they acknowledge that true religion frequently flourishes in many communities under the jurisdiction of bishops, or the government of presbyteries. They also approve of a regular educated ministry; for they allow no person to speak in public unless he has submitted to a proper examination of his capacity and talents, and has been approved of by the church to which he belonged.

They are uniformly of the Calvinistic creed, and administer the ordinance of infant baptism.

BAPTISTS.

The Baptists are a well-known denomination of professing Christians, long distinguished by their adherence to the simple wording of the Scriptures, and their peculiar mode of administering the rite of Baptism.

They reject both the baptism of infants, and national church establishments, as innovations incompatible with the spiritual purity of the Christian church.

No child can be born a Baptist, for conversion

is essential to membership; the character must be formed, the will expressed, and the choice made; they believe that the ordinance is binding on every Christian who has the opportunity of observing it.

The word Baptism is taken from the Greek baptisma and baptizo, and, more remotely, from bapto, and properly signifies a washing; the usage of this word has given rise to a vast amount of unhappy and unnecessary disputation; although it is now admitted, on all hands, that a substance, or subject, is baptized, whether wholly or partially immersed in the liquor.

The following description of the ceremony of adult baptism is copied from "Evans' Sketch of all Religions: "—

“Not many years ago, at Whittlesford, seven miles from Cambridge, forty-eight persons were baptized in that ford of the river from which the village takes its name. At ten o'clock of a very fine morning in May, about 1,500 people, of different ranks, assembled together. At halfpast ten in the forenoon, the late Dr. Andrew Gifford, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Sub-Librarian of the British Museum, and

Teacher of a Baptist congregation in Eaglestreet, London, ascended a moveable pulpit, in a large open court-yard, near the river, and adjoining to the house of the lord of the manor. Round him stood the congregation; people on horseback, in coaches, and in carts, formed the outside semicircle: many other persons sitting in the rooms of the house, the sashes being open, all were uncovered, and there was a profound silence. The doctor first gave out a hymn, which the congregation sung. Then he prayed. Prayer ended, he took out a New Testament, and read his text I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance.' He observed that the force of the preposition had escaped the notice of the translators, and that the true reading was—' I indeed baptize, or dip, you in water at, or upon, repentance;' which sense he confirmed by the 41st verse of the 12th of Matthew, and other passages. Then he spoke as most Baptists do on these occasions, concerning the nature, subject, mode, and end of this ordinance. He closed, by contrasting the doctrine of infant sprinkling with that of believer's baptism, which being a part of Christian obedience, was supported by Divine promises, on

the accomplishment of which all good men might depend. After sermon, he read another hymn, and prayed, and then came down. Then the candidates for baptism retired to prepare themselves.

"About half an hour after, the administrator, who that day was a nephew of the doctor's, and admirably qualified for the work, in a long black gown of fine baize, without a hat, with a small New Testament in his hand, came down to the river side, accompanied by several Baptist ministers and deacons of their churches, and the persons to be baptized. The men came first, two and two, without hats, and dressed as usual, except that, instead of coats, each had on a long white baize gown, tied round the waist with a sash. Such as had no hair, wore white cotton or linen caps. The women followed the men, two and two, all dressed neat, clean, and plain, and their gowns white linen or dimity. It was said, the garments had knobs of lead at bottom, to make them sink. Each had a long light silk cloak hanging loosely over his shoulder, a broad riband tied over her gown beneath the breast, and a hat on her head. They all ranged themselves around the administrator at the water

G

side. A great number of spectators stood on the banks of the river on both sides; some had climbed and sat on the trees, many sat on horseback and in carriages, and all behaved with a decent seriousness, which did honour to the good sense and the good manners of the assembly, as well as to the free constitution of this country. First, the administrator read an hymn, which the people sung. Then he read that portion of Scripture which is read in the Greek Church on the same occasion, the history of the baptism of the Eunuch, beginning at the 26th verse, and ending with the 39th. About ten minutes he stood expounding the verses, and then taking one of the men by the hand, he led him into the water, saying, as he went, See, here is water, what doth hinder? If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayst be baptized.' When he came to a sufficient depth, he stopped, and with the utmost composure placing himself on the left hand of the man, his face being towards the man's shoulder, he put his right hand between his shoulders behind, gathering into it a little of the gown hold: the fingers of his left hand he thrusted under the sash before, and the man putting his

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