor do I believe it is in the 
 power of you, or any one of our Anti-Missionary breth- 
 ren, to prove one solitary charge, of the many which 
 are brought forward of this nature. I know there is a 
 mighty outcry about speculation; but is it not strange, 
 passing strange, that those who never gave one cent, 
 nor ever intend to give towards the spread of the Gos- 
 pel, or the glorious Missionary effort that is now mak- 
 ing, as the means in the hands of God to evangelize 
 the world, should be the very persons to find fault 
 about the money expended in this business! And is it 
 not equally strange, that those who know nothing^ 
 all of what is doing, should be able to discover fraud, 
 speculation, &c, while those who know the whole move- 
 ment, and where every cent of the money goes, how 
 expended, Sec, should know nothing of this! And, sure- 
 ly, if any persons ought to complain about the im- 
 proper expenditure of money, it should be those who 
 give their money, and not those who do not give, or ever 
 intend to give! But, my brother, what is still more 
 strange than all the rest, if possible, is, that all those 
 Christians, and especially ministers of the Gospel, not 
 only among Baptists, but also, of other Christian 
 denominations, who have always been the most signal- 
 ized for disinterested Christian benevolence, honesty, 
 zeal, and unwearied exertion and perseverance in the 
 cause of humanity, of religion, of Christ, and of God 
 — and whose moral and religious characters stand 
 fair and unimpeachable — strange! that all the while, 
 these men are nothing but a band of swindlers, pick- 
 pockets, and cheats ! ! ! Be assured, my brother, there is 
 a particular account taken of the time when, the place 
 where, and the manner how this money is expended ; 
 and this you would know, if you knew anything at all 
 about it. Indeed, what suprises me, is, that so much 
 should be done at so small an expense. You can now 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. (V? 
 
 obtain the blessed word of God for a mere trifle, com- 
 pared with the usual price cf paper, printing, binding, 
 Sec. before Bible and other benevolent societies sprang 
 into being. The fact is, the day is coming, when it 
 will be known who loved and hugged up their money, 
 and who did not — when it will be known, who loved 
 their money better than precious immortal souls, and 
 who did not! 
 
 B. I have been looking over the word of God again 
 and again, and I can find no — "Thus saith the Lord," 
 —no authority, either in precept or example, for all 
 this Missionary business. 
 
 Ji. This appears very strange, indeed. If I mistake 
 not, the Missionary business, as you call it, is to do all 
 the good we can, as instruments in the hands of God, 
 in administering to the spiritual wants of our fellow- 
 creatures — in preaching a crucified Saviour to a dying 
 world. The Gospel is glad tidings of great joy, peace 
 on earth, and good will towards all men — The Mission- 
 ary spirit is to declare these glad tidings to all men. — 
 The Missionary business is to visit every city, hamlet, 
 and cottage — yea, every part of the whole world, and 
 every spot where human beings live, and tell them of a 
 Saviour — tell them Jesus died to save lost sinners. 
 The ascending Jesus says, "Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature !" Surely this 
 is precept — is it not ? Well, the Missionary spirit is to 
 carry this command — this positive, great, and heart- 
 cheering command into effect. The Saviour says, 
 M Ye are the salt of the earth." Now, my brother, I 
 pray you to reflect upon the import of this solemn pas- 
 sage of Scripture. What is salt ? and what its use ? Is 
 \t not to save from putrefaction and loss, those bodies 
 and substances which are predisposed to putrefaction, 
 and which would putrefy and rot, and consequently be 
 lost, were it not for the application, yea, the speedy ap- 
 plication of this salt ? Again, salt is not only to sa\e 
 from putridity, but to render sweet and palatable to the 
 taste, and proper for the master's use. Now, if Chris- 
 tians are to the world, not apart of the world, but the 
 whole of it, what salt is to a piece of flesh and other 
 substances subject to putrefy, O ! then, what a loud and 
 125 
 
f] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 irresistible call for speedy, powerful, and unwearied 
 exertion! Here is a great body, a mighty mass, even 
 eight hundred millions of human beings, carrying with- 
 in them by nature the properties of putridity and the 
 seeds of death ! Six hundred millions of these precious 
 immortal souls are not even nominally Christians, and 
 have not so much as heard of Jesus! Now, my brother, 
 the missionary spirit is to apply this little remaining 
 salt, as far as possible, to the whole of this vast body of 
 putridity and death. It is to go and tell those perish- 
 ing millions that there is a Saviour. Thirty years is the 
 length of time allowed for a generation to pass away. 
 Then, my brother, I ask — Where, O! where is the 
 Christian heart that can reflect unmoved, that in thirty 
 years, six hundred millions of human beings must die, 
 without having heard of Jesus — must stumble over the 
 high mountains of darkness, and be lost for ever ! Surely 
 no Christian can know this, without feeling a strong 
 desire to extend the helping hand, and exert himself, 
 as God's instrument, in sending the Gospel, which is 
 the power of God unto salvation to all that believe, to 
 these perishing sons and daughters of Adam. 
 
 Again, our Saviour says, " Ye are the light of the 
 world" — not a part of the world. The missionary 
 spirit is to let this light shine into every part of the 
 whole world, driving away moral darkness, and im- 
 parting moral light. " Go," says our blessed master, 
 *' and teach all nations," Sec. The missionary spirit is 
 to obey. God, by the mouth of Paul, says, "How 
 shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard, " 
 8cc. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
 word of God ;" therefore, the missionary spirit says, 
 they shall hear — they shall have the word of God. — 
 Hence it is that you see Bible Societies established, 
 and Missionaries going forth. 
 
 It would be in vain, my dear brother, to attempt to 
 point out the many positive Gospel precepts which call 
 upon every Christian for the most unwearied exertions 
 of a missionary nature ; we shall, therefore, take a 
 glance at the examples. 
 
 We find after our Saviour had commanded his Apos- 
 tles to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
 \3S 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. £& 
 
 every creature, it is said, in the 20th verse, "And they 
 went forth and preached every where," &c. This is 
 precisely what the missionary spirit aims at, in this 
 day and time. It is said, in the same verse, that the 
 Lord worked with, them. So he does at present ; he 
 works with his missionary servants, as the instruments 
 in his hands. If this is not example, then, my brother, 
 I am at an utter loss to know what you mean by ex- 
 ample. 
 
 If you wish any further example, take the whole 
 Apostolic dispensation; see how laborious, persevering, 
 and indefatigable were all the Apostles, in visiting 
 every nation, and kindred, and tribe of people ; but 
 especially Paul, the great Apostle or Missionary to 
 the Gentile or Heathen world. And if you will turn 
 your attention to the 4th chapter of Phil. 15 and 16 
 verses, you will find proof that the brethren supported 
 Paul while thus engaged in preaching to the heathen, 
 just as the missionary brethren do in this day and time. 
 See also 2 Cor. xi. 7, 8, 9, and xii. 13, Sec. Sec. 
 
 I would therefore say, that the Gospel breathes the 
 very spirit of benevolence and religious missionary 
 effort, and that the missionary spirit is the very spirit 
 of the Gospel. Yea, I would say, the missionary 
 effort now making, is the very hand of the Gospel, 
 (so to speak) which the Lord of hosts is putting for- 
 ward, by which to evangelize the world, and gather 
 in the fields, which are already white to the harvest. — 
 And that nearly the whole of the New Testament, 
 both in precept and example, is a il Thus saith 
 the Lord," for the missionary exertions that are now 
 making. 
 
 B, But if God wishes the heathen to be converted, 
 can he not convert them without your help, and all this 
 ado ? 
 
 A. True, God is able to carry his purposes into 
 effect, without the agency of man at all, if he sees 
 proper. But, you must remember, this observation is 
 just as true about all things else, whether at home or 
 abroad, whether temporal or spiritual, as it is about 
 the conversion of the heathen. It' God wishes it done 
 he can do it. Why then, my brother, do you give 
 135 
 
*^ A PLAIN MIU.OGTTF.. 
 
 yourself ail this trouble about your crop, when the 
 truth is, if God wills you to have a plentiful crop, he 
 can give it to you without your labor and all this ado ? 
 Or why trouble yourself about any blessing whatever, 
 for if God wills you to have it, he can give it to you 
 without your agency ? God is able to fill your barns 
 with grain and your coffers with gold, without your 
 labor; so give yourself no trouble ; throw by all your 
 implements of husbandry, and lie down and fold your 
 hands, and say," A little more sleep," Sec. Again — If 
 God wills the people to be converted in our own county, 
 he can convert them, or in our own state, or country, or 
 family — our wives, or sons, or daughters, or servants. 
 If God wills any, or all these to be converted, he can do 
 it without our work ; so, then, away with all preaching, 
 and praying, and exhorting, and reading — send home 
 your ministers and burn your meeting-houses, for the 
 truth is, God can convert the people, and save their 
 souls without all these. Ahi my brother, you must 
 see that your principle is rotten, and when reduced to 
 practice, it will net do. 
 
 The truth is, this principle goes not only to paralyze, 
 but completely to destroy all human agency whatever, 
 relative to all things, both in the physical and moral 
 world. Again, what God can do, is no part of our bu- 
 siness; our duty and business is to obey. Suppose 
 there is a kind master with a great many servants ; and 
 he tells one of them to go to a distant part of his plan- 
 tation, and give food to some persons there, who are 
 likely to perish ; but this servant, instead of obeying, 
 says to his master, "Sir, if you wish those persons 
 to be fed, you are able to feed them without my help ; 
 I shall not go one step." What would you think of 
 such a servant ? Would you not say he was an inso- 
 lent and disobedient servant ? But what is still worse, 
 suppose that this disobedient servant not only refuses 
 to obey his master's orders himself, but does all in his 
 power to hinder others from obeying, and continually 
 whispers in their ears, your master is able to feed those 
 people, if he wishes to have them fed, without your help ; 
 and when he finds they are determined to obey their 
 master, and do their duty, he actually insults and 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN' DIALOGUE. [JO 
 
 abuses them for this act of obedience, and declares 
 ne will no longer keep company with them, or any 
 one else that will obey their master, in affording relief 
 to those persons who are starving for bread. What do 
 you say of this servant now ? O ! you will say, his con- 
 duct is exceedingly improper. Very well, I leave you to 
 make the application. There is one idea more embraced 
 in this principle of yours, which I desire you to notice; 
 and that is, it goes to impeach God with folly, for hav- 
 ing called into requisition, or pressed into his service 
 the weak agency of man, (which he has done from his 
 first formation to the present time,) when, according to 
 this principle of yours, there was no necessity for it, or 
 propriety in so doing! Brother B., reflect and tremble. 
 
 B. What! Do you say God has called into requisi- 
 tion the agency of man from his first existence? 
 
 Ji. Certainly. When G^d created man, he put him 
 into the garden to dress it. And surely if God willed 
 the garden to be dressed, he was able to dress it, 
 without the help of Adam. And I have sometimes 
 thought this was to show that man was to be the dress- 
 er of God's spiritual garden, so long as he had a church 
 upon earth. But let us return to the subject. 
 
 B. Yes, I wish to return ; for you really have made 
 my argument about God's ability look bad enough. 
 But I still feel that the conversion of the soul is God's 
 work; and we ought to be careful, lest we be found 
 taking his works into our hands. — Remember Uzzah. 
 
 A. True, my brother, the conversion of the soul is 
 God's work, and his only ; and a man can no more con- 
 vert his own soul, or that of another, independent of 
 God, than he can create a world. But it is equally 
 true, that he can no more make one grain of corn, or 
 seed of cotton, independent of God, than he can con- 
 vert a soul, or create a world. — Nay, my brother, all 
 the men in the universe combined, can no more make 
 one blade of corn grow, independent of God and his 
 blessing, than they can pull down the strong pillars of 
 heaven. Is it not in God that we live, move, and have 
 our being r But, because it is God's work, and by his 
 blessing that our corn grows, and of his unmerited 
 goodness that we have bread to eat, shall we cease to 
 135 
 
tl] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 use our agency ; or cease to make use of the meane 
 which God has put into our power ? And so in a spi- 
 ritual sense, because God giveth the increase, shall 
 Paul cease to plant, or Apollos to water ? Surely not. 
 Again — You appear to be so fearful of doing God's 
 work — I would ask you, whose work do you wish to 
 do ? Is it your own ? If so, it will be the work of the 
 flesh and sin. Or is it the devil's work you wish to do ? 
 If so, it will be the work of darkness and mischief. 
 
 And is it not as much the work of God to convert 
 souls in your neighborhood as in India ? Then to be 
 consistent, you ought to cease to preach, or exhort, or 
 pray, or weep over, or plead with poor sinners ; lest you 
 might be the instrument of their conversion, and thus 
 become guilty of doing God's work. We are com- 
 manded in the word of God, in almost innumerable 
 instances, to this effect — To WORK while it is day, 
 &c. To LABOR for the meat that perisheth not, 
 &c. And in one place we are expressly called, La- 
 borers together with God (I Cor. iii. 9.) And again, 
 it is said, we are workers together with him, Sec. (See 
 2 Cor. vi. ).) 
 
 You wish me to remember Uzzah ; and so I would 
 say to you — remember Meroz, with all the inhabitants 
 thereof, who were to be cursed bitterly, for not doing 
 the very thing you are so fearful of doing, viz. 
 HELriNG the Lord. — (See Judges v. 23.) And as 
 to Uzzah, whose case frightens you so very much, 
 I do not think it a parrallel case, or case in point ; for 
 he had no command to touch the ark of the Lord, but 
 the Missionary has a positive command, to go into aH 
 the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
 
 B. Well, but did not Uzzah think he was right f 
 
 A. It is very possible he did ; and what then ? I 
 hope you do not think that I, or any other person, who 
 is favorable to missionary efforts, will say that Chris- 
 tians ought to be governed in their conduct, merely by 
 their own ideas of right and wrong, independent of the 
 word of God ? On the contrary, we contend, that we 
 must be governed by the word of God j and that we do 
 stand, yea, firmly stand on Scripture ground in all our 
 missionary exertions. And, moreover, that we fall 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. (_12 
 
 very far short, after our most vigorous efforts, of do- 
 ing anything like as much as the Scriptures require 
 us to do, as God's instruments, towards the salvation 
 of the world. Christ himself plainly teaches us, (see 
 Luke xvii. 10) that we are bound to do all things that 
 are commanded us, and then say, we are unprofita- 
 ble servants. And who, I would ask, can say he has 
 done all that was commanded him, or all that God has 
 put it in his power to do ? Not one. 
 
 B. You said just now, that the Missionary had a 
 command to go into the world and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature ; to this I have no particular objection. 
 But what are all those about, who are not preachers ? 
 that say they also are engaged in the missionary cause ? 
 
 A. Most certainly. There are two ways in which 
 things may be done, viz. — actually and virtually. For 
 instance, there is a house to be built ; I am no mechan- 
 ic, nor do I strike a stroke on the house ; yet, by the 
 blessing of God, I am enabled to find all the materials, 
 bear all the expenses, and support all the mechanics 
 while at work ; hence it will be said of me, and justly 
 too, that I built the house — not actually, but virtually. 
 And so it is, my dear brother, by preaching the Gos- 
 pel. Though I may be no preacher, actually ; yea, 1 
 might be a delicate female, and even confined to a sick 
 bed, yet by affording, by the blessing of God, a part of 
 all those different secondary means which are necessa- 
 ry in carrying the Gospel to different and distant parts 
 of the world, I thus become the weak, though much 
 honored and happy instrument, in the hands of Al- 
 mighty God, of preaching (that is, virtually) the glo- 
 rious Gospel to perishing thousands in those destitute 
 parts of the world, thousands of miles from me, where 
 I never have been, nor expect ever to be. O, my broth- 
 er, what Christian should not exult in, and praise 
 the Lord for such a privilege ? 
 
 B. But have we not enough unconverted people at 
 home, to whom we may preach ? Why then go so far 
 abroad ? 
 
 A. True, there are unconverted sinners at home ; 
 but do we not also preach to them ? And as I kno 
 this is a very popular argument with you anti- 
 135 
 
13] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 sionary brethren, do suffer me to ask — Who are mak- 
 ing the most vigorous exertions for those at home ? 
 Who ride and preach the most ? Who distribute the 
 most Bibles, Testaments, Tracts, and other good books 
 amongst those at home ? And I might add, whose la- 
 bors appear to be the more abundantly blessed of God ? 
 Who, by the help of God, are the foremost in all those 
 things at home? If you will let experience, observation, 
 and matters of fact answer, you must, you will say, 
 they are those who are also engaged in supporting the 
 gospel abroad. But again, according to your princi- 
 ples, how can you expect any minister to go and preach 
 to other churches and congregations, while there are 
 unconverted persons in his own neighborhood or con- 
 gregation ? Or how can you wish or expect him to go 
 and preach to others, while there is an unconverted per- 
 son in his own family ? You must see this argument 
 will not do. 
 
 B. Does not charity begin at home ? Why then do 
 you take the money — the hard earnings of the poor 
 negro, to expend in sending the gospel abroad, while 
 these unfortunate people are measurably neglected here 
 amongst us ? 
 
 Ji. The missionary brethren certainly pity this un- 
 fortunate class of people as much, and do as much to 
 benefit them as the anti-missionary brethren do, if not 
 more. But the truth is, hundreds and thousands of 
 these people do receive and enjoy all the benefits of a 
 preached gospel — thousands of them are rejoicing in 
 an humble assurance of the pardon of their sins, for 
 Christ's sake. But, my brother, to convince you that 
 the missionary man pities these people as much as the 
 anti-missionary man, and that this argument of yours 
 is amere make-shift, a mere M get off," suffer me to ask 
 you, Do not the anti-missionary brethren have negro 
 slaves ? What are they doing, with all the money and 
 hard earnings of their poor negroes ? Are they giving 
 it all back to them ? Do they educate them any better? 
 Do they preach to them any more ? Do they give them 
 better opportunities in any way ? Again, my brother, 
 W^hat is the reason you never say one word about poor 
 negroes' hard earnings, when you see hundreds of 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE [14 
 
 persons laying out large sums of money, in purchas- 
 ing a thousand superfluities, and even sinful amuse- 
 ments and gratifications of life ? Yea, a man may lay 
 out just what he pleases — he may spend his hundreds 
 and thousands a year, in sinful and wicked amuse- 
 ments — he may buy barrels of whiskey and hogsheads 
 of rum, to his own hurt and the great annoyance and 
 injury of both civil and religious society : yet you are 
 perfectly silent ! But, let a missionary brother spend 
 anything with a view to the furtherance of the gospel, 
 or of religious knowledge in any way, and that moment 
 the hue and cry is raised about charity at home, poor 
 negroes' hard earnings, Sec. &x. Oh! my brother, how 
 is this? Does it not look like a settled opposition to 
 the spread of the gospel, and the diffusion of religious 
 knowledge ? Is not the poor negro as much benefited 
 by his hard earnings^ yea more, when it is used in the 
 advancement of religious knowledge, than when laid 
 out in whiskey, to be gulped down his master's throat, 
 or other unnecessary articles, of which the poor negro is 
 allowed no part. 
 
 B. But is not this missionary business attended with 
 a great deal of expense, in proportion to the profit ? 
 
 A. And has it come to this? What! a Christian 
 talk of expense, when the precious, immortal souls of 
 men and women are at stake! Now, my brother, if it 
 had not been that I heard a brother, at an Association 
 once, make this same objection, I could not have 
 believed that any Christian on earth, would ever 
 complain of expense in such a case as this! The 
 brother to whom I allude, observed, "It is very possi- 
 ble that those missionary exertions may have been 
 and may yet be instrumental in the conversion of some 
 few souls ; but then," added he, " what is that compar- 
 ed with so much expense r" (or words to that effect.) 
 Another brother, who advocated the missionary cause, 
 replied, " Well, brother, I suppose you understand 
 something of figures ; will you be so kind as to take your 
 pen, and calculate the value of one soul, and let us see 
 what it is, and whether it is not as much as all 
 that has yet been expended ?" This reply appeared to 
 strike the other brother dumb So my brother, I would 
 135 
 
15] A PLAIN' DIALOGUE. 
 
 say to you. But you certainly do know, (our blessed Sa- 
 viour being judge) that one soul is worth more than the 
 whole world ; for * What is a man's profit, if he shall 
 gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Conse- 
 quently, you must see from this, that if the whole world 
 should be expended in missionary labors, and be instru- 
 mental in the salvation of but one soul, still it would be 
 a world profitably and well spent. 
 
 Brother! brother! Read the 12th chap, of John, 3, 
 4, 5, and 6 verses, and tremble, when you so much as 
 think of expense in such a case as this! Judas cried out 
 much as you anti-missionary brethren are now doing 
 about expense, money, Sec. when the anointing of the 
 blessed Redeemer's feet cost something. And remem- 
 ber, Judas' excuse was the great regard he pretended 
 to have for the poor: but, O! mark well, this was not 
 the fact ; but a covetous disposition was at the bottom 
 of his out-cry about expense! I wish you also to re- 
 member, that this expense of which you anti-mission- 
 ary brethren complain, is on account of Christ's mysti- 
 cal body ; for his church, wherever gathered from, is 
 his body, mystically. And I have thought before now, 
 that Jesus Christ suffered this circumstance to take 
 place, on purpose to teach us a great lesson, viz : That 
 if he approved of the expense bestowed, even on his 
 own feet, how much more would he approve of that ex- 
 pense bestowed on his body, in the person of his 
 saints. Moreover, I do not believe any man will ever 
 impoverish himself by giving to the Lord, for the Lord 
 loveth a cheerful giver ; and he certainly will bless 
 those whom he loveth, as far as shall be for their 
 good and his glory. Again, I believe many people think 
 whatever they withhold from the Lord, or from re- 
 ligious purposes, is just so much clear gain, as to their 
 worldly possessions ; and, also, that whatever they may 
 give, is just so much clear loss ; but surely such per- 
 sons have forgotten that " The Lord giveth, and the 
 Lord taketh away." And, also, as the Lord hath said 
 by the mouth of Solomon, ''There is that scattereth, 
 and yet increaseth,and there is that withholdeth more 
 than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal 
 soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [16 
 
 be watered also himself:" (Prov. xi. 24, 25:) and 
 "That it is more blessed to give than to receive." — 
 (Acts xx. 35.) Hence, you need not be surprised, 
 my brother, as some appear to be, that the missionary 
 brethren prosper, even in their worldly concerns. Not 
 that I would wish any one to give from a hope of gain — 
 God forbid ; but to show that we need not be afraid of 
 reducing ourselves to beggary, as appears to be the 
 case with many. 
 
 B. Well, you do appear to tear up my objections or* 
 every side ; but there is one thing I think you cannot 
 deny, and that is, this missionary business has created a 
 world of trouble and disturbance among brethren. 
 
 «#. Indeed, brother B. , I think this among the great- 
 est mistakes you have made yet. 
 
 B. What! Do you deny this ? And what, pray, has 
 made all the disturbance, if it has not been this mission- 
 ary business ? 
 
 A. The opposition, my brother, is and has been the 
 cause of all the disturbance! But as this is by far your 
 most popular objection, and the hobby on which you 
 all ride, I wish to take a little pains in removing it. — 
 The spirit of freedom and independence, which seized 
 upon the minds of the American people in '76, might 
 just as well have been blamed as the cause of all the 
 fighting and bloodshed which took place during the 
 revolutionary war ; and no doubt, all who were opposed 
 to the cause of freedom, did blame it as the cause of 
 all the troubles that took place. And, in a certain sense, 
 it might be so said ; but surely the guilty cause wai, 
 the opposition, or the spirit of tyranny exercised to- 
 wards us. Again, it might have been said by the Jews, 
 that the coming of our blessed Redeemer into this 
 world, was the cause of all the innocent children, of 
 two years old and under, being put to death ; and, in a 
 certain sense, this appears to be a fact ; but surely the 
 guilty cause was the jealous, wicked-hearted Herod.— 
 And so with the Christian religion ; it has been blamed 
 by itsopposers, at different times, as the cause of blood- 
 shed, cruelty, and persecution. And, in the first Chris- 
 tian era, the religion of Jesus was blamed as the cause 
 of disturbance. Hence we hear some crying out, 
 135 
 
173 A PLA1N DIALOGUE. 
 
 '♦These men that turn the world upside down, have 
 come hither also." But surely the real guilty cause 
 was the opposition to, and the want of, more of this 
 blessed religion. And so with a thousand other in- 
 stances which might be brought forward; but let this 
 suffice. Therefore, I say, it is not the missionary spirit 
 and exertions which have, properly speaking, given 
 rise to these disturbances, but the opposition has been, 
 and now is, the real cause. 
 
 B, But we are fearful you missionary brethren will 
 lay a tax on us after a while, and make us pay into 
 your funds, whether we will or not. 
 
 A. Indeed! And this betrays your ignorance, my 
 brother, to the most fearful extent. Suppose we 
 wished to do so, how could we do it ? Is not the civil 
 authority the supreme authority of the land ? Accord- 
 ing to the Constitution of the United States, as well 
 as of each state in the Union, there is no power or 
 authority but what is subordinate to the civil ; and 
 this civil authority expressly secures liberty of con- 
 science in matters of religion to every individual citi- 
 zen. How then could any ecclesiastical court or 
 religious body levy and collect a tax, contrary to the 
 constitutional authority of the Federal Government ? 
 
 But the fact is, we are so far from wishing to do 
 any such thing, that if we knew any person to give 
 grudgingly, if it were but one cent, we would not re- 
 ceive it ; for we still maintain, " That God loveth a 
 cheerful giver." And the counterpart of this must 
 be, that he frowneth upon the penurious churl that 
 will not give at all, or giveth grudgingly. 
 
 B. But again — I have always been told that you 
 missionary brethren wish to make ministers, whether 
 God has called them or not. 
 
 A. This is just like a great many other things you 
 have been told ; it is without foundation. To convince 
 you of this, I refer you to the Minutes of Baptist Con- 
 ventions and other bodies friendly to the education of 
 ministers. In them you will find Resolutions on this 
 subject which, I hop**, will satisfy you, and for ever 
 silence this false report which has been propagated 
 against us. One of those Resolutions, adopted by 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. (^ 1 B 
 
 a body in our own state, reads thus, u Every person 
 proposed to participate in this benefit, (meaning the 
 education fund) shall produce a regular license 
 from the church of which he is a member, to preach 
 the gospel in her bounds, accompanied by a cer- 
 tificate of his good acceptance among his brethren, 
 and of his good report in the community at large." 
 Second, " He shall undergo an examination by, and 
 receive the approbation of, the executive committee 
 of this body, as to his call of God to the gospel 
 ministry," See. 
 
 Hence, you see, it is not designed to make minis- 
 rers, as has been falsely reported, but merely to afford 
 the means of further improvement to those whom 
 God has called, and whom their own churches 
 have licensed to preach. And so far from opening 
 a door for a carnal ministry, as some have said, 
 they place a double guard against it. 
 
 B. Can you show any Scripture authority for a 
 man's studying after he is called of God to preach ? 
 
 JL. Yes — and I should think this is the very reason 
 why he should study. Paul exhorts Timothy and 
 Titus, again and a^ain, to attend to this business. He 
 exhorts Timothy thus, "Study to show thyself ap- 
 proved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The 
 fact is, my brother, these two Epistles, being written 
 to young ministers, are mostly taken up in exhorta- 
 tions to them, to attend to their theological studies. 
 But our great authority in this matter, is the example 
 given us by Jesus Christ himself. After he had 
 chosen and ordained his twelve apostles, and set them 
 apart to the gospel ministry, he still kept them with 
 him about three years, except when they were out on 
 short preaching tours, during the whole of which time, 
 he continually taught and instructed them in the best 
 theological school that ever was on earth. (See 
 Mark iii. 13,14,15.) " And he goeth up into a moun- 
 tain, and calleth unto him whom he would : and they 
 came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they 
 should be with him, and that he might send them 
 forth to preach, and to have power to heal sickness 
 135 
 
19] A PLAIN DIALOGUE 
 
 and 10 cast out devils." Here, my brother, you see 
 there was a calling, and an ordaining to the work of 
 the ministry, but yet they did not go fully into the 
 work, but remained with their teacher ; and why? 
 Because, though they were ordained ministers, yet they 
 were very ignorant of a great many things they ought 
 to have known, and afterwards did know. Now, my 
 brother, I think this ought to satisfy you, or any one 
 else, on this subject. And this is precisely the man- 
 ner of procedure in our theological institutions, against 
 which so much is said. None are taken into them 
 but those whom we believe to be called of God, and 
 who are actually licensed to preach the gospel, by the 
 churches of which they are members. And it is a rule, 
 that those theological students shall preach as much 
 and as often as possible during their studies. It is a 
 most strange and erroneous idea, that because a man 
 is called to preach the gospel, he then needs no 
 further instruction or information. Now, my brother, 
 you know better than this ; but to convince you still 
 further, if possible, let me turn your attention to one 
 more striking instance of the necessity of further in- 
 formation, after being called to, and engaged in, the 
 work of the gospel ministry. Apollos "was an elo- 
 quent man, and mighty in the Scriptures ;" yet when 
 Aquila and Priscilla had heard him preach, "They 
 took him unto them, and expounded unto him the 
 way of God more perfectly." (See Acts xviii. 24, 
 26.) Let this suffice, though I could multiply Scrip- 
 ture authority in proof of the point. 
 
 B. But will not this learning and theological study- 
 ing, bring upon us a carnal and ungodly ministry ? 
 
 A. O, my brother, why will you talk in this strange 
 manner, or entertain these groundless fears. Paul did 
 not think with you ; but, on the contrary, he tells us, 
 that a minister must not be " a novice, lest being lifted 
 up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the 
 devil." Hence, you see, that Paul greatly feared 
 the dreadful effects of an ignorant and uninformed 
 ministry. And justly, too, for pride and ignorance 
 go hand in hand, and are as inseparable as cause 
 and effect ; indeed, one is the effect, and the other the 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [20 
 
 cause. Ignorance always begets pride, and this 
 brings on a dreadful train of evil consequences. Re- 
 member this, my brother, if you please. — There is 
 one thing in which learning and religion agree,, and 
 that is, the more a man has, the more he wants ; and 
 again, the less he has, the less he wants. Go to the 
 man who makes no pretensions to religion at all, and 
 who is just as wicked as he can be — talk to him about 
 religion. O, he is just as good as you, or any body 
 else ; and has just as much religion as he wants. 
 And just so it is with the illiterate man ; he has just 
 as much learning as he wants, and is as wise as any 
 body. Now, in both these cases, those unfortunate 
 and self-conceited men have not enough knowledge to 
 see their deficiency. They both cry out — what good 
 does it do ? But go to men of learning or of piety,— 
 talk to them about literature or religion, and they are 
 both ready to acknowledge their deficiency, and tell 
 you they want more. Why and how is this ? Because 
 they have enough to know something of their utility, 
 and also to see how much they lack. I know, and so 
 do you, of some brethren who do not know how to 
 read the blessed word of God, and yet they will get 
 up in the church and rail out against learning in the 
 most bitter terms ! Oh ! brother, let us pray for such — 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do." They know not that they are aiming a death- 
 blow, so far as their influence goes, at the very root and 
 foundation of all our liberties, both civil and religious? 
 Only do away all learning and learned men, and what 
 should we be, more than an untutored tribe of In- 
 dians ? What would become of the word of God, or 
 of what use would it be ? What would become of our 
 civil government and liberties ? Where would be our 
 legislators ? — Our statesmen ? — Our congressmen ? — 
 Our ministers to foreign courts, &c. Sec. ? Gone, all 
 gone! And then farewell, a long and an eternal fare- 
 well, to our present liberties and glorious form of 
 government ? But, worst of all — Farewell, farewell — 
 a long and last farewell to the word of God, the 
 blessed book of eternal life! Do away learning and 
 learned men, and you introduce ignorance, and igno- 
 135 
 
51] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 ranee would introduce its train of evils, which would 
 overturn all civil and religious society. If it had not 
 been for learned men, who could have gathered the 
 word of God from the different languages in which 
 it was written, and put it into our language ? And if 
 it were not for learned men now, how could we tell 
 whether these scriptures are correctly translated from 
 the Hebrew and Greek, into English, or not ? Or how 
 could we tell how many and how great errors may have 
 already crept into our translation, if we could not run 
 back to the original, and there examine for ourselves ? 
 And who would there be to translate the word of life 
 into the various languages of the different tribes and 
 nations on earth, who, as yet, have not this book 
 in their own languages ? This must be done. And 
 glory to God, it is rapidly doing. God is now, 
 by and through the instrumentality of learned men, 
 giving his blessed word to various tribes and nations, 
 who, a little while back, did not so much as know 
 there was such a book! But now, they can read it in 
 their own language — they do read it, and praise God 
 for the gift. 
 
 The owl grumbled at the rising sun, because the 
 weaker powers of his eyes were thereby eclipsed ; and 
 is it possible that men, who know but little more about 
 learning and its benefits, than the owl did about the 
 benefits of the sun, will complain of those bright rays 
 of the Sun of Righteousness, which God is causing to 
 shine forth, through the instrumentality of learning 
 and learned men, merely because their humbler attaiiv- 
 ments are thereby eclipsed ? I would fain hope better 
 things. Once more : Did you ever know a religious 
 man rail out against, and vilify religion and religious 
 men ? O, no. Why ? Because he knew the value and 
 utility of both, too well. And just so it is with learning 
 and learned men. Those only who know nothing about 
 the value of either, rail out against both. What 
 right has a blind man, to set himself up as a judge of 
 colors r None. And what right has a man, who has 
 never had the advantage of an education, to set him- 
 self up as a judge of the utility of learning or learned 
 men ? Again — Suppose there is a man who cannot 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [j22 
 
 walk — he either has no feet, or is deprived of the use of 
 them. What would be your surprise, to hear this man, 
 instead of using those means whereby he might be 
 brought to walk, or praising God that there were 
 others who could walk, and thereby help him, — I say, 
 what would be your surprise, if, instead of this, you 
 should hear him continually crying out against walking, 
 and finding fault with those who can walk ? and that 
 too, when this man must know, that those persons who 
 can walk, are the instruments, in the hands of God, of 
 communicating to his necessities, and that whenever 
 he wants anything done, he is obliged to call upon those 
 who can walk. You are ready to say, this would 
 be the strangest man, and the strangest conduct you 
 ever knew. Very well, I leave you to make the appli- 
 cation. 
 
 Observe! Those who are opposed to learning, in- 
 formation, and mental improvement, though I do not 
 suppose they know it, are in fact opposed to, and fight- 
 ing against the best interests of their country, and strik- 
 ing, as before said, at the root of all our liberties, both 
 civil and religious. Because, you will take notice, oui 
 form of government is republican, or democratical, and 
 surely you know that in all republics, or democracies, 
 the strength is in the people ; hence you must see, that 
 the strength of the government mustbe in precise pro- 
 portion to the strength of the people, and this strength 
 will be in precise proportion to the degree of informa- 
 tion or mental endowment possessed by every individual 
 citizen in the government. — In a word, in our form 
 of government, the people govern. How necessary then, 
 that each man who has a right to a vote, be possessed 
 of that information and mental acquirement which 
 would be necessary in a state legislator, a congress- 
 man, a governor, a president; for in reality, the people 
 are the legislators, the congressmen, and the president; 
 only it is in the person of those whom they have chosen. 
 For all civil officers, from the constable to the presi- 
 dent, are only the creatures of the people. I hope, 
 my brother, you will take this subject into serious con- 
 sideration. I feel much concerned in this business. 
 The Baptists have always been considered the greate&t 
 135 
 
23] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 friends to their country, and to republicanism.- — This 
 is the spirit of their form of church government, and 
 this they adopted because they conceived it to be the 
 spirit breathed forth by the word of God. Oh! let it 
 not be said, that Baptists have become the enemies ot 
 their country, by trying to stifle learning and mental 
 improvement, which are two of the strong pillars on 
 which republicanism stands. 
 
 B. But if God wants a learned man, can he not call 
 him ? 
 
 A. True, my brother, and if God chooses, he can 
 make one acre of your land, (and that without your 
 clearing it, planting or ploughing it,) yield one or ten 
 thousand bushels of corn. What is the reason, my 
 brother, that you are always advocating those measures 
 which require nothing on your part but laziness? 
 
 B. Have not some unlearned ministers been great- 
 ly blessed in their ministerial labors, and very useful 
 men ? 
 
 A. Yes, and we thank God for it. But these men 
 were possessed of clear heads, strong minds, and 
 sound hearts. They were not opposed to education, 
 but encouraged it in others, and lamented the want of 
 it in themselves. But, I ask, does the fact of those 
 men being useful, prove anything against the utility 
 of education ? Surely not. It only proves they would 
 have been more useful with the advantage of an edu- 
 cation! 
 
 B. Well, but are not some ministers who have 
 not had the advantage of an education, as great 
 preachers and useful men, and even more so, than 
 some who have had this advantage. 
 
 A. I am perfectly free to acknowledge all this. But 
 I still maintain my position, and contend that this, all 
 this, does not go to prove anything against the utility 
 of education in others, nor does it prove that those very 
 men would not have been greater preachers and more 
 useful men with the advantage of an education. Sup- 
 pose you have one of your hands tied behind your back, 
 and I have the free use of both of mine, but still, not- 
 withstanding this great disadvantage on your part, 
 you are able to lift a greater weight and do more 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. \j24 
 
 work with your one hand, than I can with both of mine — 
 I a&kj does this prove that two hands are not better than 
 one? Or does it prove that you could not do still 
 better, if you had the use of the other hand ? Or does 
 it prove that I could do just as well with one hand as 
 both ? Surely it proves nothing of all this. I leave 
 you to make the application. 
 
 B. Well, my brother, you cut me off at such a rate 
 in all my arguments, that I would give up and call for 
 quarters, if it was not for one thing, and that is, as you 
 must surely agree, that the disciples of our Saviour 
 were ignorant and unlearned men ? 
 
 A. I know this is a generally received opinion, even 
 by many who are in favor of a well informed minis- 
 try ; but I can by no means subscribe to the idea. And 
 I think a few minutes' reflection will convince you, and 
 them too, that you are all under a very great mistake. 
 We have ample proof at hand that those men were 
 neither ignerant nor unlearned, according to the ideas 
 associated with these words ; or according to their 
 modern signification. Remember, it was Peter and 
 John who were called ignorant and unlearned ; (see 
 Acts iv. 13 ',) now we have the writings of both those 
 men in Greek. Compare their writings with those 
 of the best Greek scholars and classic authors, such 
 as Xenophon, Homer, and others, and you will find 
 their style, language, Sec. are pure and correct. This, 
 then, ought to settle the point. Because, if you can 
 write as correctly, in all respects, as an acknowledg- 
 edly good scholar, this surely ought to prove, to the 
 satisfaction of all, your good scholarship. But do 
 observe, my brother, Peter and John labored under a 
 vast disadvantage, viz : They were not Grecians, nop 
 was the Greek their mother language ; hence, we see, 
 they were capable of writing, and that correctly too, 
 in a language that was not their own. Surely this is 
 more than sufficient to prove my point. Your mother 
 language is English, but suppose you can take your 
 pen and throw together the most excellent ideas in 
 the Greek language, in a style as pure, as chaste, and 
 as grammatical as the very best Greek scholar, do 
 you think you ought to be called ignorant and un» 
 135 
 
25] A TLAIN DIALOGUE 
 
 learned? Surely not. Well, such was the case with 
 Peter and John, and all the others so far as is known 
 to us. Matthew was called from the receipt of cus- 
 tom ; this office he was unfit for, unless he was a good 
 scholar, and capable of writing and transacting busi- 
 ness in various languages, as must be evident to you 
 ar»d any one else. But again — The disciples were 
 three years in the best theological school and under 
 the best teacher that ever was on earth, previous to 
 their going fully into the work of the ministry. And, 
 in addition to all this, God, by a miracle, enabled 
 them, on the day of Pentecost, to preach the gospel in 
 thirteen different languages. (See Acts ii. 7 — 13.) 
 Now I wish to be clearly understood ; I do no-t deny 
 but that these men might have been styled ignorant 
 and unlearned in a comparative sense, that is, when 
 compared with Paul, Gamaliel, Sec, but they were 
 by no means ignorant and unlearned according to the 
 ideas we attach to, or associate with those terms. 
 
 B. But is it not said, God hath chosen the weak 
 things of this world to confound the things which are 
 mighty ? 
 
 A. Yes ; but if you will examine this chapter, you 
 will find that Paul includes himself throughout, as a 
 part of those weak things \ and, therefore, it cannot 
 answer your purpose, as to an uninformed ministry ; 
 for Paul was learned in all the languages, science, and 
 wisdom of his day and time. The fact is, Paul is here 
 speaking in a kind of satirical manner, in accordance 
 with the prejudiced ideas of the Jews and Greeks. — 
 Hence you find in this same chapter, Paul, m this 
 kind of satirical sense, calls the preaching of the 
 gospel, and a crucified Saviour, foolishness and a 
 stumbling block. "For the Jews require a sign, and 
 the Greeks seek after wisdom ; but we preach Christ 
 crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto 
 the Greeks foolishness." (See 1 Cor. i. 22, 23.) 
 The fact is, the whole plan of salvation by a crucified 
 Jesus, was considered nothing but a parcel of non- 
 sense, foolishness, and weakness by the unbelieving 
 Jews and Greeks : though it was, indeed, the wisdom 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [^6 
 
 and power of God unto salvation, to all that believed, 
 to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 
 
 B. Well, brother A, I acknowledge I have differ- 
 ent views of this part of the subject, from what I ever 
 had before, and am heartily willing to give it up. You 
 have brought some, yea many things to my mind, 
 which I hope I shall never forget. I will take the 
 whole of what you have said into deep consideration, 
 and look to God for the aid and direction of his holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 A. May the Lord grant you the aid necessary to 
 the forming of just ideas, is my most sincere prayer. 
 
 B. But there is one thing that appears to be wrong 
 on the part of you missionary brethren concerning us, 
 and that is, you appear to have taken up the idea that 
 we are opposed to the spread of the gospel. God 
 forbid that this should be the case. 
 
 A, I too, my brother, can heartily say, God forbid ! 
 But suffer me to ask — suppose you were opposed to 
 it in every shape and sense, and did not pretend to 
 deny it, how else could you act, than as you do r 
 What else could you do than speak against it publicly 
 and privately, and preach against it from the pulpit, 
 and do all you could to enlist the prejudices of the 
 religious public against it ! What else, I ask, could 
 you do ? 
 
 B. O, but we do not pray against it. 
 
 A. True. And is not this full proof that you are 
 conscious you are wrong ? For if your cause is good, 
 why not go to God with it ? If you are right in oppos- 
 ing those means, which are, in their nature, calculated 
 to .spread the gospel and a knowledge of religious 
 truth, it certainly would be right to pray to God to stop 
 it, and to bless the feeble exertions which you are mak- 
 ing against its spread. Yea, I do insist, my brother, 
 the very first step towards consistency on the pari 
 of those ministers who are opposed to the missionary 
 cause, is to quit preaching themselves, because every 
 gospel sermon is a missionary effort. The next step 
 towards consistency, would be to quit praying for the 
 spread of the gospel, for every sincere prayer is an ef- 
 fort in the missionary cause. And the third and last 
 135 
 
27] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 step to be completely consistent, would be to pray 
 against it ; for our preaching and praying surely 
 ought always to correspond. 
 
 B. This, my brother, would be dreadful! — awful!! 
 
 A. It would, indeed: nor would I by any means advise 
 you to do so. But still I say, to be consistent with 
 yourselves, you ought to do it. But, my brother, I do 
 not think this would be any worse than being opposed 
 to Bible Societies : for I think this is, in effect, rising 
 up in open and positive opposition to the word of 
 God! and I think if you were to reflect seriously upon 
 it, you would see with me. Because, when you pro- 
 test against any society, it is not the mere circumstance 
 of their meeting together which you oppose ; no, but it 
 is the business in which this society is engaged. Well, 
 in what are Bible Societies engaged. Why, in sending 
 the Bible into different, distant, and destitute parts of 
 the world — they are engaged in putting the word of 
 eternal life into the houses and hands of poor dying sin- 
 ners. But you protest against this. Now the ques- 
 tion is — How can you oppose this, unless you are op- 
 posed to the Bible, and think it an improper book to 
 send abroad ? — an improper book for sinners to read! 
 Alas! my brother, for the Lord's sake — for your own 
 soul's sake — for the soul's sake of lost and perishing 
 sinners, reflect, O! reflect what you are about! 
 
 B. Truly this looks bad enough! 
 
 Ji. It surely does, but it looks no worse than it 
 really is. It is not a whit worse than denying to peo- 
 ple the liberty of conscience! 
 
 B. O, brother, I hope you do not accuse us of that 
 too ? 
 
 Ji. I do not know how you can get over it! For in- 
 stance, I feel for my fellow dying man, and desire to be 
 instrumental in doing something for his spiritual good. 
 I therefore think it my duty to give a part of what the 
 Lord has given me, towards sending the gospel where 
 the people are dying for lack of knowledge ; and this 
 I do positively believe, before God and my own con- 
 science, to be my bounden duty. But you say I shall 
 not — if I do you will turn me out of the church. Thus 
 you go as far as your power extends in depriving me 
 135 
 
A TLAIN DIALOGUE. [28 
 
 of the liberty of conscience. And what is this mighty 
 crime for which I must be banished from the church 
 and the house of God ? The great crime — Oh! can my 
 tongue utter it ? — the great crime is, that I desire to 
 see sinners saved from eternal death! My crime, my 
 deep, and black, and dismal crime is, that I gave some- 
 thing towards the spread of the gospel! My only and 
 unpardonable crime is, that I threw one mite into the 
 treasury of the Lord ! For this I must be expelled from 
 church privileges, though my conscience, and the word 
 of God, and the spirit of the gospel, all told me, and 
 yet tell me, it was right — it was my duty : while others 
 can spend their scores of dollars for rum and whiskey 
 to the injury of their own health, the detriment of their 
 family, and the great annoyance of both civil and re- 
 ligious society, and yet maintain their place and stand- 
 ing in the church! Now, my brother, wherein does all 
 this differ from the most settled spirit of persecution 
 and Popery ? 
 
 B. I hope and trust you are not going to palm perse- 
 cution and Popery upon us! 
 
 A. No. / am not going to do it ; and would pray 
 God that you might be kept from both. But for the 
 life of me, I cannot tell what else to make of your con- 
 duct. You know as well as I do, that it is the spirit 
 of Popery to keep the people in a state of as great ig- 
 norance as possible — to keep the Bible out of the hands 
 of the people — to deprive the people of the liberty of 
 conscience in matters of religion — to keep all the 
 means of religious knowledge from the people. The 
 Pope is issuing his prohibitory edicts against mis- 
 sionary enterprize — against Missionary, Bible, and Re- 
 ligious Tract Societies, &c. And why all this ? Because 
 the Pope, and all the papal authorities, see and know, 
 that if these things become common, the reign of Popish 
 darkness will come to an end. And now, my brother, 
 reflect, when I ask you, what are our anti-mission- 
 ary brethren doing, different from the Pope and Popish 
 authorities ? Are they not issuing their decrees and 
 edicts against all Missionary, Bible, and Tract Socie- 
 ties? Are they not, in effect, (as we have already shown) 
 denying the liberty of conscience, so far as their power 
 135 
 
19] A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 extends ? Are they not doing all in their power to stop 
 the progress of religious knowledge ? Does not all this 
 breathe the very life and spirit of Popery? If there is 
 any difference, my brother, I acknowledge I am so stu- 
 pid I cannot see it. And if you, or any one else, will 
 point out to me the difference, I will thank you for the 
 information. The fact is, if you will compare the dif- 
 ferent publications, put forth by the Pope himself and 
 the different papal authorities, against Missionary, 
 Bible, and Tract Societies, with those put forth by the 
 anti-missionary brethren against the same societies, you 
 will find they are so exactly alike, in all respects, as to 
 induce the belief that one must have been borrowed, 
 or copied from the other!! This circumstance ought, 
 surely, to be enough to open the eyes of our opposing 
 brethren. 
 
 B. I do acknowledge, that there is something 
 very much alike in tneir conduct and ours ; but then we 
 have not got to burning the Bible yet ; and you know the 
 Popish authorities have done this in many instances. 
 
 A. True, my brother, you have not got to this ex- 
 tent yet. But do you not bid fair for it! And, further, 
 would it not be perfectly consistent with the rest of 
 your conduct to do so. For it really appears to me 
 if it is wrong for Bible Societies to send the Bible 
 abroad into the world, it would be right for you to burn 
 it! Understand me, my brother. I say, it appears to 
 me, that if it be wrong for us to publish the Bible, it 
 is, of course, right for you to burn it!! 
 
 B. Ah! my brother, this alarms me!! 
 
 A. Well it may, — it ought. 
 
 B. There is one thing, however, that comforts me a 
 little, and that is — If this missionary business is of the 
 Lord, he will bless it, and carry it on. And, further, if 
 it is not, it will come to nothing. 
 
 A. This is true. And if you are willing to let this 
 be the criterion whereby to determine whether it is 
 of the Lord or not, then you must give up the point. 
 For, thanks be to Almighty God, he has already bless- 
 ed it ; and is now blessing and carrying it on in the 
 most wonderful manner. This, I know, you may be 
 disposed to question. But surely, my brother, we can- 
 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [SO 
 
 not deny the combined testimony of hundreds of the 
 most pious and eminent ministers of the gospel, be- 
 longing to the Methodist, Episcopalian, Congregation- 
 al, Presbyterian, and Baptist denominations. All these, 
 with thousands of private characters, declare to us, the 
 glorious effects produced, by and through the agency 
 of missionary exertions, at home and abroad, of which 
 they have been eye and ear witnesses. Enlightened 
 travellers and officers of government, who have visited 
 many of our missionary stations, declare the same 
 things. We see letters from all parts, written by men 
 of piety and integrity, giving circumstantial accounts 
 of these important facts. And there are not a few in 
 our own churches in this state, whose names we could 
 mention, who own these missionary labors as the 
 means, in the hand of God, of their conversion. I know 
 of several myself, who acknowledge religious tracts 
 as the means of bringing them to a knowledge of the 
 truth. And shall we — can we say, all these have become 
 common liars ? Surely not. 
 
 B. But will not God's purposes stand. And after 
 all your missionary labors, will there be one soul 
 saved, more than what God saw from all eternity 
 would be saved ? 
 
 A. To be sure God's purposes will stand, and I 
 am rejoiced in the fact. But then, what of all this ? 
 Now, I would not think this old, worn out, Antinomi- 
 an, and infidel excuse for laziness and wickedness, wor- 
 thy of any notice, were it not that I know it is destroy- 
 ing the usefulness of many, and encouraging thousands 
 to go on in a course of sin. I mean that the false con- 
 clusions, drawn from these premises, are doing this 
 injury. I would, therefore, say, (as I have said before) 
 that whatever may be said on this subject, will hold 
 just as true when applied to our preaching and pray- 
 ing, at home, in our own congregations and families, 
 as when applied to our missionary labors abroad ; and, 
 also, when applied to things of a temporal nature, just 
 as much as when applied to things of a spiritual na- 
 ture. It is just as true, that God's purposes will stand 
 with regard to our crops, and after all our toiling and 
 sweating there will not be one grain of corn more made 
 135 
 
3lJ A PLAIN DIALOGUE. 
 
 than what God already knew would be made. What 
 then ? Are we on this account to lie down and sleep ? 
 Are God's purposes and foreknowledge against, or op- 
 posed to man's agency ? If you will read Acts 
 xviii. 9, 10, you will find that God himself teaches a 
 very different doctrine, and assigns as a reason why 
 Paul must speak and not hold his peace while at Corinth, 
 that he had much people in that city. Now if Paul had 
 been an Antinomian, might he not have said, " Well, 
 Lord, if thou hast these people, why then need I preach 
 to turn them unto thee ?" Also, see Paul's account of 
 the shipwreck. Though he had been assured by a 
 messenger from heaven that they should all get safe to 
 land, yet when he saw the shipmen, or sailors, about 
 to escape, he tells the centurion — " Except these abide 
 in the ship ye cannot be saved." My dear brother, I 
 do verily believe that this old Antinomian sentiment 
 causes thousands of Baptists to live in the neglect of 
 duty ; and no doubt keeps vast numbers of them from 
 engaging in the missionary cause. 
 
 B. But are we not saved by grace ? 
 
 Ji. O, yes. And I am so willing to subscribe to this 
 doctrine, that I say it is by grace, (that is, unmerited 
 favor) that I have a morsel of bread to eat. And 
 now, brother B, as it is growing late, and is time for 
 us to draw to a close, let me ask you a question or two 
 before we part. 
 
 1. Would it not be well for you to stop your opposi- 
 tion, lest you be found fighting against God ? 
 
 2. Will it not be a poor death-bed consolation to 
 think you never gave one cent to the spread of the gos- 
 pel ; but, on the contrary, always opposed those 
 who did ? 
 
 3. Why do you not throw away all the hymn books 
 now in use, for they were all put out by missionary 
 men, and abound with missionary hymns, such as 
 this, viz : 
 
 " Go, Missionary and proclaim 
 The kind Redeemer you have found ; 
 Publish his ever-precious name, 
 To all the wond'ring nations round." &c. 
 135 
 
A PLAIN DIALOGUE. [32 
 
 4. Now how would you anti-missionary brethren 
 have this hymn ? Would you have it to read thus ? viz : 
 
 " Stop, Missionary, don't proclaim 
 The kind Redeemer you have found 
 Publish not his glorious name, 
 To all ihe wond'ring nations round." &c. 
 
 5. How do you think this would sound, bursting 1 
 forth from the hearts and mouths of a congregation of 
 Christians ? It would certainly sound oddly enough ; 
 but to be consistent with yourselves you ought to have 
 your anti-missionary hymns and prayers, as well as 
 your anti-missionary sermons. 
 
 6. Do you think that those brethren can be actuated 
 by a good spirit, who are always urging a separation 
 among the Baptists — always urging a non-fellowship ? 
 
 7. For the Lord's sake, and for the peace of the 
 churches, ought we not all to be willing to live and let 
 live ? 
 
 B. Yes, we ought, my dear brother; here we agree 
 exactly. 
 
 A. And I hope we shall always agree in this par- 
 ticular ; for it has always been a great grief to me to 
 hear any one urging a non-fellowship, and a separation 
 on account of things which ought not to disturb our 
 fellowship. If I think it is my duty to give, let me en- 
 joy the liberty of my conscience ; and if you do not 
 think it your duty to give, I am willing to let you en- 
 joy the liberty of your conscience. 
 
 B. I hope so too. Farewell — may the Lord bless 
 you. 
 
 A. Farewell, my brother — the Lord bless you too, 
 and teach us all our duty, is my prayer. 
 
 
 i\ 
 
 r Amen. 
 
 135 
 
 ' 
 
THE SUBSTANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 MRS. WADE'S ADDRESSES. 
 
 It is perhaps known to most of you, my sisters, that 
 the last ten years of my life have been spent among the 
 benighted and degraded heathen. During this period, I 
 have been in several different countries, and had an oppor- 
 tunity of becoming acquainted with the customs and modes 
 of worship in each. Before I had witnessed the super- 
 stitions, the cruelties, and the debased habits of a heathen 
 people, I could not fully credit the accounts I read from 
 those who had ; I thought they must be exaggerated, 01 
 could not apply generally to whole communities. But on 
 heathen ground I have been led to exclaim, " The half was 
 not told me." What I now relate will be facts which 
 have come under my own observation — what I have seen 
 and heard. 
 
 You have all doubtless heard of the cruelties and abom- 
 inations connected with the idolatrous worship of Hin- 
 dostan, and the wretched, degraded condition of its in- 
 habitants. As I spent two or three years among the 
 Hindoos, I unavoidably saw more of this than can be de- 
 scribed. The car of their idol, Juggernaut, a huge struc- 
 ture rolled on ponderous wheels, crushes beneath its weight 
 numbers of victims who prostrate themselves before it, 
 that they may thus be sacrificed to the god. Immense 
 numbers perform long pilgrimages of many hundred miles, 
 to pay him honor, sometimes measuring the distance by 
 continually prostrating themselves at length on the ground. 
 Multitudes inflict upon themselves the most excruciating 
 tortures to propitiate theii gods — such as having a large 
 iron hook fastened in their back, from which they hang 
 suspended, and swing, &c. Infants are frequently cast 
 into the river Ganges, which they consider sacred, as an 
 offering, and many are destroyed in other ways. I have 
 not myself attended the burning of a widow on the funeral 
 140 
 
MRS. WADE S ADDRESSES. [4 
 
 pile of her husband, for I could not endure the spectacle. 
 But such occurrences have repeatedly taken place very 
 near us. The sick and the aged are carried out by their 
 relatives, and left in the open air on the bank of the Gan- 
 ges to perish without care or kindness ; and jackals and 
 vultures often begin to prey upon them while they are 
 alive. The remains of a dead mother may sometimes be 
 seen exposed on the road to Juggernaut, while a living 
 infant is lying by her side, and no passer-by takes pity 
 upon it. Every kind of vice is practised in this country 
 without shame. Lying, theft, and robbery are not consid- 
 ered disgraceful. The most indecent and licentious prac- 
 tices are taught in their religious books, as part of the 
 worship of their gods ; and are shamelessly committed in 
 the sacred temples. It is not surprising then, that the 
 same abominations universally abound among all classes. 
 The abject, miserable condition of females in heathen 
 countries can scarcely be conceived of in Christianized 
 communities. From her childhood, the Hindoo female, 
 with the exception of the lower classes, is entirely con- 
 fined, being never permitted to go abroad, unless indeed 
 through the displeasure of her male relatives she is thrust 
 out from her home, or otherwise deprived of resources, 
 and compelled to seek her own subsistence. If she even 
 venture to peep out from her miserable habitation, she in- 
 curs the anger of her jealous husband, or rather tyrannical 
 lord, and perhaps receives a cruel beating. Through life 
 she is his degraded slave, and at his death she is expected 
 to burn herself on the funeral pile with his body. If she 
 refuse to do this, infamy and abuse are her portion ; and 
 she generally prefers an honorable death, to an ignomini- 
 ous and wretched life. So servile is her condition, that if 
 she were to refuse to submit to the will of her lord, or 
 utter a complaint, or attempt to avoid the evils of her lot, 
 she would surely meet with abuse from all her male rela- 
 tions — father, husband, brothers, sons — all conspire to 
 hold her in degradation and bondage. So contemptible 
 are females in the estimation of the other -sex, and so well 
 does the mother know the mode of life to which her 
 (laughter is introduced, that the birth of a female infant is 
 considered by all a misfortune. By the father and broth- 
 ers it is looked upon with detestation ; by the mother, to 
 140 
 
5*] mrs. wade's addresses. 
 
 say the best, with commiseration. If it is not sacrificed, 
 or in some way put to death by its unnatural parents, that 
 they may rid themselves of the trouble of taking care of it, 
 which is a very common practice in regard to all infants — 
 the little girl is through childhood a neglected being — left 
 without clothing and without cuVure, and is finally con- 
 signed to the same miserable lot which had been her 
 mother's. No wonder that mothers so untaught, so debas- 
 ed, should be without natural affection. And they are 
 every where found abusing their children and exposing 
 them to all kinds of danger ana cruelty. 
 
 This is a very imperfect view of the superstitions and 
 cruelties abounding in Hindostan ; but I have said enough 
 to shew you that the people there are awfully degraded. 
 Let us however, my sisters, rejoice that there is a bright 
 side to this gloomy picture. Though thousands and mil- 
 lions of the poor deluded Hindoos are still practising the 
 cruelties and living in all the moral wretchedness I have 
 described, yet this is not the case with all. The blessed 
 gospel which for some years missionaries have preached 
 among them, is now producing a cheering influence in 
 various directions. Many are praising God for the happy 
 change it has effected even in their temporal circumstances 
 — the introduction of peace and comfort into the domestic 
 circle, &c. and especially for the glorious hopes and pros- 
 pects it has opened to them beyond the grave. In Cal- 
 cutta and the neighboring villages, in Monghyr, Dinapore, 
 and even in the dark province of Orissa, little churches 
 of converted Hindoos have been gathered ; and if Chris- 
 tians will do their duty and send an adequate supply of 
 missionaries, Bibles and tracts, I doubt not these churches 
 will multiply, and converts become numerous as " the 
 drops of morning dew." 
 
 Within the last two or three years the Suttee, or burn- 
 ing of widows on the funeral pile of their husbands, has 
 been abolished by the English government, in all that 
 portion of the country under their jurisdiction. So that 
 though there is still a strong prejudice among the natives 
 in favor of this cruel rite, it is hoped that it will soon 
 cease to be practised among them. 
 
 But it is in Barmah that the greater portion of my 
 missionary life has been spent. That country contains a 
 
 140 
 
mrs. wade's addresses. j G 
 
 population considerably greater than the whole of these 
 United States, and is under a government wholly despotic. 
 Life and property are held at the will of the ruling powers. 
 The people are subject to every oppression from those in 
 authority. If a man has property, he conceals it and ap- 
 pears poor, lest some superior should covet his posses- 
 sions, throw him into prison, and seize all he has. Crimes 
 of every kind are as prevalent, and attended with as little 
 disgrace, as in Hindostan. Indeed, he who can lie or 
 steal most adroitly, without detection by the government, 
 is admired by his countrymen. If he is detected, some 
 penalty is inflicted upon him, unless he has money to bribe 
 the officers, in which case he can commit any crime with 
 impunity. Hence the Burmans have no confidence in 
 each other ; as there is no integrity among them, so there 
 is no trust. It is true that in that country immorality is 
 not inculcated as part of their religious worship ; on the 
 contrary, they have a tolerably correct system of morals 
 in their sacred books. But there is no healthful influence 
 in society, nothing in public opinion, to enforce its prac- 
 tice. Custom sanctions licentiousness of every descrip- 
 tion ; the commission of the worst vices does not degrade 
 one in the estimation of others. Think what must be the 
 condition of an entire country more deeply sunk in ini- 
 quity than the most polluted sections of your large cities, 
 and where no surrounding restraints are imposed upon 
 the outbreakings of sin. A form of marriage is in use, 
 but there is also a form of separation ; so that there are 
 continually occurring marriages and separations. The 
 results of such a state of things can only be imagined. 
 Parents care little for their children, but often unmerciful- 
 ly beat and abandon them ; and fathers and husbands sell 
 wives and children as slaves, whenever they have occasion 
 to avail themselves of the profits of such a sale. Mothers, 
 too, will do this. I have very frequently seen a mother 
 apparently fond of her child and caressing it one hour, 
 and the next beating it cruelly, or have known of her 
 selling it into slavery. And this inhumanity is not con- 
 fined to the outcasts of society, among whom such con- 
 duct might be found even in this country ; it is common, 
 and not disreputable. Infants are not drowned or other- 
 wise sacrificed, as a religious rite, by the Burmans, but 
 140 
 
7 J MRS. WADF.'S ADDRESSES. 
 
 they are sometimes destroyed by their unnatural parents. 
 Females are not confined within doors among them as they 
 are in Hindosian, but they are taught nothing, are kept 
 without clothing in childhood, are treated with contempt 
 through life, and employed in the most servile labors. 
 The miserable habitations of these degraded people ex- 
 hibit the most forlorn and loathsome appearance. Domes- 
 tic comfort is unknown among them. 
 
 The religion of the Burmans is absurd in the extreme, 
 and devoid of all motive to a correct life, and all consola- 
 tion in death. The object of their worship is Gaudama, 
 a being who they say appeared in our world about two 
 thousand four hundred years ago. He had existed in 
 various states, as man, beast, reptile, demi-god, &c. before 
 he arrived at the most exalted merit ; and now he has 
 attained the highest good they have any idea of — that is, 
 annihilation. To cease to be, is the summit of all their 
 hopes. They worship Gaudama, only because they con- 
 sider him to have attained superior merit, not because he 
 is the creator or governor of the world, which they be- 
 lieve to have come into existence itself. They have no 
 idea of an eternal God, the Creator of all things, but be- 
 lieve that all matter is self-existent. They suppose that 
 ail mankind pass through what they call " an endless 
 whirlpool of transmigration" — that is, that when they die 
 out of one state, they are born into another ; he that is 
 now a man may next become a beast, afterward a reptile, 
 then a man again, or a woman, &c. And so great a mis- 
 fortune is it to be a female, that the sex pray to become 
 men in the next state. It is often thought in Christian 
 countries, that the heathen have no knowledge of right and 
 wrong, and are not therefore accountable for their actions. 
 They indeed have no knowledge of God's revealed word 
 or of a Saviour, and consequently are not guilty for not 
 ** believing on him of whom they have not heard." But 
 they do know the distinction between right and wrong in 
 their dealings with each other, as well as we do. The 
 sacred books of the Burmans prohibit lying, theft, adulte- 
 ry, the use of spirituous liquors, &c. and this is well 
 known by the people. They believe in a future exist- 
 ence, where all the sin they have committed will be pun- 
 ished. They are without expectation of forgiveness, but 
 140 
 
mrs. wade's addresses. [ 8 
 
 believe tint for every sin they must suffer for ages. Yet 
 notwithstanding tliis, they go on through life, adding ini- 
 quity unto iniquity. They say, that after living in many 
 different states and forms, and suffering ages of punish- 
 ment for every sin, they shall then enjoy happiness in 
 proportion to the merit they may have acquired in this 
 world; and if they have acquired sufficient merit, they 
 may attain, after a long period, to a divine state, and then 
 to annihilation, their highest hope. Looking forward, as 
 they do, to an existence in the form of various animals, 
 and having no hope of obtaining the forgiveness of theii 
 sins, these people geneially are greatly distressed a-t the 
 approach of death. Surely their condition is dark and 
 pitiable. Such as I have described it, though but very 
 faintly and partially, is the life, and such the end of the 
 Burman. A complete picture of his wretchedness, super- 
 stition, and degradation, I cannot portray. It must be 
 seen to be realized. 
 
 And now, my dear sisters, having told you something of 
 the condition in which we find these poor creatures, I will 
 give you some idea of what has been effected through the 
 blessing of God upon the labors of a few missionaries, 
 for their improvement in temporal circumstances, and the 
 salvation of their souls. The mission was commenced 
 twenty years ago. About three years of that time, its 
 operations were entirely suspended by the war which took 
 place between the English and Burmese. It was imagin- 
 ed by the natives that all white foreigners were leagued 
 with the British, in opposition to themselves ; and con- 
 sequently they all, including the missionaries, were 
 arrested and thrown into prison ; the greatest confusion 
 prevailed throughout the country, and it was long before 
 confidence and quiet were restored. But leaving out the 
 time in which the work of the mission was suspended, 
 there had not been in the whole remainder, up to the pe- 
 riod of our leaving the country, the average labor of two 
 missionaries who were preachers, for that vast multitude 
 of people. An additional number have gone out within 
 two or three years ; some had arrived before we left. 
 Still, with so few laborers, the language has been acquired ; 
 the gospel is continually preached to the people ; several 
 tracts and small books have been prepared and circulated 
 140 
 
9] mrs. WADE 9 addresses. 
 
 among them ; the New Testament translated, printed, and 
 distributed ; and if brother Judson's life and health have 
 been spared, the Old Testament is probably now translated 
 and ready for printing. Burm&n boys are as generally 
 taught to read, in their own schools, as the boys in this 
 country are, though girls are not taught. Consequently, 
 we rarely find a man who cannot read. The demand for 
 books is urgent and increasing. The people are anxious 
 to read and learn what this new religion is. To supply 
 this whole reading nation, exceeding the population of the 
 United States, there are attached to the mission three 
 printers, and four printing presses. The present number 
 of missionaries is six. But who will not exclaim, " What 
 are these among so many ?" What supply would six 
 preachers, three printers, and four printing presses be for 
 this country ? As the fruit of their labor, the missionaries 
 have had the happiness of seeing four hundred natives 
 giving evidence of piety, and joining the churches at the 
 different stations, besides upwards of a hundred English 
 soldiers. Several have died in the cheering hope of a 
 blissful immortality. A number are now engaged in 
 preaching the gospel to their countrymen, and are valuable 
 aids to the missionaries. A hundred dollars a year is an 
 ample sum for the support of a native preacher, and they 
 will live on considerably less for the sake of carrying the 
 news of a Saviour to their perishing brethren. Some- 
 times some of the native Christians will get the means of 
 supporting their families a month in advance, by their own 
 efforts, and will then go out in the neighboring country, 
 distributing tracts and conversing with the people. Though 
 they are very poor, they are anxious to make every effort 
 to promote the spread of the gospel, and frequently sacri- 
 fice little comforts for this object. Their food is at best 
 simple, being generally rice and curry. But I have known 
 these dear people deny themselves of the latter, and live 
 occasionally upon rice and salt, that they might have a 
 few cents to aid in sending out tracts or preachers, in 
 building a zayat, or for some similar object ; and they will 
 carefully save their half cents and quarter cents for the 
 same purpose. O, my sisters, they are lovely Chris- 
 tians indeed, so conscientious, so humble, so grateful for 
 the gospel, to you who have sent it to them, and to the 
 140 
 
mrs. wade's addresses. [10 
 
 missionaries who have carried it. It would affect your 
 hearts to hear them pray for you and your children. 1 
 commenced a weekly female prayer-meeting some years 
 ago at Maulmein, which all the female members of the 
 church regularly attend. To give all an opportunity of 
 being present, and time for offering their petitions and 
 making any communications that they may wish, the 
 meeting is held through the day, and several attend at a 
 time, and then give place to others. One will take care 
 of the children of several others, that they may attend, 
 and afterward her own are taken care of by another ; thus 
 all are found at the meeting in the course of the day, and 
 all take part in the exercises. From the time of their 
 first joining the church, they are always ready to try to 
 pray in our meetings — there is no backwardness, no fear. 
 And here, if they have any difficulty or trial, they make it 
 known, and ask for counsel ; and if any little misunder- 
 standing or hard feeling has taken place between any of 
 them, it is talked over and settled, that no disturbances 
 may arise. As I had told them that many who contri- 
 buted to send them the gospel, had children that were not 
 Christians, they agreed to pray for their conversion. My 
 dear sisters, could you hear these Burman sisters, so late- 
 ly sunk in the utmost degradation, praying for the con- 
 version of your children, your hearts would be melted. 
 When I have heard of the precious revivals of religion in 
 America, and of the number of youth that have been gath- 
 ered into the church of Christ, I have thought, eternity 
 alone would disclose what proportion of this has been 
 accomplished in answer to these prayers. Indeed, I have 
 enjoyed sweeter seasons at these meetings than I ever did 
 in any meeting in America. — The native Christians, gene- 
 rally, males as well as females, are much in the habit of 
 prayer; it seems to be their delight. Owing to their 
 manner of living, and the slight structure of their houses, 
 they have not convenient opportunities for retirement in 
 the day ; and it is not uncommon for them to spend hours 
 of the night in pouring out their hearts in prayer. On my 
 bed, I have frequently heard more or less distinctly, from 
 different directions, several voices thus engaged. They 
 are not ashamed to have it known that they pray ; and if 
 thev are so circumstanced as to have no other opportunity, 
 140 
 
11] MRS. WADE'S ADDRESSES. 
 
 they will kneel in one corner of the room, with their back 
 toward the persons in it, and pray there. When any of 
 them are going out as preachers, or to distribute tracts, they 
 come to the missionary, who gives such advice as he con- 
 siders necessary, and unites with them in prayer ; they 
 pray over the tracts for God's blessing upon their distri- 
 bution, and then go out two and two. The preachers are 
 sometimes absent for a month. From some of these ex- 
 cursions they will return disheartened — they have been 
 opposed, ridiculed, stoned, and have seen no good results 
 from their labors. The missionary encourages them, 
 prays with them, tells them they must not always expect 
 success, &c. and soon they are desirous of going again, 
 when perhaps they will return highly encouraged, bring- 
 ing others with them to get books and hear more about 
 the new religion. These Christians are always endeav- 
 oring to persuade their unconverted friends to embrace 
 the gospel. When three or four meet, their conversation 
 is not about their own affairs, or unprofitable matters, but 
 the interests of their souls. If a few are laboring together 
 in an occupation which allows of conversation, those of 
 the party who are Christians, are sure to be urging upon 
 the others the subject of religion ; and will perhaps 
 bring a neighbor thus interested, lo the missionary's house 
 at evening worship. — Their Christian affection for each 
 other is very conspicuous, especially in the seasons of 
 communion at the Lord's table. They are very careful 
 to receive that ordinance in the exercise of brotherly love, 
 as well as to seek preparation of heart in every particular, 
 for its proper observance. They would not think it pos- 
 sible that Christians could sit down together at the Lord's 
 supper, with unkind feelings toward each other, or any 
 misunderstanding which would disturb their harmony as 
 brethren. If any little difference has occurred betweeif 
 any of their number, they are sure to seek a reconciliation 
 before the communion season arrives. And they seem 
 during the week previous to the celebration of the ordi- 
 nance, to endeavor to get into a suitable frame for it. It 
 is cheering to our hearts, and it would be to yours, my 
 sisters, to see such humble, devoted Christians as these 
 dear converts are. I long to return to them, and to that 
 110 
 
mrs. wade's addresses. [12 
 
 land of darkness where there are so many perishing for 
 the bread of life, and so few hands ready to bestow it. 
 
 The Karens are a very interesting people, inhabiting 
 the interior of Burmah, and making the whole number of 
 inhabitants in that empire nearly twice as large as in 
 this country. They have no system of religion, and do 
 not worship idols ; when first known by the mission- 
 aries had no written language, and of course could not 
 read or write. A few of them can speak and read 
 the Burman language. They have had a tradition that 
 white foreigners would sometime bring them the word 
 of the Eternal God ; and when they heard of the 
 missionary, brother Boardman, being at Tavoy, they 
 sent a deputation to know whether he had this word. 
 On hearing that he had, a company were soon sent to him 
 with a book which had somehow found its way to them 
 about twelve years before, and to which they had from 
 that period paid their worship, though they could not 
 read it — wishing to know what it was. It proved to be an 
 English Common Prayer Book. They were easily dis- 
 suaded from worshipping the book, and gave it to brother 
 Boardman ; and we now have it with us. (The book was 
 here exhibited by Mrs. Wade.) They anxiously desired 
 books which would tell ihem about God, and begged the 
 teacher, as they call the missionaries, to go out among 
 their people and instruct them. He soon visited them, 
 and as the fruit of his labors, and those of others, 
 about two hundred have given evidence of becoming 
 Christians, and been baptized. It is of their appearance 
 as Christians, that I have spoken as well as of the Bur- 
 mans. They are equally affectum ate, humble, and devoted. 
 They frequently importune us to give them the Bible, or 
 some book which will instruct them respecting our re- 
 ligion. But when we became acquainted with them, we 
 did not know their language ; and after learning it suffi- 
 ciently, we found that we must form an alphabet and reduce 
 it to writing ; and then translate and print books, before 
 they could be put into their hands. Some small books have 
 already been prepared ; but we are obliged to tell them 
 that it must be some time before we can give them the 
 Bible; that other missionaries must come out to help us, 
 
 140 
 
13J MRS. WADE S ADDRESSES* 
 
 and they will be obliged to learn the language before they 
 can translate the Bible, and thus it will be years before 
 they can have it. " O," they exclaim, " many of us must 
 go down to our graves and be lost, before that time*— do 
 give us something that will tell us about God, before we 
 die." Many times we have been obliged to deny books 
 to Burmans as well as Karens, when they have come 
 begging for them. Frequently persons living at a distance 
 from us, have accidentally seen a tract, or met with one 
 of the native preachers, in some of their tours, and come 
 to us to hear something more of our religion, and get 
 larger books. After conversing some time, they will say, 
 " I must go home ; I live in such a village, and have a 
 good distance to go ; now give me a book to carry back, 
 that I may read all you have been telling me when I ge*. 
 home." My dear sisters, you cannot imagine the distress 
 it has caused me, when I have been obliged to say, as I 
 have in a multitude of cases, that I had not even a tract 
 to give them. But they would reply, " We cannot re- 
 member all you have told us, we shall forget it when we 
 get home-— give us a tract, or only one leaf, that we may 
 have it to look at, and remember your instructions." 
 Truly, my friends, in all I have suffered in body or mind, 
 —in parting from my relatives and loved native country, 
 in the privations and dangers of a missionary life — 
 nothing has caused me such bitter anguish of heart, as 
 being compelled to send away these poor, perishing, im- 
 ploring fellow-creatures without one leaf, containing the 
 words of eternal life. And this we must do, because we 
 had not the means of printing half the books and tracts, 
 which were anxiously called for. O, how many times 
 have I thought that if Christians in America could see 
 this immense population destitute of the word of salva- 
 tion, yet having in many instances heard enough to lead 
 them to seek after it, when not a leaf could be furnished 
 for want of the necessary means — they must be willing to 
 make sacrifices, and impart liberally of their substance, to 
 aid in supplying them with the precious volume. 
 
 And now, my dear friends, I will tell you the manner in 
 which we live, and how we spend our time in that Ian I 
 of darkness I have been trying to describe. The common 
 houses of the country, and such as the missionaries live 
 
mrs. wade's addresses. [14 
 
 in, are constructed of posts put into the ground so as 
 to inclose a space of the proper dimensions, covered 
 with mats or a kind of basket-work of bamboo, and hav- 
 ing similar mats for a floor. The roof is covered with a 
 thatch of leaves, and in the sides is here and there an 
 opening for a window, for we had not a pane of glass in 
 our houses. The house is put up in a few days, and 
 costs from thirty to seventy dollars. It may contain as 
 many rooms as are necessary, partitions being made by the 
 same matting as covers the outside. A bedstead made by 
 the missionary, which saves the sum necessary for a more 
 expensive one, or in its place a little elevation in one corner 
 of a room, of the same material as the house is built of, an- 
 swers every purpose of convenience for lodging ; while two 
 or three chairs and some stools, with a plain table, make up 
 the principal furniture of the habitation. A few dishes of 
 the plainest kind supply our table. Though our houses 
 are furnished in the cheapest, simplest manner, we aim to 
 have them, and to be ourselves, patterns of neatness in all 
 respects. It would be an interesting spectacle to you, to 
 take a view of brother Judson in his little dwelling, where 
 all is perfect neatness, yet exceedingly simple ; and though 
 cheapness is studied in his accommodations and apparel, 
 the dignity and appearance necessary to secure an influence 
 in society is preserved. He is confided in and respected 
 in the highest degree, by all Europeans who know him, 
 as well as by the natives. The Burmans are exceedingly 
 filthy and disgusting in their habits ; hence it is of the 
 first importance that we exhibit to them an example of 
 cleanliness and comfort. And when they embrace Chris- 
 tianity, we immediately see considerable improvement in 
 this respect. 
 
 The missionary puts up, at some convenient place, an 
 open building called a zayat, being only a thatched roof 
 supported by posts and having ;\ floor, to which he goes 
 in the morning directly after breakfast, and remains through 
 the day. Here the people are continually stopping to 
 converse with him ; he reads from the scriptures and 
 other books, explains to them, and answers their objec- 
 tions, and gives books to those who apply for them. 
 Thus many are continually hearing religious truth, and 
 many tracts and books are scattered in various parts of the 
 140 
 
15J MRS. WADE'S ADDRKSSE3. 
 
 country. Great numbers are led to examine the new re- 
 ligion, and visit the missionary to inquire farther respect- 
 ing it, merely from seeing some of our tracts, and are often 
 in consequence hopefully converted ; and in some cases 
 persons have been found giving good evidence of piety, 
 who had never seen a living teacher. While the mission- 
 ary is thus employed, his wife is at home conversing with 
 females who go to her for advice, instruction, &c. At 
 the close of the day, at the sound of a kind of bell, the 
 family assemble for evening worship, and the native 
 brethren living near, attend, and frequently others who 
 have been persuaded by them in the course of the day, or 
 been at the zayat, and wish to hear more. There are vari- 
 ous other duties continually occurring, such as preparing 
 and translating books, oversight of schools, &c. but this 
 is the manner in which our time is generally spent from 
 Monday morning to Saturday night. On Sabbath we have 
 public worship and preaching. And oh, it is a delightful 
 sight, to see the congregation assembled in a neat bamboo 
 meeting-house which they have built themselves, seated 
 on their clean mats, their children with them, all tidy in 
 their appearance, and worshipping God and hearing the 
 gospel with sincerity, humility, gratitude and joy. This 
 compensates us for every toil and suffering. 
 
 And now my dear sisters, in view of the wretched, 
 degraded, perishing condition of these poor creatures — 
 in view of the open door for access to them, and the great 
 demand for laborers and means — of the interesting charac- 
 ter they exhibit as Christians — and in remembrance of the 
 sufferings of our Divine Redeemer for us, and his last 
 command, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gos- 
 pel" — shall we not be willing to make every exertion to 
 send them the gospel. Indeed, if you only gave up some 
 of the superfluities of life, without relinquishing one of 
 its comforts, if you would only dispense with elegant 
 articles of furniture, and various ornaments in dress, you 
 might devote large sums of money to this object. Many 
 a five and ten dollar note, and even much larger sums 
 might be spared without the least inconvenience to your- 
 selves. And when you stand before the bar of God, and 
 meet there the benighted Burman and Karen, who sought 
 after the word of the eternal God from Christians, but 
 140 
 
MRS. WADE S ADDRESSES. [16 
 
 could not obtain it, and perished in their darkness, oh, with 
 what feelings will you recollect the many useless gratifi- 
 cations in which you indulged, when these precious souls 
 were dying by thousands without the knowledge of a 
 Saviour ! Shall I return to that dear people, and refuse 
 one who has come many miles to get a book which would 
 tell him how he could be saved, refuse him even a single 
 leaf, because we have not the money which will enable us 
 to print books ? 
 
 Support of Native Preachers in Burmah. 
 It will be observed that Mrs. Wade states in her commu- 
 nications, that a Burman or Karen preacher can be support- 
 ed at an annual expense of one hundred dollars at most, and 
 that they often live on a less sum, and devote themselves to 
 preaching the gospel. The Karen who has just visited 
 this country, has sustained his family on four or six dol- 
 lars a month, while he has been laboring to spread the 
 news of salvation among his countrymen. In several in- 
 stances, individuals and churches in this country have 
 assumed the charge of supporting some one of these 
 preachers, engaging to pay the requisite sum annually. 
 How many others might be found abundantly able to 
 make this additional effort in the cause of holy benevo- 
 «nce, without one sacrifice of real comfort. Many 
 persons in moderate circumstances might give far more in 
 aid of missionary operations than they have heretofore 
 ione, by laying aside at short intervals, a small sum, which 
 It the close of the year will be found to have accumulated to 
 in amount they could not perhaps, without inconvenience, 
 spare at one time. The writer is acquainted with several 
 individuals, some of whom have only limited pecuniary 
 means, who in consequence of hearing Mrs. Wade's 
 appeals, and being desirous of increasing their contribu- 
 tions to the cause to which she is devoted, have pledged 
 themselves to lay aside weekly the sum of twelve and a 
 half cents for the support of a Karen preacher. A few 
 persons can in this way accomplish the object ; and who 
 can predict the amount of good which may result ? Chris- 
 tian sisters, will you not form little associations on a 
 similar plan, for this or some kindred object; and if others 
 cannot be induced to unite in it, let each one resolve to 
 adopt it herself 
 
THE VINEYARD. 
 
 A PARABLE. 
 
 A. certain man, on the settlement of a new territory, 
 purchased an extensive estate; and being about to re- 
 move for a considerable time from his possession, di- 
 rected his servants to clear and to cultivate it. The 
 soil was rich, and capable of very general productive- 
 ness ; but the will of the owner was, that the attention 
 of his servants should be given to the culture of the 
 vine. He accordingly left them written instructions to 
 cultivate each one a vineyard. For many years this 
 practice was continued by them, up to the very letter 
 of their instructions. But, in process of time, other 
 settlers located themselves around ; and intercourse 
 with them became inevitable; the language, and 
 thoughts, and manners of the settlers, became, in a 
 great degree, one. By degrees the spoken language 
 varied, in the meaning of some of its terms, from what 
 was the spoken language when the estate in question 
 was purchased. This was the case with the term ' vine- 
 yard.' At first, the vineyard was the only cultivated 
 portion of the territory, and * vineyard' and 'planta- 
 tion' were synonymous terms. When other settlers 
 began to cultivate the soil, they, almost necessarily, 
 adopted the language of the first settlers, though 
 their pursuits were different. They all cultivated 
 the soil, and therefore all were said to have vine- 
 yards ; yet some had only part of their land planted 
 with the vine, or grape, and some with melons, 
 and some with cucumbers, and some even with 
 corn and olives. After a while, the servants of the 
 first settler fell into the adoption of the modes of 
 thought, and habits of speech, of their new neighbors, 
 and honestly supposed that they were doing the will 
 of their master in mingling the culture of the grape 
 with that of the melon and cucumber, and also with 
 that of corn and the olive. After the lapse of a still 
 further period, the culture of the vine fell into very 
 general disuse among them, and was almost en- 
 tirely abandoned for that of corn and olives. Yet to 
 their corn and olive plantations, they continued to ap- 
 
THE VINEYARD. [2 
 
 ply the name of vineyard. To one of these servants 
 of the original settler, it occurred, that perhaps the 
 course which had been pursued by the generality of his 
 fellow servants, would not meet the approbation of 
 their master; and he, accordingly, remonstrated with 
 them on the impropriety of their conduct. They 
 thought him unnecessarily scrupulous ; and alleged 
 that words were the signs of ideas, and that the word 
 'vineyard' now signified 'any cultivated portion of 
 land ;' and therefore, though the culture of the vine or 
 grape had been neglected, they had yet cultivated each 
 his respective vineyard or plantation of corn, or olives, 
 or melons, or cucumbers, and that the culture of these 
 was not expressly forbidden. They added, moreover, 
 that they did not question his (the remonstrant's) 
 plantation being a vineyard, as, indeed, they could not ; 
 for he had nothing under culture but the grape ; and 
 they urged on him, most vehemently, not to question 
 that their plantations were 'vineyards' also, though 
 the grape was not one of their productions. He 
 admitted that now the word ' vineyard' did suggest 
 the idea of any cultivated portion of land ; because 
 the spoken language of the settlers had become some- 
 what different from what it originally was : He re- 
 minded them that the will of their master was to be 
 sought, not in the meaning they now put upon terms, 
 but in that which was originally attached to them. To 
 ascertain this, he referred them to the written instruc- 
 tions left them by their master ; and endeavored to con- 
 vince them that they did not obey the instructions which 
 were originally given to them ; but attached another 
 meaning than their master had attached to the words 
 in which he had expressed his will. In proof of this, 
 he referred them to other portions of the ' instructions ;' 
 viz. such as speak of the vintage, the wine vat, and 
 the press, Sec. &c. and concluded by saying that he 
 was so convinced of the importance of his master's 
 approbation, that he, at least, was determined to obey 
 him exactly. If it were even the case that the master 
 would own their respective plantations as vineyards, 
 (of which he, the remonstrant, was by no means sure,) 
 he was at least sure that that plantation would be own- 
 ed by him as a vineyard, where only the grape was 
 cultivated. He concluded, therefore, that whatever 
 119 
 
S J THE VI-VEYARD. 
 
 risk his fellow servants might choose to run, he, for 
 his part, would cultivate, what not only he, but they 
 also, were sure was a vineyard. 
 
 Now, reader, though the above is all a parable, it 
 may be made the means of giving valuable instruction 
 on an important portion of revealed truth. By the 
 original settler, in the above parable, is intended, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ; by the servants to whom he com- 
 mitted the culture of his purchased possessions, the 
 apostles and their successors in the ministerial office ; 
 by the instructions left on record, to teach them the 
 will of their master respecting the culture they were to 
 bestow on his land, the Scriptures of truth. With 
 these explanations, you will be prepared for the follow- 
 ing exhibition of the truth which this parable, is de- 
 signed to teach. 
 
 When our Lord was about to be taken from his dis- 
 ciples, to the glory of the heavenly world, he gave them 
 a brief, but important commission. He introduced 
 that commission, with the solemn declaration that 
 he was made Head over all things to the church 
 militant, and triumphant : " All power is given unto 
 me in heaven and on earth ;" and having thus shown 
 them the basis of authority on which his command 
 rested, he proceeded to the utterance of the command 
 itself: 4 ' Go ye, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you." 
 
 The apostles recognized the authority of Christ, 
 and acted agreeably to their commission ; " they went 
 everywhere, preaching the word," and thus " teaching all 
 nations;" those who received their instructions on the 
 fundamental points of their message, were baptized, and 
 then instructed more in detail, "in all things whatsoever 
 the Lord had commanded." Thus the commission of 
 the Lord to the apostles was fulfilled, and that in the 
 precise order of prescription ; for we read what was 
 the instruction first communicated in Peter's sermon 
 on the day of Pentecost; what course was pursued 
 towards those who received it, viz. u they were bap- 
 tized," and what was their subsequent course; "they 
 continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, under 
 the instruction of the apostles," in the discharge of the 
 119 
 
THE VINEYARD. [_4 
 
 duties of church members, (i. e. "in breaking of 
 bread,") and in those of private Christians, ("and in 
 prayers.") 
 
 Such was the practice of the first regularly orga- 
 nized church of Christ, after his departure from the 
 world ; and such continued to be the practice of the 
 church for several ages, at least as far as regards the 
 ordinance of baptism. It was administered to none 
 but professed believers, nor in any other mode than by 
 immersion ; and never till it was administered, was 
 the convert received into the fellowship of the church, 
 nor to a participation of the ordinance referred to, in 
 the above quotation, by the expression, " breaking of 
 bread." 
 
 The parable may be employed as an appropriate il- 
 lustration relative to both the mode and subjects of 
 baptism. With respect to the mode of baptism, in 
 these days, we hear of "baptism by immersion," 
 a baptism by sprinkling," and " baptism by affusion, 
 or pouring ;" but from the beginning it was not so. 
 There was one leading, prominent signification of the 
 word : and that signification was attached to it when 
 the commission was given : consequently, in the first 
 ages of the church, the recipients of this rite were 
 "buried by baptism." But the question arises, How 
 came any other mode to be adopted ? For a full an- 
 swer to the question, the reader is referred to Eobin- 
 son's History of Baptism; and here the following brief 
 account must suffice. In the early history of all na- 
 tions, we find a profusion of figures employed in their 
 language ; and it is so in the history of the christian 
 church; where occur figures of speech arising out of 
 the instituted order of things in the Christian church, 
 and some of these figures have relation to baptism. 
 Because that ordinance was not administered till the 
 recipient of it was regenerate, it was called the laver 
 of regeneration ; and after a while was still further 
 abbreviated, so as that baptism was called regenera- 
 tion. Still, however, it was understood as figurative ; 
 and no injury was derived to the church by any altera- 
 tion of the ordinance from the form in which it had been 
 originally delivered to her. But after the lapse of a 
 further period, when the generation who first used the 
 figure in this abbreviated form, had gone to their rest, 
 119 
 
5 J THE VINEYARD. 
 
 the language began to be viewed in such a connexion 
 with one portion of divine truth, as to disturb, serious- 
 ly, the minds of some whose consciences were tender, 
 and whose judgments weak. It is said, "Except a 
 man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of 
 God." Now "born again" and "regenerated" are 
 terms of similar import ; but by a change in the signi- 
 fication of words, "regenerated" had come to signify 
 ''baptized," and thus the following interpretation was 
 put upon the passage, "Except a man be baptized, he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God." Now it might 
 sometimes occur that persons in sickness should be 
 converted to God, and baptism would be, to them, im- 
 practible ; i. e. immersion would be so. Yet, in the 
 mistaken apprehension of the age, baptism was essen- 
 tial to salvation; in order, therefore, to save the soul, 
 another religious application of water, (sprinkling or 
 pouring,) was substituted for immersion, while yet the 
 name of baptism was applied to it. This other appli- 
 cation of water, it is true, was not considered valid 
 baptism in the age in which it was introduced, if the 
 sick person recovered ; he was, in that case, required 
 to be baptized, i. e. immersed. 
 
 From some such cause as this, the term baptism 
 .ame to be used for sprinkling or pouring, and after 
 the lapse of years or ages, the error became so venera- 
 ble, that the name which was at first given by com- 
 plaisance to sprinkling or pouring, in process of time, 
 was claimed for it, and such religious application of 
 water was declared to be baptism. 
 
 The Baptists, indeed, like the servant in the parable, 
 remonstrate with their fellow servants or fellow Chris- 
 tions in relation to the subject, and express their doubts 
 as to the propriety of their conduct, and its accordance 
 with their Lord's will. They are thought, as he was, 
 to be unnecessarily scrupulous; and are told that bap- 
 tism now signifies any religious application of water, 
 in the name of the Trinity; and that, therefore, though 
 immersion is neglected by all other denominations, yet 
 each and all of them practise baptism, though some do 
 it by sprinkling, and some by pouring, and some 
 use both of these, and add immersion to them. 
 It is, indeed, conceded to the Baptists by their fel- 
 low Christians of other denominations, that their 
 119 
 
THE VINEYARD. [6 
 
 practice, immersion, is baptism; for this cannot be 
 denied ; but they are urged not to question that 
 pouring or sprinkling is baptism also, though 
 plainly neither of them is immersion. In reply, they 
 admit that now the word baptism is used for any ap- 
 plication of water ; because in this word our spoken 
 language is different in signification from that of ihe 
 first Christians ; but they contend, as their representa- 
 tive in the parable did, that the meaning our Lord at- 
 tached to the word is to be learned, not from the sense 
 now attached to it, but from that which was originally 
 conveyed by it. To ascertain this, they refer to other 
 portions of the sacred volume, which have relation to 
 the same subject $ to such as refer to "going down 
 into," and "coming up out of the water," "being bu- 
 ried by baptism ;" a place being chosen where " there 
 was much water f its being compared to the deluge, 
 which drowned the old world, 8cc. They profess 
 not to have any right to force their own opinions on the 
 acceptance of their fellow Christians; but only urge 
 them to search the scriptures on the subject. They 
 attach so much importance to the full and unreserved 
 approbation of their Lord, that, though they will not, and 
 dare not question the sincerity of their fellow Christians 
 who differ from them on the subject of baptism, they 
 feel that they must observe the ordinances " as they were 
 delivered;" and whether others are to be considered as 
 baptized or unbaptized, their course must be such as 
 that there be no question whether they are baptized. 
 
 As it regards the subjects of baptism. It is no less 
 clear that, originally, this ordinance was administered 
 to none but believers, than that it was administered in 
 no other mode than immersion. The commission re- 
 quired the apostles first, to teach; secondly, to baptize 
 those who were taught; and thirdly, to carry on the 
 work of instruction so as to embrace all things what- 
 soever their Lord had commanded them. 
 
 Now it is obvious that in order to persons being 
 taught, they must have arrived at an age when they 
 can receive ideas, and therefore must have advanced 
 beyond the period of infancy. Nor can this be invali- 
 dated by any reference to baptism of households ; for 
 m the cases of all baptized households, it is asserted 
 of them, that they did or enjoyed what is impossible 
 119 
 
7] THE VINF.YARD. 
 
 to infants, viz. " addicted themselves to the ministry 
 of the saints," "believed," "rejoiced," "were com- 
 forted," Sec* Again, repentance and faith were 
 uniformly required of such as received the word, prior 
 to their admission to the ordinance of baptism ; and 
 its absence would have been considered a sufficient 
 reason for refusing that ordinance to an applicant. 
 " If thou believest thou mayest," plainly implies, " un- 
 less thou believest, thou mayest not." Now as infants 
 not only do not, but cannot believe, they may not be ad- 
 mitted to the ordinance. It is useless and irrelevant 
 to talk of the faith of parents or sponsors ; the require- 
 ment of personal repentance, Sec. excludes it. " Repent 
 and be baptized each one (Uoca-T-c? b/Auv) of you," is the 
 command, and one which infants cannot obey. 
 
 Here also, as in the former case, a question arises. 
 How came the ordinance, which was evidently design- 
 ed only for believers, to be administered to infants, to 
 whom faith is impossible ? In answer to this inquiry, 
 it is only necessary to recur to what was before said 
 of the use of figurative language in relation to the or- 
 dinance of baptism. Sickness was not confined to un- 
 baptized adults ; but infants, also, were often sick, and 
 sometimes died. Now the interpretation which had 
 been put on John iii. 3, 5, in consequence of the words 
 " baptism" and "regeneration" having become almost 
 convertible terms, led many to fear for the safety of 
 the souls of such infants. Parental tenderness en- 
 deavored to provide for the safety of such as should 
 die in infancy, and therefore infants in health were im- 
 mersed that they might enter the kingdon of heaven, 
 and infants in sickness were treated as adults in simi- 
 lar circumstances, i. e. sprinkled. Now to this practice, 
 Baptists, like their representative in the parable, ob- 
 ject. They allege that baptism is the door of en- 
 trance into the church, and that none are now to be 
 permitted to pass it, but such as originally did so ; i. e. 
 subjects of personal repentance and faith. They ap- 
 peal to the " book of instructions," and show, not only 
 that baptism was to be administered to such only as 
 believed ; but that those to whom it was administered 
 were "to observe all things whatsoever the Lord com- 
 
 * 1 Cor. xvi. 15. Acts xvi. 34, 40. 
 119 
 
THE VINEYARD. ^fc 
 
 mandedj" — and among them the Lord's supper. They 
 contend, therefore, that either baptism should not be ad- 
 ministered to infants* or that these infants should com- 
 mune at the Lord's table ; but as the latter is not prac- 
 tised by any denomination, so the former should not be 
 practised. 
 
 .Their fellow Christians allege, in reply, that infants 
 are not forbidden to be baptized, and therefore it can- 
 not be improper to administer it to them. To this the 
 Baptists reply, " But who hath required this at your 
 hand ?" for if not required, it will not be accepted. 
 May we substitute water for wine, in the Lord's sup- 
 per? Yet this is not forbidden. Is not the argument 
 as strong for its introduction, as for the admission of 
 infants for baptism ? 
 
 Finally, it is admitted that, in the first age of the 
 Christian church, baptism was administered only to 
 such as professed personal repentance and faith ; this 
 was the " one baptism" of the primitive church ; and 
 as the "book of instructions" requires us to "keep 
 the ordinances as they were delivered to us r " we are not 
 at liberty to alter them. 
 
 In conclusion, dear reader, bear in mind your rela- 
 tion to the Lord of the vineyard. In the first place, 
 see to it that you are found working in it ; that you 
 are a partaker of real vital godliness ; that you are re- 
 newed in spirit by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and 
 pardoned through the blood of Jesus Christ. Having 
 ascertained these points, for your future and farther in- 
 struction, betake yourself to the Scriptures of truth ; and 
 yield implicit obedience to their directions. Ascertain 
 from them what kind of churches the apostles planted, 
 and join yourself to such a church. See if any except 
 baptized believers, were associated in church fellow- 
 ship ; if any communed at the Lord's table who were 
 not baptized, i. e. immersed ; if any were baptized, ex- 
 cept upon profession of personal repentance and personal 
 faith ; and having seen these things in the light of reve- 
 lation, beware how you follow the sparks which human 
 wisdom or human authority have kindled. The Lord 
 given you his instructions, and has commanded you 
 "to keep the ordinances as they were delivered:" his 
 second coming draweth nigh, and then "happy shall 
 that servant be, who is found so doing." 
 119 
 
YINDICATION 
 
 THE BAPTISTS 
 
 FROM THE CHARGE OF BIGOTRY, 
 
 II? REFUSING 
 
 COMMUNION AT THE LORD S TABLE TO P^E DO BAPTISTS. 
 
 BY ABRAHAM BOOTH. 
 
 ABRIDGED. 
 
 There is— ore Bap'.is,n. Ephbs. rv. *"• 
 
 They who are not rightly baptize ', are, doubtless, not baptized a: all. 
 
 Tertuixia*. 
 No unbaptized person communicates at the Lord's Table, Thbophylact. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It was not a fondness for controversy, but a desire 
 to vindicate the honor of Christ, as lawgiver in his 
 own kingdom; to assert the scriptural importance of 
 a positive institution in the house of God ; and to ex- 
 culpate himself, together with a great majority of his 
 brethren of the Baptist persuasion, from charges of 
 an odious kind, that excited the author to compose 
 and publish the following pages. If these designs be 
 answered, the writer obtains his end ; and if not, he 
 has the testimony of his own conscience to the up- 
 rightness of his intentions. 
 
 As we are expressly commanded to " contend ear- 
 nestly for the Faith once delivered to the saints ;" it 
 can hardly be questioned, whether a sincere concern 
 for the purity and permanence of our Lord's appoint- 
 ments in the gospel church, be not an indispensable 
 duty. For they are no less the expressions of his 
 dominion over us, than of his love to us ; no less in- 
 tended as means of his own glory, than of our happi- 
 ness. The subject, therefore, that is here presented 
 to the reader's notice, though not of the greatest, yet 
 is far from being of small importance in the Chris- 
 tian religion. 
 
 It is entirely on the defensive that the author takes 
 up his pen ; for had not the principles and practice 
 of Baptists been severely censured, these pages would 
 never have seen the light. 
 
 That He who is King in Zion may reign in the 
 hearts and regulate the worship of all his professing 
 people ; that the Spirit of wisdom, of holiness, and of 
 peace, may dwell in all the churches of Christ ; and 
 that the same divine Agent may direct the reader's 
 inquiries after truth, engage his affections in the per- 
 formance of duty, and enable him to il walk in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
 less ;" is the sincere desire and fervent prayer of his 
 willing servant in the gospel of Christ, 
 
 A. BOOTH. 
 Goodmaa's Fields, 
 
 March 3, 
 
 Fields, } 
 I, 1778. 5 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Tag*. 
 
 Baptists not chargeable with laying an unwarrantable Stress ori 
 the Ordinance of Baptism, 3 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The general grounds on which we proceed, in refusing com- 
 munion at the Lord's Table, to Psedobaptist Believers. 
 Novelty of the Sentiment and Practice cf those who plead 
 for Free Communion: and the Inconsistency of such a con- 
 duct with Baptist Principles, 16 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Arguments against Free Communion at the Lord's Table, 24 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Several passages of Scripture considered, which are produced 
 in favor of Free Communion, 46 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The Temper required of Christians towards one another, not 
 contrary to our practice — our conduct freed from the charge 
 of Inconsistency — no reason to exalt the Lord's Supper, in 
 point of Importance, as greatlv superior to the Ordinance 
 of Baptism, 51 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 Reflections, ft 
 
BOOTH'S 
 
 VINDICATION OF THE BAPTISTS, 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Baptists not chargeable with laying an unwarrantable 
 Stress on the Ordinance of Baptism. 
 
 Many reflections are cast on the Baptists, and vari- 
 ous charges are laid against them ; of such a kind, as 
 greatly impeach the truth of their doctrinal principles, 
 and the candor of their Christian temper. They are 
 frequently represented as uncharitably rigid, as incorri- 
 gible bigots to a favorite opinion, and as putting bap- 
 tism in the place of our Lord's atoning blood and the 
 sanctifying agency of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 But why such unfriendly surmises and bold accusa- 
 tions ? What is there in our principles or conduct, to 
 authorize such hard suspicions, and such severity of 
 censure ? As to making baptism a substitute for the 
 atonement of Jesus Christ, and the sanctifying agency 
 of the Holy Spirit, it is manifestly contrary to our 
 avowed sentiments ; so contrary, that all the world, 
 one would have thought, must agree to acquit us of 
 such a charge. For it is too notorious to admit a plea 
 of ignorance in any of our opponents, that we consider 
 no one as a proper subject of that institution, who 
 does not profess repentance towards God, and faith in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ; who does not, in other words, 
 appear to be in a state of salvation. Nay, so far from 
 making baptism a saving ordinance, we do not, we 
 cannot consider any one as a proper subject of it, who 
 looks upon it in that light. 
 
 Yet were an imputation of this kind as just as it is 
 groundless ; did we really ascribe a regenerating effi- 
 cacy and saving effects to that sacred appointment; 
 we should hardly forbear concluding, that these com- 
 plaints and charges come with an ill grace from bre- 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [_4 
 
 thren, especially from the ministry, who declare their 
 assent to all that is contained in the book of Common 
 Prayer. For they, immediately after baptizing an in- 
 fant, address first the people, and then the omniscient 
 God, in the following remarkable words : ' Seeing, 
 dearly beloved brethren, that this child is regenerate 
 and grafted into the body of Christ's church, let 
 us give thanks to Almighty God for these benefits — 
 We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, 
 that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this infant 
 with thy holy spirit, to receive him for thine own 
 child by adoption, and to incorporate him into thy 
 holy church.' — Thus the clergy most solemnly profess 
 to believe, when they administer baptism to infants. 
 When giving catechetical instructions to children, 
 they inculcate on their tender minds the same things, 
 as truths and facts of great importance. For thus 
 they interrogate each young catechumen, and thus 
 they teach him to answer. i Who gave you this 
 name? My godfathers and godmothers in my bap- 
 tism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, a 
 child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven. How many sacraments hath Christ ordained in 
 his Church ? Two only, as generally necessary to 
 salvation, that is to say, baptism and the supper of 
 the Lord. What is the inward and spiritual grace ? 
 (i. e. of baptism.) A death unto sin, and a new birth 
 unto righteousness ; for, being by nature born in sin, 
 and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the 
 children of grace.'* Thus children are taught by the 
 parish minister; and in the firm persuasion of those 
 things they are confirmed by the bishop. For, imme- 
 diately before he lays upon them his episcopal hand, 
 he recognizes, in a solemn address to God, the great 
 blessings supposed to be conferred and received by 
 them at the time of their baptism. Thus he prays : 
 ' Almighty and ever living God, who hast vouchsafed 
 to regenerate these thy servants by water and the 
 
 * See the office for public baptism of infants, and the catechism. Whether 
 the doctrine here advanced be consistent with the sentiments of Pcedobaptists in 
 gjeueral, or calculated to instruct che ignorant and edify believers, I must lease 
 .he leader to judge 
 
 126 
 
5 J OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them forgiveness of 
 all their siN,«.' — And, after imposition of hands; 
 4 We make our humble supplications unto thee [the 
 divine Majesty] for these thy servants, upon whom 
 (after the example of thy holy apostles) we have 
 now laid our hands to certify them (by this sign) 
 
 OF THY FAVOR AND GRACIOUS GOODNESS TOWARDS 
 
 them.' Once more; as the church of England sug- 
 gests a painful doubt, relating to the final happiness of 
 such infants as die without baptism ; so she absolutely 
 forbids her Burial Service to be read over any who die 
 unbaptized ; placing them, in this respect, on a level 
 with those that die under a sentence of excommunica- 
 tion for the most enormous crimes, or are guilty of 
 suicide. For thus she instructs her members, and 
 thus she directs her ministers : ' It is certain by God's 
 word, that children which are baptized, dying before 
 they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved — Here 
 it is to be noted, that the office ensuing [i. e. the bu- 
 rial office] is not to be used for any that die unbap- 
 tized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent 
 hands upon themselves.'* Nay, so confident is the 
 British National Church of these things being agreea- 
 ble to the word of God, that she boldly pronounces the 
 following sentence on all who dare to call them in 
 question : — * Whosoever shall hereafter affirm, that the 
 form of God's worship contained in the book of Com- 
 mon Prayer, and administration of the sacraments, 
 containeth any thing in it that is repugnant to the 
 scriptures, let him be excommunicated, and not 
 restored but by the bishop of the place, or archbi- 
 shop, after his repentance and public revocation of 
 such his wicked errors. 't Thus were we really 
 chargeable with representing baptism as a saving ordi- 
 nance, our Episcopal brethren could not consistently 
 lodge a complaint against us on that account. 
 
 If we consult the writings of the most eminent 
 
 • Order for Confirmation, at the conclusion of the office for public baptism oi 
 infants, and Rubric prefixed to order for burial of the dead. 
 
 t Constitutions and Cannons, No. IV. — Similar to this, is that anathematizing 
 decree established by the Council of Trent. Serf. VII. Can V. If any one sh9l| 
 assert, that baptism is free, or not necessary to salvation let him bs accursed 
 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [6 
 
 preachers among the Methodists, we shall find, that 
 their sentiments harmonize with the doctrine of the 
 National Church, in regard to the efficacy and abso- 
 lute necessity of baptism. The late pious and exten- 
 sively useful Mr. George Whitefield thus expresses 
 his views of the subjects before us : — * Does not this 
 verse [John iii. 5.] urge the absolute necessity of water 
 baptism ? Yes, when it may be had ; but how God will 
 deal with persons unbaptized we cannot tell. What 
 have we to do to judge those that are without?'* Had 
 our Methodist brethren met with language and senti- 
 ment like these in any of our publications, they would, 
 undoubtedly, have thought themselves warranted in 
 using their utmost efforts to expose the dangerous 
 error, and to guard their hearers against us, as making 
 a Saviour of baptism. But while some of them, have 
 solemnly professed their cordial consent to the various 
 articles contained in the book of Common Prayer and 
 administration of the sacraments, and while they all 
 unite in revering the character of the late Mr. White- 
 field, they could not be either candid or consistent in 
 condemning us, were we really chargeable with repre- 
 senting baptism as necessary to salvation. 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, enumerating the benefits we re- 
 ceive by being baptized, rpeaks in the following lan- 
 guage : — ' By baptism we enter into covenant with God, 
 into that everlasting covenant, which he hath com- 
 manded forever. By baptism we are admitted into the 
 church, and consequently made members of Christ, its 
 head. — By baptism we, who were by nature children of 
 wrath, are made the children of God. And this regene- 
 ration is more than barely being admitted into the 
 church. — By water, then, as a means, the water of bap- 
 tism, we are regenerated or born again. Baptism doth 
 now save us, if we live answerable thereto ; if we 
 repent, believe, and obey the gospel. Supposing this, 
 as it admits us into the church here, so into glory here- 
 after. — If infants are guilty of original sin, in the 
 ordinary way, they cannot be saved, unless this be 
 washed away by baptism.' \ So Mr. Wesley teaches; 
 
 * Works, Vol iv. p 355—6. t Preservative, p. 146— 150. 
 
 126 
 
7j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 so, says a learned cardinal, the church has always be- 
 lieved; and the Council of Trent confirms the whole. 
 In the firm persuasion of this doctrine, Mr. Wesley is 
 also desirous of settling the members of his very 
 numerous societies. For these positions are contained 
 in a book, professedly intended to preserve the reader 
 from unsettled notions in religion* Now, as I cannot 
 suppose this author imagines, with Dodwell, that 
 infants who die without baptism, are not immortal ; I 
 know not whether he choses to lodge them in the /im- 
 bus puerorum of the Papists;* or whether, with Aus 
 tin, he consigns them over to eternal Damnation , 
 though the one or the other must be the case. For, 
 that millions die without baptism, is an undoubted 
 fact, and that God in favor of such, should be fre- 
 quently departing from the ordinary method of his 
 divine procedure, much oftener departing from, than 
 acting according to it, is hard to conceive ; is abso- 
 lutely incredible, as it involves a contradiction. Yet, 
 on Mr. Wesley's principles, it must be so, if the gene- 
 rality of those that have died, since baptism was insti- 
 tuted, be not excluded the kingdom of heaven. For 
 he who considers what multitudes of Jews and Hea- 
 thens have peopled the earth, ever since the Christian 
 dispensation commenced ; what an extensive spread 
 Mahomet's imposture has had for more than eleven 
 hundred years ; and what numbers of infants die with- 
 out baptism, even in Christian countries, cannot but 
 conclude, even admitting Paedobaptism to have been 
 practised by the apostles, that a vast majority of 
 deceased infants have left the world Without being 
 baptized. Now who could suppose an author and a 
 preacher, that asserts the efficacy and exalts the im- 
 portance of baptism at this extravagant rate, should 
 charge the Baptists with placing an unlawful depend- 
 ance on that ordinance ? Yet, that he has frequently 
 done so, in his pulpit discourses, if not in his numer- 
 ous publications, is beyond a doubt $ is known to 
 thousands! 
 
 We are not conscious of attributing any degree ot 
 
 * Forbesii instruct. Hist. Theolog. p. 493. 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION [ 8 
 
 importance to baptism, which our Paedobaptist dis- 
 senting brethren do not allow, and for which they do 
 not plead. Do we consider it as a divine appoinment, 
 as an institution of Christ, the administration and use 
 of which are to continue to the end of the world ? 
 So do they. Do they consider it as an ordinance 
 which, when once rightly administered to a proper 
 subject is never to be repeated ? So do we. Do we 
 look upon it as indispensably necessary to communion 
 at the Lord's table? So do they. Do we actually re- 
 fuse communion to such whom we consider as unbap- 
 tized ? So do they. No man, considered by them as 
 not baptized, would be admitted to break bread at the 
 Lord's table, in any of their churches ; however amia- 
 ble his character, or how much soever they might 
 esteem him in other respects. 
 
 Nor is this a new opinion, or a novel practice : for 
 such has been the sentiment and such the conduct of 
 the Christian church in every age. Before the grand 
 Romish apostacy, in the very depth of that apostacy, 
 and since the Reformation, both at home and abroad ; 
 the general practice has been, to receive none but bap- 
 tized persons to communion at the Lord's table. The 
 following quotations from ancient and modern writers, 
 relating to this point, may not be improper. Justin 
 Martyr, for instance, when speaking of the Lord's 
 supper, says ; * This food is called by us the Eucharist ; 
 of which it is not lawful for any to partake, but such 
 as believe the things that are taught by us to be true, 
 and have been baptized.'* — Jerom ; 4 Catechumens can- 
 not communicate ;' i. e. at the Lord's table, they be- 
 ing unbaptiztd.\ — Austin, when asserting the absolute 
 necessity of infants receiving the Lord's supper, says ; 
 4 of which, certainly, they cannot partake unless they be 
 baptized. '$ — Bede informs us, that three young princes 
 among the eastern Saxons, seeing a bishop administer 
 the sacred supper, desired to partake of it, as their 
 deceased and royal father had done. To whom the 
 
 * Apolog. II. p. 162 Apud Suicerum, Thes. Ecclesi. Tom. II. col. 1135. 
 t Catechumeni — communicarenon possunt. In cap. VI. Epist. II. ad Corinth 
 I Quod nisi baptizati non utique possunt. Epis. ad Bonifacium, Epist. CVl, 
 126 
 
9] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 bishop answered ; « If ye will be washed, or baptized, 
 in the salutary fountain, as your father was, ye may 
 also partake of the Lord's supper, as he did, but if 
 ye despise the former, ye cannot in any wise receive 
 the latter.' They replied, * we will not enter into the 
 fountain, or be baptized ; nor have we any need of it ; 
 but yet we desire to be refreshed with that bread.' 
 After which the historian tells us, that they importu- 
 nately requesting, and the bishop resolutely refusing 
 them admission to the holy table, they were so exas- 
 perated, as to banish both him and his out of their king- 
 dom.* — Theopylact; ' No unbaptized person partakes 
 of the Lord's supper.' — Bonaventure; 'Faith, indeed, 
 is necessary to all the sacraments, but especially to 
 the reception of baptism : because baptism is the first 
 among the sacraments, and the door of the sacra- 
 ments, 't 
 
 Quotations of this kind might be greatly multiplied : 
 but that none were admitted to the sacred supper in 
 the first ages of the Christian church, before they 
 were baptized, we are assured by various learned 
 writers, well versed in ecclesiastical antiquity. For 
 instance : Frid. Spanheimius asserts, ' That none but 
 baptized persons were admitted to the Lord's table. '\ 
 Lord Chancellor King j t Baptism was always precedent 
 to the Lord's supper; and none were admitted to 
 receive the Eucharist, till they were baptized. This 
 is so obvious to every man, that it needs no proof. '§ — 
 Dr. Wall ; ' no church ever gave the communion to any 
 persons before they were baptized — Among all the 
 absurdities that ever were held, none ever maintained 
 that, that any person should partake of the commu- 
 nion before he was baptized. '|J— -Dr. Doddridge ; ' It is 
 certain that Christians in general have always been 
 spoken of, by the most ancient fathers, as baptized 
 persons : — and it is also certain, that as far as our 
 
 * Hist. Eccles. Lib. II: Cap. V. p. 63. 
 
 f Apud Forbesium, Instruct. Historic. Theolog. lib. X. cap. IV. $ 9. 
 % Subjecta ad eucharistiam admissa, soli baptizati. Hist Christian col. 623 
 $ Enquiry, Part H. p. 44. 
 II Hut. Infant Bap. Part II. chap. ix. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [jq 
 
 knowledge of primitive antiquity reaches, no unbap- 
 tized person received the Lord's supper.'* 
 
 That the Protestant churches in general have always 
 agreed in the same sentiment and conduct, is equally 
 evident. Out of many eminent writers that might be 
 mentioned, the following quotations may suffice. 
 Ursinus, asserts ; 'That they who are not yet baptized, 
 should not be admitted to the sacred supper.'\ — Ravenel- 
 lius, speaking of the Lord's supper, says ; l Baptism 
 ought to precede; nor is the holy supper to be admin- 
 istered to any, except they be baptized.'^ — Zanchius ; 
 * We believe that baptism, as a sacrament appointed 
 by Christ, is absolutely necessary in the church. "§ — 
 Hoornbeekius; 'iVoo?zeis admitted to the sacred supper, 
 unless he is baptized. '|J — Turrettinus ; ' It is one thing 
 to have a right to those external ordinances of the 
 church, which belong to a profession 5 and it is ano- 
 ther to be interested in the internal blessings of faith. 
 Unbaptized believers have actually a right to these, 
 because they are already partakers of Christ and his 
 benefits : though they have not yet a right to those, 
 except in observing the appointed order, by baptism.'^ 
 Leydecker ; 'Baptism is necessary, not only in a way of 
 expediency, but by virtue of a divine precept. They 
 therefore who reject it, reject the counsel of God against 
 themselves.'** — Benedict. Pictetus ; 'The supper of 
 our Lord ought not to be administered to persons 
 that are unbaptized : for before baptism, men are not 
 considered as members of the visible church, 'ft— Marc- 
 kius ; ' The dying, and the unbaptized, are not to 
 be admitted to communion. 'JJ — Mr. Baxter; 'If 
 any should be so impudent as to say, it is not the 
 meaning of Christ, that baptizing should immediately, 
 without delay, follow discipling, they are confuted by 
 
 * Lectures, p. 511. 
 
 t Nondumbaptizati, ad coenam non sunt admittendi. Corp. Doct. Christ, p. 566 
 t Bibliotheca Sacra, Tom. I. p. 301. § Opera. Tom. VIII. col. 516. 
 |i Socin. Confut. Tom. III. p. 416. 
 
 U Institut. Theolog. Tom. III. Loc. XVIII. Queest. IV. $ 10. 
 ** Idea Theolog. p. 2-25. ft Theolog. Christiana p. 959, 960. 
 XI Christ. Theolog. Medulla, p. 406. 
 126 
 
1 l] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 the constant example of Scripture. So that I dare 
 say, that this will be out of doubt with all rational, 
 considerate, impartial Christians.'* — Once more: Dr. 
 Doddridge thus expresses his views of the subject. 
 'The law of Christ requires that all who believe the 
 gospel should be baptized—For any to abstain from 
 baptism, when he knows it is an institution of Christ, 
 and that it is the will of Christ that he should subject 
 himself to it, is such an act of disobedience to his 
 authority, as is inconsistent with true faith — How 
 excellent soever any man's character is, he must be bap- 
 tized before he can be looked upon as completely a 
 member of the church of Christ. 't 
 
 Perfectly conformable to these testimonies, are the 
 Catechisms and Confessions of faith, that have been pub- 
 lished at any time, or by any denomination of Chris- 
 tians : for if the positive institutions of Christ be not 
 entirely omitted, baptism is not only always mentioned 
 first, but generally mentioned in such a way, as inti- 
 mates that it is a prerequisite to the Lord's table. 
 And so, even in our common forms of speaking, if we 
 have occasion to mention both these solemn appoint- 
 ments of our Lord, baptism still has the priority. 
 Thus generally, thus universally, is it allowed, that 
 baptism is necessary to communion at the Lord's 
 table. Nay, many of our Paedobaptist brethren con- 
 sider the ordinance in a more important light than we. 
 For they frequently represent it, as a seal of the cove- 
 nant of grace ; as a mean of bringing their infant offspring 
 into covenant with God; and some of them severely 
 censure us, for leaving our children to the uncovenant- 
 ed mercies of the Most High, merely because we do 
 not baptize them. Expressions and sentiments these, 
 which we neither adopt nor approve 5 because they 
 seem to attribute more to the ordinance, than the sa- 
 cred scriptures, in our opinion, will warrant. 
 
 It appears, then, to be a fact, a stubborn, incontesti- 
 ble fact, that our judgment and conduct, relating to 
 the necessity of baptism in order to communion, per- 
 
 * Plain Scripture Proof, p. 126. 
 
 \ Lectures, p. 508, 512. Discourses on Regen. Postscript to pref. p. 12, 13 
 126 
 
booth's vindication £12 
 
 fectly coincide with the sentiments and practice of all 
 Paedobaptist churches. Nor have I heard of any such 
 church now upon earth, with which we do not, in this 
 respect, agree ; for none, of whom I have any intelli- 
 gence, be their sentiments or modes of worship what- 
 ever they may, in regard to other things, admit any 
 to the sacred supper, who have not, in their opinion, 
 been baptized. And, on the other hand, when the 
 importance of baptism comes under consideration be- 
 tween us and them, it is manifest, that Psedobaptists 
 in general, ascribe more to it than we, and place a 
 greater dependence upon it Consequently, neither 
 candor, nor reason, nor justice, will admit that we 
 should be charged, as we have frequently been, with 
 laying an unwarrantable stress upon it. 
 
 The point controverted between us and our Psedo- 
 baptist brethren, is not, Whether unbaptized believers 
 may, according to the laws of Christ, be admitted to 
 communion : for here we have no dispute ; but, What 
 is baptism, and who are the proper subjects of it ? In 
 the discussion of these questions there is, indeed, a 
 wide and a very material difference \ but in regard to 
 the former we are entirely agreed. Why, then, do 
 our brethren censure us as uncharitably rigid, and 
 incorrigible bigots? The principal reason seems to 
 be this : They, in general, admit, that immersion in 
 the name of the triune God, on a profession of faith 
 in Jesus Christ, is baptism, real baptism; while our 
 fixed and avowed persuasion will not permit us to 
 allow, that infant sprinkling,* though performed with 
 the greatest solemnity, is worthy of the name. Con- 
 sequently, though they, consistently with their own 
 principles, may receive us to communion among them, 
 yet we cannot admit them to fellowship with us at 
 the Lord's table, without contradicting our professed 
 sentiments. For it appears to us, on the most delibe- 
 rate inquiry, that immersion is not a mere circumstance, 
 or a mode of baptism, but essential to the ordinance : 
 so that, in our judgment, he who is not immersed, is 
 
 • The reader is oesired to observe, that when 1 make use of the phrase infant 
 fprinkiing, or any expression of a similar import, it is merely by way of di$- 
 Unction— without annexing any 6econdarv, or obnoxious idea to it. 
 126 
 
13] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 not baptized. This is the principle on which we pro- 
 ceed, in refusing communion to our Paedobaptist bre- 
 thren, whom, in other respects, we highly esteem, and 
 towards whom we think it our duty to cultivate the 
 most cordial affection. Nor can we suppose but they 
 would act a similar part, were they in our situation. 
 Were they fully persuaded, for instance, that the great 
 Head of the church had not commanded, nor in any way 
 authorized his ministering servants to require a pro- 
 fession of faith prior to baptism; and were they equally 
 certain that the ordinance never was administered by 
 the apostles to any but infants, nor in any other way 
 than that of aspersion or pouring, would they not look 
 upon the immersion of professing believers, as a quite 
 different thing from baptism ? And, were this the 
 case, would they not consider us as unbaptized, and 
 refuse to have communion with us on that account? 
 I am persuaded they would, notwithstanding their 
 affection for any of us, as believers in Jesus Christ 
 Consequently, if we be really culpable in the eyes of 
 our brethren, it is for denying the validity ot infant 
 baptism ; not because we refuse communion to Paedo- 
 baptists — for an error in our judgment, which misleads 
 the conscience; not for perverseness of temper, or a 
 want of love to the disciples of Christ. 
 
 The Lord's supper was not appointed to be a test of 
 brotherly love among the people of God; though several 
 objections that are made against us seem to proceed on 
 that supposition. It must be allowed, that as it is a sa- 
 cred feast and an ordinance of divine worship, mutual 
 Christian affection among communicants at the same 
 table, is very becoming and highly necessary, and so 
 it is in all other branches of social religion. But 
 that sitting down at the holy supper should be 
 considered as the criterion of my love to individuals, 
 or to any Christian community, does not appear from 
 the word of God. The supper of our Lord was de- 
 signed for other and greater purposes. It was intend- 
 ed to teach and exhibit the most interesting of all 
 truths, and the most wonderful of all transactions. 
 The design of the Great Institutor was, that it should 
 be a memorial of God's love to us y and of ImmunucV* 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION' 
 
 [H 
 
 death for us: that, the most astonishing favor ever 
 displayed ; thii, the most stupendous fact that angels 
 ever beheld. Yes, the love of God, in giving 1 his dear, 
 his only Son ; and the death of Christ, as our divine 
 substitute and propitiatory sacrifice, are the grand ob- 
 jects we are called to contemplate at the Lord's 
 table. 
 
 As to a. proof, a substantial proof of our love to the 
 children of God, it is not given at so cheap and easy a 
 rate, as that of sitting down with them, either occa- 
 sionally or statedly, at the holy table. Numbers do 
 that,who are very far from loving the disciples of Christ, 
 for the truth's sake. To give real evidence of thai 
 heavenly affection, there must be the exercise of such 
 tempers, and the performance of such actions, as re- 
 quire much self-denial ; and without which, were we 
 to commune with them ever so often, or talk ever so 
 loudly of candor and a catholic spirit, — we should, 
 after all, be destitute of that charity, without which 
 we are * nothing." The reader, therefore, will do well 
 to remember, that the true test of love to the disciples 
 of Christ, is not a submission to any particular ordi- 
 nance of public worship ; for that is rather an evil 
 dence of his love to God and reverence for his autho- 
 rity; but sympathizing with them in their afflictions : 
 feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking 
 pleasure in doing them good, whatever their necessi- 
 ties may be. For this I have the authority of our final 
 Judge, who will say to his people, "Come, ye blessed 
 of my Father, for" — what? Ye have manifested your 
 love to the saints and your faith in me, by holding free 
 communion at my table with believers of all denomi- 
 nations ? No such thing. But, " I was an hungered, 
 and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
 drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, 
 and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I 
 was in prison, and ye came unto me." 
 
 Our opponents often insinuate, that we are more 
 zealous to establish a favorite mode, and make prose- 
 lytes to our own opinion and party, than to promote 
 the honor of Jesus Christ and the happiness of immor- 
 tal souls. Were this the case, we should, indeed, be 
 126 
 
I 5] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 much to blame, and greatly disgrace our Christian 
 character. * But why are the Baptists to be thus rep- 
 resented ? Do they affirm that the kingdom of Christ 
 is confined to them ? that they only have the true re- 
 ligion among them ? and that, unless men are of their 
 party, they will not be saved ? Do they wish success 
 to none that are employed in the vineyard, but them- 
 selves ? or say of others, engaged in the same com- 
 mon cause, Master, forbid them, because they follow 
 not with us ? On the contrary, do they not profess a 
 warm esteem and affection for all those, of whatever 
 communion, who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and aim 
 to promote his cause in the world ? and do they not 
 give proof of this, by holding a friendly correspond- 
 ence with them as opportunities offer ; and by cordial- 
 ly joining them in occasional exercises of public wor- 
 ship ? It is not the distinguishing tenet of baptism, 
 how much soever they wish it to prevail, that is the 
 main band that knits them in affection to one another ; 
 it is the infinitely nobler consideration of the relation 
 they stand in to Christ as his disciples. They hope, 
 therefore, to be believed when they declare, that they 
 most cordially embrace in the arms of Christian love 
 the friends of Jesus who differ from them in this 
 point; and to be further believed when they add, that 
 they hold the temper and conduct of the furious zea- 
 lot for baptism, who fails in his allegiance to Christ, 
 and in the charity he owes his fellow Christians, in 
 sovereign contempt.'* 
 
 My reader will not here expect a discussion of the 
 mode and subject of Baptism ; for it is not that ordi- 
 nance considered in itself, or as detached from other 
 appointments of Jesus Christ ; but the order in which 
 it is placed, and the connexion in which it stands with 
 the Lord's supper, that are the subject of our inquiry. 
 
 * Dr. Stennett's Answer to Mr. Addington, Part II. p. 284, 285, 
 126 
 
BOOTH'S VINDICATION' fl6 
 
 SECTION II 
 
 The general grounds on which we refuse Communion at 
 the Lord's table, to Pasdobaptist believers — Novelty ej 
 the Sentiment and Practice of those who plead for Free 
 Communion: and the Inconsistency of such a Conduct 
 with Baptist Principles. 
 
 The following- positions are so evidently true, that 
 they will not be disputed : 
 
 Our divine Lord, in whom are hid all the treasures 
 of wisdom and knowledge, is perfectly well qualified 
 to judge what ordinances are proper to be appointed, 
 and what measures are necessary to be pursued, in 
 order to obtain the great design of religion among 
 mankind. Being head over all things to the church, 
 he possesses the highest authority to appoint ordi- 
 nances of divine worship, and to enact laws for the 
 government of his house, which appointments and laws 
 must bind the subjects of his government in the 
 strictest manner. Having loved the church to the 
 most astonishing degree, even so as to give himself a 
 ransom for her,* he must be considered as having 
 made the wisest and the best appointments, as having 
 given the most salutary and perfect laws, with a view 
 to promote her happiness, and as means of his own 
 glory. These laws and ordinances are committed to 
 writing and contained in the Bible • which heavenly 
 volume is the rule of our faith and practice, in things 
 pertaining to religion • our complete and only rule, in 
 all things relating to the instituted worship of God 
 and the order of his house. So that we should 
 receive nothing as an article of our creed, which is 
 not contained in it : do nothing as a part of divine 
 worship, not commanded by it • neither omit nor 
 alter any thing that has the sanction of our Lord's 
 appointment. Xor have we any reason to expect, 
 that ">ur divine Lawgiver ana sovereign Judge will 
 accent our solemn services, any further than we fob 
 low those directions which Ae has given, without ad 
 dition, alteration, or diminution. "What thing 
 126 
 
f 7"] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 soever I command you, observe to do it : thou shalt 
 not add thereto, nor diminish from it;" were the in- 
 junctions of Jehovah to the ancient Israelitish church. 
 * Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I 
 have commanded you 5" is the requisition of Jesus 
 Christ to all his ministering servants.* 
 
 In the worship of God there cannot be either obe- 
 dience or faith, unless we regard the divine appoint- 
 ments. Not obedience; for that supposes a precept, 
 or what is equivalent to it. Not faith; for that re- 
 quires a promise, or some divine declaration. If then, 
 we act without a command, we have reason to ap- 
 prehend that God will say to us, as he did to Israel of 
 old, " Who hath required this at your hand ?" And, 
 on the contrary, when our divine Sovereign enjoins 
 the performance of any duty, to deliberate is disloyalty ; 
 to dispute is rebellion. — ' Believers, who really at- 
 tend to communion with Jesus Christ,' says a judi- 
 cious author, ' do labor to keep their hearts chaste to 
 him in his ordinances, institutions, and worship. 
 They will receive nothing, practise nothing, own no- 
 thing in his worship, but what is of his appointment. 
 They know that from the foundation of the world he 
 never did allow, nor ever will, that in any thing the 
 will of the creature should be the measure of his ho- 
 nor, or the principle of his worship, either as to mat- 
 ter or manner. It was a witty and true sense that 
 one gave of the second commandment ; i Nbn imago, 
 non simulachrum prohibetur ; sed non fades tibi. It is 
 a making to ourselves, an inventing, a finding out ways 
 of worship or means of honoring God, not by him 
 appointed, that is so severely forbidden.'! — 'To serve 
 God otherwise than he require th,' says another learn- 
 ed writer, l is not to toorship, but to rob and mock 
 him. In God's service, it is a greater sin to do that 
 which we are not to do, than not to do that which we 
 are commanded. This is but a sin of omission ; but 
 that a sin of sacrilege and high contempt. In this 
 we charge the law only with difficulty ; but in that 
 
 * Deui. xii. 32. Matt, xxviii 20.— Smith's compendious Account of the Form 
 and Order of the Church, p. 15, 16. 
 ■f Dr. Owen on Communion with God, p. 170. 
 
 *36 
 
booth's vindication [ 18 
 
 with folly. In this we discover our weakness to do 
 the will, but in that we declare our impudence and 
 arrogancy to control the wisdom of God. In this we 
 acknowledge our own insufficiency ; in that we deny 
 the all-sufficiency and plenitude of God's own law. 
 We see the absurdity and wickedness of will-worship, 
 when the same man who is to perform the obedience, 
 shall dare to appoint the laws ; implying a peremptory 
 purpose of no further observance than may consist 
 with the allowance of his own judgment. Whereas 
 true obedience must be grounded on the majesty of 
 the power that commands ; not on the judgment of 
 the subject, as to the benefit of the precept imposed. 
 Divine laws require obedience, not so much from the 
 quality of the things commanded as from the authority 
 of him that institutes them.'* 
 
 That the gospel should be preached to all nations 
 for the obedience of faith ; and that, under certain 
 restrictions, they who receive the truth, should be 
 formed into a church state, few can doubt. It is 
 equally clear from the foregoing positions, that it 
 belongs to the supreme prerogative of Jesus Christ, 
 to appoint the terms and conditions on which his peo- 
 ple shall have a place in his house and a seat at his 
 table. For we cannot suppose with any appearance 
 of reason, that these conditions are arbitrary ; or such 
 as every distinct community may think fit to impose. 
 No ; a gospel church has no more power to fix the 
 terms of communion, or to set aside those prescribed 
 by Jesus Christ, than to make a rule of faith, or to 
 settle ordinances of divine worship. This is one cha- 
 racteristic of a church, as distinguished from a civil 
 society ; the terms of admission into the latter are dis- 
 cretional, provided they do not interfere with any 
 divine law 5 but those of the former are fixed by him 
 who is King in Zion. No congregation of religious 
 professors, therefore, has any authority to make the 
 door of admission into their communion, either 
 straiter, or wider, than Christ himself has made it. -f 
 
 * Bp. Reynold's Works, p. 163, 422. 
 » Dr. Rid^lev'a Body of Divinity, p. 343, Glasgow edit. 
 '26 
 
19j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 — * The original form of this house, [i. e. the church 
 of Christ] was not precarious and uncertain ; to be 
 altered, and changed, and broke in upon by man, or 
 by any set of men at pleasure. This would reflect on 
 the wisdom and care, as well as on the steadiness of 
 Christ; who is in his house, as well as in the highest 
 heavens, the steady and the faithful Jesus ; the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever, and not in the least 
 given to change ; but its form is fixed, particularly in 
 the New Testament. Had Moses or any of the 
 elders of Israel, so much power over the tabernacle 
 as to alter or change a pin thereof? and with what 
 face can man pretend to a power to model and alter 
 at pleasure, gospel churches ? As if Christ, the true 
 Moses, had forgot, or neglected, to leave with us the 
 pattern of the house.'* 
 
 Baptism and the Lord's supper are positive ap- 
 pointments in the Christian church, about which we 
 cannot know any thing, relating to their mode of ad- 
 ministration, subject or design, except from the re- 
 vealed will of their great Institu tor. For, as a learned 
 writer observes, " All positive duties, or duties made 
 such by institution alone, depend entirely upon the 
 will and declaration of the person, who institutes and 
 ordains them, with respect to the real design and end 
 of them ', and consequently, to the due manner of per- 
 forming them." It behoves us, therefore, well to con- 
 sider the rule which our Lord has given relating to 
 these ordinances. 'Because we can have no other 
 direction in this sort of duties ; unless we will have 
 recourse to mere invention, which makes them our 
 own institutions, and not the institutions of those who 
 first appointed them.'t 
 
 That there is a connexion between the two positive 
 Institutions of the New Testament, is manifest from 
 the word of God ; and that one of them must be prior 
 to the other, in order of administration, is evident 
 from the nature of things : for a person cannot be bap- 
 tized and receive the sacred supper at the same in- 
 stant. Here, then, the question is, (if any doubt may 
 
 • Mr, Bragge, on Church Discipline, p. 9. t Bp. Hoadley's Plain Account, p. 3 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION [20 
 
 be moved on a point so evident, without affronting 
 common sense) which of them has the previous claim 
 on a real convert's obedience ? Baptism or the Lord's 
 Supper? If we appeal to the persuasion and practice 
 of Christians in all nations and in every age, it will 
 clearly appear, that the former was universally consi- 
 dered^ by the churches of Christ,* as a divinely ap- 
 pointed prerequisite for fellowship in the latter, till 
 about the middle of the last century, when some few 
 of the Baptists in England began practically to 
 deny it, by defending and practising mixed commu- 
 nion. A sentiment so peculiar, and a conduct so un- 
 common as their's are in regard to this institution, 
 require to be well supported by the testimony of the 
 Holy Ghost. For were all the Christian churches now 
 in the world asked, except those few that plead for 
 free communion, whether they thought it lawful to 
 admit unbaptized believers to fellowship at the Lord's 
 table 9 there is reason to conclude they would readily 
 unite in that declaration of Paul ; * Wt have no such 
 custom, neither the churches of God" that were before 
 us. Yes, considering the novelty of their sentiment 
 and conduct, and what a contradiction they are to the 
 faith and order of the whole Christian Church ; — con- 
 sidering that it never was disputed, so far as I can 
 learn, prior to the sixteenth century, by orthodox 01 
 heterodox, by Papists or Protestants, whether unbap- 
 lized believers should be admitted to the Lord's table ; 
 they all agreeing in the contrary practice, however 
 much they differed in matters of equal importance; 
 it may be reasonably expected, and is by us justly de- 
 manded, that the rectitude of their conduct who admit 
 unbaptized persons to the supper should be proved, 
 
 * That there were people of different denominations in the second and third 
 centuries, who pretended a regard to the name of Jesus Christ, and yet rejected 
 baptism, is readily allowed ; but then, it may be observed, that many of them 
 had as little esteem for the Lord's supper. Nay, as a learned writer asserts 
 the generality of them renounced the scriptures themselves. Nor am I igno- 
 rant that Socinus, in the latter end of the sixteenth century, considered bap 
 tism as an indifferent thing, except in reference to such as are converted from 
 Judaism, Paganism, or Mahometanisiu ; but ourbretbien with whom I am now 
 eoncerned will hardly allow, that societies formed on the principles of those 
 ancient corrupters of Christianity, nor yet on those of Socinus, are worthy to 
 be called. Churches of Christ. Vnl. Suiceruin, Thesaur. Eccles. sub voce &xxTt<rpa 
 aadDr VVatJ* Hist. Inf. flap. Part II. Chap. V 
 »96 
 
21] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 really proved from the records of inspiration. A man 
 may easily show his fondness for novelty, and the de- 
 ference, he pays to his own understanding, by boldly 
 controverting the opinions, and resolutely opposing 
 the practice, of the wisest and the best of men in every 
 age ; but, if he would avoid the imputation of arro- 
 gance, he must demonstrate that the things he opposes 
 are vulgar errors, which have nothing to recommend 
 them but great antiquity and general custom. Our 
 persuasion, therefore, concerning the necessity of 
 baptism as a term of communion, having had the 
 sanction of universal belief and universal practice for 
 almost sixteen hundred years, it lies on our brethren 
 to prove that it is false and unscriptural ; and to shew, 
 from the New Testament, that theirs has the stamp 
 of divine authority. 
 
 But is it not strange, strange to astonishment, if the 
 scriptures contain their sentiment, and vindicate their 
 conduct, that it never was discovered by any who ac- 
 knowledge the proper Deity of Jesus Christ, till the 
 latter end of the last century ? Long before then, 
 almost every principle of the Christian faith, almost 
 every branch of Christian worship, had been the sub- 
 ject either of learned or unlearned controversy, 
 among such as thought themselves the disciples of 
 Jesus Christ. The Quakers arose, it is well known, 
 about the time when this new sentiment was first 
 adopted in England ; and they entirely renounced 
 baptism, as well as the Lord's supper. But, so far as 
 appears, the people of that denomination never sup- 
 posed, that they who thought it their duty to celebrate 
 the sacred supper, were at liberty to do it before they 
 were baptized. — The ingenious author of the Pilgrim's 
 Progress was one of the first, in this kingdom, who 
 dared to assert, that the want of baptism is no bar to 
 communion, and acted accordingly. The Quakers aris- 
 ing a little before him, proceeded a step further, and 
 entirely cashiered both baptism and the supper of our 
 Lord 5 looking upon them as low, carnal, temporary ap- 
 pointments. Much respect, I allow, is due to the 
 character of Bunyan. He was an eminent servant of 
 Jesus Christ, and patiently suffered in his Master's 
 126 
 
BOOTH'S VINDICATION [22 
 
 cause. Many of his writings have been greatly useful 
 to the church of God, and some of them, it is proba- 
 ble, will transmit his name with honor to future ages. 
 But yet I cannot persuade myself, that either his 
 judgment or his piety appeared in this bold innova- 
 tion. The disciples of George Fox, though less con- 
 formable to the word of God, acted more consistently 
 with their own principles, than did the justly cele- 
 brated dreamer then, or those who practise free com- 
 munion now. 
 
 Some of the Popish missionaries among the Indians 
 have been charged, by respectable authorities, with 
 concealing the doctrine of Me cross from their hearers, 
 lest they should be tempted to despise the great 
 Founder of the Christian religion, because he made 
 his exit on a gibbet ; they are said to have made it 
 their principal aim, to persuade the poor ignorant 
 creatures to be baptized, imagining that they would 
 be christianized, by a submission to that ordinance ; 
 as if being baptized, and conversion to Jesus Christ, 
 were one and the same thing ! What a destructive de- 
 lusion this ! What an impious exaltation of a positive 
 institution, into the place of redeeming blood, and the 
 regenerating power of the Holy Spirit ! — But were 
 one of our ministering brethren who plead for free 
 communion, to be sent as a missionary into those 
 parts of the world ; he, I presume, would not be in the 
 least danger of thus over-rating baptism, and of depre- 
 ciating its great institutor. No; he would boldly 
 preach a crucified and risen Jesus, as the only founda- 
 tion of hope for his hearers ; and, if the energy of 
 God attended his labors with considerable success, 
 he would think it his duty to lay before such as 
 believed in Christ, what he had learned from the New 
 Testament, relating to a gospel church — its nature 
 and ordinances, its privileges, duties and great utility. 
 In doing of which, he could hardly forbear to mention 
 baptism, as an appointment of his divine master : but 
 though he might mentionit, yet, on his hypothesis, he 
 could not require a submission to it, as previously 
 necessary to their incorporating as a church, and 
 their having communion together at the Lord's table. 
 126 
 
23] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 He might, indeed, recommend it to his young conv 
 verts, as having something agreeable in it; but if 
 they did not see its propriety ; or if, on any other ac- 
 count unknown to him, they did not choose to com- 
 ply, and yet were desirous of being formed into a 
 church state, and of having communion at the Lord's 
 table ; he could not refuse, though not one of them 
 was, or would be baptized. For if it be lawful to ad- 
 mit one believer to communion, purely as a believer, 
 and without baptism ; it cannot be criminal to admit 
 all such, if they desire it : that which is proper and 
 right for one, being so to a million, if they be in the 
 same circumstances. Thus he would gather a church 
 in perfect contrast with those formed by his fellow 
 missionaries. For, while they put baptism in the 
 place of the Saviour, he would reject his command, 
 aud lay the ordinance entirely aside : they make it all 
 and he make it nothing. — And were a narrative of 
 such proceedings to fall into the hands of a Psedo- 
 baptist, who had never heard of any that practised, 
 or pleaded, for free communion, what a singular 
 figure it would make in his view! 4 A minister of 
 Jesus Christ, he would say, gathering a church among 
 the Indians, and administering the sacred supper, 
 yet all his communicants unbaptized! Strange, in- 
 deed! — A Christian minister, called a Baptist, entire- 
 ly omitting that very ordinance from which he takes 
 his denomination! For the Baptists, of all men, are 
 said to love water and to be fond of baptism. It ex- 
 ceeds the bounds of credibility ; but, if it be a fact, he 
 is the oddest mortal and the most unaccountable 
 Baptist that ever lived. The ambiguity of his charac- 
 ter would be such, that the pen of ecclesiastical his- 
 tory would always be doubtful what to call him, or 
 under what denomination of religious professors to 
 appoint his place !' Such would be the surprise and 
 such the reflections of both the learned and the vul- 
 gir, who had not heard of Baptists that plead for free 
 communion ; they being the only Christians now in 
 the world, for aught appears, that are capable of 
 realizing such a report. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [ 24 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Arguments against Free Communion at the Lord's Table. 
 
 It must, I think, be allowed, that the order and con- 
 nexion of positive appointments in divine worship, 
 depend as much on the sovereign pleasure of the great 
 Legislator, as the appointments themselves ; and if 
 so, we are equally bound to regard that order and 
 connexion, in their administration, as to observe the 
 appointments at all. Whoever, therefore, objects to 
 that order, or deviates from it, opposes that sovereign 
 authority by which those branches of worship were 
 
 first instituted. -For instance : Baptism and the 
 
 Lord's supper, it is allowed on all hands, are positive 
 ordinances ; and, as such, they depend for their very 
 existence on the sovereign will of God. Consequent- 
 ly, which of them should be administered prior to the 
 other, (as well as, to what persons, in what way, and 
 for what end) must depend entirely on the will of their 
 divine Author. His determination must fix their or- 
 der ', and his revelation must guide our practice. 
 
 Here, then, the question is, Has our sovereign 
 Lord revealed his will, in regard to this matter ? 
 "To the law and to the testimony — How readest 
 thou ?" 
 
 To determine the query, we may first consider the 
 order of time, in which the two positive institutions of 
 the New Testament were appointed. That baptism 
 was an ordinance of God, that submission to it was 
 required, and that it was administered to multitudes, 
 before the sacred supper was heard of, or had an exis- 
 tence, are undeniable facts. There never was a time, 
 since the ministry of our Lord's forerunner commen- 
 ced, in which it was not the duty of repenting and be- 
 lieving sinners to be baptized. The venerable John, 
 the twelve apostles, and the Son of God incarnate, all 
 united in recommending baptism, at a time when it 
 would have been impious to have eaten bread and 
 drank wine as an ordinance of divine worship. Bap- 
 tism, therefore, had the priority, in point of institu- 
 126 
 
55] OF THE BAPTISTS 
 
 tion ; which is a presumptive evidence that it has, and 
 ever will have, a prior claim on our obedience. 
 
 Let us secondly consider the order of words, in that 
 commission which was given, to the- ambassadors of 
 Christ. He who is King in Zion, when asserting the 
 plenitude of his legislative authority, and giving di- 
 rection to his ministering servants, with great solem- 
 nity says j " All power is given to me in heaven and 
 earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
 tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe 
 all things whatsoever I have commanded you."* Such 
 is the high commission, and such the express com- 
 mand, of Him who is Lord of all, when addressing 
 those that were called to preach his word, and ad- 
 minister his institutions. — Here, it is manifest, the 
 commission and command are, first of all to teach ; 
 then — what? To baptize? or to administer the Lord's 
 sapper? I leave common sense* to determine. A 
 limited commission includes a prohibition of such 
 things as are not contained in it ; and positive laws 
 imply their negative. For instance : When God com- 
 manded Abram to circumcise all his males, he readi- 
 ly concluded, that neither circumcision, nor any rite 
 of a similar nature, was to be administered to his 
 females. And, as our brethren themselves maintain, 
 when Christ commanded that believers should be bap- 
 tized, without mentioning any others ; he tacitly pro- 
 hibited that ordinance from being administered to in~ 
 fants ; so, by parity of reason, if the same sovereign 
 Lord commanded, that believers should be baptized 
 — baptized immediately after they have made a profes- 
 sion of faith ; then he must intend, that the adminis- 
 tration of baptism should be prior to a reception of 
 the Lord's supper ; and, consequently, tacitly pro- 
 hibits every unbaptized person having communion at 
 his table. 
 
 Thirdly. The order of administration in the primi- 
 tive and apostolic practice, now demands our notice. 
 That the apostles, when endued with power from on 
 
 •Matt, xrviii 15,19,20. 
 126 
 
HOOTH 8 VINDICATION 
 
 L2« 
 
 high, understood our Lord in the sense for which we 
 plead, and practised accordingly, is quite evident. 
 For thus it is written ; 4t Then they that gladly receiv- 
 ed his word were" what ? admitted to the Lord's 
 table ? No ; but " baptized. And the same day there 
 were added unto them about three thousand souls. 
 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doc- 
 trine and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in 
 prayer."* — Now, in regard to the members of this 
 first Christian church, either our opponents conclude 
 that they were all baptized, or they do not. If the 
 latter, whence is their conclusion drawn ? Not from 
 the sacred historian's narrative. For thence we learn, 
 that they whose hearts were penetrated by keen con- 
 victions, were exhorted to be baptized — that they who 
 gladly received the truth were actually baptized — and 
 that they who were baptized, and they only, for any 
 thing that appears to the contrary, were added to the 
 church. In what book, in what chapter, in what 
 verse is any declaration found, relating to the church 
 at Jerusalem, that can warrant a conclusion that un- 
 baptized persons ate of the Lord's supper? 
 
 If all the members of this truly apostolic church 
 were baptized ; then, either the constitution of it, in 
 that respect, is expressive of the mind of Christ, and 
 is a model for succeeding churches, or it is not. If 
 the former, either Jesus Christ discovered some de- 
 fect in that plan of proceeding, and, in certain cases, 
 countermanded his first order, or it must be wrong 
 to admit persons to communion, who are not baptized. 
 But if this apostolic precedent, is not expressive of 
 the mind of Christ, and the pattern for imitation to 
 the end of the world ; the apostles, were either igno- 
 rant of our Lord's will, or unfaithful in the perfor- 
 mance of it. Consequences these, which cannot be 
 admitted, without greatly prejudicing the honor and 
 interest of true religion, and not a little contributing 
 to the cause of infidelity : for which reason they will, 
 no doubt, be abhorred by all our brethren. 
 
 It is manifest from the first and most authentic his- 
 
 * Arts H. 41, «. 
 
 126 
 
27~\ OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 tory of the primitive Christian church, contained in 
 the Acts of the apostles • that after sinners had re- 
 ceived the truth and believed in Jesus Christ, they 
 were exhorted and commanded, by unerring teachers, 
 to be baptized without delay. For thus we read • 
 " Repent and be baptized every one of you" — •• When 
 they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning 
 the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, 
 they were baptized, both men and women" — " And 
 Philip said, If thou believest with* all thy heart, thou 
 mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that 
 Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded 
 the cnariot to stand still : and they went down both 
 into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he 
 baptized him" — " And was baptized, he and all his 
 straightway" — " Many of the Corinthians, hearing, 
 believed, and were baptized" "And now, why tarriest 
 thou ? Arise and be baptized" — '• Can any man forbid 
 water, that these should not be baptized, which have 
 received the Holy Ghost, as well as we ? And he 
 commanded them to be baptized in the name of the 
 Lord" — Acts ii. 38. viii. 12. 37. xvi. 33. xviii. 8. 
 xxii. 16. x. 47. — Hence, it is abundantly evident, that 
 baptism, in those days, was far from being esteemed 
 an indifferent thing* and equally far from being de- 
 ferred, till the Christian converts had enjoyed com- 
 munion at the Lord's table for months and years. 
 Submission to baptism was the first, the very first 
 public act of obedience, to which both Jews and Gen- 
 tiles were called, after they believed in Jesus Christ. 
 The highest evidence of a person's acceptance with 
 God, though attended with the baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit in the bestowal of miraculous gifts, was so far, 
 in the account of Peter, from superseding the neces- 
 sity of a submission to the ordinance of baptism • that 
 he urged the consideration of those very acts, as a 
 reason why they who were so blessed and honored 
 should submit to it immediately. Consequently, while 
 we revere the authority by which the apostles acted, 
 and while we believe that infant sprinkling is not bap- 
 tism ; we are obliged, in virtue of these ancient pre- 
 cedents, and by all that is amiable in a consistent 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION' [28 
 
 conduct, to admit none to communion at the Lord's 
 table, whom we do not consider to be really baptized 
 according to the command of Christ. 
 
 Nor have we the least reason to believe that the 
 apostles were invested with a discretioyxal power, to 
 alter our Lord's institutions as they might think pro- 
 per ; either as to mode, or subject, or their order and 
 connexion one with another. They never pretend to 
 any such power $ they utterly disclaim it. Let us 
 hear the declaration of one, as the language of all, and 
 that in regard to the sacred supper. •* I have receiv- 
 ed of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you." 
 And again, relating to his doctrine in general, when 
 writing to the same people, and in the same epistle, 
 he says ; U I delivered unto you that which I also re- 
 ceived." — 1 Cor. xi. 23. xv. 3. — The apostles being 
 only servants in the house of God, had no more au- 
 thority to alter or dispense with an ordinance of Jesus 
 Christ, than any other minister of the word. Their 
 apostolic gifts and powers did not at all invest them 
 with a right of legislation in the kingdom of their di- 
 vine Lord. They were still but stewards; as such 
 they claimed regard from the churches, in which they 
 labored and to which they wrote ; at the same time 
 freely acknowledging, that it was their indispensable 
 duty to M be found faithful" in the whole extent of 
 their office ; they being accountable to the great Head 
 of the church. They acted, therefore, in the whole 
 compass of their duty, under the command, and by 
 the direction of the ascended Jesus. Nay, the more 
 they were honored and blessed by him, the more were 
 they bound to obey the least intimation of his will. 
 
 Fourthly. If we regard the different signification of 
 the two institutions, it will appear that baptism ought 
 to precede. In submitting to baptism, we have an 
 emblem of our union and communion with Jesus 
 Christ, as our great representative, in his death, burial 
 and resurrection ; at the same time declaring, that 
 we " reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but 
 alive to God ;" and that it is our desire, as well as our 
 duty, to live devoted to him. And as, in baptism, we 
 profess to have received spiritual life ; so in com- 
 126 
 
29] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 municating at the Lord's table, we have the emblems 
 of that heavenly food by which we live, by which we 
 grow, and in virtue of which we hope to live for ever. 
 And as we are born of God but once, so we are bap- 
 tized but once : but as our spiritual life is maintained 
 by the continued agency of divine grace, and the com- 
 fort of it enjoyed by the habitual exercise of faith on 
 the dying Redeemer, so it is our duty and privilege 
 frequently to receive the holy supper. Hence theo- 
 logical writers have often called baptism, the sacra- 
 ment of regeneration, or of initiation : and the Lord's 
 supper, the sacrament of nutrition. 
 
 Whether, therefore, we consider the order of time, 
 in which these two institutions were appointed ; or 
 the order of words, in the great commission given by 
 our Lord to his ministering servants ; or the order of 
 administration in the apostolic practice ; or the different 
 signification of the two solemn appointments, a sub- 
 mission to baptism ought ever to precede a reception 
 of the Lord's supper. 
 
 Should any one question the validity of this infer- 
 ence, T would ask ; Whether, in regard to the sacred 
 supper, he might not as well deny the necessity of al- 
 ways blessing the bread, before it be broken ; or of 
 breaking the bread, before it be received ; or of re- 
 ceiving the bread, before the wine ? Or, by what bet- 
 ter arguments, he would prove the opposite conduct, 
 either unlawful or improper ? Nay, if these declara- 
 tions, and facts, and precedents, be not sufficient to 
 determine the point in our favor; it will be exceed- 
 ingly hard, if not impossible, to conclude with cer- 
 tainty, in what order any two institutions that God 
 ever appointed, were to be administered. For, surely, 
 that order of proceeding which agrees with the time 
 in which two institutions were appointed ; with the 
 words in which the observation of them was enjoined; 
 with the first administration of them by unerring 
 teachers; and with their different signification,m\istbe. 
 the order of truth, the order of propriety, and the or- 
 der of duty, because it is the order of God. We do 
 well to remember, that when Paul commends the 
 Corinthians for " keeping the ordinances as they were 
 
 126 
 
BOOTH'S VINDICATION [30 
 
 delivered to them ;" it is plainly and strongly implied, 
 that divine ordinances are given us to keep ; that they 
 who keep them us they were instituted, are to be com- 
 mended ; and that they who do not keep them at all, 
 or observe them in a different order or manner from 
 that at first appointed, are worthy of censure. 
 
 It appears then, that the order in which the two 
 positive institutions of Jesus Christ should be ad- 
 ministered, is no less clearly expressed in the New 
 Testament, than the mode and subject of baptism. 
 
 It would, no doubt, have been highly offensive to 
 God, if the priests or the people of old had inverted 
 the order appointed by him, for the administration of 
 his own solemn appointments. For instance ; First 
 admit to the passover, afterwards circumcise ; burn 
 incense in the holy place, then offer the propitiatory 
 sacrifice. Have we any reason, then, to imagine, that 
 a similar breach of order is not equally displeasing to 
 God, under the New Testament economy ? If not, it 
 must be supposed, that the Most High has not so 
 great a regard to the purity of his worship, or is less 
 jealous of his honor, and does not so much insist on 
 his eternal prerogative now, as he did under the for- 
 mer dispensation : suppositions these, which they who 
 acknowledge his universal dominion and absolute im- 
 mutability, will hardly admit. 
 
 The argument on which mixed communion is urged, 
 if suffered to operate in its full extent, would ex- 
 clude both baptism and the Lord's supper from the 
 worship of God. Baptism, it is said ought never to 
 be made a term of communion in the house of God. 
 It is affirmed that the grand, the only query, that is 
 really necessary relating to a candidate for com- 
 munion, is, Has God received him ? Is he a believer 
 in Jesus Christ ? 
 
 If this grand rule of proceeding be right, we are 
 bound to receive believers, as such, and have com- 
 munion with them at the Lord's table, though they 
 do not consider themselves as baptized. I would beg^ 
 leave to ask ; whether they would receive a candi- 
 date for communion, whom they esteem as a believer 
 in Jesus Christ, who has not been baptized in infancy; 
 126 
 
"1 
 
 OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 nor is willing to be baptized at all ? The supposition 
 of a person, in such circumstances, applying for fel- 
 lowship at the Lord's table, is far from being im- 
 probable ; nay, I have known it a real fact. What, 
 then, would our brethren do in such a case ? — If they 
 receive a person, in the supposed case, they avowedly 
 reject baptism, as unnecessary to fellowship in a 
 church of Christ ; for if it be not requisite in every 
 instance, it is not so in any. If they refuse him, it 
 must be because he is not baptized ; for they consider 
 him as a partaker of divine grace. If they reject him 
 purely on that ground, Baptists ought to reject all 
 who have had no other than infant baptism ; because 
 they consider it as a very different thing from the ap- 
 pointment of Christ. But, as before hinted, by the 
 same rule that we receive one to communion, who is 
 not baptized; who does not consider himself as bap- 
 tized ; who does not pretend to be baptized ; we may 
 receive all : for as there is but one Lawgiver, there is 
 but one law, relating to this matter; and he who has 
 a right to dispense with it once, may do so as often as 
 he pleases. Consequently, the principle adopted by 
 those who plead for free communion, has a natural 
 tendency to exclude baptism from the worship of 
 God. 
 
 I conclude, that though such a proceeding would be 
 quite novel, absolutely unexampled in the churches of 
 Christ, and would, probably, both astonish and offend 
 sister communities, the church must receive him. But 
 if it be lawful in one instance, it must be so in a thou- 
 sand ; and, therefore, a church on this principle, might 
 thus go on, till the Lord's supper were entirely reject- 
 ed by all her members, and banished from the wor- 
 ship of God, as it is among the Quakers. 
 
 The church of England has justly incurred the cen- 
 sure of all Protestant Dissenters, for her arrogant 
 claim of * power to decree rites or ceremonies,' in the 
 worship of God, * and of authority in controversies of 
 faith ;'* because such a claim infringes on the preroga- 
 tive royal of Jesus Christ. But do not our brethren 
 
 * Articles of the Chureh of England, No. xx. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [32 
 
 tacitly assume a similar power, when they presume tc 
 set aside an ordinance of Christ, or to reverse the or- 
 der of divine institutions ? it being demonstrable, that 
 as great an authority is necessary to lay aside an old, 
 established rite ; or to invert the order and break the 
 connexion of several rites ; as can be required to in- 
 stitute one that is entirely new. ■ For it is a maxim 
 in law ;' and holds good in divinity, ' That it requires 
 the same strength to dissolve as to create an obliga- 
 tion.'* — If it be lawful to dispense with an appoint- 
 ment of God, out of regard to our weaker brethren, 
 we cannot reasonably think it unlawful to practise the 
 appointments o. a National Church, out of regard to 
 the ruling powers ; submission to the latter, being no 
 less plainly required in Scripture, than condescension 
 to the former. And if we may safely connive at one 
 human invention, so as to supersede and take place 
 of a divine institution ; why may not the church of 
 England make what appointments she pleases ? A 
 little reflection will convince us, that he whose au- 
 thority is competent to the setting aside or altering 
 of one divine institution, has a power equal to his 
 wishes — may ordain times, and forms, and rites of 
 worship ; may model the house of God according to 
 his own pleasure. But can such an authority belong 
 to any besides the Great Supreme? No; to such an 
 ordaining, or dispensing power, neither church nor 
 synod, neither parliament nor conclave, neither king 
 nor pope, has the least claim. For as the exertion 
 of Omnipotence was equally necessary to the creation 
 of a worm, as an angel ; of an atom, as a world : so 
 the interposition of divine authority is no less neces- 
 sary to set aside, or to alter, one branch of instituted 
 worship, than to add a thousand religious rites, or 
 essentially to alter the w r hole Christian system. 
 
 Nor are those writers who have appeared in vindi- 
 cation of the English Establishment, ignorant of their 
 advantage over such Protestant Dissenters as proceed 
 on the principles here opposed. For thus they argue; 
 "If, notwithstanding the evidence produced, that 
 
 * Blackstone's Comment, on the Laws of England, Vol. I. Book I. ch. 2 
 126 
 
33 J OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 baptism by immersion is suitable, both to the institu* 
 Lion of our Lord and his apostles ; and was by them 
 ordained to represent our burial with Christ, and so 
 our dying unto sin, and our conformity to his resur- 
 rection by newness of life j as the apostle doth clearly 
 maintain the meaning of that rite : I say, if notwith- 
 standing this, all our (Paedobaptist) Dissenters do 
 agree to sprinkle the baptized infant ; why may they 
 not as well submit to the significant ceremonies im- 
 posed by our church ? For since it is as lawful to 
 add unto Christ's institution a significant ceremony, 
 as to diminish a significant ceremony which he or his 
 apostles instituted, and use another in its stead, which 
 they never did institute ; what reason can they have 
 to do the latter, and yet refuse submission to the 
 former ? And why should not the peace and union 
 of the church be as prevailing with them to perform 
 the one, as in their mercy to the infant's body to 
 neglect the other ?"* — I leave the intelligent reader to 
 apply this reasoning to the case before us, and 
 shall only observe ; that if this learned writer had 
 been addressing free communion Baptists, his argu- 
 ment would have had superior force. Because our 
 Paedobaptist brethren believe that infant sprinkling 
 is real baptism, and practise it as having the stamp 
 of divine authority ; whereas Baptists believe no such 
 thing, and consider it as a mere human invention. 
 
 As the sovereign authority and universal dominion 
 of God, over his rational creatures ; as his absolute 
 right, not only to worship, but also to be worshipped 
 in his own way, are more strongly asserted and 
 brightly displayed in his positive institutions, than in 
 any other branches of his worship ; so, it is manifest, 
 that we cannot disobey his revealed will concerning 
 them, without impeaching his wisdom and opposing 
 his sovereignty. Because a special interposition of 
 divine authority, and an express revelation of the di- 
 vine will, constitute the basis, the only basis, on which 
 such institutions rest, in regard to their mode and 
 subject, their order and connexion one with another. 
 
 * Dr. Whitby's Protestant Reconciler, p. 280. 
 *26 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION [54 
 
 For us then, to admit, as a divine institution, what 
 we verily believe is a human invention, would be to 
 act an unjustifiable part. For, on our principles, in- 
 finite wisdom chose and absolute sovereignty ordain- 
 ed professing believers as the subjests, and immersion as 
 the mode of baptism. 
 
 Again : as the sovereign will of God is more con- 
 cerned and manifested in positive ordinances than in 
 any other branches of holy worship ; so it is evident, 
 from the history of the Jewish church, which is the 
 history of Providence for near two thousand years, 
 that the divine jealousy was never sooner inflamed, nor 
 ever more awfully expressed, than when God's ancient 
 people failed in their obedience to such commands, 
 or deviated from the prescribed rule of such institu- 
 tions. The destruction of Nadab and Abihu, by fire 
 from heaven ; the breach that was made upon Uzzah; 
 the stigma fixed and the curses denounced on Jero- 
 boam ; together with the fall and ruin of all mankind, 
 by our first father's disobedience to a positive com- 
 mand, are among the many authentic proofs of this 
 assertion. — Nor need we wonder at the divine pro- 
 cedure, in severely punishing such offenders. For 
 knowingly to disobey the positive laws of Jehovah, is 
 to impeach his wisdom or his goodness, in such in- 
 stitutions ', and impiously to deny his legislative au- 
 thority and absolute dominion over his creatures. 
 And though the methods of Providence, under the 
 gospel economy, are apparently much more mild and 
 gentle, in regard to offenders in similar cases ; yet 
 our obligation to a conscientious and punctual obedi- 
 ence is not in the least relaxed. For that divine 
 declaration, occasioned by the dreadful catastrophe 
 of .Aaron's disobedient sons, is an eternal truth, and 
 binding on all generations; " J will be sanctified in 
 them that come nigh me." — Levit. x. 1, 2, 3. — 
 When God speaks, we should be all attention ; and 
 when he commands, we should be all submission. 
 The clearer light which God has afforded, and the 
 richer grace which Christ has manifested, under the 
 present dispensation ; are so far from lessening, that 
 they evidently increase ©ur obligations to perform 
 126 
 
35] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 every divine command relating to Christian worship. 
 For, certainly, it must be allowed, that they on whom 
 greater favors are bestowed and higher honors con- 
 ferred, are so much the more obliged to revere, love, 
 and obey their divine Benefactor. And, as a certain 
 author justly observes, ' To take advantage of dark 
 surmises, or doubtful reasoning, to elude obligations 
 of any kind, is always looked upon as an indication 
 of a dishonest heart.'* Most dangerous then, is the 
 principle, and rebellious the conduct of those pro- 
 fessors, who think themselves warranted, by the grace 
 of the gospel, to trifle with God's positive appoint- 
 ments. Whether Jehovah lay his commands on 
 Gabriel in glory, or on Adam in paradise ; whether 
 he enjoin the performance of any thing on Patriarchs, 
 or Jews, or Christians, they are all and equally bound 
 to obey, or else his commands must stand for no- 
 thing. Neither diversity of economy, nor difference 
 of state, makes any alteration in this respect. We 
 must be absolutely independent of God, before our 
 obligations to obey him can be dissolved. But as 
 the former is impossible, so is the latter, f 
 
 This reasoning is very strongly supported by the 
 following quotation, taken from a little publication by 
 Mr. John Ryland. ' The ordinances of the gospel are 
 established by the authority of Christ, as king and 
 supreme law-giver in his church ; they are particular- 
 ly enforced by his own example, and his will express* 
 ly declared : and as they have no dependence on any 
 circumstances which are liable to vary in different 
 countries or distant periods of time, it necessarily 
 follows that the primitive model of administration 
 should be strictly and conscientiously adhered to. 
 No pretence to greater propriety, nor any plea of in- 
 conveniency, can justify our boldly opposing the au- 
 thority of God by the alteration of his law, and sub- 
 stituting a human ordinance instead of a divine. In 
 a former dispensation, in which the ritual was numer- 
 ous and burdensome, the great Jehovah was particu- 
 
 *Dr. Oswald's Appeal to Common Sense, p. 21. 
 t Witsii Miscel. Sac. Tom. I. Lib. II. Disser. II. 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION [36 
 
 larly jealous of his honor as Supreme Lawgiver, and 
 looked upon the least innovation as a direct opposition 
 of his authority. Moses, we are informed, was ad- 
 monished of God to make all things according to the 
 pattern showed him in the mount. And those un- 
 fortunate youths who presumed to after the form of 
 his religion, and worshipped him in a way he had not 
 commanded, fell under the severest marks of his dis- 
 pleasure ; which shows that he looked upon the least 
 innovation in the ceremonial part of his precepts, as 
 an impious and daring opposition and contempt of 
 his authority, and as deserving- of peculiar and dis- 
 tinguished vengeance, as a direct and open violation 
 of the moral law. And as the great King of the uni- 
 verse required such exactness and punctuality, and 
 insisted on such scrupulous exactness in the perfor- 
 mance of the minutest rite belonging to the legal dis- 
 pensation ; it would be extremely difficult to assign a 
 reason why he should be more lax and careless , and 
 allow a greater scope to human discretion under the 
 Christian economy. The greater light which shines 
 in our religion, the small number and simplicity of 
 its ceremonials, and the end and design of those insti- 
 tutions being more clearly revealed 5 are reasons 
 which strongly indicate the contrary. And if it be 
 further observed, that the religion of Jesus is particu- 
 larly calculated to set aside worldly wisdom and 
 mortify the pride of man ; it cannot, without great 
 absurdity, be supposed, that the sublime Author of it 
 will dispense with the performance of his positive 
 laws, or admit of the least variation, to honor that 
 wisdom, or indulge that pride which the whole scope 
 of his gospel hath a manifest tendency to abase. 
 Surely then it behoves Christians, in an affair of such 
 consequence, to be circumspect and wary ; it will 
 certainly be well for them, if they can give a good ac- 
 count of their practice, and a satisfactory answer to 
 that important question, Who hath required this at 
 your hand ?'* 
 
 To dispense with the positive appointments of 
 
 * Six Views of Believers' Baplism, p. 17—20. 
 126 
 
37] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 Jesus Christ, or to reverse the order of their adminis- 
 tration, in condescension to weak believers, and with 
 a view to the glory of God, cannot be right. For, as 
 an eminent author observes, 'They must be evasions 
 past understanding, that can hold water against a di- 
 vine order — God never gave power to any man, to 
 change his ordinances, or to dispense with them. 
 God is a jealous God, and careful of his sovereignty. 
 'Tis not for any inferior person to alter the stamp and 
 impression the prince commands. None can coin 
 ordinances but Christ; and, till he call them in, they 
 ought to be current among us.'* To which I may 
 add the testimony of another learned writer, who 
 says, when speaking of baptism ; 4 As the salvation 
 of men ought to be dear unto us ; so the glory of God, 
 which consisteth in that his orders be kept, ought to 
 be much more dear.'t What is dispensing with a 
 positive appointment, but laying it aside, or conni 
 ving at a neglect of it, on such occasions in which it 
 was commanded to be administered ? Now, for us to 
 admit unbaptized persons to the Lord's table, would 
 be to lay entirely aside, and annul the ordinance. To 
 dispense with a divine institution, for the edification 
 of weak believers, and invert the order of God's ap- 
 pointments and break his positive laws, with a view 
 to his glory, would seem to border on that hateful 
 maxim, " Let us do evil that good may come." A 
 position, which the pen of inspiration execrates 5 
 which every virtuous mind abhors. But that no pre- 
 tence of doing honor to God, nor any plea of being 
 useful to men, can possibly deserve the least regard, 
 if the measures which must be pursued to obtain the 
 end interfere with the divine revealed will, we learn 
 from various facts recorded in the Bible. Uzzah, for 
 instance, when he put forth his hand to support the 
 tottering ark, thought, no doubt, he was doing honor 
 to him who dwelt between the cherubims, over the 
 mercy-seat ; and, at the same time, as that sacred 
 coffer was of the last importance in the ancient sanc- 
 tuary, he showed an equal regard to the edification o» 
 
 * Chamock's Works, Vol. II. p. 763, 773, 774 Edit. t. 
 t Cartwi ight, in Wall's History of Infant Baptism. Part I. Uhap. 15. 
 126 
 
BOOTH'S VINDICATION J 38 
 
 his fellow worshippers, by endeavoring 1 to preserve 
 it from injury. But, notwithstanding this fair pre- 
 text ; nay, though the man after God's own heart saw 
 little amiss in his conduct ; (perhaps, thought he de- 
 served praise as the ark, with all that pertained to it, 
 and its whole management, were of positive appoint- 
 ment ;) he, whose name is JEALOUS, was greatly of- 
 fended. The sincere, the well-meaning man, having 
 no command nor any example for what he did, fell 
 under Jehovah's anger and lost his life, as the reward 
 of his officiousness. And as the Holy Ghost has re- 
 corded the fact so circumstantially,* we have reason 
 to consider it as a warning to all, of the danger there 
 is in tampering with positive ordinances ; and as a 
 standing evidence, that God will have his cause sup- 
 ported and his appointments administered, in his own 
 way. — The case of Saul, and the language of Samuel 
 to that disobedient monarch, inculcate the same truth. 
 " The. people," said Saul to the venerable prophet, 
 " took of the spoil, sheep and oxen — to sacrifice unto 
 the Lord thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath 
 the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacri- 
 fices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, 
 to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than 
 the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witch- 
 craft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."! 
 — Remarkable words! The king of Israel, we find, 
 pleaded a regard to the worship and the honor of 
 God. The cattle were spared, that Jehovah's altai 
 might be furnished with plenty of the finest sacrifices. 
 But Samuel soon overruled this fair pretence. He 
 quickly informed the infatuated prince, that obedience 
 to divine appointments, especially in such duties as 
 depend entirely on an express command (as the utter 
 destruction of Amalek did, and as communion at the 
 Lord's table now does) is better in the sight of God, 
 than hecatombs of bleeding sacrifices, or clouds of 
 smoking incense: and, consequently, better than a 
 misapplied tenderness to any of our fellow-creatures, 
 or a misguided zeal to promote their peace and edifi- 
 cation. At the same time the prophet assures him, 
 
 ♦2 Sam. vi. 1-11. 1 1 Sam. iv. 21, 22, 23. 
 
 26 
 
39j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 that when the Most High commands, nothing can ex- 
 cuse a non-performance; because disobedience to a 
 plain, positive, known command, is justly classed with 
 idolatry and witchcraft. 
 
 A very sensible writer, in the conclusion of a dis- 
 course upon this passage, observes, that we may 
 learn from this text, what are the true characteristics 
 of acceptable obedience. * It must be implicit ; found- 
 ed immediately on the authority of God. We must 
 not take upon us to judge of the moment and impor- 
 tance of any part of his will, further than he hath 
 made it known himself. It is a very dangerous thing 
 for us to make comparisons between one duty and 
 another ; especially with a view of dispensing with 
 any of them, or altering their order, and substituting 
 one in another's place.' — Another 'character of true 
 obedience is, that it be self-denied and impartial; that 
 it be not directed or qualified by our present interest. 
 — It is too common, that our own interest both points 
 out the object, and assigns the measure of our obedi- 
 ence ; and in that case, it does not deserve the name 
 of obedience to God at all. When the Christian is 
 devoted to God, ready at his call, and equally dis- 
 posed to any employment assigned him in providence, 
 lie then may be said indeed to do his will. — It must 
 ' be universal, without any exception. Saul, and the 
 children of Israel, had complied so far with the order 
 given them, that the greatest part both of the people 
 and rubstance of Amalek was destroyed ; but he stop- 
 ped short, and knowingly left unfinished what had 
 been enjoined him by the same authority.'* 
 
 When a Paedobaptist applies for communion with 
 Baptists, he acts upon a persuasion that he has been 
 rightly and truly baptized : for there is reason to be- 
 lieve, that the generality of our Paedobaptist brethren 
 would start at the thought of partaking at the Lord's 
 table, while they consider themselves as unbaptized. 
 Consequently, when our opponents admit one of them 
 to communion, they confirm him in what they con- 
 sider as a false presumption, and practically approve 
 of what, at other times, they boldly pronounce a hu~ 
 
 * Dr. Witherspoon's Practical Discourses, Vol. I. p. 335, 336. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [40 
 
 man invention, a tradition of men, and will-worship ; for 
 such infant sprinkling must be, if not a divine appoint- 
 ment. Nor can they exculpate themselves in this re- 
 spect, unless they were professedly to receive him, as 
 unbaptized. Because he considers himself as bap- 
 tized, he desires communion as baptized ; nor has he 
 any idea of sitting down at the Lord's table, as unbap- 
 tized ; well knowing, that such an attempt would be 
 contrary to the apostolic pattern, and to the sense of 
 the Christian church in general. 
 
 That circumcision was, by divine command, an in- 
 dispensable qualification, in every male, for a partici- 
 pation of the Jewish passover, and communion in the 
 sanctuary worship, is generally allowed. And though 
 I am far from thinking that baptism came in the place 
 of circumcision, as many of our Paedobaptist brethren 
 suppose ; yet that the former is equally necessary to 
 communion at the Lord's table, under the Christian 
 economy, as the latter was to every male in order to 
 partake of the paschal feast, and to unite in the taber- 
 nacle service, I am fully persuaded. Nor is my opin- 
 ion singular. It has been the sense of the Christian 
 church in every age; and, excepting the few Baptists 
 who plead for free communion, it is the voice of the 
 Christian world in general at this day. — I do not find 
 that the necessity of circumcision, for the purposes 
 just mentioned, was ever controverted, either by the 
 ancient or modern Jews. We will suppose, however, 
 for the sake of argument, that it was disputed in the 
 Jewish church ; and that, amidst a great variety of 
 interesting intelligence which the Rabbinical writers 
 pretend to give, concerning ancient customs and an- 
 cient disputes, they are found to speak as follows : 
 'In the days of our master, Moses, disputes arose 
 about the nature and necessity of circumcision : that 
 is, whether the ancient rite was to be performed on 
 the foreskin, or on a finger; and, whether it was an 
 indispensably requisite qualification, in every male, 
 for a seat at the paschal feast, and admission to the 
 sanctuary worship. The generality of our fathers 
 maintained that no male, though a son of Abraham, 
 that no Gentile, though he might acknowledge and 
 26 
 
41 J OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 serve Abraham's God, had any claim to communion 
 in those joyful and solemn services, if he was not cir- 
 cumcised according to the divine command. Others 
 contended with no less assurance, that circumcision 
 being only an outward sign of what is internal and 
 spiritual, every male, whether a descendant from the 
 loins of our father Abraham, or one of the Gentile 
 race who knew and feared the God of Israel, had an 
 undeniable claim to fellowship, though it were not the 
 foreskin of his flesh, but a finger that was circumcised. 
 The latter asserted with great confidence, that the 
 holy blessed God having accepted such, (as plainly 
 appeared by their having the internal and spiritual 
 circumcision) it would be absurd and uncharitable to 
 refuse them communion. And when disputing with 
 their opponents, they would with an air of superior 
 confidence demand ; Will you reject from fellowship 
 those whom God has received ? — Absolutely reject 
 those who have the thing signified, barely because, in 
 your opinion, they want the external sign? — Those 
 who possess the substance, perhaps, to a much greater 
 degree than yourselves, merely because they want the 
 shadow? What, will you refuse communion to a 
 brother Israelite, or a pious Gentile, in the tabernacle 
 here below, with whom you hope to enjoy everlasting 
 fellowship in the temple above ? Strange attachment 
 to the manner of performing an external rite! Be- 
 sides, great allowances must be made for the preju- 
 dices of education. These brethren whom you reject 
 as if they were heathens or were absolutely unclean, 
 have been educated in the strongest prejudices against 
 what we think the true circumcision. They have 
 been taught from their earliest infancy, that though 
 our fathers, for a few centuries after the rite was 
 established, generally circumcised the foreskin ; yet 
 that the part on which the ceremony was first per- 
 formed, is by no means essential to the ordinance. 
 Various inconveniencies attend the mode of admin- 
 istration then generally practised ; and our cus- 
 tom is not forbidden by any divine revelation. Be- 
 sides, though it be admitted that the divinely appoint- 
 ed mode of administering the sacred rite is of some 
 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [42 
 
 importance ; yet it must be admitted that the edifica- 
 tion of such as truly fear God is of infinitely greater 
 importance. But, if you exclude them from the 
 solemn sanctuary worship, you debar them from a 
 capital mean of their spiritual benefit. You should 
 also consider, who is to be the judge of what is, or is 
 not, the true circumcision. Everyman, most certain- 
 ly, must judge for himself, and not one for another; 
 else you destroy the right of private judgment ; you 
 invade the sacred prerogative of conscience ; and 
 tacitly advance a claim to infallibility. If your bre- 
 thren, who circumcise a finger instead of the part ap- 
 pointed, be satisfied in their own minds, they are cir- 
 cumcised to themselves ; and while the answer of a 
 good conscience attends it, God will and does own 
 them in it, to all the ends designed by it ; so that 
 while they consider it as laying them under the same 
 obligations to holiness of heart and life, as we con- 
 sider our circumcision to do us, why should you not 
 have fellowship with them? — Nor are you sufficiently 
 aware, how much you injure the cause of real religion, 
 and promote the baneful interests of infidelity, by be- 
 ing so strict and rigid. Were you to be more candid 
 and charitable in regard to this matter, it might be 
 expected that numbers of our brethren, who, it must 
 be allowed, administer this rite in a very improper 
 manner, would cordially unite with us, and in time 
 utterly renounce their mistake. We should also have 
 reason to hope that many of our Gentile neighbors, 
 who detest circumcision as performed by us, might 
 become proselytes to the Jewish religion, and worship 
 the most high God in fellowship with us. But so 
 long as you insist not only on the rite itself (for that 
 we ourselves are not willing to give up entirely) but 
 on that mode of administration which is so obnoxious 
 to them, as indispensably necessary to communion 
 with you ; it will be, not only a wall of partition be- 
 tween us and them, but a bone of contention among the 
 chosen tribes themselves. Consequently it must im- 
 pede, greatly impede, the exercise of that love to God, 
 and that affection for man, which are of much greater 
 126 
 
43") OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 importance than the most accurate performance of a 
 merely external rite." 
 
 Now supposing our brethren in the course of their 
 reading to meet with such an account, what would 
 they think of it? What would they say? They 
 would undoubtedly suspect the truth of the whole. 
 They would consider it as a Rabbinical fable! 
 
 Now according to the judgment of the Christian 
 world in general, circumcision was not more neces- 
 sary for all the males who desired communion at the 
 paschal supper and in the solemn services of the 
 tabernacle, than baptism is to fellowship in the Chris- 
 tian church, and a seat at the Lord's table — there is 
 a wider and a more material difference between bap- 
 tism as now administered to infants, and baptism as 
 appointed by Jesus Christ, than there would have 
 been between cutting off the foreskin and circum- 
 cising a finger : because the latter would have been 
 circumcision, and the circumcision of a proper subject 
 also, though not of the part required ; but sprinkling, 
 whether infants or adults, is no more baptism, than it 
 is immersion. Had any members of the ancient syna- 
 gogue introduced or admitted such an alteration as 
 that supposed, they might have defended it on the 
 same general grounds, and with much greater plausi- 
 bility, in several respects at least, than a Baptist could 
 defend the practice of free communion. For I appeal 
 to my reader, whether the Pentateuch of Moses and 
 the scriptures of the prophets do not say as much of 
 circumcising the finger, as the evangelical history and 
 the writings of the apostles do of baptizing infants. 
 
 Paul, when meeting with certain disciples at 
 Ephesus, desired to know, whether they had received 
 the Holy Ghost since they believed. To whom they 
 answered, " We have not so much as heard whether 
 there be any Holy Ghost." On which the apostle put 
 the following question: "Unto what then were ye 
 baptized?" And they said, u Unto John's baptism." 
 From which it plainly appears, that as these persons 
 professed to be disciples of Jesus Christ, Paul took it 
 for granted they had been baptized. For his query is 
 not, Have you been baptized? But, "Unto, or into 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [44 
 
 what then were ye baptized ?" He inferred their bap- 
 tism from their profession : and he had reason so to 
 do. For he well knew, that the first administrator 
 of the ordinance required a submission to it, of all 
 that brought " forth fruits meet for repentance j" that 
 the apostolic ministry demanded the same act of 
 obedience, from all that believed in Jesus Christ 5 and 
 the administration of baptism is a part of the minis- 
 terial office, being* strictly connected with teaching 
 the disciples of Christ, * to observe all things which 
 he has commanded." And, as an author before 
 quoted, justly remarks ; * We find that the preachers 
 of the gospel always did it, and the people who gladly 
 received the word desired it. How indifferent soever 
 it appears to some in our days, yet the grace of God 
 never/ailed to stir up an early regard to it in times of 
 old.'* 
 
 Once more : Either Jesus Christ has informed us 
 In the New Testament what baptism is, and what is 
 requisite to communion at his table, or he has not. If 
 he has, we cannot admit any thing as baptism which 
 we believe is not so, nor receive any to communion 
 but those whom we consider as qualified according to 
 his directions, without violating our allegiance to him 
 as the King Messiah, and rebelling against his gov- 
 ernment. If he has not, there is no judge in Israel, 
 and every one may do that which is right in his own 
 eyes, in regard to these institutions. If our Lord in- 
 stituted baptism, and left it undetermined how and to 
 whom it should be administered ; if he appointed the 
 sacred supper, without characterizing those who are 
 to partake of it ; his ministering servants have a dis- 
 cretional power to administer them how and to whom 
 they please. And if so, our brethren may sprinkle or 
 immerse infants or adults, just as their own con- 
 veniency and the dispositions of their people require. 
 
 * Mr. Bradbury's Duty and Doctrine of Baptism, p. 70.— In a preceding paae 
 of the same Treatise, lie says; ' I liear there are several who suppose that bap- 
 tism is only the work of those that are grown up, and yet neglect it themselves. 
 My brethren, whoever is in the right in doctrine, you are quite wrong in practice. 
 Do not despise the advice of one who has more value for your happiness, than 
 he has for his own opinion. I will give it you in the words of Ananias ; " Why 
 tarriesl thou 7 Arise and be baptized, washing away thy sins, and calling on 
 Ute name of the Lord " Sue as above p. 16. 
 126 
 
45} OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Several Passages of Scripture considered, which are pro- 
 duced in favor of mixed communion. 
 
 The cause which our brethren undertake to defend, 
 is denominated by them, Free Communion. That 
 communion, then, for which they plead, is free. But 
 here I beg leave to ask, from what? The restraints 
 of men? that is a laudable freedom. From the laws 
 of Heaven? that were a licentious liberty. Absurd, in 
 theory ; impossible, in fact. It never was, it never 
 can be the case, that God should institute a positive 
 ordinance of divine worship, as the Lord's supper un- 
 doubtedly is, and leave it entirely to the discretion 
 of men to whom it should be administered. Free — 
 for whom ? For every one that will r This none pre- 
 tend. For all who imagine themselves believers ? 
 This no one asserts. For, they do not consider every 
 one that thinks himself a believer and desires com- 
 munion, as fit for it. 
 
 What, then, is the freedom for which they plead .' 
 Why, that Baptist churches should admit Paedobap- 
 tists into communion with them. In other words, 
 that they should admit believers to the Lord's table, 
 whom they consider as unbaptized. Such is free 
 communion : in defence of which, several pamphlets 
 have of late been published. Who can tell, but some 
 brethren may so improve on the doctrine of liberty in 
 regard to divine institutions of a positive nature, as 
 to favor us, ere long, with a Plea for free Baptism? — 
 With a dissertation intended to prove the lawfulness, 
 and, in some cases, the necessity, of administering 
 baptism to such whom we consider as unbelievers ? 
 especially, if the candidates for that ordinance be 
 firmly persuaded in their own mind that they are be- 
 lievers in Jesus Christ. 
 
 But let us briefly consider the defence of this hypo- 
 thesis. They argue, from several passages of scrip- 
 ture ; from the temper required of real Christians, in 
 126 
 
booth's VINDICATION ['16 
 
 their behavior one towards another \ and object 
 against us our own conduct in another respect. 
 
 The principal passages adduced from holy writ, 
 and here to be considered, are the following : — " Him 
 that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubt- 
 ful disputations — for God hath received him — Receive 
 ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory 
 of God — God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them 
 witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did 
 unto us ; and put no difference between us and them, 
 purifying their hearts by faith — I am made all things 
 to all men, that I might by all means save some."* 
 
 On which passages we may observe in general ; 
 whatever their meaning may be, except our opponents 
 can make it appear that they contain the grant of a 
 dispensing power to gospel ministers and churches ; 
 that is, unless these divine declarations authorize the 
 ministers and churches of Christ to set aside an ordi- 
 nance, or invert the order of its administration, as 
 they may think proper ; they are far from answering 
 the exigences of the case, or serving the purpose for 
 which they are cited. 
 
 Again : The texts produced do not so much as 
 viention communion at the Lord's table, nor appear to 
 have the least reference to it. No ; the Holy Ghost 
 has other objects in view, in each place. As these 
 are the principal passages to which our brethren ap- 
 peal, we may take it for granted, that better are not 
 to be found ; and, consequently, that positive proof is 
 wanting. But if it be allowed, that there is no posi- 
 tive evidence in favor of admitting unbaptized per- 
 sons to the supper, it amounts to a concession that 
 there is no proof at all. Nothing of a positive and 
 ritual nature can be proved a duty, or agreeable to the 
 will of God, merely by our own reasonings, or by 
 arguments formed on moral precepts and general rules 
 of conduct. For if once we admit any thing in the 
 worship of God, as a duty, that is grounded, either 
 on far-fetched inferences from particular declarations 
 of scripture, in which the holy penmen do not appear 
 to have had the least thought of the matter in ques- 
 
 *Rom. xiv. 1. 3. ami xv. 7. Acts. xv. 8, 0. 1 Cor ix. 19— 23. 
 126 
 
47] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 lion 5 or on our own ideas of expediency and useful- 
 ness, we shall not know where to stop. On this 
 principle, a great number of ceremonies were brought 
 into the church of Rome, and might be introduced by 
 us, though not one of them could stand that divine 
 query, " Who hath required this at your hand ?" As 
 it cannot be proved, by the deductions of reason, that 
 it is the duty of any man to eat bread and to drink 
 wine, as a branch of divine worship, but only from the 
 testimony of God, so what he has revealed in regard 
 to that matter is our only rule in all that relates to 
 the Lord's supper. Consequently, as these passages 
 say nothing at all about baptism, nor about com- 
 munion at the Lord's table, either strict, or free ; they 
 have neither pertinency of application, nor force of 
 argument. The New Testament knows no more of 
 infant baptism, than it does of infant communion: and 
 the arguments adduced in defence of the former, will 
 equally apply to the latter.* 
 
 The converted Romans were commanded by Paul 
 to " receive them that were weak in faith, as God and 
 Christ had received them." And we are plainly in* 
 formed, that the persons intended were such, as had 
 not a clear discernment of their Christian liberty, in 
 regard to the eating of meats forbidden by the cere- 
 monial law, and the observation of days, that was of old 
 required by it. What has this to do with free com- 
 munion? Paul says, in this very epistle, "I com- 
 mend unto you Phebe our sister, — that ye receive her 
 in the Lord." Was her admission to the holy table 
 the principal thing that he desired of the believing 
 Romans ? No ; he evidently had something else in 
 view ; something that would manifest their love to a 
 disciple of Christ, much more than barely permitting 
 her to have communion with them in the sacred sup- 
 per. For he immediately adds ; " And that ye assist 
 
 * Dr. Priestley is also of the same opinion. For he says, 4 No objection can be 
 made to this custom, [i. e. of giving the Lord's supper to infants] but what may, 
 with equal force, be made to the custom of baptizing infants And he informs 
 us, that infant communion is to this day the practice of the Greek churches, of 
 the Russians, the Armenians, the RJaronites, the Copts, the Assyrians, and pro- 
 bably ail other oriental churches.' Address to Protestant Dissenters on giving 
 the Lord's Supper to Children, p. 28, 31. 
 126 
 
BOOTH *S VINDICATION- [48 
 
 her in whatsoever business she hath need of you."* 
 Or, did he solicit admission to the Lord's table, for 
 himself and his fellow ministers, among the Corin- 
 thians, when he said ; " Receive us ; we have wronged 
 no man ; we have corrupted no man ; we have defraud- 
 ed no man ?"f Or, for Epaphroditus, when he thus 
 expressed himself to the Philippians ; " Receive him, 
 therefore, in the Lord, with all gladness, and hold such 
 in reputation ?"J Or, for Onesimus, when he said to 
 Philemon ; 4< Receive him, that is mine own bowels — 
 Receive him as myself ?"§ Was communion at the 
 Lord's table the principal thing which the apostle John 
 had in his eye, when he said ; * We therefore ought 
 to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers to the 
 truth ?"|| It is, I will venture to affirm, a much 
 greater thing to receive either a weak or a strong be- 
 liever, in the sense of these exhortations, than merely 
 to grant him a place at the Lord's table. 
 
 Besides, the faith of a sincere believer may be as 
 weak, and require as much forbearance, in regard to 
 the holy supper, as in respect of baptism. A reform- 
 ed and really converted Catholic may desire fellow- 
 ship with us, who still retains the Popish error of 
 communion in one kind only : but are we obliged by 
 this apostolic precept, to mutilate the sacred ordinance 
 in condescension to his weakness ? — To embrace the 
 weak, as well as the strong believer, in the arms of 
 Christian affection, is a capital duty of the moral law. 
 To bear with a brother's infirmities, and to " forbear 
 one another in love," are certainly required by that 
 command, which says ; "Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself :" and would have been our duty, if 
 neither baptism nor the Lord's supper had ever exist- 
 ed. But are we to regulate our conduct in the ad- 
 mission of persons to a positive institution ; — to one 
 which depends entirely on the sovereign pleasure of 
 God, by inferences drawn from the general and natural 
 duties of the moral law ? — Were the precepts of that 
 eternal law ever considered by the priests or the peo 
 
 * Rom. xvi. 1, 2. |2 Cor. vii. 2. t Philip, ii. 29. 
 
 $Pmlem. 12,17. || 3 John 8. 
 
 126 
 
49^) OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 pie of old, as the rule of administering positive insti- 
 tutions ? Had they not another system of precepts, 
 express precepts ^ intended for that purpose ? and was 
 not such a ritual absolutely necessary ? 
 
 Supposing, however, that there were no way of re- 
 ceiving one that is weak in faith, but by admitting 
 him to the Lord's table, this text would be far from 
 proving what our opponents desire; unless they could 
 make it appear, that the " weak in faith" were unbap- 
 tized ; or at least, so considered by their stronger bre- 
 thren ; for that is the point in dispute between us. But 
 that Paul considered the believing Romans to whom, 
 he wrote, as baptized Christians, is allowed by all. 
 
 * But God receives the weak in faith ; and we are 
 expressly commanded to receive one another, not to 
 doubtful disputations, but as Christ hath received us 
 to the glory of God.' Granted : yet permit me to ask, 
 Is the divine conduct, is the favor of God, or the kind- 
 ness of Christ, in receiving sinners, the rule of our 
 proceeding in the administration of positive institu- 
 tions ? Whom does God, whom does Christ receive ? 
 None but those that believe, and profess faith in che 
 Lord Messiah ? Our brethren will not affirm it. For 
 if divine compassion did not extend to the dead in 
 sin ; if the kindness of Christ did not relieve the ene- 
 mies of God ; none of our fallen race would ever be 
 saved. But does it hence follow, that we must admit 
 the unbelieving and the unconverted, either to baptism, 
 or the holy table ? Our gracious Lord freely accepts 
 all that desire it and all that come ; but are we bound, 
 by his example, to receive every one that solicits com- 
 munion with us ? Our opponents dare not assert it. 
 For though the Great Supreme is entirely at liberty 
 to do as he pleases, to reject or accept whom he will ; 
 yet it is not so with his ministering servants and pro- 
 fessing people, in regard to the sacred supper. No ; 
 it is their indispensable duty and their everlasting 
 honor, to regard his revealed will and obey his right- 
 eous commands. The divine precepts contained in the 
 Bible, not the divine conduct in the administration of 
 a sovereign Providence, are the only rule of our obedi- 
 ence in all things relating to positive institutions 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION (^50 
 
 Besides, gospel churches are sometimes obliged, 
 by the laws of Christ, to exclude from their com- 
 munion those whom he has received. Have churches 
 never excluded any for scandalous backslidings, 
 whom, notwithstanding, they could not but consider 
 as received of Christ? Do they never exclude any 
 but such of whom they have no hope ? I cannot sup- 
 pose, nor will they affirm any such thing. But if 
 there may be a just cause of excluding such from com- 
 munion whom God has received, why may there not 
 be a sufficient reason of refusing communion to some, 
 whom we look upon as the objects of God's peculiar 
 favor ? Is there not as great a degree of disappro- 
 bation discovered in the former case, as there is in the 
 latter? and is not the word of God our only rule in 
 both cases ? It is not every one, therefore, that is re- 
 ceived of Jesus Christ who is entitled to communion 
 at his table ; but such, and only such, as revere his 
 authority, submit to his ordinances, and obey the laws 
 of his house. 
 
 By the text from the Acts of the Apostles we learn, 
 that u God is no respecter of persons ; ,J that he, as a* 
 absolute sovereign, bestows his favors on Jews and 
 Gentiles without any difference. But must we infer 
 from hence, that they whose honor and happiness it 
 is to be his obedient servants, are entirely at liberty to 
 receive to communion at the Lord's table all that be- 
 lieve, without any difference? Can they justly con- 
 clude, that because Jehovah dispenses his blessings as 
 lie pleases, they may administer, or omit, his positive 
 institutions as they please ? 
 
 Once more : They produce, as much in their favor, 
 the declarations of Paul to the church at Corinth, re- 
 lating to his own conduct. " For though I be free from 
 all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that 
 I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became 
 as a Jew, that I might gain the Jewsj to them that 
 are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain 
 them that are under the law ; To them that are with- 
 out law, as without law, (being not without law to 
 God, but under the law tj Christ,) that I might gain 
 them that are without law. To the weak became I 
 126 
 
51 J OF THE BAPTISTS 
 
 as weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all 
 things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 
 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I maybe par- 
 taker thereof with you." 1 Cor. ix. 19 — 23. And 
 what do we learn in general from this passage, but that 
 he out of his great concern for the good of mankind, 
 and his abundant zeal for the glory of God, was will- 
 ing to do, or forbear, any thing that was lawful, in or- 
 der to gain an impartial hearing from both Jews and 
 Gentiles wherever he came? I said, any thing that 
 was lawful; the rule of which is the divine precept, or 
 some example warranted by divine authority. Nor can 
 we view these words in a more extensive sense, without 
 implicitly charging the great apostle with temporizing, 
 and highly impeaching his exalted character. — But 
 what has this text, any more than the former, to do 
 with the administration, or laying aside, of positive 
 institutions ? It was the duty of Aaron, as well as of 
 Paul, and of us, to seek the happiness of his fellow 
 creatures and the honor of God, to the utmost of his 
 ability. But was this general obligation the rule of 
 his performing the solemn sanctuary services on the 
 great day of atonement ? Could he conclude from 
 hence, that if the dispositions of the people required 
 it, he was at liberty to omit any of the sacred rites, or 
 to transpose the order in which Jehovah command- 
 ed they should be performed ? If any can make it 
 appear that this passage really has a relation to the 
 positive appointments of Christ, it must be consider- 
 ed as the Magna Charta of a dispensing, priestly power, 
 in regard to those institutions. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The Temper required of Christians towards one another } 
 not contrary to our Practice — Our Conduct freed from 
 the Charge of Inconsistency — No Reason to exalt the 
 Lord's Supper, in point of Importance, as superior to 
 the Ordinance of Baptism. 
 
 Nothing is more common, with our opponents, 
 when pleading for free communion, than to display 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [ 5*2 
 
 the excellence of Christian charity ; and to urge the 
 propriety, the utility, the necessity of bearing with 
 one another's mistakes, in matters that are non-essen- 
 tial; in which number they class the ordinance of bap- 
 tism. The epithets not fundamental — non-essential, 
 frequently applied to baptism, might be applied, with 
 equal propriety to the Lord's supper? But in what 
 respect is a submission to baptism non-essential ? To 
 our justifying righteousness, our acceptance with God, 
 or an interest in the divine favor ? So is the Lord's 
 supper ; and so is every branch of our obedience. For 
 they will readily allow, that an interest in the divine 
 favor, is not obtained by the miserable sinner, but 
 granted by the Eternal Sovereign. That a justifying 
 righteousness is not the result of human endeavors, 
 but the work of our heavenly Substitute, and a gift of 
 boundless grace. And that acceptance with the high 
 and holy God, is not on conditions performed by us, 
 but in consideration of the vicarious obedience and pro- 
 pitiatory sufferings of the great Immanuel. Nay, since 
 our first father's apostacy, there never was an ordinance 
 appointed of God, there never was a command given 
 to man, that was intended to answer any such end. 
 
 Baptism is not fundamental ; is not essential. True : 
 if limited to the foregoing cases. But are we hence 
 to infer, that it is not necessary on other accounts and 
 in other views? If so, we may alter, or lay it aside, 
 just as we please ; and, on the same principle, we may 
 dismiss, as non-essential, all order and every ordinance 
 in the church of God. 
 
 Is not the institution of baptism a branch of divine 
 worship ? And is not the administration of it, prior 
 to the Lord's supper, essential to that order in which 
 Christ, commanded his positive appointments to be 
 regarded ? " Let all things be done decently and in 
 order." As the Divine Spirit requires the observa- 
 tion of order in the church of God, so Paul commends 
 the Corinthians for " keeping the ordinances as he de- 
 livered them;" and expresses a holy joy on "beholding 
 the order" of that Christian church which was at 
 Colosse. But that order which the great Lord of all 
 appointed, and in the practice of which the good 
 126 
 
53j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 apostle sincerely rejoiced, our brethren, would con- 
 sider as a mere trifle — as comparatively nothing. But 
 give me leave here to inquire, Whether the primitive 
 order of gospel churches can be detached from the 
 legislative authority of Jesus Christ ? And, whether 
 the exercise of that authority can be considered as 
 having no connexion with his honor ? A breach of 
 that order which Christ appointed, as king in Zion, 
 must be considered as an opposition to his crown and 
 dignity. Jesus our Lawgiver is Jehovah ; between 
 whose honor and the happiness of sinful worms, there 
 is, there can be no comparison. The latter is only a 
 means, whereas the former is the grand end, not only 
 of a church state, but of the whole economy of provi- 
 dence and grace. I may, therefore, venture to retort 
 the argument ; though it be admitted, that the edifica- 
 tion of Christians is of great importance ; yet it must 
 be allowed, that the honor of our divine Sovereign is 
 of infinitely greater importance ; and, consequently, the 
 primitive order of the gospel churches should be ob- 
 served. 
 
 My readers must be a little surprised at such rea- 
 soning as I have just produced. Are they not ready- 
 to say, What, reverse the order of churches, appoint- 
 ed by God himself, with a view to edification! Dis- 
 pense with a positive ordinance of heaven, and break 
 a divine command, under the pretence of promoting 
 obedience to Christ! If we are obliged, in some cases, 
 to set aside an ordinance of divine worship, and to 
 break a positive command, in order that certain indi- 
 viduals may perform another positive injunction of the 
 great Legislator ; the laws of Christ are not half so 
 consistent as Paul's preaching; "which was not yea 
 and nay." Nor have we, any thing like a parallel 
 case, either in the Old or New Testament. We find, 
 indeed, an instance of a typical rite giving way to 
 natural necessities, as when David ate of the shew- 
 bread, without incurring a divine censure : but we have 
 no example of a positive ordinance being set aside, in 
 favor of any one's ignorance or prejudice against it, 
 or that he might be edified by submitting to another 
 positive institution, of which he desired to partake. 
 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [54 
 
 The neglect of circumcision by the Israelites in the 
 wilderness, while they attended on other positive ap- 
 pointments of God, is argued strongly for free com- 
 munion ; but let it not be forgotten that that omission 
 is keenly censured by the Holy Ghost. The uncircum- 
 cised state of the people, whatever might be the oc- 
 casion of it, is called a reproach, " the reproach of 
 Egypt ;" which odium was rolled from them on the 
 borders of Canaan, and the place in which they were 
 circumcised was called by a new name, to perpetuate 
 the memory of that event.* Now, as that neglect of 
 the Israelites was a breach of the divine command, a 
 reproach to their character as the sons of Abraham, 
 and stands condemned by the Spirit of God ; it cannot 
 authorize in us a similar omission, much less require 
 it at our hands. Nor is that other instance, which is 
 sometimes produced, relating to the feast of passover, 
 in the reign of Hezekiah, any more to the purpose. 
 For though many of the people were not "cleansed 
 according to the purification of the sanctuary ;" 
 though "they did eat the passover otherwise than it 
 was written," yet Hezekiah was so conscious of those 
 irregularities, that he deprecated the divine anger, 
 saying, "The good Lord pardon every one that pre- 
 pareth his heart to seek the Lord God of his fathers, 
 though he be not cleansed according to the- purifica- 
 tion of the sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to 
 Hezekiah, and healed the people."! With what 
 shadow of reason, then, or of reverence for God's com- 
 mands, can any one plead this instance in favor of free 
 communion ? Shall a deviation from a divine rule, a 
 deviation that is acknowledged as criminal before the 
 Lord, and for which pardon is requested, be adduced, 
 as a precedent for the conduct of Christians! What 
 would our brethren have thought of Hezekiah and 
 his people, had they taken the liberty of repeating the 
 disorderly conduct, whenever they celebrated the 
 paschal anniversary? — taken the liberty of trans- 
 gressing the divine rule, because Jehovah had once 
 graciously pardoned their irregularities, and accepted 
 their services, on a similar occasion ? Would they 
 
 * Joshua v. 9. 1 2 Chron. xxx. 18, 19, 20 
 
 126 
 
55j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 not have been chargeable with bold presumption, and 
 with doing evil that good might come ? — I heartily 
 accord with the following declarations of a learned 
 pen : * We must serve God, not as we think fit, but 
 as he hath appointed. God must be judge of his own 
 honor. — Nothing, then, is small, whereupon depends 
 the sanctity of God's commandment and our obedi- 
 ence.'* There is, however, little need of the maxims 
 or the declarations of men, while we have the decision 
 of Him who purchased the church with his own blood; 
 of Him who is to be our final judge. Now the lan- 
 guage of that Being is ; "In all things that I have said 
 unto you,6e circumspect — Teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I have commanded you. " And it is 
 worthy of remark, that it stands recorded to the honor 
 of Moses, seven or eight times in one chapter, that 
 "he did as the Lord commanded him." — Exod. xl. 
 
 The question is not, whatever our opponents may 
 think, Whether baptism is essential to our salvation? 
 But, Whether God has not commanded it? Whether 
 it is not a believer's duty to be found in it ? And, 
 Whether the pastor and members of a Baptist church 
 could justify themselves, in admitting persons to com- 
 munion that have never been baptized? On the prin- 
 ciple assumed by those who charge us with bigotry 
 in this thing, a professor that has no inclination to 
 obey a divine command, may vindicate his refusal, by 
 saying ; i The performance of it is not essential to my 
 happiness ; for a sinner may be saved without it.' A 
 mode of arguing this, big with rebellion against the 
 dominion of God : a principle, which, pursued in its 
 consequences, is pregnant with ruin to immortal souls. 
 What, shall we do nothing that God has commanded, 
 unless we look upon it as essentially necessary to our 
 future felicity ? Is this the way to manifest our faith 
 in Jesus and love to God ? — How much better is the 
 reasoning of Mr. Charnock, when he says : " Deus 
 voluit, is a sufficient motive ; and we cannot free our- 
 selves from the censure of disobedience, if we observe 
 not his commands in the same manner that he enjoins 
 them ; in their circumstances, as well as their sub- 
 
 *Pemble's Introduction to Worthy Receiving the Lord's Supper, p. 21, 31. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [$& 
 
 stance. — Who can, upon a better account, challenge 
 an exemption from positive institutions than our 
 Saviour, who had no need of them : yet how observant 
 was he of them, because they were established by di- 
 vine authority! So that he calls his submitting- to be 
 baptized of John, a fulfilling of righteousness — Is it not 
 a great ingratitude to God, to despise what he com- 
 mands as a privilege ? Were not the apostles men 
 of an extraordinary measure of the Spirit, because of 
 their extraordinary employments ? And did they not 
 exercise themselves in the institutions of Christ ? 
 How have many [meaning the Quakers] proceeded 
 from the slighting of Christ's institutions, to the deny- 
 ing the authority of his word-! A slighting Christ 
 himself, crucified at Jerusalem, to set up an imaginary 
 Christ within them!'* 
 
 * But must we not exercise Christian charity, and 
 bear with one another's infirmities f Should we not 
 seek peace, and endeavor to promote harmony among 
 the people of God r' Undoubtedly : yet is there no 
 way for us to exercise love and forbearance without 
 practising free communion ? Can we not promote 
 peace and harmony without practically approving of 
 infant sprinkling as if it were a divine ordinance, 
 while we are firmly persuaded that God never appoint- 
 ed it ? Or, are we bound to admit as a fact, what we 
 verily believe is a falsehood ? The distinction between 
 a Christian who holds what I consider as a practical 
 error in the worship of God, and the mistake main- 
 tained, is wide and obvious. It is not an erroneous 
 principle, or an irregular practice, that is the object 
 of genuine charity. No ; it is the person who main- 
 tains an error, not the mistake defended, that calls for 
 my candor. The former, I am bound, by the highest 
 authority, to lov3 as myself ; the latter, I should ever 
 consider as inimical to the honor of God, as unfriend- 
 ly to my neighbor's happiness, and therefore dis- 
 courage it, in the exercise of a Christian temper, 
 through the whole of my conduct. — I freely allow that 
 a mistake which relates merely to the mode and sub- 
 ject of baptism, is comparatively small ; but still, while 
 
 * Works, Vol. II. p. 766, 773, "5 
 
 126 
 
57^ OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 I consider the aspersion of infants as a human inven- 
 tion in the solemn service of God, I am bound to en- 
 ter my protest against it ; and by a uniform practice 
 to shew, that I am a Baptist — the same when a Paedo- 
 baptist brother desires communion with me, as when 
 one of my own persuasion makes a similar request. 
 Thus proving that I act, not under the impulse of 
 passion, but on a dictate of judgment : and then the 
 most violent Paedobaptist opponents will have no 
 shadow of reason to impeach my integrity ; — no pre- 
 tence for surmising, that when I give the right hand 
 of fellowship to such as have been immersed on a pro- 
 fession of faith, I act on principles of conscience ; but 
 that when admitting such to communion who have 
 been only sprinkled, I act on motives of convenience. 
 Though some of our Paedobaptist brethren would 
 urge us to open communion as being candid and 
 catholic, some even of themselves view the subject 
 very differently. — A Paedobaptist, when remonstrating 
 against the conduct of some Independent churches, 
 that received Baptists into communion with them, 
 says; 'Let men pretend what they can for such a 
 hotch-potch communion in their churches, I steadfastly 
 believe the event and issue of such practices will, 
 sooner or later, convince all gainsayers, that it neither 
 pleaseth Christ, nor is any way promotive of true 
 peace or gospel holiness in the churches of God's 
 people. — I shall never be reconciled to that charity , 
 which, in pretence of peace and moderation, opens the 
 church's door to church-disjointing principles.' And 
 he entitles his performance, " The sin and danger of 
 admitting Anabaptists to continue in the Congrega- 
 tional churches, and the inconsistency of such a practice 
 with the principles of both.*'* 
 
 Here one can hardly avoid observing the very pecu- 
 liar treatment which the Baptists in general meet 
 from their Paedobaptist brethren. Do we strictly 
 abide by our own principles, admitting none to com- 
 munion with us, but Ihose whom we consider as bap- 
 tized believers r We are censured by many of them 
 
 • In Crosby's Hist Bap. Vol. III. page 45, 46, 47. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [53 
 
 as uncharitably rigid, and are called by one gentlemant 
 watery bigots. Do any of our denomination, under a 
 plea of Catholicism, depart from their avowed senti- 
 ments, and connive at infant sprinkling? — They are 
 suspected, by others of the Psedobaptists, as a set of 
 temporizers. So that like those unhappy persons who 
 fell into the hands of Procrustes, some of us are too 
 short, and we must be stretched ; others are too long, 
 and they must be lopped. — But I return to my argu- 
 ment. 
 
 It should be observed, that forbearance and love, 
 not less than resolution and zeal, must be directed in 
 the whole extent of their exercise, by the word of 
 God 5 else we may greatly offend, and become par- 
 takers of other men's sins, by conniving when we 
 ought to reprove. If the divine precepts, relating to 
 love and forbearance, will apply to the case in hand ; 
 or so as to justify our connivance at an alteration, a 
 corruption, or an omission of baptism \ they will do 
 the same in regard to the Lord's supper. — And then 
 we are bound to bear with sincere Papists, in their 
 mutilation of the latter ; and to exculpate our upright 
 friends the Quakers, in their opposition to both. For 
 it cannot be proved that baptism is less fundamental 
 than the sacred supper. — 'There is a false, ungodly 
 charity,' says a sensible Psedobaptist writer,' a strange 
 fire, that proceeds not from the Lord ; a charity that 
 gives up the honor of religion, merely because we 
 will not be at the pains to defend it — Vile principles 
 can easily cover themselves with the names of temper, 
 charity, moderation, and forbearance ; but those glori- 
 ous things are not to be confounded with lukewarm- 
 ness, self-seeking, laziness, or ignorance — As there is 
 a cloak of covetousness, so there is a cloak of fear and 
 cowardice — You are never to make peace with men 
 at the expense of any truth, that is revealed to you by 
 the great God 5 because that is offering up his glory 
 in sacrifice to your own — Do not dismember the Chris- 
 tian religion, but take it all together : charity was 
 never designed to be the tool of unbelief. See how 
 the Spirit has connected both our principles and 
 
59] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 duties. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, with- 
 out which no man shall see the Lord.'* — 'I know not 
 that man in England,' says Dr. Owen, ' who is willing 
 to go farther in forbearance, love, and communion 
 with all that fear God, and hold the foundation, than 
 I. am : but this is never to be done by a condescen- 
 sion from the exactness of the least apex of gospel 
 truth.'t 
 
 Another Psedobaptist author, when treating on 
 charity and forbearance, expresses himself in the fol- 
 lowing language : ' A considerable succedaneum for 
 the Christian unity, is the catholic charity ; which is 
 like the charity commended by Paul in only this one 
 circumstance, that it "groweth exceedingly" — Among 
 the stricter sort, it goes chiefly under the name of 
 forbearance. We shall be much mistaken if we think 
 that by this soft and agreeable word, is chiefly meant 
 the tenderness and compassion inculcated by the pre- 
 cepts of Jesus Christ and his apostles. It strictly 
 means, an agreement to differ quietly about the doc- 
 trines and commandments of the gospel, without in- 
 terruption of visible fellowship. They distinguish 
 carefully between fundamentals, or things necessary to 
 be believed and practised ; and circumstantials, or 
 things that, are indifferent. Now whatever foundation 
 there may be for such a distinction in human systems 
 of religion ; it certainly looks very ill-becoming in the 
 churches of Christ, to question hoiv far he is to be be- 
 lieved and obeyed.\ That illegitimate charity and 
 false moderation, which incline professors to treat 
 divine institutions as articles of small importance, 
 led Melancthon, to place the doctrine of justification 
 by faith alone, the number of positive institutions in 
 the Christian church, the jurisdiction claimed by the 
 Pope, and several superstitious rites of the Romish re- 
 ligion, among things indifferent, when an imperial 
 edict required compliance. § But, 'as we must take 
 heed that we do not add the fancies of men to our 
 divine religion, so we should take equal care that we 
 
 * ?.ir. Bradbury's Duty and Doct. of Bap. p. 201, 213, 214 
 \ In Mr. Bradbury, an before, p 108. \ Strictures on Modern SiiiKWiy. 
 
 *> Mosheim's Eccle3 Hist. Vol. IV. p. 37, 38. 
 126 
 
BOOTH S \ INDICATION |_6G 
 
 do not curtail the appointments of Christ,'* out of any 
 pretence to candor. 
 
 Once more : Remarkably strong, are the -words of 
 Mr. John Wesley, which are quoted with approba- 
 tion by Mr. Rowland Hill. ' A catholic spirit is not 
 speculative latitudinarianism. It is not an indiffer- 
 ence to all opinions. This is the spawn of hell ; not 
 the offspring of heaven. This unsettledness of 
 thought, this being driven to and fro, and tossed 
 about with every wind of doctrine, is a great curse, 
 not a blessing ; an irreconcilable enemy, not a true 
 Catholicism. — A man of a true catholic spirit does 
 not halt between two opinions, nor vainly endeavors 
 to blend them into one. Observe this, you that know 
 not what spirit you are of ; who call yourselves of a 
 catholic spirit, only because you are of a muddy un- 
 derstanding ; because your mind is all in a mist \ be- 
 cause you are of no settled, consistent principles, but 
 are for jumbling all opinions together.! 
 
 Our brethren with an air of superior confidence 
 often demand, ' What have we to do with another's 
 baptism?' This interrogatory I would answer by 
 proposing another : What have I to do with another's 
 faith, experience, or practice? In one view, nothing at 
 all, if he do not injure my person, character, or pro- 
 perty ; for to his own master he stands or falls. In 
 another, much ; that is, if he desire communion with 
 me at the Lord's table. After believing, baptism is 
 ihe first, the very first that requires a public act of 
 obedience. But he says 4 I have been baptized.' 
 Perhaps not. Make it appear, however, and I shall 
 say no more on that subject. — ' I am really persuaded 
 of it in my own mind. Were it otherwise, I should 
 not hesitate a moment to be immersed on a profession 
 of faith. I am persuaded Christ has accepted me, 
 and that it is my duty to receive the holy supper.' 
 That Christ has received you, I have a pleasing per- 
 suasion ; and so I conclude, in a judgment of charity, 
 concerning all whom I baptize : but that it is the im- 
 mediate duty of any unbaptized believer to approach 
 
 * Dr. Watt's Humble Attempt, p. 62. 
 
 t lu Mr. Rowland Hill's Full Answer to Mr. J. Wesley's Remarks, p 40, 41- 
 126 
 
6lJ Of THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 the Lord's table, I cannot perceive ; the general prac 
 tice of the Christian church in every age, has been in 
 the negative. A learned writer assures us, that 
 1 among all the absurdities that ever were held, none 
 ever maintained that, that any person should partake 
 of the communion before he was baptized. ' Christ 
 commands believers to remember him at his own 
 table. But were those believers to whom he first gave 
 the command unbaptized? Or, can we infer, because 
 it is the duty of all baptized believers to celebrate the 
 Lord's supper, that it is the immediate duty of one 
 that is not baptized, so to do ? — Suppose a Jew, a 
 Turk, or a Pagan, to be enlightened by divine grace, 
 to have the truth as it is in Jesus, to love God and 
 desire communion with his people before he is bap- 
 tized ; would you think it right, could your own con- 
 science admit of it, as consistent with the revealed 
 will of Christ and the practice of his apostles, that 
 such a request should be granted by any gospel 
 church ? In a case of this kind, I presume, — and 
 there have been millions of Jews and Heathens con- 
 verted, since the Christian era commenced, — in such 
 a case you would easily discern a consistency be- 
 tween loving him as a believer, and refusing to have 
 communion with him till he was baptized. Nay, I 
 cannot help thinking, but you would be startled at the 
 report of any religious community admitting such an 
 one to the Lord's table ; because it would strike yott 
 as a notorious departure from the divine rule of pro- 
 ceeding, from the laws and statutes of Heaven in that 
 case made and provided. Besides, you have already 
 acknowledged, that if you did not consider yourself 
 as baptized, if you thought immersion on a profession 
 of faith essential to baptism, which you very well 
 know is my sentiment, you should think it your duty 
 to submit, you would not hesitate a moment. So 
 that, were I to encourage your immediate approach to 
 the sacred supper, I should stand condemned on your 
 own principles. 
 
 This, then, is the only question between us, what is 
 baptism ? For you dare not assert, you cannot sup- 
 126 
 
BOOTH'S VINDICATION [ 6S 
 
 pose, that an unbaptized believer, descended from 
 Christian parents, has any pre-eminence, in point of 
 claim to communion, above a truly converted Jew : 
 and you must allow that I have an equal right with 
 you, or any other man, to judge for myself what is 
 essential to baptism. You verily believe that you 
 have been baptized ; I am equally confident, from your 
 own account of the matter, that you have not. Your 
 conscience opposes the thought of being immersed on 
 a profession of faith, because, in your opinion, it 
 would be rebaptization ; mine cannot encourage your 
 approach to the Lord's table, because I consider in- 
 fant baptism as invalid. — Now I appeal to the reader, 
 I appeal to our brethren themselves, whether, on our 
 Antipaedobaptist principles, we are not obliged to 
 consider a truly converted but unbaptized Mussulman 
 and a converted Englishman, who has had no other 
 than psedobaptism, as on a level in point of com- 
 munion with us ? For God is no respecter of persons. 
 It is no matter where a man was born, or how he was 
 educated ; whether he drew his first breath at Con- 
 stantinople, or Pekin, or London ; whether his parents 
 taught him to revere the Koran of Mahomet, the 
 Institutes of Confucius, or the Revelation of God ; if 
 he really be born of the Spirit he has an equal claim 
 to all the privileges of a gospel church, with a true 
 convert descended from Christian ancestors. And if 
 so, while our brethren abide by their present hypo- 
 thesis, they could not refuse the sacred supper to the 
 one, any more than the other, without the most pal- 
 pable inconsistency ; though, by admitting the former 
 to that divine appointment, they would surprise and 
 offend all that heard of it. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all I have said, we stand 
 charged by our brethren with a notorious inconsistency 
 in our own conduct; because we admit Paedobaptist 
 ministers into our pulpits, to whom we should refuse 
 communion at the Lord's table. 
 
 The first thing, that demands regard, is the state 
 of the question which is now before us. The point in 
 dispute is, whether baptism be equally necessary to 
 126 
 
63j OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 the occasional exercise of ministerial gifts, as it is to 
 communion at the Lord's table ? and, whether the 
 scripture favor the one as much as the other ? 
 
 Such being the state of the question, I beg leave to 
 ask ; Supposing our brethren to prove the affirmative 
 beyond a doubt, what is the consequence, and how are 
 we affected by it ? Is it, that we are found guilty of 
 a direct violation of some divine command, that re- 
 quires us to receive Paedobaptists into our com- 
 munion ? This is not pretended. Is it, that we oppose 
 some plain apostolic precedent? neither is this laid to 
 our charge. What, then, is the conclusion they 
 would infer ? It must, surely, be something formida- 
 ble to every Baptist; otherwise it is hardly supposable 
 that so much weight should be laid upon this objec- 
 tion. The consequence, however, is only this ; Tht 
 Baptists, are not infallible and do actually err. So soon 
 as our brethren shall make it appear, that they have 
 as good a warrant for receiving Paedobaptist believers 
 into stated communion, as I have to admit a Paedo- 
 baptist minister occasionally into my pulpit, I will 
 either encourage the former, or entirely refuse the latter. 
 
 But is there no difference between occasionally ad- 
 mitting Paedobaptist ministers into our pulpits, and 
 receiving them or others of the same persuasion, into 
 our communion ? Public preaching is not confined to 
 persons related in a church state, nor ever was ; but 
 the Lord's supper is a church ordinance, nor ought 
 ever to be administered but to a particular church, as 
 such. Now it is of a particular church, and of a posi- 
 tive ordinance peculiar to it, concerning which is all 
 our dispute. — There is not that strict mutual relation 
 between hearers of the word and the preacher, as there 
 is between the members of a church and her pastor, 
 or between the members themselves. And as, accord- 
 ing to the appointment of God, persons must believe 
 the gospel before they have any thing to do with posi- 
 tive institutions ; so, in the ordinary course of Provi- 
 dence, they must hear the gospel in order to their be- 
 lieving. The Corinthians heard before they believed? 
 they believed before they were buptized ; and, no 
 doubt, they v/ere baptized before they received the 
 126 
 
booth's vindication I 64 
 
 sacred supper. (Acts xviii. 8 ) Were we to receive 
 Paedobaptists into our fellowship, we should practi- 
 cally allow what we consider a human invention, to 
 supersede a divine institution; not so, when we ad- 
 mit ministers of that persuasion into our pulpits. In 
 this case there is no divine institution superseded ; no 
 human invention, in the worship of God, encouraged. 
 — Again: when we admit Paedobaptist ministers into 
 our pulpits, it is in expectation that they will preach 
 the gospel ; that very gospel which we believe and 
 love, and about which there is no difference between 
 them and us. But to receive Paedobaptists into com- 
 munion, would be openly to connive at an error ; an 
 error both in judgment and practice ; an error of that 
 kind which the scripture calls, u will-worship, and the 
 traditions of men." There is, undoubtedly, a ma- 
 terial difference, between hearing a minister who, in 
 our judgment, is ignorant of the only true baptism, 
 discourse on those doctrines he experimentally knows, 
 and countenancing an invention of men. In the for- 
 mer case we shew an esteem for his personal talents, 
 we honor his ministerial gifts, and manifest our love 
 to the truth ; in the latter, we set aside a divinely ap- 
 pointed prerequisite for communion at the Lord's 
 table. 
 
 It has been a fact, that persons have been called by 
 grace, who were not baptized in their infancy ; and 
 who, considering baptism as a temporary institution, 
 have conscientiously refused a submission to that 
 ordinance and yet desired communion in the holy sup- 
 per. Now suppose a community of such ; and that 
 they call to the ministry one of their number, who is 
 allowed by all competent judges, to possess great 
 ministerial gifts, and to be a very useful preacher :— 
 or suppose a reformed Catholic, equally the subject 
 of divine grace, and endued with equal abilities for 
 public service, yet conscientiously retaining the Po- 
 pish error of communion in one kind only. Now, on 
 either of these suppositions, I demand of our Paedo 
 baptist brethren, whether they would receive such an 
 one into communion with the same readiness thai 
 they would admit him into their pulpits? If they an- 
 I'* 
 
65] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 swer in the negative, then we may retort upon them, 
 shall an excellent, laborious and useful minister of 
 Christ ivork for you, and shall he not be allowed to 
 eat with you! What, shall he break the bread of life 
 to you, and must he not be suffered to break bread at 
 the Lord's table with you ! 
 
 Though, as Baptists, it cannot be expected, that 
 we should produce instances out of the New Testa- 
 ment, of Paedobaptist ministers being encouraged in 
 a similar way ; because we are firmly persuaded there 
 were none such till after the sacred canon was com- 
 pleted : yet we find in that inspired volume, a suf- 
 ficient warrant for uniting with those that believe, in 
 affection and walk, so far as agreed ; notwithstanding 
 their ignorance of some part of the counsel of God, to 
 which a conscientious obedience is indispensably re- 
 quired from all those by whom it is known. (Philip 
 iii. 15, 16.) Yes, the New Testament not only per- 
 mits as lawful, but enjoins as an indispensable duty, 
 that we should love them that love the Lord ; and 
 that we should manifest this holy affection in every 
 way, that is not inconsistent with a revelation of the 
 divine will in some other respect. So it was under 
 the Jewish economy, and so it is now. To admit, 
 therefore, a minister to preach among us, with whom 
 we should have no objection to commune, could we 
 allow the validity of infant baptism ; as it is a token 
 of our affection for a servant of Christ, of our love to 
 the truth he preaches, and is not contrary to any part 
 of divine revelation, must be lawful: or if not, it lies 
 with our brethren to prove it ; because they cannot 
 deny that the word of God requires us to love him, 
 and to manifest our affection for him. When we ask 
 a Paedobaptist minister to preach in any of our 
 churches, we act on the same general principle, as 
 when we request him to pray with any of us in a pri- 
 vate family. And as no one considers this as an act 
 of church communion, but as a testimony of our af- 
 fection for him, so we consider that ; and it is viewed 
 by the public as a branch of the general intercourse, 
 which it is not only lawful, but commendable and 
 profitable to have with all that preach the gospel. 
 
 126 
 
booth's vindication- [6fl 
 
 I take it for granted, that circumcision was abso- 
 lutely necessary for every male, in order to com- 
 munion at the paschal supper, and in the solemn 
 worship of the sanctuary. And if so, had the most 
 renowned antediluvians that ever lived, or the most 
 illustrious Gentiles that ever appeared in the world, 
 been cotemporary with Moses and sojourners in the 
 same wilderness, they could not have been admitted 
 to communion in the Israelitish church, without sub- 
 mitting to circumcision. Enoch, though as a saint 
 he walked with God; though as a prophet he foretold 
 the coming of Christ to judgment — Noah, though an 
 heir of the righteousness of faith, a preacher of that 
 righteousness, and one of Ezekiel's worthies, (Chap, 
 xiv. 14, 16, 18, 20.) — Melchisedek, though a king, 
 and a priest of the most high God ; superior to Abra- 
 ham, and the greatest personal type of the Lord 
 Messiah that ever was among men — and Job, though 
 for piety there was none like him upon earth — these 
 I say, notwithstanding all their piety and holiness, 
 notwithstanding all their shining excellences, exalted 
 characters, and useful services, could not have been 
 admitted to communion with the chosen tribes at the 
 tabernacle of the God of Israel, without a violation of 
 the divine command. This, I persuade myself, our 
 opponents must allow: this, I think, they dare not 
 deny. Yet if Enoch, had been in the camp of Israel 
 when Korah and his company mutinied, and had been 
 disposed to give the rebels a lecture on the second 
 coming of Christ, I cannot suppose that his offered 
 service would have been rejected by Moses or Joshua, 
 merely because he was not circumcised. Or, if Noah 
 had been present at the erection of the tabernacle, and 
 inclined to give the people a sermon on the future in- 
 carnation of the Son of God, and the righteousness of 
 faith, to which objects that structure, with its costly 
 utensils and solemn services, had a typical regard, I 
 cannot but think they would have given him a hear- 
 ing. Nay, I appeal to our opponents themselves, 
 whether they do not think so as well as I. Yet that 
 favored people could not have admitted them to com- 
 munion in some other branches of divine worship, 
 126 
 
67] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 without transgressing the laws of Jehovah. (Exod. 
 xii. 44, 48. Ezek. xliv. 7.) If this be allowed, the 
 consequence is plain, and the argument, though 
 analogical, is irrefragable. For the paschal feast and 
 the sanctuary services were not more of a positive 
 nature than the Lord's supper ; nor were the former 
 more peculiar to that dispensation than the latter is 
 to this ; but preaching and hearing the word are not 
 peculiar to any dispensation of grace, as are baptism 
 and the sacred supper. 
 
 Our Lord, though he warned his hearers against 
 the pride and hypocrisy, the unbelief and covetous- 
 ness, of the ancient Pharisees, and Scribes, and 
 Jewish teachers ; yet exhorted the people to regard 
 the truths they delivered. (Matt, xxiii. 1, 2, 3.) 
 When the beloved disciple said, "Master, we saw 
 one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad 
 him, because he followeth not with us :" Jesus an- 
 swered, " Forbid him not ; for he that is not against 
 us, is for us." (Luke ix. 49, 50.) From which it 
 appears, that we are under obligation to encourage 
 those that fight against the common enemy, and pro- 
 pagate the common truth $ though they and we may 
 have no communion together, in the ordinances of 
 God's house. 
 
 Once more : A very competent judge of all that 
 pertains to the ministerial character, and of all that 
 belongs to a Christian profession, has left his opinion 
 on record concerning the ministry of certain persons, 
 whom he considered as quite unworthy uf his intimate 
 friendship. Even Paul, when acting as amanuensis 
 to the Spirit of wisdom, speaking of some who 
 preached the gospel, informs us, that envy and strife 
 were the principles on which they acted, and the in- 
 crease of his afflictions the end which they had in view. 
 How carnal and base the principles! How detestable 
 the end at which they aimed! — But was the apostle 
 offended or grieved, so as to wish they were silenced ? 
 Or, did he charge his beloved Philippians, and all the 
 sincere followers of Christ, never to hear them ? Let 
 his own declaration answer the queries. " What 
 then ? notwithstanding every way, whether in prc- 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [68 
 
 tence, or in truth, Christ is preached ; and therein I do 
 rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." (Philip, i. 15 — 18.) 
 When a corrupted gospel is preached, he asserts his 
 apostolic authority, and thunders out anathemas 
 against the propagators of it. (Gal. i. 6 — 9.) Be- 
 cause, as God will not set the seal of his blessing to a 
 falsehood, or sanctify a lie, it can do no good ; it is 
 pregnant with mischief. But when the pure gospel 
 is preached, though from perverse motives, it is the 
 truth, and God frequently owns and renders it useful. 
 Hence the apostle's joy in the text before us. — Now, 
 as we are far from impeaching the sincerity of our 
 Pxdobaptist brethren, when preaching the gospel of 
 our ascended Lord ; and as Paul rejoiced that Christ 
 was preached, though by persons who acted on the 
 basest principles ; we cannot imagine that he would 
 have taken less pleasure in the thought of Paedobap- 
 tist ministers publishing the glorious gospel of the 
 blessed God, had there been any such in those days, 
 even though he might have considered them as under 
 a great mistake, in regard to baptism : And if so, we 
 may safely conclude, that there is nothing inconsis- 
 tent with our hypothesis, in occasionally admitting 
 Paedobaptist ministers into our pulpits, and hearing 
 them with pleasure — But will our opponents assert, 
 or can they suppose, that the great apostle of the 
 Gentiles would have encouraged with equal delight 
 such persons as those of whom he speaks, to approach 
 the holy table and have communion with him in all 
 the ordinances of God's house? Persons, who made 
 the glorious gospel of the blessed God the vehicle of 
 their own pride, and envy, and malice ; and in whose 
 conduct those infernal tempers reigned, and had for 
 their immediate object one of the most excellent and 
 useful men that ever lived ? Certainly, if on any oc- 
 casion, we may here adopt the old proverb ; Credat 
 Judseus appella. 
 
 It is with peculiar pleasure, on this occasion, that 
 I introduce the following pertinent passage from a 
 little publication written by Mr. John Ryland. His 
 words are these: 'Dr. Daniel Waterland justly ob- 
 serves, that the true doctrine of the Trinity and the 
 126 
 
69~\ OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 atonement of Christ, have been kept up in the Chris- 
 tian church, by the institutions of baptism and the 
 Lord's supper, more than by any other means what- 
 soever ; and, humanly speaking, these glorious truths, 
 which are essential to salvation, would have been lost 
 long ago, if the two positive institutions had been 
 totally neglected and disused amongst professors of 
 Christianity. In this point of view, baptism and the 
 Lord's supper appear to be of unspeakable importance 
 to the glory of God, and the very being of the true church 
 of Christ on earth."* — Again: In another little piece, 
 to which I have already referred, and of which the 
 same worthy minister of Jesus Christ has expressed 
 his approbation in more ways than one, though it 
 does not bear his name, I find the following strong 
 assertions relating to the importance and utility of 
 baptism: "It is highly incumbent on all that love 
 the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and are glad to 
 behold their Saviour in every view in which he is 
 pleased to reveal himself, to consider the dignity and 
 glory of his holy institutions. These last legacies of 
 a dying Saviour, these pledges of his eternal and im- 
 mutable love, ought to be received with the greatest 
 reverence and the warmest gratitude. And as they 
 directly relate to the death of the great Redeemer, 
 which is an event the most interesting, an action the 
 most grand and noble that ever appeared in the world, 
 they ought to be held in the highest esteem, and per- 
 formed with the utmost solemnity. Of these institu- 
 tions, baptism calls for our first regard, as it is appoint- 
 ed to be first performed: and however lightly the incon- 
 siderate part of mankind may affect to treat this ordinance, 
 it ought to be remembered, that Christ himself considered 
 it and submitted to it, as an important part of that 
 righteousness which it became even the Son of God to 
 fulfil. As this ordinance is to be once performed, and 
 not repeated, every Christian ought to be particularly 
 careful that it is done in a right manner ; or the benefit 
 arising to the soul from this institution is lost, and 
 lost forever. We ought with the utmost deliberation 
 and care to consider — its own native dignity, as an 
 
 * Beauty of Social Religion, p. 10. 
 126 
 
BOOTH S VINDICATION' 
 
 [70 
 
 action of the positive or ritual kind, the 77205/ great 
 and noble in itself, and icell pleasing to God, that it is 
 possible for us to perform on this side heaven. — In this 
 action, Christians, you behold the counsel of God ; it 
 is the result of his wise and eternal purpose; it is 
 clearly commanded in his word ; it is enforced by his 
 own example ; and honored in the most distinguished 
 and wonderful manner, by every Person in the ador- 
 able Trinity. This ordinance is no trivial affair ; it 
 is no mean thing ; and whoever is so unhappy as to 
 despise it, wants eyes to see its beauty and excel 
 
 lency. Our great Redeemer seems to have design 
 
 ed this ordinance as a test of our sincerity, and to 
 distinguish his followers from the rest of mankind. As 
 a captain who, to try a new soldier, employs him at 
 first in some arduous and important service ; so our 
 Saviour, to try his own work, and to make the reality 
 of his powerful grace in the hearts of his people 
 manifest to themselves and to the world, calls them 
 out at first to a great and singular action, and requires 
 their submission to an institution that is disgustful to 
 their nature and mortifying to their pride." 
 
 The pamphlet, from which these extracts are 
 made, speaks of baptism, "As an act of sublime wor- 
 ship to the adorable persons in the Godhead — As a 
 representation of the sufferings of Christ, his death, 
 burial, and resurrection — As the answer of a good 
 conscience towards God — As an emblem of regenera- 
 tion and sanctifcation — As a powerful obligation to 
 newness of life — And as a lively figure of the natural 
 death of every Christian."* 
 
 Mr. Daniel Turner has also borne his testimony to 
 the usefulness and importance of baptism. For, 
 speaking of that ordinance, he says : " Christ him- 
 self submitted to this rite, as administered by John ; 
 not indeed with the same views, or to the same ends, 
 with others; but as pointing out by his example, the 
 duty of Christians in general. He also gave his 
 ministers a commission and order, to baptize all the 
 nations they taught. — It appears that beinp; baptized, 
 was the common token of subjection to Christ, and 
 
 ♦Six Views of Believers' Baptism, p. 1, 2, 3, 15. 
 126 
 
71 J OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 necessary to a regular entrance into his visible church. 
 And, when describing the qualifications of those that 
 are to be received into communion, he says; 'They 
 should be acquainted with the chief design of the 
 rites and positive institutions of Christianity, and re- 
 verently use them; viz. baptism, and the Lord's sup- 
 per.' Once more : Speaking of that respect which 
 the two positive appointments have to visible fellow- 
 ship among believers, he says ; ' Baptism, indeed, by 
 which we are first formally incorporated into the 
 visible church, or body of Christ, is the beginning and 
 foundation of this external communion : but the Lord's 
 supper is best adapted for the constant support and 
 continual manifestation of it.'* Nay, he mentions 
 'the reverent use of the two sacraments, among those 
 things which are essential to the constitution of a par- 
 ticular visible church, 'f 
 
 Those who argue against us in this matter are con- 
 tinually calling baptism a non-essential, an external rite ; 
 a shadow, an outward form, Sec. The Lord's supper, 
 however, is considered and treated by them in a dif- 
 ferent manner; for they speak of it as a delightful, an 
 edifying, an important institution. But what authority 
 have they for thus distinguishing between two ap- 
 pointments of the same Lord, intended for the same 
 persons, of equal continuance in the Christian church, 
 and alike required of proper subjects ? They have, in- 
 deed, the example of some Socinians, and the venerable 
 sanction of the whole Council of Trent. For the title 
 of one chapter in the records of that Council, is; 
 ' Concerning the excellence- of the most holy Eu- 
 charist, above the rest of the sacraments. '| But as a 
 good old Protestant writer observes, ' That the one 
 sacrament should be so much extolled above the other, 
 namely, the Lord's supper to be preferred before 
 baptism, as the more worthy and excellent sacrament, 
 we find no such thing in the word of God ; but that 
 both of them are of like dignity in themselves, and to 
 be had equally in most high account. '§ Nay, Mr. 
 Ryland assures us, ' That baptism ought to be con- 
 
 *Compend. Social Religion, p. 27. (Note ;) and p. 63, 120. (Note. - ) 
 tSee p. 5. Note. % Council. Tiident. Pese. XIII. Chap. Ill 
 
 $ Wiltet's Synops. Papiemi, p. 556, :>Ti. 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [72 
 
 sidered as glorious an act of worship, as ever was in- 
 stituted by God.'* — Might not the Jews of old have 
 distinguished, with equal propriety, between circum- 
 cision and the paschal supper ? Does it become us 
 to form comparisons between the positive appoint- 
 ments of our Eternal Sovereign, in regard to their 
 importance ; and that with a view to dispense with 
 either of them, while the very same authority enjoins 
 the one as well as the other ? Can such a conduct be 
 pious, humble, or rational ? Is it not something like 
 being "partial in God's law," for which the ancient 
 priests were severely censured ? Or, shall we say of 
 our obedience to God, as he says to the mighty ocean ; 
 " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further ?" 
 
 But supposing it is evident, that baptism is much 
 inferior to the sacred supper in point of importance : 
 yet, while it is an ordinance of God, it has an equal 
 claim on our obedience. For it is not the degree ot 
 excellence or utility of any divine appointment, that 
 is the true reason of our submission to it ; but the 
 authority of Him that commands. "It hath been ever 
 God's wont," says Bishop Hall, "by small precepts to 
 prove men's dispositions. Obedience is as well tried 
 in a trifle, as in the most important charge : yea, so 
 much more, as the thing required is less : for often- 
 times those who would be careful in main affairs, 
 think they may neglect the smallest. What command 
 soever we receive from God, or our superiors, we 
 must not scan the weight of the thing, but the au- 
 thority of the commander. Either difficulty, or slight- 
 ness, are vain pretences for disobedience."! Nay, 
 even Dr. Priestley, though remarkable for his liberal 
 sentiments and rational way of thinking, and far from 
 ascribing too much to God's dominion over the sub- 
 jects of his moral government ; yet strongly asserts 
 Jehovah's prerogative in this respect. These are his 
 words ; fc Every divine command ought certainly to be 
 implicitly complied with, even though we should not be 
 able to discern the reason of it.' And has not He who 
 is God over all blessed forever, said; "Whosoever 
 shall break one of these least commandments, and 
 
 * B< amy of Social Religion, p. 9. 
 j Cunt. .-inflations, Vol. III. \>. 2-4. Edinb. Edit. 
 126 
 
75} OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the 
 kingdom of heaven?" As in the great concerns of 
 religious worship, nothing should be done that is not 
 required by Jehovah: and as the lawfulness of all posi- 
 tive rites depends entirely on their divine Author and 
 his institutions ; so he who complies with some, and ne- 
 glects others that are equally commanded and equally 
 known, may please himself, but does not obey the Lord. 
 
 Further : These depreciating expressions, non-es- 
 sential, external nte, a shadow, and a mere outward 
 form, may be applied to the sacred supper with as 
 much propriety as to baptism. Are not bread and 
 wine external things, as well as water? And has not 
 the act of baptizing as much spirituality in it, as the 
 acts of eating and drinking? Besides, an apostle has 
 assured us, that U the kingdom of God is not meat and 
 drink," though the latter were the richest of cordials, 
 any more than it is immersion in water.* 
 
 Once more : When I consider how much more fre- 
 quently baptism is mentioned in the New Testament, 
 than the sacred supper ;f how often repenting and 
 believing sinners are exhorted, by the apostles, to be 
 baptized ; how soon that ordinance was administered 
 to Christian converts after they believed ; what ex- 
 hortations are given to professing Christians, on the 
 ground of their being baptized ; and when I reflect, 
 that the Holy Spirit commends them that were bap- 
 tized by John, as ''justifying God :" while he severely 
 censures others, as "rejecting the counsel of God 
 against themselves," because they slighted the solemn 
 appointment ; I cannot but wonder at the depreciat- 
 ing language of our opponents in regard to baptism. 
 •—Their very singular conduct appears to me still 
 tiore extraordinary, and yet more unwarrantable, 
 when I reflect that baptism is a divine institution to 
 which a believer submits but once, and a branch of 
 divine worship that he is required to perform but 
 mce ; in which respect it greatly differs from every 
 other appointment in the worship of God, under the 
 Christian economy. For, this being the case, one 
 should have imagined, if notorious and stubborn facts 
 had not forbidden the thought ; that every minister 
 
 * Yitl. Ueid'nbcdc pit supra, p. 362. t Hoornbeck. ut supra, p. 409, 416. 
 
 126 
 
booth's vindication [74 
 
 of Jesus Christ, and every church of the living God, 
 would insist on a submission to what they consider 
 as real baptism, in all whom they admit to the Lord's 
 table. Dr. Ryland's words are, I think, none too 
 strong when he says, (Beauty of Social Religion p. 9.) 
 4 Baptism ought to be considered as glorious an act 
 of worship as ever ivas instituted by God. It is to be 
 performed but once in the life of a Christian — but 
 once to eternity ; and therefore, it ought to be done with 
 the utmost veneration and love.' 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Reflections. 
 
 It appears from the foregoing pages, that we act on 
 a principle received in common by Christians of al- 
 most every name, in every age, and in every nation. 
 When, therefore, we are compared with professing 
 Christians in general, we have no peculiar claim to 
 the epithet strict. Nor can we be otherwise than 
 strict, without violating our own principles, and con- 
 tradicting our own practice. For we believe that all 
 who have received the truth, should profess their faith 
 in Jesus Christ and be baptized, and have the hap- 
 piness, in this respect, of agreeing with our brethren. 
 If we conclude, that a believer is no further obliged 
 by any divine precept, or prohibition, than he sees and 
 acknowledges the obligation, in regard to himself, then 
 a believer who has been baptized may live all his days 
 in the neglect of communion at the Lord's table, and 
 stand acquitted of blame ; and covetousness is no 
 crime in thousands who bow at the shrine of Mam- 
 mon ; for there are comparatively few lovers of money, 
 who acknowledge their guilt in that respect. Nay, 
 on this principle it will follow, that the more ignorant 
 any believer is, and the less tender his conscience, he 
 is under so much the less obligation to obey the di- 
 vine commands. But the reader will do well to re- 
 member, that it is not our conviction of the propriety, 
 the utility, or the necessity of any command which God 
 has given, that entitles him to the performance of it ; 
 but, in all things of a moral nature, our being rational 
 creatures is the ground of his claim ; and in those of a 
 126 
 
75] OF THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 positive kind, our being qualified according to his di- 
 rection, whether we be so wise and so sincere as to 
 acknowledge the obligation or no. Thus it appears 
 that the epithet strict, if taken in the sense already ex- 
 plained, is no dishonor to us. 
 
 But if, on the contrary, our brethren mean by the 
 epithet, that we are bigotted, unnecessarily exact, un- 
 scriptur ally confined ; their forwardness to give us this 
 name calls for our censure. In the former sense, I 
 will venture to affirm, every Baptist ought to be a 
 strict one, or else to renounce the name. In the latter 
 use of the term, we reject the distinguishing epithet, 
 and require our opponents to prove — I say to prove, 
 not to surmise, that it justly belongs to us. 
 
 Our character, then, is fixed. Their own pens 
 have engrossed it. And, be it known to all men, we 
 are Strict Baptists. To this character, as before ex- 
 plained, we subscribe with hand and heart, in the last 
 words of the celebrated Father Paul, Esto perpetua. 
 
 Many of my readers know that our Paedobaptist 
 brethren, when they have a mind to shew their wit 
 and be a little merry at our expense, represent the 
 Baptists, without distinction, as exceedingly fond of 
 water; as professors that cannot live in a church state, 
 without a great deal of water. Nay, one of them .has 
 very politely called us ' watery bigots ;' and then adds, 
 ' Many ignorant sprinkled Christians are often, to 
 their hurt, pulled by them into the water.'* According 
 to this gentleman, then, we are watery bigots. Well, 
 it does not greatly distress me to be thus represented 
 by a sneering antagonist, because I really believe that 
 much water is necessary to baptism, and am no less 
 confident, that baptism is necessary to communion at 
 the Lord's table. 
 
 And now, before I conclude, our brethren will suf- 
 fer me also to remonstrate ; and the reader may rest 
 assured, that I do it without the least impeachment 
 of their integrity — If infant sprinkling be a human in- 
 vention, disown it, renounce it, entirely reject it, and 
 no longer let it hold the place of a divine institution 
 in any of your churches. For as there is but one God, 
 and one faith, so there is but one baptism. 
 
 * Dr. Mayo's True Scripture Doctrine of Baptism, p. 33. 
 126 
 
OX BIGOTRY. 
 
 BY B. H. DRAPER, SOUTHAMPTON, ENG. 
 
 The subject of this tract is Bigotry. The object of 
 the author is to define its real nature and essential pro- 
 perties and establish the criterion whereby it may be 
 distinguished from genuine principle in the concerns 
 of religion. 
 
 To accomplish this is confessedly somewhat diffi- 
 cult, as appears evident from the circumstance, that 
 many persons of good general information, both in 
 writing and conversation frequently use the term, with- 
 out discrimination or propriety. On this account it is 
 of great importance, since there is evidently such a 
 thing as bigotry, accurately to define what it is; that 
 so, wherever it appears, it maybe known. 
 
 Bigotry, then, in matters of religion is, an unreasona- 
 ole, unscriptural, and obstinate adherence to a party, or 
 to sentiments, accompanied with oppressive and unjustifia- 
 ble dispositions and conduct towards our fellow -creatures . 
 
 Bigotry has existed in every age of the world. It 
 still exists, and is cherished among the very people 
 who have boasted of its decease and its funeral. Epi- 
 taphs, in classical Latin, and some in plain English, 
 have been written on the important and interesting 
 occasion. I do not, however, find any inscription for 
 its tomb, which is much more than a century old; nor 
 am I aware, exactly how to account for this singular 
 fact, but on the supposition, that, before this period, 
 people had a greater sense of propriety than to write 
 epitaphs for any beside the dead. 
 
 It is remarkable that all, even those who cherish 
 Bigotry the most fondly, yet fully agree, that she is a 
 most horrid monster; this indeed will be abundantly 
 apparent, if we consider only for a moment what she 
 is, and what she has done. Sometimes she has ap- 
 peared unmasked, in all her native hideousness; false, 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [2 
 
 and cruel, and detestable, kindling her accursed fire- 
 brands at the flames of hell, and with unsparing and 
 relentless hand, scattering ruin and death through the 
 finest portions of the habitable globe. At other times 
 she has assumed the garb of an angel of light, and, with 
 the fairest professions, she has reigned, whilst she 
 seemed to have but little influence, and secretly, silent- 
 ly, and effectually accomplished her infernal purposes. 
 Bigotry, political, literary, and religious, exists among 
 all ranks, and professions. In reference to religion alone 
 it is now presented for our consideration. Infidels, un- 
 der the specious veil of universal candour, have proved 
 themselves the most execrable of bigots. In Franre, 
 a few years since, the sun of revelation underwent i 
 total eclipse; the very sabbath was abolished, and death 
 was proclaimed to be an eternal sleep. Infidelity and 
 atheism were indeed awfully triumphant; but instead 
 of its promised candour, and boundless toleration, the 
 most hideous bigotry, crimes of gigantic magnitude, 
 and horrible and unheard of massacres, were indeed 
 the order of the day. "Cruel," says one who had the 
 best opportunities for obtaining the most correct in- 
 formation on the subject, " as the aspect of the former 
 government of France had been to the servants of 
 Christ, the little finger of the monster infidelity, was 
 found to be thicker than its predecessor's loins. The 
 mouth of every confessor of the truth was stopped. 
 The religious meetings among the Protestants were 
 forced to be discontinued, and every Protestant mi- 
 nister was compelled to abandon his station. The 
 goddess of reason was exalted to be worshipped, and 
 private libraries were ransacked and pillaged of their 
 religious books. Every Bible which could be found 
 was burnt. Good writings of the old Reformers, or 
 distinguished Protestants, were preserved from the uni- 
 versal destruction, only by being buried in the ground. 
 The people were compelled to work openly on the Sun- 
 days, and punished by law if they did not, in order, if 
 possible, to obliterate every trace that remained of the 
 sanctification of the Sabbath-day. Such was the liberal 
 and tolerating spirit of the infidel philosophy."* 
 
 * Mr. Robt. Haldane's speech on the behalf of the Continental 
 Society. 89 
 
3 I ON* BIGOTRY. 
 
 Indeed, a person who manifests any zeal for the dif- 
 fusion of infidel sentiments, must necessarily possess 
 a considerable degree of Bigotry. " The dominion of 
 Christianity," says the eloquent Robert Hall, "being 
 in the very essence of it, the dominion of virtue, we 
 need look no farther for the sources of hostility in any 
 who oppose it, than their attachment to vice and dis- 
 order." 
 
 Many have made large claims to the exclusive pos- 
 session of that Christian candour, which is the oppo- 
 site of Bigotry, whilst they have strenuously inculcated 
 an entire an awful indifference to the truth. Whether 
 Christ be truly divine, or merely man, — whether men 
 are to be saved by the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus, 
 or by their own imaginary or real virtues, are with them, 
 matters of no great importance. To compliment one 
 another, as being doubtless in the road to eternal bliss, 
 though there may be no deadness to sin, no life to 
 righteousness, no affectionate attachment to the Sa- 
 viour, and no ardent love to his blessed commands, 
 is all that is deemed necessary, provided the external 
 conduct be somewhat decent and polite. This view of 
 the subject is, however, grossly erroneous. Indifference 
 to the truth does by no means necessarily imply freedom 
 from Bigotry, and certainly is not Christian candour. 
 A man may hold the truth of God with a firm hand, so 
 as never to surrender a single particle of it, and yet be 
 no Bigot. If conscientious, undeviating, and intrepid 
 attachment to truth be bigotry, then Christ, his apos- 
 tles, and the noble army of martyrs, were some of the 
 worst bigots that have ever disgraced our world. The 
 individual who dares follow the plain dictates of God's 
 holy word wherever they may lead him, may, and most 
 likely will, be derided as a Bigot; but he has done no- 
 thing for which he ought to be branded with this op- 
 probrious epithet. The person who tells me, that Je- 
 sus is a mere fallible, peccable man, — that his blood 
 has no peculiar merit in the sight of God, and has no 
 connexion whatever with the remission of sin, — that 
 disobedience to the divine commands is a trifling evil, 
 — that we are at liberty to reject, modify, or treat with 
 indifference, any even of the minor precepts of divine 
 
ON BIGOTRY. ^4 
 
 revelation, — and that, if I do not bow to his authority, 
 and believe his assertions, I am a bigot, — excites in my 
 bosom no emotions but those of pity. I would be far, 
 however, very far, from doing, or even wishing any 
 injury to such an individual; on the contrary, I would 
 be sincerely concerned for his present and eternal 
 welfare. But I would grasp my Bible, and tell him, 
 that Jesus made the world, John i. 10. — that he was 
 God, manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. Hi. 16. — that he was 
 wounded for our transgressions, that the Lord hath 
 laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isa. liii. 5, 6. — that 
 his blood cleanseth from all sin, 1 John i. 7. — that it is 
 an evil and bitter thing to sin against God, and that 
 the wages of sin is death, Rom. vi. 23. — and that he 
 who shall break one of the least of Christ's command- 
 ments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in 
 the kingdom of heaven, Matt. v. 19. O no, — a firm 
 attachment to the truth of God, as revealed in the Scrip- 
 tures, is a noble principle, of divine origin, implanted 
 in the human heart by God himself, and is indeed in- 
 finitely removed from that odious thing we justly de- 
 nominate Bigotry. 
 
 It cannot excite wonder that a produce so corrupt as 
 Bigotry, should be found on the malignant tree of in- 
 fidelity; for no one can rationally expect " to gather 
 grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles;" but that so hate- 
 ful a production should be found among professing 
 Christians, may indeed be justly regarded as matter 
 of astonishment. — And yet, " Tell it not in Gath, pub- 
 lish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters 
 of the Philistines rejoice, lest the uncircumcised tri- 
 umph," — its dwelling is among the sons of God, — it 
 has taken up its abode in the professing church, — 
 there it appears 
 
 in double shape, 
 
 Half is a murd'ring wolf, and half a mimic ape." 
 
 Yes, lamentable to relate, it has been found, and still 
 exists, among professing Christians of various denomi- 
 nations; and what is still more surprising, there have 
 been, and there still are, even good men, and some of 
 great name too, — (though certainly this is no part of 
 
 89 
 
3*] ON IUGOTRY. 
 
 their goodness,) who may, with but too much proprie 
 ty, be justly charged with the abominable sin of Bigot- 
 ry. But to be more particular, I remark, 
 
 That he who detests, or is evidently unfriendly to any 
 person because he is not altogether of his opinion, is a bv- 
 got. A Christian ought to regard the whole of the 
 human race as children of one common father, accord- 
 ing to our Lord's instructions in the parable of the 
 Good Samaritan, and to treat every one with kindness. 
 When an individual virtually, if not really, stands up, 
 and says, I expect every one to believe as I believe, 
 and to affirm what I affirm, or I will avoid, proscribe, 
 and persecute him, he should produce his authority 
 for this monstrous claim, or he may reasonably expect 
 to meet with unqualified and merited contempt. Such 
 a disposition is entirely unsanctioned by Scripture, 
 which enjoins us to love our neighbour as ourselves, 
 —and by right reason also, since it is not doing to 
 others as we would have them do to ourselves. Chris- 
 tianity, not that indeed of blind interested bigots, but 
 the Christianity of the New Testament, is most em- 
 phatically, love. He cannot be a Christian, notwith- 
 standing all his professions, who does not love his 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 The man who employs abusive or improper terms in 
 defending his sentiments, though they may be just and 
 scriptural, is chargeable with Bigotry. This practice 
 was shamefully common about the time of the Refor- 
 mation, and even among the principal Reformers. Lu- 
 ther, I think, rather excelled Calvin in this unenviable 
 art, though Calvin was but too well skilled in it.* The 
 Scriptures utterly discountenance such a practice. It 
 is said, that Michael durst not bring a railing accusa- 
 tion even against Satan, but only said, " The Lord re- 
 buke thee 1" Our Lord declared that whosoever should 
 call " his brother a fool, should be in danger of hell 
 fire." And was not his glorious example in perfect 
 harmony with his charming instructions ? It was. 
 " When reviled, he reviled not again, — when rebuked, 
 
 * The late Bishop Warbiirton, speaking" of Mr. Romaine, says, 
 "This is the scoundrel I wrote to, but the poor devil has done his 
 own business." — TVarburton's Letters. 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [6 
 
 he threatened not; but committed himsel«f to him who 
 judgeth righteously." Christianity needs not that such 
 unhallowed weapons should be used in its defence. Its 
 noblest and most successful champions have scorned 
 to gird on any other armour, than such as is " lovely, 
 and of good report." If the Bible be our guide, we 
 shall be sincerely concerned to speak the truth in love. 
 And if the dictates of reason influence us, instead of 
 those of Bigotry, we shall never forget that, if we 
 could collect all the abusive epithets that have ever 
 been recorded, or even imagined, we might with the 
 strictest propriety affirm, that collectively they prove 
 nothing but our own depravity. 
 
 The individuals, or parties, who anathematize all that 
 are not of their own communion, are bigots. Our Lord's 
 own disciples manifested somewhat of this unhallowed 
 disposition, when they saw a person casting out devils, 
 and they forbad him, for no better reason than this, 
 because he followed not with them; the Saviour re- 
 proved them, and bade them recollect that " he who is 
 not against us is for us." The Pharisees, with bound- 
 less pride and Bigotry, stood up, and said, " The tem- 
 ple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we 1" and 
 boldly and impiously pronounced those who differed 
 from them, or who were not possessed of their religious 
 knowledge, accursed. The Roman Catholic church 
 is notorious for its anathemas against all who are with- 
 out its intolerant pale. The following is the language 
 of one of its councils, and its conduct has ever been in 
 unison with its professed sentiments : " Whosoever, 
 therefore, is separated from the Catholic church, not- 
 withstanding his conduct in other respects may be ex- 
 cellent, he shall not see life, but the wrath of God 
 abideth on him."* A similar disposition and conduct 
 has ever been manifested by all worldly establishments 
 of religion. A large proportion of their adherents, 
 with the most entire complacency, unite with the in- 
 tolerant Daubeny in giving up the numerous millions 
 who dissent from them, to use their own language, 
 
 *Quisquis ergo ab hac Catholica ecclesia fuerit separatus, quan- 
 tumlibet laudabiliter se vivere existimet, non habebit vitam, sed 
 ira Dei manet super eum. Cone. Numid. A. D. 412. 
 
 89 
 
7] ON BIGOTRY. 
 
 "to the uncovenanted mercies of God." Such men 
 seem to find a pleasure in cursing their fellovv-crea 
 tures. Thus the old chancellor Tellier, in the reign of 
 Louis XIV. earnestly entreated that the most Christiar 
 king* would hasten the revocation of the edict of Nantz, 
 lest he should leave the world without the extatic plea, 
 sure of putting his seal to it. How an event that wat 
 to deprive two millions of people, and of his country- 
 men too, of their liberties, and of all that was mos 
 dear to them, and consign immense multitudes to cap 
 tivity, and extreme torture, could afford any one enjoy- 
 ment, it is indeed difficult to conceive. What a per- 
 versity, what an infatuation of understanding ! what a 
 depravity of heart ! what monstrous cruelty ! The Da- 
 nish bishop, who wished to be transformed into a de- 
 vil, that he might have the exquisite delight of tor- 
 menting in hell the heretic soul of king Frederick, 
 appears indeed to have been a very near relative of 
 this miserable individual. 
 
 This anathematizing spirit is in the highest degree 
 mean, ungenerous, unrighteous and abominable, and 
 is the very essence of Bigotry. Where is there any 
 reason in cursing all who may differ from us in mat- 
 ters of comparatively inferior moment, when it is an 
 unquestionable fact, that excellent men, real Chris- 
 tians, the friends of God and of the human race, have 
 been found among all denominations of professing 
 Christians, not even excepting the Roman Catholic 
 community, obviously the most corrupt on the face 
 of the earth ? And assuredly the Scriptures do not 
 in the smallest degree sanction this detestable con- 
 duct, since they affirm, and that too in the plainest 
 manner, that those who repent of their transgressions, 
 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and obey his com- 
 mandments, shall, whether anathematized or not, be 
 finally and eternally saved. 
 
 The Bigot very frequently expends his principal zeal 
 on trivial things, whilst he neglects matters of the high- 
 
 * It is well remarked by R. Robinson, that " if right reason and 
 relig-ion were to compose a just title for such a man, it might call 
 him, a most inhuman tyrant, certainly it would not call him ( a 
 most Christum king'*' 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [_8 
 
 est importance. This was evidently the case with the 
 Pharisees; our Lord sharply reproved them on this ac- 
 count: " Wo," said he, "unto you Scribes and Phari- 
 sees ! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, 
 and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, 
 judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have 
 done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind 
 guides ! which strain at [out] a gnat, and swallow a 
 camel!" Matt, xxiii. 23, 24. 
 
 He is a Bigot, whose conduct makes it evident, that his 
 chief aim is the establishment of a party, or the gratifi- 
 cation of worldly dispositions, and not the furtherance 
 of the truth. An individual of this class, and, unfortu- 
 nately, it is very numerous, may be readily known by 
 the following plain and infallible marks: he obstinately 
 refuses to do any manner of good, however he may have 
 it in his power, and whatever opportunities may be pre- 
 sented to him, out of his own community. Present to 
 him a case for the support of schools in some part of 
 the world, where the people are enveloped in the gross- 
 est superstition and darkness, and in which no books 
 whatever, beside the New Testament, and an introduc- 
 tory primer, perfectly unexceptionable, are used, and 
 he may admire your benevolence, and has nothing to 
 say against the charity, but he cannot, that is, his ex- 
 cessive bigotry will not let him do a generous action — 
 he cannot do any thing out of his church. Ask for his 
 aid in the translation of the Scriptures for gratuitous 
 distribution among the millions of the perishing hea- 
 then, and still, though it is exceedingly difficult to 
 imagine how, in the remotest manner, his church 
 could possibly be injured, he sings the same song, 
 he cannot, no indeed he cannot, do any thing out 
 of his church. Bigotry, unrelenting, downright Bigot- 
 ry, seals his pocket up so closely, that no effort, how- 
 ever urgent and impressive, can open it, and steels his 
 heart so impenetrably, that it is but rarely conscious of 
 a single generous and compassionate feeling, towards 
 the multitudes of his fellow-creafcures who are im- 
 mersed in wretchedness and barbarism. 
 
 Much praise is due to the liberality and kindness of 
 many gentlemen, who, though not altogether agreeing 
 
 89 
 
9 J ON BIGOTRY. 
 
 with an applicant in every religious sentiment, have 
 nevertheless freely and nobly contributed to the erec- 
 tion of places for the spread of the gospel, or the ac- 
 commodation of Christian worship. It must, however, 
 also be owned, that a very offensive spirit of Bigotry 
 has been sometimes manifested on these occasions. 
 When a minister, in reply to inquiry, has acknow- 
 ledged that he belonged to the Baptist denomination, 
 the very mention of the term has excited a torrent of 
 abuse on the individual himself, and on the body of 
 Christians to whom he has belonged. Now, is this 
 doing as we would be done unto? Is not such a con- 
 duct a grievous sin even against common courtesy? 
 Would not a well-bred individual, of no pretensions 
 to piety, disdain such ungenerous conduct ? And is 
 a person to be justified, in regarding a respectable 
 stranger, asking aid in the cause of Christ, with con- 
 tempt or ill-treatment, because he has the courage to 
 think for himself in matters of religion, and the ho- 
 nesty to avow that he does so ? Does not the person 
 who thus demeans himself, loudly say, " How dare you 
 differ, even a single shade, from so distinguished a 
 personage as myself?" Is this the spirit of Christiani- 
 ty? Is this a practical regard of his instructions, who 
 bade the greatest in his family become the servant of 
 all? It is no extenuation of the fault of such an indi- 
 vidual, to say, that he is a man of consequence and 
 wealth, and a very useful person. This is an aggra- 
 vation of his guilt; for on these accounts it is more 
 imperatively incumbent on him to adopt a line of con- 
 duct, at once amiable, conciliatory, liberal, and con- 
 descending. Such behaviour is both ungentleman- 
 like, and unchristian, and is the evident and most of- 
 fensive offspring of Bigotry. 
 
 Another mark of the persons who are here alluded 
 to, is, that they regard almost all kind of means as 
 lawful that they think may tend to the establishment 
 and prosperity of their party. Hence has arisen the 
 manifold, pious, but detestable frauds of the Romish 
 church. Thus persons of this class will zealously 
 propagate gross calumnies, and oftentimes indeed in- 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [^10 
 
 vent, as well as give them currency. When an in- 
 dividual apostatizes from his profession, they assidu- 
 ously 
 
 11 Reproach a people with his single fall, 
 And cast his filthy raiment at them all,'* 
 
 Affirming, wherever they have opportunity, that all of 
 the same community are equally vile. The mere stic Ic- 
 ier of a party has been known publicly and bitterly to 
 inveigh against his brethren, who think it right to bap- 
 tize on a profession of faith, and by immersion only? 
 and at the same time in private, rather than have his 
 party weakened, or lose a rich member of his own so- 
 ciety, to administer that ordinance in his own habita- 
 tion, and in the very manner too, which he has so ve- 
 hemently arraigned. 
 
 The truly candid Christian, in opposition to the bi- 
 got, cleaves to the truth, and follows it wherever it may 
 lead him. He dares to be honest to his conscience, 
 notwithstanding many temptations to be otherwise. 
 He rejoices in the extension of truth, among all de- 
 nominations, and in every part of the habitable globe. 
 His attachment is not to any party of Christians, as 
 such, but to the truth. He holds it with a firm un- 
 trembling hand; and binds it joyfully to his heart, as 
 one who has found great spoil, whether it is fashiona- 
 ble or not, whether men smile or frown, and whether 
 they reward or punish him. He utterly disdains to 
 serve a good cause by the base arts of low cunning, 
 detestable falsehood, or impious malignity. He can 
 stand erect, and say with Cowper, 
 
 " And truth alone, where'er my lot be cast, 
 'Midst scenes of plenty, or the pining waste, 
 Shall be my chosen theme, my glory to the last." 
 
 Dogmatically to decide on a subject, with a very slender 
 knowledge of it, and without having diligently examined 
 it, arises commonly from bigotry. How unreasonable 
 is such a line of conduct: there can be no propriety 
 in a man's decisions in reference to sentiments he has 
 never investigated. The holy and liberal men who 
 wrote the sacred volume, were not ecclesiastical ty- 
 
 89 
 
'] 
 
 ON BIGOTRY. 
 
 rants; they wished their readers "to prove all things, 
 and to hold fast that which is good;" and they have 
 commended it as a noble disposition, not to believe any 
 thing without examination, and a conviction of its truth. 
 But a bigot expects and demands that you should re- 
 ceive his assertions for proofs. Thus the infidel Paine, 
 affirmed that the Bible was unworthy of any attention, 
 and that he had answered it before he had read it ! 
 
 This disposition is often evident, not only in refer 
 ence to opinions, but also to characters. Thus I re 
 collect an individual who affirmed, that a minister in 
 his neighbourhood was not a Calvinist. Somewhat 
 surprised, I said, "Not a Calvinist! then, what is he?" 
 "O, don't you know? — he is a Fullerite!" was the re- 
 ply. Merely to ascertain whether he knew any thing 
 of the subject, I said, " Indeed ! — Will you have the 
 kindness to mention some principles of Calvinism, 
 which Mr. F. did not maintain?" "I shall not trou- 
 ble myself to do this," said he — " but he was not a Cal- 
 vinist— of that I am certain." "Well," I rejoined, 
 "did you ever read his writings?" "O no," said he, 
 " nor do I intend it; every one knows that he was no 
 Calvinist." What can we call such a dogmatical spi- 
 rit, and there is much of it in the world, but down- 
 right bigotry? 
 
 Pride, overbearing pride, is the inseparable com- 
 panion of bigotry. Perhaps it may with propriety be 
 affirmed that a man's pride is always in proportion to 
 his bigotry. He who is clothed with humility can ne- 
 ver manifest this unhallowed disposition. Leighton, 
 though an arch-bishop, was not, and for this reason 
 never could have been, a bigot. In reference to his 
 kind, conciliating, and truly christian temper, I would 
 indeed say, Let him be imitated.* 
 
 Bearing false witness, either in speaking or writing 
 against those who differ from as in opinion, arises usual- 
 ly from bigotry. Instances of this kind are frequently 
 occurring, and are lamentably numerous. Thus some 
 individual, not long since, published an account of the 
 miserable faction that disgraced and afflicted the town 
 
 * Ilium agit penna metuente solvi 
 Fama superstes. 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [ 12 
 
 of Minister about the time of the Reformation, and call- 
 ed it a History of the Baptists, though he was well 
 aware, that the Baptists of the present day have no 
 principles in common with those wretched people. 
 This was bearing false witness to serve party purposes. 
 
 Professing to take the Bible as our sole guide in matters 
 of religion, and yet refusing to submit to plain scriptural 
 authority, commonly arises from Bigotry. Thus, when 
 Dr. Priestly met with a passage in the Gospel by John, 
 asserting the pre-existence of Christ, though he could 
 not but acknowledge that this was the case, yet he would 
 by no means admit the doctrine to be true. He would 
 suppose, he says, that the apostle dictated one thing, 
 and his amanuensis wrote another; or that John war 
 superannuated, and did not know what he wrote; or, 
 he would suppose any thing, and every thing, rather 
 than give credit to the sentiment. * Thus also, a host of 
 writers,f Bishop Saunderson,| Calvin,§ Bishop Bur- 
 net, || and a multitude of others, of great name, have 
 testified, and deliberately left their opinions on record, 
 that there is no precept or example in the New Testa- 
 ment for infant baptism, and yet, with glaring incon- 
 sistency, continued to practise it. How can this be 
 accounted for, but from a bigoted attachment to a 
 creed, whether its sentiments are scriptural or not. 
 
 Those who would in any loay whatever injure their fel- 
 low-creatures on account of their religious sentiments, are 
 evidently some of the worst of Bigots. Thus all perse- 
 cutors are justly chargeable with this detestable vice. 
 Here, iudeed, it is seen in all its native horrors, full 
 grown, and as diabolical as gigantic. It may not, per- 
 haps, be amiss to present a single specimen of its in- 
 fernal labours. In reference to the Protestants in 
 France, it is said, "The bloody butehers invented a 
 thousand torments to tire their patience, and to force 
 
 * Magee on the Atonement, p. 85, 86. 
 
 •j- See an invaluable work, entitled, Psedobaptism Examined, by 
 the venerable Abraham Booth. See also Pengilly's Scripture 
 Guide to Baptism, Tract No. 45. 
 
 \ De Oblig. Conscient. Prxlect. iv. sect. 17, 18. 
 
 § Instit. lib. 4 c. 16. 
 
 B Expos of 39 Art. p. 306. Art. 27. 
 
 89 
 
13j OX BIGOTRY. 
 
 them to abjure their sentiments. They cast some into 
 large fires, and took them out when they were half- 
 roasted. They hanged others, with large ropes under 
 their arm-pits, and plunged them several times into 
 wells, till they promised to renounce their religicn 
 They tied them like criminals to the rack, and poured 
 wine, with a funnel, into their mouths, till, being in- 
 toxicated, they consented to turn Catholics. Some 
 they slashed and cut with pen-knives, others they took 
 by the nose with red-hot tongs, and led them up and 
 down the room till they promised to turn Catholics."* 
 
 No individual or community has a right to injure 
 another in his good name, person, or substance, on ac- 
 count of his religious sentiments. God causes his sun 
 to rise on the evil and on the good, and his rain to de- 
 scend on the thankful and on the unthankful. And if 
 we are what we ought to be, and profess to be, real 
 Christians, we shall strive to imitate our heavenly 
 Father. It may be pointedly put to every persecutor, 
 What hast thou to do with another man's servant? To 
 his own master he stands or falls. Those who perse- 
 cute, get into the throne of God, and take his sword 
 of vengeance from his hands. What impious pre- 
 sumption! what boundless arrogance! Even Luther, 
 and Calvin, ,and Cranmer, as well as other Reform- 
 ers, who ought to have known better, on this account 
 are justly to be censured. Is it the way to convince 
 a man of the truth and excellence of Christianity, to 
 seize his property, to afflict his person, or to immure 
 him in a dungeon ? Persecution has made tens of thou- 
 sands of martyrs, and multitudes of hypocrites, but 
 never one real Christian. If there be any passage in 
 the New Testament which authorizes violence and in- 
 justice towards even the vilest of the human race, let 
 it be produced. Every degree of persecution is a most 
 
 * Robinson's Hist, of the Reformation in France, prefixed to 
 Vol. I. of Saurin's Sermons. If the reader would like to see one 
 of the most affecting' and interesting- narratives of the same kind, 
 that was ever penned, let him turn to Jones's History of the Wal- 
 denses. There indeed he will see the havoc that has been made 
 bv the monster Bigotry. 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [j 4 
 
 outrageous wrong, and should meet with general and 
 unqualified reprobation. 
 
 The great and illustrious Founder of Christianity, 
 when his disciples wanted to call down fire from hea- 
 ven to consume the Samaritans, rebuked them sharp- 
 ly, and justly said, " Ye know not what manner of spi- 
 rit ye are of! The Son of man is come, not to destroy 
 men's lives, but to save them." Christianity, divine 
 Christianity, the Christianity of the New Testament, 
 and not that of persecuting statesmen and ecclesias- 
 tical tyrants, unrivalled in excellence and grandeur, 
 every where gloriously breathes, and powerfully in- 
 culcates the animating and ennobling sentiments oi 
 the angelic hymn, " Glory to God in the highest, on 
 earth peace, and good will towards men." A man 
 must trample on its plainest dictates, and become a 
 most detestable bigot, before he can assume the cha- 
 racter of a persecutor. 
 
 "I am sick of almost every thing," says the amiable 
 Pearce, "that has been called religion, but love; su- 
 preme love to God, universal benevolence to man. I 
 am enraptured at the thought, that all the objects 
 which Christianity requires me to believe, are to be 
 contemplated with delight. It is all love; love is the 
 alpha, love is the omega. It originated in love. It 
 is exemplified in love. It works by love. It termi- 
 nates in perfect, universal love. Thanks be to God 
 for this unspeakable gift, this religion of love!" 
 
 Well, on all hands, Bigotry is allowed to be a most 
 horrible evil, and to be wholly indefensible. But how 
 shall it be cured ? This is the all-important question* 
 I know of but one effectual remedy — it is a large por- 
 tion of the benevolent, devotional, Christ-like spirit 
 which is every where inculcated in the New Testa- 
 ment. I never knew a person imbued with the spirit 
 of the Saviour, filled with love to God, and to his fel- 
 low-creatures, (and this is the only religion of which 
 God will approve, the religion indeed of the Bible, and 
 which alone can make man happy,) who was a Bigot. 
 Such an individual, in the whole of his deportment, 
 must necessarily be a living display of that beautiful 
 
 89 
 
15] ON BIGOTRY. 
 
 picture, drawn by a hand under the immediate guid- 
 ance of all-inspiring heaven, which is in the thirteenth 
 chapter of the first Epistle to the church at Corinth. 
 This holy and divine temper is the very opposite to 
 Bigotry. "It suffereth long, and is kind; it envieth 
 not; vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; doth not be- 
 have itself unseemly; seeketh not her own; is not easily 
 provoked; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity; 
 but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things; believeth 
 all things; hopeth aH things; endureth all things." I 
 am not surprised that he who drew this exquisite por- 
 trait, adds, "It never faileth !" This is indeed the 
 grace 
 
 -" that lives and sings, 
 
 When faith and hope shall cease; 
 'Tis this shall strike our joyful strings, 
 In the sweet realms of bliss." 
 
 And unless we possess it, though we could speak with 
 the tongues of men, and of angels, and had faith even 
 to remove mountains, our professions of Christianity 
 are vain, — we are "as sounding brass, or a tinkling 
 cymbal." 
 
 The criterion then by which the truly candid Chris- 
 tian may be distinguished from thje Bigot is evident. 
 The Bigot is notoriously wanting in love to his fellow- 
 creatures — defends false, or even well-founded senti- 
 ments, in an unchristian spirit and temper — frequently 
 anathematizes those who are not altogether of his own 
 communion — often expends his principal zeal on com- 
 paratively trivial things, and pays very little attention 
 to matters of the highest moment — aims at the esta- 
 blishment of a party, or the gratification of mere worldly 
 dispositions, rather than the furtherance of the truth — 
 proudly decides on a subject, and that too many times 
 without having duly examined it — is not very scrupu- 
 lous in reference to the means he employs against those 
 who differ from him in opinion — professes to regard 
 the Scriptures as his only guide in matters of religion, 
 and yet in plain cases refuses to submit to their au- 
 thority — and finally he cherishes the disposition to 
 persecute, if he be not actually a persecutor. 
 
 89 
 
ON BIGOTRY. [ 16 
 
 The truly candid Christian, on the other hand, sin- 
 cerely loves all his fellow-creatures, especially his fel- 
 low-christians, however they may differ from him in 
 opinion. When he defends the truth, the law of kind- 
 ness is on his lips and in his heart, and flows from his 
 pen — he trembles at the thought of taking God's judg- 
 ment-seat, and of cursing any of his fellow-christians — 
 he rejoices in every part of divine truth, and holds i* 
 with a firm hand, but he is principally concerned for 
 the vital doctrines of Christianity — he aims at the fur- 
 therance of the truth, and the glory of God, more than 
 at the prosperity of any party whatever — he searches 
 the Scriptures diligently, before he will decide on any 
 important point, to see if the things affirmed are so, 
 or not — scorns to serve even the truth by dishonest 
 means— conscientiously follows the Bible wherever it 
 leads him — and is sincerely and affectionately con- 
 cerned for the present and everlasting welfare of the 
 human race. 
 
 If I were to mention a single criterion by which 
 Bigotry may be generally and immediately known, I 
 would say, It is a want of that spirit of love which is 
 every where inculcated by the New Testament, and 
 which was delightfully exemplified in the character of 
 our divine Redeemer, and his immediate disciples. 
 
 The time will indeed arrive, it is foretold in the sure 
 page of prophecy, when "none shall hurt or destroy 
 in all God's holy mountain; when the wolf shall dwell 
 with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the 
 kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fading 
 together, and a little child shall lead them;" then, and 
 perhaps not till then, this monster shall die, and b 
 buried. Happy day ! glorious end ! O that it were in- 
 deed already come ! then, having witnessed the in- 
 terment, I would not indeed write its epitaph, but 
 flee afar 
 
 "The pois'nous steams, and stenches of its sepulchre; 
 And lift my hands to heaven, and pray, — 
 That such a hateful creature never may, 
 At any time obtain a resurrection day." 
 
THE DUTY 
 
 OF G1VIXG 
 
 CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 A Letter written by [RAH CHASE; addressed, in 1831, by the Boston Asaoda 
 lion, and now by ilje Tract Society, to Parents and others connected with 
 Baptist Churches. 
 
 Dear Brethren, — It is not to a novel subject, but to 
 one which, nevertheless, must always possess a iresh 
 and touching interest, that we now solicit your atten- 
 tion THE DUTY OF GIVING CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 This duty is, in the first place, the dictate of reason 
 and affection. 
 
 Reason requires that the ignorant be instructed. 
 And the more important the knowledge, the stronger 
 is the argument for its being communicated. And 
 the greater our affection for the persons needing in- 
 struction, the more intense is our desire to have them 
 instructed. Who does not prcnounce it suitable that 
 children be taught those things which may be useful 
 to them in the present life ? and who that loves his 
 children does not desire to have them taught? Now, 
 we take it for granted, that the knowledge of the 
 Christian religion is more valuable than the know- 
 ledge of any other subject ; for it fills the mind with 
 the brightest conceptions of purity and benevolence ; 
 and it is connected with what has the promise of the life 
 that now is, and of that which is to come. It is, 
 then, most manifestly and most emphatically, the dic- 
 tate of reason and affection, that Christian instruc- 
 tion be given to children. 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING | 2 
 
 Besides, this duty is clearly implied in the general di- 
 rection to make the gospel known. 
 
 In the command of our Saviour, Preach the gospel to 
 every creature, it is clear that he would have Christian 
 instruction given to all who are capable of being in- 
 structed. The common sense of every man under- 
 stands the direction as having reference to moral 
 agents only, and to all moral agents belonging to the 
 human family. The gospel is to be preached to all ; 
 and we are to encourage its ministers to go forth to 
 instruct the most distant nations. Surely then, our 
 own children are not to be neglected ; but as soon as 
 they can understand, they are to be taught the simple 
 and affecting story of our redemption, the first prin- 
 ciples of the oracles of God. 
 
 But further, the duty of giving Christian instruction 
 to children, is expressly enjoined. The sacred Scrip- 
 tures exhibit this duty in the most direct and positive 
 manner : Provoke not your children to wrath, says an 
 apostle, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord* Nurture is the more general term, indi- 
 cating the education, or training up of children, 
 which, we know, comprehends instruction and ex- 
 ample, rewards and punishments, and whatever may 
 be necessary in this work. Admonition, as here 
 used, directs our attention particularly to the mind 
 of the child, as that with which we have espe- 
 cially to do ; and we are here taught that this nurture 
 and admonition, or instilling into the mind, must be 
 conformable to the Spirit and instructions of our 
 Lord. 
 
 So clear and prominent is the duty. It is the ma- 
 nifest dictate of reason and affection ; it is implied 
 in the general direction to make the gospel known ; 
 and it is expressly enjoined. It rests, therefore, on 
 an immovahle foundation; and we need no other. 
 
 In view of these considerations, it is to be hoped 
 that we shall all feel the force of the obligations that 
 rest upon us. But it may be useful to mention some 
 additional considerations by which also we should he 
 urged to the performance of this duty. 
 
 ♦Ej.hti: 1. 
 
 124 
 
3] CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 Consider the susceptibility of the mind in childhood. 
 
 This has always been proverbial. In childhood 
 the mind has not the prejudices with which it is like- 
 ly to be filled at a later period. It is more candid j 
 and the impressions which it then receives, are the 
 most likely to be permanent. The evil propensity 
 has not become strengthened by long habits of think- 
 ing and acting in an unworthy and unchristian manner. 
 The child exhibits a frankness, and deference, and 
 docility, the most encouraging. And we know that 
 if his mind be not early imbued with correct senti- 
 ments, it will be with false and pernicious ones. 
 
 Consider the effect on the community. 
 
 Children will be either blessings or curses to their 
 parents and to the community. Think of a child 
 brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
 You may hope to see him dutiful to his parents, their 
 delight and their glory. Follow him through the pe- 
 riods of youth and of manhood. What a salutary in- 
 fluence he exerts on all his companions ! and what a 
 profusion of benefits does he scatter around him, in 
 whatever sphere he may move. 'Train up a child in 
 the way he should go ; and when he is old, he will 
 not depart from it.'* 
 
 But, on the other hand, think of the unhappy 
 child, that has not received Christian instruction. 
 What can you expect but that he will be the grief of 
 his mother? Destitute of Christian principle, he will 
 be the easy victim of temptation. He corrupts the 
 principles and habits of others. Or, if he does not 
 absolutely become a pest in society, he at least fails 
 of doing that amount of good which he might have 
 been the honored instrument of accomplishing. 
 Should he, at mature age, through the riches of di- 
 vine grace, become truly religious, how will he de- 
 plore, that in childhood his Christian education was 
 neglected, and that from a child he had not known 
 the holy scriptures. 
 
 In a few years, the dearest interests of the commu- 
 nity will be in the hands of those who are now chil- 
 dren. How important that we do what we can to 
 
 * Frov. » : 6 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING [4 
 
 cause that the generation which shall arise, may be a 
 generation to praise the Lord, and to diffuse through- 
 out all the walks of life, a pure and happy influence. 
 
 Consider the consequences beyond the grave. 
 
 If a child be brought up in the nurture and admo- 
 nition of the Lord, there is reason to trust not only 
 that this Christian instruction will have a good influ- 
 ence upon him in the present life, but also that it will 
 be so blessed as to make him 'wise unto salvation 
 through faith which is in Christ Jesus.'* But if 
 a child grow up in ignorance and contempt of 
 Christian truth and duty, there is an alarming pro 
 bability not only that he will be worse than useless in 
 this life, but also that he will die in his sins, and fall 
 under the solemn declaration of the Saviour, Whither 
 I go, ye cannot come, f 
 
 Most of those in a Christian land who have given 
 evidence of having become truly pious, we have rea- 
 son to believe, had some truths of the gospel deeply 
 impressed on their minds at an early age. The seed of 
 divine truth sown in the tender mind, may lie buried 
 long, but we may hope it will not be lost. 
 
 Yes, for this we may hope and pray. How often 
 has the recollection of truths affectionately inculcated 
 in childhood, been brought afresh to the mind at a 
 later period, with an overwhelming power. The 
 tongue of the faithful parent may now be silent in the 
 grave ; and the eye that once beamed on the child 
 with parental and Christian love, may now be seen no 
 more ; but the instruction, and the patience, and 
 tender solicitude with which it was imparted, fill the 
 soul of the hitherto careless wanderer with deep emo- 
 tion, and become the most prominent among the 
 means of his conversion to God. 
 
 In this view of the matter, there is, certainly, great 
 encouragement, but there is still greater in another 
 view which we are permitted to take. As connected 
 with the truly Christian instruction of our children, 
 we may hope, and we should hope, for their early 
 conversion, — for their being brought even in early 
 childhood, to a saving acquaintance with religion, to 
 
 *2Tim. 3; 15. f John 3; 51,23. 
 
 124 
 
3 J CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Why should we not? The gospel is 
 remarkable for its simplicity, a child may understand 
 it; many a young child has understood it, so far as 
 its first principles are concerned, and has felt it3 
 heavenly power, and given ample evidence of being 
 truly regenerate. 
 
 In the time of our Saviour, there were such chil- 
 dren. And it is not improbable that he selected one of 
 these, when he rebuked the ambitious contention of 
 his disciples. On this occasion, according to the re- 
 cord of Matthew, S Jesus called a little child unto him, 
 and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily, I 
 6ay unto you, except ye be converted, and become as 
 little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself 
 as this little child, the same is greatest in the king 
 dom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such 
 little child in my name receiveth me.'* In Luke, this 
 last declaration is expressed thus : * Whosoever shall 
 receive this child in my name, receiveth me. 't And 
 Matthew immediately adds the words of the Saviour, 
 ' But whoso shall offend/ or cause to siw^one of these Utile 
 ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a 
 mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and that he 
 were drowned in the depth of the sea.' 
 
 On another occasion, there were brought unto our 
 Lord little children, that he should put his hands 
 on them and pray : and the disciples rebuked them. 
 But Jesus said, 'Suffer the little children, and forbid 
 them not, to come unto me, for of such is the king- 
 dom of heaven. '{ 'Verily I say unto you, whosoever 
 shall not receive the kingdom of God, as a little 
 child, he shall not enter therein. '§ 
 
 In these passages and the parallel ones, the original 
 words rendered child, little ones, little children, and 
 infants, may indicate children of such an age as to 
 be capable of receiving religious instruction. This 
 every one acquainted with the Greek, must know ; and 
 it has been abundantly shown by the ablest interpreters. 
 Even the word which at first sight would here seem 
 
 • Matt. 18 : 2-5. ; Luke 9 . 4?. J Matt. 13 : 13, 14. - § Mark 10: 15. 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING [ 6 
 
 to be the most unfavorable to this representation, 
 (the word in Luke rendered infants,) is the very word 
 which the apostle Paul uses when he says to Timothy, 
 'From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures.' 
 
 If, on these occasions of teaching humility to his 
 disciples, our Lord directed their attention to chil- 
 dren, on account merely of the simplicity and meekness 
 which belong-, in a remarkable degree, to children 
 generally, his teaching was beautiful and impressive, 
 and if he directed their attention to children, who be- 
 sides possessing these qualities in common with other 
 children, had received the truth in the love of it, his 
 teaching was, certainly, still more beautiful and im- 
 pressive. 
 
 That there were such children in his time, is 
 evident from the 21st chapter of Matthew,* where 
 it is stated: 'When the chief priests and scribes 
 saw the wonderful things that he did, and the chil- 
 dren crying in the temple, and saying, hosanna to 
 the son of David, they were displeased, and said unto 
 him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith 
 unto them, Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the 
 mouths of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected 
 praise ?' 
 
 This is a quotation from the eighth Psalm, and, it 
 being poetry, it is somewhat hyperbolical, according 
 to the poetic manner; but the idea intended to be ex- 
 hibited is perfectly manifest, namely, that God is 
 pleased when young children feel his love, and utter 
 his praise. 
 
 Instances of early piety have occurred in almost 
 every age of the world ; and they are not rare in our 
 own country at the present time. Within the circle 
 of our own observation, and particularly in those 
 places where special attention has been paid to the 
 subject of religion, many a striking and lovely exam- 
 ple of this kind has presented itself; and we have 
 been most happily taught the force of the passage 
 which has just been repeated : Out of the mouths of 
 babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Indeed, 
 there is abundant proof that genuine conversions may 
 
 • Verses 15, 16 
 
7 J CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN 
 
 occur, and that they have occurred, at a very early 
 period. 
 
 Why, then, we ask again, why should we not hope 
 and labor, and pray for such a blessing in respect to 
 our own children ? And who can refuse thus to exert 
 himself, when he thinks of the consequences which 
 may ensue beyond the grave ? 
 
 Consider the uncertainty of life. 
 
 There is uncertainty in respect to our own lives. 
 Soon our children may be called to weep over our 
 lifeless remains, and be left amidst the dangers of an 
 ensnaring and sinful world. Ah ! how can we answer 
 for it, if we neglect the precious opportunities which 
 we now enjoy for bringing them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord ? 
 
 There is uncertainty in respect to their lives. 
 How often does the loveliest blossom droop and fade 
 away before our eyes ! Shall not we do without delay 
 what God himself has commanded us tc do, in order 
 that each, whenever removed, may be transplanted to 
 his own garden on high ? 
 
 We must remember, that, dear and lovely as oui 
 children may be, they need to be regenerated and 
 saved through Jesus Christ ; that all have sinned, and 
 that, just so far as they are sinners, they need to re- 
 pent, and to receive forgiveness through a child-like 
 reliance on our condescending Lord. The time al- 
 lotted them may be short. Death is almost daily en- 
 tering some of our families ; and none can tell either 
 how soon, or how suddenly, any one of the dear 
 children committed to our care may be torn away. 
 Now is the piecious opportunity of instructing their 
 tender minds, and pointing them to the Lamb of God. 
 The opportunity may soon be gone. How bitter 
 must then be the remembrance of having neglected 
 our duty ! How sweet, the consolation of having 
 faithfully performed it ! 
 
 Christian instruction, as we have seen, must not 
 only be given to children ; but it must also be given 
 in an affectionate and engaging manner. 
 
 4 Provoke not,' says the apostle, 'provoke not your 
 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING I 8 
 
 children to wrath.' This is, indeed, a general direc- 
 tion ; and it is a most important admonition in respect 
 to all our intercourse with children ; but it applies, 
 with peculiar force, to our efforts for their spiritual 
 and eternal benefit. It teaches us to guard against 
 a repulsive austerity and moroseness, and to let our 
 whole manner of communicating instruction and ad- 
 monition be the manifest dictate of love. While we 
 present unadulterated Christian truth, we must endea- 
 vor to present it so affectionately as, if possible, to dis- 
 arm the enmity of the natural heart. And we must 
 let our little listeners clearly perceive not only that we 
 love them, but that God loves them, and requires of 
 them only what is necessary to their highest happi- 
 ness. We must show them that it is the way of trans- 
 gressors that is hard; but that ' the ways of wisdom 
 are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace.' 
 
 We must do our utmost to excite and keep up in 
 the tender mind, a cheerful attention to the various 
 things involved in a religious education. This is evi- 
 dent from a parallel passage, in the epistle to the Col- 
 losians,* where the apostle says expressly, ' Provoke 
 ^•not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.' 
 Clearly, then, we must, according to the circum- 
 stances in which we are placed, take those measures 
 which are the best adapted to encourage our children 
 in all that is right and useful, and especially in receiv- 
 ing Christian instruction. 
 
 The duty of giving such instruction is directly and 
 explicitly enjoined upon parents ; and they cannot be 
 exonerated from performing it, so far as it may be in 
 their power. Parents, it is most obvious, have pecu- 
 liar advantages for influencing the minds of their 
 children. And who that has the heart of a parent, 
 does not ardently desire to be qualified for performing, 
 in the happiest manner, so endearing and responsible 
 a work ? Who that has the heart of a parent, does 
 not hear a voice from heaven, saying, ' These words 
 shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt teach them di- 
 ligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when 
 
 * 3 : 21. 
 
 124 
 
y] CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by 
 the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou 
 risest up.'* 
 
 But while parents cannot be released from the obli- 
 gation to bring up their children in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord, they may find that one of the 
 best means of doing this, is to employ the aid of 
 others. It may greatly contribute to the attainment 
 of the grand object, and yet leave much for parents 
 themselves to perform. It may, in our circumstances, 
 possess various manifest advantages. And it may be 
 admirably adapted to encourage our children, and to 
 extend to the children of others the same benefits 
 which we would confer upon our own. Whenever 
 this is the case, it is most obvious that the aid of 
 others should be sought. And all must admit that 
 this is now pre-eminently the case with respect to the 
 aid which is found in the lord's-day school. If any 
 man doubt it, let him be more fully informed on the 
 subject. If he still doubt it, let him nevertheless see 
 to it that he himself neglect not the duty expressly en- 
 joined in the scriptures. Let him think on the value 
 of religious instruction to his own children; let him 
 think on its value to the children of his neighbors ; 
 let him bear them on his heart in prayer to God ; and 
 we may hope that his doubts will soon pass away. 
 
 We, dear brethren, are fully persuaded in our own 
 minds. We see how happily the idea of Christian in- 
 struction in the family, and in the Lord's-day school, 
 accords with all that we, as Baptists, believe to be the 
 mind of Christ. Let us convince our erring brethren 
 of other denominations, that his disciples can feel the 
 force of the divine command, Bring up your children 
 in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, without per- 
 forming a ceremony that has not been commanded, 
 and that would displace and annihilate a ceremony 
 that has been commanded, — the solemn act of the be- 
 liever's being baptized upon the profession of his faith 
 in Him who died for him, and rose again. 
 
 At no former period have our churches felt a deeper 
 interest in Lord's-day schools, and Bible classes j and 
 
 *Deut 6: 6,7. 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING [lO 
 
 some of tnem are bringing increased attention to 
 these methods of doing good, into a close and en 
 dearing connection with their respective associations. 
 Thus they ascertain what has been done, and what re- 
 mains to be done : they are benefitted by each other's 
 experience ; they take sweet counsel together, they 
 consider how they can help and encourage each other, 
 and they return home with new zeal, and with new 
 confidence, that their labors in this, and in other 
 spheres of duty will not be in vain. 
 
 On the subject of which we have been treating, as 
 well as in all other truly Christian enterprises, it sure- 
 ly becomes us as a denomination, to be among the 
 foremost of those who exhibit and exemplify ' encou- 
 ragements to religious effort.' Let us thank God, and 
 take courage, in view of what has already been ac- 
 complished for the rising generation, and in view of 
 the indications which we are permitted to behold, 
 that a brighter day is dawning upon the world. 
 
 In the course of the year past, a divine blessing has 
 attended the ordinary and the extraordinary means of 
 grace enjoyed in the churches. Multitudes have 
 been converted to God. But amidst the various ef- 
 forts that have been so signally honored, the duty of 
 giving Christian instruction to children, still holds a 
 prominent place. It must not, and it cannot be for- 
 gotten ; for it possesses an enduring importance which 
 no event has diminished, and which no language can 
 adequately express. 
 
 We have seen on what a deep and broad foundation 
 this duty rests : It is the manifest dictate of reason 
 and affection ; it is implied in the general direction to 
 make the gospel known, and it is expressly enjoined. 
 We have glanced at some of the other considerations, 
 by which the duty is urged upon us ; the susceptibili- 
 ty of the mind in childhood ; the effect on the com- 
 munity ; the consequences beyond the grave ; and 
 the uncertainty of life, — of our own lives, and of the 
 lives of our children. And we have seen that this 
 duty must be performed in the most affectionate and 
 engaging manner, that, accordingly, and as one of the 
 means of attaining the grand object, the aid of the 
 124 
 
i l") CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 Lord's-day school should be employed for our own 
 children, and for the children of others, and yet that 
 we who are parents should remember, we ourselves 
 still have much to perform. Here is ample scope for 
 the efforts of teachers and of parents. Here is a great 
 and most blessed work to be done, and it may well 
 call forth the unwearied attention of pastors and 
 churches, and of all that can render assistance. Mo- 
 mentous responsibilities rest upon us all. On every 
 side we see the dear young immortals intrusted to our 
 care. Shall they be formed for usefulness and glory, 
 and bliss ? Or shall they be neglected, and ruined for 
 time and for eternity ? O may we abound in prayer 
 to God for them and for ourselves. Let thy work ap- 
 pear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children, 
 and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us ; and 
 establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the 
 work of our hands, establish thou it. 
 
 Praying thus, brethren, we proceed with new cou- 
 rage, we bid you God speed, and continue, as ever, 
 yours in faith and love. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following remarks, from an address by a dear and highly esteemed bro- 
 ther and fellow-laborer, Professor Ripley, of Newton, are so important and so 
 intimately connected with the subject of the preceding Letter, that they cannot 
 fail of being read with interest and with profit. 
 
 It is the obvious dictate of revelation, and strong 
 principles natural to the human heart coincide with 
 this dictate, that parents should have much to do with 
 the religious instruction of their children. The na- 
 tural affection which a parent must feel for his off- 
 spring, and the confidence which a child reposes on 
 the instructions of his parents, are peculiarly favor- 
 able circumstances. Besides, who, like a judicious 
 parent, can seize the proper times, and deal out in- 
 struction in the proper measures ? Who like him 
 can bear with the peevishness and childishness of the 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF GIVING [12 
 
 little scholar, and can know when to curb and when to 
 excite ? With parental instruction, nothing should 
 be allowed to interfere. But unless I greatly mistake, 
 there is danger that many parents may feel themselv«s 
 exempted from this duty, in consequence of the ad- 
 vantages which the Sabbath school furnishes. The 
 ignorance and the indolence of many parents may 
 shelter themselves under the wing of the Sabbath 
 school ; and even natural affection may plead for an 
 exemption from this duty, by intrusting the perform- 
 ance of it to those who are supposed to be more capa- 
 ble of discharging it. 
 
 Parents may also think themselves excused from 
 personally instructing their children, on account of 
 the irregularity with which their own instructions 
 would have to be imparted. By not rightly distribut- 
 ing their time, or by not rigidly adhering to a right 
 distribution, they find various things interfering with 
 each other, and not unfrequently some of their duties 
 wholly neglected ; and the long intervals which occur 
 are specially injurious to their children's advancement 
 in the knowledge of the Bible. By irregularity and 
 various sorts of mismanagement, the waywardness of 
 their children increases, and the parents may come 
 at length to the settled belief, (and perhaps in their 
 case, after having spoiled their children, it may be 
 true,) that almost any one can do more good to their 
 children, than they can themselves. But whatever 
 may be said of the Sabbath school as furnishing a 
 system of correctives for children who have been the 
 victims of such mismanagement, it is certain that 
 those parents greatly err, who deliberately neglect 
 the religious instruction of their children, at a very 
 early period, in consequence of the provisions which 
 Sabbath schools furnish. The truth is, these schools 
 are intended not to supersede, but to assist domestic 
 instruction, and nothing can be plainer than that the 
 benefits of Sabbath schools must be exceedingly re- 
 stricted, unless the scholars receive at home instruc- 
 tion that may prepare them for the school, and 
 instruction suited to deepen the impression which 
 the school exercises may make. I fear also that pa- 
 124 
 
13] CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 rents who may be willing to relieve themselves of re- 
 sponsibility by placing it upon others, will directly 
 counteract the good which they profess to desire for 
 their children from the Sabbath school, and which 
 they flatter themselves will more readily be gained 
 from the school, than from parental instruction; for 
 such a shrinking from responsibility, or rather such a 
 glad withdrawing of themselves from it, will have a 
 baleful influence upon their whole characters, and will 
 produce in numerous particulars, a carelessness of 
 conduct, and an unconcern respecting the example 
 they set before their children. 
 
 The true interests of the rising generation, then, 
 and no less the true interests of Sabbath Schools, re- 
 quire that parents should cherish a deep sense of their 
 personal responsibility, and should regard the Sab- 
 bath school chiefly as a most valuable auxiliary to 
 their own efforts. The altar of domestic devotion 
 must not be deserted, because we can resort to the 
 public altar of the sanctuary. Upon no pretence 
 must the vivifying heat of family religion be chilled. 
 The assiduities of parental care cannot safely be su- 
 perseded by any other anxiety, by any other dili- 
 gence, However intense, however constant. Let pa- 
 rents, then, be continually reminded, that while divine 
 authority proclaims, ' Children obey your parents in 
 the Lord ;' the same authority proclaims with a plain- 
 ness which cannot be misunderstood, and an urgency 
 which must never be unheeded, 'Ye fathers bring up 
 your children in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord.' Whatever other persons may do in the train- 
 ing up of children, upon parents is laid an injunction 
 from the High and Holy one. Let parents feel the 
 force of this injunction, and in their endeavors to com- 
 ply with it, let them avail themselves of the advantages 
 which the Sabbath school furnishes; and remember 
 too, that the increase of advantages for rightly train- 
 ing their children, increases their obligations to 
 bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord. 
 
 I have mentioned an error into which parents may 
 124 
 
THE DUTY OF OWING [^14 
 
 be led j and now let me direct your thoughts to one 
 into which pastors may fall. 
 
 It has always appeared to me of immense impor- 
 tance that a pastor should endeavor to maintain a 
 very intimate and affectionate intercourse with the 
 children of his congregation. These constitute the 
 most interesting, in many respects, and the most hope- 
 ful part of his charge. If, at an early period, he ac- 
 quires their confidence and produces in their minds a 
 conviction that he is their friend, their affectionate 
 well-wisher, their willing and patient benefactor, with 
 how much profit may he believe that in after-life they 
 will listen to his instructions ; how slow will they be 
 to abandon him for a teacher of a different faith ; 
 with how much confidence may he anticipate that 
 with many of them he shall sit down in the kingdom 
 of his Saviour. 
 
 It is a mistake, I fear, that children will, as a mat- 
 ter of course, regard their minister with affectionate 
 reverence and confidence. They may indeed regard 
 him with distant respect and awe. Thinking of him 
 only in connection with the services of religion, and 
 as the individual who has not unfrequentlv caused 
 their consciences to give them pain, they may feel un- 
 easy in his presence ; they may endeavor to avoid his 
 sight, and even subject themselves to no little inconve- 
 nience in order to escape his observation. Some ef- 
 fort, then, is needed on his part to produce an attach- 
 ment to his person. His pastoral visitation of fami- 
 lies, if judiciously conducted, will do somewhat 
 towards gaining their affections. The esteem which 
 their parents manifest towards him will exert an addi- 
 tional influence. But to these let there be added re- 
 gular opportunities of meeting the children in an 
 affectionate and tender manner for religious instruc- 
 tion and advice ; and I cannot but think a very desira- 
 ble state of feeling will exist both in the pastor and 
 in the children. 
 
 But, as it is in the case of parents, so it is in the 
 case of pastors. Too many of them are not wholly 
 free from a willingness to diminish their cares, and to 
 124 
 
15J CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. 
 
 presume that, although in different circumstances it 
 would be an indispensable duty to exercise a personal 
 supervision over the children, yet, as religious in- 
 struction is so copiously imparted in the Sabbath 
 school, the work is accomplished to better effect than 
 it could be by their exertions. It is indeed done to 
 better effect by the Sabbath school arrangements than 
 it was done previously to the existence of Sabbath 
 schools ; but it is not done to so much effect as it 
 would be, if to the weekly efforts of the school teach- 
 er, were added the monthly attentions of the pastor. 
 Nor can it be justly said in excuse for this neglect 
 on the part of pastors, that the arrangements for Bible 
 class instruction furnish sufficient opportunities for 
 bringing the pastor into intimate connection with the 
 youthful part of his society. Of the value of Bible 
 class instruction, and of its happily supplying a void 
 that had existed for ages, I am very sensible. But 
 it is not enough that the pastor form an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the young, and exert his influence 
 over them in the form of a Bible class. For a large 
 number, though at an early period connected with the 
 Sabbath school, do not become members of a Bible 
 class. Especially is this true respecting lads who 
 sooner leave the paternal roof, and are exposed to 
 more powerful temptations than their sisters, and who, 
 moreover, frequently at an unsuitable age, are re- 
 moved to a distance from parents, and placed in cir- 
 cumstances almostentirely new. How desirable, then, 
 that the assiduous care of pastors should be extended 
 towards them at that which may well be called the 
 forming period of their lives. Again, how often does 
 the bloom of childhood yield to the paleness of death ! 
 The little immortal comes forth as a flower, and is 
 cut down. Would it not be a pleasant reflection to 
 the pastor, as he is consoling the afflicted parents, as 
 he looks upon the coffin which contains the desire of 
 their eyes, would it not be a pleasant reflection, that 
 that child knew him, and loved him, and confided in 
 him ; that that child he had often met in company 
 with others, for purposes of the highest import ; that 
 124 
 
CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION TO CHILDREN. £l6 
 
 for the salvation of that child he had often felt earnest 
 desires, and poured forth fervent prayers ? 
 
 I would affectionately suggest it for your considera- 
 tion, whether pastors ought not occasionally, and with- 
 out long intervals, to be present in the Sabbath school, 
 and to show the interest which they feel in the instruc- 
 tion of the young; and whether, besides this occasional 
 attendance, they ought not to appoint stated times 
 for meeting the children, either in order to review 
 the Sabbath school lessons, or to impart different, 
 though kindred instruction. 
 
 For a most judicious and instructive view of va- 
 rious particulars that call for the parent's attention, 
 see Letters on Christian Education ; by a Mother. 
 They constitute a Tract, (Number 73,) of the series 
 published by the Baptist General Tract Society. 
 
 124 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. 
 
 Two facts are observable, in the walks of life, 
 wnich strikingly correspond to declarations in the 
 Bible, concerning two descriptions of character. The 
 first is, that those, whether rich or poor, who have a 
 conscientious respect to the temporal and spiritual 
 necessities of their fellow-men, and to the will of their 
 Creator in the use and disposal of their possessions, 
 have the purest and most lively enjoyment of the bless- 
 ings of this life ; and drink most abundantly of the 
 pure stream of consolation which flows from the throne 
 of God. The scripture that corresponds with this 
 fact is, " The liberal soul shall be made fat : and he 
 that watereth shall be watered also himself." 
 
 He, on the contrary, whether unregenerate or chris- 
 tian, who, turning his attention from the Divine will> 
 determines the manner of using and disposing of his 
 property by his own desires and partialities, and 
 consigns to the control of his pride and ambition that 
 portion which humility and confidence in God would 
 relinquish to the relief of the needy ; knows least of 
 the enjoyments which flow from earth or heaven. — 
 And this fact corresponds with the declaration, "There 
 is that withholdeth more than is meet; but it tendeth 
 to poverty." 
 
 The first character is that most frequently witnessed, 
 when the powers of the soul are first rectified by the 
 renewing of the Holy Spirit : — when the heart is first 
 elevated to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, 
 and perfect will of God." The latter is an instance 
 of degeneracy, produced by the maxims of a world 
 which, amid all the demonstrations of an overruling 
 providence that surround us, knows not God. The 
 former receives the blessings of Heaven as a gift j 
 aud enjoys them with all the zest which a lively 
 
 108 
 
3"] THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. 
 
 gratitude can impart : while the latter receives them 
 as a matter of couise, and a matter of right, and dis- 
 covers not, or heeds not, the kind hand which bestows 
 them. How greatly is it to be deplored that the last 
 description of character is so prevalent as it is, among 
 those who have been redeemed, not with silver and 
 gold, but with the precious blood of Christ ! For, 
 what might not the energies of the Christian host 
 effect, with the promised blessing of God, were but 
 those energies all aroused and properly directed! 
 
 This degeneracy is a consequence of inattention 
 to the origin of our mercies, and forgetfulness of 
 our absolale dependence on God, even for the most 
 ordinary and constant streams of prosperity with 
 which our lives are refreshed. 
 
 There is a fondness in the heart for whatsoever 
 presents itself in the shape of an antidote to the ills of 
 life, and as a means of promoting our happiness ; and 
 consequently a proneness to suffer the attention to be 
 engrossed with the gift, while the Giver, because un- 
 seen, is forgotten. Hence it comes to pass, that we 
 look on what we possess as our own: to be held by us, 
 our heirs, and assigns, forever ; in fee simple of man, 
 and quit claim of God : and whenever the idea of ob- 
 ligation is brought before the mind, we are apt to ask r 
 as if neither man nor God had a right to negative the 
 question: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will 
 with mine own ? — to save or destroy ; to give or with- 
 hold?" From this source has arisen a ruinous mistake 
 in the calculations of many, concerning the extent of 
 our accountability. While it is admitted that we must 
 give an account of the deeds done in the body, accord- 
 ing to their moral character ; it is forgotten that this 
 accountability is, in any manner, regulated by the cir- 
 cumstances of temporal blessings in which the provi* 
 dence of God has placed us : that we are stewards of 
 his goods, and have to give an account of our stew- 
 ardship. Hence, while the rightful claim of Heaven 
 to that obedience, the capacity of rendering which lies 
 equally in the breasts of all, is admitted; the relinquish- 
 ment of any portion of property for the promotion of 
 the cause of truth, or for the relief of distress, is con- 
 
 108 
 
THE CHRISTIAN S STEWARDSHIP. [4 
 
 siclered as a free gift, which entitles the giver not only 
 to the gratitude of the object aided, but to a score of 
 credit in the book of his account with God. 
 
 Now this is an error which loudly demands correc- 
 tion: inasmuch as, in some, it is to be feared that it is 
 the ground of a false confidence of their acceptance 
 with God, by the preponderance of their charities 
 against their transgressions: while in multitudes of 
 those who have fled for refuge to abetter hope, it sub- 
 jects the heart to the pride of life, and consequently of- 
 ten shuts the hand, while the voice of duty, which bids 
 bestow, is unheard. The most effectual method to 
 correct these evils is, to consider attentively and 
 habitually, 
 
 The character we sustain: 
 
 The source of our prosperity: 
 
 The nature of our tenure; and, 
 
 The responsibilities with which it is connected. 
 
 In contemplating our character, we should remem- 
 ber that we are but men: the wealthiest, the proudest, 
 the mightiest of us, is but a man: a creature who, but 
 yesterday, embarked on the sea of life with nothing 
 but ignorance and helplessness; a common adventurer, 
 among Jthe thousands of his kind, amid the perils and 
 uncertainties of the winds and the waves: and who, 
 even in the day of his greatest strength and loftiest 
 pride, can neither persuade nor terrify the minister of 
 disease, nor resist the demands of death, nor beguile 
 the worm of his prey. In all his glory, he is but dust 
 and to the dust he must return. 
 
 Now if we brought nothing into the world, it be- 
 hooves us to consider how we came into possession of 
 that which he have. Under the influence of the error 
 of which we have spoken, the Farmer will tell us that 
 he has arisen to a comfortable independence by his own 
 industry, — "by the sweat of his brow:" and, that the 
 hard earned products of his labour he knows how to 
 value, and he knows how to keep. But we would ask, 
 of what avail is all his labour? Does it dissolve the 
 
 108 
 
5] THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. 
 
 snows of winter, and break the chains in which the 
 earth is held? Does it move forward the revolutions of 
 the seasons from winter to seed-time, and from seed- 
 time to harvest? Does it raise the vapours from the 
 earth and ocean, and mould them into clouds? Does it 
 bring down the rain, "the former and the latter rain?" 
 Does it cause the sun to warm the bosom of the ground 
 into which he casts his seed? Then why does he ever 
 labour for nought, or spend his strength in vain? 
 
 We suppose it was while he was asleep that the 
 blasting and mildew destroyed his hopes: and because 
 he was ignorant of the mischief, that the fly took the 
 blossom, and the worm, the root. Oh, no! He who 
 gave light and joy to the land of Goshen, and dark- 
 ness and pestilence and death to Egypt; HE it is who 
 rolls on the seasons: who commands the wintry blast 
 from his northern stores, or gives the glowing breath 
 of summer skies. 
 
 At his command the morning ray 
 Smiles on the earth and leads the day; 
 He guides the sun's declining wheels 
 Over the tops of western hills. 
 
 Seasons and times obey His voice: — 
 The evening and the morn rejoice 
 To see the earth made soft with show'rs, 
 Laden with fruit, and dressed in flow'rs. 
 
 The Merchant, whose warehouses are filled with 
 goods, is apt to feel no less freedom from obligation 
 than the yeoman; and when interrogated, whence he 
 received them, will be likely to tell us that he purchased 
 them; that he imported them. But who, we would 
 ask, prospered your industry with the means? Who 
 gave to your canvass the favouring wind which wafted 
 them to you: and, why did not He who blessed you 
 with gentle gales, meet you with impoverishing whirl- 
 winds and devouring tempests? 
 
 The prosperity of the Mechanic, is the result of the 
 industrious exercise of his muscular powers and of his 
 skill. But we would ask him whence came these pow- 
 ers, and whence this skill? That they are not among 
 the inseparable endowments of humanity you may 
 
 108 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. [6 
 
 learn by a visit to the abode of the idiot ; the cell of 
 the lunatic ; and the couch, where the victims of agues, 
 consumptions, and fevers lie agonizing and helpless. 
 
 The Physician advances in reputation, and in the 
 confidence of the community, and consequently in 
 wealth, by the happy exercise of his professional skill. 
 But whence hath this man this wisdom? Omitting to 
 say any thing of his accomplishments in the theory of 
 physic, which, amid the ten thousand diversified forms 
 and shades of character that disease assumes, is, of 
 itself, of so little avail; how came he into the posses- 
 sion of that quick and nice discernment, by which he 
 so successfully detects the lurking foe in the machinery 
 of the human frame; ascertains his direction and his 
 power; and by which he is enabled to apply the appro- 
 priate and timely remedy, to stay the work of destruc- 
 tion, and to repair the injury sustained? 
 
 The Counsellor and the Statesman are crowned 
 with honour; and with a meet reward for their suc- 
 cessful support of the rights and the interests with 
 which they have been entrusted. But, from whom did 
 they receive that retentiveness of memory which 
 secures the fund of knowledge they have laboured for 
 years to obtain? Who gave them that vigorous com- 
 prehension; that rapidity of conception; that liveliness 
 of feeling; that promptitude; that grace; that force 
 of communication; which at once enlighten the under- 
 standing, control the judgment, and captivate the heart? 
 — All, all is the boon of Heaven: the Farmer, the Mer- 
 chant, the Mechanic, the Physician, the Counsellor, the 
 Statesman, all are endowed with whatsoever of pros- 
 perity, of favour they possess, by the "Father of lights 
 from whom cometh down every good and every per- 
 fect gift." 
 
 It being then conceded, that for whatever of worldly 
 blessings we possess, we are indebted to the bounty of 
 God; let us consider, 
 
 The nature of the tenure by which we hold them. 
 
 Nothing can be more certain than this; that if we 
 hold any thing by absolute right, it would be absolutely 
 jvronp- for ,'tny man to wrest it from us. It is equally 
 
 108 
 
7~\ THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. 
 
 certain, that if we hold our possessions by a light as 
 perfect with respect to God, as we do with respect to 
 man, Jehovah himself has no right to take them from 
 us without our consent. If he does therefore take 
 them, either the God of justice has became unjust; or, 
 our right is, by our very adversities, proved imperfect. 
 
 But it is certain that riches do take to themselves 
 wings and fly away: that the conflagration sometimes 
 wraps them in ruin, and consigns their owners to 
 wretchedness and sorrow. It is certain that the tem- 
 pests and the floods, sometimes do sweep our floating 
 treasures to "the dark unfathomed caves of ocean." 
 It is certain that the scorching sun consumes the hus- 
 bandman's hope; and that after all his labours of sow- 
 ing and planting, and his watchful care — after he has 
 done his utmost, the seed is sometimes " rotten under 
 the clod; the garners are laid desolate; the barns are 
 broken down, for the corn is withered; and the beasts 
 groan, and the herds of cattle are perplexed, because 
 they have no pasture: and the flocks of sheep are made 
 desolate and the beasts of the field cry unto God, for 
 the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath de- 
 voured the pastures of the wilderness." 
 
 It is certain that the insect tribes of the air, in alli- 
 ance with the creeping inhabitants of the ground, which 
 the God of judgment calls his great army, do march 
 forth in dark and fearful array; and " that which the 
 palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten; and that 
 which the locust hath left, hath the canker-worm eaten; 
 and that which the canker-worm hath left, hath the 
 caterpillar eaten." Yet the God of judgment — the 
 God of the winds and of the waves, the fire and the 
 tempest, — the leader of this desolating and irresisti- 
 ble army, is a " God of truth, without iniquity; just 
 and right is he." And we have as little right to 
 question his doings, as power to stay his hand: and, in 
 the midst of all, we are bound to cherish the sentiment 
 and the temper of a sufferer of ancient time: "the 
 Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 Brethren, examine the character, and the sufferings, 
 of the man whose words we have just quoted; and you 
 
 108 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. [8 
 
 will learn that we are tenants at will. Now, that 
 we are amenable to God for the use we make of his 
 bounties, is a reasonable and necessary consequence 
 of the tenure by which we hold them. The truth is, 
 they are, strictly speaking, His: and are committed to 
 our trust, to be used and disposed of, by us, in accord- 
 ance with his revealed will. 
 
 That they are not bestowed to be employed as our 
 own predilections and our often erroneous judgments 
 of our interests shall prompt, is evident. 
 
 The very idea of prosperity is connected with the 
 promotion of happiness: and as all real prosperity 
 comes from God, the bestowment of wealth, which pre- 
 serves from many of the ills incident to life, and which 
 ministers to our innocent enjoyments, is a clear indi- 
 cation of his benevolence, and of his design in giving 
 them for our use. 
 
 No one can doubt that the Almighty clothes the 
 earth with verdure, and covers the fields with waving 
 plenty, for the promotion of the happiness of his crea- 
 tures. 
 
 But the good which the husbandman possesses is 
 only a single variety of that wealth, all the varieties 
 of which spring from the same source, and are all im- 
 parted for the same end. 
 
 He who is prospered with more than is requisite 
 for the attainment of his own happiness, has received 
 the surplus for the same general end for which the rest 
 was given: he is therefore entrusted with the means 
 of happiness to others. Consequently, he is not at 
 liberty to cast it into the fire, to bury it in the earth, 
 or to merge it in the flood: nor, least of all, is he at 
 liberty to make it subservient to the violation of the 
 laws of God the giver, in licentious prodigality. 
 
 Perhaps there is no disposition more prevalent among 
 those who are under the influence of moral principles 
 at all, than that which prompts them to accumulate 
 w r ealth for their posterity. Now, if this disposition, to 
 the extent to which it is generally indulged, received 
 the Divine approbation; the indulgence of it would 
 tend to the promotion of Jutppiness — the happiness of the 
 parents, as following out the direction of God's plea- 
 
 108 
 
9] THE CHRISTIAN S STEWARDSHIP. 
 
 lure: and the happiness of the children, as coming \w 
 the possession of an unperverted trust. 
 
 But, that you may judge whether this object is at- 
 tained by the spirit of accumulation which is abroad 
 in society, we would have you take a tour of minute 
 and careful observation through the different walks of 
 life. Go, read the histories of families from the father 
 to the son; and the history of the son from infancy to 
 manhood. Trace the effects which meet your daily 
 notice, up to their legitimate, but frequently, not ob- 
 vious causes. Consider, on the one hand, the condi- 
 tion and the real enjoyments of those who, possessing 
 a competency, exchange the redundance of their in- 
 come, for the pleasure of doing good; either in the 
 way of enlightening the ignorant, or in reclaiming the 
 vicious, or in feeding the hungry, or in clothing the 
 naked and succouring the distressed. Observe their 
 early and well-formed habits of activity, which are so 
 conducive to health — the basis of all sublunary enjoy- 
 ment. Witness the flow of their spirits; and their con- 
 tentment, which remains undisturbed amid all the 
 enticements of the influence and honors of fortune, 
 Mark well the sound constitutions and the industrious 
 habits of their rising posterity; who expect, from their 
 parents, no more than a frugal beginning in life, de- 
 pending for their subsequent prosperity, on the faithful 
 practice of those lessons of industry and virtue, with 
 which their tender minds were imbued by parental 
 piety. 
 
 Consider, we say, and compare this course of pro- 
 cedure and its attendant blessings, with that in which 
 the cumbrous accumulation of wealth, and the aggran- 
 dizement of family by the privileges of fortune, are the 
 objects of supreme regard: where the avarice of gain 
 steels the heart against the voice of imploring woe, and 
 locks up from its own enjoyment, the abundance al- 
 ready possessed: — where luxury pours its poisons into 
 the cup pf infancy, and is the companion of the nursery 
 and the physician of childhood: where youth, unac- 
 quainted with the checks of that happy medium which 
 is independence to virtue, but poverty to vice, is ac- 
 customed to every gratification which wealth abused 
 
 108 
 
THE CHRISTIANAS STEWARDSHIP. [_10 
 
 can bring: and, Oh! would to God ten thousand mel- 
 ancholy examples did not compel us to proceed — 
 where deliverance from all concern about a livelihood, 
 lifts the youthful mind above all feeling of dependence 
 on man or God; raises the floodgate of every passion, 
 and turns the whole mind and soul adrift in a sea of li- 
 centious pleasure, ending in poverty and pain, a con- 
 stitution shattered and broken, and a soul in despair. 
 
 Compare the two descriptions, and we think it will 
 be no difficult matter for a common discernment 
 to determine in favour of which system of procedure 
 the balance of substantial enjoyment turns. On that 
 side rests the approbation of God, for it is that which 
 accomplishes the end for which his bounties are con- 
 ferred. And on the other falls his frown, for his goods 
 have been perverted to forbidden purposes. 
 
 In the very miseries, therefore, consequent upon 
 *uch a perversion, or, if you will, in the very constitu- 
 tion of nature, by which the blessings of Jehovah are, 
 in their abuse, transformed into curses, we recognise 
 both his right and his intention to call us to account 
 for the manner in which we have used them. 
 
 It being then established, that we have received from 
 him every good we possess, that so far from his relin- 
 quishing his right in the bounty, he has made us ac- 
 countable for the use and disposal of the whole, and that 
 the bestowment confers not only obligations of grati- 
 tude but of service; the question becomes, to every 
 honest steward of the Creator's bounties, a matter of 
 deeply interesting inquiry: — How much do 1 owe to my 
 Lord? For, on whatever objects I expend that which 
 he has entrusted to me, and whatever responsibilities 
 these favours may impose on them; still I have to ac- 
 count to God for all I have received at his hand. A por- 
 tion of what he has given me is undoubtedly to be " oc- 
 cupied" for the promotion of my own happiness, and 
 the happiness of those whom he has entrusted to my 
 care: but what proportion is best calculated for the 
 attainment of this end, and what he has required to be 
 expended for Him: — are questions which demand my 
 most impartial and prayerful investigation. 
 
 Yesi they are questions the importance of which is 
 
 108 
 
11] THE CHRISTIAN'S SIJEWARDSHIP. 
 
 magnified by all the pleasure of doing good, and by all the 
 
 Ceace of a conscience void of offence towards Godj and 
 y all the terrors of being weighed in the balance of 
 his justice and found wanting: — questions, Brethren, 
 which, thankfully remembering how great the dispari- 
 ty between what you receive at his hand, and what, as 
 imperfect and sinful, you merit, you must determine 
 by the light which the Bible throws on your respon- 
 sibilities, and which the records of providence shed on 
 the designs of your Benefactor in the dispensations of 
 his gifts. 
 
 And having ascertained the extent of your obliga- 
 tions, suffer yourselves to be induced to the dis- 
 charge of them. Oh, by all the considerations of 
 gratitude, by all the motives of self-enjoyment, and 
 by all the impulses of self-interest as well as of duty, 
 suffer yourselves to be stimulated to a prompt dis- 
 charge of those obligations, in promoting the tempo- 
 ral and spiritual welfare of your fellow-men. 
 
 We say, of self-enjoyment, because that undue anxi- 
 ety for accumulation, which resists the demands of 
 Charity and Religion, is destructive of the finest feel- 
 ings, and the richest bliss of the soul: and if it does 
 not deliver it to the lashes of conscience, it renders it 
 an utter stranger to that pure and godlike pleasure 
 which springs from doing good. And we have said, 
 of self-interest, because the Christian who is growing 
 rich, by withholding what the Lord demands, is ab- 
 solutely growing poor, by confining the enjoyment of 
 his wealth, to the short portion of his existence which 
 he passes on earth: while it is in his power to export 
 his possessions to the shores of eternity. Yes, Bre- 
 thren, there is such a thing as almost literally laying 
 up our treasures in heaven. " I say unto you, make to 
 yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, 
 that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlast- 
 ing habitations." — I say unto you secure the friend- 
 ship and gratitude of those who are poor in this world 
 but rich in faith, by contributing from that which so 
 many hoard and worship, to the relief of their tempo- 
 ral, and spiritual necessities: that when ye die, those 
 whom you have blessed, and who have gone before 
 
 108 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S STEWARDSHIP. [12 
 
 you may hail you with grateful joy, and bid you wel- 
 come to the mansions of everlasting rest. Here then, 
 the bliss of the world above will be affected in a most 
 interesting point by your works of charity below; and 
 the pleasures which burn in the beneficent bosom on 
 earth are to be re-kindled in the world to come. 
 
 But above all things else, Brethren, be incited to a dil- 
 igent and faithful discharge of the duties of your stew- 
 ardship, by the consideration of that greatest gift to 
 you, which Heaven ever gave to man. Consider that 
 "he who was rich, for your sakes, became poor, that 
 you through his poverty, might be made rich:" rich 
 in everlasting habitations; rich in spotless robes of 
 righteousness; rich in unfading diadems of glory; rich 
 in a right to the tree of life, and the crystal w r aters 
 that flow from the throne of God. 
 
 And in anticipation of your robe and crown, your 
 habitation and rest, in that land where neither moth 
 nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break 
 through nor steal, where the flames cannot devour, nor 
 nor the hand of time deface, rise to your duty: and 
 what your hand fmdeth to do, do it with your might. 
 
 The cause of suffering humanity entreats your aid. 
 Remember the poor whom ye have always with you; 
 and to whom, whensoever ye will, ye may do good. 
 Whensoever ye will, ye may deliver the fatherless, and 
 him that hath none to help him: whensoever ye will, 
 ye may cause the widow's heart to sing for joy, and 
 the blessing of him that is ready to perish to come 
 upon yourselves. 
 
 The period has been foretold when the kingdoms of 
 this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and 
 of his Christ. That period is at hand: and most anima- 
 ting must the reflection be to every friend of God. But 
 it must not be forgotten, that it is through the instru- 
 mentality of the saints, that the Redeemer is to diffuse 
 the knowledge of his grace among the nations, and bring 
 the world into subjection, under the reign of his love. 
 The age and circumstances then, in which we live, call 
 for pre-eminent Christian activity, and a consecration 
 of heart and life, of talents and wealth to Him, whose 
 we are, and whom we serve. 
 
 JOS 
 
^H 
 
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