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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20428-8.txt b/20428-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..015dcbd --- /dev/null +++ b/20428-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6488 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bertha and Her Baptism, by Nehemiah Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bertha and Her Baptism + +Author: Nehemiah Adams + +Release Date: January 23, 2007 [EBook #20428] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + + +BERTHA +AND HER BAPTISM. + +By the Author of + +AGNES AND THE LITTLE KEY; +_or_, +BEREAVED PARENTS INSTRUCTED AND COMFORTED. + +BOSTON: +S.K. WHIPPLE AND COMPANY, +161 WASHINGTON STREET. +1857. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by +S.K. WHIPPLE & CO., +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + +STEREOTYPED BY +HOBART & ROBBINS, +New England Type and Stereotype Foundry, +BOSTON. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book, and that which is also named in the title-page, were written +at the same time, and as one book; but they were afterward separated, as +more properly constituting two volumes, the part which was the original +of the present volume now being greatly enlarged. Thus the two books +grew in the author's mind together, from one and the same root,--the +death of a little child. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + Page +CHAPTER I. + +PROBABILITIES OF AN ORDINANCE FOR CHILDREN, 9 + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GRANDFATHER'S LETTER.--THE NATURE, GROUNDS AND INFLUENCE, +OF INFANT BAPTISM, 16 + + +CHAPTER III. + +PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BAPTISMS.--THE SUBJECTS AND MODE OF +BAPTISM, 76 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IS THERE ONLY ONE MODE OF BAPTISM? 121 + + +CHAPTER V. + +SCENES OF BAPTISM.--REASONABLENESS, BEAUTY AND POWER, OF +INFANT BAPTISM.--USE OF SPECIAL VOWS.--HUSBANDS AT +BAPTISMS.--NEGLECT OF BAPTISM, 130 + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS.--APOSTOLIC PRACTICE OF +INFANT BAPTISM.--MINISTERIAL USAGES IN BAPTISMS, 143 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +TERMS OF COMMUNION.--NON-INTRUSION.--DENOMINATIONAL COURTESY +AND KINDNESS, 184 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE ROAD-SIDE BAPTISM, 198 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH.--ARE THEY MEMBERS OF THE +CHURCH? 216 + + +CHAPTER X. + +MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS.--CONSTITUTION AND RULES FOR THEM.--A +CHRISTIAN MOTHER'S QUESTIONS TO HERSELF, 255 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN, 272 + + + + +BERTHA +AND HER BAPTISM. + + + + +Chapter First. + +PROBABILITIES OF AN ORDINANCE FOR CHILDREN. + + 'Tis aye a solemn thing to me + To look upon a babe that sleeps, + Wearing in its spirit-deeps + The unrevealed mystery + Of its Adam's taint and woe.--MISS BARRETT. + + Heaven lies about us in our infancy.--WORDSWORTH. + + +It is generally believed that, of those who have gone to heaven from +this world, by far the larger part have been infants and young children. +Born here, they were by one man's disobedience made sinners; born of the +Spirit, at their early translation to heaven, they hold an important +place in the plan of salvation by Christ. Very beautiful, as well as +sublime, is the thought of so large a contribution, to the heavenly +world, of human beings in the dawn of their existence, enhancing, as we +may suppose, the happiness of heaven by such large admixture of exotic, +youthful nature, and illustrating, by their redemption from a helpless +state of sin and misery, the unsearchable riches of wisdom and grace. + +Has God done anything, in this world, to mark his regard for that class +of the human race constituting, thus far, the greater part of the +redeemed? We naturally look for something reminding the world of his +interest in these subsidiaries of his kingdom. Has he confined his +notice to those that are full-grown, and who have, thus far, the larger +part of them, withheld from him the fruit of his vineyard? God has a +church on earth, with ordinances, symbols, covenant signs: among them is +there not some sign, symbol, or ordinance, recognizing those who, more +than any other of the race, have, till now, been swelling the numbers of +that church in heaven? + +Like those elements of astronomical calculation which require and lead +men to expect undiscovered planets in a certain quarter of the +firmament, analogy, and the known intercourse of God with mankind, and +our moral sense, incline us to look for some symbolic recognition of +this earthly constituency of heaven by him who ordained and is +redeeming to himself a church from among men. Words of interest and love +toward them on the part of God, we all know, are not wanting in the +Bible. Acts of loving-kindness, also, proving the sincerity of those +words, and reaching even to a thousand generations of them that love +God, are everywhere seen in sacred history. + +But is there no great, conspicuous symbol of these things,--no type, no +rite? Symbols appear to be inseparable attendants of God's manifested +favor to men. He cannot enter into covenant with an individual, much +less a people, but there is at least a stone set up, or a +threshing-floor is bought for him, an altar is built, or they pour out a +horn of oil. He invites Ahaz to ask of him a sign of his promise: "Ask +it," he says, "either in the depths, or in the height above;" and, when +that man refuses, God gives him a sign. Emblems, seals and types, in the +early dispensation, burst forth like images in the waters of everything +along the banks, and even of things far off. Everything has its +memorial, its rite; are the children, is the parental relation, +forgotten? + +Here let us consider that God began with the first parents and the +first children of the human race to set forth that great law of his +administration, the connection of children with parents for good or +evil. Every descendant of Adam is an example under that law. Thus it was +for nineteen generations,--from Adam to Abraham. + +When, therefore, God reëstablished his church at the call of Abraham, it +was no new thing to connect parents and their children in covenant +promises and blessings. It had its origin in the very nature of man. +Abraham, and the covenant made with him for all believers and their +children, are, indeed, a striking illustration of a principle recognized +and applied by the Most High; but the principle itself is older than +Abraham,--it is coëval with the moral constitution of man. In making a +covenant with Noah, God included his children; so with David, making +mention of his house, "for a great while to come." + +As soon, therefore, as religion was established in the earth, by +securing its perpetuity through the conservative influences of one +selected line of descent, the child was taken, as being the object of +the covenant, and the means of its perpetuation, and received its seal. +God designed to perpetuate religion in the earth, thenceforward, +chiefly by means of the parental relation; for the parent represents God +to the child more than any other fellow-creature, or thing, can +do,--more than any instituted influence, whether of prophet, priest, +church, or ritual. Setting up his church for all future time, with +Abraham for its founder, God included children with parents who +covenanted with him, as the objects of special regard and promise, and +he appointed a rite to mark and seal that covenant. Thus it was from +Abraham to Christ, during three times fourteen generations. + +But the day of types and symbols was succeeded by another era, in which +the church of God comes forth with the glory of God risen upon her, and +all the nebulous matter of types and ceremonies is gathered together +into two permanent sacraments; for human nature was not beyond the need +and help of outward signs. Now, in the earlier of the two ages of the +church, the child was recognized by a rite of the church; the child, +with that rite inscribed on him, was the sign-bearer of the church's +perpetuity. Yet, in the age following, the child was as dear to the +parent as ever; the Christian parent was as much concerned to have +religion flow through his seed, as were his predecessors; the salvation +of the child was regarded with the same solicitude, and the principle of +perpetuating religion by the family constitution was still the same. + +But did God withdraw from the children of his servants, from the most +hopeful of all the sources of his church's increase on earth and in +heaven, all token of his regard in any sacramental act? Is parental +affection, under the reign of Immanuel, debarred the enjoyment of one of +its most valuable privileges, the sealing of the child to be the Lord's +by the use of a divinely-appointed symbol? Had no ordinances and symbols +been allowed after the institution of Christianity, this question would +not arise; the inference would have been that human nature, under the +Gospel, will no more need the aid of rites in religion. But there are +Christian rites, expressly and solemnly instituted. Is not that most +important relation of a believer's child to God perpetuated; and is it +not still to be sealed by the use of one of the Christian ordinances? + +In considering this question, and the many interesting topics connected +with it, the writer will be allowed to take his own way, following an +historical order in the occurrences which may be supposed to have made +the subject interesting and clear to the minds of two parents. + + + + +Chapter Second. + +THE GRANDFATHER'S LETTER. + +THE NATURE, GROUNDS, AND INFLUENCE, OF INFANT BAPTISM. + + If temporal estates may be conveyed + By cov'nants, on condition, + To men, and to their heirs; be not affraid, + My soule, to rest upon + The covenant of grace by mercy made. + GEORGE HERBERT,--"_The Font._" + + --No finite mind can fully comprehend the mysteries into which his + baptism is the initiation.--COLERIDGE,--"_Aids_," &c. + + Christian faith is the perfection of human reason.--IBID. + + +MY DEAR DAUGHTER BERTHA:--I am glad that you think of taking your little +namesake to the house of God for baptism. You wish to know my views +about it in full. My new colleague having relieved me of many cares and +labors, I shall hope to write more frequently; but not often so long a +letter as I fear this will be; for I wish to tell you of some +conversations which I have had on the subject in question. This will +show you the common difficulties, in which, perhaps, you share, and my +way of removing them; and also set before you the privileges and +blessings connected with the baptism of your child. + +A man and his wife--sensible, plain people--came to our house one +evening last July, when the "vines with the tender grape gave a goodly +smell," through that trellis which you and Percival have such pleasant +reason to remember. We were all sitting there in the moonlight, when +this Mr. Benson and his wife came up the door-way, and were welcomed +into our little group. After a few words of mutual inquiry and answer, +he said: + +"Wife and I, sir, thought that we would make bold to come and trouble +you a little to tell us about baptizing our boy. He is getting to be +four months old, and we are not willing to put it off much longer. +Still, we would like to know the grounds of it a little better. People, +you know, do not think much about it till it comes to be a case in hand. + +"But I do not know," said he, looking round on your mother and the +children, "but that we do wrong to take this time for it. It will be +rather a dry subject for these young friends to hear." + +_Pastor._ Not at all. They owe too much to what was done for them when +they were little children, to dislike it. Besides, there is nothing dry +about it, as I view the subject. It is one of the most beautiful things +in religion. + +_Mrs. Benson._ It is next to the Lord's Supper, I always thought, if +people take the right view of it. + +_Pastor._ It makes you love God the Father in some such way as the +Lord's Supper makes you love the Saviour. I think, sometimes, that the +baptism of children is our heavenly Father's Sacrament. + +_Mr. B._ I like that; but there is so much to study and learn about the +"Abrahamic covenant," that I feel a little discouraged. I have had books +lent me on the Abrahamic covenant, and I began to read them; but they +looked hard; so I told my wife that perhaps you would make the thing +more clear, and bring it home to our feelings, and that we would come +and get your ideas about it. + +_Pastor._ How glad I am that you came! But tell me what you take the +Abrahamic covenant to mean. + +_Mr. B._ I suppose it means that God told Abraham to circumcise his +children, and infant baptism comes in the place of it, and we must do it +if we are Abraham's spiritual children. But I wish to see the use of it. +I am willing to do it, but I should like to feel it more; and I want to +know how baptism comes in the place of circumcision, and a great many +other things. + +_Pastor._ I think that you may possibly have what may be called some +Jewish notions about the Abrahamic covenant, though I trust you are +right in the main. That phrase sounds foreign and mysterious, and I +never use it except in talking with people who I know have the thing +itself already in their hearts. + +I called Helen to me, and told her to say the hymn which she had +repeated to me the last Sabbath evening. + +She cleared her voice, leaned against me, and twisted her fingers in my +hair behind, and, with her eyes fixed there, she said this hymn: + + "Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme, + And speak some boundless thing; + The mightier works or mightier name + Of our eternal King. + + "Tell of his wondrous faithfulness, + And sound his power abroad; + Sing the sweet promise of his grace, + And the performing God. + + "Proclaim salvation from the Lord + For wretched, dying men; + His hand has writ the sacred word + With an immortal pen. + + "Engraved as in eternal brass + The mighty promise shines; + Nor can the powers of darkness rase + Those everlasting lines. + + "He who can dash whole worlds to death, + And make them when he please, + He speaks, and that Almighty breath + Fulfils his promises. + + "His very word of grace is strong + As that which built the skies: + The voice that rolls the stars along + Speaks all the promises. + + "He said, 'Let the wide heavens be spread;' + And heaven was stretched abroad. + 'Abra'am, I'll be thy God,' he said; + And he was Abra'am's God. + + "O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue + But whisper, 'Thou art mine!' + Those gentle words should raise my song + To notes almost divine. + + "How would my leaping heart rejoice, + And think my heaven secure! + I trust the all-creating voice, + And faith desires no more." + +_Pastor._ What a happy man Abraham must have been when the Almighty made +this engagement and promise: "I will be a God to thee!" That was the +"Abrahamic covenant," in part. + +"Does covenant mean that?" said Mrs. B. + +"What?" I inquired. + +"Why, sir, what you have just said,--engagement, promise?" + +"Nothing more," said I. "But what a happy man, I say, Abraham must have +been! 'A God to thee!' To have the Almighty say to one, 'I will be a God +to thee!' You know that this is everything." + +"That is a fact," said Mr. B., wiping his eyes; "for, when I went to my +store, the morning after I became a Christian, I went along the street, +saying to myself, 'Now I have a God. God is God to me. Thou art my +God.' + +"Yes," said his wife; "Deacon B., the post-master, heard you, as you +went by his side-window, and he made an excuse to bring me up a paper, +that forenoon, and asked whether you had not met with a change in your +feelings on the subject of religion." + +"Did he?" said Mr. B. "Well, I did not mean to be heard, and yet I was +willing that everybody should know how happy I was in having one whom I +could call my God. How I had lived so long without God for my God, +amazed me." + +_Pastor._ You make me think of a man who, one night, on reaching his +house, after having attended a lecture in a school-room, was filled with +such surprising views and feelings, with respect to the greatness and +goodness of God, that he saddled his horse, rode three miles, waked up +the minister, and, as he came to the door, took hold of each arm, and +said, "O, my dear sir, what a God we've got!" He would not go in, but +soon hastened back. It was the substance of all that he wished to say; +he desired to pour out his soul to some one who would understand him. He +was like a thirsty land when at last the great rain is descending. + +_Mr. B._ I suppose many people would have thought him crazy. + +"I suspect the minister did, at first," said Mrs. B. + +"And yet I suppose," said I, "he was never more rational. Just think +what it is for a poor sinner all at once to feel that the eternal God is +his; that He will be a God to him! We hear of some people dying at the +receipt of good news; and I have seen some so happy at this experience, +of having a God to love and to love them, that, if the thing itself did +not, as it always does, bring peace and inward strength with it, nature +could not have sustained it." + +"Joy unspeakable," said Mr. B. "And full of glory," said his wife, +waiting a moment for him to finish the quotation. + +"Now, my dear friends," said I, "that man on horseback, at his +minister's door at midnight, had, at that moment, the first part of what +is meant by the 'Abrahamic covenant.' How little way do these words go +toward expressing the thing itself, and a man's feelings under it! There +was a time when God made Abraham far more happy even than he did you on +your way to the post-office that morning." + +Helen came along, just then, with a fruit-basket of apples, and I said +to her, as she was going round with them, "Say again that verse in your +hymn, which has these words in it, 'Thou art mine.'" + +So, while Mr. B. was paring his apple, Helen stood before him, and said: + + "O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue + But whisper, 'Thou art mine!' + Those gentle words should raise my song + To notes almost divine." + +Mr. B. put his apple and knife down, and took his red bandanna +handkerchief from under his plate, and, wiping his eyes, said: + +"Hymns always make me feel a good deal, especially Watts's. I've read +that hymn in meeting before the exercises began." + +_Pastor._ You know, by happy experience, what it is when that heavenly +tongue whispers, "Thou art mine." + +_Mr. B._ I do, sir, if I know anything. + +_Pastor._ Now, my dear friends, there is something awaiting you, which +you seem not to have experienced, but which is as good as that. + +"We would like to hear about it," they both replied. + +"How should you like, Mrs. B.," said I, "to have your little boy become +a sailor?" + +"O dear!" said she, "I should have no peace from this time, if I thought +he was to be a sailor." + +"But that," said I, "may be God's chosen occupation for him,--the way in +which he will employ him to bring him to himself, and then use him to be +a preacher to seamen, for example, and so to scatter the truth in many +parts of the earth. We are not our own, Mrs. B., and this dear boy was +not given you, as we say, to keep. 'For thou hast created all things, +and for thy pleasure they are and were created.'" + +"I want him brought up at college," said Mrs. B., looking at your +mother, who, she probably thought, would understand her motherly +anticipations about her boy so far ahead. + +"Well," said I, "let us send him to college. I suspect that you would +feel a good deal the morning he left you, would you not?" + +"O," said she, "I should so want him to be good first! If he should not +be a good man, I would not have him get learning to do harm with it, and +make himself more miserable hereafter." + +The little gate, with its chain and ball, swung to at this moment, and +a woman and girl came up the walk. It was Mrs. Ford, who used to be your +dress-maker, and her daughter Janette, now about thirteen. It was a +farewell call from Janette, who was going to the neighborhood of +Philadelphia, into a coach-lace manufactory. + +"So Janette is going to leave us, to-morrow, Mrs. Ford?" said your +mother. + +"Yes, madam, and I feel sorely about it; so young, and such a way off, +and all strangers except the foreman, who spoke to me about her coming! +O, sir," said she, changing her undertone, and turning to me, "what +should we do without that promise, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy +seed after thee'?" + +I looked at Mr. and Mrs. B., and we all smiled, while I said: + +"Now we have got the second part of the 'Abrahamic covenant.' So now we +have the whole of it. Mrs. Ford, when you came in, we were talking about +baptizing children, and about the 'Abrahamic covenant.' What do you +understand by that covenant?" + +"I understand by it, sir," said she, slowly gathering her words into +proper order; "why, I think I understand by it, that God promises to be +a God to a believer's child, as he was in such a wonderful way to +Abraham's people." + +_Pastor._ Well, that is the substance of one part of it, at least. Did +you know, Mrs. Ford, that when you came in we were just entering Mrs. +Benson's son at college? + +_Mrs. Ford._ Not this Mrs. Benson, of course. Whom do you mean, sir? + +_Pastor._ This Mrs. Benson;--her little son. + +_Mrs. Ford._ O, I understand! Well, you will send him to P., I suppose, +it is so near. + +"We had not fixed on the college," said Mrs. Benson, with a laugh. + +"Janette," said I, "how do you like the thought of going off so far from +us all?" + +Janette pulled the ends of her plain cotton gloves, and her heart was +full, so that she could not speak for a moment. I was sorry that I had +asked the question, and therefore added: + +"You will not go where God cannot take care of you and bless you the +same as at home, will you, dear?" + +She lifted her white apron to her eyes, while Mrs. Ford said for her: + +"I tell Janette that I gave her up to God in baptism; and when her +father lay sick, he said, 'That child was given to God in his house; I +leave her destitute, and with nothing but her hands, but I leave her to +a covenant-keeping God.'" + +"Now," said I, "here is a dear daughter going to a strange place to +learn a trade. She knows not a soul in the place but the foreman who has +hired her. A boy is going to college, another to sea, another to a +distant city. Here is a daughter, who receives particular attentions +from certain young friends, and the probability is that she will be +asked in marriage; and here is a son, who with his parents are in doubt +with regard to his future occupation and course of life. God only knows +the feelings of parents at such times. What prayers are made in +secret,--what vows! One wrong step may embitter life. A right step may +lead to prosperity and great happiness. I sometimes wish that we could +gather our children together, in some of these emergencies and critical +periods of their lives, and offer up prayers and vows, as parents and +friends, in their behalf. There would not be many meetings more +interesting than these, Mr. Benson. How the parents of such children +would love everybody that came at such times to pray for their children; +and what prayers would go up to God!" + +"Can we not have some such meetings?" said Mr. Benson. "Every parent +would like it, I am sure." + +_Pastor._ Well, we do have some such meetings occasionally, I remember. + +"Our minister loves to use parables," said Mrs. Benson, looking at your +mother, "so as to make us understand the meaning better, and remember +it." + +"I must ask you to explain," said Mr. Benson. + +_Pastor._ As often as we bring a child to the house of God for baptism, +Mr. Benson, we have such a meeting, if Christians will but understand it +so. We come with the parents, and say, "Lord God, here is this dear +child, with a momentous history pending upon thy favor and blessing. In +all future time, in the critical moments and eventful steps of its life, +or in its early death, or in its orphanage, be thou a God to this +child." If God should to-night, Mrs. Ford, say to you, "I will be +Janette's God," would you not send her away with a light heart? + +"He should have her for life, dear child!" said she; "and I do feel that +he is a God to her." + +"He is," said I, "if you have really made a covenant with him about your +daughter." + +"I have, sir," said Mrs. Ford. + +_Pastor._ Did the covenant have any seal? Some good people, you know, +think it enough to covenant with God about their children, without using +any special act to mark and seal it. Now it is only in consecrating +children to God that they omit the seal from the covenant. We practise +adult baptism, joining the church, confirmation, and we partake of the +Lord's Supper, feeling the propriety and the use of acts and testimonies +in the form of an ordinance. What seal had your covenanting with God +about your child? + +_Mrs. Ford._ I see it now clearer than ever. As we stood with this child +in our arms, we both said, afterwards, we made a public profession of +religion anew; and, when the minister said those sacred names over her, +I felt more than before that I was having transactions with God about +the child. But people used to say to me, "Why not wait and let Janette +be baptized when she is old enough to understand it?" How little they +knew about it! Just as though, I told them, if I had money to put into +the savings-bank for Janette, I would wait and let her put it in herself +(it is so pleasant to put it in when you know all about it!), instead of +laying it up for her in the funds, and let it count up while she is +growing. + +_Pastor._ Those friends who advised you so, think, perhaps, too much of +the ceremony itself, and not so much of what it signifies. Now the +pleasure of being baptized is nothing compared with having God enter +into a covenant in your behalf when you knew nothing about it. + +_Mrs. Ford._ They said to me, also, "What right have you to do it, +instead of letting her have the choice and privilege of doing it herself +hereafter?" I told them that, if we acted on that principle, in the +treatment of our children, there would be a long list of useful things, +which we do for them, to be postponed. + +_Pastor._ We can benefit another without his consent. The question is, +whether it is a benefit to a child for God and its natural guardians to +make a covenant together in its behalf. + +_Mr. Benson._ It surely is so, if God truly is a party to such a +covenant. But where is the proof that he is? That is my trouble. They +tell me that this covenanting with God for a child, and sealing it with +an ordinance, ceased with Abraham, who was a Jew; that it was a Jewish +custom, which died out. + +_Pastor._ Abraham a mere Jew! God's covenant with a believer and his +children a Jewish covenant! Never was there a greater mistake. Paul +tells us expressly it was not so. Get me a Bible, Helen, and bring me a +lamp. I read these words: "And the promise that he should be heir of the +world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the +righteousness of faith." His relation to the world was independent of +dispensations; it grew out of that faith which he had in common with all +believers to the end of time. "And he received the sign of circumcision, +a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being +uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, +though they be not circumcised." Christ also says: "Moses, therefore, +gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the +fathers.)" Abraham was not a Jew when God covenanted with him, any more +than you, madam, were Mrs. Ford, when, at the age of sixteen, as you +have told me, you entered into covenant with God. That covenant had +chief respect to your immortal soul, and yet it reached in its +influences to all the conditions of that soul while here in the flesh. +So God covenanted with Abraham as a believer, not as a mere national +ancestor; yet temporal and spiritual blessings came in rich measures +upon his immediate descendants. But we read, "So then as many as be of +faith are blessed with faithful," that is, believing, "Abraham." "And if +ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the +promise." Can anything be plainer than this? + +_Mrs. Ford._ My father was a minister, you know, sir, and he used to +preach a great deal on this subject. + +_Pastor._ Let us hear your understanding of these passages, Mrs. Ford. + +"I am afraid," said she, "I cannot tell you just what he used to say. +But my idea of it is this: Though Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew +people, he was no more a Jew than a Gentile in his covenant with God, +for it was as believer the great believer, that God made a covenant +with him. So that he was not circumcised as a Jew, but, as the Bible +says, to have a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith. God +made a covenant with him as a believer, to be his God and the God of his +children, as the children of a believer, not a Jew; so that all +believers are blessed with believing Abraham, by having the same +covenant extended to them. Then, I take it, God gave him a sign and seal +as a pledge, and to remind him of it, and to keep his children in +remembrance." She paused, and I said: + +"Please to go on." You remember, Bertha, how you used to make this Mrs. +Ford discuss doctrinal matters when she was sewing for you. + +_Mrs. Ford._ I remember that father said that God took the rainbow as a +sign and seal of his promise, to Noah and all future generations, that +there should never be another universal deluge. So he appointed a +children's ordinance to mark his covenant with believers to the end of +time. Only there was this difference; the way of signing and sealing the +covenant not being coupled with the laws of nature, but conforming to +the kind of symbols successively in use, it was changed, at the time +that the Sabbath was changed, and the whole of the old dispensation; but +father used to say, Is the commonwealth and citizenship broken up +because the legislature adopts a new state seal? Does that destroy all +the old public documents? + +_Pastor._ Good! So the United States' mint is from time to time changing +its dies; lately it has abolished copper, and substituted equivalent +coins of different composition. But money does not perish. A cent is a +cent still, red or white. So, whether the seal be blood or water, the +great ordinance which it seals remains the same. + +"And now I will tell you," said I, "how it seems to me God's covenanting +with parents for their children came to pass. He wished to give Abraham +a token and seal of his love to him. So he took his child, the thing +which he loved best, and would see oftenest, and thought of most, and +made the child, as it were, the tablet on which to write his covenant +with the father. That was one reason. 'Because he loved the fathers, +therefore he chose their seed.' But this is the least of the reasons in +the case. + +"Here is one of vastly greater importance. God wished to perpetuate +religion in the earth. He knew that the family constitution would be +the principal means of doing this, parents teaching and commanding their +children, and so transmitting religion. Because he knew that Abraham +would do this, he gave it as a reason for his love and confidence in +him, in not concealing from him his purpose to destroy Sodom. 'Shall I +hide from Abraham that thing which I do? For I know him that he will +command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep +the ways of the Lord.' So, in order to remind Abraham of what was +expected by the Most High in making his children the presumptive heirs +of grace, and to remind the children of it when they came to years of +understanding, God gave him and them this mark and seal." + +"Well, then," said Mr. Benson, "it seems to me Abraham was better off +than we, if he had God in covenant with him for his children, and we +have not. I sometimes wish that I could have God covenant with me about +my boy, as Abraham had about Isaac." + +"I should like," said Mrs. B., "to hear him say, 'I will be a God to +him,' and then tell us to do something of his own appointment that +should be like our signing and sealing a covenant together, as the +Lord's Supper enables us to do with Christ." + +"If we have no such blessed privilege," said I, "then, as Abraham +desired to see our day, I should, in this respect, rejoice to see +Abraham's day. I cannot forego the privilege of having God in covenant +with me for my children as he was with Abraham for his; and I crave some +divine seal affixed to it. + +"You said, Mrs. Benson, that you would like to have God promise to be +the God of your child, and then command you to do something which would +be like God and you signing and sealing it together. But do you think, +Mrs. B., that this is necessary? Why is it not enough for God to make a +promise, and you make one, and let it be without any sign or seal?" + +"People don't do things in that way," said Mr. Benson, with a decided +motion, two or three times, with his head. "They call a wedding a +ceremony, it is true, and some say, 'So long as people are engaged to be +man and wife, the ceremony makes little difference.' But it does make +all the difference in the world,--this mere ceremony, as they call it. +They never like to dispense with it themselves, at least; because, you +see, it makes all the difference between unlawful, sinful union, and +marriage. It makes married life; which could not exist, without the +ceremony, among decent people. It gives a title and ground to a thing +which could not be without it. So, I begin to see and feel, it is with +regard to what some call the ceremony of baptism. But excuse me, wife, I +took the answer out of your mouth." + +"Well," said Mrs. Benson to me, "I must wait upon you, sir, to answer +the question further." + +"Mr. Benson has the right view of the subject," I replied. "We make too +little of signs and seals, from a morbid fear and jealousy of those +which are invented by man and added to religion. But God's own seals are +safe and good. We cannot make too much of them. + +"God never did anything with men, from the beginning, without signs and +seals. The tree of life was one, and so was the tree of the knowledge of +good and evil. Adam and Eve knew better, at first, than to say, 'So long +as we love and obey God, of what use are these symbols?' By not +regarding symbols afterward, they brought death into our world and all +our woe. Even before that, God had appointed a symbol of his authority, +and a seal of a covenant between him and man forever, in the appointment +of the Sabbath. The mark on Cain's forehead, the rainbow, the lamp +passing between the severed parts of Abraham's sacrifice, Jacob's +ladder, the burning bush, the passover, and things too numerous to +mention, show how God loves signs and seals. + +"There are many good people, at the present day, who say to me, I am +willing to consecrate my child to God in prayer, and bring him up for +God; but I do not see the necessity of an ordinance. Why bring the child +to baptism? I can do all which is required and signified, without the +sign." + +"What do you say to them?" said Mrs. Ford. + +_Pastor._ I tell them they are on dangerous ground. Will they be wiser +than God? He knows our natures, and what to prescribe to us in our +intercourse with him. I would as soon meddle with a law of nature, as +with God's ordinances. I might as well neglect a law of nature, and +think to be safe and well, as to neglect one of God's ordinances, and +expect his blessing. + +People, moreover, may as well object to family prayer, and say that +they try to live in a spirit of prayer all day. Why do they have special +seasons for retirement, if they walk with God? Why do they hardly feel +that they have prayed if company, or a bedfellow, on a journey, keeps +them from using oral prayer? It is a bitter grief, also, when no funeral +solemnities lead the way to the grave with a beloved object; yet, where +in the word of God are they commanded? As Mr. Benson said, "Who is +willing to dispense with the wedding ceremony, except in cases where +sadness and trouble seek concealment?" + +People cannot give full evidence that they are Christians unless they +make a public profession of religion. They cannot properly remember +Jesus without partaking of his body and blood. Depend upon it, my dear +friends, God sets great value on ordinances, and our observance of them. +God has given us two sacraments, and he who dispenses with them because +he undervalues them, or undertakes to say that they are not necessary to +him, or to any in this age of the world, is in peril. The only danger +from forms and ordinances is when they are of human origin. We must take +care and not let our revulsion from Romanism carry us to the extreme of +neglecting or setting aside the ordinances of God's appointment. "There +are three that bear record on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the +blood; and these three agree in one." A man may, with equal propriety, +dispense with the blood, and its symbol the wine, or with the Spirit, as +with the water, if God has appointed it with the other two as a witness +between him and us. You notice that the Spirit is named with the two +inanimate things, the blood and the water. Take care, I say to my +friends, lest, in setting aside the water, you shut out that divine +Spirit, who, knowing how to deal with our nature, chooses the blood and +the water to be used by us in connection with our most spiritual +religious exercises of the mind and heart. We have no more right to +interfere with God's ordinances than with the number of the persons in +the Trinity. + +"All this affects me so," said Mr. Benson, "that I shall not fail to +offer my child to be baptized, if I am allowed to do so. Now, there is +my difficulty. Why do you think, and how do you show, that baptism must +now be used as God's sign and seal of his covenant with believers for +their children? When circumcision was dropped, some insist that the +covenant was dropped with it, and, therefore, that there is no warrant +in Scripture for baptizing children." + +"Why," said Mrs. Ford, "if the coming in of Moses' dispensation did not +abolish the arrangement with Abraham, why should its going out? I am +inclined to think that Abraham and his seed are, to Moses and his +dispensation, something like that vine to the trellis, running over it +to the top of the piazza, bending itself in, you see, to accommodate +itself, but having a root and a top, the one below, the other above, the +short frame, which only guides it up to the roof. In the eleventh of +Romans does not Paul say that Jews and Gentiles have one and the same +'root'? I always supposed that root to be Abraham and his covenant." + +I did not quote Latin to my friends, but I thought of the old law-maxim, +_Manente ratione, manet ipsa lex_--which, if your scholarship is not at +hand to translate it, Percival will tell you, means, "The reason for a +law remaining, the law itself also remains." It is used in such cases as +the following: When one would insist that a law was intended to be +repealed by the operation of another law, not directly or expressly +aimed to repeal it, it is a good reply. If the original reason for +enacting the old law can be shown still to exist, it is strong +presumptive evidence that there was no intention to repeal that law. I +explained this, in as simple language as I could, to my excellent +friends, and told them, "If God's covenant, which circumcision sealed, +were Mosaic, and therefore national, Jewish, we should presume that it +ceased with the Jewish nation; or, if it continued, that it was +restricted to their posterity. But why should God bestow his inestimable +blessing on the father of the faithful, and take it away from the +faithful themselves? We love our children, as Abraham did his. It is as +important to us that God should be the God of our seed, as it was to +Abraham. My heart yearns after that covenanting God in behalf of my +children." + +"I will give up thinking of Abraham as a Jew," said Mrs. Benson. + +"What was he, then?" said I, "or what will he be to you, from this +time?" + +"He was the head of believers," said she, "just as Adam was the head of +men. As Mrs. Ford said, he was the great believer; and I am persuaded +that all who are of faith have his privileges, and more too; but +certainly all that he had." + +"But, my dear," said your mother, "you have forgotten the question. +Supposing that the covenant still remains, why do you take baptism for +the seal of it? The old way of sealing it is given up. What authority do +you show for using baptism in its place?" + +"I take the initiating ordinance of religion for the time being," said +I, "whatever it may be. Is not baptism the initiating ordinance, as +circumcision was? When they built our long bridge, and the ferry-boats +ceased running, did the town put up a great sign over the gate, saying, +'It is enacted that this river shall continue to be crossed'? Did they +add, 'This bridge is hereby appointed as the way of getting over the +river'? Or, did not people take it for granted, when the bridge was +opened and the ferry-boats were withdrawn, that the bridge was designed +to be the way by which they were to pass over the river? + +"Now, suppose so impossible a thing as this, that hereafter baptism +should, by divine revelation, be changed for anointing with oil, and +nothing were said about children. I would anoint the child with oil, +instead of baptizing it with water. We are to use the initiatory rite of +the church for the time being." + +"But," said Mrs. Benson, "is there any resemblance between circumcision +and baptism?" + +"There need be none," said I. "Resemblance does not give it efficacy, +but God's appointment of it. If marking the flesh in some way should be +appointed to succeed baptism, we need not look for a likeness between it +and baptism before we complied with the divine requirement." + +"I do wish," said Mrs. Benson, "that the authority to baptize children +were more expressly stated in the Bible, to satisfy all who were not +brought up as we have been." + +_Pastor._ The overwhelming majority of those who now receive the Bible +as the word of God find it there. + +_Mrs. Benson._ But why did not Paul receive a revelation about it, as he +did about the Lord's Supper? + +_Pastor._ Did that make the thing any more authoritative with us than +the original appointment? We will not prescribe to God how to teach us. +We will not make up our minds how he ought to have made a revelation, +but we will take that revelation and try to understand it. + +"I agree to that," said they all. + +_Pastor._ It appears to me that God prefers, on certain subjects, that +the world shall reason by inferences. It is a wise way of educating +children and youth, to leave some things to be learned in this way, and +not by setting everything before them, like too many examples in the +arithmetic wrought out. + +We have changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day in the +week. It gives me a sublime idea of our Sabbath, that by some great, +silent alteration, it has come to pass that all the world keep the day +of Christ's resurrection, instead of the day which commemorated the work +of creation. I feel toward it as I do with regard to the noiseless +changes of the seasons, and the conformity of our habits and practices +to them. I left New York late in winter for the Azores, and, before I +expected it, the warm southern airs came one morning into my cabin +window. So the Christian Sabbath, with its beautiful associations, +flowed in upon the world without a formal proclamation. I feel thankful +to God for so regarding our intelligent natures, as to leave some +things, relating to ordinances, modes, and forms, to be inferred, +bringing great changes over the moral and spiritual world, and leaving +us to adjust ourselves and the administration of the appointed +ordinances to them. We can add nothing, we take nothing away from an +express, divine command; but, as the first disciples were left to infer +that a Sabbath was as necessary after Christ brought in the new creation +as before, and adjusted it to the celebration of the Saviour's rising +from the dead, so we infer that God's covenant with believing parents +for their children is as desirable now as ever; that all the original +reasons for it now exist; and, therefore, we take the initiating +ordinance of religion now, as the church in former ages did, and apply +it to the children. All church-members did it before Christ; all +church-members may do it now. God saw fit to make every adult member, at +least, of the Jewish family, a church-member; if he has changed and +restricted the terms of church-membership now, that is a sufficient +reason for not making the sealing of children as universal now as it was +before. That is to say, in both cases, it is a church-member's +privilege. + +Without detailing the conversation at this point, let me say, I take it +for granted that Abraham, as my great spiritual ancestor, my +representative before God, my commissioner to receive for me and +transmit my privileges and blessings, continues in that relation unless +expressly set aside. Christ did not set him aside. How wonderfully he is +brought forward under the new dispensation, when it is said to us, "And +if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to +the promise." But, pray, why should Abraham be intruded in connection +with Christ, if he with his covenant is like a lapsed legacy, or a +superseded act of Congress? Why comes he here, in connection with the +Saviour, and tells me that if I am Christ's, then am I his, Abraham's, +seed? Hear this: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, +being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on +the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." Wonderful elevation of Abraham and +his blessing, as the great type of all that Christ was to procure for +us! If Abraham and his covenant ceased with the Jewish people, how does +the blessing of Abraham fully come upon us, the Gentiles? But give me +his covenant for my children; then I see that Christ is executor of the +testament made with Abraham for his children; and I am one of the heirs; +as indeed I am, even if I have no children, but if I have, all of +Abraham's privileges and his covenanting God are mine and theirs. + +So that, I said to my friends, I go to the Bible not to say, "Must I +baptize my children?" but, "Am I forbidden to baptize them?" + +All my predecessors in the church of God, before Christ, had the +privilege of bringing their children into the bonds of the covenant with +themselves. If they felt as we do about it (and strict usage, and the +rich experience which they had had of its benefits, must have made it +inestimably precious to them), it is incredible that a sudden and total +discontinuance of it, at the beginning of Christianity, should not have +occasioned great clamor. The formalists, at least, would have +remonstrated at the seeming violation, by this new order of things, of +natural affection. For, as Doddridge well observes, "What would have +been done with the infants, or male children, of Christians?"--that is, +of converted Jews, as well as others. They could not circumcise them; +but their teachers, being spiritually-minded men, knew that circumcision +was a seal of faith, not merely of nationality, and must not the +converts have required some sign and symbol still for their children? +Now they had long been used to the baptism of proselytes and their +children; so that baptizing their own children, as a substitute for +circumcising them, could not have been a violent change with those whom +Peter's vision of the sheet had taught that the Gentiles should be +fellow-heirs. And when he, in one of his first sermons, said to the +whole house of Israel, "Ye are the children of the covenant," and "The +promise is unto you and to your children," we can account for their +utter silence as to any revocation by Christianity of the right and +privilege of applying the initiatory ordinance of religion, for the time +being, to a believer's child. + +"But," said Mr. Benson, "the Saviour said, 'He that believeth, and is +baptized, shall be saved.' The apostles said, 'Repent and be baptized, +every one of you.' Show us, now, why this does not prove that repentance +and faith were not thus made essential to baptism. According to these +passages, none could be baptized who had not repented and believed. +This would exclude infants. 'Believe, and be baptized;' how do you +dispose of that, sir?" + +"Very easily," said I. + +Mrs. Benson exclaimed, "O, sir, if you can, all my difficulty is at an +end!" + +"Well, then," said I, "in the first place, there is no such requirement +in the Bible. You see the expression very often, but it is not found in +Scripture. But tell me exactly what your difficulty is." + +"Why," said she, "my husband has just stated it. People tell us the +Bible says, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' So +they insist that no one should be baptized who is not old enough to +believe." + +I told her that I could remove her difficulty in very few words. + +"Suppose," said I, "that Abraham is preaching to full-grown men in +Canaan, and is trying to proselyte them from their idolatry to the +worship of God. He would say to them, 'Believe and be circumcised,' +would he not? for God ordained that certain proselytes should be +circumcised." + +"Yes, sir," said two or three voices at once. + +"Well, then," said I, "must it follow that children could not be +circumcised because Abraham said to men, 'Believe and be circumcised'? +How will that reasoning answer? Is it true? No. Little Isaac refuted it, +for he was circumcised even when his father was saying to his pagan +neighbors, 'Believe and be circumcised.'" + +"True enough, all who believed, in Christ's day and the apostles', +needed to be baptized, because they were not children, but were grown +up, when Christian baptism began. Had an apostle, however, lived to see +the jailer's family, and that of Lydia, and of Stephanas, grown up, and +any in those families had remained unconverted, and then he had said to +them, 'Believe and be baptized,' there would be some force in saying +that believing and baptism must always go together." + +"One other thing always troubled me," said Mr. Benson, "and that is, +that there was no seal of the covenant for any but male children. Now, +if the initiatory rite of Christianity be used for the same purpose as +that given to Abraham, why not confine it, as formerly, to males?" + +"How interesting it is," said I, "and it is full of instruction, to see +God paying regard to the world's knowledge and progress, in all his +measures, and doing nothing prematurely. There is a very striking +illustration of this in the account of the fall. + +"God knew the history of the tempter during his agency in Paradise; for +angels had sinned and fallen from heaven. But the existence and agency +of fallen spirits had not been disclosed in the Bible,--the time for the +disclosure had not come,--and therefore it is said, with beautiful +simplicity, 'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field +which the Lord God had made;' and the narrative has respect only to the +external appearance of the tempter, the serpent, because it would have +been premature as yet to bring in the story of fallen angels, or make +allusion to them. + +"So, for reasons belonging to the early ages of the world, woman was +included in man, who acted for her.[1] + +"But, however the arrangement began, God regarded that organic law of +society, and, in giving Abraham a seal of a covenant for his children, +he restricted it to the sons, they in all things standing and acting as +the representatives of the house, according to the existing custom. God +did not go far beyond the world's advancement, in his ordinances, but, +with condescension and in wisdom, suited the one to the other. But, as +things were then generally represented by types, so the male child was a +type and representative of the more full and complete form, which was +reserved till the fulness of time, and till the world should know the +fulness of Him that filleth all in all. For 'in Christ Jesus there is +neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female.'" + +[Footnote 1: A curious reason for this, in the minds of some, appears to +be that, when man was created, woman was included in him. For, they say, +in the first chapter of Genesis, and in the account of the sixth day, +before woman was made, the plural word _them_ is used: "male and female +created he them." They say that the blessing was pronounced on the man +and woman in Adam. For they think it improbable that Moses would +anticipate his history so much as to bring in woman, and, withal, her +blessing, too, at the sixth day, when the narrative teaches that she was +made some time afterwards. Hence, they say, it was that woman was for +ages treated as included in man. There is something pleasing in this +fancy, but it seems like one of Origen's allegories, he being the father +of allegorical interpretation. It had its origin in an ancient +Rabbinical sentiment.] + +So I discoursed with my visitors till between ten and eleven o'clock, +and when they rose to go, we all stood up together and joined in +prayer. We commended Janette to her covenant-keeping God, whose name +had been inscribed upon her. We remembered the little boy who had been +the occasion of all this pleasant conversation, and prayed that his +consecration might be accepted, and the sign and seal of it be owned and +blessed to him and his parents. As I walked down to the gate with my +friends, I said to them, that, when God was covenanting with Abraham, he +bade him look up into the heavens, and count the stars, and told him +that his seed, like them, should be innumerable. So I told them +frequently to look up to those old heavens, and remember that the +covenant-keeping God is there, the same who, in blessing Abraham, +included his seed; and that, because Abraham was so good a man, God +calls his posterity "the seed of Abraham my friend." And so we said +good-night. + +In reading over what I have written, there are a few things more which I +feel disposed to add, because I know that Percival will make good use of +them in talking with others in your congregation. + +I feel, more than I can express, that the state of mind in parents which +will make them prize and use the ordinance of baptism for their children +is the great want of our day. Bringing children to church, and +baptizing them, unless the parents are themselves in covenant with God, +is as wrong as it was for those earthly-minded Corinthians, whom Paul +rebukes, to eat the Lord's Supper. They made a feast, or a meal, of the +supper; and some use baptism just to give a child a name,--to "christen" +it, as they say,--in mere compliance with a custom. But the abuse of a +thing is no valid argument against it. The last supper is the subject of +far more perversion; it gives occasion to a vast amount of superstition +and folly. The procession of the host, the elevation of the host, the +laying of the wafer on the tongue, the solemn injunctions against +spitting for a certain time after receiving it, are no valid arguments +against the Lord's Supper, and no Christian is led by them to disregard +the words of the Lord Jesus, "This do in remembrance of me." Much of the +practical benefit of the Supper comes through the feelings which it +awakens, the conduct which it promotes. So with infant baptism. The +child must be truly consecrated to God, beforehand, and afterwards; and +the ordinance must be used as a sign and seal on our part, as it is on +the part of God,--an act and testimony, a memorial, a vow. Hannah lent +her child to the Lord from the beginning, and then brought him to the +temple, with her offerings. We must take the child from baptism as +though God had placed it a second time in our hands, to be trained up +for him. + +But, still, the ordinance is God's, and not man's. He has a work to do +in us by means of it, while it also helps our feelings, fixes them, +makes them vivid, and imposes solemn obligations upon us by its +signified vow. So it is with the Lord's Supper. In each case it is God's +memorial, and not ours; and its benefit does not consist so much in +showing forth the state of our hearts at the time of administration, as +in sealing to us the promises of God. + +True, our feelings are awakened and strengthened, ordinarily, by the +ordinances; but that neither explains nor limits the meaning of them. We +are wrong if we suppose that the Lord's Supper has done no good unless +our feelings are vivid at the time of partaking. If we were sincere, our +act had the effect to engage and seal blessings from God of which we +were not aware, and may never be able to trace them back to that +transaction. So with regard to baptism. + +Some call this sacerdotalism, and are afraid to allow that the +sacraments have any influence or use, except as a testimony from us to +God. Romanism has driven us to the opposite extreme in our ideas of +sacraments. We do not vibrate back again too far toward Romanism, if now +we conclude that God employs his sacraments, properly received by us, as +seals from him of love and promises. Many Christians derive less comfort +and help from the Lord's Supper than they may, because they regard it as +profitable only so far as they can offer it to God with vivid feelings +on their part; and, when their frames are not as they desire, they +conclude that the ordinance is unprofitable. But let us also consider +who appointed this ordinance. It is the appointment of Christ, not ours; +and at his table we are his guests, not he ours. The Saviour is well +represented as saying to us, + + "Thou canst not entertain a king! + Unworthy thou of such a guest; + But I my own provision bring, + To make thy soul a heavenly feast." + +There is a divine side to sacraments, as there is a divine side in +conversion. While we are active in regeneration, there is a work of God +wrought in us, distinct from our faith and repentance, yet inseparable +from it. So, while sacraments are vows on our part to God, they are, +primarily, gifts, pledges, seals, on his part to us. Therefore, when one +says, "I can bring up my children, I can be a Christian, without the use +of sacraments," it is a proper reply, "But can God do his part toward +your children, and toward you, without them?" For, not only is prayer +"the offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his +will," but there is the additional truth, which is well expressed in +those lines of a hymn: + + "Prayer is appointed to convey + The blessings God designs to give." + +So with sacraments; they convey gifts from God, not primarily gifts from +us to God. + +He, then, who declines to have his children baptized, on the ground that +it is useless, may, in so doing, interrupt the communication of a +divinely-appointed medium between God and his child. For he need not be +told that the faith of parents brought blessings from the Saviour, when +on earth, to their children, nor be reminded that the benefits of +circumcision were bestowed on the ground of the parental relation to +God. + +One further illustration occurs to me of the power which resides in the +sacraments themselves, in distinction from their being a testimony from +us to God. Let me call to your remembrance notices which you sometimes +see, of young people going, in a frolic, before a clergyman or justice +of the peace, to be married, when they intended nothing but sport, and +found, afterward, that they had brought themselves into difficulty, and +were legally held to be married. + +You see by this that covenants do not, by any means, derive all their +efficacy from the feelings of a contracting party. Covenants and their +seals are the most sacred of all human transactions, and cannot be +lightly regarded, or trifled with. God reveals himself often under the +name of the God that keepeth covenant. So that we may not set aside the +sacraments, nor undervalue them. This leads me to say, furthermore, that +children, who doubt whether their parents sincerely and truly offered +them to God in baptism, the parents being in an unregenerate state, as +it afterward appeared, when they came with their children to the +ordinance, may be greatly comforted and encouraged by taking this view +of the divine sacrament of baptism as having a force and application in +their behalf, by the goodness of God, irrespective of their parents' +character. God will not let his sacraments depend, for their efficacy, +on the character either of the administrator or of the parents. For, if +the character of an administrator affected the baptism, it might so +happen that one could never really be baptized, since every successive +hand which applied it might prove, in turn, to be that of an unworthy +person. If a child is baptized on the profession of parents who +afterward show that they were not sincere, the child shall not suffer +thereby, if he recognizes the transaction, and makes it his own act. In +the case of a converted husband or wife, while one companion remained a +heathen, the children were, nevertheless, counted "holy," because the +Gospel leaned to the side of mercy, and gave the children the benefit of +the believing parent's faith, instead of attainting them through the +heathen parent. So, when a child is baptized in error, he shall not +suffer, nor even lose anything, if he will accept the covenant with its +seal. No one can justly reply to all this, that, therefore, every one +even though not of the church, may offer his child for baptism. No; for +these are exceptional cases, in which it is true that a covenant, even +if it be not fulfilled, has force, and things may enure under it which +one who does not make the required profession cannot receive. The +covenant, if but the outward conditions be complied with, places all, +who are in any way related to it, under various contingencies, which +sometimes, to some of the parties, may be productive of good. We see +illustrations of this in the great tenderness and love which we feel +toward a child whose parent has brought a stain upon himself and his +family. We find an echo, in our hearts, of those kind words of the Most +High, "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father;" and, if that +son behaves himself worthily, every good man is doubly careful to +protect and help him. In this way the broken, or unfulfilled, covenant +operates, with God and with man, to the good of some related to it. But +shall we, therefore, break our covenant? Shall the unworthy be +promiscuously admitted to its privileges? "Shall we continue in sin that +grace may abound?" + +In speaking of the influence of sacraments, I am aware that we approach +enchanted ground. The human heart loves a religion of forms and +ceremonies, which professes to renew and save without self-denial, +breathing around us the quietism of ordinances, and lulling us to drowsy +forgetfulness of duty in the luxurious enjoyment of an irresponsible +religion. While, therefore, we cannot too carefully guard against the +abuse of ordinances, we must not forget that God, who made man, body and +soul, chooses to convey some of his gracious operations to us by the +help of the two simple sacraments, and that they are intended to act +upon us, in the hands of his Spirit, in the first instance; not merely +serving as offerings to God. + +It is not that there are fewer children baptized now than formerly (if +such indeed be the case), that awakens sorrow and apprehension; but that +parents are deficient in the feelings which make us prize and use +baptism. This is the evil sign, and it is greatly to be deplored. One +must have intelligent views of the Scriptures as a whole,--of both +Testaments,--most fully to understand and value infant baptism; for its +roots were planted in the Old Testament. I always feel deep respect for +a church-member who comprehends this subject in its wide relations, and +is not swayed by the popular demand for an express sign at every step, +but can reason inferentially as well as when proofs are demonstrative +and palpable; and who has in his mind the whole system of redemption, +with its various economies, interdependent, and none made perfect +without the rest. When all our church-members come to understand and +feel the power of this subject in this manner, what times of enlightened +religious prosperity, and a high state of religious culture, it will +indicate. I pray and wait for the time when all our Pædobaptist +churches, of every name, will conspire to promote spiritual views of +children's baptism, holding it forth as the expression of spiritual +feelings, and discountenancing formalism in connection with it. Though I +was never an Episcopalian in my preferences, and though the appointment +of godfathers and godmothers may, like every good thing, relapse into +mere form, I honor it for its excellent and pious design of surrounding +the parents and the children with admonition and help. For there are +sponsors, I am happy to know, who are not mere formalists, but who make +it a rule to have an interview with their godchildren on or near their +birthdays, or the anniversaries of their baptisms, and, in an +affectionate, faithful manner, they endeavor to fulfil the vows which +they took upon themselves at the baptism. Blessings on such faithful +Christian friends! Happy the children who have them for helpers of their +faith and piety. Let us all, as church-members, be sponsors, at least by +prayers and a kind interest for it, to every child of a Christian +brother or sister, when we witness its baptism. Suppose a church-member, +after witnessing the baptism of an infant, its parents, perhaps, entire +strangers, goes to his place of private prayer, and, moved with +disinterested love toward those parents and the child, supplicates the +blessing of God upon them. Could Christian love be more pure than this, +or prayer more pleasing to God? In the revelations of eternity such +prayers will not only be rewarded openly by Him who saw those doors shut +with that secret love and piety, but blessings upon parents and child +without measure may be traced to such petitions as their procuring +cause. How good it is to perform such acts, knowing that they can never +come abroad in this world! Should every Christian who witnesses the +baptism of a child, afterward pray for that immortal soul in secret, +with special petitions, what an increased privilege and blessing it +would be esteemed to offer a child in baptism, and in God's house, +before a witnessing church, rather than at home! I hope, my dear +daughter, that you and Percival, as private Christians, will do good to +your own souls, and to the souls of baptized children, and to their +parents, by making it one of your private rules to pray in secret, on +the Sabbath, for every child whose baptism you witness. + +The effort to promote and enforce infant baptism, by ecclesiastical +enactments merely, is absurd. We must fertilize the soil, not spread +glass sashes over the plants. Give Christians right views and feelings +about their covenant privileges and duties; disabuse them of their +mistakes about the severance of the Old Testament from the New; teach +them to look at Abraham, not as a decayed peer, or an old Jew, but as +the founder of the church of all ages, to whom Almighty God virtually +said, 'On this rock I will build my church,'--Abraham being the first +foundation stone, waiting for apostles to be added with him, and, as our +great representative, bearing in his hand the covenant made with him for +us, as well, as for the other great branch of the family of God; show +them that baptism is now the initiating ordinance, and that the old +covenant was never repealed, though the seal be changed; let them see +what it is to have God in covenant with them to be the God of their +seed; and, withal, let us correct, or modify, the intense anti-papal +jealousy of the Christian rites, which makes us all, unconsciously, +verge to the opposite extreme, thus missing the divinely-appointed +intention and use which there is in our two simple ordinances; and then, +with the revival of such spiritual views and feelings, and, as a +consequence, with greater reference in the prayers of Christians, public +and private, to the subject, the practice of children's baptism will +increase, as surely as accessions to the Lord's table increase when +people come to have Christ in them the hope of glory. + +We, ministers, can do very much to promote a love for the ordinance in +many ways. We ought to make it convenient and pleasant by all the +expedients within our power. I like the practice which you speak of, in +your church, of the mother remaining with the child in the anteroom till +the introductory services and the loud organ-playing are over. Does +your pastor pour water into the child's face and eyes, and then begin +the words of baptism? I presume not; but I have seen it done. We should +not touch the child's head till near the close of the baptismal formula; +and then so that the child will not see the arm move toward it. + +Much can be done by these simple expedients to promote a quiet and +pleasant attendance upon the delightful rite. I like the practice, in +your church, of chanting low some appropriate words of Scripture before +and after the baptism. + +I am constrained to say, though with diffidence, that I fear some of my +good brethren give erroneous impressions by what they say of the +church-membership of children. They push it to extremes. They discuss +the question, What shall be done with baptized children, who, on +arriving at years of understanding, refuse to enter into covenant with +God? Church censures are asserted by some to be proper in such cases, +even to excommunication, or interference in some judicial way by the +church. So long as I believe in regeneration by the Holy Spirit, I +cannot feel that baptized children, as such, are, in any sense +whatever, in which the term is generally received among men, _members_ +of the church of Christ; while, in another and most important sense, +they do belong to the church, hold a relation to it, and are a part of +it. Strictly speaking, and in the highest spiritual sense, they are not +even "the lambs of Christ's flock;" for lambs have the nature of sheep; +but the children of believers are, by nature, children of wrath, even as +others. And yet, in another sense, they hold a most important relation +to the flock of Christ, as no other children do. In its most important +sense, they are not to the church even what they are to the state; they +have no place whatever in the invisible church,--the church which is +saved,--till they are born again. If children are regenerated by the act +of baptism, of course it is otherwise; but, not believing this, I am +clear that the baptized child of a believer differs from any other +unregenerate child, who is not baptized, only in this: that God looks +upon it with peculiar interest and love, and that it is surrounded with +special and peculiar privileges, opportunities, promises, and hopes, +with regard to its being brought to repentance and saving faith in +Christ; and by baptism it is initiated into special relationship to the +people of God. The church also has special duties with regard to it. +Some of my brethren give great occasion to those who resist children's +baptism, to argue against it as Romish in its nature and effect, by not +discriminating clearly in using the words members and membership in +connection with children. Read almost any modern book against infant +baptism, and you will find that its main force is directed against the +practice as a "church and state" institution, and as making persons +members of the church by means of sacraments. Let us who are really free +from such imputation, assert the truly spiritual nature and object of +this ordinance. I wish to see it divested of all that does not belong to +it, made eminently spiritual, expressed in terms which cannot easily be +misunderstood, and appealing to the natural affections, the +understandings, the consciences, of spiritual men and women, as, in its +sober and legitimate use, God's great appointment, from the call of +Abraham to the millennium, for the increase and perpetuity of his +church.[2] + +[Footnote 2: This subject is discussed by itself, and more at large, in +another part of this book.] + +You are aware that the great question, which has made most of the +trouble in the Christian church from the beginning, relates to the +meaning and use of sacraments and ordinances, or what we call Symbolism. +The tendency of the human mind, even in Paul's day, as indicated by him, +with other things belonging to it, under the name of "the mystery of +iniquity, which doth even now work," was, to increase the number of +sacraments and ordinances, and make them bear an essential part in the +work of regeneration. The right to multiply or extend them, and the +claim that they possess a saving efficacy, characterizes one great +division of the professed Christian church, while those who are called +Protestants and the Reformed, regard them chiefly as signs; though of +these, some seem to have much of that appetency after undue reliance on +forms which Paul seeks to correct in the Epistle to the Galatians, while +others go to an opposite extreme, and undervalue the two +divinely-appointed sacraments, which they think have no efficiency as +used by the Spirit of God, but only as signs used by us to represent +something. + +Between these divisions of the Christian church lies the battle-ground +of great ecclesiastical controversies from the beginning, as the +Netherlands were, for a long time, the battle-field of Europe. +Archbishop Leighton seems to strike the balance between formalism and +sacramental grace in ordinances, as well as any writer, in commenting on +these words of Peter, "The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth +also now save us." He says: + +"Thus, then, we have a true account of the power of this, and so of +other, sacraments, and a discovery of the error of two extremes. (1.) Of +those who ascribe too much to them, as if they wrought by a natural, +inherent virtue, and carried grace in them inseparably. (2.) Of those +who ascribe too little to them, making them only signs and badges of our +profession. Signs they are, but more than signs merely representing; +they are means exhibiting, and seals confirming, grace to the faithful. +But the working of faith and the conveying Christ into the soul, to be +received by faith, is not a thing put into them to do of themselves, but +still in the supreme hand that appointed them; and he indeed both causes +the souls of his own to receive these his seals with faith, and makes +them effectual to confirm that faith which receives them so. They are +then, in a word, neither empty signs to them who believe, nor effectual +causes of grace to them that believe not." + +Let me make the distinction very clear to your mind, for it is of great +practical importance. The "mystery of iniquity" in Paul's time, and +since his day, did not, and does not, consist in making too much of +God's ordinances in their purity and proper use. That cannot be done, +any more than you can intelligently love the Bible too much, or the +Sabbath. But, to pervert them, or to make additions to them, or to rely +upon them wholly, is Romanism. But can men make too much of having a +seal on a deed? Is the deed good for anything without the seal? Can they +make too much of having three witnesses to their wills? Those three +witnesses, instead of two, make an otherwise worthless writing, a man's +last will and testament. Thus, a true sign, ordinance, or seal, among +men, has inherent efficacy of some sort. Shall we deny it to the +ordinances and seals of Heaven? He who lays claim to the covenant, but +rejects the seal, deceives himself. They must go together. + +But will you not think me older even than I claim to be, because I am so +garrulous? I have many things to say, but will not say them with pen and +ink, hoping to see you shortly. Farewell, my dear daughter, to you and +your beloved husband, with abundant kisses for your little namesake, +who, I pray, may be spared to you, if God has any work for her to do on +earth. Dedicate her sincerely and entirely, beforehand, to God, and then +in his house, with baptism, before the assembled brethren in Christ; and +let your subsequent treatment of her be a repetition of the whole. +Baptizing a child, with right views and feelings, leads to much prayer +for it. Renew the consecration of your child daily, in little, sudden +acts of prayer, as well as in more deliberate offices of devotion. Thus +surround it with an atmosphere of faith and consecration, not forgetting +the public transaction in which you covenanted with God, before many +witnesses, for the child, and He, my dear daughter, with you, in its +behalf. For, a covenant implies two parties; and God is one, and you are +the other; and Jesus is the mediator, who said of children, "Of such is +the kingdom of God." "He that came down from heaven," had seen, in +heaven, how largely that world is peopled with them. "Of such is the +kingdom of heaven." Peace be with you. All send love. + + Your affectionate Father. + + + + +Chapter Third. + +BERTHA'S BAPTISM.--CHANTING AT BAPTISMS.--PUBLIC AND PRIVATE +BAPTISMS.--WEEK-DAY BAPTISMS.--A DAUGHTER'S LOVE.--BAPTISM OF A +DEAF-MUTE INFANT.--FIDELITY OF A BAPTIZED CHILD.--SUBJECTS OF +BAPTISM.--THE MODE.--IMPROBABILITY OF IMMERSION, IN THE NEW +TESTAMENT.--ON BEING BURIED IN BAPTISM.--NEW VERSION OF THE +SCRIPTURES.--OUR DIVISION INTO SECTS.--A MOTHER'S PLEA FOR INFANT +BAPTISM. + + Where is it mothers learn their love? + In every church a fountain springs, + O'er which th' eternal Dove + Hovers on softest wings. + + O, happy arms, where cradled lies, + And ready for the Lord's embrace, + That precious sacrifice, + The darling of his grace! + + KEBLE. + + +We took Bertha to church when she was two months old. The minister, +being fond of music, had, for some time, requested the choir to chant +select passages of Scripture at baptisms. + +So, as we came up the aisle with the child, the choir breathed out those +words, "And I will establish my covenant between thee and me, and thy +seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to +be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." "Suffer the little +children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the +kingdom of God." "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon +them, and blessed them." And, as we turned away from the font, they +added, "So shall he sprinkle many nations." "The Lord shall increase you +more and more, you and your children." "But the mercy of the Lord is +from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his +righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, +and to those that remember his commandments, to do them." + +How I loved that choir, and the congregation! for, many a face did I see +bathed in tears, and others beaming with smiles and love, as, with +respectful, half-turned looks, they seemed to give us their blessing. + +"Do you not think, more than ever," I said, to the beloved grandmother +of my child, after church, as we watched the little sleeper in her +cradle, "that people lose very much in having their children baptized at +home?" + +"It makes a different thing of it," she replied. "I felt that all the +congregation loved Bertha and you. How many prayers you obtained for her +and for yourselves, which you would have missed by a private baptism!" + +"Besides," I remarked, "'God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the +dwellings of Jacob.' I think that for that reason, and on the same +principle, namely, that he is more honored, he regards our public +dedication of children with more favor than a private baptism, except, +of course, where sickness makes the public service impossible. But it is +some trouble to mothers, and no doubt many shrink from it." + +"The trouble is more in anticipation than reality," she replied. "That +pastor's room, where they stay till the introductory services are over, +makes it more convenient and agreeable. But all the trouble, even if it +were far greater, is nothing compared with the satisfaction of having +taken your offering and come into His courts. You have paid your vows +unto the Lord, in the presence of all his people. You will remember +those prayers, those words of Scripture which were chanted, and your +feelings as you took the child into your arms to be presented to God, +and as you heard those adorable names pronounced upon her and then +received her back into your arms, as it were, from the hands of God." + +"What do you think," said I, "of the practice of having children +baptized in the church on a week-day? It enables the parents to attend +meeting on the Sabbath with more composure than when they bring their +children on the Sabbath." + +"But O," said she, "what is that, compared with the privilege of +bringing the child before the whole church of God, in his house, on the +Lord's day, and so identifying its baptism with the most solemn acts of +public worship? I do not like those week-day baptisms. Where they have +the communion lecture in the afternoon of a week-day, there may be +reasons of convenience for bringing the children for baptism then, +rather than on the Sabbath; but there is a great loss of enjoyment, and +also of impressiveness, in the ordinance, in doing so, I think. I was at +a place, several years ago, when fourteen children were baptized on a +Wednesday afternoon, in the church. I went to see it, but it was not +solemn at all. I could not help thinking what an impressive and useful +sight that would have been on the Sabbath, before all the people, and +how much more good, probably, it would have done the parents, even if +they had given up half the Sabbath in going and returning with the +children." + +"If people," said I, "thought more of the spiritual meaning and +privileges of baptism, and viewed it as they do in times of sickness and +death, they would think less of inconveniences and discomforts, and see +that the ordinance is something more than giving a child a name." + + * * * * * + +Some time after this, I called upon a cousin of ours, a young married +lady of our congregation, who, within a year, had come to us from +another place, she having been married to an educated, intelligent +member of another congregation, and who, from his great love for her, +had come with her to our place of worship from another denomination, +this having been made a condition of their marriage. For she felt that +she could not be debarred the privilege of sitting at the Lord's table +with her mother, three sisters, and brother, as she would be if she +united herself with her friend's church. The idea of going to any table +of Christ on earth where they could not come, thus seeming to +disfranchise her whole family whom Christ had gathered into his fold, +and some of them into heaven, did violence to her feelings. At one time, +it seemed likely that the engagement of marriage would be terminated, on +this ground alone. Some one of the gentleman's persuasion, who thought +that she "ought to follow Christ in ordinances," and "take up her cross" +in this instance, whispered to her that she was, perhaps, in danger of +denying Christ, from love to her kindred, and he said to her, "He that +loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." This had the +opposite effect from that which was intended, for it showed her, in the +strongest light, the error of supposing that love to Christ could ever +require her to separate from herself, at the table of Christ, such +friends of Jesus as the members of her dear Christian home,--a home +which had been like that of Bethany to many of the Saviour's friends. +She felt more sure of being actuated by right motives in giving up her +marriage, and not withdrawing fellowship from her mother and the family, +than she would be in sacrificing that fellowship to gratify a new +affection. Her next younger sister was baptized after the father's +death. She was a deaf-mute. The mother was a very beautiful woman. She +had borne severe trials for her religion with a spirit of patience and +Christian propriety which won the love and esteem of the community. She +went to the altar of God, a widow, with the little deaf and dumb child, +and presented it for baptism. It was as though the impending calamity of +its father's death had shut up some of the senses of the child, and God +had placed it in the mother's hand as a silent memorial to her, for +life, of his chastising love. She left her fatherless flock in the +family pew, and went with her nursling, not merely to give it to God, +but to receive for it the seal of his covenant, bowing submissively to +his inscrutable appointment, and imploring the God of Abraham to be +still her God, and the God of this her seed. That scene had not failed +to make deep impressions upon the other children; and now it was +proposed to one of them that she should, by connecting herself in +marriage, disavow her mother's right to cling, in those hours of +anguish, to that asylum of the fatherless, infant baptism,--that very +present help in trouble, the covenant of God with believers and their +offspring. The little child, moreover, had become a Christian, and had +sat with her sister, side by side, at the communion-table, for several +years. "Forbid it," she prayed with herself, "that I should go where I +cannot be allowed to follow Christ till I have separated this dear one +from my side." + +She once wrote a letter on the subject to the gentleman, which he +showed, after their marriage, to some of his friends. There will be no +impropriety in its appearing here. It ran thus: + + "MY DEAR MR. E.: Though I am not willing to deny that Roger + Williams was, as you say, raised up to illustrate some important + principles, and to help on the general cause of truth, I must say + that he strikes me as a very unreasonable man in much of his + behavior. Our puritan fathers did not come to this wilderness with + French, atheistic, idolatrous love for a goddess of liberty. They + came here, it is true, for liberty of conscience and freedom to + worship God. With a great sum they purchased this freedom. But + infidels could as well claim to be absolved by the laws from all + recognition of God, under the plea of liberty, as Mr. Williams and + his friends could make his demands for toleration. To insist that + our fathers, in their circumstances, should have opened their doors + wide to every doctrine, and to the denial of everything professed + by them, is unreasonable. They came here with an intense love for + certain truths and practices, which persecution had only served to + make exceedingly precious to them. To have proclaimed at once + universal toleration of every wind of doctrine, would have proved + them libertines in religion. Because they did not so, reproach is + cast upon them by some, who seem to me to be free-thinkers on the + subject of religious liberty. If other men wished to found a + community with doctrines and practices adverse to those of the New + England fathers, the land was wide, and it would have been the part + of good manners in Mr. Williams to have gone into the wilderness at + once, to subdue it and to fight the savages, all for love and zeal + for his own tenets, instead of poaching upon the hard-earned soil + of those who had laid down their all for what they deemed to be the + truth. It seems to me unphilosophical in some of our historians to + reflect, as they do, upon our forefathers for not being so totally + indifferent to what they deemed error, as to allow it free course. + Their strict, and, if you please, rigid ways, were the necessary + defences of their principles, which were just taking root here. + They did right in passing stringent laws to protect them; and + religious liberty was no more violated in doing so than is the + liberty of our town's people here, who, by the law of the State + protecting game, cannot take fish, or kill birds, during certain + seasons. + + "Besides, I never saw any proof that Mr. Williams was himself the + great apostle of toleration. I remember reading to father, during + his sickness, some remarks of the late John Quincy Adams, in which + he vindicates the New England fathers for banishing Roger Williams + as a 'nuisance.'[3] Mr. Adams surely cannot be accused of bigotry, + nor of being an enemy to the cause of freedom; and his remarks + seemed to me more just than the eulogies, by historians and + orators, of Mr. Williams. Father once showed me an old book of Mr. + Williams's, which we have now, called 'George Fox digg'd out of his + Burrowes,' in which Mr. W. inveighs against the Quakers for their + want of 'civil respect,' and for using 'thee' and 'thou,' in + addressing magistrates and others. He says, on the two hundredth + page, 'I have therefore publickly declared myself, that a due and + moderate restraint and punishing of these incivilities (though + pretending conscience) is as far from persecution, properly so + called, as that it is a duty and command of God unto all mankinde, + first in families, and thence unto all mankinde societies.'--It is + also a matter of history that the colony settled by Mr. Williams + refused their franchise to Roman Catholics, though even then the + Roman Catholics of Maryland were tolerating people of his own + faith, and Quakers also. Mr. Williams always seemed to me like one + of our pious, zealous 'come-outers.' He even forsook his own + denomination in three months after he had been baptized, and for + forty years denied the validity of their sacraments, and the + scripturalness of their churches and ministry. Such a man would + even at this day be excommunicated by every society, unless it + were some association for the encouragement of radical notions of + liberty. I no more see in him the impersonation of religious + freedom, than in some other good people who go or stay where they + are not wanted. I am not disposed to deny that you and your + friends, with their principles, of which you, erroneously, I think, + claim Mr. Williams as the great exponent, 'have a mission,' as you + say, to perform; but I do not feel called upon to join in it. Some + of your writers seem to me--shall I say it?--a little too sure of + having just the right pattern and patent-right in ordinances, and + somewhat too complacent in not being liked by other denominations, + and perhaps a little disposed to look for persecution. Now I was + pleased with a remark of Matthew Henry's, on Mark 10:28, that 'It + is not the suffering, but the cause, that makes the martyr.' But we + were brought up under different associations, and cannot see just + alike in all things. I cannot, however, contradict, by any step + which my feelings would incline me to take, the Christian + citizenship of those who are dear to Christ, and are so precious to + me. As much as I love you, I think you should feel perfectly free + to leave me in my happy home, if you cannot allow me to retain my + fidelity to my own conscientious convictions of truth, and to the + sacred rights of those whom nature and grace have conspired to make + inseparable from my own Christian hopes and joys." + +[Footnote 3: "Can we blame the founders of the Massachusetts Colony for +banishing him from their jurisdiction? In the annals of religious +persecution is there to be found a martyr more gently dealt with by +those against whom he began the war of intolerance; whose authority he +persisted, even after professions of penitence and submission, in +defying, till deserted even by the wife of his bosom; and whose utmost +severity of punishment upon him was only an order for his removal as a +nuisance from among them?"--_Discourse before Mass. Hist. Soc._, 1843, +pp. 25-30.--[ED.]] + +The gentleman agreed to allow her the largest liberty, and they were +married. He knew that she had a mind and heart that were more precious +than rubies, and that the heart of a husband could safely trust in her. +The sequel will show, however, how good it is to be matched as well as +mated, and, in the conjugal relation, to be "perfectly joined together +in the same judgment." + +The object of my call, that evening, was to rejoice with her, and to be +the bearer of some congratulations at the recovery of their infant, +whose death had been expected for some time. The child was now perfectly +restored. + +As I stood in the entry, not having rung the door-bell, and was hanging +up my hat and coat, some one in the parlor said: + +"What good can it do the child or us to sprinkle a little water on its +head?" + +"Good-evening, Mr. M.," said the husband, as I went in. I was +interrupted in my expression of a fear that I had intruded upon their +conversation, by their assurances to the contrary. "I am glad you came +in," said Mr. Kelly, "for perhaps you can help us. You heard, I suppose, +what I was saying as you came in. If I am not mistaken, Mr. M., you +yourself are not very strenuous about infant baptism, for I have heard +of your making inquiries on the subject." + +"Not only have all my doubts been removed," said I, "but the baptism of +my child has been the source of the richest instruction and comfort." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," said Mrs. K. + +"But," said Mr. K., "you do not, of course, derive your warrant for it +from the word of God. That is our only guide, you know. There is no more +authority in the Bible for baptizing children than there is for praying +to saints. You are probably aware that the practice originated in the +third century of the Christian era." + +_Mr. M._ It originated with a man by the name of Abraham, I believe, +sir, two or three thousand years before Christ. + +_Mr. K._ O, then, you go to Judaism for it! + +_Mr. M._ Judaism comes to me with it, and hands it over to me. There was +something good in Judaism, we all think. Judaism was not a Mormonism, as +certain ways of speaking of it not unfrequently would make us think it +to have been; it was not an exploded folly, but the form which the +church of God bore for two thousand years. But it began before Judaism; +it is older than Moses. Judaism received it from Abraham. It is like a +great river rising in a desert place, and seeming to lose itself in a +lake, but flowing out again into another lake, and thence to the sea. So +Judaism was only a great lake, which took and seemingly held this river +of baptism for a time, but its current went on and flowed into another +lake, the Christian dispensation. But you cannot say that a river which +makes a chain of lakes, rises, for that reason, in the first lake. No, +its head spring, in this case, was antecedent to the lake. + +_Mr. K._ Did Abraham or the Jews baptize children, Mr. M.? + +I answered, "Every male child of Abraham's descendants, who should not +receive the sign of consecration to God, was to be cut off from among +the people. Proselytes of the covenant and their children were baptized, +very early." + +_Mr. K._ But where is the command to apply baptism to children? + +_Mr. M._ Where, my dear sir, is the command to discontinue that which +was enjoined upon the founder of the race of believers for all time? I +believe in the perpetuity of Abraham's relation to us as the father of +the faithful, as I believe in Adam's relation to us as the +representative of the race, and in the Saviour's relation to us as our +representative. God seems to love these federal headships, as we call +them. Abraham did not receive circumcision being a Jew, but, as the +apostle says, "as a seal of the righteousness which is by faith, which +he had while he was yet uncircumcised." We have Scripture for that, Mr. +Kelly. And "the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after," did +not disannul that covenant "that was confirmed before of God in Christ." +How can you call circumcision a Jewish ordinance, when the Bible so +explicitly denies it to be of Jewish origin? + +_Mr. K._ O, I do not understand this Abrahamic covenant. I take the New +Testament for my guide. + +_Mr. M._ You think well of the book of Psalms, I presume, as a help to +prayer and pious feelings? + +_Mr. K._ Yes; but in all matters of faith and practice, the New +Testament, like the doings of the latest session of the legislature, is +the rule for New Testament believers. You might as well have tried to +govern the ancient Jews with the New Testament, as enforce the laws of +the Old Testament on us. + +_Mr. M._ Is the privilege of having God stand in a special relation to +my child an Old Testament ordinance, in the same sense with ceremonial +observances? + +_Mr. K._ Not exactly that, but it is a superstition to baptize children, +now that circumcision is done away, and believers' baptism is enjoined. + +_Mr. M._ Believers' baptism is enjoined, but children's baptism is not +therefore prohibited. + +_Mr. K._ But where is it enacted? + +_Mr. M._ If the original form of dedicating children is essential, why +is not the original form of the Sabbath essential, the very day which +was first appointed? How dare we change a day which God himself ordained +from the beginning, until he makes the change as peremptory as the +institution itself? Have we any right to infer, in such an important +matter? Where is the express, divine command,--not precedent, example, +usage, but where is the enactment,--making the first day of the week the +Christian Sabbath? + +_Mr. K._ So long as we may keep the thing, observing one day in seven, +it makes no difference which day we keep, if we can all agree on one and +the same day. We do not all agree to retain circumcision in any way. + +_Mr. M._ So long as we may retain the thing signified by circumcision, +it makes but little difference what form is used to express it. + +_Mr. K._ The apostles, who changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the +first day, knew the mind of Christ. + +_Mr. M._ And so the men, who first practised infant baptism, knew the +minds of the inspired apostles, and they knew the mind of Christ. But to +go a step further back, the only ground for inferring that the Sabbath +is rightly changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, is the +incidental mention of Christ's meeting his assembled disciples a few +times after his resurrection on the first day. On that slight ground we +are all content to rest our present observance of the Sabbath. Now, I +say that the mention of the baptism of households eight times, in one +form and another, is as good a warrant for infant baptism, as those two +or three Sabbath-evening meetings were for the institution of the +Lord's-day Sabbath. + +_Mr. K._ I cannot agree with you, Mr. M., in putting circumcision on the +same level with the Sabbath. + +_Mr. M._ I myself see a resemblance in the changes made in the two +cases. I have no wish to proselyte you to my views. I have only answered +your polite inquiries. + +_Mr. K._ O, I know that; we shall be good friends still; but I see no +grounds for baptizing children on the faith of their parents. + +_Mr. M._ We look at the thing from different points of view. I see it as +clearly as I see that the church of God is essentially the same in all +ages, with its variety of forms. This matter of children's baptism is +with me a spiritual thing, and is independent of dispensations. You know +that a river may have, in one district of the earth through which it +flows, one name, and in another district another name, while it is the +same river. Now, the divine recognition of believers' children, as +standing in a special covenanted relation with God, is the headspring of +infant dedication by the use of a rite. The object of this recognition +is, that He may have a godly seed. God does not perpetuate religion +directly by natural descent, it is true, but he seeks to promote it by +descent from a pious parentage, and he therefore endows that parentage +with special privileges and promises. The inclusion of children with +their believing parents has been the great means of perpetuating +religion in the earth. It is a stream which washed the shores of Judaism +under the name of circumcision; now it washes the shores of the Gentiles +under the name of baptism. For the Saviour or the apostles to have +reäppointed infant dedication, with the use of the cotemporary +initiating ordinance, would, to my mind, be as superfluous as for the +allied powers to have agreed that the Danube should still run through +Austria. + +_Mr. K._ Your principle of interpretation, Mr. M., has brought in all +the darkness which has covered the earth in the Romish apostacy. There +will be no end to human inventions in religion, if this principle +prevails. + +_Mr. M._ But, my dear sir, there certainly has been an end at the very +beginning; for what inventions in Protestant worship have non-prelatical +Pædobaptists made? Surely that practice has not been prolific of +superstitions. I often hear this alleged, Mr. K., and we are called +Romish and Popish because we baptize infants. But will it not be best +for Christian sects to allow each other entire liberty of conscience, +and not accuse each other of tendencies to Romanism, when all are +zealously Protestant? Here is a piece, which I cut from a newspaper +lately, which describes the baptism by immersion of some females and +others, one Sabbath in January, the thermometer below zero, a place +being cut through the ice for the purpose, and a boy watching with a +pole to keep the floating ice from the opening. Shall I call this +Romish, superstitious, fanatical? Shall I say, How can we, consistently +with such practices among Protestants, say anything about the doctrine +of penances? No. I prefer to think that those who do these things are as +good Protestants as myself, and I will not impeach their rigid adherence +to their belief, by imputing Romish tendencies to their modes of +worship and their ordinances; for no people are further from Romanism in +their principles than they (unless it be some of us Pædobaptists, Mrs. +Kelly). + +_Mr. K._ Well, there is no quarrelling with you; but let me say that +when another sect sees you employing an ordinance which has no warrant +in the Bible,--sprinkling water upon people, on proper subjects and +improper subjects for baptism, when we know that the word _baptize_ +means to _immerse_, and that believers only are properly baptized,--how +can we be silent? Would you be silent if Episcopalians should set up +Latin prayers, or the confessional; or the Methodists turn their +love-feasts into the old Passover? + +_Mr. M._ We must tolerate the mistakes and errors of those who, in the +main, are confessedly good, and are conscientious in what we deem their +errors. When the noble array of great and good men in the Episcopal Low +Church, and among the Methodists, fall into such mistakes as you have +specified, there will be opportunity for other Christians to express +themselves. But you are rather rhetorical in your reasoning, to compare +the practice of infant baptism by Owen, and Watts, and Doddridge, and +Leighton, and Baxter, and all like them, with Latin prayers and a return +to the Passover. + +_Mr. K._ There is not a case of sprinkling in the New Testament. You are +too well-informed to deny this. + +_Mr. M._ Mr. K., there is not one instance of baptism, in the New +Testament, where there does not appear to me to be an improbability of +its having been administered by immersion. + +By this time Mrs. K., who had been called away to attend to her child, +returned, and hearing my last remark, said, with a significant look at +her husband: + +"We shall require you to prove that, Mr. M." + +"Most willingly," said I. "Do you think, cousin Eunice, that the +multitudes who came to John and the apostles to be baptized, brought +changes of raiment with them?" + +"No," said she; "and there were no conveniences for making a change of +dress in those places, I presume." + +_Mr. M._ Were they immersed in the clothes which they had on? + +_Mrs. K._ That does not seem probable. Some of them, at least, had +valuable garments, we may suppose, and few, if any, would wish to have +their apparel wet through, or to keep it on them, if wet. + +_Mr. M._ They were not immersed without clothing, of course, +promiscuously, and, therefore, I believe that they were all baptized by +sprinkling or pouring, their loose upper garments allowing them to step +into the water, or very near it; and John, standing there (and the +apostles, also, when they administered baptism), and laying on the water +with his hand, or, which is not impossible, with the long-accustomed +bunches of hyssop. The Episcopal mode of administering the Lord's +Supper, enables me to conceive how baptism by sprinkling could be +administered rapidly. As six or more people are kneeling, the Episcopal +minister gives each his portion of the bread, and repeats the formula, +not to each one, but once only while his hand is passing over the six. +So, I imagine, John repeated whatever form he had (and the apostles +theirs) to companies, while, in rapid succession, he applied the water +to them. It is impossible to account for the performance of such +incredible labor as John must have undergone, unless we adopt some such +supposition as this, or confess that John's baptism was, throughout, a +miracle. But "the people said, John did no miracle." If the apostles +sprinkled three thousand in this way, by companies, in one day, as they +could easily have done, we can see how the same day there could be +"added unto them about three thousand souls," even if "added" meant +being baptized. That the apostles had assistance in administering +baptism at this early period, is not probable. They had not yet proposed +to have helpers in taking care of the poor, much less to share with them +the first administration of Christian baptism. If any church were to +require me to believe, before admitting me to the Lord's table, that the +apostles immersed three thousand people at the day of Pentecost, after +nine o'clock in the morning, in the midst of necessary labors, and at +that driest season of the year, or in tanks, I could no more believe it +than I could confess that the earth is flat. + +_Mrs. K._ But "John was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there +was much water there." + +_Mr. M._ "Much water," in those countries, was on a smaller scale than +in North America. They would have needed all the lake-shore or river +banks that could be found, to witness the baptisms, and to pass in and +out of, or to and from, the water, conveniently, while John stood to +receive them in or near the water. A fountain or small body of water +would not have accommodated those multitudes; not because the water +would not suffice, for a small running stream would be enough, and would +have afforded "much water;" but think what inconvenience there would +have been in baptizing a crowd around a small stream. Baptism by +immersion, among us, though a few gallons of water only are needed, is +more conveniently done where there is "much water;" because the +spectators can spread themselves along the banks, and then there is no +confusion. The most convenient and rapid way of baptizing multitudes by +sprinkling would be, for the administrator to stand in the water, and +let the people pass by him. Besides, those multitudes who came to John's +baptism needed "much water" for themselves and their beasts. + +_Mrs. K._ But the Saviour went down into the water, and came up out of +the water. + +_Mr. M._ So did John, in the same sense; and so did "both Philip and the +Eunuch;" but John and Philip did not, therefore, go under the water. But +Mr. Kelly will tell you that _down in_ to, and _up out_ of, might as +well have been translated to and from, in the case of the Eunuch. If you +insist that going down into the water involves immersion, it follows +that Philip went under the water with the Eunuch, and there baptized +him. + +_Mr. K._ We shall set those matters right in that new version of the +Bible which you were complaining of the last time I saw you. Down into, +and up out of, are required by the word baptize, which means immerse. + +_Mr. M._ No, my dear sir, not always, even in the New Testament. The +word had come, even in the Saviour's time, to signify purification, or +consecration, irrespective of the mode. The Pharisees, in coming from +the market-places, except they wash, eat not. The word is baptize. But +they did not bathe at such times; they "baptized" themselves by washing +their bodies. We read of the baptism of beds, which was merely washing +them. The Israelites were baptized unto Moses. There the word means, +simply, inaugurated, or set apart, with no reference to the mode; for, +they were not immersed, but bedewed, if wet at all; they were not buried +in that cloud, for the other cloud that led them was in sight; they were +not buried in the sea, which was a wall to them on either hand. + +There is a good illustration, it seems to me, of the change in words +from their literal meaning, in the passage where Christ is called the +"first-born of every creature." He was not _born first_, before all men, +but he has the "preëminence" over all creatures, as the first-born had +among the children. Here is an illustration, from the New Testament, of +the way in which _baptism_ may cease to denote any mode, and refer only +to an act of consecration. + +As to that new version of the Bible, Coleridge says, that the state +ought to be, to all religious denominations, like a good portrait, which +looks benignantly on all in the room. So the Bible now seems to look +kindly upon all Christian sects; and, for one, I love to have it so. +But, some of you, good brethren, who are in favor of this new version to +suit your particular views, are trying to alter the eyes of the portrait +so that they shall look only on you, and to your part of the room. We +think that you ought to be satisfied with the present kind look which +you get from them. There is one comfort--you will make a new picture to +please yourselves, and we shall keep the old portrait. + +"Please do not be too severe on my husband for that mistake of his," +said Mrs. K.; "I think that he is getting better of it, in a measure." + +_Mr. K._ I will make you a present of the book when it arrives, and, +perhaps, you will agree with me. But I am surprised to hear you say that +you do not believe the Saviour to have been immersed by John. + +_Mr. M._ It was not Christian baptism, at any rate, if he were; for the +names of the Trinity are essential to Christian baptism, and those names +had not been thus applied. + +Besides, John could not have plunged and lifted those thousands without +superhuman strength and endurance, which we know he did not possess. The +same reasoning applies, in the baptism of the three thousand at the day +of Pentecost, both as respects what I have said of raiment, and the time +and strength of the apostles. + +The baptism of the Eunuch was, to my mind, most probably by sprinkling, +making no change of raiment necessary. "See, here is water,"--a spring, +or stream, by the road-side, quite as likely (and, travellers now say, +more probably) as a pond. Yes, sir, Philip went down into the water just +as much as the Eunuch did, if we follow the Greek literally. I think +that _down_ refers to the chariot, the act of leaving it to go to the +water. But the English version, as it now stands, makes strongly for +your view of the case in the mind of the common reader. + +Saul of Tarsus was baptized after having been struck blind, and while he +was in a state of extreme exhaustion from excitement, without food; for, +during three days, "he did neither eat nor drink." He was baptized +before he ate; for, we read, "And he arose and was baptized; and, when +he had received meat, he was strengthened." It does not seem to me +probable that they would have put him into a river, or tank, before +giving him food. But it seems to me natural and suitable for Ananias to +draw nigh, and impress the trembling man with the mild and gentle sign +of Christianity, the rite giving a soothing and cheering efficacy to the +words of adoption, and in no way disturbing him in body or mind. I have +always regarded the baptism of Saul as a strong presumptive proof with +regard to baptism by affusion. + +So with the midnight scene of baptism in the prison at Philippi. The +preparation of one or more large vessels, to immerse the household, is +not congruous with the circumstances narrated, as I read them. But the +quiet and convenient act of baptism by sprinkling, falls in harmoniously +with the other parts of the transaction. For my part, I have always +wondered how any one can fail to see that there are so many +improbabilities of immersion in every case of baptism, in the New +Testament, as to counteract any weight which the word baptize carries +with it, more especially since the word and its derivatives are +employed, in the New Testament, in cases where the mode of using the +water is evidently not intended. + +_Mr. K._ "Buried with him in baptism." Mr. M., you will confess that +this is an impregnable proof-text. You have never been "buried with him +in baptism." + +_Mr. M._ But I am "risen with him," Mr. K. With all humility and tears, +I must say to you, "If any man trusteth to himself that he is Christ's, +let him also think this with himself, that as he is Christ's even so +also we are Christ's." Your application of the passage, just quoted by +you, disproves your interpretation of it. If we must be buried in water, +when we are baptized, then no one is risen with Christ who has not been +immersed. You thus disfranchise four fifths, to say the least, of God's +elect. No, my dear sir, being buried with Christ in baptism does not +mean immersion. People in the frozen ocean, the sick and dying, who are +sprinkled with water in the name of the Christian's God, are "buried +with Christ in baptism into death;" that is, profess to be dead and +buried to sin, as Christ was dead and buried for it. Besides, follow out +the passage, and there is no allusion to the form of baptism, as I can +perceive, but to something else. "Buried with him by baptism into death; +that like as Christ was raised,"--from the water?--yes, if water baptism +be now in the writer's mind; but no,--"like as Christ was raised from +the dead, by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in +newness of life." The word buried, therefore, in this passage, refers to +the completeness of the Saviour's death for sin (as we say intensively +of a deceased person, he is dead and buried), and of the completeness +of our renunciation of it. We are dead and buried to sin, as Christ was +for it; and we rise to newness of life, when we profess to be +Christians, as Christ rose from the dead, not from the water. + +_Mr. K._ How is it with infants? Are they dead and buried to sin when +they are baptized? If being buried, in this passage, means being dead +and buried to sin, then infants are regenerated by baptism. + +Mr. K. gave his wife a pleased look, as though he had placed me in a +dilemma. + +"Mrs. Kelly," said I, "how do you suppose that nursing children ate the +first passover?" + +"I suppose that they ate it through the faith of their parents," said +Mrs. K., looking narrowly into the stitches of her crochet-work, to +control a smile. + +"That passover, however," said I, "was the means of saving those +children, who, many of them, were the first-born in their respective +families. Yet they were saved by the passover through the faith of their +parents. Do not understand me as urging the comparison to an extreme; I +only say that there we have an example of parents acting for the child +in a matter of faith. The infant child was incapable of believing, and +even where the first-born was grown up, the parent acted for him in the +ordinance, by sprinkling the door with blood. I do not prove infant +baptism by this, but I use it to show that parents may use an ordinance +for their infants. Mr. K. asks if baptized infants are buried with +Christ in baptism into death,--that is, die unto sin and rise to newness +of life. The parents profess by the baptism that they will use means to +effect this in their children, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. I +should like to ask Mr. Kelly if he believes that every person who is +immersed, is buried into death, spiritually, with Christ, or is actually +dead to sin forever; or, whether it is only a profession of one's hope +and intention. For we have all known some, who had been buried in water, +that did not prove to have died unto sin." + +_Mr. K._ Of course it is a symbol; and all we insist on is, that Paul +must have had immersion in mind, as the form of baptism, when he spoke +of being buried by baptism. + +_Mr. M._ When Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ," do you suppose +that the idea of a cross was in his mind? Did he intimate that +sanctification is effected by a piece of wood, with a transverse beam, +used as a gibbet? Or did he simply mean, I am dead to the world, and the +world is dead to me, yea, and put to death (not merely dying in a +natural way), through the power of the Saviour's sufferings and death on +my behalf? The burial of Christ, following his death for sin, and so +completing the idea of dying, is enough to have suggested the figure, I +think, of our being not only dead with Christ, but buried with him, by a +Christian profession; that is, we utterly cease from the world and sin, +professedly, as Christ not only died, but went into the tomb. But what +does "risen" refer to in that passage,--the water or death?--"from +whence also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of +God." + +_Mr. M._ Why, how do you understand it? + +_Mr. K._ I prefer, if you please, that you should answer. Many +understand it thus: "You are buried in water, to denote death to sin; +you are lifted up out of the water (as Christ was lifted up by the +Baptist), to live a new life." If this be so, what is "the operation of +God," which is spoken of there? Does it need any such "operation" for +an immersed person to rise out of the water? No, my dear sir, our +interpretation makes plain and thorough work of the whole passage. Our +idea of that controverted passage (your great proof-text) is this: You, +Christian professors, were, all of you, baptized, on profession of your +faith;--when you made a Christian profession, you signified by it your +dying unto sin, as Christ died for it, so that, I may say, you were dead +and buried to sin. But, as Christ came to life again, so you rose with +him, not to sin, but to live a new life. Hear Dr. Watts on the passage: + + "Do we not know that solemn word, + That we are buried with the Lord, + Baptized into his death, and then + Put off the body of our sin? + + "Our souls receive diviner breath, + Raised from corruption, guilt and death; + So from the grave did Christ arise, + And lives to God above the skies." + +I do not believe that the mode of baptism is alluded to at all in this +text. + +_Mr. K._ I cannot agree with you, sir. The contrary is perfectly clear +to my own mind. + +"Mr. M.," said Mrs. Kelly, "do you think that you and Mr. K. would ever +think alike on this subject?" + +"Never," said I. "People almost always end where they began, when they +discuss this topic; only they do not always leave off in such +good-nature as Mr. K. and I intend to do. I never knew a person to +change his views to either side, unless he began as an inquirer, and not +as an advocate." + +"What is the reason," said Mrs. K., "that good people are left to differ +so about unessential things in religion, when they all hold to the same +way of being saved?" + +"I suppose," said I, "that, as poor human nature is, for the present, +more is effected, on the whole, by letting us divide into sects, and +giving us each some external or speculative discrepancies to excite our +zeal. It is a sad reflection upon us, if this be so, and our sectarian +behavior illustrates that hardness of our hearts, in view of which, +perhaps, God suffers us to divide as we do. But, still, you see how +wisely God has ordained that good people shall not differ about +essential things--that might be fatal to the success of his truth; but +they are left to divide about forms, and ordinances, and some doctrinal +matters which do not involve the question of the way to be saved. In +that they all agree." + +_Mrs. K._ How pleasant it would be if they would all think alike! + +_Mr. M._ Perhaps it might not be best at present. They should tolerate +each other's views, meet and act together where they may; but I do like +to see a man heartily attached to his own denomination, without bigotry. +I have not much partiality for those schemes of union which require and +expect each sect to give up its peculiarities, and which seek to +amalgamate us. It is unnatural. Let each be thoroughly persuaded of his +own faith;--different temperaments and habits of thought are suited by +different modes and forms;--but let us treat each other as Christians, +and with urbanity and kindness. That is the most sublime spectacle of +union. It comes nearer to fulfilling the prayer of Christ, "that they +all may be one," when we differ strongly, and yet keep the unity of the +spirit. I am doubtful whether, even in heaven, there will not be such +innocent diversity of views about things successively beyond our +knowledge or comprehension, as to stimulate inquiry and discussion; but +that we shall ever be capable, as we are here, of alienation, in +consequence of these varying opinions, is impossible. + +_Mr. K._ Do you not think, Mr. M., that we shall all think alike about +baptism in the millennium? + +_Mr. M._ I suppose that you expect that we shall all give up infant +baptism. But my expectation is that, as we approach that day, the last +prophecy of the Old Testament will be as truly fulfilled as it was at +the coming of Christ, and that the hearts of the fathers will be turned +to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Parental +piety and discipline will be greatly promoted, and an attendant of it +will be, I suppose, a greater use of the ordinance of infant baptism, +demanded by the pious feelings of parents, as pious feeling in the +regenerate craves the ordinance which commemorates the love and +sufferings of the Redeemer. The feelings of pious parents will require +the ordinance of infant baptism, as an expression of their earnest +desire to have fellowship with God as the God of the believer and his +offspring, the covenant-keeping God. It is to the increase and +prevalence of this feeling that I look now for an increasing observance +of infant baptism; for, without such feeling, the ordinance is an empty +name. Where that feeling exists, it soon modifies the speculative views +of a parent. As our conscious need of an atoning Saviour soon dispels +the former difficulties about the doctrine of the Trinity, so a longing +desire to have special covenanting with God for a dear child, makes the +subject of God's everlasting covenant with Abraham, as the great +believer, and the father of believers, plain. + +Now, before I forget it, please let me tell you of an objection to +infant baptism, which I lately met with, drawn from the effect of the +prevalent practice of it in a community. + +The objection is, it prevents us, in a measure, from fulfilling Christ's +command, "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them." For, going into the +Roman Catholic or Greek churches, or an Armenian country, and making +converts, the missionaries cannot baptize them, for, alas! they were +baptized in infancy, and to re-baptize is against the law of the +countries. + +Now, this seems to me no great calamity; for if the converts themselves +recognize their baptism, and adopt it as profession of their faith, it +is like a man's acknowledging the hand and seal on an instrument, made +irregularly at first, but now, under competent circumstances, declared +to be equivalent to his own act and deed at the date of this +declaration. He would not need to re-write the document, nor to use wax +or wafers again, except in witness of his acknowledging the original +act. "Though it be but a man's covenant, yet, if it be confirmed, no man +disannulleth or addeth thereto." + +But, however it may be in such countries and communions as I have named, +certainly it cannot be a calamity if the practice of infant baptism +becomes such a spiritual and practical thing, that young persons are +generally converted, so that adult baptisms disappear. I love to notice, +when several persons join our church, how few of them receive baptism, +showing that their baptism in childhood has been followed by conversion. +The fewness of adult baptisms, with us, compared with cases of infant +baptism, is a good sign. They will be fewer and fewer, in proportion as +our parents make and keep covenant with God for their children. + +Mr. Kelly was at this moment called out, but requested me to remain and +finish the conversation with Mrs. K. She resumed it, saying: + +"Had I better read any more on the subject? My feelings lead me +strongly to take our little one to church. I feel that I should be +strengthened by the solemn act of doing what the covenant of your church +says, 'avouching the Lord Jehovah to be your God and the God of your +children forever.' I do wish to feel that I have done something like +bearing testimony before God, in a special way, that I give my child to +him, and engage God to be his God." + +_Mr. M._ I should candidly examine whatever Mr. K. wishes you to read or +hear on the subject, and not be afraid of the truth, let it lead where +it may. But what first made you think of baptizing your little boy? + +_Mrs. K._ I always loved the ordinance. But, when I thought that Henry +was going to die, I was watching him all night, and, as I was praying, +it occurred to me that I wished I could see the church praying for him; +and that led me to think of the church praying for a child when it is +brought into the house of God. I felt that night that, if I could speak +to the pastor, I would ask him to request the prayers of the church for +him as for one who, if he got well, should be brought into the house of +God, and be publicly consecrated, and I with him, again, as his mother, +to the Lord. I had given him and myself to God; but I felt the need of +some more special act, on which I could fall back in my thoughts, and of +which God would graciously say to me, "I am the God of Bethel, where +thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me." + +_Mr. M._ How kind it was in God to remind Jacob of that pile of stones, +and to call himself the God of Bethel! O, how he loves marked exercises +of consecration and love! + +_Mrs. K._ My husband always said, "Let him offer himself for baptism +when he grows up, and understands the meaning of it." I told him that +when I was admitted to the church I was not baptized, but I had this +pleasant feeling, that I had a baptism in infancy by my dear good mother +to think of now, and to seal by my own acknowledgment. If Henry had died +without being baptized, or should now be hindered from it, I should +never cease to grieve. + +_Mr. M._ You think, however, that he would be saved, nevertheless. + +_Mrs. K._ O, saved! that is not all. I do not think merely of his +getting into heaven. Though we are saved wholly by grace, is there not +something implied in "washing our robes, and making them white, in the +blood of the Lamb?" I do not believe in justification by works nor by +sacraments, yet I do believe in their wonderful effect, through grace +alone, upon our character and future condition. I do believe, Mr. M., +that there is a difference between children whose parents, impelled by +love to God, make public offering of their children to him, with solemn +vows, and daily perform their vows, treating their children as baptized +in the name of the Trinity, and children whose parents either carelessly +baptize them, or feel no such spiritual desires for them as to seek the +use of any public ordinance, nor any special private consecration. I +believe that God regards them differently. He has placed his mark on the +baptized. I must go with my son to God's house, as Hannah did, and with +her feelings. How strange! She prayed for that son, and then, as soon as +he was weaned, she gave him away to God; for it is beautifully said, you +know, "And the child was young." Well, I think I understand that. I +could leave Henry in the temple, if the service of God's house required +him; for, when he was sick, I gave him up to God, and as long as he +liveth he shall be the Lord's. How did cousin Bertha feel about the +baptism after your little boy died? + +_Mr. M._ It was often the chief topic of her conversation. Her father +wrote a full statement of his views, which helped her greatly. We have +read it over since we lost our child. I will send it to you, if you +wish. You can read it, with Mr. K.'s books, and I wish you to show it to +him if he cares to see it. + +All this was done. Kind feelings prevailed; there was not much +discussion, and, one Sabbath morning, little Henry Kelly was brought to +church. But the mother was without the father. He was called to a +distant place on business; but he allowed his wife to act her pleasure +in the case during his long absence. More of this in its place. + + + + +Chapter Fourth. + +IS THERE ONLY ONE MODE OF BAPTISM? + + Were love, in these the world's last doting years, + As frequent as the want of it appears, + The churches warmed, they would no longer hold + Such frozen figures, stiff as they are cold; + Relenting forms would lose their power, or cease, + And e'en the dipped and sprinkled live in peace; + Each heart would quit its prison in the breast, + And flow in free communion with the rest. + + COWPER. + + +Opening my entry door, on my return, several faces looked out to welcome +me, all in the house having waited till a late hour, with surmises as to +the cause of my long absence, and then all dispersed, except the +venerable, and not yet aged, grandmother of little Bertha. With her it +was always pleasant to talk. + +_Mr. M._ Have you had no company this evening? I was in hopes that the +Moores would come in, as they promised to do. + +_Mother._ They have been gone nearly an hour. Mr. Moore wished to read +husband's letter, so Bertha lent it to him. + +_Mr. M._ Father will be glad to know how much good his letter is doing. +Cousin Eunice would be glad to see it, and I wish to read it again, for +I find that I am likely to need more instruction, if I am to discuss the +subject as I did this evening with Mr. Kelly. + +_Mother._ Was he at home? I hope you did not get into a controversy +about baptism; for, of all things, nothing dries up religious feelings +like that. + +_Mr. M._ The subject has taken too practical a hold upon my feelings to +have that effect. I find myself more and more led to believe that God +gave his church an appointed form of baptism, and that that form was +sprinkling; for I search the New Testament in vain for a single case +where immersion seems to have been practised. I believe that, under the +operation of early tendencies, of which Paul writes to the +Thessalonians, the church began to prefer immersion as more sensuous, +making a stronger appeal to the passions. But I believe, with the New +Testament for my guide, that immersion was not practised by the apostles +themselves. The word baptize had, even in the Saviour's time, to go no +further back, come to mean a thing done irrespective of the mode. How +would it sound, "I have an immersion to be immersed with, and how am I +straitened?" &c. "Are ye able to be immersed with the immersion that I +am immersed with?" I believe that sprinkling was the original mode of +Christian baptism. And it seems to me unlikely that God would appoint an +ordinance, and not appoint, by precept or example, the mode of it. I +believe that the mode of baptism was appointed, as well as the rite +itself, and I see no instance of baptism in the New Testament by +immersion. Pouring, whether more or less copiously, has this probability +in its favor, in addition to the impression which the narratives make, +viz., The Lord's Supper typifies the death of Christ. Burying in +baptism, then, would be superfluous; it is more likely that the form of +this other sacrament would represent something else, and that is, the +Holy Spirit's cleansing influence, because Christ speaks of being "born +of water and of the Spirit," thus associating water with the Spirit. We +moreover read of "the water and the blood," water thus being +distinguished from blood. Now, the Holy Spirit is always named in +connection with being poured out. We are baptized with, not in, the Holy +Ghost. It would do violence to our feelings to hear one speak of our +being immersed in the Holy Spirit. So that I fully believe in sprinkling +as the original New Testament mode of baptism. And, still, I am inclined +to agree with your friend, the professor, who spent New-year's evening +with us, and has just published a book on baptism. + +_Mother._ What ground does he take? + +_Mr. M._ He writes somewhat in this way: As to the mode, I believe it to +be unessential; for it seems to me contrary to the genius of +Christianity to make a particular form of doing a thing essential to the +thing. What else is there in Christianity, if we are to except baptism, +in which modes are regarded or made essential? It is not so, he says, +with the Lord's Supper, surely; the upper room, night, sitting or +reclining, unleavened bread, a particular kind of wine, and all such +things, are not regarded by any as necessary to the ordinance. It is +very interesting, he says, to notice, that, whereas the old dispensation +prescribed the mode of every religious act, minutely, and a departure +from it vitiated the act itself, Christianity threw off everything like +prescriptive modes altogether. Considering the attachment of the human +mind to forms and ceremonies, he knows of nothing in which Christianity +shows its divine origin and supernatural power more, than in its sublime +triumph, so immediately, in the minds of great numbers, over forms and +ceremonies. We can hardly conceive, he says, what a revolution a Jew +must have experienced in giving up Aaron, and altars, and times, and +seasons, and all the minute regard for his religious ceremonies, at +once. Even if it were the original practice to baptize only by +immersion, he cannot think that Christianity could have enjoined it as +the only proper mode of applying water, in signifying religious +consecration. Bread and wine, eaten and drunk decently and in order, in +any way whatever, constitutes the Lord's Supper; water, applied to the +person, by a proper administrator, in the name of the Trinity, +constitutes Christian baptism; but, had the New Testament required us to +recline, and lean on one arm, and take the Lord's Supper with the other +arm, insisting that this posture is essential to that sacrament, or had +it specified the quantity of bread and wine, he thinks it would have +been parallel to the uninspired requirement of a particular mode in +applying the water in baptism. + +"Baptize," he further remarks, it is said, means immerse. Suppose that +it does. Supper means a meal; therefore, one does not "eat the Lord's +Supper," unless he eats a full meal; for, if baptize refers to the +quantity of water, supper refers to the quantity of food and drink in +the other sacrament. He then seems to exult, and says, "I am glad that I +am not in conscientious subjection to any mode of doing anything in +religion, as being essential to the thing itself." + +_Mother._ What answer can be made to this? + +_Mr. M._ It is a very common ground, and a convenient one, to answer the +argument from _baptizo_, and the early practice of immersion in the +Christian church after the apostles. No doubt the early Christians +satisfied themselves with this reasoning, in departing from the +apostolic practice of sprinkling. But I prefer to adhere strictly to the +New Testament model. There is no immersion there. Now, is it allowable +to depart from the original mode? This could not be done in the first +initiating ordinance of the church,--circumcision. A departure from the +prescribed rule would have vitiated the ordinance. But, does not +Christianity differ essentially from the former dispensation in this +very particular, that it does not make the mode of doing a thing, +essential? Yet, it may be said, Human ordinances are all strictly +binding in the very forms prescribed. For example: "Hold up your right +hand," says the clerk, or judge, to a witness; "you solemnly swear--." +Let the witness, instead of holding up his right hand, if he has one, +and can move it, capriciously say, "I prefer to hold up the left, or to +hold up both. I wish to show that modes and forms are unimportant." He +would be in danger of contempt of court. If so small a departure from +the mode of swearing would not be allowed, much less would he be +permitted to kneel, or to lie on his face, unless he were some devotee. +No; there is a prescribed form, and he must yield to it. It is also +said, that, if there were cases in the New Testament in which it were +doubtful, at least, whether immersion were not practised, we might argue +in favor of mixed modes. But immersion is baptism, in my view, because a +person who is immersed is sure to get affused; and, affusion with water +is all of the baptism which seems to me essential. Leaving those who +first departed from the apostolic mode of baptism by sprinkling, to +answer for themselves, no one, of course, will deny that those who +conscientiously think that they ought to be baptized by immersion, are +acceptable with God, as well as others who are of a contrary persuasion. +Paul speaks of "divers baptisms." There began to be such in his day. He +speaks also of the "doctrine of baptisms" (plural), showing the same +thing. + +But I came near forgetting one thing, which I wished to say, which is, +that, in reading the Bible last evening, I found a new encouragement in +taking infants to the house of God. + +_Mother._ I should like to hear anything new on that point. I thought +that everything had been exhausted which referred to that subject. + +_Mr. M._ I mean that it was new to me. Luke says that the parents of +Jesus brought him to Jerusalem "to present him to the Lord," and that, +arriving there, they brought him into the temple to do for him after the +custom of the law. Now, I always carelessly thought that this meant +circumcision. + +_Mother._ Of course it does; I always thought so. + +_Mr. M._ No; for he had already been circumcised, when he was eight days +old. "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the +child, they called his name Jesus." Then the next verse speaks of a +subsequent act: "When the days of her purification were accomplished +they brought him to Jerusalem." Mary could not have come to Jerusalem on +the eighth day; but, on the second occasion, she was present; for Simeon +addressed her. So that we have the example of the infant Saviour, in +bringing our infants into the temple; and, if we are scrupulous as to +following the Saviour in ordinances, we may as well begin by following +him into the temple, with our infants. + +_Mother._ It is beautiful to think of Jesus, even in his infancy, as an +example, and that he was forerunner to the infants of his people, while +yet in his mother's arms. + + + + +Chapter Fifth. + +SCENES OF BAPTISM--HENRY KELLY.--THE YOUNG PARENTS AND THEIR BABE.--THE +LOST MARINER'S FAMILY.--THE FEEBLE-MINDED YOUTH.--THE REASONABLENESS, +POWER, AND BEAUTY, OF CHILDREN'S BAPTISMS.--HUSBANDS SHOULD COME WITH +THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.--MOSES IN THE INN. + + Since, Lord, to thee + A narrow way and little gate + Is all the passage; on my infancy + Thou didst lay hold, and antedate + My faith in me. + + GEORGE HERBERT. + + The parent pair their secret homage pay, + And proffer up to Heaven the warm request, + That He, who stills the raven's clamorous nest, + And decks the lily fair in flowery pride, + Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best, + For them and for their little ones provide, + But chiefly in their hearts, with grace divine, preside. + + BURNS. + + In all men sinful is it to be slow + To hope: in parents, sinful above all. + + WORDSWORTH. + + +In a few Sabbaths from this time we had a most interesting scene at our +church. + +Little Henry Ferguson Kelly was brought, and offered up in baptism by +his mother. We all felt deep respect for her as a woman of decided +character, and a devoted Christian. We saw that she wept much during the +service. The father was not there. She held the little boy upright on +her arm, and he turned his face over her shoulder, looking all about the +church, above and below. He then undertook to apply his little palm to +his mother's cheek, with several decided strokes, to rouse her usual +attention, which he seemed to miss. She took his hand in hers, and held +it, and he then rested his cheek, and his chin, alternately, upon her +shoulder. + +A sweet little girl, two months old, was also brought by a young couple +to be baptized. Few things are more interesting than the sight of a +young couple, with their first-born child, standing before God. A world +of thought and feeling passes through their minds in those hallowed +moments. Not much more than a year had gone since they stood before God +to take the vows of marriage from those same lips, perhaps, which now +lead their devotions, and bless them out of the house of the Lord. The +little child is an offering which gathers about itself more of rich joy +and gratitude, recollection, present bliss, and anticipation, than any +gift of God; it is itself an ordinance, a little rite, a sign and seal +of covenants and love to which earth has no parallel. The light of +nature almost teaches us the propriety of infant dedication, in the use +of the prevailing religious rite. The only wise God manifested his +goodness and wisdom, in establishing his covenant with the children of +those who love him, as really as in creating a companion for Adam. + +There were other sights, on this baptismal occasion, besides Henry +Ferguson and his mother, and the young couple with their child. + +A woman, in the habiliments of the deepest mourning, went up the aisle, +leading with her finger a little boy between two and three years old, +followed by a noble son of fifteen, and his sister of twelve. Our +pastor's rule, as to the limit of age within which children may be +admitted to baptism, is this: So long as a parent, or guardian, or next +friend, has the immediate tutelage of a child, so as to direct its +instruction and government, and thus continues to exercise parental +authority, he may properly offer the child for baptism; and therefore, +as children differ as to degrees of maturity within the same ages, no +express boundary of time can be prescribed to limit those baptisms which +are by the faith of another. + +The father of these three children had been lost at sea on a whaling +voyage. The seaman's chest had come home, and so the last star of hope +as to his return had set. The mother had become a Christian; she felt +the need of a covenant-keeping God for her children. There she stood, a +sorrow-stricken woman, and her household with her, to receive for them +the sign of the covenant from the God of Abraham. + +There was another sight in that group: A man and woman, honest, good +people, in humble circumstances, had had bequeathed to them, by a +widowed sister of his, who was not a professor of religion, a +feeble-minded youth of about ten years; and this uncle and aunt had +adopted him as their child. They also came, the husband leading the boy +along, with his arm over the boy's shoulder to encourage his hesitating +steps, and the wife behind them. He was a member of a Sabbath-school +class; by no means an idiot, yet deficient in some respects. He was +entrusted with affairs about a farm which did not require much +responsibility. + +Little Henry Ferguson began to coo and crow, as they came successively +and stood, in a half-circle, round the table with the silver basin upon +it. The feeble-minded youth was mostly occupied with the actions of +Henry, who, on seeing his face covered with uncontrollable expressions +of interest in him, began to reach after him, and respond to his pleased +looks; nor did he cease his efforts to go to him, till he felt the +minister's hand upon his forehead from behind, when he turned his large, +beautiful eyes into the face of the minister, with silent wonder at +being apparently spoken to with so unusual a manner and tone. A hush +went through the congregation. + +The young couple next presented their little Alice, and gave place to +the widow's household. Was there a dry eye in the house? Signs of +weeping came from all sides. Mortimer was led by his arm in his mother's +hand, and was baptized. Sarah loosened her straw bonnet, and let it fall +back from her head, to receive the simple rite; when the widow lifted +the little boy, who had never known a father's love, and the pastor, +after waiting a moment to control his emotions sealed him in the name of +our redeeming God. + +After an involuntary pause for a few moments, owing to the deep emotion +in the congregation, poor Josey was led forward. Minister and +congregation seemed to make but slight impression upon him; Henry +Ferguson was the charm throughout; he even turned his head, while the +minister's hand was on it, to smile at the child. The promise was not +only to those believing parents, all of them, and to their own children, +but to him that was afar off; his new parents having availed themselves +of the large covenant of grace, to invoke its promised blessings upon +him, on the ground of their faith. "May these parents," said the pastor +in his prayer, "remember, in all times of solicitude and trouble with +this dear dependent child, that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, in whose +name he is baptized, can have access to his mind, 'making wise the +simple;' and may that blessed Spirit make him his care." + +Part of the time, while the hymn following the baptism was read and +sung, I found myself pursuing some thoughts which the interesting scene +just witnessed had suggested. + +Why, I asked myself, could not these parents have been satisfied with +dedicating these children at home, without this public and special act +of consecration? + +I was at no loss for an answer. The same reason applies as when one +seeks admission to the church of Christ, by a public profession of +religion, either by appearing before a congregation and assenting to a +covenant, or to be confirmed, or to be immersed in water. Offering a +child in baptism is making a public profession of religion with regard +to it. Some say to us, What need is there of joining a church? Why may I +not be a Christian by myself? We know what we say, in reply to such +questions. We are aware how much the public act helps the private +feelings and conduct, besides being required by our feelings when they +are deep and strong. I thought of this illustration: In the wakeful +moments of the night, upon a lonely bed, one feels a special nearness to +God. He can think of God, as he lies upon his pillow, both with prayer +and meditation; but suppose that he rises from his bed and kneels at the +bedside, and, with oral prayer, prevents the night-watches, and cries? +His voice at that midnight hour affects his mind; the darkness and +stillness impress him with a sense of the presence of God, and though +his ejaculations on his pillow were acceptable, has he not probably done +that which, through Christ, is peculiarly acceptable to God, and is +profitable to himself as his child? He who was always in communion with +the Father, the man Christ Jesus, nevertheless, sometimes withdrew into +a mountain, and continued all night in prayer, and, rising up a great +while before day, he went into a solitary place, and there prayed. These +special acts of worship, no true Christian needs to be told, are good +and acceptable to God, and profitable for men. We do not refrain from +them, pleading that they are nowhere commanded in the New Testament, or, +that, so long as we pray at stated times, or strive to live in a praying +frame, these special devotions are superfluous. So, while it is our duty +and privilege to dedicate our children to God in private, it is +acceptable to him, and profitable to us, if we take them, and bring an +offering, and come into his courts. + +The baptism of the feeble-minded youth furnished me with an illustration +of the suitableness of parents and guardians doing for children, in +religion, that which they are constantly doing for them in common +things, that is, conferring privileges and blessings upon them without +their consent. There seemed to be such an illustration of the riches of +free grace, in the baptism of this poor child, such a comment on that +passage, "I am found of them that sought me not," it corresponded so +much with the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man, that we +all felt instructed and softened by it, and, at the same time, we all +had feelings toward that helpless boy, such as we, perhaps, never could +have had but for his baptism. Never will a member of that witnessing +congregation see him, without a feeling of tenderness and something +bordering on respect; he will not be merely "Silly Joe" to them; that +element of truth in the heathen superstition, which leads heathens and +pagans to regard an idiot as something sacred, will have its +verification with regard to him; the children of that assembly will be +restrained from rudeness and cruelty, in their sports with him, by that +transaction, while the prayers offered for him at the time, and the many +ejaculations which the sight of him will occasion in the hearts of good +people, will make his baptism one of his richest blessings. O, what a +loss it is to have a child baptized at home, or anywhere and at any +time except among the public services of the Sabbath in the sanctuary of +God! Necessity, indeed, controls our choice, many times, in this thing; +and we are accepted of God irrespective of time and place, in yielding +to his providence. + +Since my mind has been deeply interested in this subject, leading me to +converse with parents and with ministers, and to make observation with +regard to it, I have seen and heard many things relating to the +providences of God, in connection with the baptism of children, which, +while we ought to be slow in confidently interpreting providences, make +us do as Mary is said to have done, in regard to things relating to her +child,--she "kept these things and pondered them in her heart." We +cannot say, for example, that the death of that little girl, whose +father refused to let his wife enjoy the privilege of going, alone, with +the child, to the house of God for baptism, or to invite the pastor to +his house for the purpose, was a judicial consequence of his conduct; +but we know that his own thoughts trouble him, and that he has a sorrow +bound upon his heart, which he will carry with him to his grave. + +Neither is it certain that the little one, who was raised to life from +a sickness which baffled the physicians, was spared to her pious mother +for her Christian behavior, in taking it, a few months before, to the +house of God, and offering it in baptism, with no help from her husband, +but with many sad thoughts that the father of the child--he on whose arm +she and the child needed to rest--refused her gentle and affectionate +pleadings with him, to support and cherish her at an hour so precious to +her heart. Nor will we say that the kind and obliging husband, not a +professor of religion, who served his wife so manfully, and with such a +cheerful spirit, on such an occasion, would not have acquired, in other +ways, the respect and love of the people, or that he could trace to it, +absolutely, great prosperity in business, through the assistance of +prominent members in that church. Sure we are that no such motive +influenced him; but it is equally true that we cannot link ourselves to +God's service, nor to his friends, in any way, without receiving his +blessing. "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good." "Blessed is he +that blesseth thee." In the eyes of estimable people, and of all whose +good opinion and best wishes are most desirable, the man who overcomes +any little pride, or sensitiveness, or fear of man, and goes with his +pious wife and child to the house of God, and offers the child, for her, +to be baptized, is more of a man than before, gains reputation for some +desirable qualities, excites respect for self-reliance, the quiet +performance of a duty from which certain feelings might lead him to +shrink, and in the increased love and esteem of others, to say no more, +he has his reward. + +God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise +his child. His wife was a Midianite; her associations with the ordinance +were not like those of Moses, and perhaps he had yielded too much to her +known feelings. At least, the child had not been circumcised, and we are +told, "The Lord met him in the inn, and sought to slay him." Some +accident there, or a sudden and alarming illness, made him feel that God +had a controversy with him. Zipporah was not slow to interpret the +providence. If Moses had said with himself, So long as I consecrate my +child to God by prayer, the seal of the covenant cannot be essential, +God taught him his mistake. As soon as the rite had been performed, we +read, "So he let him go." It may be noticed, here, that the unworthy +manner in which Zipporah performed the rite, did not make it invalid. +They who fear that their baptism was not solemnized, in all respects, as +it should have been, may draw instruction and comfort from this +narrative. + +There have been instances, within my knowledge, in which one or both of +the parents of a child have yielded to some untoward influences, and +have withheld the child from being baptized. While I cannot, and would +not, interpret certain events connected with this omission, on the part +of some from whom better things might have been expected, nothing has +ever impressed me more than the dealings of God with such parents. I +have been made to think by such coincidences, more than once or twice, +of Moses in the inn. It will not be amiss to say, that those who are +neglecting to bring their children for baptism, within a suitable time, +unless providentially hindered, will do well to examine their feelings +and motives, with that quickened conscience, which the solemn +providences of God toward them may be intended to excite. He is "a +jealous God;" and he keepeth covenant "to a thousand generations." + + + + +Chapter Sixth. + +TESTIMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS + +HOUSEHOLD BAPTISMS.--"PÆDOBAPTIST CONCESSIONS."--THOMAS SHEPARD'S VIEWS. +BAPTISM OF HIS CHILD. THE FATHER'S RECORD.--GREAT INFLUENCE OF THE +FAMILY RELATION IN HEATHENISM AND PAGANISM.--THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF +AMERICA.--DISSUASIVE FROM ALTERCATION.--QUESTIONS TO A MINISTER ON HIS +PRACTICE IN BAPTISMS.--LIBERALITY.--PAUL AN EXAMPLE. + + Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.--Ps. 90. + + The Lamb hath but one bride, the one church of all times.--ANON. + + That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power + of God.--THE APOSTLE PAUL. + + Schoolmen must war with schoolmen, text with text. + The first's the Chaldee paraphrase; the next + The Septuagint; opinion thwarts opinion; + The Papist holds the first, the last the Arminian; + And then the Councils must be called to advise, + What this of Lateran says, and that of Nice; + The slightly-studied fathers must be prayed, + Although in small acquaintance, into aid; + When, daring venture, oft, too far into 't, + They, Pharaoh like, are drowned, both horse and foot. + + FRANCIS QUARLES. + + +Being determined to possess myself of suitable information on the +subject of baptism as practised by the early Christian fathers, I +called the next evening to see my pastor, when the following +conversation took place: + +_Mr. M._ I wish, sir, to know the plain and simple truth about the +evidence from ecclesiastical history with regard to infant baptism. The +internal evidence, confirming the scriptural argument, fully satisfies +me, yet, as a matter of interesting information, I should like to know +how it was regarded in the age next to that of the apostles. You know we +often read, and hear it said, that infant baptism is an error which +crept into the Christian church about the third century. Now, did it +creep in; or did the apostles practise it? + +_Dr. D._ If infant baptism crept into the church, and if it be an +unauthorized innovation, one thing seems very strange, that, in this +Protestant age, when we are all so jealous of Romish and all human +inventions in matters of religion, the ablest and soundest men of all +Christian denominations but one, are firmly persuaded of its scriptural +authority, and are increasingly attached to it. In the great +reformations which have arisen from time to time, this practice would +have been swept away, had it been an error. It is more than we can +believe that Protestant denominations should all, with one exception, +adhere to an unscriptural practice, at the present day especially. + +_Mr. M._ Well, sir, leaving the scripturalness of the ordinance out of +question, what support does the practice get from church history? How +far back to the times of the apostles can we trace it? Did any practise +it who could have received it from the apostles, or have known those who +did? + +_Dr. D._ You must come with me into my study, and we will examine the +authorities. + +I will not burden your attention and memory with many citations. Two or +three indisputable witnesses are better than a host. I rely chiefly on +the testimony of ORIGEN for proof that the practice of infant baptism +was derived from the apostles, though I will show you that his testimony +is confirmed by other witnesses. + +ORIGEN was born in Alexandria, Egypt, A.D. 185, that is, about +eighty-five years after the death of the apostle John. To make his +nearness to the apostles clear to your mind, consider, that Roger +Williams, for example, established himself at Providence in 1636, say +two hundred and twenty years ago; yet how perfectly informed we are of +his opinions and history. But Origen, born eighty-five years only after +the death of John, knew, of course, the established practices of the +apostles, which had come down through so short a space of time. "His +grandfather, if not his father, must have lived in the apostles' day. It +was not, therefore, necessary for him to go out of his own family, to +learn what was the practice of the apostles. He knew whether he had +himself been baptized, if we may judge from his writings, and he must +have known the views of his father and grandfather on the subject. He +had the reputation of great learning, had travelled extensively, had +lived in Greece, Rome, Cappadocia, and Arabia, though he spent the +principal part of his life in Syria and Palestine." + +I would place implicit reliance on the testimony of such a man, under +such circumstances, to any question of history with which he professed +to be familiar, even if I differed from him in matters of opinion. But +such a man would not state, for veritable history, that which the world +knew to be false. + +Now, what is Origen's testimony as to the fact, simply, of the +apostolic usage with regard to infant baptism? + +In his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Book v., he says: + +"For this cause it was that the church received an order from the +apostles to give baptism even to infants." + +In his homily on Lev. 12, he says: + +"According to the usage of the church, baptism is given even to infants, +when, if there were nothing in infants that needed forgiveness and +mercy, the grace of baptism would seem to be superfluous." + +In his homily on Luke 14, he says: + +"Infants are baptized for the forgiveness of sins." + +It was the practice, then, in Origen's day, to baptize infants. He tells +the people of his day, to whom he preaches and writes, why it was that +the church had received a command from the apostles to baptize them, not +proving to them the fact of history, but, taking that as well known, +explaining the theological reason for it, as he understood it. + +It is now 1857. Eighty-five years ago, the length of time after the +apostles to the birth of this man, brings us back to 1772. There is good +Dr. Sales, who was born in 1770. Suppose that he should say that +steamboats came from England at the time that the Hudson river was +discovered, and that they had plied there ever since? + +No man in his right mind (not to say a scholar like Origen), however +singular his opinions, would assert, for veritable history, that which +was as palpably false as such a fiction respecting steamboat navigation +upon the Hudson would be. Yet Origen asserts that the practice of infant +baptism was received directly from the apostles. Everybody could +contradict him if he were in error. + +_Mr. M._ But we know that he was in error in saying that forgiveness of +sins was a consequence of baptism. + +_Dr. D._ Very well. The erroneous opinions, or practices, of men, with +regard to the shape of the earth, did not prove that there was no earth +in their day. On the contrary, their theories and speculations are +proof, if any were needed, that the earth then existed, surely. A man +who boldly advocates a theory, fears to assert for fact that which all +the world knows to be false. + +_Mr. M._ If infant baptism were then practised, and had been received +from the apostles, why should Origen assert it in his books, and in +preaching, since everybody must have known it sufficiently. Does not +this prove that it was not generally believed? + +_Dr. D._ Why, my dear sir, am I not every Sabbath telling how that +Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures? People do not need +to be informed of it as a truth of history, but they need to be reminded +of it, and to be exhorted in view of it. So of every doctrine, and +everything connected with religion. We tell the plainest, the most +familiar, truths to our church-members, continually; and the common +repetition of those truths is, rather, a proof of their general +acceptation than otherwise. + +_Mr. M._ In a court of justice, such testimony as that of Origen would +certainly be conclusive, in the case of a patent-right, or maritime +discovery. But you said that there were other testimonies of equal +weight. + +_Dr. D._ TERTULLIAN was born at Carthage, not far from A.D. 150, that +is, about fifty years after the apostles. He wrote, therefore, within a +hundred years of the apostle John. But he was a man of peculiar views, +extravagant in his opinions, an enthusiast in everything. He proves that +the practice of infant baptism was established, by arguing against the +expediency of baptizing children, and unmarried persons, lest they +should sin after baptism. His argument, with respect to both these +classes of persons, is the same. His language is, "If any understand the +weight of baptismal obligations, they will be more fearful about taking +them than of delay." He argued that baptism should be deferred till +people were in a condition to resist temptation. These are his words: + +"Therefore, according to every person's condition, and disposition, and +age, also, the delay of baptism is more profitable, especially as to +little children. For why is it necessary that the sponsors should incur +danger? For they may either fail of their promises by death, or may be +disappointed by a child's proving to be of a wicked disposition. Our +Lord says, indeed, 'Forbid them not to come to me.' Let them come, then, +when they are grown up; let them come when they understand; let them +come when they are taught whither they come; let them become Christians +when they are able to know Christ. Why should their innocent age make +haste to the forgiveness of sins? Men act more cautiously in temporal +concerns. Worldly substance is not committed to those to whom divine +things are entrusted. Let them know how to ask for salvation, that you +may seem to give to him that asketh. + +"It is for a reason no less important that unmarried persons, both those +who were never married, and those who have been deprived of their +partners, should, on account of their exposure to temptation, be kept +waiting," &c. + +As these extracts prove that the institution of marriage existed in +Tertullian's day, so they prove the existence then of infant baptism. +Nothing can be more conclusive. How pertinent and useful to his object +would it have been, could he have assailed the practice of infant +baptism as a human invention! He would not have failed to use that line +of attack, had it been possible. Now, as certain articles in the +newspapers, in a distant part of the country, remonstrating against the +street-railroads, for example, prove that street-railroads exist there, +so does Tertullian's argument against infant baptism prove that it was +practised within one hundred years after the apostles. + +_Mr. M._ Is not this stronger, if anything, than Origen's testimony, +being so much nearer the apostolic age? + +_Dr. D._ For that reason it may have more weight; but Origen's +testimony, being direct and positive, is most easily quoted. He was near +enough to the apostolic age for all the purposes of credible testimony. + +There is another historical testimony, if you wish to hear of more, +which has great weight. + +THE COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, one hundred and fifty years after the apostles, +and composed of sixty-six pastors, has given us full testimony on the +subject. A country presbyter, by the name of Fidus, had sent two cases +for their adjudication. One was, "Whether an infant might be baptized +before it was eight days old?" Here is the answer: + +CYPRIAN, and the rest of the presbyters who were present in the council, +sixty-six in number, to Fidus our brother, Greeting: + +"---- As to the case of Infants: whereas you judge that they must not be +baptized within two or three days after they were born, and that the +rule of circumcision is to be observed,--we are all in the Council of a +very different opinion." "This, therefore, was our opinion in the +Council, that we ought not to hinder any person from baptism, and the +grace of God. And this rule, as it holds for all, is, we think, more +especially to be observed in reference to infants, even to those who are +newly born." + +This was written, within a hundred and fifty years from the time of the +apostles, by sixty-six ministers of Christ, some of whom, we may +suppose, must have had grace enough to show a martyr-spirit in resisting +so gross an invention as the baptizing of infants would have been, if +apostolic example had restricted baptism to those who were capable of +faith. Did Paul reprove an abuse of the Lord's Supper, among the +Corinthians, and would he not have given an injunction against so Jewish +a superstition as the baptizing of children in place of the antiquated +circumcision would have been, if it were not commanded, had the churches +in his day seemed inclined to practise it? + +_Mr. M._ All these things amount to a demonstration, in my view. + +_Dr. D._ You would like to hear something from AUGUSTINE, whose +"Confessions" you have read with so much interest. + +In his writings, on Genesis, Augustine says, about two hundred and +eighty-eight years after the apostles, "The custom of our mother, the +church, in baptizing infants, must not be disregarded nor accounted +useless, and it must by all means be believed to be (apostolica +traditio) a thing handed down to us by the apostles." "It is most justly +believed to be no other than a thing delivered by apostolic authority; +that it came not by a general council, or by any authority later or less +than that of the apostles." He also speaks of baptizing infants by the +authority of the whole church, which, he says, was undoubtedly delivered +to it by our Lord and his apostles. + +Augustine was a man of distinguished piety and learning, whose testimony +is every way worthy of implicit confidence. But, connected with his +history, we have another substantial evidence with regard to the +subject. He conducted a famous controversy against the Pelagians, who +denied original sin. They were confronted with the argument from infant +baptism. "Why," it was said, "are infants baptized, if they need no +change of nature?" It would have been a triumphant answer could they +have shown that it was an unscriptural practice, not countenanced by +Christ or the apostles. But Pelagius said, "Men slander me as though I +denied baptism to infants, whereas I never heard of any one, Catholic or +heretic, who denied baptism to infants." Pelagius and his friend +Celestius, who was with him in the controversy, were born, the one in +Britain, the other in Ireland. They lived for some years in Rome, where +they knew people from all parts of the world. They had also lived in +Carthage, Africa. One finally settled in Jerusalem, and the other +travelled among all the churches in the principal places of Europe and +Asia. But they had never heard of the man, not even a heretic, who had +denied infant baptism. + +Here is another interesting proof. Irenæus, Philastrius, Augustine, +Epiphanius, Theodoret, wrote catalogues of all the sects of Christians +which they had ever heard of; but, while they make mention of some who +denied baptism altogether, and with it, according to Augustine, a great +part of scripture, they mention no denial of infant baptism by any sect +whatever. + +_Mr. M._ I suppose, then, that the only way of disposing of this +argument is by rejecting all testimony except that of the New Testament. +Some say they can prove anything from the fathers; so they insist that +the Bible alone must be our guide. + +_Dr. D._ They are right in making that the only and sufficient rule of +faith and practice. But how do these good people and the rest of us know +that the books of the Old Testament, as we have them, were the very +books to which Christ and the apostles referred as the word of God? If +infidels refuse to receive the Bible, saying, 'There is no proof that +these are the identical books known to Christ, and quoted by him and the +apostles,' What shall we say? The Bible itself gives us no specific +direction how to prove its genuineness. It is interesting to observe +that we go to uninspired men to prove that we really have the Bible as +Christ and the apostles sanctioned it. We go to Josephus, neither +inspired nor even a Christian; to the Talmud, to Jerome, Origen, Aquila, +and other uninspired men, to find a list of the books which we are to +receive as given by the inspiration of God. And, as to the New +Testament, we go to Eusebius and other uninspired writers, and find that +the Christians of their days regarded these books as of divine +authority. It is on such evidence as this that we rely for the authority +of those sacred writings, which tell us what are the doctrines, +precepts, and rites, of religion. Now, we see from this that uninspired +testimony to divine things has its use. It is neither wise, nor any +proof of intelligence, to refuse a proper place to such testimony. We do +not ask Josephus nor Eusebius how to interpret these books for us, nor +does their erroneous opinion with regard to matters of faith disparage +their testimony as to the existence and authenticity of the sacred +canon. Neither can we properly say, "The early Christian fathers had +wrong notions, some of them, about infant baptism; therefore they cannot +be allowed to testify whether infant baptism was practised." However +heretical they may have been, they could not alter the well-known facts +of history, in the face of enemies and friends. + +_Mr. M._ Are you not accustomed to rely much, in your scriptural +argument for infant baptism, on the baptisms of households by the +apostles? + +_Dr. D._ I am; and that reminds me of an interesting passage, which I +will read to you from this book:[4] + +[Footnote 4: Taylor on Baptism.] + +"Have we eight instances of the administration of the Lord's Supper? Not +half the number. Have we eight cases of the change of the Christian +Sabbath from the Jewish? Not, perhaps, one fourth of the number. Yet +those services are vindicated by the practice of the apostles, as +recorded in the New Testament. How, then, can we deny their practice on +the subject of infant baptism, when it is established by a series of +more numerous instances than can possibly be found in support of any +doctrine, principle, or practice, derived from the practice of the +apostles?" + +But you will ask him (said Dr. D.), how he proves that there were +infants or young children in the households baptized by the apostles. + +This is his answer: + +"Is there any other case besides that of baptism, where we would take +families at hazard, and deny the existence of young children in them? + +"Take eight families in a street, or eight pews containing families in +a place of worship; they will afford more than one young child." + +_Mr. M._ How does he make out eight cases of household baptism by the +apostles? + +_Dr. D._ Let us examine his list: + +1. Cornelius. + +2. Lydia. + +3. The jailer at Philippi. "Thus the church at Philippi, just organized +by the apostles, and consisting of but few members, offers two instances +of household baptism." + +4. Crispus. "Compare Acts 18: 8, and 1 Cor. 1:14--16, by which it +appears that this Crispus was baptized by Paul separately from his +family, which was not baptized by Paul. Yet Crispus 'believed on the +Lord with all his house.' If his house believed, it was baptized. It +was, then, a baptized household. But if we believe that the family of +Crispus was baptized because we find it registered as believing, then we +must admit the same of all other families which we find marked as +Christians, though they be not expressly marked as baptized." He is not +proving, here, you notice, that there were children in any of these +households; he thinks he proves that elsewhere, by the doctrine of +chances. He is now showing the grounds for supposing that certain +"households" were baptized. He applies his argument respecting Crispus +to + +5. Aristobulus's household. + +6. Onesiphorus's household. + +7. Narcissus's household. + +8. Stephanas's household. This household was baptized by Paul separately +from its head, who was not baptized by Paul; this case being just the +reverse of that of Crispus. + +"Eight Christian families, and therefore baptized." Now comes the +question of probability as to there being children in those households +not capable of faith. + +Begin anywhere, in any congregation, on the Sabbath, and count eight +pews, the proprietors and occupants of which are the heads of families; +and the chance of there being no minor children in them is almost too +small to be appreciated. Should we read, in a secular paper, that a +foreign missionary had baptized eight households in a pagan village, the +general belief would be that it was a missionary of some Pædobaptist +denomination, and that children were baptized in those families. + +I must read to you (said Dr. D.) something on the other side of this +argument. I found the following, not long since, in a deservedly popular +and useful Dictionary and Repository, written and signed by a gentleman +of excellent character and standing. He says: + +"Infant baptism was probably introduced about the commencement of the +third century, in connection with other corruptions, which even then +began to prepare the way for Popery. A superstitious idea, respecting +the necessity of baptism to salvation, led to the baptism of sick +persons, and, finally, to the baptism of infants. Sponsors, holy water, +anointing with oil, the sign of the cross, and a multitude of similar +ceremonies, equally unauthorized by the Scriptures, were soon +introduced. The church lost her simplicity and purity, her ministers +became ambitious, and the darkness gradually deepened to the long and +dismal night of papal despotism." + +"Probably introduced about the commencement of the third century, in +connection with other corruptions." Recall what I read to you from +Origen, born A.D. 185; from Tertullian, who flourished within one +hundred years after the apostles; from Cyprian and the Council of +Carthage; from Augustine and his antagonist, Pelagius, who expressly +said that he had never heard of any one, not even the most impious +heretic, denying baptism to infants. + +In contrast with such a passage as the one just read to you, I am +reminded of the host of writers, on our side of the question, who, +almost all of them, make such candid and full concessions, that they +furnish their brethren of the opposite side with many of their arguments +against us. I remember reading a book of "Pædobaptist Concessions," +containing a formidable array of points yielded by our writers, so that +a common reader might ask, What have you left as the ground of your +belief and practice? But the thought which arose in my mind was, +Notwithstanding all these concessions, they who make them are among the +firmest believers in baptism by sprinkling, and in infant baptism. That +cause must be affluent in proofs, and deeply rooted in the scriptural +convictions of men, which can afford to make such concessions to its +antagonists. These refuse facts, which we afford to others for so large +a part of their foundation, show how broad and sufficient ours must be. + +The quotation which I read to you, speaks of Popish tendencies as having +already begun. This is true; and more may be added. In the second +epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul tells us that the mystery of iniquity +was already at work. On the subject of religious days and festivals, the +first Christians very soon began to be superstitious, incorporating +heathen festival days into Christian observances, under the plea of +redeeming and sanctifying them, with some such feelings and reasoning as +that with which people, now, would transfer secular music to +sanctuaries, saying that the enemy ought not to have all the best music. +It is true that this sensuous, and, afterward called, Romish, tendency, +corrupted everything. The pure stream of apostolic doctrine and practice +was like the Moselle, which you saw from the fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein, pursuing its unmingled course distinctly for some +distance in the turbid Rhine, till at last it yields to the general +current. Infant baptism, as we learn from ecclesiastical authorities +with one consent, proceeded from the apostles; yet soon it began to be +practised with many superstitious absurdities; and, moreover, +immersion, making such powerful appeals to the senses, suited the taste +of the age far better than sprinkling, so that not only did it become +the common mode, but the subjects were completely undressed, without any +distinction, to denote the putting off the old man and the putting on of +the new, and the putting away of the filth of the flesh.[5] Public +sentiment finally abolished this practice. After a considerable time +affusion, or sprinkling, returned, and became the prevailing mode, +without any special enactment, or any formal renunciation of the late +mode. The Eastern church, however, retained immersion, while the Greek +and Armenian branches use both immersion and sprinkling for the adult +and child. But the sick and dying were always baptized by sprinkling, +which is sufficient to prove that sprinkling was regarded as equally +valid with immersion. It is natural to say that it was superstitious to +baptize the sick and dying, by sprinkling, if we hold that only +immersion is valid baptism. The sick and dying cannot be immersed; now, +is it superstition for a sick person, giving credible evidence of piety, +to be admitted into the Christian church, and receive the Lord's Supper? +In order to do this properly, the subject must be baptized; hence, we +derive one powerful argument that sprinkling is valid baptism. Our Lord +would never have made the modes of his sacraments so austerely rigid, +that the thousands of sick and feeble persons, ministers in poor health, +climate, seasons of the year, times of persecution and imprisonment, and +all the stress of circumstances to which Christians may be subjected, +should be utterly disregarded, and one inconvenient, and sometimes +dangerous, form, of applying water, be insisted on, inflexibly, as +essential to the introductory Christian rite. If the early Christians +baptized the sick by sprinkling, they of course supposed that it was +valid baptism. If it was valid at all, and in any case, of course it was +Christian baptism, even if other modes were most commonly used. + +[Footnote 5: See "Coleman's Ancient Christianity," chap, xix., sec. 12. +He refers to Ambrose, Ser. 20. Chrysostom, Hom. 6. Epistle to Col., &c., +&c.] + +_Mr. M._ I suppose, then, that you would not object to administer +baptism in any other mode of applying water than sprinkling, or pouring. + +_Dr. D._ One mode was, I believe, practised at first; and the New +Testament teaches me that this was affusion. The application of water in +any way, by an authorized administrator, to a proper subject, in the +name of the Trinity, may be valid baptism; but I prefer the New +Testament mode, as I understand it, and am happy to allow others the +same liberty of judgment which I enjoy. It would be an extreme case +which would lead me to administer the ordinance in any other way than by +affusion. + +But, said Mr. D., you began by inquiring respecting the practice of +infant baptism in the early ages. I presume that your mind is settled +with regard to the connection of the practice with God's everlasting +covenant with believers and their offspring. I lately read a statement +of this point, which pleased me much, in the writings of the famous Rev. +Thomas Shepard, the early pastor of the church in Cambridge, +Massachusetts. He says: + +"There is the same inward cause moving God to take in the children of +believing parents into the church and covenant, now, to be of the number +of his people, as there was for taking the Jews and their children. For +the only reason why the Lord took in the children of the Jews with +themselves evidently was his love to the parents. 'Because he loved thy +fathers, therefore he chose their seed.' So that I do from hence +believe, that either God's love is, in these days of his Gospel, less +unto his people and servants than in the days of the Old Testament,--or, +if it be as great, that then the same love respects the seed of his +people now as then it did. And, therefore, if then because he loved them +he chose their seed to be of his church, so in these days because he +loveth us he chooseth our seed to be of his church also." + +Though the title of the treatise from which I read is called the +Church-Membership of Children, to which expression I have very great +objections, and feel that it has done harm, yet this good man held the +doctrine of infant church-membership in a sense which is free from all +reproach of making people members of the church otherwise than by +regeneration. His belief on this point comes out under the following +illustration: + +"These children may not be the sons of God and his people really and +savingly, but God will honor them outwardly with his name and +privileges, just as one that adopts a youngster tells the father that +if the child carry himself well toward him, when he is grown up to years +he shall possess the inheritance itself; but yet in the meanwhile he +shall have this favor, to be called his son, and be of the family and +household, and so be reckoned among the number of his sons." + +One of the chief reasons which brought this excellent man to New +England, was that he could not in Old England enjoy the ordinance of +infant baptism in its purity. Let me read the following, addressed by +him to his little son, who afterward became pastor of the church in +Lynn, Massachusetts, and was a burning and shining light. His words will +show you that he had no superstitious notion about the church-membership +of children, though he represented the common belief at that day, and +that he did not count baptism in infancy a saving ordinance; yet you +will see how he uses it to plead with his son to be reconciled to God. +He writes: + +"And thus, after about eleven weekes sayle from Old England, we came to +New England shore, where the mother fell sick of consumption, and you my +child was put to nurse to one goodwife Hopkins, who was very tender of +thee; and after we had been here diverse weekes, on the seventh of +February, or thereabout, God gave thee the ordinance of baptism, whereby +God is become thy God, and is beforehand with thee, that whenever you +shall return to God he will undoubtedly receive thee; and this is a most +high and happy privilege; and therefore blesse God for it. And now, +after this had been done, thy deare mother dyed in the Lord, departing +out of this world into another, who did lose her life by being careful +to preserve thine; for in the ship thou wert so feeble and froward, both +in the day and night, that hereby shee lost her strength, and at last +her life. Shee hath made also many a prayer and shed many a tear in +secret for thee; and this hath bin oft her request, that if the Lord did +not intend to glorify himselfe by thee, that he would cut thee off by +death rather than to live to dishonor him by sin; and therefore know it +that if you shalt turn rebell agaynst God, and forsake God and care not +for the knowledge of him, nor to beleeve in his Son, the Lord will make +all these mercys woes, and all thy mother's prayers, teares, and death, +to be a swift witness agaynst thee at the great day." + +The practice of infant baptism, and a belief in what is called the +church-membership of children, surely had no injurious effect upon a +parent who could speak thus to his child. Yet Shepard took as high +ground as any with regard to this subject. He derived appeals from +baptism to his child, which were both encouraging and admonitory in the +highest degree. + +O, said Dr. D., what a people the descendants of Abraham might have been +forever, had they kept that covenant of which circumcision was the seal. +Had they remembered only this, and had they adhered to it, "I will be a +God to thee and to thy seed after thee," and had they been a +covenant-keeping people, their peace, as God says to them, would have +been as a river; an endless, inexhaustible tide of prosperity and +blessedness. + +And now, if Christian parents will but lay hold on that covenant as they +may, that Abrahamic covenant, still in force for them who are Christ's, +and so Abraham's, seed, and heirs according to the promise, we should +soon see, in family religion, in the early conversion of children, and +in their large Christian culture, those promises of God fulfilled which +have respect to the great increase, chiefly by this means, of his +church in the latter days. This is one thing which makes me love and +prize infant baptism so much; its being an expression and exponent of +parental love, faithfulness, and zeal, in those with whom it is preceded +and followed by the entire consecration of their children to God, their +feelings and conduct toward them agreeing with the covenant made for +them with God. + +But, in saying this, let me guard you against the erroneous notion that +infant baptism is primarily a parent's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward God. No, it is God's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward the children of believers. That is the chief thing which +gives it value. For, it is not because parents love their children, that +God commands that they be offered in baptism; but because God loves +them, and has promised to be a God to them, as he is to their parents. +People, however, sometimes treat the ordinance as though it were their +act toward God, and not primarily his act toward them. They, therefore, +are liable to use it with far less effect than if they were receiving in +it, and by it, God's own transaction with them and the little child. + +_Mr. M._ In thinking of Pagan and Mohammedan nations, lately, at the +Concert of Prayer for Foreign Missions, I was struck with this thought, +how error has been transmitted from father to child, and what an awful +power for evil lies in transmitted family influence, when it is +corrupted. This led me to think whether God did not have this in mind +when, in establishing his church in Abraham, he connected children with +parents in his covenant, and gave a sign and seal to be affixed to their +children as a constant admonition to parental faithfulness. All his +former dealings with the world seem to have failed, because of its great +wickedness,--fire, plagues, good examples, great riches, and power +conferred upon the good; and then he added, as a special means, the +family constitution, and by it he secured a seed to serve him to an +extent sufficient to keep the world from extinction, and to be the +repository and source of divine knowledge. I began to think that, if we +would keep religion from dying out, we must fall in with God's great +plan; for Satan makes use of it, and holds generation after generation +in bondage by means of the family constitution. So I set myself at work +to find out ways by which we might promote family religion; and I could +find no better plan than the old one, of promoting scriptural and +spiritual views of the dedication of children. Then I thought how much +discredit has been cast upon that ordinance, which is intended to be the +great sign and declaration of parental piety and faithfulness; and that +family religion had, proportionably, declined, with the indifference of +Christians to this powerful means of promoting the eminent zeal and +efforts of parents in behalf of their children's spiritual good. Youths +of fifteen to twenty-one years of age are, in a large proportion, the +causes of prevailing wickedness,--Sabbath-breaking, profaneness, and +other things. They need just what the ordinance of baptism, properly +observed and fully carried out by covenanting parents, would do for +them. But, in being present at the formation of new churches, I have +mourned to see that, instead of declaring infant baptism to be the duty +of believers, as was formerly done in our older churches, a compromise +with modern lax views is made, by merely permitting infant baptism, +saying, in the confession of faith, that, "Baptism is the privilege only +of believers and their children." + +But the idea of getting up a zeal in favor of infant baptism, or a +public sentiment in the churches which should enforce it as a duty, +seemed to me unprofitable; but it occurred to me, whether something +could not be done to interest Christian parents in the subject, by +showing them the infinite privilege of having God for their God, and the +God of their seed, and then the naturalness and propriety of using an +ordinance to express and to assist it. People need instruction on the +subject; instruction which will commend itself to their Christian +feelings. We cannot legislate them into a spiritual observance of the +Lord's Supper, much less of baptism. + +_Dr. D._ No; and I trust that our denominations who practise infant +baptism, will never urge it otherwise than in connection with parental +piety, and as a helper of parental obligations. + +_Mr. M._ But ought we not to stir ourselves up with regard to parental +duties? and, if so, must we not necessarily insist on the dedication of +children to God, and upon baptism as the acceptable way of signifying +it, and the powerful means of helping us to perform our duties? + +_Dr. D._ Surely we ought; and in doing it we have the satisfaction to +know that we are laboring for something more than to establish a mode +of applying an ordinance. In urging the baptism of children, if we do it +not for the sake of the ordinance, but for the things which it signifies +and promotes, we advance the cause of piety in the parents. + +_Mr. M._ Would that some one would blow a trumpet in the churches on +this subject. I do feel that if parents would appreciate the influence +of such a state of heart as would lead them to offer their children to +God in baptism, as an expression of their previous and subsequent views +and feelings toward their children, we should see a new state of things +in the rising generation. How striking it is that the Old Testament +closes with such a passage as that last verse of Malachi. It is the +promontory of the Old Testament, looking across the coming ages, +yearning toward the new dispensation, and, as it were, making signals, +concerning the forerunner of that new era, with those words: "And he +shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of +the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a +curse." May we not conclude that this is God's most acceptable way of +effecting the revival of religion from one period to another? + +_Dr. D._ I have no doubt of it. + +_Mr. M._ I spoke to our good Deacon Goodenow about it, lately; but he +said he had a great horror of a controversy about baptism, and he was +afraid that, to say much upon this subject, would involve us in one. I +told him that I would not be for reflecting upon other denominations; +that my motto, with regard to them and us, is, "Live, and let live." I +would only appeal to our own people, and encourage them to take up the +subject afresh, in a spiritual manner; that is, to dwell upon the +privilege and duty of being in covenant relations, with our children, to +God, baptism being the ordinance of ratification, and its memorial. + +_Dr. D._ Your reference to controversy about baptism makes me think of +one which I listened to in a rail-road station, last winter, while +waiting in a snow-storm, several hours, for the cars. Two students of +divinity, as I took them to be, were discussing their respective tenets +with regard to baptism. I was reading a book, but could not help hearing +what they said. One was decrying infant baptism as a "rag of Popery," +"the last relic of Rome in Protestantism," "a device of Satan to fill +up the church with unconverted members," and much more to that effect. + +His friend, in reply, undertook to give his impressions of immersion. He +spoke of India-rubber bathing-dresses;--a tank in which he saw two or +three men and as many women, one of them a young lady, immersed, to his +apparent disgust;--of Elder some one breaking the ice at some cape on +New Year's Sabbath, and immersing several carriages full of females, who +went back dripping wet, to the carriages, and rode an eighth of a mile +to the vestry;--of several females immersed, in a southern State, going +into a creek with white garments, and with white fillets about their +heads, and coming out yellow; and he asked his fellow whether infant +baptism could be any worse than such things. + +_Mr. M._ What did his friend say? + +_Dr. D._ O, it was the common talk on both sides, painful and revolting. +I could not help saying to them, as the cars were coming up, and we were +parting, "But, if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be +not consumed one of another." + +_Mr. M._ They probably left each other as little convinced of the +opposite opinions, respectively, as when they began. + +_Dr. D._ More confirmed and set against each other's views, I have no +question. There has been far too much of this. Ridicule and sarcasm are +Satan's favorite weapons. Good people ought not to use them against each +other, whatever be the temptation. Perhaps, as human nature chooses +variety, and we are differently affected by different presentations of +truth, men must be divided into sects; but intolerance, bigotry, +exclusiveness, in us or in others, cannot stand before the spirit of the +age. We may work better, divided into denominations, forbearing with one +another, and loving one another in Christ, and for his sake. + +_Mr. M._ Are you often called upon by persons who are troubled on the +subject of baptism? + +_Dr. D._ I do not spend much time in discussing the mode. When a young +person is troubled on the subject, I am always careful, first of all, to +find out whether there is any secret bias, for any reason, toward +another denomination; in which case, I pause at once; for you might +argue forever in vain. There is iron on board the ship, which controls +the needle in the compass. I always make it easy and pleasant for such +to follow their evident inclination and wishes. + +_Mr. M._ Are they generally ready to go? + +_Dr. D._ No, they say they do not like strict communion; but I cannot +help them. I will not be a sectarian, even for infant baptism. + +_Mr. M._ Are you in favor of admitting people to our church who do not +believe in infant baptism? + +_Dr. D._ Young people, who say that their minds are not made up on the +subject, or those who have not had their attention directed to it, +cannot be required to signify their cordial assent to it; but it is +enough if they are not opposed. In the case of parents who steadfastly +decline to practise infant baptism, after waiting a proper time to +instruct them, I advise them to join another denomination more in +accordance with their views. We do better to be apart, and it is no +reflection upon either side to say this. A Pædobaptist church ought to +maintain its principles by requiring assent to its standard of faith; +yet, where there is no church of a different denomination, within +convenient distance, I surely would not exclude a child of God from the +Lord's Supper for differences of opinion and practice about baptism. I +would admit, by special vote, to occasional, or even to stated +communion, in such a case. + +_Mr. M._ Do you ever re-baptize? + +_Dr. D._ Where a person was baptized with water, in the name of the +Trinity, by an authorized person, of any denomination, I would not +re-baptize. The alleged heterodox or immoral character of the +administrator, at the time of baptism, does not invalidate it; +otherwise, one might be baptized many times, and, the administrators +proving unworthy, the subject could never get baptized. Christ would +never let his ordinances depend thus upon uncertainties. Let a person +but recognize his baptism, if performed in infancy, by entering publicly +into covenant with God, and that will be sufficient. I endeavor to show +people how wrong it is to lay undue stress on the ordinance, forgetting +whether they have that which is signified by it, and which alone gives +it value. + +_Mr. M._ True, sir, but it has its importance, and stress is to be laid +upon the due observance of it. + +_Dr. D._ I mean that where I find the conditions of valid baptism +complied with, I try to turn away the thoughts from any superstitious or +ceremonial dependence upon the sacramental act. You remember the answer +in the catechism to the question, "How do the sacraments become +effectual means of salvation?" + +_Mr. M._ How I used to say that, at my mother's knee, with my hands +folded behind me, to keep them still: "The sacraments become effectual +means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth +administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of +his spirit in them that by faith receive them." + +_Dr. D._ I was thinking, the other day, and not for the first time, by +any means, what a noble man was Paul. He was unwilling that people +should call themselves after him, as their leader, and therefore he was +glad to leave the act of baptizing to his associates. Some, however, +infer from this that he disparages baptism. "Christ sent me not to +baptize, but to preach the gospel." Baptism, in its place, has its +importance, and so has preaching; but whether he should be the baptizer, +or delegate the administration to Silas, or Mark, was not of so much +consequence as that he should preach. How he put things in their right +places, according to their proportions, exalting the great, vital +things, sinking others to their subordinate, though useful, spheres, and +becoming all things to all men to save them. With his contempt of +formalism, I hardly know of a greater trial of patience than he must +have had in consenting to circumcise Timothy. He there shut the +window-shutters, and lighted an exhausted lamp, for a time, though he +knew the sun was up, to gratify some who had not opened their eyes to +the morning. How far from a contentious, ambitious spirit, was he, even +with his intense convictions. There are many good people, in all +communions, who are longing for the time when all the old walls of +separation between true Christians will have as many gates in them, at +least, as heaven has,--on the east three gates, on the north three +gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. But I +rejoice even in our liberty, if we choose to exercise it, of separation, +without molestation, though we lose much good to ourselves, and much +influence, and, in times of general religious interest, it leads to +early discussions about modes and forms. How many times have I seen a +growing attention to religion in a community checked by debates and +discussions as to ordinances. + +_Mr. M._ If more pains were taken to instruct our own people as to the +oneness of the ancient and the Christian church, and to show them how +the consecration of children is a part of religion, as reëstablished by +the Most High, it seems to me great good would follow. + +_Dr. D._ If you will draw out your thoughts on the subject, and let me +see them, we may prepare something which may be useful. You view the +subject on the popular, practical side. Let us see what the results are +to which you have come. + +Having agreed to make the effort at my leisure, I may report hereafter +as to my success. And now I will ask my reader's attention to an +interesting letter, which, on my return home, I found awaiting me. + + + + +Chapter Seventh. + +TERMS OF COMMUNION. + + Him first to love, great right and reason is, + Who first to us our life and being gave; + And after, when we fared had amisse, + Us wretches from the second death did save; + And last, the food of life, which now we have, + Even He himselfe, in his dear sacrament, + To feede our hungry soules, unto us lent. + + Then next to love our brethren, that were made + Of that selfe mould, and that self maker's hand, + That we;[6] and to the same againe shall fade + Where they shall have like heritage of land,[7] + However here on higher steps we stand; + Which also were with selfe-same price redeemed + That we;--however of us light esteemed. + + SPENSER.--"_An Hymne of Heavenly Love._" + + ----PRAIRIE,----, 185-. + + +MY DEAR BROTHER: Here we are, at our journey's end. We have had a most +romantic journey, arriving in health, though wayworn, much of our ride +having been in wagons. My wife says, Give my love to brother, and tell +him of the scene at "the hill Mizar." Your letter, which we found +awaiting us, made her think that you would be deeply interested in the +story. This, by and by. + +[Footnote 6: As we.] + +[Footnote 7: The grave.] + +As we were leaving C., one morning, in the great mail-wagon, a man and +his wife, with an infant in her arms, took seats with us, bound far +beyond our own home. The parents had been delayed by the birth of the +child during the journey from New York. They proved to be truly +excellent people, and they made our journey with them very agreeable. + +The father, Mr. Blair, had been greatly tried during his stay at the +hotel where his wife was sick. There was only one church in the village. +The administration of the Lord's Supper occurring while he was there, he +went to avail himself of a stranger's privilege at the table of Christ. +He found, however, that the ordinance was not to be administered till +the afternoon, and, moreover, the hymn-book, and some things in the +sermon, disclosed to him that the church was one which closed its doors +against communicants who had not been baptized by immersion, on +profession of their faith. + +He was strongly inclined to partake of the ordinance, without saying +anything respecting his baptism. But, on the whole, he concluded that it +would be respectful to intimate his situation to one of the church, +peradventure they had a rule favorable to such a case as his, or, at +least, had agreed to shut their eyes, and ask no questions, in such +circumstances. + +He, therefore, introduced himself to a venerable man, who, he inferred, +was a deacon. He frankly told him who he was, and that he wished to +partake of the Lord's Supper. + +The good man said to him, "I am sorry that you said anything about it; +but, so long as you have, I don't see how I can consistently encourage +your partaking of the ordinance." + +_Stranger._ On what ground, sir? + +_Deacon._ Why, we do not hold you to have been baptized. + +_Stranger._ I was baptized in infancy, by believing parents, and have +been a professing Christian fifteen years. + +_Deacon._ That is not believers' baptism, as we view it. The Lord's +Supper, in our communion, is for baptized persons only. We hold to no +baptism but by immersion. + +_Stranger._ I certainly would not intrude, and I will not ask you to act +inconsistently with your principles. But I am a wayfaring man. I have +not had the opportunity to partake of the Lord's Supper for several +months. The life and health of my wife have been remarkably preserved in +this village. Here is the birthplace of my first-born, a place never to +be forgotten by us. I wish to make a Bethel of it. I wish to come to my +Saviour's table with my thanksgivings, and pay him my vows, which my +lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I +rejoiced when I heard that this was your sacramental Sabbath. + +_Deacon._ Your church would not admit an unbaptized person to the Lord's +table, however much he might plead for admission. + +_Stranger._ O, my dear sir, how unfair that reasoning is. This is +placing me on a level with one who rejects baptism. I profess to have +been baptized to the best of my knowledge, and to have fulfilled the +requirements of Christ. Should a man come to our church, and say, I have +reason to believe that I have been baptized, though I cannot bring +evidence to satisfy you, except so far as you have confidence in me, his +case would be parallel with mine. Such a man we would not exclude. + +_Deacon._ Perhaps we shall not agree, if we continue to discuss the +point. I am sorry that our rules operate to your inconvenience. We wish +to see everybody on New Testament ground, and we think that the surest +way to bring them there is to stand there ourselves. By departing from +the literal command to immerse, and by baptizing infants, the church of +Christ became corrupted with traditions and human inventions. We are at +the antipodes to all this; we refuse everything which is not in black +and white on the surface of the Bible, and so we are the more consistent +Protestants. + +"Considering the day and the occasion," said my friend to us, "I forbore +to argue, or to press the good man by asking him if the 'seventh-day +Sabbath' people had not the advantage of him as to greater consistency +in their Protestantism; or, whether the church-membership of females was +anywhere in black and white on the surface of the Bible. As to his +going to the antipodes, to get clear of Romish principles and practices, +I was strongly tempted to say that, to avoid being one of the acids, it +surely was not necessary, nor best, to become an alkali. But having +often reflected how God uses one and another sect, and its set of +principles and practices, to correct evils, by their sharp antagonism, +and to restore a balance to ecclesiastical disorders by allowing some to +go, for a while, to an opposite extreme, I did not find it in my heart +to inveigh, nor to upbraid. It also seemed good to be in a land of +liberty, where even Christians could, from a sense of duty to Christ, if +they chose, fence out their acknowledged brethren and sisters from their +table. There are great inconveniences, and, now and then, hardships, +resulting from it; but our friends, of course, suppose that greater +good, on the whole, than evil, is the consequence, apart from +considerations of duty. But I know of a congregation, in a small place, +who have had public worship for several years, but have not had the +Lord's Supper administered, because they cannot agree as to terms of +communion." + +"Well," said I, "tell us what you did in the afternoon." + +"In the afternoon," he continued, "I went to meeting, and, when the +ordinance was to be administered, I took a seat in a pew alone. I +watched to see which aisle the good deacon would serve, and concluded to +sit there, so as not to seem clandestinely seeking from another deacon, +who would not know me, my inhibited bread; for I wished to be honorable +in the transaction, and, besides, I desired that my friend should see +me, and, if he had changed his mind, give me the symbols. So I sat where +he would pass, in a pew by myself, but he did not look at me." + +"How did it make you feel?" said I. + +"In some respects," said he, "I never enjoyed my thoughts more at the +administration of the Supper. I had no feeling of resentment or +ill-will. The exclusion of four fifths of the Christian family from the +Lord's table by one portion of it, for such a reason, seemed to leave me +in such good company, that I said to myself, 'They that be with us are +more than they that be with them.' I rejoiced in Robert Hall, John +Bunyan, and others like them. I thought of that interesting piece in +Bunyan's works, 'Water Baptism no Bar to Communion.' I questioned +whether this church and its sister churches would not hear a mild +reproof from the lips of Christ,--'I was a stranger, and ye took me not +in.' Certainly they could not say with Job, 'If I have eaten my morsel +alone.' Using the table of Christ for a wall or bars against +acknowledged Christians,--that table, that Supper, which, of all places +and scenes, is most suggestive of communion and fellowship,--seemed to +me so great a mistake, that I could not in charity regard it as a sin, +because, as such, it would be so criminal. I always believed, before, +that the mode of baptism was not essential to Christian fellowship; but +that afternoon I saw it, I felt it; I worked out the sum myself, and saw +the demonstration, I felt very happy in belonging to the great host of +God's people who can commune together, however much they differ." + +"While I was sitting there alone, put aside, one might say, by my +brothers and sisters, whom I had, as it were, run in so cordially to +meet, one thought came over me, as they were feasting with Christ, which +made me weep. I thought of the possibility of being set aside in the +great day. I said, to myself: + + 'I love to meet thy people now, + Before thy face with them to bow, + Though vilest of them all; + But, can I bear the dreadful thought, + What if my name should be left out + When thou for them dost call?'" + +"This did me good. Yet, while I was sitting there, I seemed to see the +Saviour approach me, with a smile. His look seemed very significant, as +though he would say, 'I understand it.' Those words came to my mind: +'Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and, when he had found him, he +said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and +said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto +him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And +he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.' I surely said and did +this." + +"Never before," said he, "had I such views of the condescension and +gentleness of Christ toward us, erring creatures. Here was a church +erring, it seemed to me, in a point which must peculiarly wound the +heart of the Redeemer, whose last discourse with his disciples had this +for its burden, that ye love one another. And yet there were, in that +church, many with whom Christ was communing with a love that seemed to +them unqualified. So he treats us all. I never had a greater flow of +charity toward all my fellow-Christians than on that occasion. I +resolved that I never would be a sectarian in anything, while I also +felt more strongly than ever attached to my own views, and confident of +their truthfulness, and in love with their beauty." + +When he had finished his narration, his wife asked me what I thought +with regard to her husband's proceedings. I asked her to state +particularly what she had in mind. She then expressed a doubt whether it +were proper for us to intrude upon fellow-Christians, when we know that +their principles forbid their communing with us. She said that she +remonstrated with her husband, as soon as he told her that the ordinance +was not free to all evangelical Christians, and that she tried to +dissuade him from appearing to obtrude himself. She did not view it as +uncharitableness, but only as a denominational rule. + +I asked her what her husband said in self-defence;--for we loved to hear +her conversation. + +She said that he turned it off by saying, "Men do not despise a thief, +if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry." + +She said that soon they experienced the utmost kindness from the members +of that church, who, learning the occasion of their sojourn in the +village, poured upon them their hospitality. Several wished to remove +her to their dwellings. They had a "Busy Bee," and made up everything in +an infant's wardrobe for her. She opened her travelling-bag, and took +out a white enamelled paper semi-circular box, containing a pin-cushion, +made of straw-colored satin, in the shape of a young moon, with these +words tastefully printed in pins: "Welcome, little stranger!" She held +it up to us in one hand, while with the other she wiped her eyes. Never, +she said, had kindness affected her so much;--she believed that it +hindered her in gaining strength, her feelings were so continually +wrought upon by ingenious devices of loving-kindness. It became known +that the husband had proposed to commune, and what the issue had been. +This only served to make them all the more generous. They felt it +deeply, and bore it as a necessity which they evidently regretted; but, +with much self-respect, they refrained to make any apology, or +explanation; "and, for this," said the wife, "I respected them." There +was one elderly maiden-lady, however, who once was so far excited when +the subject was alluded to, while several of them were sewing in the +wife's room, that, after moving about in her chair, evidently struggling +with her emotions, she ventured at last to say, "O, if I could get hold +of that old fence, how I should love to shake it!" They all smiled; and +one sensible and well-educated woman immediately gave a pleasant turn to +the conversation. + +I fully agreed with the wife in her very dignified and proper view of +the whole subject. Is there not something extremely charming in the +highly lady-like sentiments and expressions of a Christian woman, as +contradistinguished from those of a gentleman? He, with all his +urbanity, is apt to show the smallest possible vein of testiness, or, at +least, the clouded look of high-bred sense of honor. It seems to me +there is no power which woman exerts over us, in softening and +humanizing our feelings, more beautiful and effectual, than in her +delicate forbearance and charity in taking the kind view of an +irritating subject, without compromise of principle, but just the view +which reflection, and gentler moods, and the softening hand of time, +invariably present. She arrives at it at once, by intuition; our slow +and phlegmatic sense goes through a process of mistake and +rectification, to reach it. + +It occurred to me to test this good lady's feelings a little further, by +reading to her an item from a newspaper, which I had met with in the +cars a few days before, and which I had transferred to my pocket. It had +disturbed my equanimity a little. It was an extract from the annual +circular letter of a conference of ministers to their churches, in one +of the New England States, in 1855, in which mention was made of "the +monstrous and soul-damning heresy of infant baptism." + +I asked the lady how we ought to feel at such a demonstration. She said, +"I presume I know how you gentlemen would be likely to feel and act +under the impulse of the moment; but the true way to regard and treat +it, as it seems to me, is, with pertinacious forgetfulness." She would +not let it disturb her feelings; and she quoted George Herbert: + + "Why should I feel another man's mistakes + More than his sicknesses, or poverty? + In love I should; but," &c. + +Susan said that she was reminded of visits made to her mother's house, +by some who would persuade her mother that she belonged to an +"unbaptized church;" thus seeking to put in fear the children who were +about to make a profession of religion. Her mother replied to these +visitors, that there was far more apprehension in her own mind whether +they themselves were properly baptized, if but one mode is valid.--As to +Mr. Blair's effort to commune at that table, she said that she would +never seek nor receive as a boon from men, that which her Saviour had +purchased for her, and for them, with his own blood. + +Our conversation was here interrupted by the exclamation of my wife, "Do +look at that beautiful sight, that cascade, on the hill." + + + + +Chapter Eighth. + +THE ROAD-SIDE BAPTISM. + + How beautiful the water is! + To me 'tis wondrous fair; + No spot can ever lonely be, + If water sparkle there. + It hath a thousand tongues of mirth, + Of grandeur, or delight, + And every heart is gladder made + When water greets the sight. + + MRS. E.O. SMITH. + + Sweet one! make haste, and know Him too; + Thine own adopting Father love; + That, like thine earliest dew, + Thy dying sweets may prove. + + KEBLE. + + +We were about to turn a corner in a defile of the mountains, and a large +perpendicular buttress of the ridge stood out, so as nearly to close up +the road. It presented a surface of about twenty feet directly in front, +as we drove up, and, from the top, which was nearly a hundred and twenty +feet from the ground, a cascade fell into the air for about forty feet, +and, without touching anything, became dishevelled, and disappeared in +mist. + +It was one of the most beautiful objects which I ever saw. It was pure +white, relieved against the wet and very black rock. It waved to and fro +in the air like a streamer; it had a slow pulse, lifting it and letting +it drop, like the appearance of a waterfall seen from the window of a +car in motion, only this was irregular and quite slow; it was soft and +fleecy; it made no audible noise; it looked dangerous to see it fall +from so great a height; but it was caught in the air, to your relief, as +one who falls in his dream lights upon his soft bed. The lines of Gray, +in his Bard, were suggested by the sight of this mountain, though not by +any close resemblance: + + "Loose his beard; his hoary hair + Streamed like a meteor to the troubled air." + +The ladies had other images suggested by it. One said, "It is a +beautiful hand, waving Godspeed to us on our journey." That brought +tears into the eyes of some of us, reminding us so of meetings and +partings at home, and chording well with our pilgrim condition. We +concluded to make response; and we tarried there. + +The rock seemed to be full of water, oozing out from the seams, dripping +over rich mosses, with jets, here and there, leaping into the light with +a bound of a few inches, and quietly expiring among the thick +weather-stains and lichens, as if satisfied with their brief existence. +The little things made me think of the sweet souls of infants passing +into time, and then immediately out of it. As we listened, we heard what +Addison describes in his version of the twenty-third Psalm: + + "And streams shall murmur all around." + +The ladies took off their bonnets, and we our hats, and we stood under +the cascade, looking up, and feeling, or fancying that we felt, the cool +spray on our heads and faces. We drank of the rock, and we thought of +that Rock which followed Israel. It seemed good to have such an image of +Jesus as such a rock, with the strength of the hills in it, and with its +inexhaustible springs, its beautiful entablature, its cool shadow, +following a company through a desert. What thoughts and feelings did it +give us respecting our adorable Immanuel, God with us. Dear Susan, +looking up, said, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." + +After invoking the blessing of God, and refreshing ourselves from our +little store, our friends wandered away by themselves, and left us to +enjoy the opportunity for prayer, which we supposed they also sought in +withdrawing from us. + +As they returned, the father had the little boy on his two hands, and, +approaching me, he looked up to the cascade, and said, "'See, here is +water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?'" + +I was at no loss to understand the quotation and the request. + +"Would you like to have the little one baptized here?" said I. + +"We should," they both exclaimed. "We are going into a destitute place +at the West, and there is no church, you tell us, within several miles +of where we expect to live. It is very uncertain about our being able to +procure baptism for the child there; and where could we enjoy the +ordinance more, or make it more impressive upon our hearts, than here, +so long as we have no house of God, which we remember, however, from +'the hill Mizar'?" + +I told them that the experience of Philip and the eunuch, in the desert, +was, just as likely as not, the same as ours. "See, here is water." The +probability of its being a road-side spring, in a rock, or out of the +earth, was greater than of its being a pool in the desert, large enough +to immerse a man in it, leaving out of view the inconveniences of being +bathed along the way. We have both gone "down out of the chariot," said +I--(you would have smiled to see our great, strong, muddied wain)--and +we have done what the literal Greek says they did, "went down _to_ the +water;" and when we start, we shall "come up _from_ the water." But let +us read 'the place of the Scripture' which the eunuch was reading when +Philip joined him. + +Susan took from her bag the blue velvet-covered Bible, which you gave +her, unclasped it, and turned to the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, at +my request, and began to read. O, how soft and sweet was the sound of a +female voice, repeating words of inspiration in that beautiful, solitary +spot! The Scriptures had not been divided into chapters and verses for +the eunuch, as for us, but we noticed that the last verse of the chapter +preceding "the place of the Scripture which he read," not divided from +it in his copy of Isaiah, was, "So shall he sprinkle many nations;" +which, we thought, proved that the eunuch had had the idea of baptism +suggested to him by those words; and quite as conclusively proving it, +as "buried with him in baptism" proves immersion. + +However, being agreed on all these points, we made no long discourse +about them, but dwelt upon the Son of God as the Redeemer of Abraham's +seed, and in whom all the promises of God, including those made to +Abraham, are yea, and in him amen. + +I said to my friends, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are about to +write their several and joint names on this child's forehead. + +"As a lamb has the owner's mark upon his side, this child is to be +claimed by them, to be brought up for the service and glory of its +redeeming God. + +"You are to give him away, to be disposed of by the Most High. You are +to be, for Him, what the mother of Moses was for Pharaoh's +daughter--nurses to your own child. This dear child lay helpless and +exposed, with all of us, to destruction; the Redeemer passed that way; +he heard its cries: he had compassion upon it; he saved it from the +condemning sentence of divine justice; and now he calls you, and says, +'Take this child, and bring it up for me, and I will give thee thy +wages.' He does not commit the child to church, nor pastor, nor +Sabbath-school, but to its own father and mother, who may and will avail +themselves of all the appointed and the useful helps for its nurture and +admonition in the Lord; but he looks to you, as having the chief and +principal responsibility, to bring up this child for God. + +"You covenant to lay your plans for this child, so that he may, by the +surest means, live for God. To this end you will pray with him and for +him; teach him what was done for him in baptism, and before, and +afterwards; how God was beforehand with him, and was found of him who +sought him not. He is to be trained up as a Christian child, with a view +to his early conversion, and your great concern is not to be, how he may +promote his private happiness, or yours, but how he may best serve God. + +"To this end, you will, from the first, watch over all his moral +faculties, and instil into him the principles of truth and uprightness; +not letting him run loose among the vanities of the world, and feed +upon its miserable, corrupted sentiments, and choose worldly and godless +persons for his intimate associates, his manners and his habits being +like a garden which runs to weeds, and his whole nature left to the +perils of sin, trusting to some sudden act of conversion to bring him +right; but you will rather be diligent to 'fill the water-pots with +water,' and wait for Christ to turn it into wine. You intend, and you +promise, that you will educate this child from the beginning with all +that strictness of Christian principle which you would expect of him +were he, in his infancy, to be a professing Christian, his duty being +the same, and, consequently, yours toward him, whether he is regenerate +or not,--one and the same law of God being our rule, irrespective of +conditions. + +"In all times of sickness and peril, you are to feel that this child is +the Lord's, to be disposed of by him, without consulting you. If called +to die and leave him, you will remember that you received him from God, +that he belonged to God at first, and when he was placed in your care; +and that God, who thus has the most perfect claim to him, will perfect +that which concerns him, even if his parents are in the grave. + +"And while you thus covenant with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, +covenant with you, and with the child through you, to be the God of your +seed, affording you special help in training the child, bestowing +special blessings upon it tending to its spiritual good, having a +particular regard for it as something lent to him, and belonging to you; +while, in another sense, it is lent to you, and belongs to him; and he +and you are to regard the child agreeably to this beautiful +transmutation of ownership and loan. The baptism itself cannot save the +child, any more than the Lord's Supper can save you; but it is among the +first of means to promote the salvation of the child, not merely through +its effect on you, or its remembered grace and goodness when the child +can be made to appreciate it; but above all, and through all, and in +all, it seals that covenant of a covenant-keeping God, assisting your +efforts and those of the child,--that promise, I say, 'I will be his +God, and he shall be my son.'" + +We named the little boy, PHILIP, as a memorial of the road-side baptism. +We stood under the shadow of that great rock, and worshipped Abraham's +God. "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, +and Israel acknowledge us not." The voice of prayer was joined by chimes +and symphonies from trickling rills, and the freshening breeze in a +silver-leaved maple, leaning at an angle of thirty-five degrees, just +above us in the rock, all as quiet as the dear infant's breathing; +while, now and then, the sudden flapping and rushing of birds' wings +made the monotone around us more soothing. + +From a little jet of water, that formed an arc of about an inch, as it +burst into life and then disappeared in a great moss-bed, I caught my +palm full, and laid it upon the unconscious head. + +The little hands were suddenly lifted and dropped, as though a slight +shock had been experienced, then a smile played round the mouth, and the +sleep seemed deeper. + +And will God in very deed dwell on earth? Will the adorable Trinity be +present at such a scene as this? Present! "All power is given unto me in +heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing +them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." +He will not appoint this ordinance, and fail to be present; the God of +redemption is a party to that transaction by which an immortal soul, +with an existence commensurate with his own, is consecrated to him by +its natural guardians, acting in the place of God, and for the child, +and joining them in covenant. + +"Shall we ever forget this?" said the husband to his wife, as we were +riding along that beautiful afternoon. + +"Never," said she; but she added, sensible woman as she was, "the beauty +and sentiment of the place seemed to me nothing, compared with the +privilege of covenanting with God, and having him covenant with us for +the child. After all," said she, "I would have been glad to have had the +baptism in our little church at home, and to have secured good Mrs. +Maberry's prayers, and those of our church, for the child, at its +baptism. I must write to her, and get her to tell the Maternal +Association about it, and ask them not to forget little Philip." + +"What would you have named it," said my wife, "had it been a girl?" + +"O," said she, smiling, "I was thinking on the hill, that, if it had +been a girl, I should have called it Candace, for the Ethiopian queen." + +"And Canda, for shortness and sweetness, I suppose," said her husband, +his eyes twinkling and sparkling with love, as he looked at her, and +from her upon us. + +"He's a sweet little thing, you know he is," said the mother, burying +her face in the child's bosom, and giving it something between a good +long smell and a good long kiss, or both; a thing which mothers alone +know exactly how to do. + +"Suppose," said I, "that, instead of little Philip, it had been you, +sir, and Mrs. Blair, who had needed to be baptized. + +"Here you are, on a journey. You do not know that you will be able to +avail yourselves of religious ordinances, in your new home, for a long +time to come; and, besides, regarding baptism not merely as a profession +of religion, but as an act of Almighty God, sealing you with his +appointed sign of the covenant, you have strong desires to receive it, +here in this 'way unto Gaza, which is desert,' from my hands. + +"'See, here is water,' in rich abundance. But, alas! there is no pond, +nor pool, no lake, nor river!" + +"Even if there were," said my wife to Mrs. Blair, "I should shudder to +have you venture into untried waters, in this lonely place. Fear, at +least, would prevent any peace of mind, or satisfying enjoyment." + +"'What doth hinder me to be baptized?' you would properly say to me," I +continued. "'O,' my reply could be, 'the water is not in an available +shape. Had we time to scoop out a tank in the earth, or make a stone +baptistery in the rock, then you might be 'buried with him by baptism +into death.' But it is impossible. This living fountain of waters in the +mountain, full and overflowing though it be, does not allow of Christian +baptism. Besides, as to suitable apparel, and all the necessary +arrangements for comfort, not to say propriety,--you see that baptism, +here is out of the question.'" + +"Do you think," said Mrs. Blair, "that the Head of the church has +appointed any such invariable mode of administering baptism,--one that +cannot be applied in numerous cases?" + +I said to her, "I cannot believe it. The genius of Christianity seems +opposed to it. Let all who will, use immersion; we love them still, and +rejoice in their liberty, but I cannot agree that it was the New +Testament method. Even had it been, I should expect that the rule would +be flexible enough to meet cases of necessity." + +"I was thinking," said Mr. Blair, "that, at least, four fifths of all +the people of God have gone to heaven unbaptized, if immersion is the +only valid mode of baptism. This is rather a serious thing, if the +solemn words, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved,' look +only to baptism by immersion. It seems to me," he added, "that the +providence of God would have brought in some great reformation from so +calamitous an error in the church, if it were an error. Some Luther, or +Calvin, or Knox, or some John Baptist, would have been raised up, as in +other emergencies, to bring the church back to her duty." + +"How clearly," said I, "does that seem to prove that all the people of +God have, as Paul says, 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism,' however +variant their modes of worship and administration may be." + +"How many baptized children, from Christian families," said my wife, +"are gathered together in heaven! I cannot think of them as the +unfortunate subjects of a superstitious or corrupt observance, at the +hands of the ministers of Jesus, in all ages of the world. There must +seem to them, as they increase in knowledge, a beautiful fitness in +their having had those adorable names inscribed upon them, with God's +own initiatory seal of his covenant. What loving-kindness it must appear +to them, that God gave them the ordinance of baptism, and became their +God! How it will stand out before their minds as a principal +illustration of being saved by grace!" + +"And then, again," said Mr. Blair, "think of the millions of children in +heaven who were not baptized,--saved, the most of them, from heathen and +pagan lands. How 'the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, +hath abounded unto many.' Baptism is not an austere law. There is +nothing austere or rigid, in any sense, connected with it; but it makes +me think of the water itself, scattered in so many beautiful and pliable +forms all over the earth, in fountains, water-falls, dew, rain-drops; +and, when it cannot 'stand before His cold,' it comes down softly upon +us, in crystal asteroids and all the geometrical forms of snow. I love +to think that God has associated that beautiful element, the water, with +religion. And now it does not seem accordant with the works and ways of +Him, of whom we say, 'How great is his goodness, how great is his +beauty,' to make one obdurate mode of bringing the water in connection +with us essential to an ordinance, whose element seems everywhere to +shun preciseness." + +"Water is certainly a beautiful emblem of open communion," said one of +the ladies. "It must be conscious, one would think, of violence done to +its ubiquitous nature, to be made the occasion of separating beloved +friends, at the Table whose symbolized Blood has made them one in +Christ." + +But we had to part. I told them that my wife and I would certainly be +sponsors for little Philip, in the best sense; we would make a record of +its history, thus far, among our family memorials; tell our children +about him, and charge them in after life to inquire for him, and lose no +opportunity of doing him good. Though, as to that, I could not help +saying, no one knows in this world who will be benefactor or +beneficiary. + +"Our children will always be interested in each other," said his wife, +"for their parents' sake." + +"Can we not sing a hymn?" said the husband. + +We found that our voices made a quartet. Susan was ready with her +beautiful contralto, Mrs. Blair sung the soprano, Mr. Blair the tenor, +and I the base. + +THE BAPTISMAL HYMN. + + "Lord, what our ears have heard, + Our eyes delighted trace-- + Thy love, in long succession shown, + To Zion's chosen race. + + "Our children thou dost claim, + And mark them out for thine; + Ten thousand blessings to thy name + For goodness so divine. + + "Thee, let the fathers own, + And thee, the sons adore, + Joined to the Lord in solemn vows, + To be forgot no more. + + "Thy covenant may they keep, + And bless the happy bands + Which closer still engage their hearts, + To honor thy commands. + + "How great thy mercies, Lord! + How plenteous is thy grace! + Which, in the promise of thy love, + Includes our rising race. + + "Our offspring, still thy care, + Shall own their fathers' God; + To latest times thy blessings share, + And sound thy praise abroad." + +We saw them and their baggage on board the wagon that was to take them +over to the river; we waved our farewell, and sent our kisses; and, just +as they were turning a corner which hid them from our view, the father +stood up in the wagon, and held little Philip as high as he could (the +mother, of course, reaching up her arms to hold them both fast), as +though to catch the last benediction. The long, flowing white dress of +the child gave the picture a waving, vanishing effect, reminding us of +our first sight of the cascade, which, with the whole transaction to +which it gave occasion, has taken a permanent place in our sleeping and +waking dreams. + + + + +Chapter Ninth. + +THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH. + + Go, now, ye that are men, and serve the Lord.--PHARAOH. + + We will go with our young, and with our old, with our sons, and with our + daughters.--MOSES. + + Hosanna to the Son of David.--THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. + + The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be + established before thee.--PSALM 102:28. + + +The reader will now be introduced, in imagination, to a seat in the +window of a country parsonage, with honeysuckle-vines trained over an +arched lattice-work that spans the window. There are several large +maples in the yard, which is a grass-plot, where six gentlemen are +enjoying pleasant conversation, and are seated at their ease, some in +chairs, and the rest on a sofa, which, at the suggestion of a kind lady, +they had lifted from its place in the parlor to the yard. + +They are all of them pastors of churches, met, for social intercourse +and friendly counsel, at the house of one of their number, with their +wives, who are also together by themselves, in a pleasant room on the +north side of the house, and into whose sayings and doings these +husbands will, no doubt, be disposed to make, in due time, suitable +inquiry. + +Those wonderful little elves, the humming-birds, are frequent visitors +to those honeysuckles, under which I have placed my reader to be a +listener. How many vibrations those little wings make in a minute, how +so long a bill can have subtractive force sufficient to get anything +from the flower, how, when obtained, that product is conveyed to the +throat, and where these creatures build their nests, and whither they +migrate, are questions which will, perhaps, divert attention from +everything else for a time, especially if the reader has escaped for a +season from a large city, and is one of those who there "dwell in +courts." Perhaps, therefore, he will choose to refresh himself, in +silent contemplation, in this arbor; and I will make true report of all +that transpires in the yard. + +One of these pastors, Mr. A., has been reading to his brethren, for +their judgment as to the soundness of his views, a sermon, not yet +preached, on the relation of baptized children to the church. We will +call him, and two of the ministers who agreed with his views, by their +initials, respectively, which consisted of the first three letters of +the alphabet; while the three who dissented from them had, as initials +to their names, letters remote from these. Neither Messrs. A., B., and +C., nor Messrs. R., S., and T., had had any previous concert or +comparison of views on this interesting subject; but they found +themselves thus arrayed on different sides of the question. + +Omitting the sermon that gave occasion to the discussion which follows, +a few lines only will put us in possession of the whole subject. I give +the opening paragraph: + +"It is held by all who practise infant baptism, that the children of +believers have a peculiar relation to the church. That relation is very +generally expressed by the word membership. We have treatises, by the +most orthodox divines, on the church-membership of the children of +believers; which children they freely call members of the Christian +church; and, in catechisms and confessions of faith, the church of +Christ is declared to consist of such as are in covenant relations with +God, and their offspring." + +The sermon being finished, Mr. R. was first called upon by the chairman, +Mr. C., for his remarks. The question, as stated by the chairman, was, +Are the children of believers, in any sense, members of the church? If +so, what is it? and, if not, what relation to the church do they +sustain? + +_Mr. R._ I presume that brother A. does not wish us to take up time with +criticisms upon his style. He seeks to know our views with regard to the +subject of the sermon. I am compelled to say, at once, that I differ +from the views expressed by the reader, if he means by the terms, +_members_ and _membership_, which he employs, all which they would +convey to the majority of hearers. But I noticed that when he, and those +excellent men whom he quotes, come to define what they mean by members, +and membership, in this connection, they make explanations, and +qualifications, and also protestations, showing that no one can be, in +their view, a member of the spiritual, or, what is called the invisible, +church of Christ, without repentance and faith. Rightly understood, +therefore, they are free from any just imputation of making unscriptural +terms of membership in the kingdom of Christ. And, perhaps, when those +of us who dissent from some of their propositions, fully understand the +limitations which the writers themselves affix to their use of terms, no +great discrepancy will be found to exist. + +It admits of a question, therefore, in my view, whether the terms +_members_ and _membership_, as applied to children, really mean that +which these writers themselves intend to convey by them; for certainly +they do not mean all which their readers at first suppose. The terms in +question require a great deal of explanation, which a term, if possible, +ought never to need. And, after all has been said, a wrong impression is +conveyed to the minds of many, while opponents gain undue advantage in +arguing against that which, for substance, all the friends of infant +baptism cordially maintain. + +If Br. A. is asked, "In what sense are children members of the church," +he resorts, for illustration, to citizenship, and to the sisterhood in +the church itself, to show how children and females may be members of +the community, and, in the case of females, may belong to the church, +while yet their privileges and functions are limited. So, he says, the +children of believers are a component part of God's church, not entitled +to the use of all its privileges till they are renewed by the Spirit of +God, yet so related by the sovereign appointment of God to those who are +members, as to be, in a subordinate sense, a part of the church. + +Could the friends of infant baptism agree on some term, which would +express their common belief with regard to the relation of believers' +children to the church, better than _member_, I think it must have a +happy effect in promoting harmony of views and feelings, and take away +from others the grounds of several present objections. + +It was here agreed that, instead of the question going round to each in +turn, the conversation should be free, subject to the rule of the +chairman. + +Mr. A., the reader, then said that he should be glad to learn from his +Br. R. precisely what his views were of the relation of baptized +children to the church. "Let us see," he said, "how far we are agreed as +to the actual nature of this relation." + +"Well, then," said Mr. R., "I will begin with this: + +"_They are the children of God's friends_. We all know how God reminds +Israel of their relation to Abraham, his friend, tells them they are +beloved for the fathers' sakes, and he remembers his covenant with those +friends of his, their fathers, when provoked by the children's sins. +Toward the child of one who loves God (not merely a church-member, but a +friend of God), I suppose there are affections on the part of God, of +which our own feelings toward the child of a dear Christian friend are a +representation. This love to the child of his friend, I always thought, +is the great element in that arrangement of the Most High which we call +the Abrahamic covenant; for he who made us, knew how much a love for our +children, on the part of others, draws us together, and what bonds are +constituted and strengthened between men through their children; and +that one great means of promoting love to Him would be, his manifesting +special love and care for the offspring of those who love him. God has a +people, friends; and the children of such are the children of his +dearly-beloved friends. In this we are all agreed." + +"Certainly," said Mr. A., "but you will go further than this, I +presume." + +_Mr. R._ Yes, Mr. Chairman. One thing more is true of them: + +_They are the principal source of the church's increase_. The selection +of Abraham, with a view to make of his lineage, the banks, within whose +defensive influences grace should find helps in making its way in this +ungodly world, had reference, I believe, to that power of hereditary +family influence, which has not ceased, and will not cease, to the end +of time. It is beautiful and affecting to see that recognition of our +free agency, and that unwillingness ever to interfere with it, which +leads the Most High to fall in with the principles of our nature +established by himself, in placing his chief reliance on the natural +love of parents for their offspring to contribute, by far, the larger +part of those who shall be converted. In this arrangement and +expectation do we not find the deep roots of infant baptism? which thus +appears to be neither Jewish nor Gentile, but grows out of our nature +itself, which also requires, which demands, some rite, a symbolic sign +and seal. God made the children of Adam partakers with him of his curse; +so that the parental and filial relation was, from the beginning made a +stream to bear along the consequences of the first transgression. No +new thing, therefore, was instituted when God, in calling Abraham, +appointed the parental and filial relation to bear, on its deep and +mighty stream, the most powerful means of godliness in all coming +generations. How little do we think of this, Mr. Chairman, and brethren; +how apt we are to neglect this great arrangement of divine providence +and grace,--the perpetuation of the church, chiefly by means of the +parental and filial relation. But, if such be the divine appointment, +and the children of believers are therefore the most hopeful sources of +the church's increase, of course they may be said to belong to the +church, in a peculiar sense, but without being "_members_." + +_Mr. A._ I think you are coming on very well toward my ground. I +certainly agree with you thus far. + +_Mr. R._ If I am not taking up too much time, Mr. Chairman, I should +like to proceed a little further, in order to do full justice to my +views. If I am found to agree with Br. A., it will be just as pleasant +as though he agreed with me. + +_Chairman._ Please to proceed. Two things which are equal to the same +thing, are equal to each other. + +_Mr. R._ I will, then, say, once more: + +_The children of believers are the subjects of preeminent privileges and +blessings._ Special promises are made to them from love to their +parents; great advantages are theirs, directly and indirectly, from +their relation to those who are the true worshippers of God; +forbearance, long suffering, the remembrance of consecrations and vows, +prevail with God, oftentimes, in their behalf when they have broken +their father's commandment and forsaken the law of their mother. No +words of tenderness, in any relation of life,--said Mr. R., turning to +the Psalms,--surpass those, in which are described the feelings of God +toward the rebellious sons of Abraham: "But he, being full of +compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a +time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath." "For +he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." God still +remembers Abraham, his servant, in the person of every father and mother +who loves him, and is steadfast in his covenant; and "the generation of +the upright shall be blessed." Mistakes in family government, growing +out of wrong principles, too great reliance upon future conversion, and +the neglect of that moral training which is essential to the best +development of religious character, and, indeed, without which religious +character is often a melancholy distortion, or sadly defective, may be +followed by their natural consequences; and we cannot complain,--for God +works no miracle, nor turns aside any great law, in favor of our +misconduct; yet it remains true that all who love and serve him, and +command their children and households to fear the Lord, enforcing it in +all the proper ways of government, discipline, example, and the right +observance of religious ordinances, public and private, may expect +peculiar blessings upon their offspring. + +One of the youngest of the company, the father of one young child, here +inquired, if the speaker would have us infer that the conversion of such +children is to be looked for as a matter of course. + +_Mr. R._ Ordinarily, they will grow up in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord, to be followers of Christ; the proportion of persons baptized +on admission to the church, will become small; a healthful tone of +religious feeling will pervade our churches; less and less reliance will +be placed on startling measures, on splendid talents, on novelties, to +promote the cause of religion; but Christian families will extend like +the cultivated fields of different proprietors, whose green and +flowering hedges, instead of stone walls, mingle all into one landscape. +"And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of +righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." "And my people shall +dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet +resting-places." "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and +great shall be the peace of thy children." Such, I believe, is sure to +be the manner of the church's prosperity, and therefore the children who +are to be the subjects of these inestimable blessings must be said, in +some sense, to _belong_ to the church, they being the objects of special +regard with the church and with God. Br. A. agrees with me in all this, +I presume. + +_Mr. A._ Entirely; or, rather, you agree with me. + +"Now, Br. A.," said an earnest man of the company,--who, however, +immediately checked himself, and bowed to Mr. R., and said, "I dare say, +Mr. Chairman, that Br. R. was going to put the very question which I +intended to ask." + +_Mr. R._ Proceed, Br. S. I owe an apology for speaking so much. + +_Mr. S._ Will Br. A., Mr. Chairman, please to tell us why he feels +obliged to call these children "_members_ of the church?" + +For, we all know, that, notwithstanding all these glorious things, which +are spoken of them, to which Br. A. has also referred, not one baptized +child of a true believer can be, really, a member of the church, in +regular standing, till he, like the unbaptized heathen convert, has +repented of his sins and believed on the Lord Jesus. All the promises +and privileges appertaining to his relationship as a child of a +believer, promote, and make more certain, his repentance and faith; and +therefore, if asked, "What profit, then, hath circumcision, and its +substitute, infant baptism?" we can reply, "Much every way;" but it +never stood, and never can stand, in the place of justification by free +grace through the personal exercise of faith in the Redeemer. + +_Mr. C._ But I wish to ask, in the name of Br. A., and for my own sake, +what objection there is to retaining the name, _member_, in this +connection? + +_Mr S._ My answer is, it is the occasion of great stumbling to those who +reject infant baptism, and are confirmed in rejecting it, by +misapprehending the views and feelings of many who use the term in an +objectionable sense. + +The discussion now became animated. Mr. S. said that he had a further +objection. It leads many, who use it erroneously, into perplexing and +fruitless positions. Assuming that the children are members of the +church, they discuss the question, as the sermon has stated, Of what +church are they members? Some reply, Of the church to which their +parents belong. Others say nay, but of the church universal. Then they +feel it incumbent upon them to provide some means of discipline for +these so-called members. In case they grow up, and neglect to come with +their parents to the Lord's Supper, must they not be disciplined? Some +insist that discipline, in some of its forms, must be administered, and, +in certain cases, excommunication must take place. + +_Mr. T._ I know it, and I wonder at it. I should like to ask, who has +deputed to any church the power to say when the divine forbearance with +a child of the covenant has come to an end? Does it terminate at the age +of twenty-one in the case of male children, and at eighteen in the case +of females? David, when a full-grown man, plead the covenant of God with +his mother: "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the +son of thine handmaid." Or, does it cease on the child's leaving the +parental roof for another place of residence? Or, on entering upon the +married state? Or, upon the commission of some great act of outward +transgression, shall we pronounce the covenant to be dissolved? Do we +not see that we are meddling with a divine prerogative, if we assume to +act in such cases? Expostulations, warnings, entreaties, from parents, +pastor, brethren of the church, may always be in place; but further than +these we cannot proceed. + +"Perhaps, too," said Mr. R., "if discipline were to fall anywhere, it +might more justly descend on the parents of such a child." + +_Mr. T._ The seeming mockery of a church punishing a youth for the +neglect of that which he himself never promised to do, would most +likely have the effect to drive him to a returnless distance from the +church, extinguishing the last ray of hope as to his conversion. A fit +parallel to such proposed church-discipline of children, is found in the +practice, which was not uncommon, twenty-five years ago, in a region of +our country where great religious excitements prevailed for some time, +when it was publicly recommended, in preaching and from the press, that +parents who had labored in vain for the conversion of children, should, +in certain cases, punish them, to make them submit to God. + +_Mr. D._ Is it possible? + +_Mr. T._ Yes, sir; and the records of those times furnish instances in +which this was done. Of such means of grace, I am happy to say, we have +no such custom, neither the churches of God. + +_Mr. S._ Nor shall we probably ever see young people disciplined by the +churches, for not repenting and believing the Gospel. It is insisted on +as theoretically proper, but they have never ventured to carry it out in +practice. + +Mr. C., the chairman, said, "Brethren, there is strong authority in +favor of the sermon. Since you have been talking, I have been looking +over Dr. Hopkins's works, to find this passage, which, if you please, I +will read. Dr. Hopkins says: + +"Though under the milder dispensation of the Gospel, no one is to be put +to death for rejecting Christ and the Gospel, even though he were before +this a member of the visible church, yet he is to be cut off, and cast +out of the visible kingdom of Christ. And every child in the church, who +grows up in disobedience to Christ, and, in this most important concern, +will not obey his parents, is thus to be rejected and cut off, after all +proper means are used by his parents, and the church, to reclaim him, +and bring him to his duty. Such an event will be viewed by Christian +parents as worse than death, and is suited to be a constant, strong +motive to concern, prayer, and fidelity, respecting their children, and +their education; and it tends to have an equally desirable effect upon +children, and must greatly impress the hearts of those who are in any +degree considerate and serious." + +Again: "When the children arrive at an age in which they are capable of +acting for themselves in matters of religion, and making a profession of +their adherence to the Christian faith, and practice, and coming to the +Lord's Supper, if they neglect and refuse to do this, and act contrary +to the commands of Christ in any other respect, all proper means are to +be used, and methods taken, to bring them to repentance, and to do their +duty as Christians, and, if they cannot be reclaimed, but continue +impenitent and unreformed, they are to be rejected and cast out of the +church, as other adult members are who persist in disobedience to +Christ."[8] + +[Footnote 8: Hopkins's Works (1852), vol. ii., pp. 158, 176.] + +"Such words, from such a source," said Mr. C., "are entitled to great +consideration." + +"But," said Mr. S., "here is a passage from his own theological +instructor, President Edwards: + +"It is asked,' he says, 'why these children, that were born in the +covenant, are not cast out when, in adult age, they make no profession.' +He replies, 'They are not cast out, because it is a matter held in +suspense whether they do cordially consent to the covenant or not; or +whether their making no profession does not arise from some other cause; +and none are to be excommunicated without some positive evidence against +them.'" + +"My dear sir," said Mr. A., "Mr. Edwards is there speaking of those who +merely refuse to own the covenant, without being guilty of scandalous +sin." + +_Mr. S._ It is evident, nevertheless, that Hopkins goes further than he, +and requires that those who, at years of full responsibility, refuse to +own the covenant, shall be cut off. Modern writers on this subject, +while insisting on the church-membership of children, draw back from +this position, and are more in harmony with what, it seems to me, may be +said to be the general sense of the churches on this subject. I feel +glad, when reading such passages as those from Hopkins, that we have +liberty of opinion, and are not compelled to swear by the words of any +master. I bow to such a divine as Dr. Hopkins, but he fails to satisfy +me that he is right in these views of church-discipline for children. + +Mr. R., who was the oldest man of the company, now returned to the +discussion, and said: "It is clear that one cannot be dispossessed of +that which he never possessed, except as in the case of a minor, who may +have his claim to a future possession wrested from him. Of what is a +child of the covenant, allowing him to be, while a child, a member of +the church,--of what is he in possession? Not of full communion, not of +access to the Lord's table, not of the right to a voice in the call and +settlement of a pastor, nor in any other church act. From what, then, is +he turned out by being cut off? He has never arrived at anything from +which he can be separated, except the covenant of God with him through +his parents, and its attendant privileges of watch and care. If, then, +we excommunicate an unconverted child, we can only declare the covenant +of God with him, henceforth, to be null and void,--an assumption from +which, probably, Christian parents and ministers would shrink. The same +long-suffering God, who bears and forbears with ourselves, we shall be +disposed to feel, is the God of this recreant child, and no good man +would dare to pronounce the child to be separated from the mercies of +'the God of patience and hope.' One who, being in a church, breaks a +covenant to which he assented, may be a just subject for discipline, +even to excommunication; but, all the promises of God to the child being +wholly free, conditioned, at first, upon his parents' relation to God, +all the disability which the child seems capable of receiving, is, that +the promises made to him he must fail, by his own fault, to receive. +Who will declare even his prospect of their fulfilment to be terminated +at any given time? Much more, who will undertake to divest him of things +which he never had? The church-membership, from which you profess to +expel him, does not yet exist in his case; he has not reached it. All +the church-membership of which, if any, he has been possessed, is, his +hopeful relation to God and his people through a parent. To +excommunicate a child from this would be a strange procedure." + +_Mr. A._ That is the strongest thing which I have heard on that side. I +must confess (said he, rising and leaning against one of the maples) +that I am a little staggered. + +But Mr. B. came to reinforce his faltering brother. + +"Here," said he, "is the Cambridge Platform. You will all be willing to +hear from that source." + +"Let us hear," said two or three voices. + +Mr. B. read as follows: + +"The like trial (examination) is to be required from such members of the +church as were born in the same, or received their membership, and were +baptized in their infancy or minority, by virtue of the covenant of +their parents, when, being grown up unto years of discretion, they shall +desire to be made partakers of the Lord's Supper; unto which, because +holy things must not be given to the unworthy, therefore it is requisite +that these, as well as others, should come to their trial and +examination, and manifest their faith and repentance by an open +profession thereof before they are received to the Lord's Supper, and +otherwise not to be admitted thereunto. Yet those church-members that +were so born, or received in their childhood, before they are capable of +being made partakers of full communion, have many privileges which +others, not church-members, have not; they are in covenant with God, +have the seal thereof upon them, namely, baptism; and so, if not +regenerated, yet are in a more hopeful way of attaining regenerating +grace, and all the spiritual blessings both of the covenant and seal; +they are also under church-watch, and consequently subject to the +reprehensions, admonitions, and censures thereof, for their healing and +amendment, as need shall require."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Cambridge Platform, chap. iii. 7.] + +_Mr. R._ Now, please, Br. B., what does all that prove? + +_Mr. B._ Why, it proves that, in the judgment of the Cambridge Platform, +the children of church-members are members of the churches. + +_Mr. R._ It shows that the Cambridge Platform calls them members; but it +gives us no proof that they are properly called members. A great deal in +that extract, I undertake to say, will command the cordial assent of all +who practise infant baptism, if we except the use of the term members. +It shows that, as to coming into the company of true believers, and +being one of them, the only way is through repentance and faith,--a way +common to the unbaptized. The only advantage, but one which is +exceedingly great and precious on the part of the believer's children, +being, that they "have many privileges," and "are in a more hopeful way +of attaining regenerating grace." But the term membership does not +express their relation to the church before they are converted. + +_Mr. B._ (After a pause.) I do not know but you are right. + +Mr. C., the remaining advocate of the sermon, said, "Let me refresh +your memories with the famous case quoted in Morton's New England +Memorial. He says: + +"'The two ministers there (Salem, 1629), being seriously studious of +reformation, they considered the state of their children, together with +their parents, concerning which letters did pass between Mr. Higginson +(of Salem) and Mr. Brewster, the reverend elder of the church of +Plymouth; and they did agree in their judgments, namely, concerning the +church-membership of the children with their parents, and that baptism +was a seal of their membership; only, when they were adult, they being +not scandalous, they were to be examined by the church officers, and +upon their approbation of their fitness, and upon the children's public +and personally owning of the covenant, they were to be received unto the +Lord's Supper. Accordingly, Mr. Higginson's eldest son, being about +fifteen years of age, was owned to have been received a member together +with his parents, and being privately examined by the pastor, Mr. +Skelton (the other minister of Salem), about his knowledge in the +principles of religion, he did present him before the church when the +Lord's Supper was to be administered, and, the child then publicly and +personally owning the covenant of the God of his father, he was admitted +unto the Lord's Supper, it being there professedly owned, according to 1 +Cor. 7:14, that the children of the church are holy unto the Lord, as +well as their parents.'" + +Mr. R. stood up, and, with an animated look and manner, but with a very +pleasant voice, said: + +"What, now, my good brother, did these good ministers do, with this +youth, more or less than we all do for the children of our pastoral +charge? + +"Of what practical use was his so-called infant 'church-membership,' in +addition to his being, as we all hold, a child of the covenant?" + +They made no reply for a little while, till at last Mr. A. said: + +"Well, Br. R., what names would you substitute for _members_ and +_membership_?" + +_Mr. R._ "THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH;" for you have it in the last +sentence of the extract which you read from Morton;--the true, the most +appropriate, and, in every respect, the best name for those who are so +ambiguously called _members_. + +_Mr. B._ There is great beauty and sweetness in that name, I +confess,--"the children of the church," "the church's children." + +_Mr. R._ A father never, except for concealment, says, "a member of my +family," when "a child" is meant. The term _members_, besides being +equivocal, and requiring explanation, is not so good as "children of the +church," an expression which includes and covers all that any would +claim for "infant church-members." + +_Mr. C._ I confess, I like Br. R.'s views and proposition. If, by +calling the offspring of believers, "the children of the church," we, by +implication, abridged any of their privileges, or if, by calling them +church-members, we believed that they acquired rights and privileges not +otherwise appertaining to them, we ought to prefer the words member and +membership; but it is not so. No one of the writers cited,--and the +proofs we all know could be extended by quoting from other +authors,--claims the right of a child to full communion, except upon +evidence, in his "trial and examination," that he is regenerate. Indeed, +the only use to which the terms member and membership seem to be +applied, is, in furnishing some ground for urging the discipline and +excommunication of the child. This, though urged by some, is urged in +vain. + +_Mr. R._ Other terms, in connection with members and membership, have +been proposed, such as members in minority, members in suspension, +future members; but all in vain. The children of believers are certainly +the children of the church, and such I devoutly hope and pray they may +come to be called. + +_Mr. A._ Seeing that the use of the term _member_ keeps before our minds +a theoretical, hard necessity, from which every one shrinks, I think I +will alter my sermon so far as to dismiss the term, and, with it, all +sense of inconsistency in neglected obligations as to disciplining these +young "members." + +"Well, Br. A.," said Mr. B., "I will join you in submission." + +"So will I," said Mr. C. "How good it is to be convinced, and to give up +one's own will; is it not?" + +"It ought to be," said Mr. A., "to those whose great business it is to +preach submission. But I think we did not differ at first, except as to +the use of terms." + +_Mr. T._ I wish to make a confession. Though I have always been of Br. +R.'s opinion, I have felt it to be invidious, and, for several reasons, +disagreeable, to call a meeting of "the children of the church,"--making +a distinction between them and the other children of my pastoral charge. +Am I correct in such views and feelings? + +"Come, Mr. Chairman," said Mr. A., "we have not paid you sufficient +deference, I fear; for we have hardly kept order, in addressing one +another, and not through you. Now, please to speak for us, and tell us +what you think of Br. T.'s difficulty." + +_Mr. C._ I have sinned with you, as to keeping order, if there has been +any transgression; but I have been so much interested and instructed, +that I forgot my preëminence over you. But to Br. T., I would say, There +is a church; and it means something, and something of infinite +importance. All our labors have this for their end, to make men +qualified for worthy church-membership, on earth, and in heaven,--the +conditions of admission here and there, as we hold, being essentially +the same. This church, which we thus build up, has children, call them +what we may, the objects of God's peculiar love. On that topic I need +not dwell. We ought to pay some marks of special regard to these +children, for God has done so. As to its being invidious, it is not more +invidious than to address our congregations as partly Christians, and +partly unconverted; or to invite the unconverted to meetings especially +designed for them. Meetings of the children of my church, called by me, +and addressed by me, never fail to make very deep impressions upon the +young, upon their parents, upon other children, and upon the parents of +those children. Another form of effecting the same desirable ends, is, +to call meetings of parents in the church, and their children, and to +address the parents and the children in sight and hearing of each other. +In doing so, if there are any parents in the church who are withholding +their children from baptism, we have the best of opportunities to +conciliate their feelings to the ordinance of baptism. We all know how +little is effected in our minds by abstract reasoning upon any subject, +where the feelings are deeply concerned; close argument, invincible +logic, absolute demonstrations, and all measures seemingly intended to +coërce the will, excite resistance, and confirm us in our prejudices. +But open to a parent, who has doubts on the subject, its inestimable +benefits to all concerned, and he will be more disposed to see the +grounds for it, and the abundant proofs of its divine authority, which +the atmosphere of pure reason had not sufficient power of refraction to +make him apprehend. + +_Mr. S._ I thank the chairman heartily for those remarks. May I add a +leaf from my observation? I have noticed that in such meetings of +parents, in the church, and their children, good influences sometimes +reach those who are pursuing the mistaken course of withholding their +children from baptism, under the plea that they can consecrate their +children to God as well without baptism, as with it. They need to learn +the spiritual power which God has vested in the sacraments of his own +appointment, and to be disabused of the notion that the baptism of a +child is, from beginning to end, merely a human act, of which God is +only a spectator;--they need to feel that baptism is something conferred +upon a child by God; and not merely a sign, but a seal. + +"Yes," said Mr. R., "it is an ordinance of God, and the neglect of it is +not merely a failure to obtain blessings, but a disregard of a divine +ordinance; not merely the withholding a sign of allegiance, but the loss +of a seal,--the government seal, not ours, which God would affix to the +intercourse between himself and our souls. If we, pastors, feel this +deeply, and so perceive the design of God in bestowing baptism upon the +children of his people, we shall convey to the hearts and minds of +doubting Christian parents, persuasive influences, which will succeed +where arguments and appeals, based on mere proofs and obligations, have +failed." + +_Mr. A._ It is gratifying, now, to think that these things, and others +like them, may be done without calling the children "members of the +church." Except discipline, it is obvious that everything in the way of +watchfulness may be done for them as children of the church, which it +would be proper, or even possible to do, if they were counted as +members. + +_Mr. R._ I am aware of the analogy which many, who plead for the term +members, seek to carry out between the Old and the New Testament church, +making children members of the Christian church, because the church in +ancient days included the children. But it seems to me that there is +the same difference, now and formerly, between the relation of children +to the church, that there is between the relation of the whole religious +community, now and formerly, to the church of God. Formerly, all the +members of the religious community were, by their association under the +same belief and worship, members of the church. To make the case with us +parallel, our whole Christian community ought to be members of the +church. No examination or discrimination should be used; to belong to +the Christian community should constitute church-membership. + +But this, we know, is not the case. God chooses now to make up his +visible church not as formerly, but of those who give credible evidence +of regeneration. They who worship with us, but do not profess to be +Christians, are hopeful subjects of effort and prayer, whom we expect to +receive hereafter to the visible church, on profession of their faith. + +As the Christian church is constituted differently from the Jewish +church, in this respect, discrimination and separation taking place +between the members of a Christian congregation, have we not analogical +reason to infer that it may also be thus with regard to children?--who +once, indeed, were members of the church of God, but, under the +dispensation of the Spirit, they fall, with other unconverted members of +the congregation, out of membership in the church. + +_Mr. C._ And yet, Br. R., the fall is not far, nor hurtful. They are +entitled to all the privileges, and they enjoy, or should enjoy, all the +care and effort, which they would have under a different name. Only they +do not come to the Lord's Supper, as a matter of course, as they did to +the Passover. + +_Mr. S._ Suppose that the legislature should incorporate a fish-market, +and cede to the proprietors fifteen square miles of the sea, within +which they should have the privilege of taking fish. All the fish, +within those fifteen miles of salt water, might be said to _belong_ to +the market; yet every one of them must be taken by hook and line ere his +belonging to the market is of any practicable value. So the children of +the church may be said to belong to the church, and are to constitute +her chief resource. Rivers, and other distant or neighboring waters, +would also send fish to that market, even if they were "far off;" but it +is from the bay at her doors that the market would derive her principal +supplies. I do not see that children are members of the church, any +further than those fishes belong to that market. Go there when you will, +you see the stalls filled from those adjacent waters; supplies are +continually coming in; they are, in a sense, secured to the market by a +covenant; yet every fish is caught and handled, before he has anything +like membership in that market, as really as though he swam and were +caught in Baffin's Bay;--only he is now far more likely to be caught, +and, in a sense, he already belongs to the market by the seal of the +state. + +Mr. A., the reader of the sermon, not having much ideality, but much +plain good sense, yet taking everything literally at first, and from his +own honesty supposing that all figures of speech are to be cashed, as it +were, for what they purport on their face, immediately challenged his +brother to carry out the illustration. He asked him whether the constant +passage, in and out, of fishes from and beyond the ceded fifteen miles, +allowed of any resemblance, in the migratory creatures, to the children +of the church, who are born and remain in the limits of the church, and +are designated, individually, by virtue of their parentage. + +Mr. S. replied, that he did not mean to make a comparison to satisfy all +the points of the case, and he hoped that the brethren would take it +with due allowance. + +Mr. T. said that he had thought of this illustration: "All the young +male children of the Levites might be said to be members of the +priesthood. They certainly 'belonged' to the priesthood. But no one of +them could officiate till he had complied with certain conditions, nor +if he was the subject of certain disabilities. He believed that the +children of God's people have, by the grace of God, as really a +presumptive relation, by future membership, to the church of Christ, as +an infant Levite boy had to sacred offices; prayer, with the child, as +well as for it, and faithful training, with a spiritual use of God's +appointed ordinances, constitute, he was persuaded, as good reason to +hope that the child of a true believer will become a Christian, and +that, too, early in life, as that the young son of Levi would minister +in the levitical office." + +"O," said Mr. B., "how many cases there are which seem to disprove +that. You will be obliged to reflect severely on some good people as +parents, if you take so strong ground." + +_Mr. T._ I do not despair of a child whose parents, or parent, has +really covenanted with God for him, even though the child be long a +wanderer from the fold. + +But it is the same now with Abraham's spiritual seed as it was with his +natural posterity,--neglect on the part of parents may work a forfeiture +of the covenant promises; failure in family government, above all +things, may frustrate every good influence which would otherwise have +had a powerful effect in the conversion of the child. The sons of Eli +were not well governed; Esau was evidently of an undisciplined spirit. +With regard to the children of several good men, in the Bible, it may be +inferred, that the public engagements of the fathers hindered them from +bestowing needful attention upon their sons. The only thing derogatory +to the prophet Samuel, of which we are informed, is, that his sons were +vile. With regard to certain cases of mournful wickedness, on the part +of the children of eminently good men, it will be found that some of +these men, occupying, perhaps, important stations of a public nature, +such as the Christian ministry, were so engrossed in their public duties +as not to give sufficient time and attention to their own families; +which is a great shame and folly in any father of a family. In vain do +we plead the covenant promises, if we neglect covenant duties. Grace is +not hereditary in any sense that compromises our free agency; its +subjects are born "not of blood;" there are many of the children of the +kingdom who will be cast out into outer darkness, but among them, we may +venture to say, will not be found those whose parents diligently sought +their moral and religious culture in the exercise of a strict, +judicious, affectionate, prayerful, watch and care, praying with them in +secret, which, it seems to me, is, perhaps, the most powerful of all the +means which a parent can use to influence the moral and religious +character of a child. + +"Is it not a mournful inconsistency," said Mr. R., "for us to be +laboring and spending our strength and lives for the conversion and +salvation of others, and not be equally zealous for the souls of the +children whom God has given us?" + +_Mr. C._ Our habits of seclusion and study may operate to make us +reserved, moody, and so repulsive, to our own children. We ought to be +interested in their every-day affairs, and watch for opportunities to +form their opinions, on moral as well as religious subjects, and be as +kind and assiduous to them, certainly, as we endeavor to be to other +children. + + * * * * * + +What more could these good men have said, with regard to the subject, +had they concluded to adopt the terms "member" and "membership," to +express the relation of children to the church? They were not conscious +of omitting or diminishing one privilege or blessing to which the +children of the church are entitled; everything which the most strenuous +advocates of "infant church-membership," so called, mention as accruing +to them, they claimed in their behalf. Did infant church-membership +admit to the Lord's Supper, as it did to the passover, the children +would now, with propriety, be said to be "members of the church." But, +inasmuch as, under the Christian dispensation, they cannot come to the +sacrament which distinguishes between the regenerate and the +unregenerate, without a change of heart, they, and all those who are +associated with the church in general acts of worship, and in Christian +privileges, but are not converted persons, are, alike, under the +Christian system, removed from outward membership--only, that the +children of the church have privileges and promises which go far to +increase the probability of their future church-membership, and directly +to prepare them for that sacred relation. + +"THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH," then, is the sufficient name by which it +seems desirable that the children of believers should be designated. +And, instead of using the term "church-membership," applied to them, we +shall include everything which is properly theirs, we shall lose +nothing, we shall prevent great misunderstanding, and liability to +perversion, by substituting the "Relation of Baptized Children to the +Church," whenever we wish to express the peculiar and most precious +connection which they hold, in the arrangements of divine grace, with +the covenant people of God. + + + + +Chapter Tenth. + +MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS. + + The mother, in her office, holds the key + Of the soul; and she it is who stamps the coin + Of character, and makes the being, who would be a savage + But for her gentle cares, a Christian man. + --Then, crown her Queen o' the world. + + OLD PLAY. + + +The pastors now adjourned their session under the maples, and repaired +to the room where their wives were sitting. The ladies had finished +their deliberations, and had been strolling in the woods. But they, too, +had been engaged, like their husbands, in conversation about their +children, and the children of the church. "Maternal Associations" had +been the chief topic. They had discussed their advantages, and had +considered objections to them. The result was, that they had unanimously +agreed to promote such associations in their respective churches. Their +influence on young mothers, in helping them to train their children, +affording them the results of experience gained by others; the privilege +of stating difficult and trying cases for advice, of praying together +for their children, of having those mothers, during the intervals of +their monthly meetings, pray for the children of their sisters, and +sometimes, specially, for a child in peculiar need of prayer, commended +these associations to their judgment and affections. One lady referred +to the possible disclosure of family secrets, at such meetings, which it +was unpleasant to hear, and to the undesirableness of revealing the +faults of a child. They agreed that these things should never be done, +and that it was easy to avoid them by employing a friend, if necessary, +to state the case, hypothetically, so as to conceal its connection with +any member of the circle. The ladies had gone so far as to adopt a +little manual, for their respective circles, which they submitted to +their husbands for criticism. One of the gentlemen read it, as follows: + +"MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS. + +"Maternal Associations are designed for mutual instruction and +consultation, in connection with united prayer. Subjects for reading and +discussion relate chiefly to the physical, mental, moral, and religious +training of children. Some individual is usually prepared at each +meeting to give method and tone to the conversation, which might +otherwise become desultory. The faults of children who are known to the +members are _not_ made the subject of remark; but cases of difficulty +are so presented as to avoid individual exposure. Associations conducted +on these principles are found to be greatly beneficial. + +"CONSTITUTION OF----CHURCH MATERNAL ASSOCIATION. + +"Impressed with a sense of our entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit to +aid us in training up our children in the way they should go, and hoping +to obtain the blessing of such as fear the Lord and speak often to one +another, we, the subscribers, do unitedly pledge ourselves to meet at +stated seasons for prayer and mutual counsel in reference to our +maternal duties and responsibilities. With a view to this object, we +adopt the following constitution: + +"ARTICLE I. This circle shall be called the 'Maternal Association +of----Church;' any member of which, sustaining the maternal relation, +may become a member by subscribing this constitution. Other individuals, +sustaining the same relation, may be admitted to membership by a vote of +two thirds of the members present. + +"ART. II. The monthly meetings of this Association shall be held on +the----of the month. + +"ART. III. The quarterly meetings in January, April, July, and October, +shall be held on the last Wednesday of the month, when the members shall +be allowed to bring to the place of meeting such of their children as +may be under the age of twelve years, and they shall be considered +members of the Association. The exercises at these meetings shall be +such as shall seem best calculated to instruct the minds and interest +the feelings of the children who may be present. + +"ART. IV. At each quarterly meeting there shall be a small contribution +by the children for benevolent purposes. + +"ART. V. The time appropriated for each meeting shall not exceed one +hour and a half, and shall be exclusively devoted to the object of the +Association. Every monthly meeting shall be opened by prayer and reading +a portion of Scripture, which may be followed by reading such other +matter as relates to the interests of the Association, or by +conversation tending to promote maternal faithfulness and piety. These +exercises may be interspersed with singing the songs of Zion, and with +humble and importunate prayer, that God would glorify himself in the +early conversion of the children of the Association, that they may +become eminently useful in the church of Christ. It is desirable that +the last meeting in the year be spent in reading the Scriptures and in +prayer. + +"ART. VI. Every member of the Association shall be considered as +sacredly bound to pray _for_ her children daily, and _with_ them as +often as circumstances will permit; and to give them from time to time +the best religious instruction of which she is capable. + +"ART. VII. It shall be the duty of every member to qualify herself, by +daily reading, prayer, and self-discipline, to discharge faithfully the +arduous duties of a Christian mother; and she shall be requested to give +with freedom such hints upon the various subjects brought before the +Association as her own observation and experience may suggest. + +"ART. VIII. When any mother is removed by death, it shall be the +special duty of the Association to regard with peculiar interest the +spiritual welfare of her children, and to evince this interest by a +continued remembrance of them in their prayers, by inviting them to +attend quarterly meetings, and by such tokens of sympathy and kindness +as their circumstances may render proper. + +"ART. IX. Every child, upon leaving the Association, at the prescribed +age, shall receive a book from the mothers, as a token of their +affection, to be accompanied by a letter, expressive of the deep +interest felt in their temporal and spiritual welfare. + +"ART. X. The officers of the Association shall be a 'First Directress,' +a 'Second Directress,' a 'Secretary,' and a 'Corresponding Secretary,' +who shall be appointed annually in September. + +"ART. XI. The duty of the First Directress shall be to preside at all +meetings, call upon the members for devotional exercises, and regulate +the reading. In the absence of the First Directress, these duties shall +devolve upon the Second Directress. + +"ART. XII. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to register the names +of the members, and of their children, and to supply each of the mothers +with a list of the same, together with a copy of the constitution. She +shall also keep a record of the proceedings of each meeting, and, as far +as may be convenient, of the topic discussed, and of the remarks +elicited by it. This record shall be read at the commencement of the +next subsequent meeting. She shall likewise receive the contributions of +the children, keep an account of the same, and pay it according to the +vote of the Association. + +"ART. XIII. It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to write +the letters addressed to the children upon leaving the Association, to +conduct the general correspondence, receive the contributions from the +mothers, and purchase the books to be given to the children. + +"ART. XIV. Any article of this constitution may be amended by a majority +of the members present at any annual meeting. + +"It is recommended to the members of the Association to observe the +anniversary of the birth of each child in special prayer, with +particular reference to that child. May He who giveth liberally, and +upbraideth not, ever preside in our meetings, and grant unto each of us +a teachable, affectionate, and humble temper, that no root of bitterness +may spring up to prevent our improvement, or interrupt our devotions. +The promise is to us and to our children; we have publicly given them up +to God; his holy name has been pronounced over them; let us see to it +that we do not cause this sacred name to be treated with contempt. May +Christ put his own spirit within us, that our children may never have +occasion to say, + + '_What do ye more than others?_'" + + * * * * * + +No criticism was made upon this production, but the pastors commended +it, and rejoiced in the good which an increased attention to the subject +would be sure to accomplish. They promised to preach on the subject, +and, in their pastoral visits, to encourage mothers in the churches to +join the Associations. + +One of the ladies said that she had a paper, which she had thought best +to read, if the company pleased, when they were all together, and she +had therefore reserved it until the gentlemen came in. + +It was a paper in the handwriting of a Christian friend, which was found +in her copy of the "Articles and Covenant" of her church, after her +decease. This lady had been in the habit, as it seemed, of reading over +those articles and the covenant, on the Sabbath when the Lord's Supper +was to be administered; and the religious education of her children, +being identified with her most sacred thoughts and moments, she read +these questions at the same time. + +The lady who read them said that it was proposed by some to append them +to the little manual already presented for Maternal Associations. + + * * * * * + +"QUESTIONS TO BE THOUGHT UPON. + +"1. Have I so prayed for my children as that my prayer produced an +effect upon myself? + +"2. Have I realized that to train my children for usefulness and heaven +is probably the chief duty God requires of me? + +"3. Have I realized that, if I cannot eradicate an evil habit, probably +no one else can or will? + +"4. Have I granted to-day, from indulgence, what I denied yesterday from +principle? + +"5. Have I yielded to importunity in altering a decision deliberately +made? + +"6. Have I punished the beginning of an evil habit? + +"7. Have I suffered the indulgence of an evil habit through sloth or +discouragement? + +"8. Have calmness and seriousness marked my looks, tones, and voice, +when inflicting punishment? + +"9. Was my convenience, or the guilt of the child, the measure of its +punishment? + +"10. Has punishment been sufficiently private, and have I tried to +affect the mind more than the body? + +"11. Do my children see in me a self-command which is the effect of +principle? + +"12. Have I, in my plans, my heart, and conduct, sought first for my +children the kingdom of God? + +"13. Have I commended God to my children, and my children to God? + +"14. Have I aimed to govern my children on the same principle and in the +same spirit which God adopts in the government of his creatures? + +"15. Have I, in pursuance of the above resolution, acted in the spirit +of that prayer in God's word, 'Them that honor me, I will honor, and +they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed'? + +"16. Have I aimed to secure the love and obedience of my children? + +"17. Have I remembered that it is full time to make a child obey when it +knows enough to disobey? + +"18. Do I realize that the fulfilment of covenant promises is dependent +on my fidelity? Gen. 18: 19. + +"19. Have these resolutions been undertaken in the strength of Christ, +remembering 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me'? + +"20. Have I labored to convince my child that its true character is +formed by its thoughts and affections? + +"21. Do I daily realize that each of my children is a shapeless piece of +marble, capable, through my instrumentality, of being moulded into an +ornament for the palace of the King of kings? + +"22. Do I, by my conversation and actions, teach my children that +character, and not wealth or connexions, constitutes respectability? + +"23. Do I realize what circumstances are educating my children;--my +conversation, my pursuits, my likings, and dislikings? + +"24. Do I realize that the most important book a child can and does +read, is its parents' daily deportment and example? + +"25. Do my children feel they can do what they like, or that they must +do what they are commanded? + +"26. Have I felt that a timid child is in great danger of being +insincere? + +"27. Do I, as an antidote to timidity, cultivate the fear of God and +self-respect? + +"28. Do I realize that I must meet each child at the judgment-seat, and +hear from it what my influence over it has been as a mother? + +"29. Do I realize that it is in my power to exert such an influence that +Christ shall see in each the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied? + +"30. Do I realize that my children will obey God much as they do me? + +"31. Do I impress on my children that little faults in Christian +families may be as dangerous to the soul, and as evil in their +tendencies, as larger faults where there is no Christian education? + +"32. Do I realize the danger of retarding or hindering the work of the +Holy Spirit, by evil habits, worldly pursuits, or companions? + +"33. Do I make each child feel that it has a work to do, and that it is +its duty and happiness to do that work well?" + + * * * * * + +The paper having been read, one of the pastors stated that he knew the +lady who had been referred to; that she died leaving a large family of +children, all of whom, he had learned, were now members of the church of +Christ except the youngest, of tender age. He hoped that the Questions +would be printed in the Manual for the Maternal Associations. + +"I was struck with the remark in some old writer," said Mr. R., "that +'God had clothed the prayers of parents with special authority.' It made +me think that, as the Saviour promised the apostles, for their necessary +assurance and comfort, that they should always be heard in their +requests, while engaged in establishing the new religion, so parents are +encouraged to think, since family religion, the transmission of piety by +parental influence, is so important, in the view of God, that they will +have special regard paid to all their petitions for aid, as God's +vicegerents in their families." + +But the repast was now ready. It was a goodly sight, when that company +of ministerial friends and their wives were sitting round that table. +"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together +in unity." There is a mysterious charm in eating together. It is well +known that associations designed for social acquaintance and +conversation, have, very generally, fallen to pieces soon after the +relinquishment of the repast. Our great ordinance, for the communion of +saints, is appointed to be at a table, where it originated. The flow of +kind feeling, which had prevailed during the afternoon among these +friends, seemed now to be in full tide, and many were the entertaining +and gratifying things which were there said and done. All possible ways +in which the products of an acre or two of well-cultivated land could be +prepared to tempt the appetite, were there. Br. S. was informed that +those fried fishes swam in Acushnit brook no longer ago than when he was +rehearsing his parable of the fishes. The strawberries had been kept on +the vines a day or two, for the occasion, and were in perfection. Eggs +figured on the table in every shape into which those most convertible +things could turn themselves; and, being praised, the lady of the house +said that she must tell them of Ralph, a boy of fourteen, whom her +husband had taken to look after his horse and garden, giving him his +tuition in Latin and other branches, for his services. Ralph was a great +amateur in fowls and eggs. No sooner did a hen cackle, but he resorted +to the nest, and, with his lead-pencil, wrote the day of the month upon +the egg. The lady rung her table-bell, and called him to her, telling +him to bring his egg-basket. He brought in an openwork, red osier +basket, with a dozen and a half of eggs in it, laid on cotton batting, +each egg as duly inscribed as the specimens of a mineralogist. Ralph was +highly praised. + +"I suppose you think, my son," said Mr. R., "that an egg, like +reputation, should be above suspicion." + +"It is best to be safe, sir," said he. + +"Ralph," said Mr. S., "do you know who baptized you?" + +"You baptized me yourself, sir." + +"Do you remember, Ralph, how you reached out your hands, at that time, +and took my hand, and put my finger into your mouth, and tried to bite +it with your little, new, sharp teeth?" + +Ralph blushed, and smiled. + +"You do not remember it, Ralph. Well, I do; and now, Ralph, you must +come and preach your first sermon in my pulpit." + +"It will be a long time first, sir," said Ralph. + +"Your dear mother told me, when she was sick, that she thought she left +you in the temple, like Samuel, when she offered you up in baptism." + +"Be a good boy, Ralph," said another of the pastors; "we will all be +your friends." He retreated slowly, feeling not so much alone in the +world. + +The company did not separate till two of their number had led in prayer, +seeking, especially, the blessing of God upon their own children, and +that they, as parents and ministers, might be warned by the awful fate +of the sons of Aaron and of Eli, and not feel that the ministerial +office gave them a prescriptive right to the blessings of grace for +their children, but rather made them liable to prominent exposure and +calamity, if they suffered public duties to interfere with that first, +great ordinance of God, family religion. + +The horses were now coming to the door. Farewells and good wishes were +intermingled, the joyous laugh at some pleasantry or sally of wit made +the house and yard alive for some time, the pastors had arranged their +exchanges for several months to come, visits and excursions were planned +and agreed upon, till one by one the vehicles departed, leaving the +parsonage silent, while its occupants sat down to rest a while, and talk +over the events of the day, in their pleasant window under the +honeysuckle. + + + + +Chapter Eleventh. + +BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN. + + In having all things, and not Thee, what have I? + Not having Thee, what have my labors got? + Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I? + And having Thee alone, what have I not? + I wish nor sea, nor land; nor would I be + Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee. + + QUARLES.--"_Emblems._" + + He whom God chooseth, out of doubt doth well. + What they that choose their God do, who can tell? + + LORD BROOKE (London, 1633).--"_Mustapha._" + + +A lady with whom we spent a summer at a watering-place, and who was then +an invalid, and with whom we had formed an intimate acquaintance, was +now very sick, with cancerous affections, which threatened to end her +life at no distant period. + +She had become established in the Christian faith, during her illness, +and, being a woman of great intelligence and cultivation, it was +instructive to be in her company. Many a lesson had I learned from her, +in the freshness and ardor of her new discoveries as a Christian, the +old themes of religious experience being translated by her renewed +heart, and discriminating mind, into forms that made them almost new, +because they were so vivid. She was fast ripening for heaven; she had +looked in, and her face shone as she turned to speak with us. + +A lady, a friend of hers from a distance, was visiting us, and, knowing +that she was sick, requested me to call with her upon the invalid. +Hearing that I was in the parlor, she sent for me to come up and sit +with her and my friend, after they had seen each other a little while. +She was in her easy-chair, able to converse, and was calm and happy. + +The door opened suddenly, as we were talking, and in rushed a little boy +of about six years, his cap in his hand, a pretty green cloth sack +buttoned close about him, his boots pulled over his pants to his knees, +and his face glowing with health and from the cold air. + +"O, mother!" said he, before he quite saw us,--and then he checked +himself; but, being encouraged to proceed, after making his +salutations, he said, in a more subdued tone, holding up a great red +apple, "See what the man, where we buy our things, sent you, mother. He +called me to him, and said, 'Give that to your mother, and tell her it +will be first-rate roasted.'" + +As the mother smelt of it, and praised it, with her thanks, the boy hung +round her chair, and wished to say something. + +"Well, what is it, my son?" + +He spoke loud enough for us to hear, with his eyes glancing occasionally +at us, to be sure that we were not too intently looking at him, and, +with his arm resting in his mother's lap, he said: + +"Do, please, let me go with my sled on the pond. It is real thick, +mother. Gustavus says that last evening it was as thick as his big +dictionary, and you know how cold it was last night, mother. Please let +me go; I won't get in; besides, if I do, it isn't deep--not more than up +to there; see here, mother!" putting his little mittened hand, with the +palm down, as high as his waist. + +His mother looked troubled, and knew not what to say to him, but +remarked to us, "O, if I were well, and about the house, I could divert +him from his wish; but," said she to him, "if you will ask Gustavus to +take care of you, and bring you home when he comes, you may go." + +Off he went, making fewer steps than there were stairs, and we heard his +merry voice without announcing his liberty. + +"Here I am," said she to us, "with those three children, who come home +from school twice a day, and there is no mother below to receive them. +With the best of help, things sometimes go wrong, and the young woman +who sews for me cannot, of course, do for them what a mother could. +Nothing has tried my patience, in suffering, more than to hear the door +open, and my children come in from school, and to feel that I am +separated from them, within hearing, while I cannot reach them." + +She controlled her feelings, and helped herself to conceal them by +turning to rock a cradle which stood behind her, though we perceived no +need of her doing so; yet we must all distrust our own ears in +comparison with a mother's. The child was a boy seven months old. + +"Do you know," said she to me, "that I am thinking of joining your +church? I have had a very trying visit from my own pastor, and he says +that I am too sick to be baptized by immersion, and that it is, +therefore, too late for me to receive Christian baptism. It is not +necessary, he says, in order to being accepted of God. I was born and +brought up in that Communion, and never thought much of the subject of +baptism till I hoped that I began to love God, here in my sick-room. If +baptism is so important as our ministers tell us it is, in their +preaching and by their practice,--for you know how important they deem +it, in times of religious attention, to have people baptized in our +way,--I cannot see why it is not important to me. If it is man's +ordinance, and merely for an effect on others, very well; but if God has +anything to do in it, I feel that I need it as much as though I were in +health. So my husband asked your minister to come and see me, and he +did; and he is to baptize me and my children on Saturday afternoon, and +administer the Lord's Supper to me after church the next day." + +I asked her what ground of objection her pastor had in her case. + +_Mrs. P._ My minister tells me it is superstition to be baptized on a +sick-bed, and that they are careful not to encourage such Romish +practices. + +"But, O," I said to him, "Mr. Dow, I am afraid it is because your form +of baptism will not allow you to baptize the sick and dying, so you make +a virtue of necessity." He colored a little, but said, pleasantly, +though solemnly, "We see how important it is, Mrs. Peirce, to attend to +the subject of religion in health, when we can confess Christ before +men, and follow the Saviour, and be buried in baptism with him." + +That made me weep, though perhaps it was because I was weak; but I said, +"God is more merciful than that, Mr. Dow. I know that I have neglected +religion too long, but God has brought me to him, by affliction, and now +I do not believe that the seals of his grace are of such a nature that +they cannot be applied to people in my condition. I feel the need of +those seals, not as my profession to God, but as his professions of love +to me. I believe you are wrong, Mr. Dow. You seem to make baptism our +act toward God, chiefly; now I take a different view of it. My sick and +weak condition makes me feel that in being baptized, and in receiving +the Lord's Supper, I submit myself to God's hand of love, and take from +him infinitely more than I give him."--"O, that is rather a Romish view +of ordinances," said he, smiling.--"No," said I, "Mr. Dow, I am not +passive in the ordinances, any more than in regeneration; my whole soul +is active in receiving their influences. But there is something done for +us in the ordinances, as there is something done for us in regeneration, +while we actively repent and believe. Are you not so afraid of Romanism, +and of 'sacramental grace,' that you go to an opposite extreme? for it +seems to me a morbid state of feeling. I wish for no extreme unction, +but I do believe that, in being baptized, and in receiving the Lord's +Supper, something more is done for us than helping us to take up and +offer to God something on the little needle-points of our poor feelings. +I should feel, in being baptized, that God has adopted me, and not +merely I him; and, in the Lord's Supper, that it is more for Christ to +give me his body and blood, than for me to give him my poor affections." +He asked me if I had not been reading the Oxford Tracts. I told him that +I read the Oxford Tracts, and other Puseyite publications, in their day, +and that I saw through their errors, and had no sympathy with their +views. + +But I told him I was satisfied that the human mind, in that +development, was craving something more supernatural in religious +ordinances, to make the impression that the hand of God is in them, and +not that we are the principal party. So, instead of taking enlightened, +spiritual views of ordinances, the Tractarians sought to improve the +quality, by multiplying the quantity, of forms; and others are following +them into the Roman Catholic church in the same way. + +"There always seemed to me," she said, "to be a grain of truth in every +great error. Is it not so? Even among the Brahmins of the East, and +among savages, each superstition, and every lie, retains the fossils of +some dead truth. When a new error breaks out among us, I feel that the +human mind is tossing itself, and reaching after something beyond its +experience. It seems to me," she continued, "that, at such times, it is +good for ministers and Christians to reëxamine their mode of stating the +truths of the Bible, to see how far they can properly go to meet the new +development, and, by preaching the truth better, intercept it. The cold, +barren view, which many take of ordinances, makes some people hanker +after forms and ceremonies; whereas, if we would present baptism and +the Lord's Supper as divine acts toward us, we might meet the +instinctive wants of many, and hold them to the side of truth. + +"But I told Mr. Dow that I was no formalist, nor did I believe in +compromising the truth to win errorists. Clear, faithful, strict +doctrinal views commend themselves to men's consciences." + +I came near saying to the good lady, that, if she were able to talk in +such a strain, and to say so much to her minister, he, surely, could not +have deemed her so enfeebled in mind as to be incapacitated for +admission to the Christian church. + +"I told him, also," she added, "I was satisfied that his unvarying mode +of baptism was not ordained by Him who sent the Gospel to every +creature.--Why, said I, Mr. Dow, what do you make of the apostles' +baptizing the jailer, 'at the same hour of the night,' and 'before it +was day?' It could not have been for any public effect. What need to +have it done just then? Was it superstitious and Romish? No; it was to +comfort the soul of the poor, trembling convert, with a sense of God's +love to him. How it must have soothed and cheered him to receive God's +hand of love in that ordinance, before he himself fully knew what the +making of a Christian profession implied! I want that same hand of love +here, in my prison of a sick-chamber,--And, I never thought of it much +before, but, I said then, it seemed so clear to me that they would not +have gone to all the trouble, that night, and in the prison-house, and +after the terrors of the earthquake, to put a whole family into +bathing-vessels. To take people from sleep, ordinarily, and immerse them +in water, would be a singular act; much more when they are weak and +faint, as the jailer's family must have been, from fear and excitement. +In my own case, I could not be immersed, even at home; it would probably +cost me my life. Sprinkling came to me as so sweetly harmonious, in that +scene of the jailer's baptism, that I believed it to be the apostolic +mode of baptizing, and I told Mr. D. that I should imitate the jailer; +and that I should send for a minister who could imitate Paul and Silas." + +"But," said I, "what brought you to believe in the propriety of +baptizing your children?" + +_Mrs. P._ Your minister enlightened me on that subject. I told him my +heart yearned to have it done; for I took the same view of it which I +have mentioned with regard to my own baptism--that it is something which +God does, to and for the children, primarily, and it is not merely a +human act. He said that it was like laying "a penal bond" on children, +to baptize them, and oblige them to do or be anything without their +consent. O, how many such "penal bonds" I have laid on my children, +already!--the more the better, I told him. "A penal bond" to love and +serve God!--I mean to add my dying charge to it, and make it as binding +as I can. How imperfect such a view of baptism is! It is God coming to +us with his seal, not we coming with our own invention to him. I wished +to have God enter into a covenant with me, who hope I love him, to be a +God to my children forever. I felt that I could die in peace, if I might +feel some assurance of this; and, it seemed to me that, to have a sign +and seal of it from God himself would make me perfectly happy. + +She handed me a book, which her pastor had lent her, and she asked me to +read a passage, to which she pointed. It was an argument against baptism +in sickness. Speaking of the penitent thief, the writer says: + +"The Saviour did not, as a Papist would have done, command some of the +women, that stood by bewailing, to fetch a little water; nor the +beloved disciple to asperse the quivering penitent." + +Remembering the view which the mother of little Philip took of such +things, I merely said, that the writer seemed to me to asperse a large +part of the Protestant world, under the name, Papist. Christian baptism, +I remarked, had not been instituted when the Saviour and the thief were +on the cross. + +I received an invitation from the husband, a day or two after, to be +present at the baptism of his wife and children. The husband was not +professedly, nor in his own view, a regenerate man, but one of the best +of husbands and fathers, destitute, however, of the one thing needful. + +The wife had on a loose cashmere dressing-gown, but was sitting in bed +for greater support and comfort. + +The pastor read to her the articles and covenant of the church. She +assented to them; whereupon, at his request, I laid the church-book of +signatures before her, gave her a pen full of ink, and she wrote her +name among the professed followers of the Lamb. + +The pastor then declared her to be admitted, by vote of the church, into +full communion and fellowship, after she should have received the +ordinance of baptism. + +He rose, and read, "And Jesus came unto them, and spake, saying, All +power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto +the end of the world. Amen." + +He continued: "My dear Mrs. Peirce, God is your God. He will have his +name written upon you, by its being called over you, with the use of his +own appointed sign and seal of baptism. The name in which he has chosen +thus to appear to you, is not God Almighty, nor his name Jehovah; but +those names which redemption has brought to view, and which impress upon +us the acts of redeeming grace and love. Do not feel, chiefly, that you +give yourself up to God in this transaction, though this, of course, you +do, and it is essential that you do so; but feel that the Father, Son, +and Spirit, come to you, and own you in the covenant of redemption, in +consequence of your accepting Christ, by faith, which itself, also, is +the gift of God. Professing repentance of your sins, and faith in the +Lord Jesus, you are now to receive, from the Sacred Three, a sign and +seal, confirming to you all the promises of grace, adopting you as a +member of the whole family in heaven and earth, and engaging God to be +your God. + +"And now, as you are, yourself, a child of God, your children God adopts +to be, in a peculiar sense, his. This is the method of his love from the +beginning. Had Adam remained upright, doubtless his children would have +been confirmed in their uprightness; but, inasmuch as he fell, and, by +his disobedience, they were made sinners, God reëstablished his covenant +with Abraham as the father of all believers, under a new +church-organization, to the end of time, promising to be the God of a +believer's child." + +He then read this hymn; and certain expressions in it never struck me +with such force and sweetness as in that baptismal scene: + + "How large the promise, how divine, + To Abraham and his seed; + I'll be a God to thee and thine, + Supplying all their need. + + "The words of his extensive love + From age to age endure; + The angel of the covenant proves, + And seals, the blessing sure. + + "Jesus the ancient faith confirms + To our great fathers given; + He takes young children to his arms, + And calls them heirs of heaven. + + "Our God, how faithful are his ways! + His love endures the same; + Nor from the promise of his grace + Blots out the children's name." + +"And now," said he, "as you belong to the church of Christ, so your +children, in a certain sense, and that a very important and precious +sense, _belong_ to the church. Your little, unconscious babe belongs, in +that sense, to the church. You will not, you cannot, misunderstand me. +These are the children of a child of God. All your brethren and sisters +in Christ count them in their great family circle. They covenant with +you to pray for them, to watch for their good, and to rejoice in it, to +provide means for their spiritual prosperity, and to seek their +salvation. But, above all, God will ever have special regard to them as +the children of his dear child. + +"Receive now," said he, "the divine ordinance of baptism, whereby God +signifies to you, and seals, all that is implied in being your God." + +He drew near the bed, with a silver bowl, from which he sprinkled water +upon the head and forehead of the dear believer, whose countenance +expressed the peace of receiving, rather than the effort of giving, +while her lips moved now and then during the quiet scene. + +They brought Edward, the first-born, and he stood, with his hand in his +mother's hand, and was baptized. There were almost tears enough shed by +us for his baptism, had tears been needed. Lucy came next, and then the +rosy-cheeked Roger, who had been persuaded to leave his new sled, a +little while, that Saturday afternoon. + +But now the little boy was coming in from his cradle. His mother raised +herself in the bed, and received him in her arms. He had been weaned, +but, on coming to his mother, he began to make some solicitations, +which, beautiful and affecting though they were, some of us endeavored +not to see, but turned to smell of some violets, and to open a book of +engravings. The mother smiled, and held him off, but immediately put two +fingers, one on each eye, and wept;--the marriage-ring on one of those +fingers,--ah, me! how had the finger shrunk away from it. The nurse took +the child and diverted its attention. The husband sat far on the bed, +put one arm under the pillow that supported his wife, and held her hand +in his. Recollections and anticipations, we knew, were thronging, +unbidden, into that mother's soul. She had been reminded of fountains of +love sealed up, and yet there were opening within her living fountains +of water. She grew calm, beckoned for a little book on the table, opened +it, and pointed her husband to a stanza, which she had marked, and he +read it for her:-- + + "When I can trust my all with God, + In trial's painful hour, + Bow all resigned beneath his rod, + And bless his sparing power; + A joy springs up amid distress, + A fountain in the wilderness." + +That was her profession of religion, and her signal to the pastor to +proceed. The father took the little boy in his arms, held him over the +bed, before his wife; the pastor reached from the other side, and +baptized Walter, in the name of the covenant-keeping God. The father +held the child for the mother's kiss, and then took him away, fearing a +repetition of the previous scene. But the wife drew her husband back to +her, and left a kiss on his own cheek, amidst his tears. + +"And now," said the pastor, after prayer, "God has been in this place, +and has himself applied to you and your children the seal of his +everlasting covenant. Do not make your faith in it to depend on the +degree of equanimity or vividness in your feelings; but remember what +Elizabeth said to Mary: 'And blessed is she that believeth, for there +shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the +Lord.'" + +"O," said Mrs. P., "is it possible that I live to see this day? I almost +forget my sickness, my separation from my husband and children, in the +thought that God is my covenant God, and the God of my children. My +baptism is to me a visible writing and seal from God; and my children's +baptism is the same. I always used to think of baptism merely as a +profession on our part. O, how much more there is in it, besides that! +It is God's covenant and testimony toward me. Blessed names!" said she, +soliloquizing,--"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! sweet society of the +Godhead! They come together; they are like the three that came to +Abraham's tent. Each has his precious gift and influence for my soul. +Why was I allowed to see this day, and enjoy this?" + +The pastor said, "This is just one of those things which make us say, +'His goodness is unsearchable.' There seems to be no way of accounting +for this rich, free, sovereign love." + +"Can I fear," said she, "to leave my children in such hands? No. God of +Abraham! 'thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.' +Faithful God! 'a God to thee and thy seed after thee;' what power the +seal of the covenant has to make you believe it; yes, and seemingly to +hear it read to you. Do speak to all our dear mothers, and tell them in +health to make far more, than many do, of baptism for their children." + +"And have you no blessing for me?" said the husband, as the pastor rose +to go. + +"Dear sir," said the pastor, "they seem to have left you alone." + +He had been sitting, somewhat out of sight, at the foot of the bedstead; +but, it was evident, from several signs, that his feelings were deeply +moved. + +The pastor took his arm, and, bidding the wife an affectionate but hasty +adieu, he went with him to the sitting-room below. + +"I need no arguments," said the husband, "to satisfy me, further, that +you are right. You have a system of religion which, I see, is good for +everything, and for everybody, and for all times, and places, and +circumstances. Sir, I have been sceptical; but I must confess that a +religion which can come into a family, like mine, and do what it has +done, through you, sir, to mine, and to me, must be from God. Sir, I +shall always respect our pastor for his consistency with his principles, +and for many other reasons; but I prefer principles like yours, which +can go to the sick and dying, and to little children whose mother----" + +Here he began to weep. The pastor said, "To take a mother from a young +family of children, like yours, Mr. Peirce, is just the thing which we +should prevent, could we have the ordering of affairs." + +"I feel," said Mr. P., "that God's hand is upon me. Passages from the +Bible, which I learned at sea, from love to my mother, come to me now. +She put a Bible in a box, and covered it up with a dozen pairs of +woollen hose, knit with her own hands. I have been saying to myself, in +the chamber, 'Behold, he cometh with clouds.' It is growing dark over my +dwelling; God is descending upon us in a cloud. 'Behold, he taketh away, +who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, what doest thou.' O, you +never lost a wife, my dear sir, nor looked on a motherless family, as I +begin to do. God help me, for I shall lose my reason." + +"No, my dear sir," said the pastor; "think what has just taken place up +stairs. You now seem to say, as Manoah did, 'We shall surely die;' but +his wife said, 'If the Lord were pleased to kill us,--he would not have +showed us all these things.' God has bestowed on your children, through +their believing mother, his covenant, to be their God.--You are a Notary +Public, I believe, sir." + +"I am," said Mr. Peirce. + +"Then," said the pastor, "you know the importance of seals." + +"O, yes," said Mr. P. "A gentleman, last week, came near losing the sale +of a large property, situate in one of the Middle States, because he had +had some papers executed, here, before a court not having a seal. I told +him, beforehand, that he was wrong; but he wished to know of what +possible use a seal could be, when the judge and the clerk used printed +forms, and the blanks were filled under their own hands. The papers came +back, and he had to do his business over again, and before a court +having a seal." + +"But he was perfectly honest, at first, I presume," said the pastor, +"only the form was defective." + +_Mr. P._ Yes, sir; but the form, in such a case, is the warranty. You +know that the power to have and use a seal is one of the things +specially conveyed by a legislature. + +"God has seals," said the pastor. "One is baptism. It used to be +circumcision. But, as the old royal seal is broken at the coronation of +a new king, God appointed a new seal, baptism, to mark the new +dispensation; as he also changed the Sabbath of creation in honor of +his Son's reign, and removed the memorial of his deeds of greatest +renown, the Passover, for one that signifies still greater deeds, the +Lord's Supper. Thus God has his seals. He attaches great importance to +them. He binds himself by them. Your wife, being a child of God, it is +his arrangement, from the beginning, to enter into covenant with her in +behalf of her children. He stands, now, in a special relation to them, +and has placed the beautiful seal of Heaven upon his promise to that +dear sick mother, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.'" + +"Is it necessary that the father should be left out?" said Mr. P., +covering his face with his handkerchief. "They are mine, and God holds +me responsible for them. I am to be left alone with them in the world. +Is there not mercy for me, too? O, I had such a gleam of hope in the +chamber! As I saw the water descending from your hand upon those dear +heads, I thought, How much like a divine act such baptism is,--something +from God. I always thought of baptism as a cross, to which I must +submit; now I see that it is a token of love, bestowed upon me. So I +thought of those words: 'I am found of them that sought me not.' God +seems to have come to me in that baptism. I was expecting that, if I +ever became a Christian, I must, in token of my submission, be buried in +the waters of baptism. I would be willing to be, still, if necessary; +but that gentle baptism, coming to me and mine, seems like God being +beforehand with me, doing something with me and for me. It made me think +of Christ inviting himself into the house of Zaccheus, to save his soul. +I always felt that I must obtain religion wholly of myself; now I feel +that God has begun the work in me. I am sustained and borne on. That +baptism was the most powerful appeal that ever reached my heart. It +seems to me, in its connection with the gospel, like a beautiful +symphony of instrumental music in an anthem, which strives to interpret +the words. It proved an overture to me, indeed, in the best sense. But, +my dear sir, how near we came to losing all this which my wife has +enjoyed." + +The door opened, and little Lucy came in with two plates and two silver +knives, and that great red apple which her mother had received a few +days before. "Mother sends her love to you, sir, and begs that you and +father will eat this." + +They looked at the apple for a few moments, when the husband said, "I do +not feel like eating it. Do oblige me by taking it home with you." + +The pastor took it home with him, placed it on his mantel-piece in his +study, where, for several days, it gave such an odor as to attract the +notice of every one that came in. The hand that sent it to him, in less +than a week had finished its work on earth. The apple then became a +hallowed thing. There it remained till it wilted, grew soft, and finally +turned nearly black. + +A little, unceremonious visitant to his father's study would often climb +into the chair near the shelf, and express his wonder, and repeat his +questions, at the seeming mystery,--first, of not eating the apple, and +suffering it to be wasted; and then, of letting it remain when it ought +to be thrown away. It was not long, however, before the apple was buried +in a pot of earth. In due time green shoots appeared. And when the +pastor saw them, he said with himself, "The children of thy servants +shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." + +How it grew in the pastor's study, a little sacramental emblem of +hallowed scenes, and of infinitely precious truths,--how a place was +selected, and afterwards prepared, for it, near a garden-wall which +separates the wife's little garden from her grave,--and how the husband +came alone, one Sabbath, and joined the church, receiving the seal of +baptism from the same hand that sprinkled the water upon the heads of +his wife and children,--I cannot tell you now, nor, after so long +detention, would you be willing at present to hear. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bertha and Her Baptism, by Nehemiah Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + +***** This file should be named 20428-8.txt or 20428-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/2/20428/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bertha and Her Baptism + +Author: Nehemiah Adams + +Release Date: January 23, 2007 [EBook #20428] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1> +BERTHA<br /> +AND HER BAPTISM.</h1> + +<p class='center'>By the Author of<br /> + +AGNES AND THE LITTLE KEY;<br /> +<i>or</i>,<br /> +BEREAVED PARENTS INSTRUCTED AND COMFORTED.</p> + +<p class='center' style="margin-top: 10em;"><small>BOSTON:<br /> +S.K. WHIPPLE AND COMPANY,<br /> +161 <span class="smcap">Washington Street</span>.<br /> +1857.</small> +</p> + + + + +<p class='center' style="margin-top: 5em;"><small> +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by<br /> +S.K. WHIPPLE & CO.,<br /> +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of<br /> +Massachusetts.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +STEREOTYPED BY<br /> +HOBART & ROBBINS,<br /> +New England Type and Stereotype Foundry,<br /> +BOSTON.<br /></small> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>This book, and that which is also named in the title-page, were written +at the same time, and as one book; but they were afterward separated, as +more properly constituting two volumes, the part which was the original +of the present volume now being greatly enlarged. Thus the two books +grew in the author's mind together, from one and the same root,—the +death of a little child.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 40em;">Page</span></p> +<h4><a href="#Chapter_one">CHAPTER I.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">PROBABILITIES OF AN ORDINANCE FOR CHILDREN,</span><span style="margin-left: 16em;"> <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span></p> + + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Second">CHAPTER II.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">THE GRANDFATHER'S LETTER.—THE NATURE, GROUNDS AND INFLUENCE,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">OF INFANT BAPTISM,</span><span style="margin-left: 29.5em;"> <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span></p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Third">CHAPTER III.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BAPTISMS.—THE SUBJECTS AND MODE OF</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">BAPTISM,</span><span style="margin-left: 35em;"> <a href="#Page_76">76</a></span></p> + + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Fourth">CHAPTER IV.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">IS THERE ONLY ONE MODE OF BAPTISM?</span> <span style="margin-left: 20em;"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></span></p> + + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Fifth">CHAPTER V.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">SCENES OF BAPTISM.—REASONABLENESS, BEAUTY AND POWER, OF</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">INFANT BAPTISM.—USE OF SPECIAL VOWS.—HUSBANDS AT</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">BAPTISMS.—NEGLECT OF BAPTISM,</span><span style="margin-left: 22.5em;"> <a href="#Page_130">130</a></span> +</p> +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Sixth">CHAPTER VI.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">TESTIMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS.—APOSTOLIC PRACTICE OF</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">INFANT BAPTISM.—MINISTERIAL USAGES IN BAPTISMS,</span><span style="margin-left: 13em;"> <a href="#Page_143">143</a></span> +</p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Seventh">CHAPTER VII.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">TERMS OF COMMUNION.—NON-INTRUSION.—DENOMINATIONAL COURTESY</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">AND KINDNESS,</span><span style="margin-left: 31.5em;"> <a href="#Page_184">184</a></span> +</p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Eighth">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">THE ROAD-SIDE BAPTISM,</span><span style="margin-left: 27em;"> <a href="#Page_198">198</a></span> +</p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Ninth">CHAPTER IX.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH.—ARE THEY MEMBERS OF THE</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">CHURCH?</span><span style="margin-left: 34.5em;"> <a href="#Page_216">216</a></span> +</p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Tenth">CHAPTER X.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS.—CONSTITUTION AND RULES FOR THEM.—A</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">CHRISTIAN MOTHER'S QUESTIONS TO HERSELF</span> <span style="margin-left: 17.25em;"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></span> +</p> + +<h4><a href="#Chapter_Eleventh">CHAPTER XI.</a></h4> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN,</span> <span style="margin-left: 16.25em;"> <a href="#Page_272">272</a></span> +</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>BERTHA<br /> + +AND HER BAPTISM.</h2> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_one" id="Chapter_one"></a>Chapter First.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Probabilities of an Ordinance for Children</span>.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">'Tis aye a solemn thing to me</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To look upon a babe that sleeps,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Wearing in its spirit-deeps</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The unrevealed mystery</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of its Adam's taint and woe.—</span><span class="smcap">Miss Barrett.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Heaven lies about us in our infancy.—</span><span class="smcap">Wordsworth</span>.<br /> +</p> + + +<p>It is generally believed that, of those who have gone to heaven from +this world, by far the larger part have been infants and young children. +Born here, they were by one man's disobedience made sinners; born of the +Spirit, at their early translation to heaven, they hold an important +place in the plan of salvation by Christ. Very beautiful, as well as +sublime, is the thought of so large a contribution, to the heavenly +world, of human beings in the dawn of their existence, enhancing, as we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +may suppose, the happiness of heaven by such large admixture of exotic, +youthful nature, and illustrating, by their redemption from a helpless +state of sin and misery, the unsearchable riches of wisdom and grace.</p> + +<p>Has God done anything, in this world, to mark his regard for that class +of the human race constituting, thus far, the greater part of the +redeemed? We naturally look for something reminding the world of his +interest in these subsidiaries of his kingdom. Has he confined his +notice to those that are full-grown, and who have, thus far, the larger +part of them, withheld from him the fruit of his vineyard? God has a +church on earth, with ordinances, symbols, covenant signs: among them is +there not some sign, symbol, or ordinance, recognizing those who, more +than any other of the race, have, till now, been swelling the numbers of +that church in heaven?</p> + +<p>Like those elements of astronomical calculation which require and lead +men to expect undiscovered planets in a certain quarter of the +firmament, analogy, and the known intercourse of God with mankind, and +our moral sense, incline us to look for some symbolic recognition of +this earthly constitu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>ency of heaven by him who ordained and is +redeeming to himself a church from among men. Words of interest and love +toward them on the part of God, we all know, are not wanting in the +Bible. Acts of loving-kindness, also, proving the sincerity of those +words, and reaching even to a thousand generations of them that love +God, are everywhere seen in sacred history.</p> + +<p>But is there no great, conspicuous symbol of these things,—no type, no +rite? Symbols appear to be inseparable attendants of God's manifested +favor to men. He cannot enter into covenant with an individual, much +less a people, but there is at least a stone set up, or a +threshing-floor is bought for him, an altar is built, or they pour out a +horn of oil. He invites Ahaz to ask of him a sign of his promise: "Ask +it," he says, "either in the depths, or in the height above;" and, when +that man refuses, God gives him a sign. Emblems, seals and types, in the +early dispensation, burst forth like images in the waters of everything +along the banks, and even of things far off. Everything has its +memorial, its rite; are the children, is the parental relation, +forgotten?</p> + +<p>Here let us consider that God began with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> first parents and the +first children of the human race to set forth that great law of his +administration, the connection of children with parents for good or +evil. Every descendant of Adam is an example under that law. Thus it was +for nineteen generations,—from Adam to Abraham.</p> + +<p>When, therefore, God reëstablished his church at the call of Abraham, it +was no new thing to connect parents and their children in covenant +promises and blessings. It had its origin in the very nature of man. +Abraham, and the covenant made with him for all believers and their +children, are, indeed, a striking illustration of a principle recognized +and applied by the Most High; but the principle itself is older than +Abraham,—it is coëval with the moral constitution of man. In making a +covenant with Noah, God included his children; so with David, making +mention of his house, "for a great while to come."</p> + +<p>As soon, therefore, as religion was established in the earth, by +securing its perpetuity through the conservative influences of one +selected line of descent, the child was taken, as being the object of +the covenant, and the means of its perpetuation, and received its seal. +God designed to perpetuate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> religion in the earth, thenceforward, +chiefly by means of the parental relation; for the parent represents God +to the child more than any other fellow-creature, or thing, can +do,—more than any instituted influence, whether of prophet, priest, +church, or ritual. Setting up his church for all future time, with +Abraham for its founder, God included children with parents who +covenanted with him, as the objects of special regard and promise, and +he appointed a rite to mark and seal that covenant. Thus it was from +Abraham to Christ, during three times fourteen generations.</p> + +<p>But the day of types and symbols was succeeded by another era, in which +the church of God comes forth with the glory of God risen upon her, and +all the nebulous matter of types and ceremonies is gathered together +into two permanent sacraments; for human nature was not beyond the need +and help of outward signs. Now, in the earlier of the two ages of the +church, the child was recognized by a rite of the church; the child, +with that rite inscribed on him, was the sign-bearer of the church's +perpetuity. Yet, in the age following, the child was as dear to the +parent as ever; the Christian parent was as much concerned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> to have +religion flow through his seed, as were his predecessors; the salvation +of the child was regarded with the same solicitude, and the principle of +perpetuating religion by the family constitution was still the same.</p> + +<p>But did God withdraw from the children of his servants, from the most +hopeful of all the sources of his church's increase on earth and in +heaven, all token of his regard in any sacramental act? Is parental +affection, under the reign of Immanuel, debarred the enjoyment of one of +its most valuable privileges, the sealing of the child to be the Lord's +by the use of a divinely-appointed symbol? Had no ordinances and symbols +been allowed after the institution of Christianity, this question would +not arise; the inference would have been that human nature, under the +Gospel, will no more need the aid of rites in religion. But there are +Christian rites, expressly and solemnly instituted. Is not that most +important relation of a believer's child to God perpetuated; and is it +not still to be sealed by the use of one of the Christian ordinances?</p> + +<p>In considering this question, and the many interesting topics connected +with it, the writer will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> allowed to take his own way, following an +historical order in the occurrences which may be supposed to have made +the subject interesting and clear to the minds of two parents.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Second" id="Chapter_Second"></a>Chapter Second.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">The Grandfather's Letter.</span></p> + +<p class='center'>THE NATURE, GROUNDS, AND INFLUENCE, OF INFANT BAPTISM.</p> + + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">If temporal estates may be conveyed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">By cov'nants, on condition,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To men, and to their heirs; be not affraid,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">My soule, to rest upon</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The covenant of grace by mercy made.</span></p> +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"> +<span class="smcap">George Herbert</span>,—"<i>The Font.</i>"</p> + +<p> +—No finite mind can fully comprehend the mysteries into which his +baptism is the initiation.—<span class="smcap">Coleridge</span>,—"<i>Aids</i>," &c.</p> +<p> +Christian faith is the perfection of human reason.—<span class="smcap">Ibid.</span> +</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Daughter Bertha</span>:—I am glad that you think of taking +your little namesake to the house of God for baptism. You wish to know +my views about it in full. My new colleague having relieved me of many +cares and labors, I shall hope to write more frequently; but not often +so long a letter as I fear this will be; for I wish to tell you of some +conversations which I have had on the subject in question. This will +show you the com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>mon difficulties, in which, perhaps, you share, and my +way of removing them; and also set before you the privileges and +blessings connected with the baptism of your child.</p> + +<p>A man and his wife—sensible, plain people—came to our house one +evening last July, when the "vines with the tender grape gave a goodly +smell," through that trellis which you and Percival have such pleasant +reason to remember. We were all sitting there in the moonlight, when +this Mr. Benson and his wife came up the door-way, and were welcomed +into our little group. After a few words of mutual inquiry and answer, +he said:</p> + +<p>"Wife and I, sir, thought that we would make bold to come and trouble +you a little to tell us about baptizing our boy. He is getting to be +four months old, and we are not willing to put it off much longer. +Still, we would like to know the grounds of it a little better. People, +you know, do not think much about it till it comes to be a case in hand.</p> + +<p>"But I do not know," said he, looking round on your mother and the +children, "but that we do wrong to take this time for it. It will be +rather a dry subject for these young friends to hear."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Not at all. They owe too much to what was done for them when +they were little children, to dislike it. Besides, there is nothing dry +about it, as I view the subject. It is one of the most beautiful things +in religion.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Benson.</i> It is next to the Lord's Supper, I always thought, if +people take the right view of it.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> It makes you love God the Father in some such way as the +Lord's Supper makes you love the Saviour. I think, sometimes, that the +baptism of children is our heavenly Father's Sacrament.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> I like that; but there is so much to study and learn about the +"Abrahamic covenant," that I feel a little discouraged. I have had books +lent me on the Abrahamic covenant, and I began to read them; but they +looked hard; so I told my wife that perhaps you would make the thing +more clear, and bring it home to our feelings, and that we would come +and get your ideas about it.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> How glad I am that you came! But tell me what you take the +Abrahamic covenant to mean.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> I suppose it means that God told Abra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>ham to circumcise his +children, and infant baptism comes in the place of it, and we must do it +if we are Abraham's spiritual children. But I wish to see the use of it. +I am willing to do it, but I should like to feel it more; and I want to +know how baptism comes in the place of circumcision, and a great many +other things.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> I think that you may possibly have what may be called some +Jewish notions about the Abrahamic covenant, though I trust you are +right in the main. That phrase sounds foreign and mysterious, and I +never use it except in talking with people who I know have the thing +itself already in their hearts.</p> + +<p>I called Helen to me, and told her to say the hymn which she had +repeated to me the last Sabbath evening.</p> + +<p>She cleared her voice, leaned against me, and twisted her fingers in my +hair behind, and, with her eyes fixed there, she said this hymn:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And speak some boundless thing;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The mightier works or mightier name</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of our eternal King.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And sound his power abroad;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sing the sweet promise of his grace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And the performing God.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Proclaim salvation from the Lord</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">For wretched, dying men;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">His hand has writ the sacred word</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">With an immortal pen.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Engraved as in eternal brass</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The mighty promise shines;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Nor can the powers of darkness rase</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Those everlasting lines.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"He who can dash whole worlds to death,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And make them when he please,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He speaks, and that Almighty breath</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Fulfils his promises.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"His very word of grace is strong</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">As that which built the skies:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The voice that rolls the stars along</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Speaks all the promises.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"He said, 'Let the wide heavens be spread;'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And heaven was stretched abroad.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'Abra'am, I'll be thy God,' he said;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And he was Abra'am's God.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">But whisper, 'Thou art mine!'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Those gentle words should raise my song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To notes almost divine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"How would my leaping heart rejoice,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And think my heaven secure!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I trust the all-creating voice,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And faith desires no more."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> What a happy man Abraham must have been when the Almighty made +this engagement and promise: "I will be a God to thee!" That was the +"Abrahamic covenant," in part.</p> + +<p>"Does covenant mean that?" said Mrs. B.</p> + +<p>"What?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Why, sir, what you have just said,—engagement, promise?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing more," said I. "But what a happy man, I say, Abraham must have +been! 'A God to thee!' To have the Almighty say to one, 'I will be a God +to thee!' You know that this is everything."</p> + +<p>"That is a fact," said Mr. B., wiping his eyes; "for, when I went to my +store, the morning after I became a Christian, I went along the street, +saying to myself, 'Now I have a God. God is God to me. Thou art my +God.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," said his wife; "Deacon B., the post-master, heard you, as you +went by his side-window, and he made an excuse to bring me up a paper, +that forenoon, and asked whether you had not met with a change in your +feelings on the subject of religion."</p> + +<p>"Did he?" said Mr. B. "Well, I did not mean to be heard, and yet I was +willing that everybody should know how happy I was in having one whom I +could call my God. How I had lived so long without God for my God, +amazed me."</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> You make me think of a man who, one night, on reaching his +house, after having attended a lecture in a school-room, was filled with +such surprising views and feelings, with respect to the greatness and +goodness of God, that he saddled his horse, rode three miles, waked up +the minister, and, as he came to the door, took hold of each arm, and +said, "O, my dear sir, what a God we've got!" He would not go in, but +soon hastened back. It was the substance of all that he wished to say; +he desired to pour out his soul to some one who would understand him. He +was like a thirsty land when at last the great rain is descending.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> I suppose many people would have thought him crazy.</p> + +<p>"I suspect the minister did, at first," said Mrs. B.</p> + +<p>"And yet I suppose," said I, "he was never more rational. Just think +what it is for a poor sinner all at once to feel that the eternal God is +his; that He will be a God to him! We hear of some people dying at the +receipt of good news; and I have seen some so happy at this experience, +of having a God to love and to love them, that, if the thing itself did +not, as it always does, bring peace and inward strength with it, nature +could not have sustained it."</p> + +<p>"Joy unspeakable," said Mr. B. "And full of glory," said his wife, +waiting a moment for him to finish the quotation.</p> + +<p>"Now, my dear friends," said I, "that man on horseback, at his +minister's door at midnight, had, at that moment, the first part of what +is meant by the 'Abrahamic covenant.' How little way do these words go +toward expressing the thing itself, and a man's feelings under it! There +was a time when God made Abraham far more happy even than he did you on +your way to the post-office that morning."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Helen came along, just then, with a fruit-basket of apples, and I said +to her, as she was going round with them, "Say again that verse in your +hymn, which has these words in it, 'Thou art mine.'"</p> + +<p>So, while Mr. B. was paring his apple, Helen stood before him, and said:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">But whisper, 'Thou art mine!'</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Those gentle words should raise my song</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To notes almost divine."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Mr. B. put his apple and knife down, and took his red bandanna +handkerchief from under his plate, and, wiping his eyes, said:</p> + +<p>"Hymns always make me feel a good deal, especially Watts's. I've read +that hymn in meeting before the exercises began."</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> You know, by happy experience, what it is when that heavenly +tongue whispers, "Thou art mine."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> I do, sir, if I know anything.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Now, my dear friends, there is something awaiting you, which +you seem not to have experienced, but which is as good as that.</p> + +<p>"We would like to hear about it," they both replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How should you like, Mrs. B.," said I, "to have your little boy become +a sailor?"</p> + +<p>"O dear!" said she, "I should have no peace from this time, if I thought +he was to be a sailor."</p> + +<p>"But that," said I, "may be God's chosen occupation for him,—the way in +which he will employ him to bring him to himself, and then use him to be +a preacher to seamen, for example, and so to scatter the truth in many +parts of the earth. We are not our own, Mrs. B., and this dear boy was +not given you, as we say, to keep. 'For thou hast created all things, +and for thy pleasure they are and were created.'"</p> + +<p>"I want him brought up at college," said Mrs. B., looking at your +mother, who, she probably thought, would understand her motherly +anticipations about her boy so far ahead.</p> + +<p>"Well," said I, "let us send him to college. I suspect that you would +feel a good deal the morning he left you, would you not?"</p> + +<p>"O," said she, "I should so want him to be good first! If he should not +be a good man, I would not have him get learning to do harm with it, and +make himself more miserable hereafter."</p> + +<p>The little gate, with its chain and ball, swung<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> to at this moment, and +a woman and girl came up the walk. It was Mrs. Ford, who used to be your +dress-maker, and her daughter Janette, now about thirteen. It was a +farewell call from Janette, who was going to the neighborhood of +Philadelphia, into a coach-lace manufactory.</p> + +<p>"So Janette is going to leave us, to-morrow, Mrs. Ford?" said your +mother.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madam, and I feel sorely about it; so young, and such a way off, +and all strangers except the foreman, who spoke to me about her coming! +O, sir," said she, changing her undertone, and turning to me, "what +should we do without that promise, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy +seed after thee'?"</p> + +<p>I looked at Mr. and Mrs. B., and we all smiled, while I said:</p> + +<p>"Now we have got the second part of the 'Abrahamic covenant.' So now we +have the whole of it. Mrs. Ford, when you came in, we were talking about +baptizing children, and about the 'Abrahamic covenant.' What do you +understand by that covenant?"</p> + +<p>"I understand by it, sir," said she, slowly gathering her words into +proper order; "why, I think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> I understand by it, that God promises to be +a God to a believer's child, as he was in such a wonderful way to +Abraham's people."</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Well, that is the substance of one part of it, at least. Did +you know, Mrs. Ford, that when you came in we were just entering Mrs. +Benson's son at college?</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> Not this Mrs. Benson, of course. Whom do you mean, sir?</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> This Mrs. Benson;—her little son.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> O, I understand! Well, you will send him to P., I suppose, +it is so near.</p> + +<p>"We had not fixed on the college," said Mrs. Benson, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Janette," said I, "how do you like the thought of going off so far from +us all?"</p> + +<p>Janette pulled the ends of her plain cotton gloves, and her heart was +full, so that she could not speak for a moment. I was sorry that I had +asked the question, and therefore added:</p> + +<p>"You will not go where God cannot take care of you and bless you the +same as at home, will you, dear?"</p> + +<p>She lifted her white apron to her eyes, while Mrs. Ford said for her:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I tell Janette that I gave her up to God in baptism; and when her +father lay sick, he said, 'That child was given to God in his house; I +leave her destitute, and with nothing but her hands, but I leave her to +a covenant-keeping God.'"</p> + +<p>"Now," said I, "here is a dear daughter going to a strange place to +learn a trade. She knows not a soul in the place but the foreman who has +hired her. A boy is going to college, another to sea, another to a +distant city. Here is a daughter, who receives particular attentions +from certain young friends, and the probability is that she will be +asked in marriage; and here is a son, who with his parents are in doubt +with regard to his future occupation and course of life. God only knows +the feelings of parents at such times. What prayers are made in +secret,—what vows! One wrong step may embitter life. A right step may +lead to prosperity and great happiness. I sometimes wish that we could +gather our children together, in some of these emergencies and critical +periods of their lives, and offer up prayers and vows, as parents and +friends, in their behalf. There would not be many meetings more +interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>ing than these, Mr. Benson. How the parents of such children +would love everybody that came at such times to pray for their children; +and what prayers would go up to God!"</p> + +<p>"Can we not have some such meetings?" said Mr. Benson. "Every parent +would like it, I am sure."</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Well, we do have some such meetings occasionally, I remember.</p> + +<p>"Our minister loves to use parables," said Mrs. Benson, looking at your +mother, "so as to make us understand the meaning better, and remember +it."</p> + +<p>"I must ask you to explain," said Mr. Benson.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> As often as we bring a child to the house of God for baptism, +Mr. Benson, we have such a meeting, if Christians will but understand it +so. We come with the parents, and say, "Lord God, here is this dear +child, with a momentous history pending upon thy favor and blessing. In +all future time, in the critical moments and eventful steps of its life, +or in its early death, or in its orphanage, be thou a God to this +child." If God should to-night, Mrs. Ford, say to you, "I will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> be +Janette's God," would you not send her away with a light heart?</p> + +<p>"He should have her for life, dear child!" said she; "and I do feel that +he is a God to her."</p> + +<p>"He is," said I, "if you have really made a covenant with him about your +daughter."</p> + +<p>"I have, sir," said Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Did the covenant have any seal? Some good people, you know, +think it enough to covenant with God about their children, without using +any special act to mark and seal it. Now it is only in consecrating +children to God that they omit the seal from the covenant. We practise +adult baptism, joining the church, confirmation, and we partake of the +Lord's Supper, feeling the propriety and the use of acts and testimonies +in the form of an ordinance. What seal had your covenanting with God +about your child?</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> I see it now clearer than ever. As we stood with this child +in our arms, we both said, afterwards, we made a public profession of +religion anew; and, when the minister said those sacred names over her, +I felt more than before that I was having transactions with God about +the child. But people used to say to me, "Why not wait and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> let Janette +be baptized when she is old enough to understand it?" How little they +knew about it! Just as though, I told them, if I had money to put into +the savings-bank for Janette, I would wait and let her put it in herself +(it is so pleasant to put it in when you know all about it!), instead of +laying it up for her in the funds, and let it count up while she is +growing.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Those friends who advised you so, think, perhaps, too much of +the ceremony itself, and not so much of what it signifies. Now the +pleasure of being baptized is nothing compared with having God enter +into a covenant in your behalf when you knew nothing about it.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> They said to me, also, "What right have you to do it, +instead of letting her have the choice and privilege of doing it herself +hereafter?" I told them that, if we acted on that principle, in the +treatment of our children, there would be a long list of useful things, +which we do for them, to be postponed.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> We can benefit another without his consent. The question is, +whether it is a benefit to a child for God and its natural guardians to +make a covenant together in its behalf.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. Benson.</i> It surely is so, if God truly is a party to such a +covenant. But where is the proof that he is? That is my trouble. They +tell me that this covenanting with God for a child, and sealing it with +an ordinance, ceased with Abraham, who was a Jew; that it was a Jewish +custom, which died out.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Abraham a mere Jew! God's covenant with a believer and his +children a Jewish covenant! Never was there a greater mistake. Paul +tells us expressly it was not so. Get me a Bible, Helen, and bring me a +lamp. I read these words: "And the promise that he should be heir of the +world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the +righteousness of faith." His relation to the world was independent of +dispensations; it grew out of that faith which he had in common with all +believers to the end of time. "And he received the sign of circumcision, +a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being +uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, +though they be not circumcised." Christ also says: "Moses, therefore, +gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the +fathers.)" Abra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>ham was not a Jew when God covenanted with him, any more +than you, madam, were Mrs. Ford, when, at the age of sixteen, as you +have told me, you entered into covenant with God. That covenant had +chief respect to your immortal soul, and yet it reached in its +influences to all the conditions of that soul while here in the flesh. +So God covenanted with Abraham as a believer, not as a mere national +ancestor; yet temporal and spiritual blessings came in rich measures +upon his immediate descendants. But we read, "So then as many as be of +faith are blessed with faithful," that is, believing, "Abraham." "And if +ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the +promise." Can anything be plainer than this?</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> My father was a minister, you know, sir, and he used to +preach a great deal on this subject.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Let us hear your understanding of these passages, Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid," said she, "I cannot tell you just what he used to say. +But my idea of it is this: Though Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew +people, he was no more a Jew than a Gentile in his covenant with God, +for it was as believer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the great believer, that God made a covenant +with him. So that he was not circumcised as a Jew, but, as the Bible +says, to have a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith. God +made a covenant with him as a believer, to be his God and the God of his +children, as the children of a believer, not a Jew; so that all +believers are blessed with believing Abraham, by having the same +covenant extended to them. Then, I take it, God gave him a sign and seal +as a pledge, and to remind him of it, and to keep his children in +remembrance." She paused, and I said:</p> + +<p>"Please to go on." You remember, Bertha, how you used to make this Mrs. +Ford discuss doctrinal matters when she was sewing for you.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Ford.</i> I remember that father said that God took the rainbow as a +sign and seal of his promise, to Noah and all future generations, that +there should never be another universal deluge. So he appointed a +children's ordinance to mark his covenant with believers to the end of +time. Only there was this difference; the way of signing and sealing the +covenant not being coupled with the laws of nature, but conforming to +the kind of symbols successively in use, it was changed, at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> time +that the Sabbath was changed, and the whole of the old dispensation; but +father used to say, Is the commonwealth and citizenship broken up +because the legislature adopts a new state seal? Does that destroy all +the old public documents?</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Good! So the United States' mint is from time to time changing +its dies; lately it has abolished copper, and substituted equivalent +coins of different composition. But money does not perish. A cent is a +cent still, red or white. So, whether the seal be blood or water, the +great ordinance which it seals remains the same.</p> + +<p>"And now I will tell you," said I, "how it seems to me God's covenanting +with parents for their children came to pass. He wished to give Abraham +a token and seal of his love to him. So he took his child, the thing +which he loved best, and would see oftenest, and thought of most, and +made the child, as it were, the tablet on which to write his covenant +with the father. That was one reason. 'Because he loved the fathers, +therefore he chose their seed.' But this is the least of the reasons in +the case.</p> + +<p>"Here is one of vastly greater importance. God wished to perpetuate +religion in the earth. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> knew that the family constitution would be +the principal means of doing this, parents teaching and commanding their +children, and so transmitting religion. Because he knew that Abraham +would do this, he gave it as a reason for his love and confidence in +him, in not concealing from him his purpose to destroy Sodom. 'Shall I +hide from Abraham that thing which I do? For I know him that he will +command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep +the ways of the Lord.' So, in order to remind Abraham of what was +expected by the Most High in making his children the presumptive heirs +of grace, and to remind the children of it when they came to years of +understanding, God gave him and them this mark and seal."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Mr. Benson, "it seems to me Abraham was better off +than we, if he had God in covenant with him for his children, and we +have not. I sometimes wish that I could have God covenant with me about +my boy, as Abraham had about Isaac."</p> + +<p>"I should like," said Mrs. B., "to hear him say, 'I will be a God to +him,' and then tell us to do something of his own appointment that +should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> like our signing and sealing a covenant together, as the +Lord's Supper enables us to do with Christ."</p> + +<p>"If we have no such blessed privilege," said I, "then, as Abraham +desired to see our day, I should, in this respect, rejoice to see +Abraham's day. I cannot forego the privilege of having God in covenant +with me for my children as he was with Abraham for his; and I crave some +divine seal affixed to it.</p> + +<p>"You said, Mrs. Benson, that you would like to have God promise to be +the God of your child, and then command you to do something which would +be like God and you signing and sealing it together. But do you think, +Mrs. B., that this is necessary? Why is it not enough for God to make a +promise, and you make one, and let it be without any sign or seal?"</p> + +<p>"People don't do things in that way," said Mr. Benson, with a decided +motion, two or three times, with his head. "They call a wedding a +ceremony, it is true, and some say, 'So long as people are engaged to be +man and wife, the ceremony makes little difference.' But it does make +all the difference in the world,—this mere ceremony, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> they call it. +They never like to dispense with it themselves, at least; because, you +see, it makes all the difference between unlawful, sinful union, and +marriage. It makes married life; which could not exist, without the +ceremony, among decent people. It gives a title and ground to a thing +which could not be without it. So, I begin to see and feel, it is with +regard to what some call the ceremony of baptism. But excuse me, wife, I +took the answer out of your mouth."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Benson to me, "I must wait upon you, sir, to answer +the question further."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Benson has the right view of the subject," I replied. "We make too +little of signs and seals, from a morbid fear and jealousy of those +which are invented by man and added to religion. But God's own seals are +safe and good. We cannot make too much of them.</p> + +<p>"God never did anything with men, from the beginning, without signs and +seals. The tree of life was one, and so was the tree of the knowledge of +good and evil. Adam and Eve knew better, at first, than to say, 'So long +as we love and obey God, of what use are these symbols?' By not +regarding symbols afterward, they brought death into our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> world and all +our woe. Even before that, God had appointed a symbol of his authority, +and a seal of a covenant between him and man forever, in the appointment +of the Sabbath. The mark on Cain's forehead, the rainbow, the lamp +passing between the severed parts of Abraham's sacrifice, Jacob's +ladder, the burning bush, the passover, and things too numerous to +mention, show how God loves signs and seals.</p> + +<p>"There are many good people, at the present day, who say to me, I am +willing to consecrate my child to God in prayer, and bring him up for +God; but I do not see the necessity of an ordinance. Why bring the child +to baptism? I can do all which is required and signified, without the +sign."</p> + +<p>"What do you say to them?" said Mrs. Ford.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> I tell them they are on dangerous ground. Will they be wiser +than God? He knows our natures, and what to prescribe to us in our +intercourse with him. I would as soon meddle with a law of nature, as +with God's ordinances. I might as well neglect a law of nature, and +think to be safe and well, as to neglect one of God's ordinances, and +expect his blessing.</p> + +<p>People, moreover, may as well object to family<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> prayer, and say that +they try to live in a spirit of prayer all day. Why do they have special +seasons for retirement, if they walk with God? Why do they hardly feel +that they have prayed if company, or a bedfellow, on a journey, keeps +them from using oral prayer? It is a bitter grief, also, when no funeral +solemnities lead the way to the grave with a beloved object; yet, where +in the word of God are they commanded? As Mr. Benson said, "Who is +willing to dispense with the wedding ceremony, except in cases where +sadness and trouble seek concealment?"</p> + +<p>People cannot give full evidence that they are Christians unless they +make a public profession of religion. They cannot properly remember +Jesus without partaking of his body and blood. Depend upon it, my dear +friends, God sets great value on ordinances, and our observance of them. +God has given us two sacraments, and he who dispenses with them because +he undervalues them, or undertakes to say that they are not necessary to +him, or to any in this age of the world, is in peril. The only danger +from forms and ordinances is when they are of human origin. We must take +care and not let our revulsion from Romanism carry us to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> the extreme of +neglecting or setting aside the ordinances of God's appointment. "There +are three that bear record on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the +blood; and these three agree in one." A man may, with equal propriety, +dispense with the blood, and its symbol the wine, or with the Spirit, as +with the water, if God has appointed it with the other two as a witness +between him and us. You notice that the Spirit is named with the two +inanimate things, the blood and the water. Take care, I say to my +friends, lest, in setting aside the water, you shut out that divine +Spirit, who, knowing how to deal with our nature, chooses the blood and +the water to be used by us in connection with our most spiritual +religious exercises of the mind and heart. We have no more right to +interfere with God's ordinances than with the number of the persons in +the Trinity.</p> + +<p>"All this affects me so," said Mr. Benson, "that I shall not fail to +offer my child to be baptized, if I am allowed to do so. Now, there is +my difficulty. Why do you think, and how do you show, that baptism must +now be used as God's sign and seal of his covenant with believers for +their children? When circumcision was dropped, some insist that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> the +covenant was dropped with it, and, therefore, that there is no warrant +in Scripture for baptizing children."</p> + +<p>"Why," said Mrs. Ford, "if the coming in of Moses' dispensation did not +abolish the arrangement with Abraham, why should its going out? I am +inclined to think that Abraham and his seed are, to Moses and his +dispensation, something like that vine to the trellis, running over it +to the top of the piazza, bending itself in, you see, to accommodate +itself, but having a root and a top, the one below, the other above, the +short frame, which only guides it up to the roof. In the eleventh of +Romans does not Paul say that Jews and Gentiles have one and the same +'root'? I always supposed that root to be Abraham and his covenant."</p> + +<p>I did not quote Latin to my friends, but I thought of the old law-maxim, +<i>Manente ratione, manet ipsa lex</i>—which, if your scholarship is not at +hand to translate it, Percival will tell you, means, "The reason for a +law remaining, the law itself also remains." It is used in such cases as +the following: When one would insist that a law was intended to be +repealed by the operation of another law, not directly or expressly +aimed to repeal it, it is a good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> reply. If the original reason for +enacting the old law can be shown still to exist, it is strong +presumptive evidence that there was no intention to repeal that law. I +explained this, in as simple language as I could, to my excellent +friends, and told them, "If God's covenant, which circumcision sealed, +were Mosaic, and therefore national, Jewish, we should presume that it +ceased with the Jewish nation; or, if it continued, that it was +restricted to their posterity. But why should God bestow his inestimable +blessing on the father of the faithful, and take it away from the +faithful themselves? We love our children, as Abraham did his. It is as +important to us that God should be the God of our seed, as it was to +Abraham. My heart yearns after that covenanting God in behalf of my +children."</p> + +<p>"I will give up thinking of Abraham as a Jew," said Mrs. Benson.</p> + +<p>"What was he, then?" said I, "or what will he be to you, from this +time?"</p> + +<p>"He was the head of believers," said she, "just as Adam was the head of +men. As Mrs. Ford said, he was the great believer; and I am persuaded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +that all who are of faith have his privileges, and more too; but +certainly all that he had."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," said your mother, "you have forgotten the question. +Supposing that the covenant still remains, why do you take baptism for +the seal of it? The old way of sealing it is given up. What authority do +you show for using baptism in its place?"</p> + +<p>"I take the initiating ordinance of religion for the time being," said +I, "whatever it may be. Is not baptism the initiating ordinance, as +circumcision was? When they built our long bridge, and the ferry-boats +ceased running, did the town put up a great sign over the gate, saying, +'It is enacted that this river shall continue to be crossed'? Did they +add, 'This bridge is hereby appointed as the way of getting over the +river'? Or, did not people take it for granted, when the bridge was +opened and the ferry-boats were withdrawn, that the bridge was designed +to be the way by which they were to pass over the river?</p> + +<p>"Now, suppose so impossible a thing as this, that hereafter baptism +should, by divine revelation, be changed for anointing with oil, and +nothing were said about children. I would anoint the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> child with oil, +instead of baptizing it with water. We are to use the initiatory rite of +the church for the time being."</p> + +<p>"But," said Mrs. Benson, "is there any resemblance between circumcision +and baptism?"</p> + +<p>"There need be none," said I. "Resemblance does not give it efficacy, +but God's appointment of it. If marking the flesh in some way should be +appointed to succeed baptism, we need not look for a likeness between it +and baptism before we complied with the divine requirement."</p> + +<p>"I do wish," said Mrs. Benson, "that the authority to baptize children +were more expressly stated in the Bible, to satisfy all who were not +brought up as we have been."</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> The overwhelming majority of those who now receive the Bible +as the word of God find it there.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. Benson.</i> But why did not Paul receive a revelation about it, as he +did about the Lord's Supper?</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> Did that make the thing any more authoritative with us than +the original appointment? We will not prescribe to God how to teach us. +We will not make up our minds how he ought to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> have made a revelation, +but we will take that revelation and try to understand it.</p> + +<p>"I agree to that," said they all.</p> + +<p><i>Pastor.</i> It appears to me that God prefers, on certain subjects, that +the world shall reason by inferences. It is a wise way of educating +children and youth, to leave some things to be learned in this way, and +not by setting everything before them, like too many examples in the +arithmetic wrought out.</p> + +<p>We have changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day in the +week. It gives me a sublime idea of our Sabbath, that by some great, +silent alteration, it has come to pass that all the world keep the day +of Christ's resurrection, instead of the day which commemorated the work +of creation. I feel toward it as I do with regard to the noiseless +changes of the seasons, and the conformity of our habits and practices +to them. I left New York late in winter for the Azores, and, before I +expected it, the warm southern airs came one morning into my cabin +window. So the Christian Sabbath, with its beautiful associations, +flowed in upon the world without a formal proclamation. I feel thankful +to God for so regarding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> our intelligent natures, as to leave some +things, relating to ordinances, modes, and forms, to be inferred, +bringing great changes over the moral and spiritual world, and leaving +us to adjust ourselves and the administration of the appointed +ordinances to them. We can add nothing, we take nothing away from an +express, divine command; but, as the first disciples were left to infer +that a Sabbath was as necessary after Christ brought in the new creation +as before, and adjusted it to the celebration of the Saviour's rising +from the dead, so we infer that God's covenant with believing parents +for their children is as desirable now as ever; that all the original +reasons for it now exist; and, therefore, we take the initiating +ordinance of religion now, as the church in former ages did, and apply +it to the children. All church-members did it before Christ; all +church-members may do it now. God saw fit to make every adult member, at +least, of the Jewish family, a church-member; if he has changed and +restricted the terms of church-membership now, that is a sufficient +reason for not making the sealing of children as universal now as it was +before. That is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> to say, in both cases, it is a church-member's +privilege.</p> + +<p>Without detailing the conversation at this point, let me say, I take it +for granted that Abraham, as my great spiritual ancestor, my +representative before God, my commissioner to receive for me and +transmit my privileges and blessings, continues in that relation unless +expressly set aside. Christ did not set him aside. How wonderfully he is +brought forward under the new dispensation, when it is said to us, "And +if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to +the promise." But, pray, why should Abraham be intruded in connection +with Christ, if he with his covenant is like a lapsed legacy, or a +superseded act of Congress? Why comes he here, in connection with the +Saviour, and tells me that if I am Christ's, then am I his, Abraham's, +seed? Hear this: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, +being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on +the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." Wonderful elevation of Abraham and +his blessing, as the great type of all that Christ was to procure for +us! If Abraham and his covenant ceased with the Jewish people, how does +the blessing of Abra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>ham fully come upon us, the Gentiles? But give me +his covenant for my children; then I see that Christ is executor of the +testament made with Abraham for his children; and I am one of the heirs; +as indeed I am, even if I have no children, but if I have, all of +Abraham's privileges and his covenanting God are mine and theirs.</p> + +<p>So that, I said to my friends, I go to the Bible not to say, "Must I +baptize my children?" but, "Am I forbidden to baptize them?"</p> + +<p>All my predecessors in the church of God, before Christ, had the +privilege of bringing their children into the bonds of the covenant with +themselves. If they felt as we do about it (and strict usage, and the +rich experience which they had had of its benefits, must have made it +inestimably precious to them), it is incredible that a sudden and total +discontinuance of it, at the beginning of Christianity, should not have +occasioned great clamor. The formalists, at least, would have +remonstrated at the seeming violation, by this new order of things, of +natural affection. For, as Doddridge well observes, "What would have +been done with the infants, or male children, of Christians?"—that is, +of converted Jews, as well as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> others. They could not circumcise them; +but their teachers, being spiritually-minded men, knew that circumcision +was a seal of faith, not merely of nationality, and must not the +converts have required some sign and symbol still for their children? +Now they had long been used to the baptism of proselytes and their +children; so that baptizing their own children, as a substitute for +circumcising them, could not have been a violent change with those whom +Peter's vision of the sheet had taught that the Gentiles should be +fellow-heirs. And when he, in one of his first sermons, said to the +whole house of Israel, "Ye are the children of the covenant," and "The +promise is unto you and to your children," we can account for their +utter silence as to any revocation by Christianity of the right and +privilege of applying the initiatory ordinance of religion, for the time +being, to a believer's child.</p> + +<p>"But," said Mr. Benson, "the Saviour said, 'He that believeth, and is +baptized, shall be saved.' The apostles said, 'Repent and be baptized, +every one of you.' Show us, now, why this does not prove that repentance +and faith were not thus made essential to baptism. According to these +passages,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> none could be baptized who had not repented and believed. +This would exclude infants. 'Believe, and be baptized;' how do you +dispose of that, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Very easily," said I.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Benson exclaimed, "O, sir, if you can, all my difficulty is at an +end!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said I, "in the first place, there is no such requirement +in the Bible. You see the expression very often, but it is not found in +Scripture. But tell me exactly what your difficulty is."</p> + +<p>"Why," said she, "my husband has just stated it. People tell us the +Bible says, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' So +they insist that no one should be baptized who is not old enough to +believe."</p> + +<p>I told her that I could remove her difficulty in very few words.</p> + +<p>"Suppose," said I, "that Abraham is preaching to full-grown men in +Canaan, and is trying to proselyte them from their idolatry to the +worship of God. He would say to them, 'Believe and be circumcised,' +would he not? for God ordained that certain proselytes should be +circumcised."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said two or three voices at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, then," said I, "must it follow that children could not be +circumcised because Abraham said to men, 'Believe and be circumcised'? +How will that reasoning answer? Is it true? No. Little Isaac refuted it, +for he was circumcised even when his father was saying to his pagan +neighbors, 'Believe and be circumcised.'"</p> + +<p>"True enough, all who believed, in Christ's day and the apostles', +needed to be baptized, because they were not children, but were grown +up, when Christian baptism began. Had an apostle, however, lived to see +the jailer's family, and that of Lydia, and of Stephanas, grown up, and +any in those families had remained unconverted, and then he had said to +them, 'Believe and be baptized,' there would be some force in saying +that believing and baptism must always go together."</p> + +<p>"One other thing always troubled me," said Mr. Benson, "and that is, +that there was no seal of the covenant for any but male children. Now, +if the initiatory rite of Christianity be used for the same purpose as +that given to Abraham, why not confine it, as formerly, to males?"</p> + +<p>"How interesting it is," said I, "and it is full of instruction, to see +God paying regard to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> world's knowledge and progress, in all his +measures, and doing nothing prematurely. There is a very striking +illustration of this in the account of the fall.</p> + +<p>"God knew the history of the tempter during his agency in Paradise; for +angels had sinned and fallen from heaven. But the existence and agency +of fallen spirits had not been disclosed in the Bible,—the time for the +disclosure had not come,—and therefore it is said, with beautiful +simplicity, 'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field +which the Lord God had made;' and the narrative has respect only to the +external appearance of the tempter, the serpent, because it would have +been premature as yet to bring in the story of fallen angels, or make +allusion to them.</p> + +<p>"So, for reasons belonging to the early ages of the world, woman was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +included in man, who acted for her.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>"But, however the arrangement began, God regarded that organic law of +society, and, in giving Abraham a seal of a covenant for his children, +he restricted it to the sons, they in all things standing and acting as +the representatives of the house, according to the existing custom. God +did not go far beyond the world's advancement, in his ordinances, but, +with condescension and in wisdom, suited the one to the other. But, as +things were then generally represented by types, so the male child was a +type and representative of the more full and complete form, which was +reserved till the fulness of time, and till the world should know the +fulness of Him that filleth all in all. For 'in Christ Jesus there is +neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female.'"</p> + + + +<p>So I discoursed with my visitors till between ten and eleven o'clock, +and when they rose to go, we all stood up together and joined in +prayer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> We commended Janette to her covenant-keeping God, whose name +had been inscribed upon her. We remembered the little boy who had been +the occasion of all this pleasant conversation, and prayed that his +consecration might be accepted, and the sign and seal of it be owned and +blessed to him and his parents. As I walked down to the gate with my +friends, I said to them, that, when God was covenanting with Abraham, he +bade him look up into the heavens, and count the stars, and told him +that his seed, like them, should be innumerable. So I told them +frequently to look up to those old heavens, and remember that the +covenant-keeping God is there, the same who, in blessing Abraham, +included his seed; and that, because Abraham was so good a man, God +calls his posterity "the seed of Abraham my friend." And so we said +good-night.</p> + +<p>In reading over what I have written, there are a few things more which I +feel disposed to add, because I know that Percival will make good use of +them in talking with others in your congregation.</p> + +<p>I feel, more than I can express, that the state of mind in parents which +will make them prize and use the ordinance of baptism for their children +is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> great want of our day. Bringing children to church, and +baptizing them, unless the parents are themselves in covenant with God, +is as wrong as it was for those earthly-minded Corinthians, whom Paul +rebukes, to eat the Lord's Supper. They made a feast, or a meal, of the +supper; and some use baptism just to give a child a name,—to "christen" +it, as they say,—in mere compliance with a custom. But the abuse of a +thing is no valid argument against it. The last supper is the subject of +far more perversion; it gives occasion to a vast amount of superstition +and folly. The procession of the host, the elevation of the host, the +laying of the wafer on the tongue, the solemn injunctions against +spitting for a certain time after receiving it, are no valid arguments +against the Lord's Supper, and no Christian is led by them to disregard +the words of the Lord Jesus, "This do in remembrance of me." Much of the +practical benefit of the Supper comes through the feelings which it +awakens, the conduct which it promotes. So with infant baptism. The +child must be truly consecrated to God, beforehand, and afterwards; and +the ordinance must be used as a sign and seal on our part, as it is on +the part of God,—an act and testimony,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> a memorial, a vow. Hannah lent +her child to the Lord from the beginning, and then brought him to the +temple, with her offerings. We must take the child from baptism as +though God had placed it a second time in our hands, to be trained up +for him.</p> + +<p>But, still, the ordinance is God's, and not man's. He has a work to do +in us by means of it, while it also helps our feelings, fixes them, +makes them vivid, and imposes solemn obligations upon us by its +signified vow. So it is with the Lord's Supper. In each case it is God's +memorial, and not ours; and its benefit does not consist so much in +showing forth the state of our hearts at the time of administration, as +in sealing to us the promises of God.</p> + +<p>True, our feelings are awakened and strengthened, ordinarily, by the +ordinances; but that neither explains nor limits the meaning of them. We +are wrong if we suppose that the Lord's Supper has done no good unless +our feelings are vivid at the time of partaking. If we were sincere, our +act had the effect to engage and seal blessings from God of which we +were not aware, and may never be able to trace them back to that +transaction. So with regard to baptism.</p> + +<p>Some call this sacerdotalism, and are afraid to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> allow that the +sacraments have any influence or use, except as a testimony from us to +God. Romanism has driven us to the opposite extreme in our ideas of +sacraments. We do not vibrate back again too far toward Romanism, if now +we conclude that God employs his sacraments, properly received by us, as +seals from him of love and promises. Many Christians derive less comfort +and help from the Lord's Supper than they may, because they regard it as +profitable only so far as they can offer it to God with vivid feelings +on their part; and, when their frames are not as they desire, they +conclude that the ordinance is unprofitable. But let us also consider +who appointed this ordinance. It is the appointment of Christ, not ours; +and at his table we are his guests, not he ours. The Saviour is well +represented as saying to us,</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Thou canst not entertain a king!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Unworthy thou of such a guest;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But I my own provision bring,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To make thy soul a heavenly feast."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>There is a divine side to sacraments, as there is a divine side in +conversion. While we are active in regeneration, there is a work of God +wrought in us, distinct from our faith and repent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>ance, yet inseparable +from it. So, while sacraments are vows on our part to God, they are, +primarily, gifts, pledges, seals, on his part to us. Therefore, when one +says, "I can bring up my children, I can be a Christian, without the use +of sacraments," it is a proper reply, "But can God do his part toward +your children, and toward you, without them?" For, not only is prayer +"the offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his +will," but there is the additional truth, which is well expressed in +those lines of a hymn:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Prayer is appointed to convey</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The blessings God designs to give."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>So with sacraments; they convey gifts from God, not primarily gifts from +us to God.</p> + +<p>He, then, who declines to have his children baptized, on the ground that +it is useless, may, in so doing, interrupt the communication of a +divinely-appointed medium between God and his child. For he need not be +told that the faith of parents brought blessings from the Saviour, when +on earth, to their children, nor be reminded that the benefits of +circumcision were bestowed on the ground of the parental relation to +God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>One further illustration occurs to me of the power which resides in the +sacraments themselves, in distinction from their being a testimony from +us to God. Let me call to your remembrance notices which you sometimes +see, of young people going, in a frolic, before a clergyman or justice +of the peace, to be married, when they intended nothing but sport, and +found, afterward, that they had brought themselves into difficulty, and +were legally held to be married.</p> + +<p>You see by this that covenants do not, by any means, derive all their +efficacy from the feelings of a contracting party. Covenants and their +seals are the most sacred of all human transactions, and cannot be +lightly regarded, or trifled with. God reveals himself often under the +name of the God that keepeth covenant. So that we may not set aside the +sacraments, nor undervalue them. This leads me to say, furthermore, that +children, who doubt whether their parents sincerely and truly offered +them to God in baptism, the parents being in an unregenerate state, as +it afterward appeared, when they came with their children to the +ordinance, may be greatly comforted and encouraged by taking this view +of the divine sacrament of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> baptism as having a force and application in +their behalf, by the goodness of God, irrespective of their parents' +character. God will not let his sacraments depend, for their efficacy, +on the character either of the administrator or of the parents. For, if +the character of an administrator affected the baptism, it might so +happen that one could never really be baptized, since every successive +hand which applied it might prove, in turn, to be that of an unworthy +person. If a child is baptized on the profession of parents who +afterward show that they were not sincere, the child shall not suffer +thereby, if he recognizes the transaction, and makes it his own act. In +the case of a converted husband or wife, while one companion remained a +heathen, the children were, nevertheless, counted "holy," because the +Gospel leaned to the side of mercy, and gave the children the benefit of +the believing parent's faith, instead of attainting them through the +heathen parent. So, when a child is baptized in error, he shall not +suffer, nor even lose anything, if he will accept the covenant with its +seal. No one can justly reply to all this, that, therefore, every one +even though not of the church, may offer his child for baptism. No; for +these are ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>ceptional cases, in which it is true that a covenant, even +if it be not fulfilled, has force, and things may enure under it which +one who does not make the required profession cannot receive. The +covenant, if but the outward conditions be complied with, places all, +who are in any way related to it, under various contingencies, which +sometimes, to some of the parties, may be productive of good. We see +illustrations of this in the great tenderness and love which we feel +toward a child whose parent has brought a stain upon himself and his +family. We find an echo, in our hearts, of those kind words of the Most +High, "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father;" and, if that +son behaves himself worthily, every good man is doubly careful to +protect and help him. In this way the broken, or unfulfilled, covenant +operates, with God and with man, to the good of some related to it. But +shall we, therefore, break our covenant? Shall the unworthy be +promiscuously admitted to its privileges? "Shall we continue in sin that +grace may abound?"</p> + +<p>In speaking of the influence of sacraments, I am aware that we approach +enchanted ground. The human heart loves a religion of forms and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +ceremonies, which professes to renew and save without self-denial, +breathing around us the quietism of ordinances, and lulling us to drowsy +forgetfulness of duty in the luxurious enjoyment of an irresponsible +religion. While, therefore, we cannot too carefully guard against the +abuse of ordinances, we must not forget that God, who made man, body and +soul, chooses to convey some of his gracious operations to us by the +help of the two simple sacraments, and that they are intended to act +upon us, in the hands of his Spirit, in the first instance; not merely +serving as offerings to God.</p> + +<p>It is not that there are fewer children baptized now than formerly (if +such indeed be the case), that awakens sorrow and apprehension; but that +parents are deficient in the feelings which make us prize and use +baptism. This is the evil sign, and it is greatly to be deplored. One +must have intelligent views of the Scriptures as a whole,—of both +Testaments,—most fully to understand and value infant baptism; for its +roots were planted in the Old Testament. I always feel deep respect for +a church-member who comprehends this subject in its wide relations, and +is not swayed by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the popular demand for an express sign at every step, +but can reason inferentially as well as when proofs are demonstrative +and palpable; and who has in his mind the whole system of redemption, +with its various economies, interdependent, and none made perfect +without the rest. When all our church-members come to understand and +feel the power of this subject in this manner, what times of enlightened +religious prosperity, and a high state of religious culture, it will +indicate. I pray and wait for the time when all our Pædobaptist +churches, of every name, will conspire to promote spiritual views of +children's baptism, holding it forth as the expression of spiritual +feelings, and discountenancing formalism in connection with it. Though I +was never an Episcopalian in my preferences, and though the appointment +of godfathers and godmothers may, like every good thing, relapse into +mere form, I honor it for its excellent and pious design of surrounding +the parents and the children with admonition and help. For there are +sponsors, I am happy to know, who are not mere formalists, but who make +it a rule to have an interview with their godchildren on or near their +birthdays, or the anniversa<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>ries of their baptisms, and, in an +affectionate, faithful manner, they endeavor to fulfil the vows which +they took upon themselves at the baptism. Blessings on such faithful +Christian friends! Happy the children who have them for helpers of their +faith and piety. Let us all, as church-members, be sponsors, at least by +prayers and a kind interest for it, to every child of a Christian +brother or sister, when we witness its baptism. Suppose a church-member, +after witnessing the baptism of an infant, its parents, perhaps, entire +strangers, goes to his place of private prayer, and, moved with +disinterested love toward those parents and the child, supplicates the +blessing of God upon them. Could Christian love be more pure than this, +or prayer more pleasing to God? In the revelations of eternity such +prayers will not only be rewarded openly by Him who saw those doors shut +with that secret love and piety, but blessings upon parents and child +without measure may be traced to such petitions as their procuring +cause. How good it is to perform such acts, knowing that they can never +come abroad in this world! Should every Christian who witnesses the +baptism of a child, afterward pray for that immortal soul in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> secret, +with special petitions, what an increased privilege and blessing it +would be esteemed to offer a child in baptism, and in God's house, +before a witnessing church, rather than at home! I hope, my dear +daughter, that you and Percival, as private Christians, will do good to +your own souls, and to the souls of baptized children, and to their +parents, by making it one of your private rules to pray in secret, on +the Sabbath, for every child whose baptism you witness.</p> + +<p>The effort to promote and enforce infant baptism, by ecclesiastical +enactments merely, is absurd. We must fertilize the soil, not spread +glass sashes over the plants. Give Christians right views and feelings +about their covenant privileges and duties; disabuse them of their +mistakes about the severance of the Old Testament from the New; teach +them to look at Abraham, not as a decayed peer, or an old Jew, but as +the founder of the church of all ages, to whom Almighty God virtually +said, 'On this rock I will build my church,'—Abraham being the first +foundation stone, waiting for apostles to be added with him, and, as our +great representative, bearing in his hand the covenant made with him for +us, as well, as for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> other great branch of the family of God; show +them that baptism is now the initiating ordinance, and that the old +covenant was never repealed, though the seal be changed; let them see +what it is to have God in covenant with them to be the God of their +seed; and, withal, let us correct, or modify, the intense anti-papal +jealousy of the Christian rites, which makes us all, unconsciously, +verge to the opposite extreme, thus missing the divinely-appointed +intention and use which there is in our two simple ordinances; and then, +with the revival of such spiritual views and feelings, and, as a +consequence, with greater reference in the prayers of Christians, public +and private, to the subject, the practice of children's baptism will +increase, as surely as accessions to the Lord's table increase when +people come to have Christ in them the hope of glory.</p> + +<p>We, ministers, can do very much to promote a love for the ordinance in +many ways. We ought to make it convenient and pleasant by all the +expedients within our power. I like the practice which you speak of, in +your church, of the mother remaining with the child in the anteroom till +the introductory services and the loud organ-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>playing are over. Does +your pastor pour water into the child's face and eyes, and then begin +the words of baptism? I presume not; but I have seen it done. We should +not touch the child's head till near the close of the baptismal formula; +and then so that the child will not see the arm move toward it.</p> + +<p>Much can be done by these simple expedients to promote a quiet and +pleasant attendance upon the delightful rite. I like the practice, in +your church, of chanting low some appropriate words of Scripture before +and after the baptism.</p> + +<p>I am constrained to say, though with diffidence, that I fear some of my +good brethren give erroneous impressions by what they say of the +church-membership of children. They push it to extremes. They discuss +the question, What shall be done with baptized children, who, on +arriving at years of understanding, refuse to enter into covenant with +God? Church censures are asserted by some to be proper in such cases, +even to excommunication, or interference in some judicial way by the +church. So long as I believe in regeneration by the Holy Spirit, I +cannot feel that baptized children, as such, are, in any sense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +whatever, in which the term is generally received among men, <i>members</i> +of the church of Christ; while, in another and most important sense, +they do belong to the church, hold a relation to it, and are a part of +it. Strictly speaking, and in the highest spiritual sense, they are not +even "the lambs of Christ's flock;" for lambs have the nature of sheep; +but the children of believers are, by nature, children of wrath, even as +others. And yet, in another sense, they hold a most important relation +to the flock of Christ, as no other children do. In its most important +sense, they are not to the church even what they are to the state; they +have no place whatever in the invisible church,—the church which is +saved,—till they are born again. If children are regenerated by the act +of baptism, of course it is otherwise; but, not believing this, I am +clear that the baptized child of a believer differs from any other +unregenerate child, who is not baptized, only in this: that God looks +upon it with peculiar interest and love, and that it is surrounded with +special and peculiar privileges, opportunities, promises, and hopes, +with regard to its being brought to repentance and saving faith in +Christ; and by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> baptism it is initiated into special relationship to the +people of God. The church also has special duties with regard to it. +Some of my brethren give great occasion to those who resist children's +baptism, to argue against it as Romish in its nature and effect, by not +discriminating clearly in using the words members and membership in +connection with children. Read almost any modern book against infant +baptism, and you will find that its main force is directed against the +practice as a "church and state" institution, and as making persons +members of the church by means of sacraments. Let us who are really free +from such imputation, assert the truly spiritual nature and object of +this ordinance. I wish to see it divested of all that does not belong to +it, made eminently spiritual, expressed in terms which cannot easily be +misunderstood, and appealing to the natural affections, the +understandings, the consciences, of spiritual men and women, as, in its +sober and legitimate use, God's great appointment, from the call of +Abraham to the millennium, for the increase and perpetuity of his +church.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + + + +<p>You are aware that the great question, which has made most of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +trouble in the Christian church from the beginning, relates to the +meaning and use of sacraments and ordinances, or what we call Symbolism. +The tendency of the human mind, even in Paul's day, as indicated by him, +with other things belonging to it, under the name of "the mystery of +iniquity, which doth even now work," was, to increase the number of +sacraments and ordinances, and make them bear an essential part in the +work of regeneration. The right to multiply or extend them, and the +claim that they possess a saving efficacy, characterizes one great +division of the professed Christian church, while those who are called +Protestants and the Reformed, regard them chiefly as signs; though of +these, some seem to have much of that appetency after undue reliance on +forms which Paul seeks to correct in the Epistle to the Galatians, while +others go to an opposite extreme, and undervalue the two +divinely-appointed sacraments, which they think have no efficiency as +used by the Spirit of God, but only as signs used by us to represent +something.</p> + +<p>Between these divisions of the Christian church<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> lies the battle-ground +of great ecclesiastical controversies from the beginning, as the +Netherlands were, for a long time, the battle-field of Europe. +Archbishop Leighton seems to strike the balance between formalism and +sacramental grace in ordinances, as well as any writer, in commenting on +these words of Peter, "The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth +also now save us." He says:</p> + +<p>"Thus, then, we have a true account of the power of this, and so of +other, sacraments, and a discovery of the error of two extremes. (1.) Of +those who ascribe too much to them, as if they wrought by a natural, +inherent virtue, and carried grace in them inseparably. (2.) Of those +who ascribe too little to them, making them only signs and badges of our +profession. Signs they are, but more than signs merely representing; +they are means exhibiting, and seals confirming, grace to the faithful. +But the working of faith and the conveying Christ into the soul, to be +received by faith, is not a thing put into them to do of themselves, but +still in the supreme hand that appointed them; and he indeed both causes +the souls of his own to receive these his seals with faith, and makes +them effectual to confirm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> that faith which receives them so. They are +then, in a word, neither empty signs to them who believe, nor effectual +causes of grace to them that believe not."</p> + +<p>Let me make the distinction very clear to your mind, for it is of great +practical importance. The "mystery of iniquity" in Paul's time, and +since his day, did not, and does not, consist in making too much of +God's ordinances in their purity and proper use. That cannot be done, +any more than you can intelligently love the Bible too much, or the +Sabbath. But, to pervert them, or to make additions to them, or to rely +upon them wholly, is Romanism. But can men make too much of having a +seal on a deed? Is the deed good for anything without the seal? Can they +make too much of having three witnesses to their wills? Those three +witnesses, instead of two, make an otherwise worthless writing, a man's +last will and testament. Thus, a true sign, ordinance, or seal, among +men, has inherent efficacy of some sort. Shall we deny it to the +ordinances and seals of Heaven? He who lays claim to the covenant, but +rejects the seal, deceives himself. They must go together.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>But will you not think me older even than I claim to be, because I am so +garrulous? I have many things to say, but will not say them with pen and +ink, hoping to see you shortly. Farewell, my dear daughter, to you and +your beloved husband, with abundant kisses for your little namesake, +who, I pray, may be spared to you, if God has any work for her to do on +earth. Dedicate her sincerely and entirely, beforehand, to God, and then +in his house, with baptism, before the assembled brethren in Christ; and +let your subsequent treatment of her be a repetition of the whole. +Baptizing a child, with right views and feelings, leads to much prayer +for it. Renew the consecration of your child daily, in little, sudden +acts of prayer, as well as in more deliberate offices of devotion. Thus +surround it with an atmosphere of faith and consecration, not forgetting +the public transaction in which you covenanted with God, before many +witnesses, for the child, and He, my dear daughter, with you, in its +behalf. For, a covenant implies two parties; and God is one, and you are +the other; and Jesus is the mediator, who said of children, "Of such is +the kingdom of God." "He that came down from heaven," had seen, in +heaven,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> how largely that world is peopled with them. "Of such is the +kingdom of heaven." Peace be with you. All send love.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 15em;">Your affectionate Father.</span> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Third" id="Chapter_Third"></a>Chapter Third.</h2> +</div> + +<p>BERTHA'S BAPTISM.—CHANTING AT BAPTISMS.—PUBLIC AND PRIVATE +BAPTISMS.—WEEK-DAY BAPTISMS.—A DAUGHTER'S LOVE.—BAPTISM OF A +DEAF-MUTE INFANT.—FIDELITY OF A BAPTIZED CHILD.—SUBJECTS OF +BAPTISM.—THE MODE.—IMPROBABILITY OF IMMERSION, IN THE NEW +TESTAMENT.—ON BEING BURIED IN BAPTISM.—NEW VERSION OF THE +SCRIPTURES.—OUR DIVISION INTO SECTS.—A MOTHER'S PLEA FOR INFANT +BAPTISM.</p> + + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Where is it mothers learn their love?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">In every church a fountain springs,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O'er which th' eternal Dove</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Hovers on softest wings.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">O, happy arms, where cradled lies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And ready for the Lord's embrace,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That precious sacrifice,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">The darling of his grace!</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Keble</span>. +</p> + +<p>We took Bertha to church when she was two months old. The minister, +being fond of music, had, for some time, requested the choir to chant +select passages of Scripture at baptisms.</p> + +<p>So, as we came up the aisle with the child, the choir breathed out those +words, "And I will establish my covenant between thee and me, and thy +seed after thee, in their generations, for an ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>lasting covenant; to +be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." "Suffer the little +children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the +kingdom of God." "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon +them, and blessed them." And, as we turned away from the font, they +added, "So shall he sprinkle many nations." "The Lord shall increase you +more and more, you and your children." "But the mercy of the Lord is +from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his +righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, +and to those that remember his commandments, to do them."</p> + +<p>How I loved that choir, and the congregation! for, many a face did I see +bathed in tears, and others beaming with smiles and love, as, with +respectful, half-turned looks, they seemed to give us their blessing.</p> + +<p>"Do you not think, more than ever," I said, to the beloved grandmother +of my child, after church, as we watched the little sleeper in her +cradle, "that people lose very much in having their children baptized at +home?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It makes a different thing of it," she replied. "I felt that all the +congregation loved Bertha and you. How many prayers you obtained for her +and for yourselves, which you would have missed by a private baptism!"</p> + +<p>"Besides," I remarked, "'God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the +dwellings of Jacob.' I think that for that reason, and on the same +principle, namely, that he is more honored, he regards our public +dedication of children with more favor than a private baptism, except, +of course, where sickness makes the public service impossible. But it is +some trouble to mothers, and no doubt many shrink from it."</p> + +<p>"The trouble is more in anticipation than reality," she replied. "That +pastor's room, where they stay till the introductory services are over, +makes it more convenient and agreeable. But all the trouble, even if it +were far greater, is nothing compared with the satisfaction of having +taken your offering and come into His courts. You have paid your vows +unto the Lord, in the presence of all his people. You will remember +those prayers, those words of Scripture which were chanted, and your +feelings as you took the child<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> into your arms to be presented to God, +and as you heard those adorable names pronounced upon her and then +received her back into your arms, as it were, from the hands of God."</p> + +<p>"What do you think," said I, "of the practice of having children +baptized in the church on a week-day? It enables the parents to attend +meeting on the Sabbath with more composure than when they bring their +children on the Sabbath."</p> + +<p>"But O," said she, "what is that, compared with the privilege of +bringing the child before the whole church of God, in his house, on the +Lord's day, and so identifying its baptism with the most solemn acts of +public worship? I do not like those week-day baptisms. Where they have +the communion lecture in the afternoon of a week-day, there may be +reasons of convenience for bringing the children for baptism then, +rather than on the Sabbath; but there is a great loss of enjoyment, and +also of impressiveness, in the ordinance, in doing so, I think. I was at +a place, several years ago, when fourteen children were baptized on a +Wednesday afternoon, in the church. I went to see it, but it was not +solemn at all. I could not help thinking what an impressive and useful +sight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> that would have been on the Sabbath, before all the people, and +how much more good, probably, it would have done the parents, even if +they had given up half the Sabbath in going and returning with the +children."</p> + +<p>"If people," said I, "thought more of the spiritual meaning and +privileges of baptism, and viewed it as they do in times of sickness and +death, they would think less of inconveniences and discomforts, and see +that the ordinance is something more than giving a child a name."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Some time after this, I called upon a cousin of ours, a young married +lady of our congregation, who, within a year, had come to us from +another place, she having been married to an educated, intelligent +member of another congregation, and who, from his great love for her, +had come with her to our place of worship from another denomination, +this having been made a condition of their marriage. For she felt that +she could not be debarred the privilege of sitting at the Lord's table +with her mother, three sisters, and brother, as she would be if she +united herself with her friend's church. The idea of going to any table +of Christ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> on earth where they could not come, thus seeming to +disfranchise her whole family whom Christ had gathered into his fold, +and some of them into heaven, did violence to her feelings. At one time, +it seemed likely that the engagement of marriage would be terminated, on +this ground alone. Some one of the gentleman's persuasion, who thought +that she "ought to follow Christ in ordinances," and "take up her cross" +in this instance, whispered to her that she was, perhaps, in danger of +denying Christ, from love to her kindred, and he said to her, "He that +loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." This had the +opposite effect from that which was intended, for it showed her, in the +strongest light, the error of supposing that love to Christ could ever +require her to separate from herself, at the table of Christ, such +friends of Jesus as the members of her dear Christian home,—a home +which had been like that of Bethany to many of the Saviour's friends. +She felt more sure of being actuated by right motives in giving up her +marriage, and not withdrawing fellowship from her mother and the family, +than she would be in sacrificing that fellowship to gratify a new +affection. Her next younger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> sister was baptized after the father's +death. She was a deaf-mute. The mother was a very beautiful woman. She +had borne severe trials for her religion with a spirit of patience and +Christian propriety which won the love and esteem of the community. She +went to the altar of God, a widow, with the little deaf and dumb child, +and presented it for baptism. It was as though the impending calamity of +its father's death had shut up some of the senses of the child, and God +had placed it in the mother's hand as a silent memorial to her, for +life, of his chastising love. She left her fatherless flock in the +family pew, and went with her nursling, not merely to give it to God, +but to receive for it the seal of his covenant, bowing submissively to +his inscrutable appointment, and imploring the God of Abraham to be +still her God, and the God of this her seed. That scene had not failed +to make deep impressions upon the other children; and now it was +proposed to one of them that she should, by connecting herself in +marriage, disavow her mother's right to cling, in those hours of +anguish, to that asylum of the fatherless, infant baptism,—that very +present help in trouble, the covenant of God with believers and their +off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>spring. The little child, moreover, had become a Christian, and had +sat with her sister, side by side, at the communion-table, for several +years. "Forbid it," she prayed with herself, "that I should go where I +cannot be allowed to follow Christ till I have separated this dear one +from my side."</p> + +<p>She once wrote a letter on the subject to the gentleman, which he +showed, after their marriage, to some of his friends. There will be no +impropriety in its appearing here. It ran thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Mr. E.</span>: Though I am not willing to deny that +Roger Williams was, as you say, raised up to illustrate some +important principles, and to help on the general cause of truth, I +must say that he strikes me as a very unreasonable man in much of +his behavior. Our puritan fathers did not come to this wilderness +with French, atheistic, idolatrous love for a goddess of liberty. +They came here, it is true, for liberty of conscience and freedom +to worship God. With a great sum they purchased this freedom. But +infidels could as well claim to be absolved by the laws from all +recognition of God, under the plea of liberty, as Mr. Williams and +his friends could make his de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>mands for toleration. To insist that +our fathers, in their circumstances, should have opened their doors +wide to every doctrine, and to the denial of everything professed +by them, is unreasonable. They came here with an intense love for +certain truths and practices, which persecution had only served to +make exceedingly precious to them. To have proclaimed at once +universal toleration of every wind of doctrine, would have proved +them libertines in religion. Because they did not so, reproach is +cast upon them by some, who seem to me to be free-thinkers on the +subject of religious liberty. If other men wished to found a +community with doctrines and practices adverse to those of the New +England fathers, the land was wide, and it would have been the part +of good manners in Mr. Williams to have gone into the wilderness at +once, to subdue it and to fight the savages, all for love and zeal +for his own tenets, instead of poaching upon the hard-earned soil +of those who had laid down their all for what they deemed to be the +truth. It seems to me unphilosophical in some of our historians to +reflect, as they do, upon our forefathers for not being so totally +indifferent to what they deemed error, as to allow it free course. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>Their strict, and, if you please, rigid ways, were the necessary +defences of their principles, which were just taking root here. +They did right in passing stringent laws to protect them; and +religious liberty was no more violated in doing so than is the +liberty of our town's people here, who, by the law of the State +protecting game, cannot take fish, or kill birds, during certain +seasons.</p> + +<p>"Besides, I never saw any proof that Mr. Williams was himself the +great apostle of toleration. I remember reading to father, during +his sickness, some remarks of the late John Quincy Adams, in which +he vindicates the New England fathers for banishing Roger Williams +as a 'nuisance.'<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Mr. Adams surely cannot be accused of bigotry, +nor of being an enemy to the cause of freedom; and his remarks +seemed to me more just than the eulogies, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>by historians and +orators, of Mr. Williams. Father once showed me an old book of Mr. +Williams's, which we have now, called 'George Fox digg'd out of his +Burrowes,' in which Mr. W. inveighs against the Quakers for their +want of 'civil respect,' and for using 'thee' and 'thou,' in +addressing magistrates and others. He says, on the two hundredth +page, 'I have therefore publickly declared myself, that a due and +moderate restraint and punishing of these incivilities (though +pretending conscience) is as far from persecution, properly so +called, as that it is a duty and command of God unto all mankinde, +first in families, and thence unto all mankinde societies.'—It is +also a matter of history that the colony settled by Mr. Williams +refused their franchise to Roman Catholics, though even then the +Roman Catholics of Maryland were tolerating people of his own +faith, and Quakers also. Mr. Williams always seemed to me like one +of our pious, zealous 'come-outers.' He even forsook his own +denomination in three months after he had been baptized, and for +forty years denied the validity of their sacraments, and the +scripturalness of their churches and ministry. Such a man would +even at this day be ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>communicated by every society, unless it +were some association for the encouragement of radical notions of +liberty. I no more see in him the impersonation of religious +freedom, than in some other good people who go or stay where they +are not wanted. I am not disposed to deny that you and your +friends, with their principles, of which you, erroneously, I think, +claim Mr. Williams as the great exponent, 'have a mission,' as you +say, to perform; but I do not feel called upon to join in it. Some +of your writers seem to me—shall I say it?—a little too sure of +having just the right pattern and patent-right in ordinances, and +somewhat too complacent in not being liked by other denominations, +and perhaps a little disposed to look for persecution. Now I was +pleased with a remark of Matthew Henry's, on Mark 10:28, that 'It +is not the suffering, but the cause, that makes the martyr.' But we +were brought up under different associations, and cannot see just +alike in all things. I cannot, however, contradict, by any step +which my feelings would incline me to take, the Christian +citizenship of those who are dear to Christ, and are so precious to +me. As much as I love you, I think you should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>feel perfectly free +to leave me in my happy home, if you cannot allow me to retain my +fidelity to my own conscientious convictions of truth, and to the +sacred rights of those whom nature and grace have conspired to make +inseparable from my own Christian hopes and joys."</p></div> + + + +<p>The gentleman agreed to allow her the largest liberty, and they were +married. He knew that she had a mind and heart that were more precious +than rubies, and that the heart of a husband could safely trust in her. +The sequel will show, however, how good it is to be matched as well as +mated, and, in the conjugal relation, to be "perfectly joined together +in the same judgment."</p> + +<p>The object of my call, that evening, was to rejoice with her, and to be +the bearer of some congratulations at the recovery of their infant, +whose death had been expected for some time. The child was now perfectly +restored.</p> + +<p>As I stood in the entry, not having rung the door-bell, and was hanging +up my hat and coat, some one in the parlor said:</p> + +<p>"What good can it do the child or us to sprinkle a little water on its +head?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Mr. M.," said the husband, as I went in. I was +interrupted in my expression of a fear that I had intruded upon their +conversation, by their assurances to the contrary. "I am glad you came +in," said Mr. Kelly, "for perhaps you can help us. You heard, I suppose, +what I was saying as you came in. If I am not mistaken, Mr. M., you +yourself are not very strenuous about infant baptism, for I have heard +of your making inquiries on the subject."</p> + +<p>"Not only have all my doubts been removed," said I, "but the baptism of +my child has been the source of the richest instruction and comfort."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear you say so," said Mrs. K.</p> + +<p>"But," said Mr. K., "you do not, of course, derive your warrant for it +from the word of God. That is our only guide, you know. There is no more +authority in the Bible for baptizing children than there is for praying +to saints. You are probably aware that the practice originated in the +third century of the Christian era."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> It originated with a man by the name of Abraham, I believe, +sir, two or three thousand years before Christ.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> O, then, you go to Judaism for it!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Judaism comes to me with it, and hands it over to me. There was +something good in Judaism, we all think. Judaism was not a Mormonism, as +certain ways of speaking of it not unfrequently would make us think it +to have been; it was not an exploded folly, but the form which the +church of God bore for two thousand years. But it began before Judaism; +it is older than Moses. Judaism received it from Abraham. It is like a +great river rising in a desert place, and seeming to lose itself in a +lake, but flowing out again into another lake, and thence to the sea. So +Judaism was only a great lake, which took and seemingly held this river +of baptism for a time, but its current went on and flowed into another +lake, the Christian dispensation. But you cannot say that a river which +makes a chain of lakes, rises, for that reason, in the first lake. No, +its head spring, in this case, was antecedent to the lake.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Did Abraham or the Jews baptize children, Mr. M.?</p> + +<p>I answered, "Every male child of Abraham's descendants, who should not +receive the sign of consecration to God, was to be cut off from among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +the people. Proselytes of the covenant and their children were baptized, +very early."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> But where is the command to apply baptism to children?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Where, my dear sir, is the command to discontinue that which +was enjoined upon the founder of the race of believers for all time? I +believe in the perpetuity of Abraham's relation to us as the father of +the faithful, as I believe in Adam's relation to us as the +representative of the race, and in the Saviour's relation to us as our +representative. God seems to love these federal headships, as we call +them. Abraham did not receive circumcision being a Jew, but, as the +apostle says, "as a seal of the righteousness which is by faith, which +he had while he was yet uncircumcised." We have Scripture for that, Mr. +Kelly. And "the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after," did +not disannul that covenant "that was confirmed before of God in Christ." +How can you call circumcision a Jewish ordinance, when the Bible so +explicitly denies it to be of Jewish origin?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> O, I do not understand this Abrahamic covenant. I take the New +Testament for my guide.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> You think well of the book of Psalms, I presume, as a help to +prayer and pious feelings?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Yes; but in all matters of faith and practice, the New +Testament, like the doings of the latest session of the legislature, is +the rule for New Testament believers. You might as well have tried to +govern the ancient Jews with the New Testament, as enforce the laws of +the Old Testament on us.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Is the privilege of having God stand in a special relation to +my child an Old Testament ordinance, in the same sense with ceremonial +observances?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Not exactly that, but it is a superstition to baptize children, +now that circumcision is done away, and believers' baptism is enjoined.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Believers' baptism is enjoined, but children's baptism is not +therefore prohibited.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> But where is it enacted?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> If the original form of dedicating children is essential, why +is not the original form of the Sabbath essential, the very day which +was first appointed? How dare we change a day which God himself ordained +from the beginning, until he makes the change as peremptory as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +institution itself? Have we any right to infer, in such an important +matter? Where is the express, divine command,—not precedent, example, +usage, but where is the enactment,—making the first day of the week the +Christian Sabbath?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> So long as we may keep the thing, observing one day in seven, +it makes no difference which day we keep, if we can all agree on one and +the same day. We do not all agree to retain circumcision in any way.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> So long as we may retain the thing signified by circumcision, +it makes but little difference what form is used to express it.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> The apostles, who changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the +first day, knew the mind of Christ.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> And so the men, who first practised infant baptism, knew the +minds of the inspired apostles, and they knew the mind of Christ. But to +go a step further back, the only ground for inferring that the Sabbath +is rightly changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, is the +incidental mention of Christ's meeting his assembled disciples a few +times after his resurrection on the first day. On that slight ground we +are all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> content to rest our present observance of the Sabbath. Now, I +say that the mention of the baptism of households eight times, in one +form and another, is as good a warrant for infant baptism, as those two +or three Sabbath-evening meetings were for the institution of the +Lord's-day Sabbath.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> I cannot agree with you, Mr. M., in putting circumcision on the +same level with the Sabbath.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I myself see a resemblance in the changes made in the two +cases. I have no wish to proselyte you to my views. I have only answered +your polite inquiries.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> O, I know that; we shall be good friends still; but I see no +grounds for baptizing children on the faith of their parents.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> We look at the thing from different points of view. I see it as +clearly as I see that the church of God is essentially the same in all +ages, with its variety of forms. This matter of children's baptism is +with me a spiritual thing, and is independent of dispensations. You know +that a river may have, in one district of the earth through which it +flows, one name, and in another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> district another name, while it is the +same river. Now, the divine recognition of believers' children, as +standing in a special covenanted relation with God, is the headspring of +infant dedication by the use of a rite. The object of this recognition +is, that He may have a godly seed. God does not perpetuate religion +directly by natural descent, it is true, but he seeks to promote it by +descent from a pious parentage, and he therefore endows that parentage +with special privileges and promises. The inclusion of children with +their believing parents has been the great means of perpetuating +religion in the earth. It is a stream which washed the shores of Judaism +under the name of circumcision; now it washes the shores of the Gentiles +under the name of baptism. For the Saviour or the apostles to have +reäppointed infant dedication, with the use of the cotemporary +initiating ordinance, would, to my mind, be as superfluous as for the +allied powers to have agreed that the Danube should still run through +Austria.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Your principle of interpretation, Mr. M., has brought in all +the darkness which has covered the earth in the Romish apostacy. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +will be no end to human inventions in religion, if this principle +prevails.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> But, my dear sir, there certainly has been an end at the very +beginning; for what inventions in Protestant worship have non-prelatical +Pædobaptists made? Surely that practice has not been prolific of +superstitions. I often hear this alleged, Mr. K., and we are called +Romish and Popish because we baptize infants. But will it not be best +for Christian sects to allow each other entire liberty of conscience, +and not accuse each other of tendencies to Romanism, when all are +zealously Protestant? Here is a piece, which I cut from a newspaper +lately, which describes the baptism by immersion of some females and +others, one Sabbath in January, the thermometer below zero, a place +being cut through the ice for the purpose, and a boy watching with a +pole to keep the floating ice from the opening. Shall I call this +Romish, superstitious, fanatical? Shall I say, How can we, consistently +with such practices among Protestants, say anything about the doctrine +of penances? No. I prefer to think that those who do these things are as +good Protestants as myself, and I will not impeach their rigid adherence +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> their belief, by imputing Romish tendencies to their modes of +worship and their ordinances; for no people are further from Romanism in +their principles than they (unless it be some of us Pædobaptists, Mrs. +Kelly).</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Well, there is no quarrelling with you; but let me say that +when another sect sees you employing an ordinance which has no warrant +in the Bible,—sprinkling water upon people, on proper subjects and +improper subjects for baptism, when we know that the word <i>baptize</i> +means to <i>immerse</i>, and that believers only are properly baptized,—how +can we be silent? Would you be silent if Episcopalians should set up +Latin prayers, or the confessional; or the Methodists turn their +love-feasts into the old Passover?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> We must tolerate the mistakes and errors of those who, in the +main, are confessedly good, and are conscientious in what we deem their +errors. When the noble array of great and good men in the Episcopal Low +Church, and among the Methodists, fall into such mistakes as you have +specified, there will be opportunity for other Christians to express +themselves. But you are rather rhetorical in your reasoning, to compare +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> practice of infant baptism by Owen, and Watts, and Doddridge, and +Leighton, and Baxter, and all like them, with Latin prayers and a return +to the Passover.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> There is not a case of sprinkling in the New Testament. You are +too well-informed to deny this.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Mr. K., there is not one instance of baptism, in the New +Testament, where there does not appear to me to be an improbability of +its having been administered by immersion.</p> + +<p>By this time Mrs. K., who had been called away to attend to her child, +returned, and hearing my last remark, said, with a significant look at +her husband:</p> + +<p>"We shall require you to prove that, Mr. M."</p> + +<p>"Most willingly," said I. "Do you think, cousin Eunice, that the +multitudes who came to John and the apostles to be baptized, brought +changes of raiment with them?"</p> + +<p>"No," said she; "and there were no conveniences for making a change of +dress in those places, I presume."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Were they immersed in the clothes which they had on?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> That does not seem probable. Some of them, at least, had +valuable garments, we may suppose, and few, if any, would wish to have +their apparel wet through, or to keep it on them, if wet.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> They were not immersed without clothing, of course, +promiscuously, and, therefore, I believe that they were all baptized by +sprinkling or pouring, their loose upper garments allowing them to step +into the water, or very near it; and John, standing there (and the +apostles, also, when they administered baptism), and laying on the water +with his hand, or, which is not impossible, with the long-accustomed +bunches of hyssop. The Episcopal mode of administering the Lord's +Supper, enables me to conceive how baptism by sprinkling could be +administered rapidly. As six or more people are kneeling, the Episcopal +minister gives each his portion of the bread, and repeats the formula, +not to each one, but once only while his hand is passing over the six. +So, I imagine, John repeated whatever form he had (and the apostles +theirs) to companies, while, in rapid succession, he applied the water +to them. It is impossible to account for the performance of such +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>credible labor as John must have undergone, unless we adopt some such +supposition as this, or confess that John's baptism was, throughout, a +miracle. But "the people said, John did no miracle." If the apostles +sprinkled three thousand in this way, by companies, in one day, as they +could easily have done, we can see how the same day there could be +"added unto them about three thousand souls," even if "added" meant +being baptized. That the apostles had assistance in administering +baptism at this early period, is not probable. They had not yet proposed +to have helpers in taking care of the poor, much less to share with them +the first administration of Christian baptism. If any church were to +require me to believe, before admitting me to the Lord's table, that the +apostles immersed three thousand people at the day of Pentecost, after +nine o'clock in the morning, in the midst of necessary labors, and at +that driest season of the year, or in tanks, I could no more believe it +than I could confess that the earth is flat.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> But "John was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there +was much water there."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> "Much water," in those countries, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> on a smaller scale than +in North America. They would have needed all the lake-shore or river +banks that could be found, to witness the baptisms, and to pass in and +out of, or to and from, the water, conveniently, while John stood to +receive them in or near the water. A fountain or small body of water +would not have accommodated those multitudes; not because the water +would not suffice, for a small running stream would be enough, and would +have afforded "much water;" but think what inconvenience there would +have been in baptizing a crowd around a small stream. Baptism by +immersion, among us, though a few gallons of water only are needed, is +more conveniently done where there is "much water;" because the +spectators can spread themselves along the banks, and then there is no +confusion. The most convenient and rapid way of baptizing multitudes by +sprinkling would be, for the administrator to stand in the water, and +let the people pass by him. Besides, those multitudes who came to John's +baptism needed "much water" for themselves and their beasts.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> But the Saviour went down into the water, and came up out of +the water.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> So did John, in the same sense; and so did "both Philip and the +Eunuch;" but John and Philip did not, therefore, go under the water. But +Mr. Kelly will tell you that <i>down in</i> to, and <i>up out</i> of, might as +well have been translated to and from, in the case of the Eunuch. If you +insist that going down into the water involves immersion, it follows +that Philip went under the water with the Eunuch, and there baptized +him.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> We shall set those matters right in that new version of the +Bible which you were complaining of the last time I saw you. Down into, +and up out of, are required by the word baptize, which means immerse.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> No, my dear sir, not always, even in the New Testament. The +word had come, even in the Saviour's time, to signify purification, or +consecration, irrespective of the mode. The Pharisees, in coming from +the market-places, except they wash, eat not. The word is baptize. But +they did not bathe at such times; they "baptized" themselves by washing +their bodies. We read of the baptism of beds, which was merely washing +them. The Israelites were baptized unto Moses. There the word means, +simply, inaugurated, or set apart, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> no reference to the mode; for, +they were not immersed, but bedewed, if wet at all; they were not buried +in that cloud, for the other cloud that led them was in sight; they were +not buried in the sea, which was a wall to them on either hand.</p> + +<p>There is a good illustration, it seems to me, of the change in words +from their literal meaning, in the passage where Christ is called the +"first-born of every creature." He was not <i>born first</i>, before all men, +but he has the "preëminence" over all creatures, as the first-born had +among the children. Here is an illustration, from the New Testament, of +the way in which <i>baptism</i> may cease to denote any mode, and refer only +to an act of consecration.</p> + +<p>As to that new version of the Bible, Coleridge says, that the state +ought to be, to all religious denominations, like a good portrait, which +looks benignantly on all in the room. So the Bible now seems to look +kindly upon all Christian sects; and, for one, I love to have it so. +But, some of you, good brethren, who are in favor of this new version to +suit your particular views, are trying to alter the eyes of the portrait +so that they shall look only on you, and to your part of the room. We +think that you ought to be satisfied with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> present kind look which +you get from them. There is one comfort—you will make a new picture to +please yourselves, and we shall keep the old portrait.</p> + +<p>"Please do not be too severe on my husband for that mistake of his," +said Mrs. K.; "I think that he is getting better of it, in a measure."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> I will make you a present of the book when it arrives, and, +perhaps, you will agree with me. But I am surprised to hear you say that +you do not believe the Saviour to have been immersed by John.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> It was not Christian baptism, at any rate, if he were; for the +names of the Trinity are essential to Christian baptism, and those names +had not been thus applied.</p> + +<p>Besides, John could not have plunged and lifted those thousands without +superhuman strength and endurance, which we know he did not possess. The +same reasoning applies, in the baptism of the three thousand at the day +of Pentecost, both as respects what I have said of raiment, and the time +and strength of the apostles.</p> + +<p>The baptism of the Eunuch was, to my mind, most probably by sprinkling, +making no change<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of raiment necessary. "See, here is water,"—a spring, +or stream, by the road-side, quite as likely (and, travellers now say, +more probably) as a pond. Yes, sir, Philip went down into the water just +as much as the Eunuch did, if we follow the Greek literally. I think +that <i>down</i> refers to the chariot, the act of leaving it to go to the +water. But the English version, as it now stands, makes strongly for +your view of the case in the mind of the common reader.</p> + +<p>Saul of Tarsus was baptized after having been struck blind, and while he +was in a state of extreme exhaustion from excitement, without food; for, +during three days, "he did neither eat nor drink." He was baptized +before he ate; for, we read, "And he arose and was baptized; and, when +he had received meat, he was strengthened." It does not seem to me +probable that they would have put him into a river, or tank, before +giving him food. But it seems to me natural and suitable for Ananias to +draw nigh, and impress the trembling man with the mild and gentle sign +of Christianity, the rite giving a soothing and cheering efficacy to the +words of adoption, and in no way disturbing him in body or mind. I have +always regarded the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> baptism of Saul as a strong presumptive proof with +regard to baptism by affusion.</p> + +<p>So with the midnight scene of baptism in the prison at Philippi. The +preparation of one or more large vessels, to immerse the household, is +not congruous with the circumstances narrated, as I read them. But the +quiet and convenient act of baptism by sprinkling, falls in harmoniously +with the other parts of the transaction. For my part, I have always +wondered how any one can fail to see that there are so many +improbabilities of immersion in every case of baptism, in the New +Testament, as to counteract any weight which the word baptize carries +with it, more especially since the word and its derivatives are +employed, in the New Testament, in cases where the mode of using the +water is evidently not intended.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> "Buried with him in baptism." Mr. M., you will confess that +this is an impregnable proof-text. You have never been "buried with him +in baptism."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> But I am "risen with him," Mr. K. With all humility and tears, +I must say to you, "If any man trusteth to himself that he is Christ's, +let him also think this with himself, that as he is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Christ's even so +also we are Christ's." Your application of the passage, just quoted by +you, disproves your interpretation of it. If we must be buried in water, +when we are baptized, then no one is risen with Christ who has not been +immersed. You thus disfranchise four fifths, to say the least, of God's +elect. No, my dear sir, being buried with Christ in baptism does not +mean immersion. People in the frozen ocean, the sick and dying, who are +sprinkled with water in the name of the Christian's God, are "buried +with Christ in baptism into death;" that is, profess to be dead and +buried to sin, as Christ was dead and buried for it. Besides, follow out +the passage, and there is no allusion to the form of baptism, as I can +perceive, but to something else. "Buried with him by baptism into death; +that like as Christ was raised,"—from the water?—yes, if water baptism +be now in the writer's mind; but no,—"like as Christ was raised from +the dead, by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in +newness of life." The word buried, therefore, in this passage, refers to +the completeness of the Saviour's death for sin (as we say intensively +of a deceased person, he is dead and buried), and of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> the completeness +of our renunciation of it. We are dead and buried to sin, as Christ was +for it; and we rise to newness of life, when we profess to be +Christians, as Christ rose from the dead, not from the water.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> How is it with infants? Are they dead and buried to sin when +they are baptized? If being buried, in this passage, means being dead +and buried to sin, then infants are regenerated by baptism.</p> + +<p>Mr. K. gave his wife a pleased look, as though he had placed me in a +dilemma.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kelly," said I, "how do you suppose that nursing children ate the +first passover?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose that they ate it through the faith of their parents," said +Mrs. K., looking narrowly into the stitches of her crochet-work, to +control a smile.</p> + +<p>"That passover, however," said I, "was the means of saving those +children, who, many of them, were the first-born in their respective +families. Yet they were saved by the passover through the faith of their +parents. Do not understand me as urging the comparison to an extreme; I +only say that there we have an example of par<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>ents acting for the child +in a matter of faith. The infant child was incapable of believing, and +even where the first-born was grown up, the parent acted for him in the +ordinance, by sprinkling the door with blood. I do not prove infant +baptism by this, but I use it to show that parents may use an ordinance +for their infants. Mr. K. asks if baptized infants are buried with +Christ in baptism into death,—that is, die unto sin and rise to newness +of life. The parents profess by the baptism that they will use means to +effect this in their children, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. I +should like to ask Mr. Kelly if he believes that every person who is +immersed, is buried into death, spiritually, with Christ, or is actually +dead to sin forever; or, whether it is only a profession of one's hope +and intention. For we have all known some, who had been buried in water, +that did not prove to have died unto sin."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Of course it is a symbol; and all we insist on is, that Paul +must have had immersion in mind, as the form of baptism, when he spoke +of being buried by baptism.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> When Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ," do you suppose +that the idea of a cross<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> was in his mind? Did he intimate that +sanctification is effected by a piece of wood, with a transverse beam, +used as a gibbet? Or did he simply mean, I am dead to the world, and the +world is dead to me, yea, and put to death (not merely dying in a +natural way), through the power of the Saviour's sufferings and death on +my behalf? The burial of Christ, following his death for sin, and so +completing the idea of dying, is enough to have suggested the figure, I +think, of our being not only dead with Christ, but buried with him, by a +Christian profession; that is, we utterly cease from the world and sin, +professedly, as Christ not only died, but went into the tomb. But what +does "risen" refer to in that passage,—the water or death?—"from +whence also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of +God."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Why, how do you understand it?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> I prefer, if you please, that you should answer. Many +understand it thus: "You are buried in water, to denote death to sin; +you are lifted up out of the water (as Christ was lifted up by the +Baptist), to live a new life." If this be so, what is "the operation of +God," which is spoken of there? Does it need any such "operation" for +an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> immersed person to rise out of the water? No, my dear sir, our +interpretation makes plain and thorough work of the whole passage. Our +idea of that controverted passage (your great proof-text) is this: You, +Christian professors, were, all of you, baptized, on profession of your +faith;—when you made a Christian profession, you signified by it your +dying unto sin, as Christ died for it, so that, I may say, you were dead +and buried to sin. But, as Christ came to life again, so you rose with +him, not to sin, but to live a new life. Hear Dr. Watts on the passage:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Do we not know that solemn word,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">That we are buried with the Lord,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Baptized into his death, and then</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Put off the body of our sin?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Our souls receive diviner breath,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Raised from corruption, guilt and death;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">So from the grave did Christ arise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And lives to God above the skies."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>I do not believe that the mode of baptism is alluded to at all in this +text.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> I cannot agree with you, sir. The contrary is perfectly clear +to my own mind.</p> + +<p>"Mr. M.," said Mrs. Kelly, "do you think that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> you and Mr. K. would ever +think alike on this subject?"</p> + +<p>"Never," said I. "People almost always end where they began, when they +discuss this topic; only they do not always leave off in such +good-nature as Mr. K. and I intend to do. I never knew a person to +change his views to either side, unless he began as an inquirer, and not +as an advocate."</p> + +<p>"What is the reason," said Mrs. K., "that good people are left to differ +so about unessential things in religion, when they all hold to the same +way of being saved?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said I, "that, as poor human nature is, for the present, +more is effected, on the whole, by letting us divide into sects, and +giving us each some external or speculative discrepancies to excite our +zeal. It is a sad reflection upon us, if this be so, and our sectarian +behavior illustrates that hardness of our hearts, in view of which, +perhaps, God suffers us to divide as we do. But, still, you see how +wisely God has ordained that good people shall not differ about +essential things—that might be fatal to the success of his truth; but +they are left to divide about forms, and ordinances, and some doctrinal +matters which do not involve the ques<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>tion of the way to be saved. In +that they all agree."</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> How pleasant it would be if they would all think alike!</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Perhaps it might not be best at present. They should tolerate +each other's views, meet and act together where they may; but I do like +to see a man heartily attached to his own denomination, without bigotry. +I have not much partiality for those schemes of union which require and +expect each sect to give up its peculiarities, and which seek to +amalgamate us. It is unnatural. Let each be thoroughly persuaded of his +own faith;—different temperaments and habits of thought are suited by +different modes and forms;—but let us treat each other as Christians, +and with urbanity and kindness. That is the most sublime spectacle of +union. It comes nearer to fulfilling the prayer of Christ, "that they +all may be one," when we differ strongly, and yet keep the unity of the +spirit. I am doubtful whether, even in heaven, there will not be such +innocent diversity of views about things successively beyond our +knowledge or comprehension, as to stimulate inquiry and discussion; but +that we shall ever be capable, as we are here, of alienation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> in +consequence of these varying opinions, is impossible.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. K.</i> Do you not think, Mr. M., that we shall all think alike about +baptism in the millennium?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I suppose that you expect that we shall all give up infant +baptism. But my expectation is that, as we approach that day, the last +prophecy of the Old Testament will be as truly fulfilled as it was at +the coming of Christ, and that the hearts of the fathers will be turned +to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Parental +piety and discipline will be greatly promoted, and an attendant of it +will be, I suppose, a greater use of the ordinance of infant baptism, +demanded by the pious feelings of parents, as pious feeling in the +regenerate craves the ordinance which commemorates the love and +sufferings of the Redeemer. The feelings of pious parents will require +the ordinance of infant baptism, as an expression of their earnest +desire to have fellowship with God as the God of the believer and his +offspring, the covenant-keeping God. It is to the increase and +prevalence of this feeling that I look now for an increasing observance +of infant baptism; for, without such feeling, the ordinance is an empty +name.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> Where that feeling exists, it soon modifies the speculative views +of a parent. As our conscious need of an atoning Saviour soon dispels +the former difficulties about the doctrine of the Trinity, so a longing +desire to have special covenanting with God for a dear child, makes the +subject of God's everlasting covenant with Abraham, as the great +believer, and the father of believers, plain.</p> + +<p>Now, before I forget it, please let me tell you of an objection to +infant baptism, which I lately met with, drawn from the effect of the +prevalent practice of it in a community.</p> + +<p>The objection is, it prevents us, in a measure, from fulfilling Christ's +command, "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them." For, going into the +Roman Catholic or Greek churches, or an Armenian country, and making +converts, the missionaries cannot baptize them, for, alas! they were +baptized in infancy, and to re-baptize is against the law of the +countries.</p> + +<p>Now, this seems to me no great calamity; for if the converts themselves +recognize their baptism, and adopt it as profession of their faith, it +is like a man's acknowledging the hand and seal on an instrument, made +irregularly at first, but now, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> competent circumstances, declared +to be equivalent to his own act and deed at the date of this +declaration. He would not need to re-write the document, nor to use wax +or wafers again, except in witness of his acknowledging the original +act. "Though it be but a man's covenant, yet, if it be confirmed, no man +disannulleth or addeth thereto."</p> + +<p>But, however it may be in such countries and communions as I have named, +certainly it cannot be a calamity if the practice of infant baptism +becomes such a spiritual and practical thing, that young persons are +generally converted, so that adult baptisms disappear. I love to notice, +when several persons join our church, how few of them receive baptism, +showing that their baptism in childhood has been followed by conversion. +The fewness of adult baptisms, with us, compared with cases of infant +baptism, is a good sign. They will be fewer and fewer, in proportion as +our parents make and keep covenant with God for their children.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kelly was at this moment called out, but requested me to remain and +finish the conversation with Mrs. K. She resumed it, saying:</p> + +<p>"Had I better read any more on the subject?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> My feelings lead me +strongly to take our little one to church. I feel that I should be +strengthened by the solemn act of doing what the covenant of your church +says, 'avouching the Lord Jehovah to be your God and the God of your +children forever.' I do wish to feel that I have done something like +bearing testimony before God, in a special way, that I give my child to +him, and engage God to be his God."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I should candidly examine whatever Mr. K. wishes you to read or +hear on the subject, and not be afraid of the truth, let it lead where +it may. But what first made you think of baptizing your little boy?</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> I always loved the ordinance. But, when I thought that Henry +was going to die, I was watching him all night, and, as I was praying, +it occurred to me that I wished I could see the church praying for him; +and that led me to think of the church praying for a child when it is +brought into the house of God. I felt that night that, if I could speak +to the pastor, I would ask him to request the prayers of the church for +him as for one who, if he got well, should be brought into the house of +God, and be publicly consecrated,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and I with him, again, as his mother, +to the Lord. I had given him and myself to God; but I felt the need of +some more special act, on which I could fall back in my thoughts, and of +which God would graciously say to me, "I am the God of Bethel, where +thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> How kind it was in God to remind Jacob of that pile of stones, +and to call himself the God of Bethel! O, how he loves marked exercises +of consecration and love!</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> My husband always said, "Let him offer himself for baptism +when he grows up, and understands the meaning of it." I told him that +when I was admitted to the church I was not baptized, but I had this +pleasant feeling, that I had a baptism in infancy by my dear good mother +to think of now, and to seal by my own acknowledgment. If Henry had died +without being baptized, or should now be hindered from it, I should +never cease to grieve.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> You think, however, that he would be saved, nevertheless.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. K.</i> O, saved! that is not all. I do not think merely of his +getting into heaven. Though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> we are saved wholly by grace, is there not +something implied in "washing our robes, and making them white, in the +blood of the Lamb?" I do not believe in justification by works nor by +sacraments, yet I do believe in their wonderful effect, through grace +alone, upon our character and future condition. I do believe, Mr. M., +that there is a difference between children whose parents, impelled by +love to God, make public offering of their children to him, with solemn +vows, and daily perform their vows, treating their children as baptized +in the name of the Trinity, and children whose parents either carelessly +baptize them, or feel no such spiritual desires for them as to seek the +use of any public ordinance, nor any special private consecration. I +believe that God regards them differently. He has placed his mark on the +baptized. I must go with my son to God's house, as Hannah did, and with +her feelings. How strange! She prayed for that son, and then, as soon as +he was weaned, she gave him away to God; for it is beautifully said, you +know, "And the child was young." Well, I think I understand that. I +could leave Henry in the temple, if the service of God's house required +him; for, when he was sick, I gave him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> up to God, and as long as he +liveth he shall be the Lord's. How did cousin Bertha feel about the +baptism after your little boy died?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> It was often the chief topic of her conversation. Her father +wrote a full statement of his views, which helped her greatly. We have +read it over since we lost our child. I will send it to you, if you +wish. You can read it, with Mr. K.'s books, and I wish you to show it to +him if he cares to see it.</p> + +<p>All this was done. Kind feelings prevailed; there was not much +discussion, and, one Sabbath morning, little Henry Kelly was brought to +church. But the mother was without the father. He was called to a +distant place on business; but he allowed his wife to act her pleasure +in the case during his long absence. More of this in its place.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fourth" id="Chapter_Fourth"></a>Chapter Fourth.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Is there only one Mode of Baptism?</span></p> + +<p style='margin-left:14.5em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Were love, in these the world's last doting years,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">As frequent as the want of it appears,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The churches warmed, they would no longer hold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Such frozen figures, stiff as they are cold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Relenting forms would lose their power, or cease,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And e'en the dipped and sprinkled live in peace;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Each heart would quit its prison in the breast,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And flow in free communion with the rest.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Cowper</span>.</p> + + + +<p>Opening my entry door, on my return, several faces looked out to welcome +me, all in the house having waited till a late hour, with surmises as to +the cause of my long absence, and then all dispersed, except the +venerable, and not yet aged, grandmother of little Bertha. With her it +was always pleasant to talk.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Have you had no company this evening? I was in hopes that the +Moores would come in, as they promised to do.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> They have been gone nearly an hour.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> Mr. Moore wished to read +husband's letter, so Bertha lent it to him.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Father will be glad to know how much good his letter is doing. +Cousin Eunice would be glad to see it, and I wish to read it again, for +I find that I am likely to need more instruction, if I am to discuss the +subject as I did this evening with Mr. Kelly.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> Was he at home? I hope you did not get into a controversy +about baptism; for, of all things, nothing dries up religious feelings +like that.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> The subject has taken too practical a hold upon my feelings to +have that effect. I find myself more and more led to believe that God +gave his church an appointed form of baptism, and that that form was +sprinkling; for I search the New Testament in vain for a single case +where immersion seems to have been practised. I believe that, under the +operation of early tendencies, of which Paul writes to the +Thessalonians, the church began to prefer immersion as more sensuous, +making a stronger appeal to the passions. But I believe, with the New +Testament for my guide, that immersion was not practised by the apostles +them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>selves. The word baptize had, even in the Saviour's time, to go no +further back, come to mean a thing done irrespective of the mode. How +would it sound, "I have an immersion to be immersed with, and how am I +straitened?" &c. "Are ye able to be immersed with the immersion that I +am immersed with?" I believe that sprinkling was the original mode of +Christian baptism. And it seems to me unlikely that God would appoint an +ordinance, and not appoint, by precept or example, the mode of it. I +believe that the mode of baptism was appointed, as well as the rite +itself, and I see no instance of baptism in the New Testament by +immersion. Pouring, whether more or less copiously, has this probability +in its favor, in addition to the impression which the narratives make, +viz., The Lord's Supper typifies the death of Christ. Burying in +baptism, then, would be superfluous; it is more likely that the form of +this other sacrament would represent something else, and that is, the +Holy Spirit's cleansing influence, because Christ speaks of being "born +of water and of the Spirit," thus associating water with the Spirit. We +moreover read of "the water and the blood," water thus being +distinguished from blood. Now, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> Holy Spirit is always named in +connection with being poured out. We are baptized with, not in, the Holy +Ghost. It would do violence to our feelings to hear one speak of our +being immersed in the Holy Spirit. So that I fully believe in sprinkling +as the original New Testament mode of baptism. And, still, I am inclined +to agree with your friend, the professor, who spent New-year's evening +with us, and has just published a book on baptism.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> What ground does he take?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> He writes somewhat in this way: As to the mode, I believe it to +be unessential; for it seems to me contrary to the genius of +Christianity to make a particular form of doing a thing essential to the +thing. What else is there in Christianity, if we are to except baptism, +in which modes are regarded or made essential? It is not so, he says, +with the Lord's Supper, surely; the upper room, night, sitting or +reclining, unleavened bread, a particular kind of wine, and all such +things, are not regarded by any as necessary to the ordinance. It is +very interesting, he says, to notice, that, whereas the old dispensation +prescribed the mode of every religious act, minutely, and a de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>parture +from it vitiated the act itself, Christianity threw off everything like +prescriptive modes altogether. Considering the attachment of the human +mind to forms and ceremonies, he knows of nothing in which Christianity +shows its divine origin and supernatural power more, than in its sublime +triumph, so immediately, in the minds of great numbers, over forms and +ceremonies. We can hardly conceive, he says, what a revolution a Jew +must have experienced in giving up Aaron, and altars, and times, and +seasons, and all the minute regard for his religious ceremonies, at +once. Even if it were the original practice to baptize only by +immersion, he cannot think that Christianity could have enjoined it as +the only proper mode of applying water, in signifying religious +consecration. Bread and wine, eaten and drunk decently and in order, in +any way whatever, constitutes the Lord's Supper; water, applied to the +person, by a proper administrator, in the name of the Trinity, +constitutes Christian baptism; but, had the New Testament required us to +recline, and lean on one arm, and take the Lord's Supper with the other +arm, insisting that this posture is essential to that sacrament, or had +it specified the quantity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> of bread and wine, he thinks it would have +been parallel to the uninspired requirement of a particular mode in +applying the water in baptism.</p> + +<p>"Baptize," he further remarks, it is said, means immerse. Suppose that +it does. Supper means a meal; therefore, one does not "eat the Lord's +Supper," unless he eats a full meal; for, if baptize refers to the +quantity of water, supper refers to the quantity of food and drink in +the other sacrament. He then seems to exult, and says, "I am glad that I +am not in conscientious subjection to any mode of doing anything in +religion, as being essential to the thing itself."</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> What answer can be made to this?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> It is a very common ground, and a convenient one, to answer the +argument from <i>baptizo</i>, and the early practice of immersion in the +Christian church after the apostles. No doubt the early Christians +satisfied themselves with this reasoning, in departing from the +apostolic practice of sprinkling. But I prefer to adhere strictly to the +New Testament model. There is no immersion there. Now, is it allowable +to depart from the original mode? This could not be done in the first +initiating ordinance of the church,—circumcision. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> departure from the +prescribed rule would have vitiated the ordinance. But, does not +Christianity differ essentially from the former dispensation in this +very particular, that it does not make the mode of doing a thing, +essential? Yet, it may be said, Human ordinances are all strictly +binding in the very forms prescribed. For example: "Hold up your right +hand," says the clerk, or judge, to a witness; "you solemnly swear—." +Let the witness, instead of holding up his right hand, if he has one, +and can move it, capriciously say, "I prefer to hold up the left, or to +hold up both. I wish to show that modes and forms are unimportant." He +would be in danger of contempt of court. If so small a departure from +the mode of swearing would not be allowed, much less would he be +permitted to kneel, or to lie on his face, unless he were some devotee. +No; there is a prescribed form, and he must yield to it. It is also +said, that, if there were cases in the New Testament in which it were +doubtful, at least, whether immersion were not practised, we might argue +in favor of mixed modes. But immersion is baptism, in my view, because a +person who is immersed is sure to get affused; and, affusion with water +is all of the bap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>tism which seems to me essential. Leaving those who +first departed from the apostolic mode of baptism by sprinkling, to +answer for themselves, no one, of course, will deny that those who +conscientiously think that they ought to be baptized by immersion, are +acceptable with God, as well as others who are of a contrary persuasion. +Paul speaks of "divers baptisms." There began to be such in his day. He +speaks also of the "doctrine of baptisms" (plural), showing the same +thing.</p> + +<p>But I came near forgetting one thing, which I wished to say, which is, +that, in reading the Bible last evening, I found a new encouragement in +taking infants to the house of God.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> I should like to hear anything new on that point. I thought +that everything had been exhausted which referred to that subject.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I mean that it was new to me. Luke says that the parents of +Jesus brought him to Jerusalem "to present him to the Lord," and that, +arriving there, they brought him into the temple to do for him after the +custom of the law. Now, I always carelessly thought that this meant +circumcision.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> Of course it does; I always thought so.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> No; for he had already been circumcised, when he was eight days +old. "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the +child, they called his name Jesus." Then the next verse speaks of a +subsequent act: "When the days of her purification were accomplished +they brought him to Jerusalem." Mary could not have come to Jerusalem on +the eighth day; but, on the second occasion, she was present; for Simeon +addressed her. So that we have the example of the infant Saviour, in +bringing our infants into the temple; and, if we are scrupulous as to +following the Saviour in ordinances, we may as well begin by following +him into the temple, with our infants.</p> + +<p><i>Mother.</i> It is beautiful to think of Jesus, even in his infancy, as an +example, and that he was forerunner to the infants of his people, while +yet in his mother's arms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fifth" id="Chapter_Fifth"></a>Chapter Fifth.</h2> +</div> + + +<p>SCENES OF BAPTISM—HENRY KELLY.—THE YOUNG PARENTS AND THEIR BABE.—THE +LOST MARINER'S FAMILY.—THE FEEBLE-MINDED YOUTH.—THE REASONABLENESS, +POWER, AND BEAUTY, OF CHILDREN'S BAPTISMS.—HUSBANDS SHOULD COME WITH +THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.—MOSES IN THE INN.</p> + + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Since, Lord, to thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">A narrow way and little gate</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Is all the passage; on my infancy</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thou didst lay hold, and antedate</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">My faith in me.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">George Herbert</span>.</p> +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The parent pair their secret homage pay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And proffer up to Heaven the warm request,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That He, who stills the raven's clamorous nest,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And decks the lily fair in flowery pride,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">For them and for their little ones provide,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But chiefly in their hearts, with grace divine, preside.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">Burns</span>.</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In all men sinful is it to be slow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To hope: in parents, sinful above all.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth</span>.</p> + + + +<p>In a few Sabbaths from this time we had a most interesting scene at our +church.</p> + +<p>Little Henry Ferguson Kelly was brought, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> offered up in baptism by +his mother. We all felt deep respect for her as a woman of decided +character, and a devoted Christian. We saw that she wept much during the +service. The father was not there. She held the little boy upright on +her arm, and he turned his face over her shoulder, looking all about the +church, above and below. He then undertook to apply his little palm to +his mother's cheek, with several decided strokes, to rouse her usual +attention, which he seemed to miss. She took his hand in hers, and held +it, and he then rested his cheek, and his chin, alternately, upon her +shoulder.</p> + +<p>A sweet little girl, two months old, was also brought by a young couple +to be baptized. Few things are more interesting than the sight of a +young couple, with their first-born child, standing before God. A world +of thought and feeling passes through their minds in those hallowed +moments. Not much more than a year had gone since they stood before God +to take the vows of marriage from those same lips, perhaps, which now +lead their devotions, and bless them out of the house of the Lord. The +little child is an offering which gathers about itself more of rich joy +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> gratitude, recollection, present bliss, and anticipation, than any +gift of God; it is itself an ordinance, a little rite, a sign and seal +of covenants and love to which earth has no parallel. The light of +nature almost teaches us the propriety of infant dedication, in the use +of the prevailing religious rite. The only wise God manifested his +goodness and wisdom, in establishing his covenant with the children of +those who love him, as really as in creating a companion for Adam.</p> + +<p>There were other sights, on this baptismal occasion, besides Henry +Ferguson and his mother, and the young couple with their child.</p> + +<p>A woman, in the habiliments of the deepest mourning, went up the aisle, +leading with her finger a little boy between two and three years old, +followed by a noble son of fifteen, and his sister of twelve. Our +pastor's rule, as to the limit of age within which children may be +admitted to baptism, is this: So long as a parent, or guardian, or next +friend, has the immediate tutelage of a child, so as to direct its +instruction and government, and thus continues to exercise parental +authority, he may properly offer the child for baptism; and therefore, +as children differ as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> degrees of maturity within the same ages, no +express boundary of time can be prescribed to limit those baptisms which +are by the faith of another.</p> + +<p>The father of these three children had been lost at sea on a whaling +voyage. The seaman's chest had come home, and so the last star of hope +as to his return had set. The mother had become a Christian; she felt +the need of a covenant-keeping God for her children. There she stood, a +sorrow-stricken woman, and her household with her, to receive for them +the sign of the covenant from the God of Abraham.</p> + +<p>There was another sight in that group: A man and woman, honest, good +people, in humble circumstances, had had bequeathed to them, by a +widowed sister of his, who was not a professor of religion, a +feeble-minded youth of about ten years; and this uncle and aunt had +adopted him as their child. They also came, the husband leading the boy +along, with his arm over the boy's shoulder to encourage his hesitating +steps, and the wife behind them. He was a member of a Sabbath-school +class; by no means an idiot, yet deficient in some respects. He was +entrusted with affairs about a farm which did not require much +responsibility.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little Henry Ferguson began to coo and crow, as they came successively +and stood, in a half-circle, round the table with the silver basin upon +it. The feeble-minded youth was mostly occupied with the actions of +Henry, who, on seeing his face covered with uncontrollable expressions +of interest in him, began to reach after him, and respond to his pleased +looks; nor did he cease his efforts to go to him, till he felt the +minister's hand upon his forehead from behind, when he turned his large, +beautiful eyes into the face of the minister, with silent wonder at +being apparently spoken to with so unusual a manner and tone. A hush +went through the congregation.</p> + +<p>The young couple next presented their little Alice, and gave place to +the widow's household. Was there a dry eye in the house? Signs of +weeping came from all sides. Mortimer was led by his arm in his mother's +hand, and was baptized. Sarah loosened her straw bonnet, and let it fall +back from her head, to receive the simple rite; when the widow lifted +the little boy, who had never known a father's love, and the pastor, +after waiting a moment to control his emotions sealed him in the name of +our redeeming God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>After an involuntary pause for a few moments, owing to the deep emotion +in the congregation, poor Josey was led forward. Minister and +congregation seemed to make but slight impression upon him; Henry +Ferguson was the charm throughout; he even turned his head, while the +minister's hand was on it, to smile at the child. The promise was not +only to those believing parents, all of them, and to their own children, +but to him that was afar off; his new parents having availed themselves +of the large covenant of grace, to invoke its promised blessings upon +him, on the ground of their faith. "May these parents," said the pastor +in his prayer, "remember, in all times of solicitude and trouble with +this dear dependent child, that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, in whose +name he is baptized, can have access to his mind, 'making wise the +simple;' and may that blessed Spirit make him his care."</p> + +<p>Part of the time, while the hymn following the baptism was read and +sung, I found myself pursuing some thoughts which the interesting scene +just witnessed had suggested.</p> + +<p>Why, I asked myself, could not these parents have been satisfied with +dedicating these children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> at home, without this public and special act +of consecration?</p> + +<p>I was at no loss for an answer. The same reason applies as when one +seeks admission to the church of Christ, by a public profession of +religion, either by appearing before a congregation and assenting to a +covenant, or to be confirmed, or to be immersed in water. Offering a +child in baptism is making a public profession of religion with regard +to it. Some say to us, What need is there of joining a church? Why may I +not be a Christian by myself? We know what we say, in reply to such +questions. We are aware how much the public act helps the private +feelings and conduct, besides being required by our feelings when they +are deep and strong. I thought of this illustration: In the wakeful +moments of the night, upon a lonely bed, one feels a special nearness to +God. He can think of God, as he lies upon his pillow, both with prayer +and meditation; but suppose that he rises from his bed and kneels at the +bedside, and, with oral prayer, prevents the night-watches, and cries? +His voice at that midnight hour affects his mind; the darkness and +stillness impress him with a sense of the presence of God,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> and though +his ejaculations on his pillow were acceptable, has he not probably done +that which, through Christ, is peculiarly acceptable to God, and is +profitable to himself as his child? He who was always in communion with +the Father, the man Christ Jesus, nevertheless, sometimes withdrew into +a mountain, and continued all night in prayer, and, rising up a great +while before day, he went into a solitary place, and there prayed. These +special acts of worship, no true Christian needs to be told, are good +and acceptable to God, and profitable for men. We do not refrain from +them, pleading that they are nowhere commanded in the New Testament, or, +that, so long as we pray at stated times, or strive to live in a praying +frame, these special devotions are superfluous. So, while it is our duty +and privilege to dedicate our children to God in private, it is +acceptable to him, and profitable to us, if we take them, and bring an +offering, and come into his courts.</p> + +<p>The baptism of the feeble-minded youth furnished me with an illustration +of the suitableness of parents and guardians doing for children, in +religion, that which they are constantly doing for them in common +things, that is, conferring privi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>leges and blessings upon them without +their consent. There seemed to be such an illustration of the riches of +free grace, in the baptism of this poor child, such a comment on that +passage, "I am found of them that sought me not," it corresponded so +much with the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man, that we +all felt instructed and softened by it, and, at the same time, we all +had feelings toward that helpless boy, such as we, perhaps, never could +have had but for his baptism. Never will a member of that witnessing +congregation see him, without a feeling of tenderness and something +bordering on respect; he will not be merely "Silly Joe" to them; that +element of truth in the heathen superstition, which leads heathens and +pagans to regard an idiot as something sacred, will have its +verification with regard to him; the children of that assembly will be +restrained from rudeness and cruelty, in their sports with him, by that +transaction, while the prayers offered for him at the time, and the many +ejaculations which the sight of him will occasion in the hearts of good +people, will make his baptism one of his richest blessings. O, what a +loss it is to have a child baptized at home, or anywhere and at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> any +time except among the public services of the Sabbath in the sanctuary of +God! Necessity, indeed, controls our choice, many times, in this thing; +and we are accepted of God irrespective of time and place, in yielding +to his providence.</p> + +<p>Since my mind has been deeply interested in this subject, leading me to +converse with parents and with ministers, and to make observation with +regard to it, I have seen and heard many things relating to the +providences of God, in connection with the baptism of children, which, +while we ought to be slow in confidently interpreting providences, make +us do as Mary is said to have done, in regard to things relating to her +child,—she "kept these things and pondered them in her heart." We +cannot say, for example, that the death of that little girl, whose +father refused to let his wife enjoy the privilege of going, alone, with +the child, to the house of God for baptism, or to invite the pastor to +his house for the purpose, was a judicial consequence of his conduct; +but we know that his own thoughts trouble him, and that he has a sorrow +bound upon his heart, which he will carry with him to his grave.</p> + +<p>Neither is it certain that the little one, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> was raised to life from +a sickness which baffled the physicians, was spared to her pious mother +for her Christian behavior, in taking it, a few months before, to the +house of God, and offering it in baptism, with no help from her husband, +but with many sad thoughts that the father of the child—he on whose arm +she and the child needed to rest—refused her gentle and affectionate +pleadings with him, to support and cherish her at an hour so precious to +her heart. Nor will we say that the kind and obliging husband, not a +professor of religion, who served his wife so manfully, and with such a +cheerful spirit, on such an occasion, would not have acquired, in other +ways, the respect and love of the people, or that he could trace to it, +absolutely, great prosperity in business, through the assistance of +prominent members in that church. Sure we are that no such motive +influenced him; but it is equally true that we cannot link ourselves to +God's service, nor to his friends, in any way, without receiving his +blessing. "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good." "Blessed is he +that blesseth thee." In the eyes of estimable people, and of all whose +good opinion and best wishes are most desirable, the man who overcomes +any little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> pride, or sensitiveness, or fear of man, and goes with his +pious wife and child to the house of God, and offers the child, for her, +to be baptized, is more of a man than before, gains reputation for some +desirable qualities, excites respect for self-reliance, the quiet +performance of a duty from which certain feelings might lead him to +shrink, and in the increased love and esteem of others, to say no more, +he has his reward.</p> + +<p>God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise +his child. His wife was a Midianite; her associations with the ordinance +were not like those of Moses, and perhaps he had yielded too much to her +known feelings. At least, the child had not been circumcised, and we are +told, "The Lord met him in the inn, and sought to slay him." Some +accident there, or a sudden and alarming illness, made him feel that God +had a controversy with him. Zipporah was not slow to interpret the +providence. If Moses had said with himself, So long as I consecrate my +child to God by prayer, the seal of the covenant cannot be essential, +God taught him his mistake. As soon as the rite had been performed, we +read, "So he let him go." It may be noticed, here, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> the unworthy +manner in which Zipporah performed the rite, did not make it invalid. +They who fear that their baptism was not solemnized, in all respects, as +it should have been, may draw instruction and comfort from this +narrative.</p> + +<p>There have been instances, within my knowledge, in which one or both of +the parents of a child have yielded to some untoward influences, and +have withheld the child from being baptized. While I cannot, and would +not, interpret certain events connected with this omission, on the part +of some from whom better things might have been expected, nothing has +ever impressed me more than the dealings of God with such parents. I +have been made to think by such coincidences, more than once or twice, +of Moses in the inn. It will not be amiss to say, that those who are +neglecting to bring their children for baptism, within a suitable time, +unless providentially hindered, will do well to examine their feelings +and motives, with that quickened conscience, which the solemn +providences of God toward them may be intended to excite. He is "a +jealous God;" and he keepeth covenant "to a thousand generations."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Sixth" id="Chapter_Sixth"></a>Chapter Sixth.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Testimony of the Christian Fathers</span></p> + + +<p>HOUSEHOLD BAPTISMS.—"PÆDOBAPTIST CONCESSIONS."—THOMAS SHEPARD'S VIEWS. +BAPTISM OF HIS CHILD. THE FATHER'S RECORD.—GREAT INFLUENCE OF THE +FAMILY RELATION IN HEATHENISM AND PAGANISM.—THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF +AMERICA.—DISSUASIVE FROM ALTERCATION.—QUESTIONS TO A MINISTER ON HIS +PRACTICE IN BAPTISMS.—LIBERALITY.—PAUL AN EXAMPLE.</p> + + +<p> +Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.—Ps. 90.</p> + +<p>The Lamb hath but one bride, the one church of all times.—<span class="smcap">Anon.</span></p> + +<p>That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power +of God.—<span class="smcap">The Apostle Paul.</span></p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Schoolmen must war with schoolmen, text with text.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The first's the Chaldee paraphrase; the next</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The Septuagint; opinion thwarts opinion;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The Papist holds the first, the last the Arminian;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And then the Councils must be called to advise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What this of Lateran says, and that of Nice;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The slightly-studied fathers must be prayed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Although in small acquaintance, into aid;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">When, daring venture, oft, too far into 't,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">They, Pharaoh like, are drowned, both horse and foot.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Francis Quarles.</span> +</p> + + +<p>Being determined to possess myself of suitable information on the +subject of baptism as practised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> by the early Christian fathers, I +called the next evening to see my pastor, when the following +conversation took place:</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I wish, sir, to know the plain and simple truth about the +evidence from ecclesiastical history with regard to infant baptism. The +internal evidence, confirming the scriptural argument, fully satisfies +me, yet, as a matter of interesting information, I should like to know +how it was regarded in the age next to that of the apostles. You know we +often read, and hear it said, that infant baptism is an error which +crept into the Christian church about the third century. Now, did it +creep in; or did the apostles practise it?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> If infant baptism crept into the church, and if it be an +unauthorized innovation, one thing seems very strange, that, in this +Protestant age, when we are all so jealous of Romish and all human +inventions in matters of religion, the ablest and soundest men of all +Christian denominations but one, are firmly persuaded of its scriptural +authority, and are increasingly attached to it. In the great +reformations which have arisen from time to time, this practice would +have been swept away, had it been an error. It is more than we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> can +believe that Protestant denominations should all, with one exception, +adhere to an unscriptural practice, at the present day especially.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Well, sir, leaving the scripturalness of the ordinance out of +question, what support does the practice get from church history? How +far back to the times of the apostles can we trace it? Did any practise +it who could have received it from the apostles, or have known those who +did?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> You must come with me into my study, and we will examine the +authorities.</p> + +<p>I will not burden your attention and memory with many citations. Two or +three indisputable witnesses are better than a host. I rely chiefly on +the testimony of <span class="smcap">Origen</span> for proof that the practice of infant +baptism was derived from the apostles, though I will show you that his +testimony is confirmed by other witnesses.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Origen</span> was born in Alexandria, Egypt, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 185, that +is, about eighty-five years after the death of the apostle John. To make +his nearness to the apostles clear to your mind, consider, that Roger +Williams, for example, established himself at Providence in 1636, say +two hundred and twenty years ago; yet how perfectly informed we are of +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> opinions and history. But Origen, born eighty-five years only after +the death of John, knew, of course, the established practices of the +apostles, which had come down through so short a space of time. "His +grandfather, if not his father, must have lived in the apostles' day. It +was not, therefore, necessary for him to go out of his own family, to +learn what was the practice of the apostles. He knew whether he had +himself been baptized, if we may judge from his writings, and he must +have known the views of his father and grandfather on the subject. He +had the reputation of great learning, had travelled extensively, had +lived in Greece, Rome, Cappadocia, and Arabia, though he spent the +principal part of his life in Syria and Palestine."</p> + +<p>I would place implicit reliance on the testimony of such a man, under +such circumstances, to any question of history with which he professed +to be familiar, even if I differed from him in matters of opinion. But +such a man would not state, for veritable history, that which the world +knew to be false.</p> + +<p>Now, what is Origen's testimony as to the fact,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> simply, of the +apostolic usage with regard to infant baptism?</p> + +<p>In his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Book v., he says:</p> + +<p>"For this cause it was that the church received an order from the +apostles to give baptism even to infants."</p> + +<p>In his homily on Lev. 12, he says:</p> + +<p>"According to the usage of the church, baptism is given even to infants, +when, if there were nothing in infants that needed forgiveness and +mercy, the grace of baptism would seem to be superfluous."</p> + +<p>In his homily on Luke 14, he says:</p> + +<p>"Infants are baptized for the forgiveness of sins."</p> + +<p>It was the practice, then, in Origen's day, to baptize infants. He tells +the people of his day, to whom he preaches and writes, why it was that +the church had received a command from the apostles to baptize them, not +proving to them the fact of history, but, taking that as well known, +explaining the theological reason for it, as he understood it.</p> + +<p>It is now 1857. Eighty-five years ago, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> length of time after the +apostles to the birth of this man, brings us back to 1772. There is good +Dr. Sales, who was born in 1770. Suppose that he should say that +steamboats came from England at the time that the Hudson river was +discovered, and that they had plied there ever since?</p> + +<p>No man in his right mind (not to say a scholar like Origen), however +singular his opinions, would assert, for veritable history, that which +was as palpably false as such a fiction respecting steamboat navigation +upon the Hudson would be. Yet Origen asserts that the practice of infant +baptism was received directly from the apostles. Everybody could +contradict him if he were in error.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> But we know that he was in error in saying that forgiveness of +sins was a consequence of baptism.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Very well. The erroneous opinions, or practices, of men, with +regard to the shape of the earth, did not prove that there was no earth +in their day. On the contrary, their theories and speculations are +proof, if any were needed, that the earth then existed, surely. A man +who boldly advocates a theory, fears to assert for fact that which all +the world knows to be false.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> If infant baptism were then practised, and had been received +from the apostles, why should Origen assert it in his books, and in +preaching, since everybody must have known it sufficiently. Does not +this prove that it was not generally believed?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Why, my dear sir, am I not every Sabbath telling how that +Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures? People do not need +to be informed of it as a truth of history, but they need to be reminded +of it, and to be exhorted in view of it. So of every doctrine, and +everything connected with religion. We tell the plainest, the most +familiar, truths to our church-members, continually; and the common +repetition of those truths is, rather, a proof of their general +acceptation than otherwise.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> In a court of justice, such testimony as that of Origen would +certainly be conclusive, in the case of a patent-right, or maritime +discovery. But you said that there were other testimonies of equal +weight.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> <span class="smcap">Tertullian</span> was born at Carthage, not far from +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 150, that is, about fifty years after the apostles. He +wrote, therefore, within a hun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>dred years of the apostle John. But he +was a man of peculiar views, extravagant in his opinions, an enthusiast +in everything. He proves that the practice of infant baptism was +established, by arguing against the expediency of baptizing children, +and unmarried persons, lest they should sin after baptism. His argument, +with respect to both these classes of persons, is the same. His language +is, "If any understand the weight of baptismal obligations, they will be +more fearful about taking them than of delay." He argued that baptism +should be deferred till people were in a condition to resist temptation. +These are his words:</p> + +<p>"Therefore, according to every person's condition, and disposition, and +age, also, the delay of baptism is more profitable, especially as to +little children. For why is it necessary that the sponsors should incur +danger? For they may either fail of their promises by death, or may be +disappointed by a child's proving to be of a wicked disposition. Our +Lord says, indeed, 'Forbid them not to come to me.' Let them come, then, +when they are grown up; let them come when they understand; let them +come when they are taught whither they come; let them become Christians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +when they are able to know Christ. Why should their innocent age make +haste to the forgiveness of sins? Men act more cautiously in temporal +concerns. Worldly substance is not committed to those to whom divine +things are entrusted. Let them know how to ask for salvation, that you +may seem to give to him that asketh.</p> + +<p>"It is for a reason no less important that unmarried persons, both those +who were never married, and those who have been deprived of their +partners, should, on account of their exposure to temptation, be kept +waiting," &c.</p> + +<p>As these extracts prove that the institution of marriage existed in +Tertullian's day, so they prove the existence then of infant baptism. +Nothing can be more conclusive. How pertinent and useful to his object +would it have been, could he have assailed the practice of infant +baptism as a human invention! He would not have failed to use that line +of attack, had it been possible. Now, as certain articles in the +newspapers, in a distant part of the country, remonstrating against the +street-railroads, for example, prove that street-railroads exist there, +so does Tertullian's argument against infant baptism prove that it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +practised within one hundred years after the apostles.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Is not this stronger, if anything, than Origen's testimony, +being so much nearer the apostolic age?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> For that reason it may have more weight; but Origen's +testimony, being direct and positive, is most easily quoted. He was near +enough to the apostolic age for all the purposes of credible testimony.</p> + +<p>There is another historical testimony, if you wish to hear of more, +which has great weight.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Council of Carthage</span>, one hundred and fifty years after the +apostles, and composed of sixty-six pastors, has given us full testimony +on the subject. A country presbyter, by the name of Fidus, had sent two +cases for their adjudication. One was, "Whether an infant might be +baptized before it was eight days old?" Here is the answer:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cyprian</span>, and the rest of the presbyters who were present in +the council, sixty-six in number, to Fidus our brother, Greeting:</p> + +<p>"—— As to the case of Infants: whereas you judge that they must not be +baptized within two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> or three days after they were born, and that the +rule of circumcision is to be observed,—we are all in the Council of a +very different opinion." "This, therefore, was our opinion in the +Council, that we ought not to hinder any person from baptism, and the +grace of God. And this rule, as it holds for all, is, we think, more +especially to be observed in reference to infants, even to those who are +newly born."</p> + +<p>This was written, within a hundred and fifty years from the time of the +apostles, by sixty-six ministers of Christ, some of whom, we may +suppose, must have had grace enough to show a martyr-spirit in resisting +so gross an invention as the baptizing of infants would have been, if +apostolic example had restricted baptism to those who were capable of +faith. Did Paul reprove an abuse of the Lord's Supper, among the +Corinthians, and would he not have given an injunction against so Jewish +a superstition as the baptizing of children in place of the antiquated +circumcision would have been, if it were not commanded, had the churches +in his day seemed inclined to practise it?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> All these things amount to a demonstration, in my view.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> You would like to hear something from <span class="smcap">Augustine</span>, whose +"Confessions" you have read with so much interest.</p> + +<p>In his writings, on Genesis, Augustine says, about two hundred and +eighty-eight years after the apostles, "The custom of our mother, the +church, in baptizing infants, must not be disregarded nor accounted +useless, and it must by all means be believed to be (apostolica +traditio) a thing handed down to us by the apostles." "It is most justly +believed to be no other than a thing delivered by apostolic authority; +that it came not by a general council, or by any authority later or less +than that of the apostles." He also speaks of baptizing infants by the +authority of the whole church, which, he says, was undoubtedly delivered +to it by our Lord and his apostles.</p> + +<p>Augustine was a man of distinguished piety and learning, whose testimony +is every way worthy of implicit confidence. But, connected with his +history, we have another substantial evidence with regard to the +subject. He conducted a famous controversy against the Pelagians, who +denied original sin. They were confronted with the argument from infant +baptism. "Why," it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> said, "are infants baptized, if they need no +change of nature?" It would have been a triumphant answer could they +have shown that it was an unscriptural practice, not countenanced by +Christ or the apostles. But Pelagius said, "Men slander me as though I +denied baptism to infants, whereas I never heard of any one, Catholic or +heretic, who denied baptism to infants." Pelagius and his friend +Celestius, who was with him in the controversy, were born, the one in +Britain, the other in Ireland. They lived for some years in Rome, where +they knew people from all parts of the world. They had also lived in +Carthage, Africa. One finally settled in Jerusalem, and the other +travelled among all the churches in the principal places of Europe and +Asia. But they had never heard of the man, not even a heretic, who had +denied infant baptism.</p> + +<p>Here is another interesting proof. Irenæus, Philastrius, Augustine, +Epiphanius, Theodoret, wrote catalogues of all the sects of Christians +which they had ever heard of; but, while they make mention of some who +denied baptism altogether, and with it, according to Augustine, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> great +part of scripture, they mention no denial of infant baptism by any sect +whatever.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I suppose, then, that the only way of disposing of this +argument is by rejecting all testimony except that of the New Testament. +Some say they can prove anything from the fathers; so they insist that +the Bible alone must be our guide.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> They are right in making that the only and sufficient rule of +faith and practice. But how do these good people and the rest of us know +that the books of the Old Testament, as we have them, were the very +books to which Christ and the apostles referred as the word of God? If +infidels refuse to receive the Bible, saying, 'There is no proof that +these are the identical books known to Christ, and quoted by him and the +apostles,' What shall we say? The Bible itself gives us no specific +direction how to prove its genuineness. It is interesting to observe +that we go to uninspired men to prove that we really have the Bible as +Christ and the apostles sanctioned it. We go to Josephus, neither +inspired nor even a Christian; to the Talmud, to Jerome, Origen, Aquila, +and other uninspired men, to find a list of the books which we are to +receive as given by the inspira<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>tion of God. And, as to the New +Testament, we go to Eusebius and other uninspired writers, and find that +the Christians of their days regarded these books as of divine +authority. It is on such evidence as this that we rely for the authority +of those sacred writings, which tell us what are the doctrines, +precepts, and rites, of religion. Now, we see from this that uninspired +testimony to divine things has its use. It is neither wise, nor any +proof of intelligence, to refuse a proper place to such testimony. We do +not ask Josephus nor Eusebius how to interpret these books for us, nor +does their erroneous opinion with regard to matters of faith disparage +their testimony as to the existence and authenticity of the sacred +canon. Neither can we properly say, "The early Christian fathers had +wrong notions, some of them, about infant baptism; therefore they cannot +be allowed to testify whether infant baptism was practised." However +heretical they may have been, they could not alter the well-known facts +of history, in the face of enemies and friends.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Are you not accustomed to rely much, in your scriptural +argument for infant baptism, on the baptisms of households by the +apostles?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> I am; and that reminds me of an interesting passage, which I +will read to you from this book:<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + + + +<p>"Have we eight instances of the administration of the Lord's Supper? Not +half the number. Have we eight cases of the change of the Christian +Sabbath from the Jewish? Not, perhaps, one fourth of the number. Yet +those services are vindicated by the practice of the apostles, as +recorded in the New Testament. How, then, can we deny their practice on +the subject of infant baptism, when it is established by a series of +more numerous instances than can possibly be found in support of any +doctrine, principle, or practice, derived from the practice of the +apostles?"</p> + +<p>But you will ask him (said Dr. D.), how he proves that there were +infants or young children in the households baptized by the apostles.</p> + +<p>This is his answer:</p> + +<p>"Is there any other case besides that of baptism, where we would take +families at hazard, and deny the existence of young children in them?</p> + +<p>"Take eight families in a street, or eight pews<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> containing families in +a place of worship; they will afford more than one young child."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> How does he make out eight cases of household baptism by the +apostles?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Let us examine his list:</p> + +<p>1. Cornelius.</p> + +<p>2. Lydia.</p> + +<p>3. The jailer at Philippi. "Thus the church at Philippi, just organized +by the apostles, and consisting of but few members, offers two instances +of household baptism."</p> + +<p>4. Crispus. "Compare Acts 18: 8, and 1 Cor. 1:14—16, by which it +appears that this Crispus was baptized by Paul separately from his +family, which was not baptized by Paul. Yet Crispus 'believed on the +Lord with all his house.' If his house believed, it was baptized. It +was, then, a baptized household. But if we believe that the family of +Crispus was baptized because we find it registered as believing, then we +must admit the same of all other families which we find marked as +Christians, though they be not expressly marked as baptized." He is not +proving, here, you notice, that there were children in any of these +households; he thinks he proves that elsewhere, by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> doctrine of +chances. He is now showing the grounds for supposing that certain +"households" were baptized. He applies his argument respecting Crispus +to</p> + +<p>5. Aristobulus's household.</p> + +<p>6. Onesiphorus's household.</p> + +<p>7. Narcissus's household.</p> + +<p>8. Stephanas's household. This household was baptized by Paul separately +from its head, who was not baptized by Paul; this case being just the +reverse of that of Crispus.</p> + +<p>"Eight Christian families, and therefore baptized." Now comes the +question of probability as to there being children in those households +not capable of faith.</p> + +<p>Begin anywhere, in any congregation, on the Sabbath, and count eight +pews, the proprietors and occupants of which are the heads of families; +and the chance of there being no minor children in them is almost too +small to be appreciated. Should we read, in a secular paper, that a +foreign missionary had baptized eight households in a pagan village, the +general belief would be that it was a missionary of some Pædobaptist +denomination, and that children were baptized in those families.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<p>I must read to you (said Dr. D.) something on the other side of this +argument. I found the following, not long since, in a deservedly popular +and useful Dictionary and Repository, written and signed by a gentleman +of excellent character and standing. He says:</p> + +<p>"Infant baptism was probably introduced about the commencement of the +third century, in connection with other corruptions, which even then +began to prepare the way for Popery. A superstitious idea, respecting +the necessity of baptism to salvation, led to the baptism of sick +persons, and, finally, to the baptism of infants. Sponsors, holy water, +anointing with oil, the sign of the cross, and a multitude of similar +ceremonies, equally unauthorized by the Scriptures, were soon +introduced. The church lost her simplicity and purity, her ministers +became ambitious, and the darkness gradually deepened to the long and +dismal night of papal despotism."</p> + +<p>"Probably introduced about the commencement of the third century, in +connection with other corruptions." Recall what I read to you from +Origen, born <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 185; from Tertullian, who flourished within +one hundred years after the apostles;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> from Cyprian and the Council of +Carthage; from Augustine and his antagonist, Pelagius, who expressly +said that he had never heard of any one, not even the most impious +heretic, denying baptism to infants.</p> + +<p>In contrast with such a passage as the one just read to you, I am +reminded of the host of writers, on our side of the question, who, +almost all of them, make such candid and full concessions, that they +furnish their brethren of the opposite side with many of their arguments +against us. I remember reading a book of "Pædobaptist Concessions," +containing a formidable array of points yielded by our writers, so that +a common reader might ask, What have you left as the ground of your +belief and practice? But the thought which arose in my mind was, +Notwithstanding all these concessions, they who make them are among the +firmest believers in baptism by sprinkling, and in infant baptism. That +cause must be affluent in proofs, and deeply rooted in the scriptural +convictions of men, which can afford to make such concessions to its +antagonists. These refuse facts, which we afford to others for so large +a part of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> their foundation, show how broad and sufficient ours must be.</p> + +<p>The quotation which I read to you, speaks of Popish tendencies as having +already begun. This is true; and more may be added. In the second +epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul tells us that the mystery of iniquity +was already at work. On the subject of religious days and festivals, the +first Christians very soon began to be superstitious, incorporating +heathen festival days into Christian observances, under the plea of +redeeming and sanctifying them, with some such feelings and reasoning as +that with which people, now, would transfer secular music to +sanctuaries, saying that the enemy ought not to have all the best music. +It is true that this sensuous, and, afterward called, Romish, tendency, +corrupted everything. The pure stream of apostolic doctrine and practice +was like the Moselle, which you saw from the fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein, pursuing its unmingled course distinctly for some +distance in the turbid Rhine, till at last it yields to the general +current. Infant baptism, as we learn from ecclesiastical authorities +with one consent, proceeded from the apostles; yet soon it began to be +practised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> with many superstitious absurdities; and, moreover, +immersion, making such powerful appeals to the senses, suited the taste +of the age far better than sprinkling, so that not only did it become +the common mode, but the subjects were completely undressed, without any +distinction, to denote the putting off the old man and the putting on of +the new, and the putting away of the filth of the flesh.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Public +sentiment finally abolished this practice. After a considerable time +affusion, or sprinkling, returned, and became the prevailing mode, +without any special enactment, or any formal renunciation of the late +mode. The Eastern church, however, retained immersion, while the Greek +and Armenian branches use both immersion and sprinkling for the adult +and child. But the sick and dying were always baptized by sprinkling, +which is sufficient to prove that sprinkling was regarded as equally +valid with immersion. It is natural to say that it was superstitious to +baptize the sick and dying, by sprinkling, if we hold that only +immersion is valid baptism. The sick and dying cannot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> be immersed; now, +is it superstition for a sick person, giving credible evidence of piety, +to be admitted into the Christian church, and receive the Lord's Supper? +In order to do this properly, the subject must be baptized; hence, we +derive one powerful argument that sprinkling is valid baptism. Our Lord +would never have made the modes of his sacraments so austerely rigid, +that the thousands of sick and feeble persons, ministers in poor health, +climate, seasons of the year, times of persecution and imprisonment, and +all the stress of circumstances to which Christians may be subjected, +should be utterly disregarded, and one inconvenient, and sometimes +dangerous, form, of applying water, be insisted on, inflexibly, as +essential to the introductory Christian rite. If the early Christians +baptized the sick by sprinkling, they of course supposed that it was +valid baptism. If it was valid at all, and in any case, of course it was +Christian baptism, even if other modes were most commonly used.</p> + + + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I suppose, then, that you would not object to administer +baptism in any other mode of applying water than sprinkling, or pouring.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> One mode was, I believe, practised at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> first; and the New +Testament teaches me that this was affusion. The application of water in +any way, by an authorized administrator, to a proper subject, in the +name of the Trinity, may be valid baptism; but I prefer the New +Testament mode, as I understand it, and am happy to allow others the +same liberty of judgment which I enjoy. It would be an extreme case +which would lead me to administer the ordinance in any other way than by +affusion.</p> + +<p>But, said Mr. D., you began by inquiring respecting the practice of +infant baptism in the early ages. I presume that your mind is settled +with regard to the connection of the practice with God's everlasting +covenant with believers and their offspring. I lately read a statement +of this point, which pleased me much, in the writings of the famous Rev. +Thomas Shepard, the early pastor of the church in Cambridge, +Massachusetts. He says:</p> + +<p>"There is the same inward cause moving God to take in the children of +believing parents into the church and covenant, now, to be of the number +of his people, as there was for taking the Jews and their children. For +the only reason why the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> Lord took in the children of the Jews with +themselves evidently was his love to the parents. 'Because he loved thy +fathers, therefore he chose their seed.' So that I do from hence +believe, that either God's love is, in these days of his Gospel, less +unto his people and servants than in the days of the Old Testament,—or, +if it be as great, that then the same love respects the seed of his +people now as then it did. And, therefore, if then because he loved them +he chose their seed to be of his church, so in these days because he +loveth us he chooseth our seed to be of his church also."</p> + +<p>Though the title of the treatise from which I read is called the +Church-Membership of Children, to which expression I have very great +objections, and feel that it has done harm, yet this good man held the +doctrine of infant church-membership in a sense which is free from all +reproach of making people members of the church otherwise than by +regeneration. His belief on this point comes out under the following +illustration:</p> + +<p>"These children may not be the sons of God and his people really and +savingly, but God will honor them outwardly with his name and +privileges, just as one that adopts a youngster tells the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> father that +if the child carry himself well toward him, when he is grown up to years +he shall possess the inheritance itself; but yet in the meanwhile he +shall have this favor, to be called his son, and be of the family and +household, and so be reckoned among the number of his sons."</p> + +<p>One of the chief reasons which brought this excellent man to New +England, was that he could not in Old England enjoy the ordinance of +infant baptism in its purity. Let me read the following, addressed by +him to his little son, who afterward became pastor of the church in +Lynn, Massachusetts, and was a burning and shining light. His words will +show you that he had no superstitious notion about the church-membership +of children, though he represented the common belief at that day, and +that he did not count baptism in infancy a saving ordinance; yet you +will see how he uses it to plead with his son to be reconciled to God. +He writes:</p> + +<p>"And thus, after about eleven weekes sayle from Old England, we came to +New England shore, where the mother fell sick of consumption, and you my +child was put to nurse to one goodwife Hopkins, who was very tender of +thee; and after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> we had been here diverse weekes, on the seventh of +February, or thereabout, God gave thee the ordinance of baptism, whereby +God is become thy God, and is beforehand with thee, that whenever you +shall return to God he will undoubtedly receive thee; and this is a most +high and happy privilege; and therefore blesse God for it. And now, +after this had been done, thy deare mother dyed in the Lord, departing +out of this world into another, who did lose her life by being careful +to preserve thine; for in the ship thou wert so feeble and froward, both +in the day and night, that hereby shee lost her strength, and at last +her life. Shee hath made also many a prayer and shed many a tear in +secret for thee; and this hath bin oft her request, that if the Lord did +not intend to glorify himselfe by thee, that he would cut thee off by +death rather than to live to dishonor him by sin; and therefore know it +that if you shalt turn rebell agaynst God, and forsake God and care not +for the knowledge of him, nor to beleeve in his Son, the Lord will make +all these mercys woes, and all thy mother's prayers, teares, and death, +to be a swift witness agaynst thee at the great day."</p> + +<p>The practice of infant baptism, and a belief in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> what is called the +church-membership of children, surely had no injurious effect upon a +parent who could speak thus to his child. Yet Shepard took as high +ground as any with regard to this subject. He derived appeals from +baptism to his child, which were both encouraging and admonitory in the +highest degree.</p> + +<p>O, said Dr. D., what a people the descendants of Abraham might have been +forever, had they kept that covenant of which circumcision was the seal. +Had they remembered only this, and had they adhered to it, "I will be a +God to thee and to thy seed after thee," and had they been a +covenant-keeping people, their peace, as God says to them, would have +been as a river; an endless, inexhaustible tide of prosperity and +blessedness.</p> + +<p>And now, if Christian parents will but lay hold on that covenant as they +may, that Abrahamic covenant, still in force for them who are Christ's, +and so Abraham's, seed, and heirs according to the promise, we should +soon see, in family religion, in the early conversion of children, and +in their large Christian culture, those promises of God fulfilled which +have respect to the great increase, chiefly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> by this means, of his +church in the latter days. This is one thing which makes me love and +prize infant baptism so much; its being an expression and exponent of +parental love, faithfulness, and zeal, in those with whom it is preceded +and followed by the entire consecration of their children to God, their +feelings and conduct toward them agreeing with the covenant made for +them with God.</p> + +<p>But, in saying this, let me guard you against the erroneous notion that +infant baptism is primarily a parent's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward God. No, it is God's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward the children of believers. That is the chief thing which +gives it value. For, it is not because parents love their children, that +God commands that they be offered in baptism; but because God loves +them, and has promised to be a God to them, as he is to their parents. +People, however, sometimes treat the ordinance as though it were their +act toward God, and not primarily his act toward them. They, therefore, +are liable to use it with far less effect than if they were receiving in +it, and by it, God's own transaction with them and the little child.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> In thinking of Pagan and Mohammedan nations, lately, at the +Concert of Prayer for Foreign Missions, I was struck with this thought, +how error has been transmitted from father to child, and what an awful +power for evil lies in transmitted family influence, when it is +corrupted. This led me to think whether God did not have this in mind +when, in establishing his church in Abraham, he connected children with +parents in his covenant, and gave a sign and seal to be affixed to their +children as a constant admonition to parental faithfulness. All his +former dealings with the world seem to have failed, because of its great +wickedness,—fire, plagues, good examples, great riches, and power +conferred upon the good; and then he added, as a special means, the +family constitution, and by it he secured a seed to serve him to an +extent sufficient to keep the world from extinction, and to be the +repository and source of divine knowledge. I began to think that, if we +would keep religion from dying out, we must fall in with God's great +plan; for Satan makes use of it, and holds generation after generation +in bondage by means of the family constitution. So I set myself at work +to find out ways by which we might pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>mote family religion; and I could +find no better plan than the old one, of promoting scriptural and +spiritual views of the dedication of children. Then I thought how much +discredit has been cast upon that ordinance, which is intended to be the +great sign and declaration of parental piety and faithfulness; and that +family religion had, proportionably, declined, with the indifference of +Christians to this powerful means of promoting the eminent zeal and +efforts of parents in behalf of their children's spiritual good. Youths +of fifteen to twenty-one years of age are, in a large proportion, the +causes of prevailing wickedness,—Sabbath-breaking, profaneness, and +other things. They need just what the ordinance of baptism, properly +observed and fully carried out by covenanting parents, would do for +them. But, in being present at the formation of new churches, I have +mourned to see that, instead of declaring infant baptism to be the duty +of believers, as was formerly done in our older churches, a compromise +with modern lax views is made, by merely permitting infant baptism, +saying, in the confession of faith, that, "Baptism is the privilege only +of believers and their children."</p> + +<p>But the idea of getting up a zeal in favor of in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>fant baptism, or a +public sentiment in the churches which should enforce it as a duty, +seemed to me unprofitable; but it occurred to me, whether something +could not be done to interest Christian parents in the subject, by +showing them the infinite privilege of having God for their God, and the +God of their seed, and then the naturalness and propriety of using an +ordinance to express and to assist it. People need instruction on the +subject; instruction which will commend itself to their Christian +feelings. We cannot legislate them into a spiritual observance of the +Lord's Supper, much less of baptism.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> No; and I trust that our denominations who practise infant +baptism, will never urge it otherwise than in connection with parental +piety, and as a helper of parental obligations.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> But ought we not to stir ourselves up with regard to parental +duties? and, if so, must we not necessarily insist on the dedication of +children to God, and upon baptism as the acceptable way of signifying +it, and the powerful means of helping us to perform our duties?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Surely we ought; and in doing it we have the satisfaction to +know that we are laboring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> for something more than to establish a mode +of applying an ordinance. In urging the baptism of children, if we do it +not for the sake of the ordinance, but for the things which it signifies +and promotes, we advance the cause of piety in the parents.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Would that some one would blow a trumpet in the churches on +this subject. I do feel that if parents would appreciate the influence +of such a state of heart as would lead them to offer their children to +God in baptism, as an expression of their previous and subsequent views +and feelings toward their children, we should see a new state of things +in the rising generation. How striking it is that the Old Testament +closes with such a passage as that last verse of Malachi. It is the +promontory of the Old Testament, looking across the coming ages, +yearning toward the new dispensation, and, as it were, making signals, +concerning the forerunner of that new era, with those words: "And he +shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of +the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a +curse." May we not conclude that this is God's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> most acceptable way of +effecting the revival of religion from one period to another?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> I have no doubt of it.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> I spoke to our good Deacon Goodenow about it, lately; but he +said he had a great horror of a controversy about baptism, and he was +afraid that, to say much upon this subject, would involve us in one. I +told him that I would not be for reflecting upon other denominations; +that my motto, with regard to them and us, is, "Live, and let live." I +would only appeal to our own people, and encourage them to take up the +subject afresh, in a spiritual manner; that is, to dwell upon the +privilege and duty of being in covenant relations, with our children, to +God, baptism being the ordinance of ratification, and its memorial.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Your reference to controversy about baptism makes me think of +one which I listened to in a rail-road station, last winter, while +waiting in a snow-storm, several hours, for the cars. Two students of +divinity, as I took them to be, were discussing their respective tenets +with regard to baptism. I was reading a book, but could not help hearing +what they said. One was decrying infant baptism as a "rag of Popery," +"the last relic of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> Rome in Protestantism," "a device of Satan to fill +up the church with unconverted members," and much more to that effect.</p> + +<p>His friend, in reply, undertook to give his impressions of immersion. He +spoke of India-rubber bathing-dresses;—a tank in which he saw two or +three men and as many women, one of them a young lady, immersed, to his +apparent disgust;—of Elder some one breaking the ice at some cape on +New Year's Sabbath, and immersing several carriages full of females, who +went back dripping wet, to the carriages, and rode an eighth of a mile +to the vestry;—of several females immersed, in a southern State, going +into a creek with white garments, and with white fillets about their +heads, and coming out yellow; and he asked his fellow whether infant +baptism could be any worse than such things.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> What did his friend say?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> O, it was the common talk on both sides, painful and revolting. +I could not help saying to them, as the cars were coming up, and we were +parting, "But, if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be +not consumed one of another."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> They probably left each other as little convinced of the +opposite opinions, respectively, as when they began.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> More confirmed and set against each other's views, I have no +question. There has been far too much of this. Ridicule and sarcasm are +Satan's favorite weapons. Good people ought not to use them against each +other, whatever be the temptation. Perhaps, as human nature chooses +variety, and we are differently affected by different presentations of +truth, men must be divided into sects; but intolerance, bigotry, +exclusiveness, in us or in others, cannot stand before the spirit of the +age. We may work better, divided into denominations, forbearing with one +another, and loving one another in Christ, and for his sake.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Are you often called upon by persons who are troubled on the +subject of baptism?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> I do not spend much time in discussing the mode. When a young +person is troubled on the subject, I am always careful, first of all, to +find out whether there is any secret bias, for any reason, toward +another denomination; in which case, I pause at once; for you might +argue forever in vain. There is iron on board the ship, which con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>trols +the needle in the compass. I always make it easy and pleasant for such +to follow their evident inclination and wishes.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Are they generally ready to go?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> No, they say they do not like strict communion; but I cannot +help them. I will not be a sectarian, even for infant baptism.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Are you in favor of admitting people to our church who do not +believe in infant baptism?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Young people, who say that their minds are not made up on the +subject, or those who have not had their attention directed to it, +cannot be required to signify their cordial assent to it; but it is +enough if they are not opposed. In the case of parents who steadfastly +decline to practise infant baptism, after waiting a proper time to +instruct them, I advise them to join another denomination more in +accordance with their views. We do better to be apart, and it is no +reflection upon either side to say this. A Pædobaptist church ought to +maintain its principles by requiring assent to its standard of faith; +yet, where there is no church of a different denomination, within +convenient distance, I surely would not exclude a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> child of God from the +Lord's Supper for differences of opinion and practice about baptism. I +would admit, by special vote, to occasional, or even to stated +communion, in such a case.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> Do you ever re-baptize?</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> Where a person was baptized with water, in the name of the +Trinity, by an authorized person, of any denomination, I would not +re-baptize. The alleged heterodox or immoral character of the +administrator, at the time of baptism, does not invalidate it; +otherwise, one might be baptized many times, and, the administrators +proving unworthy, the subject could never get baptized. Christ would +never let his ordinances depend thus upon uncertainties. Let a person +but recognize his baptism, if performed in infancy, by entering publicly +into covenant with God, and that will be sufficient. I endeavor to show +people how wrong it is to lay undue stress on the ordinance, forgetting +whether they have that which is signified by it, and which alone gives +it value.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> True, sir, but it has its importance, and stress is to be laid +upon the due observance of it.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> I mean that where I find the conditions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> of valid baptism +complied with, I try to turn away the thoughts from any superstitious or +ceremonial dependence upon the sacramental act. You remember the answer +in the catechism to the question, "How do the sacraments become +effectual means of salvation?"</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> How I used to say that, at my mother's knee, with my hands +folded behind me, to keep them still: "The sacraments become effectual +means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth +administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of +his spirit in them that by faith receive them."</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> I was thinking, the other day, and not for the first time, by +any means, what a noble man was Paul. He was unwilling that people +should call themselves after him, as their leader, and therefore he was +glad to leave the act of baptizing to his associates. Some, however, +infer from this that he disparages baptism. "Christ sent me not to +baptize, but to preach the gospel." Baptism, in its place, has its +importance, and so has preaching; but whether he should be the baptizer, +or delegate the administration to Silas, or Mark, was not of so much +consequence as that he should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> preach. How he put things in their right +places, according to their proportions, exalting the great, vital +things, sinking others to their subordinate, though useful, spheres, and +becoming all things to all men to save them. With his contempt of +formalism, I hardly know of a greater trial of patience than he must +have had in consenting to circumcise Timothy. He there shut the +window-shutters, and lighted an exhausted lamp, for a time, though he +knew the sun was up, to gratify some who had not opened their eyes to +the morning. How far from a contentious, ambitious spirit, was he, even +with his intense convictions. There are many good people, in all +communions, who are longing for the time when all the old walls of +separation between true Christians will have as many gates in them, at +least, as heaven has,—on the east three gates, on the north three +gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. But I +rejoice even in our liberty, if we choose to exercise it, of separation, +without molestation, though we lose much good to ourselves, and much +influence, and, in times of general religious interest, it leads to +early discussions about modes and forms. How many times have I seen a +growing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> attention to religion in a community checked by debates and +discussions as to ordinances.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. M.</i> If more pains were taken to instruct our own people as to the +oneness of the ancient and the Christian church, and to show them how +the consecration of children is a part of religion, as reëstablished by +the Most High, it seems to me great good would follow.</p> + +<p><i>Dr. D.</i> If you will draw out your thoughts on the subject, and let me +see them, we may prepare something which may be useful. You view the +subject on the popular, practical side. Let us see what the results are +to which you have come.</p> + +<p>Having agreed to make the effort at my leisure, I may report hereafter +as to my success. And now I will ask my reader's attention to an +interesting letter, which, on my return home, I found awaiting me.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Seventh" id="Chapter_Seventh"></a>Chapter Seventh.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Terms of Communion.</span></p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Him first to love, great right and reason is,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Who first to us our life and being gave;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And after, when we fared had amisse,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Us wretches from the second death did save;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And last, the food of life, which now we have,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Even He himselfe, in his dear sacrament,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To feede our hungry soules, unto us lent.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Then next to love our brethren, that were made</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of that selfe mould, and that self maker's hand,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That we;<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and to the same againe shall fade</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Where they shall have like heritage of land,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">However here on higher steps we stand;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Which also were with selfe-same price redeemed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That we;—however of us light esteemed.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Spenser.</span>—"<i>An Hymne of Heavenly Love.</i>"</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;">——<span class="smcap">Prairie</span>,——, 185-. +</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Brother</span>: Here we are, at our journey's end. We have had +a most romantic journey, arriving in health, though wayworn, much of our +ride having been in wagons. My wife says, Give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> my love to brother, and +tell him of the scene at "the hill Mizar." Your letter, which we found +awaiting us, made her think that you would be deeply interested in the +story. This, by and by.</p> + + + + +<p>As we were leaving C., one morning, in the great mail-wagon, a man and +his wife, with an infant in her arms, took seats with us, bound far +beyond our own home. The parents had been delayed by the birth of the +child during the journey from New York. They proved to be truly +excellent people, and they made our journey with them very agreeable.</p> + +<p>The father, Mr. Blair, had been greatly tried during his stay at the +hotel where his wife was sick. There was only one church in the village. +The administration of the Lord's Supper occurring while he was there, he +went to avail himself of a stranger's privilege at the table of Christ. +He found, however, that the ordinance was not to be administered till +the afternoon, and, moreover, the hymn-book, and some things in the +sermon, disclosed to him that the church was one which closed its doors +against communicants who had not been baptized by immersion, on +profession of their faith.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>He was strongly inclined to partake of the ordinance, without saying +anything respecting his baptism. But, on the whole, he concluded that it +would be respectful to intimate his situation to one of the church, +peradventure they had a rule favorable to such a case as his, or, at +least, had agreed to shut their eyes, and ask no questions, in such +circumstances.</p> + +<p>He, therefore, introduced himself to a venerable man, who, he inferred, +was a deacon. He frankly told him who he was, and that he wished to +partake of the Lord's Supper.</p> + +<p>The good man said to him, "I am sorry that you said anything about it; +but, so long as you have, I don't see how I can consistently encourage +your partaking of the ordinance."</p> + +<p><i>Stranger.</i> On what ground, sir?</p> + +<p><i>Deacon.</i> Why, we do not hold you to have been baptized.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger.</i> I was baptized in infancy, by believing parents, and have +been a professing Christian fifteen years.</p> + +<p><i>Deacon.</i> That is not believers' baptism, as we view it. The Lord's +Supper, in our communion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> is for baptized persons only. We hold to no +baptism but by immersion.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger.</i> I certainly would not intrude, and I will not ask you to act +inconsistently with your principles. But I am a wayfaring man. I have +not had the opportunity to partake of the Lord's Supper for several +months. The life and health of my wife have been remarkably preserved in +this village. Here is the birthplace of my first-born, a place never to +be forgotten by us. I wish to make a Bethel of it. I wish to come to my +Saviour's table with my thanksgivings, and pay him my vows, which my +lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I +rejoiced when I heard that this was your sacramental Sabbath.</p> + +<p><i>Deacon.</i> Your church would not admit an unbaptized person to the Lord's +table, however much he might plead for admission.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger.</i> O, my dear sir, how unfair that reasoning is. This is +placing me on a level with one who rejects baptism. I profess to have +been baptized to the best of my knowledge, and to have fulfilled the +requirements of Christ. Should a man come to our church, and say, I have +reason<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> to believe that I have been baptized, though I cannot bring +evidence to satisfy you, except so far as you have confidence in me, his +case would be parallel with mine. Such a man we would not exclude.</p> + +<p><i>Deacon.</i> Perhaps we shall not agree, if we continue to discuss the +point. I am sorry that our rules operate to your inconvenience. We wish +to see everybody on New Testament ground, and we think that the surest +way to bring them there is to stand there ourselves. By departing from +the literal command to immerse, and by baptizing infants, the church of +Christ became corrupted with traditions and human inventions. We are at +the antipodes to all this; we refuse everything which is not in black +and white on the surface of the Bible, and so we are the more consistent +Protestants.</p> + +<p>"Considering the day and the occasion," said my friend to us, "I forbore +to argue, or to press the good man by asking him if the 'seventh-day +Sabbath' people had not the advantage of him as to greater consistency +in their Protestantism; or, whether the church-membership of females was +anywhere in black and white on the surface of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> Bible. As to his +going to the antipodes, to get clear of Romish principles and practices, +I was strongly tempted to say that, to avoid being one of the acids, it +surely was not necessary, nor best, to become an alkali. But having +often reflected how God uses one and another sect, and its set of +principles and practices, to correct evils, by their sharp antagonism, +and to restore a balance to ecclesiastical disorders by allowing some to +go, for a while, to an opposite extreme, I did not find it in my heart +to inveigh, nor to upbraid. It also seemed good to be in a land of +liberty, where even Christians could, from a sense of duty to Christ, if +they chose, fence out their acknowledged brethren and sisters from their +table. There are great inconveniences, and, now and then, hardships, +resulting from it; but our friends, of course, suppose that greater +good, on the whole, than evil, is the consequence, apart from +considerations of duty. But I know of a congregation, in a small place, +who have had public worship for several years, but have not had the +Lord's Supper administered, because they cannot agree as to terms of +communion."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well," said I, "tell us what you did in the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"In the afternoon," he continued, "I went to meeting, and, when the +ordinance was to be administered, I took a seat in a pew alone. I +watched to see which aisle the good deacon would serve, and concluded to +sit there, so as not to seem clandestinely seeking from another deacon, +who would not know me, my inhibited bread; for I wished to be honorable +in the transaction, and, besides, I desired that my friend should see +me, and, if he had changed his mind, give me the symbols. So I sat where +he would pass, in a pew by myself, but he did not look at me."</p> + +<p>"How did it make you feel?" said I.</p> + +<p>"In some respects," said he, "I never enjoyed my thoughts more at the +administration of the Supper. I had no feeling of resentment or +ill-will. The exclusion of four fifths of the Christian family from the +Lord's table by one portion of it, for such a reason, seemed to leave me +in such good company, that I said to myself, 'They that be with us are +more than they that be with them.' I rejoiced in Robert Hall, John +Bunyan, and others like them. I thought of that interesting piece in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +Bunyan's works, 'Water Baptism no Bar to Communion.' I questioned +whether this church and its sister churches would not hear a mild +reproof from the lips of Christ,—'I was a stranger, and ye took me not +in.' Certainly they could not say with Job, 'If I have eaten my morsel +alone.' Using the table of Christ for a wall or bars against +acknowledged Christians,—that table, that Supper, which, of all places +and scenes, is most suggestive of communion and fellowship,—seemed to +me so great a mistake, that I could not in charity regard it as a sin, +because, as such, it would be so criminal. I always believed, before, +that the mode of baptism was not essential to Christian fellowship; but +that afternoon I saw it, I felt it; I worked out the sum myself, and saw +the demonstration, I felt very happy in belonging to the great host of +God's people who can commune together, however much they differ."</p> + +<p>"While I was sitting there alone, put aside, one might say, by my +brothers and sisters, whom I had, as it were, run in so cordially to +meet, one thought came over me, as they were feasting with Christ, which +made me weep. I thought of the possibil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>ity of being set aside in the +great day. I said, to myself:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'I love to meet thy people now,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Before thy face with them to bow,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Though vilest of them all;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But, can I bear the dreadful thought,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What if my name should be left out</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When thou for them dost call?'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"This did me good. Yet, while I was sitting there, I seemed to see the +Saviour approach me, with a smile. His look seemed very significant, as +though he would say, 'I understand it.' Those words came to my mind: +'Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and, when he had found him, he +said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and +said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto +him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And +he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.' I surely said and did +this."</p> + +<p>"Never before," said he, "had I such views of the condescension and +gentleness of Christ toward us, erring creatures. Here was a church +erring, it seemed to me, in a point which must pecu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>liarly wound the +heart of the Redeemer, whose last discourse with his disciples had this +for its burden, that ye love one another. And yet there were, in that +church, many with whom Christ was communing with a love that seemed to +them unqualified. So he treats us all. I never had a greater flow of +charity toward all my fellow-Christians than on that occasion. I +resolved that I never would be a sectarian in anything, while I also +felt more strongly than ever attached to my own views, and confident of +their truthfulness, and in love with their beauty."</p> + +<p>When he had finished his narration, his wife asked me what I thought +with regard to her husband's proceedings. I asked her to state +particularly what she had in mind. She then expressed a doubt whether it +were proper for us to intrude upon fellow-Christians, when we know that +their principles forbid their communing with us. She said that she +remonstrated with her husband, as soon as he told her that the ordinance +was not free to all evangelical Christians, and that she tried to +dissuade him from appearing to obtrude himself. She did not view it as +uncharitableness, but only as a denominational rule.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>I asked her what her husband said in self-defence;—for we loved to hear +her conversation.</p> + +<p>She said that he turned it off by saying, "Men do not despise a thief, +if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry."</p> + +<p>She said that soon they experienced the utmost kindness from the members +of that church, who, learning the occasion of their sojourn in the +village, poured upon them their hospitality. Several wished to remove +her to their dwellings. They had a "Busy Bee," and made up everything in +an infant's wardrobe for her. She opened her travelling-bag, and took +out a white enamelled paper semi-circular box, containing a pin-cushion, +made of straw-colored satin, in the shape of a young moon, with these +words tastefully printed in pins: "Welcome, little stranger!" She held +it up to us in one hand, while with the other she wiped her eyes. Never, +she said, had kindness affected her so much;—she believed that it +hindered her in gaining strength, her feelings were so continually +wrought upon by ingenious devices of loving-kindness. It became known +that the husband had proposed to commune, and what the issue had been. +This only served to make them all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> more generous. They felt it +deeply, and bore it as a necessity which they evidently regretted; but, +with much self-respect, they refrained to make any apology, or +explanation; "and, for this," said the wife, "I respected them." There +was one elderly maiden-lady, however, who once was so far excited when +the subject was alluded to, while several of them were sewing in the +wife's room, that, after moving about in her chair, evidently struggling +with her emotions, she ventured at last to say, "O, if I could get hold +of that old fence, how I should love to shake it!" They all smiled; and +one sensible and well-educated woman immediately gave a pleasant turn to +the conversation.</p> + +<p>I fully agreed with the wife in her very dignified and proper view of +the whole subject. Is there not something extremely charming in the +highly lady-like sentiments and expressions of a Christian woman, as +contradistinguished from those of a gentleman? He, with all his +urbanity, is apt to show the smallest possible vein of testiness, or, at +least, the clouded look of high-bred sense of honor. It seems to me +there is no power which woman exerts over us, in softening and +humanizing our feelings, more beautiful and effect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>ual, than in her +delicate forbearance and charity in taking the kind view of an +irritating subject, without compromise of principle, but just the view +which reflection, and gentler moods, and the softening hand of time, +invariably present. She arrives at it at once, by intuition; our slow +and phlegmatic sense goes through a process of mistake and +rectification, to reach it.</p> + +<p>It occurred to me to test this good lady's feelings a little further, by +reading to her an item from a newspaper, which I had met with in the +cars a few days before, and which I had transferred to my pocket. It had +disturbed my equanimity a little. It was an extract from the annual +circular letter of a conference of ministers to their churches, in one +of the New England States, in 1855, in which mention was made of "the +monstrous and soul-damning heresy of infant baptism."</p> + +<p>I asked the lady how we ought to feel at such a demonstration. She said, +"I presume I know how you gentlemen would be likely to feel and act +under the impulse of the moment; but the true way to regard and treat +it, as it seems to me, is, with pertinacious forgetfulness." She would +not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> let it disturb her feelings; and she quoted George Herbert:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Why should I feel another man's mistakes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">More than his sicknesses, or poverty?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In love I should; but," &c.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Susan said that she was reminded of visits made to her mother's house, +by some who would persuade her mother that she belonged to an +"unbaptized church;" thus seeking to put in fear the children who were +about to make a profession of religion. Her mother replied to these +visitors, that there was far more apprehension in her own mind whether +they themselves were properly baptized, if but one mode is valid.—As to +Mr. Blair's effort to commune at that table, she said that she would +never seek nor receive as a boon from men, that which her Saviour had +purchased for her, and for them, with his own blood.</p> + +<p>Our conversation was here interrupted by the exclamation of my wife, "Do +look at that beautiful sight, that cascade, on the hill."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eighth" id="Chapter_Eighth"></a>Chapter Eighth.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">The Road-side Baptism.</span></p> + + +<p style='margin-left:17em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">How beautiful the water is!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To me 'tis wondrous fair;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">No spot can ever lonely be,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">If water sparkle there.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">It hath a thousand tongues of mirth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Of grandeur, or delight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And every heart is gladder made</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">When water greets the sight.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Mrs. E.O. Smith.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 17em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Sweet one! make haste, and know Him too;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Thine own adopting Father love;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">That, like thine earliest dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Thy dying sweets may prove.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Keble.</span> +</p> + + +<p>We were about to turn a corner in a defile of the mountains, and a large +perpendicular buttress of the ridge stood out, so as nearly to close up +the road. It presented a surface of about twenty feet directly in front, +as we drove up, and, from the top, which was nearly a hundred and twenty +feet from the ground, a cascade fell into the air for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> about forty feet, +and, without touching anything, became dishevelled, and disappeared in +mist.</p> + +<p>It was one of the most beautiful objects which I ever saw. It was pure +white, relieved against the wet and very black rock. It waved to and fro +in the air like a streamer; it had a slow pulse, lifting it and letting +it drop, like the appearance of a waterfall seen from the window of a +car in motion, only this was irregular and quite slow; it was soft and +fleecy; it made no audible noise; it looked dangerous to see it fall +from so great a height; but it was caught in the air, to your relief, as +one who falls in his dream lights upon his soft bed. The lines of Gray, +in his Bard, were suggested by the sight of this mountain, though not by +any close resemblance:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Loose his beard; his hoary hair</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Streamed like a meteor to the troubled air."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The ladies had other images suggested by it. One said, "It is a +beautiful hand, waving Godspeed to us on our journey." That brought +tears into the eyes of some of us, reminding us so of meetings and +partings at home, and chording well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> with our pilgrim condition. We +concluded to make response; and we tarried there.</p> + +<p>The rock seemed to be full of water, oozing out from the seams, dripping +over rich mosses, with jets, here and there, leaping into the light with +a bound of a few inches, and quietly expiring among the thick +weather-stains and lichens, as if satisfied with their brief existence. +The little things made me think of the sweet souls of infants passing +into time, and then immediately out of it. As we listened, we heard what +Addison describes in his version of the twenty-third Psalm:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"And streams shall murmur all around."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The ladies took off their bonnets, and we our hats, and we stood under +the cascade, looking up, and feeling, or fancying that we felt, the cool +spray on our heads and faces. We drank of the rock, and we thought of +that Rock which followed Israel. It seemed good to have such an image of +Jesus as such a rock, with the strength of the hills in it, and with its +inexhaustible springs, its beautiful entablature, its cool shadow, +following a company through a desert. What thoughts and feelings did it +give us respecting our adorable Imman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>uel, God with us. Dear Susan, +looking up, said, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."</p> + +<p>After invoking the blessing of God, and refreshing ourselves from our +little store, our friends wandered away by themselves, and left us to +enjoy the opportunity for prayer, which we supposed they also sought in +withdrawing from us.</p> + +<p>As they returned, the father had the little boy on his two hands, and, +approaching me, he looked up to the cascade, and said, "'See, here is +water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?'"</p> + +<p>I was at no loss to understand the quotation and the request.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to have the little one baptized here?" said I.</p> + +<p>"We should," they both exclaimed. "We are going into a destitute place +at the West, and there is no church, you tell us, within several miles +of where we expect to live. It is very uncertain about our being able to +procure baptism for the child there; and where could we enjoy the +ordinance more, or make it more impressive upon our hearts, than here, +so long as we have no house of God, which we remember, however, from +'the hill Mizar'?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<p>I told them that the experience of Philip and the eunuch, in the desert, +was, just as likely as not, the same as ours. "See, here is water." The +probability of its being a road-side spring, in a rock, or out of the +earth, was greater than of its being a pool in the desert, large enough +to immerse a man in it, leaving out of view the inconveniences of being +bathed along the way. We have both gone "down out of the chariot," said +I—(you would have smiled to see our great, strong, muddied wain)—and +we have done what the literal Greek says they did, "went down <i>to</i> the +water;" and when we start, we shall "come up <i>from</i> the water." But let +us read 'the place of the Scripture' which the eunuch was reading when +Philip joined him.</p> + +<p>Susan took from her bag the blue velvet-covered Bible, which you gave +her, unclasped it, and turned to the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, at +my request, and began to read. O, how soft and sweet was the sound of a +female voice, repeating words of inspiration in that beautiful, solitary +spot! The Scriptures had not been divided into chapters and verses for +the eunuch, as for us, but we noticed that the last verse of the chapter +preceding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> "the place of the Scripture which he read," not divided from +it in his copy of Isaiah, was, "So shall he sprinkle many nations;" +which, we thought, proved that the eunuch had had the idea of baptism +suggested to him by those words; and quite as conclusively proving it, +as "buried with him in baptism" proves immersion.</p> + +<p>However, being agreed on all these points, we made no long discourse +about them, but dwelt upon the Son of God as the Redeemer of Abraham's +seed, and in whom all the promises of God, including those made to +Abraham, are yea, and in him amen.</p> + +<p>I said to my friends, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are about to +write their several and joint names on this child's forehead.</p> + +<p>"As a lamb has the owner's mark upon his side, this child is to be +claimed by them, to be brought up for the service and glory of its +redeeming God.</p> + +<p>"You are to give him away, to be disposed of by the Most High. You are +to be, for Him, what the mother of Moses was for Pharaoh's +daughter—nurses to your own child. This dear child lay helpless and +exposed, with all of us, to destruction; the Redeemer passed that way; +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> heard its cries: he had compassion upon it; he saved it from the +condemning sentence of divine justice; and now he calls you, and says, +'Take this child, and bring it up for me, and I will give thee thy +wages.' He does not commit the child to church, nor pastor, nor +Sabbath-school, but to its own father and mother, who may and will avail +themselves of all the appointed and the useful helps for its nurture and +admonition in the Lord; but he looks to you, as having the chief and +principal responsibility, to bring up this child for God.</p> + +<p>"You covenant to lay your plans for this child, so that he may, by the +surest means, live for God. To this end you will pray with him and for +him; teach him what was done for him in baptism, and before, and +afterwards; how God was beforehand with him, and was found of him who +sought him not. He is to be trained up as a Christian child, with a view +to his early conversion, and your great concern is not to be, how he may +promote his private happiness, or yours, but how he may best serve God.</p> + +<p>"To this end, you will, from the first, watch over all his moral +faculties, and instil into him the principles of truth and uprightness; +not letting him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> run loose among the vanities of the world, and feed +upon its miserable, corrupted sentiments, and choose worldly and godless +persons for his intimate associates, his manners and his habits being +like a garden which runs to weeds, and his whole nature left to the +perils of sin, trusting to some sudden act of conversion to bring him +right; but you will rather be diligent to 'fill the water-pots with +water,' and wait for Christ to turn it into wine. You intend, and you +promise, that you will educate this child from the beginning with all +that strictness of Christian principle which you would expect of him +were he, in his infancy, to be a professing Christian, his duty being +the same, and, consequently, yours toward him, whether he is regenerate +or not,—one and the same law of God being our rule, irrespective of +conditions.</p> + +<p>"In all times of sickness and peril, you are to feel that this child is +the Lord's, to be disposed of by him, without consulting you. If called +to die and leave him, you will remember that you received him from God, +that he belonged to God at first, and when he was placed in your care; +and that God, who thus has the most perfect claim to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> him, will perfect +that which concerns him, even if his parents are in the grave.</p> + +<p>"And while you thus covenant with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, +covenant with you, and with the child through you, to be the God of your +seed, affording you special help in training the child, bestowing +special blessings upon it tending to its spiritual good, having a +particular regard for it as something lent to him, and belonging to you; +while, in another sense, it is lent to you, and belongs to him; and he +and you are to regard the child agreeably to this beautiful +transmutation of ownership and loan. The baptism itself cannot save the +child, any more than the Lord's Supper can save you; but it is among the +first of means to promote the salvation of the child, not merely through +its effect on you, or its remembered grace and goodness when the child +can be made to appreciate it; but above all, and through all, and in +all, it seals that covenant of a covenant-keeping God, assisting your +efforts and those of the child,—that promise, I say, 'I will be his +God, and he shall be my son.'"</p> + +<p>We named the little boy, <span class="smcap">Philip</span>, as a memorial of the road-side +baptism. We stood under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> shadow of that great rock, and worshipped +Abraham's God. "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be +ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not." The voice of prayer was +joined by chimes and symphonies from trickling rills, and the freshening +breeze in a silver-leaved maple, leaning at an angle of thirty-five +degrees, just above us in the rock, all as quiet as the dear infant's +breathing; while, now and then, the sudden flapping and rushing of +birds' wings made the monotone around us more soothing.</p> + +<p>From a little jet of water, that formed an arc of about an inch, as it +burst into life and then disappeared in a great moss-bed, I caught my +palm full, and laid it upon the unconscious head.</p> + +<p>The little hands were suddenly lifted and dropped, as though a slight +shock had been experienced, then a smile played round the mouth, and the +sleep seemed deeper.</p> + +<p>And will God in very deed dwell on earth? Will the adorable Trinity be +present at such a scene as this? Present! "All power is given unto me in +heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing +them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> Holy Ghost." +He will not appoint this ordinance, and fail to be present; the God of +redemption is a party to that transaction by which an immortal soul, +with an existence commensurate with his own, is consecrated to him by +its natural guardians, acting in the place of God, and for the child, +and joining them in covenant.</p> + +<p>"Shall we ever forget this?" said the husband to his wife, as we were +riding along that beautiful afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Never," said she; but she added, sensible woman as she was, "the beauty +and sentiment of the place seemed to me nothing, compared with the +privilege of covenanting with God, and having him covenant with us for +the child. After all," said she, "I would have been glad to have had the +baptism in our little church at home, and to have secured good Mrs. +Maberry's prayers, and those of our church, for the child, at its +baptism. I must write to her, and get her to tell the Maternal +Association about it, and ask them not to forget little Philip."</p> + +<p>"What would you have named it," said my wife, "had it been a girl?"</p> + +<p>"O," said she, smiling, "I was thinking on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> hill, that, if it had +been a girl, I should have called it Candace, for the Ethiopian queen."</p> + +<p>"And Canda, for shortness and sweetness, I suppose," said her husband, +his eyes twinkling and sparkling with love, as he looked at her, and +from her upon us.</p> + +<p>"He's a sweet little thing, you know he is," said the mother, burying +her face in the child's bosom, and giving it something between a good +long smell and a good long kiss, or both; a thing which mothers alone +know exactly how to do.</p> + +<p>"Suppose," said I, "that, instead of little Philip, it had been you, +sir, and Mrs. Blair, who had needed to be baptized.</p> + +<p>"Here you are, on a journey. You do not know that you will be able to +avail yourselves of religious ordinances, in your new home, for a long +time to come; and, besides, regarding baptism not merely as a profession +of religion, but as an act of Almighty God, sealing you with his +appointed sign of the covenant, you have strong desires to receive it, +here in this 'way unto Gaza, which is desert,' from my hands.</p> + +<p>"'See, here is water,' in rich abundance. But,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> alas! there is no pond, +nor pool, no lake, nor river!"</p> + +<p>"Even if there were," said my wife to Mrs. Blair, "I should shudder to +have you venture into untried waters, in this lonely place. Fear, at +least, would prevent any peace of mind, or satisfying enjoyment."</p> + +<p>"'What doth hinder me to be baptized?' you would properly say to me," I +continued. "'O,' my reply could be, 'the water is not in an available +shape. Had we time to scoop out a tank in the earth, or make a stone +baptistery in the rock, then you might be 'buried with him by baptism +into death.' But it is impossible. This living fountain of waters in the +mountain, full and overflowing though it be, does not allow of Christian +baptism. Besides, as to suitable apparel, and all the necessary +arrangements for comfort, not to say propriety,—you see that baptism, +here is out of the question.'"</p> + +<p>"Do you think," said Mrs. Blair, "that the Head of the church has +appointed any such invariable mode of administering baptism,—one that +cannot be applied in numerous cases?"</p> + +<p>I said to her, "I cannot believe it. The genius<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> of Christianity seems +opposed to it. Let all who will, use immersion; we love them still, and +rejoice in their liberty, but I cannot agree that it was the New +Testament method. Even had it been, I should expect that the rule would +be flexible enough to meet cases of necessity."</p> + +<p>"I was thinking," said Mr. Blair, "that, at least, four fifths of all +the people of God have gone to heaven unbaptized, if immersion is the +only valid mode of baptism. This is rather a serious thing, if the +solemn words, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved,' look +only to baptism by immersion. It seems to me," he added, "that the +providence of God would have brought in some great reformation from so +calamitous an error in the church, if it were an error. Some Luther, or +Calvin, or Knox, or some John Baptist, would have been raised up, as in +other emergencies, to bring the church back to her duty."</p> + +<p>"How clearly," said I, "does that seem to prove that all the people of +God have, as Paul says, 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism,' however +variant their modes of worship and administration may be."</p> + +<p>"How many baptized children, from Christian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> families," said my wife, +"are gathered together in heaven! I cannot think of them as the +unfortunate subjects of a superstitious or corrupt observance, at the +hands of the ministers of Jesus, in all ages of the world. There must +seem to them, as they increase in knowledge, a beautiful fitness in +their having had those adorable names inscribed upon them, with God's +own initiatory seal of his covenant. What loving-kindness it must appear +to them, that God gave them the ordinance of baptism, and became their +God! How it will stand out before their minds as a principal +illustration of being saved by grace!"</p> + +<p>"And then, again," said Mr. Blair, "think of the millions of children in +heaven who were not baptized,—saved, the most of them, from heathen and +pagan lands. How 'the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, +hath abounded unto many.' Baptism is not an austere law. There is +nothing austere or rigid, in any sense, connected with it; but it makes +me think of the water itself, scattered in so many beautiful and pliable +forms all over the earth, in fountains, water-falls, dew, rain-drops; +and, when it cannot 'stand before His cold,' it comes down softly upon +us, in crystal aste<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>roids and all the geometrical forms of snow. I love +to think that God has associated that beautiful element, the water, with +religion. And now it does not seem accordant with the works and ways of +Him, of whom we say, 'How great is his goodness, how great is his +beauty,' to make one obdurate mode of bringing the water in connection +with us essential to an ordinance, whose element seems everywhere to +shun preciseness."</p> + +<p>"Water is certainly a beautiful emblem of open communion," said one of +the ladies. "It must be conscious, one would think, of violence done to +its ubiquitous nature, to be made the occasion of separating beloved +friends, at the Table whose symbolized Blood has made them one in +Christ."</p> + +<p>But we had to part. I told them that my wife and I would certainly be +sponsors for little Philip, in the best sense; we would make a record of +its history, thus far, among our family memorials; tell our children +about him, and charge them in after life to inquire for him, and lose no +opportunity of doing him good. Though, as to that, I could not help +saying, no one knows in this world who will be benefactor or +beneficiary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Our children will always be interested in each other," said his wife, +"for their parents' sake."</p> + +<p>"Can we not sing a hymn?" said the husband.</p> + +<p>We found that our voices made a quartet. Susan was ready with her +beautiful contralto, Mrs. Blair sung the soprano, Mr. Blair the tenor, +and I the base.</p> + + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'>THE BAPTISMAL HYMN.</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Lord, what our ears have heard,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Our eyes delighted trace—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Thy love, in long succession shown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To Zion's chosen race.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Our children thou dost claim,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And mark them out for thine;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Ten thousand blessings to thy name</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">For goodness so divine.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Thee, let the fathers own,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And thee, the sons adore,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Joined to the Lord in solemn vows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To be forgot no more.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Thy covenant may they keep,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And bless the happy bands</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Which closer still engage their hearts,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">To honor thy commands.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"How great thy mercies, Lord!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">How plenteous is thy grace!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Which, in the promise of thy love,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Includes our rising race.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Our offspring, still thy care,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Shall own their fathers' God;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">To latest times thy blessings share,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">And sound thy praise abroad."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>We saw them and their baggage on board the wagon that was to take them +over to the river; we waved our farewell, and sent our kisses; and, just +as they were turning a corner which hid them from our view, the father +stood up in the wagon, and held little Philip as high as he could (the +mother, of course, reaching up her arms to hold them both fast), as +though to catch the last benediction. The long, flowing white dress of +the child gave the picture a waving, vanishing effect, reminding us of +our first sight of the cascade, which, with the whole transaction to +which it gave occasion, has taken a permanent place in our sleeping and +waking dreams.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Ninth" id="Chapter_Ninth"></a>Chapter Ninth.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">The Children of the Church</span>.</p> + +<p> +Go, now, ye that are men, and serve the Lord.—<span class="smcap">Pharaoh</span>.</p> +<p> +We will go with our young, and with our old, with our sons, and with our +daughters.—<span class="smcap">Moses</span>.</p> + +<p>Hosanna to the Son of David.—<span class="smcap">The Children in the Temple</span>.</p> + +<p>The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be +established before thee.—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> 102:28. +</p> + + +<p>The reader will now be introduced, in imagination, to a seat in the +window of a country parsonage, with honeysuckle-vines trained over an +arched lattice-work that spans the window. There are several large +maples in the yard, which is a grass-plot, where six gentlemen are +enjoying pleasant conversation, and are seated at their ease, some in +chairs, and the rest on a sofa, which, at the suggestion of a kind lady, +they had lifted from its place in the parlor to the yard.</p> + +<p>They are all of them pastors of churches, met, for social intercourse +and friendly counsel, at the house of one of their number, with their +wives,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> who are also together by themselves, in a pleasant room on the +north side of the house, and into whose sayings and doings these +husbands will, no doubt, be disposed to make, in due time, suitable +inquiry.</p> + +<p>Those wonderful little elves, the humming-birds, are frequent visitors +to those honeysuckles, under which I have placed my reader to be a +listener. How many vibrations those little wings make in a minute, how +so long a bill can have subtractive force sufficient to get anything +from the flower, how, when obtained, that product is conveyed to the +throat, and where these creatures build their nests, and whither they +migrate, are questions which will, perhaps, divert attention from +everything else for a time, especially if the reader has escaped for a +season from a large city, and is one of those who there "dwell in +courts." Perhaps, therefore, he will choose to refresh himself, in +silent contemplation, in this arbor; and I will make true report of all +that transpires in the yard.</p> + +<p>One of these pastors, Mr. A., has been reading to his brethren, for +their judgment as to the soundness of his views, a sermon, not yet +preached, on the relation of baptized children to the church.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> We will +call him, and two of the ministers who agreed with his views, by their +initials, respectively, which consisted of the first three letters of +the alphabet; while the three who dissented from them had, as initials +to their names, letters remote from these. Neither Messrs. A., B., and +C., nor Messrs. R., S., and T., had had any previous concert or +comparison of views on this interesting subject; but they found +themselves thus arrayed on different sides of the question.</p> + +<p>Omitting the sermon that gave occasion to the discussion which follows, +a few lines only will put us in possession of the whole subject. I give +the opening paragraph:</p> + +<p>"It is held by all who practise infant baptism, that the children of +believers have a peculiar relation to the church. That relation is very +generally expressed by the word membership. We have treatises, by the +most orthodox divines, on the church-membership of the children of +believers; which children they freely call members of the Christian +church; and, in catechisms and confessions of faith, the church of +Christ is declared to consist of such as are in covenant relations with +God, and their offspring."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sermon being finished, Mr. R. was first called upon by the chairman, +Mr. C., for his remarks. The question, as stated by the chairman, was, +Are the children of believers, in any sense, members of the church? If +so, what is it? and, if not, what relation to the church do they +sustain?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> I presume that brother A. does not wish us to take up time with +criticisms upon his style. He seeks to know our views with regard to the +subject of the sermon. I am compelled to say, at once, that I differ +from the views expressed by the reader, if he means by the terms, +<i>members</i> and <i>membership</i>, which he employs, all which they would +convey to the majority of hearers. But I noticed that when he, and those +excellent men whom he quotes, come to define what they mean by members, +and membership, in this connection, they make explanations, and +qualifications, and also protestations, showing that no one can be, in +their view, a member of the spiritual, or, what is called the invisible, +church of Christ, without repentance and faith. Rightly understood, +therefore, they are free from any just imputation of making unscriptural +terms of membership in the kingdom of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> Christ. And, perhaps, when those +of us who dissent from some of their propositions, fully understand the +limitations which the writers themselves affix to their use of terms, no +great discrepancy will be found to exist.</p> + +<p>It admits of a question, therefore, in my view, whether the terms +<i>members</i> and <i>membership</i>, as applied to children, really mean that +which these writers themselves intend to convey by them; for certainly +they do not mean all which their readers at first suppose. The terms in +question require a great deal of explanation, which a term, if possible, +ought never to need. And, after all has been said, a wrong impression is +conveyed to the minds of many, while opponents gain undue advantage in +arguing against that which, for substance, all the friends of infant +baptism cordially maintain.</p> + +<p>If Br. A. is asked, "In what sense are children members of the church," +he resorts, for illustration, to citizenship, and to the sisterhood in +the church itself, to show how children and females may be members of +the community, and, in the case of females, may belong to the church, +while yet their privileges and functions are limited. So, he says,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> the +children of believers are a component part of God's church, not entitled +to the use of all its privileges till they are renewed by the Spirit of +God, yet so related by the sovereign appointment of God to those who are +members, as to be, in a subordinate sense, a part of the church.</p> + +<p>Could the friends of infant baptism agree on some term, which would +express their common belief with regard to the relation of believers' +children to the church, better than <i>member</i>, I think it must have a +happy effect in promoting harmony of views and feelings, and take away +from others the grounds of several present objections.</p> + +<p>It was here agreed that, instead of the question going round to each in +turn, the conversation should be free, subject to the rule of the +chairman.</p> + +<p>Mr. A., the reader, then said that he should be glad to learn from his +Br. R. precisely what his views were of the relation of baptized +children to the church. "Let us see," he said, "how far we are agreed as +to the actual nature of this relation."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Mr. R., "I will begin with this:</p> + +<p>"<i>They are the children of God's friends</i>. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> all know how God reminds +Israel of their relation to Abraham, his friend, tells them they are +beloved for the fathers' sakes, and he remembers his covenant with those +friends of his, their fathers, when provoked by the children's sins. +Toward the child of one who loves God (not merely a church-member, but a +friend of God), I suppose there are affections on the part of God, of +which our own feelings toward the child of a dear Christian friend are a +representation. This love to the child of his friend, I always thought, +is the great element in that arrangement of the Most High which we call +the Abrahamic covenant; for he who made us, knew how much a love for our +children, on the part of others, draws us together, and what bonds are +constituted and strengthened between men through their children; and +that one great means of promoting love to Him would be, his manifesting +special love and care for the offspring of those who love him. God has a +people, friends; and the children of such are the children of his +dearly-beloved friends. In this we are all agreed."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said Mr. A., "but you will go further than this, I +presume."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> Yes, Mr. Chairman. One thing more is true of them:</p> + +<p><i>They are the principal source of the church's increase</i>. The selection +of Abraham, with a view to make of his lineage, the banks, within whose +defensive influences grace should find helps in making its way in this +ungodly world, had reference, I believe, to that power of hereditary +family influence, which has not ceased, and will not cease, to the end +of time. It is beautiful and affecting to see that recognition of our +free agency, and that unwillingness ever to interfere with it, which +leads the Most High to fall in with the principles of our nature +established by himself, in placing his chief reliance on the natural +love of parents for their offspring to contribute, by far, the larger +part of those who shall be converted. In this arrangement and +expectation do we not find the deep roots of infant baptism? which thus +appears to be neither Jewish nor Gentile, but grows out of our nature +itself, which also requires, which demands, some rite, a symbolic sign +and seal. God made the children of Adam partakers with him of his curse; +so that the parental and filial relation was, from the beginning made a +stream to bear along the conse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>quences of the first transgression. No +new thing, therefore, was instituted when God, in calling Abraham, +appointed the parental and filial relation to bear, on its deep and +mighty stream, the most powerful means of godliness in all coming +generations. How little do we think of this, Mr. Chairman, and brethren; +how apt we are to neglect this great arrangement of divine providence +and grace,—the perpetuation of the church, chiefly by means of the +parental and filial relation. But, if such be the divine appointment, +and the children of believers are therefore the most hopeful sources of +the church's increase, of course they may be said to belong to the +church, in a peculiar sense, but without being "<i>members</i>."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. A.</i> I think you are coming on very well toward my ground. I +certainly agree with you thus far.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> If I am not taking up too much time, Mr. Chairman, I should +like to proceed a little further, in order to do full justice to my +views. If I am found to agree with Br. A., it will be just as pleasant +as though he agreed with me.</p> + +<p><i>Chairman.</i> Please to proceed. Two things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> which are equal to the same +thing, are equal to each other.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> I will, then, say, once more:</p> + +<p><i>The children of believers are the subjects of preeminent privileges and +blessings.</i> Special promises are made to them from love to their +parents; great advantages are theirs, directly and indirectly, from +their relation to those who are the true worshippers of God; +forbearance, long suffering, the remembrance of consecrations and vows, +prevail with God, oftentimes, in their behalf when they have broken +their father's commandment and forsaken the law of their mother. No +words of tenderness, in any relation of life,—said Mr. R., turning to +the Psalms,—surpass those, in which are described the feelings of God +toward the rebellious sons of Abraham: "But he, being full of +compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a +time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath." "For +he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." God still +remembers Abraham, his servant, in the person of every father and mother +who loves him, and is steadfast in his covenant; and "the generation of +the upright shall be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> blessed." Mistakes in family government, growing +out of wrong principles, too great reliance upon future conversion, and +the neglect of that moral training which is essential to the best +development of religious character, and, indeed, without which religious +character is often a melancholy distortion, or sadly defective, may be +followed by their natural consequences; and we cannot complain,—for God +works no miracle, nor turns aside any great law, in favor of our +misconduct; yet it remains true that all who love and serve him, and +command their children and households to fear the Lord, enforcing it in +all the proper ways of government, discipline, example, and the right +observance of religious ordinances, public and private, may expect +peculiar blessings upon their offspring.</p> + +<p>One of the youngest of the company, the father of one young child, here +inquired, if the speaker would have us infer that the conversion of such +children is to be looked for as a matter of course.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> Ordinarily, they will grow up in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord, to be followers of Christ; the proportion of persons bap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>tized +on admission to the church, will become small; a healthful tone of +religious feeling will pervade our churches; less and less reliance will +be placed on startling measures, on splendid talents, on novelties, to +promote the cause of religion; but Christian families will extend like +the cultivated fields of different proprietors, whose green and +flowering hedges, instead of stone walls, mingle all into one landscape. +"And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of +righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." "And my people shall +dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet +resting-places." "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and +great shall be the peace of thy children." Such, I believe, is sure to +be the manner of the church's prosperity, and therefore the children who +are to be the subjects of these inestimable blessings must be said, in +some sense, to <i>belong</i> to the church, they being the objects of special +regard with the church and with God. Br. A. agrees with me in all this, +I presume.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. A.</i> Entirely; or, rather, you agree with me.</p> + +<p>"Now, Br. A.," said an earnest man of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> company,—who, however, +immediately checked himself, and bowed to Mr. R., and said, "I dare say, +Mr. Chairman, that Br. R. was going to put the very question which I +intended to ask."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> Proceed, Br. S. I owe an apology for speaking so much.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. S.</i> Will Br. A., Mr. Chairman, please to tell us why he feels +obliged to call these children "<i>members</i> of the church?"</p> + +<p>For, we all know, that, notwithstanding all these glorious things, which +are spoken of them, to which Br. A. has also referred, not one baptized +child of a true believer can be, really, a member of the church, in +regular standing, till he, like the unbaptized heathen convert, has +repented of his sins and believed on the Lord Jesus. All the promises +and privileges appertaining to his relationship as a child of a +believer, promote, and make more certain, his repentance and faith; and +therefore, if asked, "What profit, then, hath circumcision, and its +substitute, infant baptism?" we can reply, "Much every way;" but it +never stood, and never can stand, in the place of justification by free +grace through the personal exercise of faith in the Redeemer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. C.</i> But I wish to ask, in the name of Br. A., and for my own sake, +what objection there is to retaining the name, <i>member</i>, in this +connection?</p> + +<p><i>Mr S.</i> My answer is, it is the occasion of great stumbling to those who +reject infant baptism, and are confirmed in rejecting it, by +misapprehending the views and feelings of many who use the term in an +objectionable sense.</p> + +<p>The discussion now became animated. Mr. S. said that he had a further +objection. It leads many, who use it erroneously, into perplexing and +fruitless positions. Assuming that the children are members of the +church, they discuss the question, as the sermon has stated, Of what +church are they members? Some reply, Of the church to which their +parents belong. Others say nay, but of the church universal. Then they +feel it incumbent upon them to provide some means of discipline for +these so-called members. In case they grow up, and neglect to come with +their parents to the Lord's Supper, must they not be disciplined? Some +insist that discipline, in some of its forms, must be administered, and, +in certain cases, excommunication must take place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. T.</i> I know it, and I wonder at it. I should like to ask, who has +deputed to any church the power to say when the divine forbearance with +a child of the covenant has come to an end? Does it terminate at the age +of twenty-one in the case of male children, and at eighteen in the case +of females? David, when a full-grown man, plead the covenant of God with +his mother: "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the +son of thine handmaid." Or, does it cease on the child's leaving the +parental roof for another place of residence? Or, on entering upon the +married state? Or, upon the commission of some great act of outward +transgression, shall we pronounce the covenant to be dissolved? Do we +not see that we are meddling with a divine prerogative, if we assume to +act in such cases? Expostulations, warnings, entreaties, from parents, +pastor, brethren of the church, may always be in place; but further than +these we cannot proceed.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, too," said Mr. R., "if discipline were to fall anywhere, it +might more justly descend on the parents of such a child."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. T.</i> The seeming mockery of a church punishing a youth for the +neglect of that which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> himself never promised to do, would most +likely have the effect to drive him to a returnless distance from the +church, extinguishing the last ray of hope as to his conversion. A fit +parallel to such proposed church-discipline of children, is found in the +practice, which was not uncommon, twenty-five years ago, in a region of +our country where great religious excitements prevailed for some time, +when it was publicly recommended, in preaching and from the press, that +parents who had labored in vain for the conversion of children, should, +in certain cases, punish them, to make them submit to God.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. D.</i> Is it possible?</p> + +<p><i>Mr. T.</i> Yes, sir; and the records of those times furnish instances in +which this was done. Of such means of grace, I am happy to say, we have +no such custom, neither the churches of God.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. S.</i> Nor shall we probably ever see young people disciplined by the +churches, for not repenting and believing the Gospel. It is insisted on +as theoretically proper, but they have never ventured to carry it out in +practice.</p> + +<p>Mr. C., the chairman, said, "Brethren, there is strong authority in +favor of the sermon. Since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> you have been talking, I have been looking +over Dr. Hopkins's works, to find this passage, which, if you please, I +will read. Dr. Hopkins says:</p> + +<p>"Though under the milder dispensation of the Gospel, no one is to be put +to death for rejecting Christ and the Gospel, even though he were before +this a member of the visible church, yet he is to be cut off, and cast +out of the visible kingdom of Christ. And every child in the church, who +grows up in disobedience to Christ, and, in this most important concern, +will not obey his parents, is thus to be rejected and cut off, after all +proper means are used by his parents, and the church, to reclaim him, +and bring him to his duty. Such an event will be viewed by Christian +parents as worse than death, and is suited to be a constant, strong +motive to concern, prayer, and fidelity, respecting their children, and +their education; and it tends to have an equally desirable effect upon +children, and must greatly impress the hearts of those who are in any +degree considerate and serious."</p> + +<p>Again: "When the children arrive at an age in which they are capable of +acting for themselves in matters of religion, and making a profession of +their adherence to the Christian faith, and practice, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> coming to the +Lord's Supper, if they neglect and refuse to do this, and act contrary +to the commands of Christ in any other respect, all proper means are to +be used, and methods taken, to bring them to repentance, and to do their +duty as Christians, and, if they cannot be reclaimed, but continue +impenitent and unreformed, they are to be rejected and cast out of the +church, as other adult members are who persist in disobedience to +Christ."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + + + +<p>"Such words, from such a source," said Mr. C., "are entitled to great +consideration."</p> + +<p>"But," said Mr. S., "here is a passage from his own theological +instructor, President Edwards:</p> + +<p>"It is asked,' he says, 'why these children, that were born in the +covenant, are not cast out when, in adult age, they make no profession.' +He replies, 'They are not cast out, because it is a matter held in +suspense whether they do cordially consent to the covenant or not; or +whether their making no profession does not arise from some other cause; +and none are to be excommunicated without some positive evidence against +them.'"</p> + +<p>"My dear sir," said Mr. A., "Mr. Edwards is there speaking of those who +merely refuse to own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> the covenant, without being guilty of scandalous +sin."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. S.</i> It is evident, nevertheless, that Hopkins goes further than he, +and requires that those who, at years of full responsibility, refuse to +own the covenant, shall be cut off. Modern writers on this subject, +while insisting on the church-membership of children, draw back from +this position, and are more in harmony with what, it seems to me, may be +said to be the general sense of the churches on this subject. I feel +glad, when reading such passages as those from Hopkins, that we have +liberty of opinion, and are not compelled to swear by the words of any +master. I bow to such a divine as Dr. Hopkins, but he fails to satisfy +me that he is right in these views of church-discipline for children.</p> + +<p>Mr. R., who was the oldest man of the company, now returned to the +discussion, and said: "It is clear that one cannot be dispossessed of +that which he never possessed, except as in the case of a minor, who may +have his claim to a future possession wrested from him. Of what is a +child of the covenant, allowing him to be, while a child, a member of +the church,—of what is he in possession?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> Not of full communion, not of +access to the Lord's table, not of the right to a voice in the call and +settlement of a pastor, nor in any other church act. From what, then, is +he turned out by being cut off? He has never arrived at anything from +which he can be separated, except the covenant of God with him through +his parents, and its attendant privileges of watch and care. If, then, +we excommunicate an unconverted child, we can only declare the covenant +of God with him, henceforth, to be null and void,—an assumption from +which, probably, Christian parents and ministers would shrink. The same +long-suffering God, who bears and forbears with ourselves, we shall be +disposed to feel, is the God of this recreant child, and no good man +would dare to pronounce the child to be separated from the mercies of +'the God of patience and hope.' One who, being in a church, breaks a +covenant to which he assented, may be a just subject for discipline, +even to excommunication; but, all the promises of God to the child being +wholly free, conditioned, at first, upon his parents' relation to God, +all the disability which the child seems capable of receiving, is, that +the promises made to him he must fail, by his own fault, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> receive. +Who will declare even his prospect of their fulfilment to be terminated +at any given time? Much more, who will undertake to divest him of things +which he never had? The church-membership, from which you profess to +expel him, does not yet exist in his case; he has not reached it. All +the church-membership of which, if any, he has been possessed, is, his +hopeful relation to God and his people through a parent. To +excommunicate a child from this would be a strange procedure."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. A.</i> That is the strongest thing which I have heard on that side. I +must confess (said he, rising and leaning against one of the maples) +that I am a little staggered.</p> + +<p>But Mr. B. came to reinforce his faltering brother.</p> + +<p>"Here," said he, "is the Cambridge Platform. You will all be willing to +hear from that source."</p> + +<p>"Let us hear," said two or three voices.</p> + +<p>Mr. B. read as follows:</p> + +<p>"The like trial (examination) is to be required from such members of the +church as were born in the same, or received their membership, and were +baptized in their infancy or minority, by virtue of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> the covenant of +their parents, when, being grown up unto years of discretion, they shall +desire to be made partakers of the Lord's Supper; unto which, because +holy things must not be given to the unworthy, therefore it is requisite +that these, as well as others, should come to their trial and +examination, and manifest their faith and repentance by an open +profession thereof before they are received to the Lord's Supper, and +otherwise not to be admitted thereunto. Yet those church-members that +were so born, or received in their childhood, before they are capable of +being made partakers of full communion, have many privileges which +others, not church-members, have not; they are in covenant with God, +have the seal thereof upon them, namely, baptism; and so, if not +regenerated, yet are in a more hopeful way of attaining regenerating +grace, and all the spiritual blessings both of the covenant and seal; +they are also under church-watch, and consequently subject to the +reprehensions, admonitions, and censures thereof, for their healing and +amendment, as need shall require."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + + + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> Now, please, Br. B., what does all that prove?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> Why, it proves that, in the judgment of the Cambridge Platform, +the children of church-members are members of the churches.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> It shows that the Cambridge Platform calls them members; but it +gives us no proof that they are properly called members. A great deal in +that extract, I undertake to say, will command the cordial assent of all +who practise infant baptism, if we except the use of the term members. +It shows that, as to coming into the company of true believers, and +being one of them, the only way is through repentance and faith,—a way +common to the unbaptized. The only advantage, but one which is +exceedingly great and precious on the part of the believer's children, +being, that they "have many privileges," and "are in a more hopeful way +of attaining regenerating grace." But the term membership does not +express their relation to the church before they are converted.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> (After a pause.) I do not know but you are right.</p> + +<p>Mr. C., the remaining advocate of the sermon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> said, "Let me refresh +your memories with the famous case quoted in Morton's New England +Memorial. He says:</p> + +<p>"'The two ministers there (Salem, 1629), being seriously studious of +reformation, they considered the state of their children, together with +their parents, concerning which letters did pass between Mr. Higginson +(of Salem) and Mr. Brewster, the reverend elder of the church of +Plymouth; and they did agree in their judgments, namely, concerning the +church-membership of the children with their parents, and that baptism +was a seal of their membership; only, when they were adult, they being +not scandalous, they were to be examined by the church officers, and +upon their approbation of their fitness, and upon the children's public +and personally owning of the covenant, they were to be received unto the +Lord's Supper. Accordingly, Mr. Higginson's eldest son, being about +fifteen years of age, was owned to have been received a member together +with his parents, and being privately examined by the pastor, Mr. +Skelton (the other minister of Salem), about his knowledge in the +principles of religion, he did present him before the church when the +Lord's Sup<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>per was to be administered, and, the child then publicly and +personally owning the covenant of the God of his father, he was admitted +unto the Lord's Supper, it being there professedly owned, according to 1 +Cor. 7:14, that the children of the church are holy unto the Lord, as +well as their parents.'"</p> + +<p>Mr. R. stood up, and, with an animated look and manner, but with a very +pleasant voice, said:</p> + +<p>"What, now, my good brother, did these good ministers do, with this +youth, more or less than we all do for the children of our pastoral +charge?</p> + +<p>"Of what practical use was his so-called infant 'church-membership,' in +addition to his being, as we all hold, a child of the covenant?"</p> + +<p>They made no reply for a little while, till at last Mr. A. said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Br. R., what names would you substitute for <i>members</i> and +<i>membership</i>?"</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> "<span class="smcap">The children of the church</span>;" for you have it in the +last sentence of the extract which you read from Morton;—the true, the +most appropriate, and, in every respect, the best name for those who are +so ambiguously called <i>members</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. B.</i> There is great beauty and sweetness in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> that name, I +confess,—"the children of the church," "the church's children."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> A father never, except for concealment, says, "a member of my +family," when "a child" is meant. The term <i>members</i>, besides being +equivocal, and requiring explanation, is not so good as "children of the +church," an expression which includes and covers all that any would +claim for "infant church-members."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. C.</i> I confess, I like Br. R.'s views and proposition. If, by +calling the offspring of believers, "the children of the church," we, by +implication, abridged any of their privileges, or if, by calling them +church-members, we believed that they acquired rights and privileges not +otherwise appertaining to them, we ought to prefer the words member and +membership; but it is not so. No one of the writers cited,—and the +proofs we all know could be extended by quoting from other +authors,—claims the right of a child to full communion, except upon +evidence, in his "trial and examination," that he is regenerate. Indeed, +the only use to which the terms member and membership seem to be +applied, is, in furnishing some ground for urging the discipline and +excommuni<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>cation of the child. This, though urged by some, is urged in +vain.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> Other terms, in connection with members and membership, have +been proposed, such as members in minority, members in suspension, +future members; but all in vain. The children of believers are certainly +the children of the church, and such I devoutly hope and pray they may +come to be called.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. A.</i> Seeing that the use of the term <i>member</i> keeps before our minds +a theoretical, hard necessity, from which every one shrinks, I think I +will alter my sermon so far as to dismiss the term, and, with it, all +sense of inconsistency in neglected obligations as to disciplining these +young "members."</p> + +<p>"Well, Br. A.," said Mr. B., "I will join you in submission."</p> + +<p>"So will I," said Mr. C. "How good it is to be convinced, and to give up +one's own will; is it not?"</p> + +<p>"It ought to be," said Mr. A., "to those whose great business it is to +preach submission. But I think we did not differ at first, except as to +the use of terms."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. T.</i> I wish to make a confession. Though I have always been of Br. +R.'s opinion, I have felt it to be invidious, and, for several reasons, +disagreeable, to call a meeting of "the children of the church,"—making +a distinction between them and the other children of my pastoral charge. +Am I correct in such views and feelings?</p> + +<p>"Come, Mr. Chairman," said Mr. A., "we have not paid you sufficient +deference, I fear; for we have hardly kept order, in addressing one +another, and not through you. Now, please to speak for us, and tell us +what you think of Br. T.'s difficulty."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. C.</i> I have sinned with you, as to keeping order, if there has been +any transgression; but I have been so much interested and instructed, +that I forgot my preëminence over you. But to Br. T., I would say, There +is a church; and it means something, and something of infinite +importance. All our labors have this for their end, to make men +qualified for worthy church-membership, on earth, and in heaven,—the +conditions of admission here and there, as we hold, being essentially +the same. This church, which we thus build up, has children, call them +what we may, the objects of God's pecu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>liar love. On that topic I need +not dwell. We ought to pay some marks of special regard to these +children, for God has done so. As to its being invidious, it is not more +invidious than to address our congregations as partly Christians, and +partly unconverted; or to invite the unconverted to meetings especially +designed for them. Meetings of the children of my church, called by me, +and addressed by me, never fail to make very deep impressions upon the +young, upon their parents, upon other children, and upon the parents of +those children. Another form of effecting the same desirable ends, is, +to call meetings of parents in the church, and their children, and to +address the parents and the children in sight and hearing of each other. +In doing so, if there are any parents in the church who are withholding +their children from baptism, we have the best of opportunities to +conciliate their feelings to the ordinance of baptism. We all know how +little is effected in our minds by abstract reasoning upon any subject, +where the feelings are deeply concerned; close argument, invincible +logic, absolute demonstrations, and all measures seemingly intended to +coërce the will, excite resistance, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> confirm us in our prejudices. +But open to a parent, who has doubts on the subject, its inestimable +benefits to all concerned, and he will be more disposed to see the +grounds for it, and the abundant proofs of its divine authority, which +the atmosphere of pure reason had not sufficient power of refraction to +make him apprehend.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. S.</i> I thank the chairman heartily for those remarks. May I add a +leaf from my observation? I have noticed that in such meetings of +parents, in the church, and their children, good influences sometimes +reach those who are pursuing the mistaken course of withholding their +children from baptism, under the plea that they can consecrate their +children to God as well without baptism, as with it. They need to learn +the spiritual power which God has vested in the sacraments of his own +appointment, and to be disabused of the notion that the baptism of a +child is, from beginning to end, merely a human act, of which God is +only a spectator;—they need to feel that baptism is something conferred +upon a child by God; and not merely a sign, but a seal.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mr. R., "it is an ordinance of God, and the neglect of it is +not merely a failure to ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>tain blessings, but a disregard of a divine +ordinance; not merely the withholding a sign of allegiance, but the loss +of a seal,—the government seal, not ours, which God would affix to the +intercourse between himself and our souls. If we, pastors, feel this +deeply, and so perceive the design of God in bestowing baptism upon the +children of his people, we shall convey to the hearts and minds of +doubting Christian parents, persuasive influences, which will succeed +where arguments and appeals, based on mere proofs and obligations, have +failed."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. A.</i> It is gratifying, now, to think that these things, and others +like them, may be done without calling the children "members of the +church." Except discipline, it is obvious that everything in the way of +watchfulness may be done for them as children of the church, which it +would be proper, or even possible to do, if they were counted as +members.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. R.</i> I am aware of the analogy which many, who plead for the term +members, seek to carry out between the Old and the New Testament church, +making children members of the Christian church, because the church in +ancient days included the children. But it seems to me that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> there is +the same difference, now and formerly, between the relation of children +to the church, that there is between the relation of the whole religious +community, now and formerly, to the church of God. Formerly, all the +members of the religious community were, by their association under the +same belief and worship, members of the church. To make the case with us +parallel, our whole Christian community ought to be members of the +church. No examination or discrimination should be used; to belong to +the Christian community should constitute church-membership.</p> + +<p>But this, we know, is not the case. God chooses now to make up his +visible church not as formerly, but of those who give credible evidence +of regeneration. They who worship with us, but do not profess to be +Christians, are hopeful subjects of effort and prayer, whom we expect to +receive hereafter to the visible church, on profession of their faith.</p> + +<p>As the Christian church is constituted differently from the Jewish +church, in this respect, discrimination and separation taking place +between the members of a Christian congregation, have we not analogical +reason to infer that it may also be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> thus with regard to children?—who +once, indeed, were members of the church of God, but, under the +dispensation of the Spirit, they fall, with other unconverted members of +the congregation, out of membership in the church.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. C.</i> And yet, Br. R., the fall is not far, nor hurtful. They are +entitled to all the privileges, and they enjoy, or should enjoy, all the +care and effort, which they would have under a different name. Only they +do not come to the Lord's Supper, as a matter of course, as they did to +the Passover.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. S.</i> Suppose that the legislature should incorporate a fish-market, +and cede to the proprietors fifteen square miles of the sea, within +which they should have the privilege of taking fish. All the fish, +within those fifteen miles of salt water, might be said to <i>belong</i> to +the market; yet every one of them must be taken by hook and line ere his +belonging to the market is of any practicable value. So the children of +the church may be said to belong to the church, and are to constitute +her chief resource. Rivers, and other distant or neighboring waters, +would also send fish to that market, even if they were "far off;" but it +is from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> bay at her doors that the market would derive her principal +supplies. I do not see that children are members of the church, any +further than those fishes belong to that market. Go there when you will, +you see the stalls filled from those adjacent waters; supplies are +continually coming in; they are, in a sense, secured to the market by a +covenant; yet every fish is caught and handled, before he has anything +like membership in that market, as really as though he swam and were +caught in Baffin's Bay;—only he is now far more likely to be caught, +and, in a sense, he already belongs to the market by the seal of the +state.</p> + +<p>Mr. A., the reader of the sermon, not having much ideality, but much +plain good sense, yet taking everything literally at first, and from his +own honesty supposing that all figures of speech are to be cashed, as it +were, for what they purport on their face, immediately challenged his +brother to carry out the illustration. He asked him whether the constant +passage, in and out, of fishes from and beyond the ceded fifteen miles, +allowed of any resemblance, in the migratory creatures, to the children +of the church, who are born and remain in the limits of the church, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +are designated, individually, by virtue of their parentage.</p> + +<p>Mr. S. replied, that he did not mean to make a comparison to satisfy all +the points of the case, and he hoped that the brethren would take it +with due allowance.</p> + +<p>Mr. T. said that he had thought of this illustration: "All the young +male children of the Levites might be said to be members of the +priesthood. They certainly 'belonged' to the priesthood. But no one of +them could officiate till he had complied with certain conditions, nor +if he was the subject of certain disabilities. He believed that the +children of God's people have, by the grace of God, as really a +presumptive relation, by future membership, to the church of Christ, as +an infant Levite boy had to sacred offices; prayer, with the child, as +well as for it, and faithful training, with a spiritual use of God's +appointed ordinances, constitute, he was persuaded, as good reason to +hope that the child of a true believer will become a Christian, and +that, too, early in life, as that the young son of Levi would minister +in the levitical office."</p> + +<p>"O," said Mr. B., "how many cases there are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> which seem to disprove +that. You will be obliged to reflect severely on some good people as +parents, if you take so strong ground."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. T.</i> I do not despair of a child whose parents, or parent, has +really covenanted with God for him, even though the child be long a +wanderer from the fold.</p> + +<p>But it is the same now with Abraham's spiritual seed as it was with his +natural posterity,—neglect on the part of parents may work a forfeiture +of the covenant promises; failure in family government, above all +things, may frustrate every good influence which would otherwise have +had a powerful effect in the conversion of the child. The sons of Eli +were not well governed; Esau was evidently of an undisciplined spirit. +With regard to the children of several good men, in the Bible, it may be +inferred, that the public engagements of the fathers hindered them from +bestowing needful attention upon their sons. The only thing derogatory +to the prophet Samuel, of which we are informed, is, that his sons were +vile. With regard to certain cases of mournful wickedness, on the part +of the children of eminently good men, it will be found that some of +these men, occupying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> perhaps, important stations of a public nature, +such as the Christian ministry, were so engrossed in their public duties +as not to give sufficient time and attention to their own families; +which is a great shame and folly in any father of a family. In vain do +we plead the covenant promises, if we neglect covenant duties. Grace is +not hereditary in any sense that compromises our free agency; its +subjects are born "not of blood;" there are many of the children of the +kingdom who will be cast out into outer darkness, but among them, we may +venture to say, will not be found those whose parents diligently sought +their moral and religious culture in the exercise of a strict, +judicious, affectionate, prayerful, watch and care, praying with them in +secret, which, it seems to me, is, perhaps, the most powerful of all the +means which a parent can use to influence the moral and religious +character of a child.</p> + +<p>"Is it not a mournful inconsistency," said Mr. R., "for us to be +laboring and spending our strength and lives for the conversion and +salvation of others, and not be equally zealous for the souls of the +children whom God has given us?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Mr. C.</i> Our habits of seclusion and study may operate to make us +reserved, moody, and so repulsive, to our own children. We ought to be +interested in their every-day affairs, and watch for opportunities to +form their opinions, on moral as well as religious subjects, and be as +kind and assiduous to them, certainly, as we endeavor to be to other +children.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>What more could these good men have said, with regard to the subject, +had they concluded to adopt the terms "member" and "membership," to +express the relation of children to the church? They were not conscious +of omitting or diminishing one privilege or blessing to which the +children of the church are entitled; everything which the most strenuous +advocates of "infant church-membership," so called, mention as accruing +to them, they claimed in their behalf. Did infant church-membership +admit to the Lord's Supper, as it did to the passover, the children +would now, with propriety, be said to be "members of the church." But, +inasmuch as, under the Christian dispensation, they cannot come to the +sacrament which distinguishes between the regenerate and the +unregenerate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> without a change of heart, they, and all those who are +associated with the church in general acts of worship, and in Christian +privileges, but are not converted persons, are, alike, under the +Christian system, removed from outward membership—only, that the +children of the church have privileges and promises which go far to +increase the probability of their future church-membership, and directly +to prepare them for that sacred relation.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">The Children of the Church</span>," then, is the sufficient name by +which it seems desirable that the children of believers should be +designated. And, instead of using the term "church-membership," applied +to them, we shall include everything which is properly theirs, we shall +lose nothing, we shall prevent great misunderstanding, and liability to +perversion, by substituting the "Relation of Baptized Children to the +Church," whenever we wish to express the peculiar and most precious +connection which they hold, in the arrangements of divine grace, with +the covenant people of God.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Tenth" id="Chapter_Tenth"></a>Chapter Tenth.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Maternal Associations.</span></p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">The mother, in her office, holds the key</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of the soul; and she it is who stamps the coin</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Of character, and makes the being, who would be a savage</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">But for her gentle cares, a Christian man.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">—Then, crown her Queen o' the world.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Old Play.</span> +</p> + + +<p>The pastors now adjourned their session under the maples, and repaired +to the room where their wives were sitting. The ladies had finished +their deliberations, and had been strolling in the woods. But they, too, +had been engaged, like their husbands, in conversation about their +children, and the children of the church. "Maternal Associations" had +been the chief topic. They had discussed their advantages, and had +considered objections to them. The result was, that they had unanimously +agreed to promote such associations in their respective churches. Their +influence on young mothers, in helping them to train their children,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +affording them the results of experience gained by others; the privilege +of stating difficult and trying cases for advice, of praying together +for their children, of having those mothers, during the intervals of +their monthly meetings, pray for the children of their sisters, and +sometimes, specially, for a child in peculiar need of prayer, commended +these associations to their judgment and affections. One lady referred +to the possible disclosure of family secrets, at such meetings, which it +was unpleasant to hear, and to the undesirableness of revealing the +faults of a child. They agreed that these things should never be done, +and that it was easy to avoid them by employing a friend, if necessary, +to state the case, hypothetically, so as to conceal its connection with +any member of the circle. The ladies had gone so far as to adopt a +little manual, for their respective circles, which they submitted to +their husbands for criticism. One of the gentlemen read it, as follows:</p> + +<p class='center'>"MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS.</p> + +<p>"Maternal Associations are designed for mutual instruction and +consultation, in connection with united prayer. Subjects for reading and +discus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>sion relate chiefly to the physical, mental, moral, and religious +training of children. Some individual is usually prepared at each +meeting to give method and tone to the conversation, which might +otherwise become desultory. The faults of children who are known to the +members are <i>not</i> made the subject of remark; but cases of difficulty +are so presented as to avoid individual exposure. Associations conducted +on these principles are found to be greatly beneficial.</p> + +<p class='center'>"CONSTITUTION OF——CHURCH MATERNAL ASSOCIATION.</p> + +<p>"Impressed with a sense of our entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit to +aid us in training up our children in the way they should go, and hoping +to obtain the blessing of such as fear the Lord and speak often to one +another, we, the subscribers, do unitedly pledge ourselves to meet at +stated seasons for prayer and mutual counsel in reference to our +maternal duties and responsibilities. With a view to this object, we +adopt the following constitution:</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Article I.</span> This circle shall be called the 'Maternal +Association of——Church;' any member of which, sustaining the maternal +relation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> may become a member by subscribing this constitution. Other +individuals, sustaining the same relation, may be admitted to membership +by a vote of two thirds of the members present.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. II.</span> The monthly meetings of this Association shall be +held on the——of the month.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. III.</span> The quarterly meetings in January, April, July, and +October, shall be held on the last Wednesday of the month, when the +members shall be allowed to bring to the place of meeting such of their +children as may be under the age of twelve years, and they shall be +considered members of the Association. The exercises at these meetings +shall be such as shall seem best calculated to instruct the minds and +interest the feelings of the children who may be present.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. IV.</span> At each quarterly meeting there shall be a small +contribution by the children for benevolent purposes.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. V.</span> The time appropriated for each meeting shall not +exceed one hour and a half, and shall be exclusively devoted to the +object of the Association. Every monthly meeting shall be opened by +prayer and reading a portion of Scripture, which may be followed by +reading such other mat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>ter as relates to the interests of the +Association, or by conversation tending to promote maternal faithfulness +and piety. These exercises may be interspersed with singing the songs of +Zion, and with humble and importunate prayer, that God would glorify +himself in the early conversion of the children of the Association, that +they may become eminently useful in the church of Christ. It is +desirable that the last meeting in the year be spent in reading the +Scriptures and in prayer.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. VI.</span> Every member of the Association shall be considered +as sacredly bound to pray <i>for</i> her children daily, and <i>with</i> them as +often as circumstances will permit; and to give them from time to time +the best religious instruction of which she is capable.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. VII.</span> It shall be the duty of every member to qualify +herself, by daily reading, prayer, and self-discipline, to discharge +faithfully the arduous duties of a Christian mother; and she shall be +requested to give with freedom such hints upon the various subjects +brought before the Association as her own observation and experience may +suggest.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. VIII.</span> When any mother is removed by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> death, it shall be +the special duty of the Association to regard with peculiar interest the +spiritual welfare of her children, and to evince this interest by a +continued remembrance of them in their prayers, by inviting them to +attend quarterly meetings, and by such tokens of sympathy and kindness +as their circumstances may render proper.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. IX.</span> Every child, upon leaving the Association, at the +prescribed age, shall receive a book from the mothers, as a token of +their affection, to be accompanied by a letter, expressive of the deep +interest felt in their temporal and spiritual welfare.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. X.</span> The officers of the Association shall be a 'First +Directress,' a 'Second Directress,' a 'Secretary,' and a 'Corresponding +Secretary,' who shall be appointed annually in September.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. XI.</span> The duty of the First Directress shall be to preside +at all meetings, call upon the members for devotional exercises, and +regulate the reading. In the absence of the First Directress, these +duties shall devolve upon the Second Directress.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. XII.</span> It shall be the duty of the Secre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>tary to register +the names of the members, and of their children, and to supply each of +the mothers with a list of the same, together with a copy of the +constitution. She shall also keep a record of the proceedings of each +meeting, and, as far as may be convenient, of the topic discussed, and +of the remarks elicited by it. This record shall be read at the +commencement of the next subsequent meeting. She shall likewise receive +the contributions of the children, keep an account of the same, and pay +it according to the vote of the Association.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. XIII.</span> It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary +to write the letters addressed to the children upon leaving the +Association, to conduct the general correspondence, receive the +contributions from the mothers, and purchase the books to be given to +the children.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Art. XIV.</span> Any article of this constitution may be amended by a +majority of the members present at any annual meeting.</p> + +<p>"It is recommended to the members of the Association to observe the +anniversary of the birth of each child in special prayer, with +particular reference to that child. May He who giveth liberally,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> and +upbraideth not, ever preside in our meetings, and grant unto each of us +a teachable, affectionate, and humble temper, that no root of bitterness +may spring up to prevent our improvement, or interrupt our devotions. +The promise is to us and to our children; we have publicly given them up +to God; his holy name has been pronounced over them; let us see to it +that we do not cause this sacred name to be treated with contempt. May +Christ put his own spirit within us, that our children may never have +occasion to say,</p> + +<p class='center'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">'<i>What do ye more than others?</i>'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No criticism was made upon this production, but the pastors commended +it, and rejoiced in the good which an increased attention to the subject +would be sure to accomplish. They promised to preach on the subject, +and, in their pastoral visits, to encourage mothers in the churches to +join the Associations.</p> + +<p>One of the ladies said that she had a paper, which she had thought best +to read, if the company pleased, when they were all together, and she +had therefore reserved it until the gentlemen came in.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a paper in the handwriting of a Christian friend, which was found +in her copy of the "Articles and Covenant" of her church, after her +decease. This lady had been in the habit, as it seemed, of reading over +those articles and the covenant, on the Sabbath when the Lord's Supper +was to be administered; and the religious education of her children, +being identified with her most sacred thoughts and moments, she read +these questions at the same time.</p> + +<p>The lady who read them said that it was proposed by some to append them +to the little manual already presented for Maternal Associations.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class='center'>"QUESTIONS TO BE THOUGHT UPON.</p> + +<p>"1. Have I so prayed for my children as that my prayer produced an +effect upon myself?</p> + +<p>"2. Have I realized that to train my children for usefulness and heaven +is probably the chief duty God requires of me?</p> + +<p>"3. Have I realized that, if I cannot eradicate an evil habit, probably +no one else can or will?</p> + +<p>"4. Have I granted to-day, from indulgence, what I denied yesterday from +principle?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>"5. Have I yielded to importunity in altering a decision deliberately +made?</p> + +<p>"6. Have I punished the beginning of an evil habit?</p> + +<p>"7. Have I suffered the indulgence of an evil habit through sloth or +discouragement?</p> + +<p>"8. Have calmness and seriousness marked my looks, tones, and voice, +when inflicting punishment?</p> + +<p>"9. Was my convenience, or the guilt of the child, the measure of its +punishment?</p> + +<p>"10. Has punishment been sufficiently private, and have I tried to +affect the mind more than the body?</p> + +<p>"11. Do my children see in me a self-command which is the effect of +principle?</p> + +<p>"12. Have I, in my plans, my heart, and conduct, sought first for my +children the kingdom of God?</p> + +<p>"13. Have I commended God to my children, and my children to God?</p> + +<p>"14. Have I aimed to govern my children on the same principle and in the +same spirit which God adopts in the government of his creatures?</p> + +<p>"15. Have I, in pursuance of the above resolu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>tion, acted in the spirit +of that prayer in God's word, 'Them that honor me, I will honor, and +they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed'?</p> + +<p>"16. Have I aimed to secure the love and obedience of my children?</p> + +<p>"17. Have I remembered that it is full time to make a child obey when it +knows enough to disobey?</p> + +<p>"18. Do I realize that the fulfilment of covenant promises is dependent +on my fidelity? Gen. 18: 19.</p> + +<p>"19. Have these resolutions been undertaken in the strength of Christ, +remembering 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me'?</p> + +<p>"20. Have I labored to convince my child that its true character is +formed by its thoughts and affections?</p> + +<p>"21. Do I daily realize that each of my children is a shapeless piece of +marble, capable, through my instrumentality, of being moulded into an +ornament for the palace of the King of kings?</p> + +<p>"22. Do I, by my conversation and actions, teach my children that +character, and not wealth or connexions, constitutes respectability?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>"23. Do I realize what circumstances are educating my children;—my +conversation, my pursuits, my likings, and dislikings?</p> + +<p>"24. Do I realize that the most important book a child can and does +read, is its parents' daily deportment and example?</p> + +<p>"25. Do my children feel they can do what they like, or that they must +do what they are commanded?</p> + +<p>"26. Have I felt that a timid child is in great danger of being +insincere?</p> + +<p>"27. Do I, as an antidote to timidity, cultivate the fear of God and +self-respect?</p> + +<p>"28. Do I realize that I must meet each child at the judgment-seat, and +hear from it what my influence over it has been as a mother?</p> + +<p>"29. Do I realize that it is in my power to exert such an influence that +Christ shall see in each the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied?</p> + +<p>"30. Do I realize that my children will obey God much as they do me?</p> + +<p>"31. Do I impress on my children that little faults in Christian +families may be as dangerous to the soul, and as evil in their +tendencies, as larger faults where there is no Christian education?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>"32. Do I realize the danger of retarding or hindering the work of the +Holy Spirit, by evil habits, worldly pursuits, or companions?</p> + +<p>"33. Do I make each child feel that it has a work to do, and that it is +its duty and happiness to do that work well?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The paper having been read, one of the pastors stated that he knew the +lady who had been referred to; that she died leaving a large family of +children, all of whom, he had learned, were now members of the church of +Christ except the youngest, of tender age. He hoped that the Questions +would be printed in the Manual for the Maternal Associations.</p> + +<p>"I was struck with the remark in some old writer," said Mr. R., "that +'God had clothed the prayers of parents with special authority.' It made +me think that, as the Saviour promised the apostles, for their necessary +assurance and comfort, that they should always be heard in their +requests, while engaged in establishing the new religion, so parents are +encouraged to think, since family religion, the transmission of piety by +parental influence, is so important, in the view of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> God, that they will +have special regard paid to all their petitions for aid, as God's +vicegerents in their families."</p> + +<p>But the repast was now ready. It was a goodly sight, when that company +of ministerial friends and their wives were sitting round that table. +"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together +in unity." There is a mysterious charm in eating together. It is well +known that associations designed for social acquaintance and +conversation, have, very generally, fallen to pieces soon after the +relinquishment of the repast. Our great ordinance, for the communion of +saints, is appointed to be at a table, where it originated. The flow of +kind feeling, which had prevailed during the afternoon among these +friends, seemed now to be in full tide, and many were the entertaining +and gratifying things which were there said and done. All possible ways +in which the products of an acre or two of well-cultivated land could be +prepared to tempt the appetite, were there. Br. S. was informed that +those fried fishes swam in Acushnit brook no longer ago than when he was +rehearsing his parable of the fishes. The strawberries had been kept on +the vines a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> day or two, for the occasion, and were in perfection. Eggs +figured on the table in every shape into which those most convertible +things could turn themselves; and, being praised, the lady of the house +said that she must tell them of Ralph, a boy of fourteen, whom her +husband had taken to look after his horse and garden, giving him his +tuition in Latin and other branches, for his services. Ralph was a great +amateur in fowls and eggs. No sooner did a hen cackle, but he resorted +to the nest, and, with his lead-pencil, wrote the day of the month upon +the egg. The lady rung her table-bell, and called him to her, telling +him to bring his egg-basket. He brought in an openwork, red osier +basket, with a dozen and a half of eggs in it, laid on cotton batting, +each egg as duly inscribed as the specimens of a mineralogist. Ralph was +highly praised.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you think, my son," said Mr. R., "that an egg, like +reputation, should be above suspicion."</p> + +<p>"It is best to be safe, sir," said he.</p> + +<p>"Ralph," said Mr. S., "do you know who baptized you?"</p> + +<p>"You baptized me yourself, sir."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you remember, Ralph, how you reached out your hands, at that time, +and took my hand, and put my finger into your mouth, and tried to bite +it with your little, new, sharp teeth?"</p> + +<p>Ralph blushed, and smiled.</p> + +<p>"You do not remember it, Ralph. Well, I do; and now, Ralph, you must +come and preach your first sermon in my pulpit."</p> + +<p>"It will be a long time first, sir," said Ralph.</p> + +<p>"Your dear mother told me, when she was sick, that she thought she left +you in the temple, like Samuel, when she offered you up in baptism."</p> + +<p>"Be a good boy, Ralph," said another of the pastors; "we will all be +your friends." He retreated slowly, feeling not so much alone in the +world.</p> + +<p>The company did not separate till two of their number had led in prayer, +seeking, especially, the blessing of God upon their own children, and +that they, as parents and ministers, might be warned by the awful fate +of the sons of Aaron and of Eli, and not feel that the ministerial +office gave them a prescriptive right to the blessings of grace for +their children, but rather made them liable to prominent exposure and +calamity, if they suffered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> public duties to interfere with that first, +great ordinance of God, family religion.</p> + +<p>The horses were now coming to the door. Farewells and good wishes were +intermingled, the joyous laugh at some pleasantry or sally of wit made +the house and yard alive for some time, the pastors had arranged their +exchanges for several months to come, visits and excursions were planned +and agreed upon, till one by one the vehicles departed, leaving the +parsonage silent, while its occupants sat down to rest a while, and talk +over the events of the day, in their pleasant window under the +honeysuckle.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eleventh" id="Chapter_Eleventh"></a>Chapter Eleventh.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Baptism of the Sick Wife and her Children.</span></p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">In having all things, and not Thee, what have I?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Not having Thee, what have my labors got?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">And having Thee alone, what have I not?</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">I wish nor sea, nor land; nor would I be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee.</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">Quarles.</span>—"<i>Emblems.</i>"</p> +<p style="margin-left: 15em;"> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">He whom God chooseth, out of doubt doth well.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">What they that choose their God do, who can tell?</span></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"><span class="smcap">Lord Brooke</span> (London, 1633).—"<i>Mustapha.</i>" +</p> + + +<p>A lady with whom we spent a summer at a watering-place, and who was then +an invalid, and with whom we had formed an intimate acquaintance, was +now very sick, with cancerous affections, which threatened to end her +life at no distant period.</p> + +<p>She had become established in the Christian faith, during her illness, +and, being a woman of great intelligence and cultivation, it was +instructive to be in her company. Many a lesson had I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> learned from her, +in the freshness and ardor of her new discoveries as a Christian, the +old themes of religious experience being translated by her renewed +heart, and discriminating mind, into forms that made them almost new, +because they were so vivid. She was fast ripening for heaven; she had +looked in, and her face shone as she turned to speak with us.</p> + +<p>A lady, a friend of hers from a distance, was visiting us, and, knowing +that she was sick, requested me to call with her upon the invalid. +Hearing that I was in the parlor, she sent for me to come up and sit +with her and my friend, after they had seen each other a little while. +She was in her easy-chair, able to converse, and was calm and happy.</p> + +<p>The door opened suddenly, as we were talking, and in rushed a little boy +of about six years, his cap in his hand, a pretty green cloth sack +buttoned close about him, his boots pulled over his pants to his knees, +and his face glowing with health and from the cold air.</p> + +<p>"O, mother!" said he, before he quite saw us,—and then he checked +himself; but, being encouraged to proceed, after making his +salutations,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> he said, in a more subdued tone, holding up a great red +apple, "See what the man, where we buy our things, sent you, mother. He +called me to him, and said, 'Give that to your mother, and tell her it +will be first-rate roasted.'"</p> + +<p>As the mother smelt of it, and praised it, with her thanks, the boy hung +round her chair, and wished to say something.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it, my son?"</p> + +<p>He spoke loud enough for us to hear, with his eyes glancing occasionally +at us, to be sure that we were not too intently looking at him, and, +with his arm resting in his mother's lap, he said:</p> + +<p>"Do, please, let me go with my sled on the pond. It is real thick, +mother. Gustavus says that last evening it was as thick as his big +dictionary, and you know how cold it was last night, mother. Please let +me go; I won't get in; besides, if I do, it isn't deep—not more than up +to there; see here, mother!" putting his little mittened hand, with the +palm down, as high as his waist.</p> + +<p>His mother looked troubled, and knew not what to say to him, but +remarked to us, "O, if I were well, and about the house, I could divert +him from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> his wish; but," said she to him, "if you will ask Gustavus to +take care of you, and bring you home when he comes, you may go."</p> + +<p>Off he went, making fewer steps than there were stairs, and we heard his +merry voice without announcing his liberty.</p> + +<p>"Here I am," said she to us, "with those three children, who come home +from school twice a day, and there is no mother below to receive them. +With the best of help, things sometimes go wrong, and the young woman +who sews for me cannot, of course, do for them what a mother could. +Nothing has tried my patience, in suffering, more than to hear the door +open, and my children come in from school, and to feel that I am +separated from them, within hearing, while I cannot reach them."</p> + +<p>She controlled her feelings, and helped herself to conceal them by +turning to rock a cradle which stood behind her, though we perceived no +need of her doing so; yet we must all distrust our own ears in +comparison with a mother's. The child was a boy seven months old.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said she to me, "that I am thinking of joining your +church? I have had a very trying visit from my own pastor, and he says<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +that I am too sick to be baptized by immersion, and that it is, +therefore, too late for me to receive Christian baptism. It is not +necessary, he says, in order to being accepted of God. I was born and +brought up in that Communion, and never thought much of the subject of +baptism till I hoped that I began to love God, here in my sick-room. If +baptism is so important as our ministers tell us it is, in their +preaching and by their practice,—for you know how important they deem +it, in times of religious attention, to have people baptized in our +way,—I cannot see why it is not important to me. If it is man's +ordinance, and merely for an effect on others, very well; but if God has +anything to do in it, I feel that I need it as much as though I were in +health. So my husband asked your minister to come and see me, and he +did; and he is to baptize me and my children on Saturday afternoon, and +administer the Lord's Supper to me after church the next day."</p> + +<p>I asked her what ground of objection her pastor had in her case.</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. P.</i> My minister tells me it is superstition to be baptized on a +sick-bed, and that they are careful not to encourage such Romish +practices.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But, O," I said to him, "Mr. Dow, I am afraid it is because your form +of baptism will not allow you to baptize the sick and dying, so you make +a virtue of necessity." He colored a little, but said, pleasantly, +though solemnly, "We see how important it is, Mrs. Peirce, to attend to +the subject of religion in health, when we can confess Christ before +men, and follow the Saviour, and be buried in baptism with him."</p> + +<p>That made me weep, though perhaps it was because I was weak; but I said, +"God is more merciful than that, Mr. Dow. I know that I have neglected +religion too long, but God has brought me to him, by affliction, and now +I do not believe that the seals of his grace are of such a nature that +they cannot be applied to people in my condition. I feel the need of +those seals, not as my profession to God, but as his professions of love +to me. I believe you are wrong, Mr. Dow. You seem to make baptism our +act toward God, chiefly; now I take a different view of it. My sick and +weak condition makes me feel that in being baptized, and in receiving +the Lord's Supper, I submit myself to God's hand of love, and take from +him infinitely more than I give him."—"O, that is rather a Rom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>ish view +of ordinances," said he, smiling.—"No," said I, "Mr. Dow, I am not +passive in the ordinances, any more than in regeneration; my whole soul +is active in receiving their influences. But there is something done for +us in the ordinances, as there is something done for us in regeneration, +while we actively repent and believe. Are you not so afraid of Romanism, +and of 'sacramental grace,' that you go to an opposite extreme? for it +seems to me a morbid state of feeling. I wish for no extreme unction, +but I do believe that, in being baptized, and in receiving the Lord's +Supper, something more is done for us than helping us to take up and +offer to God something on the little needle-points of our poor feelings. +I should feel, in being baptized, that God has adopted me, and not +merely I him; and, in the Lord's Supper, that it is more for Christ to +give me his body and blood, than for me to give him my poor affections." +He asked me if I had not been reading the Oxford Tracts. I told him that +I read the Oxford Tracts, and other Puseyite publications, in their day, +and that I saw through their errors, and had no sympathy with their +views.</p> + +<p>But I told him I was satisfied that the human<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> mind, in that +development, was craving something more supernatural in religious +ordinances, to make the impression that the hand of God is in them, and +not that we are the principal party. So, instead of taking enlightened, +spiritual views of ordinances, the Tractarians sought to improve the +quality, by multiplying the quantity, of forms; and others are following +them into the Roman Catholic church in the same way.</p> + +<p>"There always seemed to me," she said, "to be a grain of truth in every +great error. Is it not so? Even among the Brahmins of the East, and +among savages, each superstition, and every lie, retains the fossils of +some dead truth. When a new error breaks out among us, I feel that the +human mind is tossing itself, and reaching after something beyond its +experience. It seems to me," she continued, "that, at such times, it is +good for ministers and Christians to reëxamine their mode of stating the +truths of the Bible, to see how far they can properly go to meet the new +development, and, by preaching the truth better, intercept it. The cold, +barren view, which many take of ordinances, makes some people hanker +after forms and ceremonies; whereas, if we would present baptism and +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> Lord's Supper as divine acts toward us, we might meet the +instinctive wants of many, and hold them to the side of truth.</p> + +<p>"But I told Mr. Dow that I was no formalist, nor did I believe in +compromising the truth to win errorists. Clear, faithful, strict +doctrinal views commend themselves to men's consciences."</p> + +<p>I came near saying to the good lady, that, if she were able to talk in +such a strain, and to say so much to her minister, he, surely, could not +have deemed her so enfeebled in mind as to be incapacitated for +admission to the Christian church.</p> + +<p>"I told him, also," she added, "I was satisfied that his unvarying mode +of baptism was not ordained by Him who sent the Gospel to every +creature.—Why, said I, Mr. Dow, what do you make of the apostles' +baptizing the jailer, 'at the same hour of the night,' and 'before it +was day?' It could not have been for any public effect. What need to +have it done just then? Was it superstitious and Romish? No; it was to +comfort the soul of the poor, trembling convert, with a sense of God's +love to him. How it must have soothed and cheered him to receive God's +hand of love in that ordinance, before he himself fully knew what the +making of a Christian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> profession implied! I want that same hand of love +here, in my prison of a sick-chamber,—And, I never thought of it much +before, but, I said then, it seemed so clear to me that they would not +have gone to all the trouble, that night, and in the prison-house, and +after the terrors of the earthquake, to put a whole family into +bathing-vessels. To take people from sleep, ordinarily, and immerse them +in water, would be a singular act; much more when they are weak and +faint, as the jailer's family must have been, from fear and excitement. +In my own case, I could not be immersed, even at home; it would probably +cost me my life. Sprinkling came to me as so sweetly harmonious, in that +scene of the jailer's baptism, that I believed it to be the apostolic +mode of baptizing, and I told Mr. D. that I should imitate the jailer; +and that I should send for a minister who could imitate Paul and Silas."</p> + +<p>"But," said I, "what brought you to believe in the propriety of +baptizing your children?"</p> + +<p><i>Mrs. P.</i> Your minister enlightened me on that subject. I told him my +heart yearned to have it done; for I took the same view of it which I +have mentioned with regard to my own baptism—that it is something which +God does, to and for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> the children, primarily, and it is not merely a +human act. He said that it was like laying "a penal bond" on children, +to baptize them, and oblige them to do or be anything without their +consent. O, how many such "penal bonds" I have laid on my children, +already!—the more the better, I told him. "A penal bond" to love and +serve God!—I mean to add my dying charge to it, and make it as binding +as I can. How imperfect such a view of baptism is! It is God coming to +us with his seal, not we coming with our own invention to him. I wished +to have God enter into a covenant with me, who hope I love him, to be a +God to my children forever. I felt that I could die in peace, if I might +feel some assurance of this; and, it seemed to me that, to have a sign +and seal of it from God himself would make me perfectly happy.</p> + +<p>She handed me a book, which her pastor had lent her, and she asked me to +read a passage, to which she pointed. It was an argument against baptism +in sickness. Speaking of the penitent thief, the writer says:</p> + +<p>"The Saviour did not, as a Papist would have done, command some of the +women, that stood by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> bewailing, to fetch a little water; nor the +beloved disciple to asperse the quivering penitent."</p> + +<p>Remembering the view which the mother of little Philip took of such +things, I merely said, that the writer seemed to me to asperse a large +part of the Protestant world, under the name, Papist. Christian baptism, +I remarked, had not been instituted when the Saviour and the thief were +on the cross.</p> + +<p>I received an invitation from the husband, a day or two after, to be +present at the baptism of his wife and children. The husband was not +professedly, nor in his own view, a regenerate man, but one of the best +of husbands and fathers, destitute, however, of the one thing needful.</p> + +<p>The wife had on a loose cashmere dressing-gown, but was sitting in bed +for greater support and comfort.</p> + +<p>The pastor read to her the articles and covenant of the church. She +assented to them; whereupon, at his request, I laid the church-book of +signatures before her, gave her a pen full of ink, and she wrote her +name among the professed followers of the Lamb.</p> + +<p>The pastor then declared her to be admitted, by vote of the church, into +full communion and fel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>lowship, after she should have received the +ordinance of baptism.</p> + +<p>He rose, and read, "And Jesus came unto them, and spake, saying, All +power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto +the end of the world. Amen."</p> + +<p>He continued: "My dear Mrs. Peirce, God is your God. He will have his +name written upon you, by its being called over you, with the use of his +own appointed sign and seal of baptism. The name in which he has chosen +thus to appear to you, is not God Almighty, nor his name Jehovah; but +those names which redemption has brought to view, and which impress upon +us the acts of redeeming grace and love. Do not feel, chiefly, that you +give yourself up to God in this transaction, though this, of course, you +do, and it is essential that you do so; but feel that the Father, Son, +and Spirit, come to you, and own you in the covenant of redemption, in +consequence of your accepting Christ, by faith, which itself, also, is +the gift of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> God. Professing repentance of your sins, and faith in the +Lord Jesus, you are now to receive, from the Sacred Three, a sign and +seal, confirming to you all the promises of grace, adopting you as a +member of the whole family in heaven and earth, and engaging God to be +your God.</p> + +<p>"And now, as you are, yourself, a child of God, your children God adopts +to be, in a peculiar sense, his. This is the method of his love from the +beginning. Had Adam remained upright, doubtless his children would have +been confirmed in their uprightness; but, inasmuch as he fell, and, by +his disobedience, they were made sinners, God reëstablished his covenant +with Abraham as the father of all believers, under a new +church-organization, to the end of time, promising to be the God of a +believer's child."</p> + +<p>He then read this hymn; and certain expressions in it never struck me +with such force and sweetness as in that baptismal scene:</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"How large the promise, how divine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To Abraham and his seed;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I'll be a God to thee and thine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Supplying all their need.</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"The words of his extensive love</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From age to age endure;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The angel of the covenant proves,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And seals, the blessing sure.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Jesus the ancient faith confirms</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To our great fathers given;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He takes young children to his arms,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And calls them heirs of heaven.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Our God, how faithful are his ways!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">His love endures the same;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor from the promise of his grace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Blots out the children's name."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"And now," said he, "as you belong to the church of Christ, so your +children, in a certain sense, and that a very important and precious +sense, <i>belong</i> to the church. Your little, unconscious babe belongs, in +that sense, to the church. You will not, you cannot, misunderstand me. +These are the children of a child of God. All your brethren and sisters +in Christ count them in their great family circle. They covenant with +you to pray for them, to watch for their good, and to rejoice in it, to +provide means for their spiritual prosperity, and to seek their +salvation. But, above<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> all, God will ever have special regard to them as +the children of his dear child.</p> + +<p>"Receive now," said he, "the divine ordinance of baptism, whereby God +signifies to you, and seals, all that is implied in being your God."</p> + +<p>He drew near the bed, with a silver bowl, from which he sprinkled water +upon the head and forehead of the dear believer, whose countenance +expressed the peace of receiving, rather than the effort of giving, +while her lips moved now and then during the quiet scene.</p> + +<p>They brought Edward, the first-born, and he stood, with his hand in his +mother's hand, and was baptized. There were almost tears enough shed by +us for his baptism, had tears been needed. Lucy came next, and then the +rosy-cheeked Roger, who had been persuaded to leave his new sled, a +little while, that Saturday afternoon.</p> + +<p>But now the little boy was coming in from his cradle. His mother raised +herself in the bed, and received him in her arms. He had been weaned, +but, on coming to his mother, he began to make some solicitations, +which, beautiful and affecting though they were, some of us endeavored +not to see, but turned to smell of some violets, and to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> open a book of +engravings. The mother smiled, and held him off, but immediately put two +fingers, one on each eye, and wept;—the marriage-ring on one of those +fingers,—ah, me! how had the finger shrunk away from it. The nurse took +the child and diverted its attention. The husband sat far on the bed, +put one arm under the pillow that supported his wife, and held her hand +in his. Recollections and anticipations, we knew, were thronging, +unbidden, into that mother's soul. She had been reminded of fountains of +love sealed up, and yet there were opening within her living fountains +of water. She grew calm, beckoned for a little book on the table, opened +it, and pointed her husband to a stanza, which she had marked, and he +read it for her:—</p> + +<p style='margin-left:15em;'> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"When I can trust my all with God,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">In trial's painful hour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bow all resigned beneath his rod,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And bless his sparing power;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A joy springs up amid distress,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A fountain in the wilderness."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>That was her profession of religion, and her signal to the pastor to +proceed. The father took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> the little boy in his arms, held him over the +bed, before his wife; the pastor reached from the other side, and +baptized Walter, in the name of the covenant-keeping God. The father +held the child for the mother's kiss, and then took him away, fearing a +repetition of the previous scene. But the wife drew her husband back to +her, and left a kiss on his own cheek, amidst his tears.</p> + +<p>"And now," said the pastor, after prayer, "God has been in this place, +and has himself applied to you and your children the seal of his +everlasting covenant. Do not make your faith in it to depend on the +degree of equanimity or vividness in your feelings; but remember what +Elizabeth said to Mary: 'And blessed is she that believeth, for there +shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the +Lord.'"</p> + +<p>"O," said Mrs. P., "is it possible that I live to see this day? I almost +forget my sickness, my separation from my husband and children, in the +thought that God is my covenant God, and the God of my children. My +baptism is to me a visible writing and seal from God; and my children's +baptism is the same. I always used to think of baptism merely as a +profession on our part. O,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> how much more there is in it, besides that! +It is God's covenant and testimony toward me. Blessed names!" said she, +soliloquizing,—"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! sweet society of the +Godhead! They come together; they are like the three that came to +Abraham's tent. Each has his precious gift and influence for my soul. +Why was I allowed to see this day, and enjoy this?"</p> + +<p>The pastor said, "This is just one of those things which make us say, +'His goodness is unsearchable.' There seems to be no way of accounting +for this rich, free, sovereign love."</p> + +<p>"Can I fear," said she, "to leave my children in such hands? No. God of +Abraham! 'thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.' +Faithful God! 'a God to thee and thy seed after thee;' what power the +seal of the covenant has to make you believe it; yes, and seemingly to +hear it read to you. Do speak to all our dear mothers, and tell them in +health to make far more, than many do, of baptism for their children."</p> + +<p>"And have you no blessing for me?" said the husband, as the pastor rose +to go.</p> + +<p>"Dear sir," said the pastor, "they seem to have left you alone."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had been sitting, somewhat out of sight, at the foot of the bedstead; +but, it was evident, from several signs, that his feelings were deeply +moved.</p> + +<p>The pastor took his arm, and, bidding the wife an affectionate but hasty +adieu, he went with him to the sitting-room below.</p> + +<p>"I need no arguments," said the husband, "to satisfy me, further, that +you are right. You have a system of religion which, I see, is good for +everything, and for everybody, and for all times, and places, and +circumstances. Sir, I have been sceptical; but I must confess that a +religion which can come into a family, like mine, and do what it has +done, through you, sir, to mine, and to me, must be from God. Sir, I +shall always respect our pastor for his consistency with his principles, +and for many other reasons; but I prefer principles like yours, which +can go to the sick and dying, and to little children whose mother——"</p> + +<p>Here he began to weep. The pastor said, "To take a mother from a young +family of children, like yours, Mr. Peirce, is just the thing which we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +should prevent, could we have the ordering of affairs."</p> + +<p>"I feel," said Mr. P., "that God's hand is upon me. Passages from the +Bible, which I learned at sea, from love to my mother, come to me now. +She put a Bible in a box, and covered it up with a dozen pairs of +woollen hose, knit with her own hands. I have been saying to myself, in +the chamber, 'Behold, he cometh with clouds.' It is growing dark over my +dwelling; God is descending upon us in a cloud. 'Behold, he taketh away, +who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, what doest thou.' O, you +never lost a wife, my dear sir, nor looked on a motherless family, as I +begin to do. God help me, for I shall lose my reason."</p> + +<p>"No, my dear sir," said the pastor; "think what has just taken place up +stairs. You now seem to say, as Manoah did, 'We shall surely die;' but +his wife said, 'If the Lord were pleased to kill us,—he would not have +showed us all these things.' God has bestowed on your children, through +their believing mother, his covenant, to be their God.—You are a Notary +Public, I believe, sir."</p> + +<p>"I am," said Mr. Peirce.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then," said the pastor, "you know the importance of seals."</p> + +<p>"O, yes," said Mr. P. "A gentleman, last week, came near losing the sale +of a large property, situate in one of the Middle States, because he had +had some papers executed, here, before a court not having a seal. I told +him, beforehand, that he was wrong; but he wished to know of what +possible use a seal could be, when the judge and the clerk used printed +forms, and the blanks were filled under their own hands. The papers came +back, and he had to do his business over again, and before a court +having a seal."</p> + +<p>"But he was perfectly honest, at first, I presume," said the pastor, +"only the form was defective."</p> + +<p><i>Mr. P.</i> Yes, sir; but the form, in such a case, is the warranty. You +know that the power to have and use a seal is one of the things +specially conveyed by a legislature.</p> + +<p>"God has seals," said the pastor. "One is baptism. It used to be +circumcision. But, as the old royal seal is broken at the coronation of +a new king, God appointed a new seal, baptism, to mark the new +dispensation; as he also changed the Sab<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>bath of creation in honor of +his Son's reign, and removed the memorial of his deeds of greatest +renown, the Passover, for one that signifies still greater deeds, the +Lord's Supper. Thus God has his seals. He attaches great importance to +them. He binds himself by them. Your wife, being a child of God, it is +his arrangement, from the beginning, to enter into covenant with her in +behalf of her children. He stands, now, in a special relation to them, +and has placed the beautiful seal of Heaven upon his promise to that +dear sick mother, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.'"</p> + +<p>"Is it necessary that the father should be left out?" said Mr. P., +covering his face with his handkerchief. "They are mine, and God holds +me responsible for them. I am to be left alone with them in the world. +Is there not mercy for me, too? O, I had such a gleam of hope in the +chamber! As I saw the water descending from your hand upon those dear +heads, I thought, How much like a divine act such baptism is,—something +from God. I always thought of baptism as a cross, to which I must +submit; now I see that it is a token of love, bestowed upon me. So I +thought of those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> words: 'I am found of them that sought me not.' God +seems to have come to me in that baptism. I was expecting that, if I +ever became a Christian, I must, in token of my submission, be buried in +the waters of baptism. I would be willing to be, still, if necessary; +but that gentle baptism, coming to me and mine, seems like God being +beforehand with me, doing something with me and for me. It made me think +of Christ inviting himself into the house of Zaccheus, to save his soul. +I always felt that I must obtain religion wholly of myself; now I feel +that God has begun the work in me. I am sustained and borne on. That +baptism was the most powerful appeal that ever reached my heart. It +seems to me, in its connection with the gospel, like a beautiful +symphony of instrumental music in an anthem, which strives to interpret +the words. It proved an overture to me, indeed, in the best sense. But, +my dear sir, how near we came to losing all this which my wife has +enjoyed."</p> + +<p>The door opened, and little Lucy came in with two plates and two silver +knives, and that great red apple which her mother had received a few +days before. "Mother sends her love to you, sir, and begs that you and +father will eat this."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>They looked at the apple for a few moments, when the husband said, "I do +not feel like eating it. Do oblige me by taking it home with you."</p> + +<p>The pastor took it home with him, placed it on his mantel-piece in his +study, where, for several days, it gave such an odor as to attract the +notice of every one that came in. The hand that sent it to him, in less +than a week had finished its work on earth. The apple then became a +hallowed thing. There it remained till it wilted, grew soft, and finally +turned nearly black.</p> + +<p>A little, unceremonious visitant to his father's study would often climb +into the chair near the shelf, and express his wonder, and repeat his +questions, at the seeming mystery,—first, of not eating the apple, and +suffering it to be wasted; and then, of letting it remain when it ought +to be thrown away. It was not long, however, before the apple was buried +in a pot of earth. In due time green shoots appeared. And when the +pastor saw them, he said with himself, "The children of thy servants +shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee."</p> + +<p>How it grew in the pastor's study, a little sacramental emblem of +hallowed scenes, and of infi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>nitely precious truths,—how a place was +selected, and afterwards prepared, for it, near a garden-wall which +separates the wife's little garden from her grave,—and how the husband +came alone, one Sabbath, and joined the church, receiving the seal of +baptism from the same hand that sprinkled the water upon the heads of +his wife and children,—I cannot tell you now, nor, after so long +detention, would you be willing at present to hear.</p> + +<div class='footnotes'> +FOOTNOTES +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> A curious reason for this, in the minds of some, appears to +be that, when man was created, woman was included in him. For, they say, +in the first chapter of Genesis, and in the account of the sixth day, +before woman was made, the plural word <i>them</i> is used: "male and female +created he them." They say that the blessing was pronounced on the man +and woman in Adam. For they think it improbable that Moses would +anticipate his history so much as to bring in woman, and, withal, her +blessing, too, at the sixth day, when the narrative teaches that she was +made some time afterwards. Hence, they say, it was that woman was for +ages treated as included in man. There is something pleasing in this +fancy, but it seems like one of Origen's allegories, he being the father +of allegorical interpretation. It had its origin in an ancient +Rabbinical sentiment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> This subject is discussed by itself, and more at large, in +another part of this book.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "Can we blame the founders of the Massachusetts Colony for +banishing him from their jurisdiction? In the annals of religious +persecution is there to be found a martyr more gently dealt with by +those against whom he began the war of intolerance; whose authority he +persisted, even after professions of penitence and submission, in +defying, till deserted even by the wife of his bosom; and whose utmost +severity of punishment upon him was only an order for his removal as a +nuisance from among them?"—<i>Discourse before Mass. Hist. Soc.</i>, 1843, +pp. 25-30.—[<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Taylor on Baptism.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See "Coleman's Ancient Christianity," chap, xix., sec. 12. +He refers to Ambrose, Ser. 20. Chrysostom, Hom. 6. Epistle to Col., &c., +&c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> As we.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The grave.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Hopkins's Works (1852), vol. ii., pp. 158, 176.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Cambridge Platform, chap. iii. 7.</p></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE END.</h2> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bertha and Her Baptism, by Nehemiah Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + +***** This file should be named 20428-h.htm or 20428-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/2/20428/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Bertha and Her Baptism + +Author: Nehemiah Adams + +Release Date: January 23, 2007 [EBook #20428] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + + + + + + +BERTHA +AND HER BAPTISM. + +By the Author of + +AGNES AND THE LITTLE KEY; +_or_, +BEREAVED PARENTS INSTRUCTED AND COMFORTED. + +BOSTON: +S.K. WHIPPLE AND COMPANY, +161 WASHINGTON STREET. +1857. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by +S.K. WHIPPLE & CO., +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + +STEREOTYPED BY +HOBART & ROBBINS, +New England Type and Stereotype Foundry, +BOSTON. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book, and that which is also named in the title-page, were written +at the same time, and as one book; but they were afterward separated, as +more properly constituting two volumes, the part which was the original +of the present volume now being greatly enlarged. Thus the two books +grew in the author's mind together, from one and the same root,--the +death of a little child. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + Page +CHAPTER I. + +PROBABILITIES OF AN ORDINANCE FOR CHILDREN, 9 + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GRANDFATHER'S LETTER.--THE NATURE, GROUNDS AND INFLUENCE, +OF INFANT BAPTISM, 16 + + +CHAPTER III. + +PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BAPTISMS.--THE SUBJECTS AND MODE OF +BAPTISM, 76 + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IS THERE ONLY ONE MODE OF BAPTISM? 121 + + +CHAPTER V. + +SCENES OF BAPTISM.--REASONABLENESS, BEAUTY AND POWER, OF +INFANT BAPTISM.--USE OF SPECIAL VOWS.--HUSBANDS AT +BAPTISMS.--NEGLECT OF BAPTISM, 130 + +CHAPTER VI. + +TESTIMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS.--APOSTOLIC PRACTICE OF +INFANT BAPTISM.--MINISTERIAL USAGES IN BAPTISMS, 143 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +TERMS OF COMMUNION.--NON-INTRUSION.--DENOMINATIONAL COURTESY +AND KINDNESS, 184 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE ROAD-SIDE BAPTISM, 198 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH.--ARE THEY MEMBERS OF THE +CHURCH? 216 + + +CHAPTER X. + +MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS.--CONSTITUTION AND RULES FOR THEM.--A +CHRISTIAN MOTHER'S QUESTIONS TO HERSELF, 255 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN, 272 + + + + +BERTHA +AND HER BAPTISM. + + + + +Chapter First. + +PROBABILITIES OF AN ORDINANCE FOR CHILDREN. + + 'Tis aye a solemn thing to me + To look upon a babe that sleeps, + Wearing in its spirit-deeps + The unrevealed mystery + Of its Adam's taint and woe.--MISS BARRETT. + + Heaven lies about us in our infancy.--WORDSWORTH. + + +It is generally believed that, of those who have gone to heaven from +this world, by far the larger part have been infants and young children. +Born here, they were by one man's disobedience made sinners; born of the +Spirit, at their early translation to heaven, they hold an important +place in the plan of salvation by Christ. Very beautiful, as well as +sublime, is the thought of so large a contribution, to the heavenly +world, of human beings in the dawn of their existence, enhancing, as we +may suppose, the happiness of heaven by such large admixture of exotic, +youthful nature, and illustrating, by their redemption from a helpless +state of sin and misery, the unsearchable riches of wisdom and grace. + +Has God done anything, in this world, to mark his regard for that class +of the human race constituting, thus far, the greater part of the +redeemed? We naturally look for something reminding the world of his +interest in these subsidiaries of his kingdom. Has he confined his +notice to those that are full-grown, and who have, thus far, the larger +part of them, withheld from him the fruit of his vineyard? God has a +church on earth, with ordinances, symbols, covenant signs: among them is +there not some sign, symbol, or ordinance, recognizing those who, more +than any other of the race, have, till now, been swelling the numbers of +that church in heaven? + +Like those elements of astronomical calculation which require and lead +men to expect undiscovered planets in a certain quarter of the +firmament, analogy, and the known intercourse of God with mankind, and +our moral sense, incline us to look for some symbolic recognition of +this earthly constituency of heaven by him who ordained and is +redeeming to himself a church from among men. Words of interest and love +toward them on the part of God, we all know, are not wanting in the +Bible. Acts of loving-kindness, also, proving the sincerity of those +words, and reaching even to a thousand generations of them that love +God, are everywhere seen in sacred history. + +But is there no great, conspicuous symbol of these things,--no type, no +rite? Symbols appear to be inseparable attendants of God's manifested +favor to men. He cannot enter into covenant with an individual, much +less a people, but there is at least a stone set up, or a +threshing-floor is bought for him, an altar is built, or they pour out a +horn of oil. He invites Ahaz to ask of him a sign of his promise: "Ask +it," he says, "either in the depths, or in the height above;" and, when +that man refuses, God gives him a sign. Emblems, seals and types, in the +early dispensation, burst forth like images in the waters of everything +along the banks, and even of things far off. Everything has its +memorial, its rite; are the children, is the parental relation, +forgotten? + +Here let us consider that God began with the first parents and the +first children of the human race to set forth that great law of his +administration, the connection of children with parents for good or +evil. Every descendant of Adam is an example under that law. Thus it was +for nineteen generations,--from Adam to Abraham. + +When, therefore, God reestablished his church at the call of Abraham, it +was no new thing to connect parents and their children in covenant +promises and blessings. It had its origin in the very nature of man. +Abraham, and the covenant made with him for all believers and their +children, are, indeed, a striking illustration of a principle recognized +and applied by the Most High; but the principle itself is older than +Abraham,--it is coeval with the moral constitution of man. In making a +covenant with Noah, God included his children; so with David, making +mention of his house, "for a great while to come." + +As soon, therefore, as religion was established in the earth, by +securing its perpetuity through the conservative influences of one +selected line of descent, the child was taken, as being the object of +the covenant, and the means of its perpetuation, and received its seal. +God designed to perpetuate religion in the earth, thenceforward, +chiefly by means of the parental relation; for the parent represents God +to the child more than any other fellow-creature, or thing, can +do,--more than any instituted influence, whether of prophet, priest, +church, or ritual. Setting up his church for all future time, with +Abraham for its founder, God included children with parents who +covenanted with him, as the objects of special regard and promise, and +he appointed a rite to mark and seal that covenant. Thus it was from +Abraham to Christ, during three times fourteen generations. + +But the day of types and symbols was succeeded by another era, in which +the church of God comes forth with the glory of God risen upon her, and +all the nebulous matter of types and ceremonies is gathered together +into two permanent sacraments; for human nature was not beyond the need +and help of outward signs. Now, in the earlier of the two ages of the +church, the child was recognized by a rite of the church; the child, +with that rite inscribed on him, was the sign-bearer of the church's +perpetuity. Yet, in the age following, the child was as dear to the +parent as ever; the Christian parent was as much concerned to have +religion flow through his seed, as were his predecessors; the salvation +of the child was regarded with the same solicitude, and the principle of +perpetuating religion by the family constitution was still the same. + +But did God withdraw from the children of his servants, from the most +hopeful of all the sources of his church's increase on earth and in +heaven, all token of his regard in any sacramental act? Is parental +affection, under the reign of Immanuel, debarred the enjoyment of one of +its most valuable privileges, the sealing of the child to be the Lord's +by the use of a divinely-appointed symbol? Had no ordinances and symbols +been allowed after the institution of Christianity, this question would +not arise; the inference would have been that human nature, under the +Gospel, will no more need the aid of rites in religion. But there are +Christian rites, expressly and solemnly instituted. Is not that most +important relation of a believer's child to God perpetuated; and is it +not still to be sealed by the use of one of the Christian ordinances? + +In considering this question, and the many interesting topics connected +with it, the writer will be allowed to take his own way, following an +historical order in the occurrences which may be supposed to have made +the subject interesting and clear to the minds of two parents. + + + + +Chapter Second. + +THE GRANDFATHER'S LETTER. + +THE NATURE, GROUNDS, AND INFLUENCE, OF INFANT BAPTISM. + + If temporal estates may be conveyed + By cov'nants, on condition, + To men, and to their heirs; be not affraid, + My soule, to rest upon + The covenant of grace by mercy made. + GEORGE HERBERT,--"_The Font._" + + --No finite mind can fully comprehend the mysteries into which his + baptism is the initiation.--COLERIDGE,--"_Aids_," &c. + + Christian faith is the perfection of human reason.--IBID. + + +MY DEAR DAUGHTER BERTHA:--I am glad that you think of taking your little +namesake to the house of God for baptism. You wish to know my views +about it in full. My new colleague having relieved me of many cares and +labors, I shall hope to write more frequently; but not often so long a +letter as I fear this will be; for I wish to tell you of some +conversations which I have had on the subject in question. This will +show you the common difficulties, in which, perhaps, you share, and my +way of removing them; and also set before you the privileges and +blessings connected with the baptism of your child. + +A man and his wife--sensible, plain people--came to our house one +evening last July, when the "vines with the tender grape gave a goodly +smell," through that trellis which you and Percival have such pleasant +reason to remember. We were all sitting there in the moonlight, when +this Mr. Benson and his wife came up the door-way, and were welcomed +into our little group. After a few words of mutual inquiry and answer, +he said: + +"Wife and I, sir, thought that we would make bold to come and trouble +you a little to tell us about baptizing our boy. He is getting to be +four months old, and we are not willing to put it off much longer. +Still, we would like to know the grounds of it a little better. People, +you know, do not think much about it till it comes to be a case in hand. + +"But I do not know," said he, looking round on your mother and the +children, "but that we do wrong to take this time for it. It will be +rather a dry subject for these young friends to hear." + +_Pastor._ Not at all. They owe too much to what was done for them when +they were little children, to dislike it. Besides, there is nothing dry +about it, as I view the subject. It is one of the most beautiful things +in religion. + +_Mrs. Benson._ It is next to the Lord's Supper, I always thought, if +people take the right view of it. + +_Pastor._ It makes you love God the Father in some such way as the +Lord's Supper makes you love the Saviour. I think, sometimes, that the +baptism of children is our heavenly Father's Sacrament. + +_Mr. B._ I like that; but there is so much to study and learn about the +"Abrahamic covenant," that I feel a little discouraged. I have had books +lent me on the Abrahamic covenant, and I began to read them; but they +looked hard; so I told my wife that perhaps you would make the thing +more clear, and bring it home to our feelings, and that we would come +and get your ideas about it. + +_Pastor._ How glad I am that you came! But tell me what you take the +Abrahamic covenant to mean. + +_Mr. B._ I suppose it means that God told Abraham to circumcise his +children, and infant baptism comes in the place of it, and we must do it +if we are Abraham's spiritual children. But I wish to see the use of it. +I am willing to do it, but I should like to feel it more; and I want to +know how baptism comes in the place of circumcision, and a great many +other things. + +_Pastor._ I think that you may possibly have what may be called some +Jewish notions about the Abrahamic covenant, though I trust you are +right in the main. That phrase sounds foreign and mysterious, and I +never use it except in talking with people who I know have the thing +itself already in their hearts. + +I called Helen to me, and told her to say the hymn which she had +repeated to me the last Sabbath evening. + +She cleared her voice, leaned against me, and twisted her fingers in my +hair behind, and, with her eyes fixed there, she said this hymn: + + "Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme, + And speak some boundless thing; + The mightier works or mightier name + Of our eternal King. + + "Tell of his wondrous faithfulness, + And sound his power abroad; + Sing the sweet promise of his grace, + And the performing God. + + "Proclaim salvation from the Lord + For wretched, dying men; + His hand has writ the sacred word + With an immortal pen. + + "Engraved as in eternal brass + The mighty promise shines; + Nor can the powers of darkness rase + Those everlasting lines. + + "He who can dash whole worlds to death, + And make them when he please, + He speaks, and that Almighty breath + Fulfils his promises. + + "His very word of grace is strong + As that which built the skies: + The voice that rolls the stars along + Speaks all the promises. + + "He said, 'Let the wide heavens be spread;' + And heaven was stretched abroad. + 'Abra'am, I'll be thy God,' he said; + And he was Abra'am's God. + + "O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue + But whisper, 'Thou art mine!' + Those gentle words should raise my song + To notes almost divine. + + "How would my leaping heart rejoice, + And think my heaven secure! + I trust the all-creating voice, + And faith desires no more." + +_Pastor._ What a happy man Abraham must have been when the Almighty made +this engagement and promise: "I will be a God to thee!" That was the +"Abrahamic covenant," in part. + +"Does covenant mean that?" said Mrs. B. + +"What?" I inquired. + +"Why, sir, what you have just said,--engagement, promise?" + +"Nothing more," said I. "But what a happy man, I say, Abraham must have +been! 'A God to thee!' To have the Almighty say to one, 'I will be a God +to thee!' You know that this is everything." + +"That is a fact," said Mr. B., wiping his eyes; "for, when I went to my +store, the morning after I became a Christian, I went along the street, +saying to myself, 'Now I have a God. God is God to me. Thou art my +God.' + +"Yes," said his wife; "Deacon B., the post-master, heard you, as you +went by his side-window, and he made an excuse to bring me up a paper, +that forenoon, and asked whether you had not met with a change in your +feelings on the subject of religion." + +"Did he?" said Mr. B. "Well, I did not mean to be heard, and yet I was +willing that everybody should know how happy I was in having one whom I +could call my God. How I had lived so long without God for my God, +amazed me." + +_Pastor._ You make me think of a man who, one night, on reaching his +house, after having attended a lecture in a school-room, was filled with +such surprising views and feelings, with respect to the greatness and +goodness of God, that he saddled his horse, rode three miles, waked up +the minister, and, as he came to the door, took hold of each arm, and +said, "O, my dear sir, what a God we've got!" He would not go in, but +soon hastened back. It was the substance of all that he wished to say; +he desired to pour out his soul to some one who would understand him. He +was like a thirsty land when at last the great rain is descending. + +_Mr. B._ I suppose many people would have thought him crazy. + +"I suspect the minister did, at first," said Mrs. B. + +"And yet I suppose," said I, "he was never more rational. Just think +what it is for a poor sinner all at once to feel that the eternal God is +his; that He will be a God to him! We hear of some people dying at the +receipt of good news; and I have seen some so happy at this experience, +of having a God to love and to love them, that, if the thing itself did +not, as it always does, bring peace and inward strength with it, nature +could not have sustained it." + +"Joy unspeakable," said Mr. B. "And full of glory," said his wife, +waiting a moment for him to finish the quotation. + +"Now, my dear friends," said I, "that man on horseback, at his +minister's door at midnight, had, at that moment, the first part of what +is meant by the 'Abrahamic covenant.' How little way do these words go +toward expressing the thing itself, and a man's feelings under it! There +was a time when God made Abraham far more happy even than he did you on +your way to the post-office that morning." + +Helen came along, just then, with a fruit-basket of apples, and I said +to her, as she was going round with them, "Say again that verse in your +hymn, which has these words in it, 'Thou art mine.'" + +So, while Mr. B. was paring his apple, Helen stood before him, and said: + + "O, might I hear thy heavenly tongue + But whisper, 'Thou art mine!' + Those gentle words should raise my song + To notes almost divine." + +Mr. B. put his apple and knife down, and took his red bandanna +handkerchief from under his plate, and, wiping his eyes, said: + +"Hymns always make me feel a good deal, especially Watts's. I've read +that hymn in meeting before the exercises began." + +_Pastor._ You know, by happy experience, what it is when that heavenly +tongue whispers, "Thou art mine." + +_Mr. B._ I do, sir, if I know anything. + +_Pastor._ Now, my dear friends, there is something awaiting you, which +you seem not to have experienced, but which is as good as that. + +"We would like to hear about it," they both replied. + +"How should you like, Mrs. B.," said I, "to have your little boy become +a sailor?" + +"O dear!" said she, "I should have no peace from this time, if I thought +he was to be a sailor." + +"But that," said I, "may be God's chosen occupation for him,--the way in +which he will employ him to bring him to himself, and then use him to be +a preacher to seamen, for example, and so to scatter the truth in many +parts of the earth. We are not our own, Mrs. B., and this dear boy was +not given you, as we say, to keep. 'For thou hast created all things, +and for thy pleasure they are and were created.'" + +"I want him brought up at college," said Mrs. B., looking at your +mother, who, she probably thought, would understand her motherly +anticipations about her boy so far ahead. + +"Well," said I, "let us send him to college. I suspect that you would +feel a good deal the morning he left you, would you not?" + +"O," said she, "I should so want him to be good first! If he should not +be a good man, I would not have him get learning to do harm with it, and +make himself more miserable hereafter." + +The little gate, with its chain and ball, swung to at this moment, and +a woman and girl came up the walk. It was Mrs. Ford, who used to be your +dress-maker, and her daughter Janette, now about thirteen. It was a +farewell call from Janette, who was going to the neighborhood of +Philadelphia, into a coach-lace manufactory. + +"So Janette is going to leave us, to-morrow, Mrs. Ford?" said your +mother. + +"Yes, madam, and I feel sorely about it; so young, and such a way off, +and all strangers except the foreman, who spoke to me about her coming! +O, sir," said she, changing her undertone, and turning to me, "what +should we do without that promise, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy +seed after thee'?" + +I looked at Mr. and Mrs. B., and we all smiled, while I said: + +"Now we have got the second part of the 'Abrahamic covenant.' So now we +have the whole of it. Mrs. Ford, when you came in, we were talking about +baptizing children, and about the 'Abrahamic covenant.' What do you +understand by that covenant?" + +"I understand by it, sir," said she, slowly gathering her words into +proper order; "why, I think I understand by it, that God promises to be +a God to a believer's child, as he was in such a wonderful way to +Abraham's people." + +_Pastor._ Well, that is the substance of one part of it, at least. Did +you know, Mrs. Ford, that when you came in we were just entering Mrs. +Benson's son at college? + +_Mrs. Ford._ Not this Mrs. Benson, of course. Whom do you mean, sir? + +_Pastor._ This Mrs. Benson;--her little son. + +_Mrs. Ford._ O, I understand! Well, you will send him to P., I suppose, +it is so near. + +"We had not fixed on the college," said Mrs. Benson, with a laugh. + +"Janette," said I, "how do you like the thought of going off so far from +us all?" + +Janette pulled the ends of her plain cotton gloves, and her heart was +full, so that she could not speak for a moment. I was sorry that I had +asked the question, and therefore added: + +"You will not go where God cannot take care of you and bless you the +same as at home, will you, dear?" + +She lifted her white apron to her eyes, while Mrs. Ford said for her: + +"I tell Janette that I gave her up to God in baptism; and when her +father lay sick, he said, 'That child was given to God in his house; I +leave her destitute, and with nothing but her hands, but I leave her to +a covenant-keeping God.'" + +"Now," said I, "here is a dear daughter going to a strange place to +learn a trade. She knows not a soul in the place but the foreman who has +hired her. A boy is going to college, another to sea, another to a +distant city. Here is a daughter, who receives particular attentions +from certain young friends, and the probability is that she will be +asked in marriage; and here is a son, who with his parents are in doubt +with regard to his future occupation and course of life. God only knows +the feelings of parents at such times. What prayers are made in +secret,--what vows! One wrong step may embitter life. A right step may +lead to prosperity and great happiness. I sometimes wish that we could +gather our children together, in some of these emergencies and critical +periods of their lives, and offer up prayers and vows, as parents and +friends, in their behalf. There would not be many meetings more +interesting than these, Mr. Benson. How the parents of such children +would love everybody that came at such times to pray for their children; +and what prayers would go up to God!" + +"Can we not have some such meetings?" said Mr. Benson. "Every parent +would like it, I am sure." + +_Pastor._ Well, we do have some such meetings occasionally, I remember. + +"Our minister loves to use parables," said Mrs. Benson, looking at your +mother, "so as to make us understand the meaning better, and remember +it." + +"I must ask you to explain," said Mr. Benson. + +_Pastor._ As often as we bring a child to the house of God for baptism, +Mr. Benson, we have such a meeting, if Christians will but understand it +so. We come with the parents, and say, "Lord God, here is this dear +child, with a momentous history pending upon thy favor and blessing. In +all future time, in the critical moments and eventful steps of its life, +or in its early death, or in its orphanage, be thou a God to this +child." If God should to-night, Mrs. Ford, say to you, "I will be +Janette's God," would you not send her away with a light heart? + +"He should have her for life, dear child!" said she; "and I do feel that +he is a God to her." + +"He is," said I, "if you have really made a covenant with him about your +daughter." + +"I have, sir," said Mrs. Ford. + +_Pastor._ Did the covenant have any seal? Some good people, you know, +think it enough to covenant with God about their children, without using +any special act to mark and seal it. Now it is only in consecrating +children to God that they omit the seal from the covenant. We practise +adult baptism, joining the church, confirmation, and we partake of the +Lord's Supper, feeling the propriety and the use of acts and testimonies +in the form of an ordinance. What seal had your covenanting with God +about your child? + +_Mrs. Ford._ I see it now clearer than ever. As we stood with this child +in our arms, we both said, afterwards, we made a public profession of +religion anew; and, when the minister said those sacred names over her, +I felt more than before that I was having transactions with God about +the child. But people used to say to me, "Why not wait and let Janette +be baptized when she is old enough to understand it?" How little they +knew about it! Just as though, I told them, if I had money to put into +the savings-bank for Janette, I would wait and let her put it in herself +(it is so pleasant to put it in when you know all about it!), instead of +laying it up for her in the funds, and let it count up while she is +growing. + +_Pastor._ Those friends who advised you so, think, perhaps, too much of +the ceremony itself, and not so much of what it signifies. Now the +pleasure of being baptized is nothing compared with having God enter +into a covenant in your behalf when you knew nothing about it. + +_Mrs. Ford._ They said to me, also, "What right have you to do it, +instead of letting her have the choice and privilege of doing it herself +hereafter?" I told them that, if we acted on that principle, in the +treatment of our children, there would be a long list of useful things, +which we do for them, to be postponed. + +_Pastor._ We can benefit another without his consent. The question is, +whether it is a benefit to a child for God and its natural guardians to +make a covenant together in its behalf. + +_Mr. Benson._ It surely is so, if God truly is a party to such a +covenant. But where is the proof that he is? That is my trouble. They +tell me that this covenanting with God for a child, and sealing it with +an ordinance, ceased with Abraham, who was a Jew; that it was a Jewish +custom, which died out. + +_Pastor._ Abraham a mere Jew! God's covenant with a believer and his +children a Jewish covenant! Never was there a greater mistake. Paul +tells us expressly it was not so. Get me a Bible, Helen, and bring me a +lamp. I read these words: "And the promise that he should be heir of the +world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the +righteousness of faith." His relation to the world was independent of +dispensations; it grew out of that faith which he had in common with all +believers to the end of time. "And he received the sign of circumcision, +a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being +uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, +though they be not circumcised." Christ also says: "Moses, therefore, +gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the +fathers.)" Abraham was not a Jew when God covenanted with him, any more +than you, madam, were Mrs. Ford, when, at the age of sixteen, as you +have told me, you entered into covenant with God. That covenant had +chief respect to your immortal soul, and yet it reached in its +influences to all the conditions of that soul while here in the flesh. +So God covenanted with Abraham as a believer, not as a mere national +ancestor; yet temporal and spiritual blessings came in rich measures +upon his immediate descendants. But we read, "So then as many as be of +faith are blessed with faithful," that is, believing, "Abraham." "And if +ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the +promise." Can anything be plainer than this? + +_Mrs. Ford._ My father was a minister, you know, sir, and he used to +preach a great deal on this subject. + +_Pastor._ Let us hear your understanding of these passages, Mrs. Ford. + +"I am afraid," said she, "I cannot tell you just what he used to say. +But my idea of it is this: Though Abraham was the founder of the Hebrew +people, he was no more a Jew than a Gentile in his covenant with God, +for it was as believer the great believer, that God made a covenant +with him. So that he was not circumcised as a Jew, but, as the Bible +says, to have a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith. God +made a covenant with him as a believer, to be his God and the God of his +children, as the children of a believer, not a Jew; so that all +believers are blessed with believing Abraham, by having the same +covenant extended to them. Then, I take it, God gave him a sign and seal +as a pledge, and to remind him of it, and to keep his children in +remembrance." She paused, and I said: + +"Please to go on." You remember, Bertha, how you used to make this Mrs. +Ford discuss doctrinal matters when she was sewing for you. + +_Mrs. Ford._ I remember that father said that God took the rainbow as a +sign and seal of his promise, to Noah and all future generations, that +there should never be another universal deluge. So he appointed a +children's ordinance to mark his covenant with believers to the end of +time. Only there was this difference; the way of signing and sealing the +covenant not being coupled with the laws of nature, but conforming to +the kind of symbols successively in use, it was changed, at the time +that the Sabbath was changed, and the whole of the old dispensation; but +father used to say, Is the commonwealth and citizenship broken up +because the legislature adopts a new state seal? Does that destroy all +the old public documents? + +_Pastor._ Good! So the United States' mint is from time to time changing +its dies; lately it has abolished copper, and substituted equivalent +coins of different composition. But money does not perish. A cent is a +cent still, red or white. So, whether the seal be blood or water, the +great ordinance which it seals remains the same. + +"And now I will tell you," said I, "how it seems to me God's covenanting +with parents for their children came to pass. He wished to give Abraham +a token and seal of his love to him. So he took his child, the thing +which he loved best, and would see oftenest, and thought of most, and +made the child, as it were, the tablet on which to write his covenant +with the father. That was one reason. 'Because he loved the fathers, +therefore he chose their seed.' But this is the least of the reasons in +the case. + +"Here is one of vastly greater importance. God wished to perpetuate +religion in the earth. He knew that the family constitution would be +the principal means of doing this, parents teaching and commanding their +children, and so transmitting religion. Because he knew that Abraham +would do this, he gave it as a reason for his love and confidence in +him, in not concealing from him his purpose to destroy Sodom. 'Shall I +hide from Abraham that thing which I do? For I know him that he will +command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep +the ways of the Lord.' So, in order to remind Abraham of what was +expected by the Most High in making his children the presumptive heirs +of grace, and to remind the children of it when they came to years of +understanding, God gave him and them this mark and seal." + +"Well, then," said Mr. Benson, "it seems to me Abraham was better off +than we, if he had God in covenant with him for his children, and we +have not. I sometimes wish that I could have God covenant with me about +my boy, as Abraham had about Isaac." + +"I should like," said Mrs. B., "to hear him say, 'I will be a God to +him,' and then tell us to do something of his own appointment that +should be like our signing and sealing a covenant together, as the +Lord's Supper enables us to do with Christ." + +"If we have no such blessed privilege," said I, "then, as Abraham +desired to see our day, I should, in this respect, rejoice to see +Abraham's day. I cannot forego the privilege of having God in covenant +with me for my children as he was with Abraham for his; and I crave some +divine seal affixed to it. + +"You said, Mrs. Benson, that you would like to have God promise to be +the God of your child, and then command you to do something which would +be like God and you signing and sealing it together. But do you think, +Mrs. B., that this is necessary? Why is it not enough for God to make a +promise, and you make one, and let it be without any sign or seal?" + +"People don't do things in that way," said Mr. Benson, with a decided +motion, two or three times, with his head. "They call a wedding a +ceremony, it is true, and some say, 'So long as people are engaged to be +man and wife, the ceremony makes little difference.' But it does make +all the difference in the world,--this mere ceremony, as they call it. +They never like to dispense with it themselves, at least; because, you +see, it makes all the difference between unlawful, sinful union, and +marriage. It makes married life; which could not exist, without the +ceremony, among decent people. It gives a title and ground to a thing +which could not be without it. So, I begin to see and feel, it is with +regard to what some call the ceremony of baptism. But excuse me, wife, I +took the answer out of your mouth." + +"Well," said Mrs. Benson to me, "I must wait upon you, sir, to answer +the question further." + +"Mr. Benson has the right view of the subject," I replied. "We make too +little of signs and seals, from a morbid fear and jealousy of those +which are invented by man and added to religion. But God's own seals are +safe and good. We cannot make too much of them. + +"God never did anything with men, from the beginning, without signs and +seals. The tree of life was one, and so was the tree of the knowledge of +good and evil. Adam and Eve knew better, at first, than to say, 'So long +as we love and obey God, of what use are these symbols?' By not +regarding symbols afterward, they brought death into our world and all +our woe. Even before that, God had appointed a symbol of his authority, +and a seal of a covenant between him and man forever, in the appointment +of the Sabbath. The mark on Cain's forehead, the rainbow, the lamp +passing between the severed parts of Abraham's sacrifice, Jacob's +ladder, the burning bush, the passover, and things too numerous to +mention, show how God loves signs and seals. + +"There are many good people, at the present day, who say to me, I am +willing to consecrate my child to God in prayer, and bring him up for +God; but I do not see the necessity of an ordinance. Why bring the child +to baptism? I can do all which is required and signified, without the +sign." + +"What do you say to them?" said Mrs. Ford. + +_Pastor._ I tell them they are on dangerous ground. Will they be wiser +than God? He knows our natures, and what to prescribe to us in our +intercourse with him. I would as soon meddle with a law of nature, as +with God's ordinances. I might as well neglect a law of nature, and +think to be safe and well, as to neglect one of God's ordinances, and +expect his blessing. + +People, moreover, may as well object to family prayer, and say that +they try to live in a spirit of prayer all day. Why do they have special +seasons for retirement, if they walk with God? Why do they hardly feel +that they have prayed if company, or a bedfellow, on a journey, keeps +them from using oral prayer? It is a bitter grief, also, when no funeral +solemnities lead the way to the grave with a beloved object; yet, where +in the word of God are they commanded? As Mr. Benson said, "Who is +willing to dispense with the wedding ceremony, except in cases where +sadness and trouble seek concealment?" + +People cannot give full evidence that they are Christians unless they +make a public profession of religion. They cannot properly remember +Jesus without partaking of his body and blood. Depend upon it, my dear +friends, God sets great value on ordinances, and our observance of them. +God has given us two sacraments, and he who dispenses with them because +he undervalues them, or undertakes to say that they are not necessary to +him, or to any in this age of the world, is in peril. The only danger +from forms and ordinances is when they are of human origin. We must take +care and not let our revulsion from Romanism carry us to the extreme of +neglecting or setting aside the ordinances of God's appointment. "There +are three that bear record on earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the +blood; and these three agree in one." A man may, with equal propriety, +dispense with the blood, and its symbol the wine, or with the Spirit, as +with the water, if God has appointed it with the other two as a witness +between him and us. You notice that the Spirit is named with the two +inanimate things, the blood and the water. Take care, I say to my +friends, lest, in setting aside the water, you shut out that divine +Spirit, who, knowing how to deal with our nature, chooses the blood and +the water to be used by us in connection with our most spiritual +religious exercises of the mind and heart. We have no more right to +interfere with God's ordinances than with the number of the persons in +the Trinity. + +"All this affects me so," said Mr. Benson, "that I shall not fail to +offer my child to be baptized, if I am allowed to do so. Now, there is +my difficulty. Why do you think, and how do you show, that baptism must +now be used as God's sign and seal of his covenant with believers for +their children? When circumcision was dropped, some insist that the +covenant was dropped with it, and, therefore, that there is no warrant +in Scripture for baptizing children." + +"Why," said Mrs. Ford, "if the coming in of Moses' dispensation did not +abolish the arrangement with Abraham, why should its going out? I am +inclined to think that Abraham and his seed are, to Moses and his +dispensation, something like that vine to the trellis, running over it +to the top of the piazza, bending itself in, you see, to accommodate +itself, but having a root and a top, the one below, the other above, the +short frame, which only guides it up to the roof. In the eleventh of +Romans does not Paul say that Jews and Gentiles have one and the same +'root'? I always supposed that root to be Abraham and his covenant." + +I did not quote Latin to my friends, but I thought of the old law-maxim, +_Manente ratione, manet ipsa lex_--which, if your scholarship is not at +hand to translate it, Percival will tell you, means, "The reason for a +law remaining, the law itself also remains." It is used in such cases as +the following: When one would insist that a law was intended to be +repealed by the operation of another law, not directly or expressly +aimed to repeal it, it is a good reply. If the original reason for +enacting the old law can be shown still to exist, it is strong +presumptive evidence that there was no intention to repeal that law. I +explained this, in as simple language as I could, to my excellent +friends, and told them, "If God's covenant, which circumcision sealed, +were Mosaic, and therefore national, Jewish, we should presume that it +ceased with the Jewish nation; or, if it continued, that it was +restricted to their posterity. But why should God bestow his inestimable +blessing on the father of the faithful, and take it away from the +faithful themselves? We love our children, as Abraham did his. It is as +important to us that God should be the God of our seed, as it was to +Abraham. My heart yearns after that covenanting God in behalf of my +children." + +"I will give up thinking of Abraham as a Jew," said Mrs. Benson. + +"What was he, then?" said I, "or what will he be to you, from this +time?" + +"He was the head of believers," said she, "just as Adam was the head of +men. As Mrs. Ford said, he was the great believer; and I am persuaded +that all who are of faith have his privileges, and more too; but +certainly all that he had." + +"But, my dear," said your mother, "you have forgotten the question. +Supposing that the covenant still remains, why do you take baptism for +the seal of it? The old way of sealing it is given up. What authority do +you show for using baptism in its place?" + +"I take the initiating ordinance of religion for the time being," said +I, "whatever it may be. Is not baptism the initiating ordinance, as +circumcision was? When they built our long bridge, and the ferry-boats +ceased running, did the town put up a great sign over the gate, saying, +'It is enacted that this river shall continue to be crossed'? Did they +add, 'This bridge is hereby appointed as the way of getting over the +river'? Or, did not people take it for granted, when the bridge was +opened and the ferry-boats were withdrawn, that the bridge was designed +to be the way by which they were to pass over the river? + +"Now, suppose so impossible a thing as this, that hereafter baptism +should, by divine revelation, be changed for anointing with oil, and +nothing were said about children. I would anoint the child with oil, +instead of baptizing it with water. We are to use the initiatory rite of +the church for the time being." + +"But," said Mrs. Benson, "is there any resemblance between circumcision +and baptism?" + +"There need be none," said I. "Resemblance does not give it efficacy, +but God's appointment of it. If marking the flesh in some way should be +appointed to succeed baptism, we need not look for a likeness between it +and baptism before we complied with the divine requirement." + +"I do wish," said Mrs. Benson, "that the authority to baptize children +were more expressly stated in the Bible, to satisfy all who were not +brought up as we have been." + +_Pastor._ The overwhelming majority of those who now receive the Bible +as the word of God find it there. + +_Mrs. Benson._ But why did not Paul receive a revelation about it, as he +did about the Lord's Supper? + +_Pastor._ Did that make the thing any more authoritative with us than +the original appointment? We will not prescribe to God how to teach us. +We will not make up our minds how he ought to have made a revelation, +but we will take that revelation and try to understand it. + +"I agree to that," said they all. + +_Pastor._ It appears to me that God prefers, on certain subjects, that +the world shall reason by inferences. It is a wise way of educating +children and youth, to leave some things to be learned in this way, and +not by setting everything before them, like too many examples in the +arithmetic wrought out. + +We have changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day in the +week. It gives me a sublime idea of our Sabbath, that by some great, +silent alteration, it has come to pass that all the world keep the day +of Christ's resurrection, instead of the day which commemorated the work +of creation. I feel toward it as I do with regard to the noiseless +changes of the seasons, and the conformity of our habits and practices +to them. I left New York late in winter for the Azores, and, before I +expected it, the warm southern airs came one morning into my cabin +window. So the Christian Sabbath, with its beautiful associations, +flowed in upon the world without a formal proclamation. I feel thankful +to God for so regarding our intelligent natures, as to leave some +things, relating to ordinances, modes, and forms, to be inferred, +bringing great changes over the moral and spiritual world, and leaving +us to adjust ourselves and the administration of the appointed +ordinances to them. We can add nothing, we take nothing away from an +express, divine command; but, as the first disciples were left to infer +that a Sabbath was as necessary after Christ brought in the new creation +as before, and adjusted it to the celebration of the Saviour's rising +from the dead, so we infer that God's covenant with believing parents +for their children is as desirable now as ever; that all the original +reasons for it now exist; and, therefore, we take the initiating +ordinance of religion now, as the church in former ages did, and apply +it to the children. All church-members did it before Christ; all +church-members may do it now. God saw fit to make every adult member, at +least, of the Jewish family, a church-member; if he has changed and +restricted the terms of church-membership now, that is a sufficient +reason for not making the sealing of children as universal now as it was +before. That is to say, in both cases, it is a church-member's +privilege. + +Without detailing the conversation at this point, let me say, I take it +for granted that Abraham, as my great spiritual ancestor, my +representative before God, my commissioner to receive for me and +transmit my privileges and blessings, continues in that relation unless +expressly set aside. Christ did not set him aside. How wonderfully he is +brought forward under the new dispensation, when it is said to us, "And +if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to +the promise." But, pray, why should Abraham be intruded in connection +with Christ, if he with his covenant is like a lapsed legacy, or a +superseded act of Congress? Why comes he here, in connection with the +Saviour, and tells me that if I am Christ's, then am I his, Abraham's, +seed? Hear this: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, +being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on +the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." Wonderful elevation of Abraham and +his blessing, as the great type of all that Christ was to procure for +us! If Abraham and his covenant ceased with the Jewish people, how does +the blessing of Abraham fully come upon us, the Gentiles? But give me +his covenant for my children; then I see that Christ is executor of the +testament made with Abraham for his children; and I am one of the heirs; +as indeed I am, even if I have no children, but if I have, all of +Abraham's privileges and his covenanting God are mine and theirs. + +So that, I said to my friends, I go to the Bible not to say, "Must I +baptize my children?" but, "Am I forbidden to baptize them?" + +All my predecessors in the church of God, before Christ, had the +privilege of bringing their children into the bonds of the covenant with +themselves. If they felt as we do about it (and strict usage, and the +rich experience which they had had of its benefits, must have made it +inestimably precious to them), it is incredible that a sudden and total +discontinuance of it, at the beginning of Christianity, should not have +occasioned great clamor. The formalists, at least, would have +remonstrated at the seeming violation, by this new order of things, of +natural affection. For, as Doddridge well observes, "What would have +been done with the infants, or male children, of Christians?"--that is, +of converted Jews, as well as others. They could not circumcise them; +but their teachers, being spiritually-minded men, knew that circumcision +was a seal of faith, not merely of nationality, and must not the +converts have required some sign and symbol still for their children? +Now they had long been used to the baptism of proselytes and their +children; so that baptizing their own children, as a substitute for +circumcising them, could not have been a violent change with those whom +Peter's vision of the sheet had taught that the Gentiles should be +fellow-heirs. And when he, in one of his first sermons, said to the +whole house of Israel, "Ye are the children of the covenant," and "The +promise is unto you and to your children," we can account for their +utter silence as to any revocation by Christianity of the right and +privilege of applying the initiatory ordinance of religion, for the time +being, to a believer's child. + +"But," said Mr. Benson, "the Saviour said, 'He that believeth, and is +baptized, shall be saved.' The apostles said, 'Repent and be baptized, +every one of you.' Show us, now, why this does not prove that repentance +and faith were not thus made essential to baptism. According to these +passages, none could be baptized who had not repented and believed. +This would exclude infants. 'Believe, and be baptized;' how do you +dispose of that, sir?" + +"Very easily," said I. + +Mrs. Benson exclaimed, "O, sir, if you can, all my difficulty is at an +end!" + +"Well, then," said I, "in the first place, there is no such requirement +in the Bible. You see the expression very often, but it is not found in +Scripture. But tell me exactly what your difficulty is." + +"Why," said she, "my husband has just stated it. People tell us the +Bible says, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' So +they insist that no one should be baptized who is not old enough to +believe." + +I told her that I could remove her difficulty in very few words. + +"Suppose," said I, "that Abraham is preaching to full-grown men in +Canaan, and is trying to proselyte them from their idolatry to the +worship of God. He would say to them, 'Believe and be circumcised,' +would he not? for God ordained that certain proselytes should be +circumcised." + +"Yes, sir," said two or three voices at once. + +"Well, then," said I, "must it follow that children could not be +circumcised because Abraham said to men, 'Believe and be circumcised'? +How will that reasoning answer? Is it true? No. Little Isaac refuted it, +for he was circumcised even when his father was saying to his pagan +neighbors, 'Believe and be circumcised.'" + +"True enough, all who believed, in Christ's day and the apostles', +needed to be baptized, because they were not children, but were grown +up, when Christian baptism began. Had an apostle, however, lived to see +the jailer's family, and that of Lydia, and of Stephanas, grown up, and +any in those families had remained unconverted, and then he had said to +them, 'Believe and be baptized,' there would be some force in saying +that believing and baptism must always go together." + +"One other thing always troubled me," said Mr. Benson, "and that is, +that there was no seal of the covenant for any but male children. Now, +if the initiatory rite of Christianity be used for the same purpose as +that given to Abraham, why not confine it, as formerly, to males?" + +"How interesting it is," said I, "and it is full of instruction, to see +God paying regard to the world's knowledge and progress, in all his +measures, and doing nothing prematurely. There is a very striking +illustration of this in the account of the fall. + +"God knew the history of the tempter during his agency in Paradise; for +angels had sinned and fallen from heaven. But the existence and agency +of fallen spirits had not been disclosed in the Bible,--the time for the +disclosure had not come,--and therefore it is said, with beautiful +simplicity, 'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field +which the Lord God had made;' and the narrative has respect only to the +external appearance of the tempter, the serpent, because it would have +been premature as yet to bring in the story of fallen angels, or make +allusion to them. + +"So, for reasons belonging to the early ages of the world, woman was +included in man, who acted for her.[1] + +"But, however the arrangement began, God regarded that organic law of +society, and, in giving Abraham a seal of a covenant for his children, +he restricted it to the sons, they in all things standing and acting as +the representatives of the house, according to the existing custom. God +did not go far beyond the world's advancement, in his ordinances, but, +with condescension and in wisdom, suited the one to the other. But, as +things were then generally represented by types, so the male child was a +type and representative of the more full and complete form, which was +reserved till the fulness of time, and till the world should know the +fulness of Him that filleth all in all. For 'in Christ Jesus there is +neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female.'" + +[Footnote 1: A curious reason for this, in the minds of some, appears to +be that, when man was created, woman was included in him. For, they say, +in the first chapter of Genesis, and in the account of the sixth day, +before woman was made, the plural word _them_ is used: "male and female +created he them." They say that the blessing was pronounced on the man +and woman in Adam. For they think it improbable that Moses would +anticipate his history so much as to bring in woman, and, withal, her +blessing, too, at the sixth day, when the narrative teaches that she was +made some time afterwards. Hence, they say, it was that woman was for +ages treated as included in man. There is something pleasing in this +fancy, but it seems like one of Origen's allegories, he being the father +of allegorical interpretation. It had its origin in an ancient +Rabbinical sentiment.] + +So I discoursed with my visitors till between ten and eleven o'clock, +and when they rose to go, we all stood up together and joined in +prayer. We commended Janette to her covenant-keeping God, whose name +had been inscribed upon her. We remembered the little boy who had been +the occasion of all this pleasant conversation, and prayed that his +consecration might be accepted, and the sign and seal of it be owned and +blessed to him and his parents. As I walked down to the gate with my +friends, I said to them, that, when God was covenanting with Abraham, he +bade him look up into the heavens, and count the stars, and told him +that his seed, like them, should be innumerable. So I told them +frequently to look up to those old heavens, and remember that the +covenant-keeping God is there, the same who, in blessing Abraham, +included his seed; and that, because Abraham was so good a man, God +calls his posterity "the seed of Abraham my friend." And so we said +good-night. + +In reading over what I have written, there are a few things more which I +feel disposed to add, because I know that Percival will make good use of +them in talking with others in your congregation. + +I feel, more than I can express, that the state of mind in parents which +will make them prize and use the ordinance of baptism for their children +is the great want of our day. Bringing children to church, and +baptizing them, unless the parents are themselves in covenant with God, +is as wrong as it was for those earthly-minded Corinthians, whom Paul +rebukes, to eat the Lord's Supper. They made a feast, or a meal, of the +supper; and some use baptism just to give a child a name,--to "christen" +it, as they say,--in mere compliance with a custom. But the abuse of a +thing is no valid argument against it. The last supper is the subject of +far more perversion; it gives occasion to a vast amount of superstition +and folly. The procession of the host, the elevation of the host, the +laying of the wafer on the tongue, the solemn injunctions against +spitting for a certain time after receiving it, are no valid arguments +against the Lord's Supper, and no Christian is led by them to disregard +the words of the Lord Jesus, "This do in remembrance of me." Much of the +practical benefit of the Supper comes through the feelings which it +awakens, the conduct which it promotes. So with infant baptism. The +child must be truly consecrated to God, beforehand, and afterwards; and +the ordinance must be used as a sign and seal on our part, as it is on +the part of God,--an act and testimony, a memorial, a vow. Hannah lent +her child to the Lord from the beginning, and then brought him to the +temple, with her offerings. We must take the child from baptism as +though God had placed it a second time in our hands, to be trained up +for him. + +But, still, the ordinance is God's, and not man's. He has a work to do +in us by means of it, while it also helps our feelings, fixes them, +makes them vivid, and imposes solemn obligations upon us by its +signified vow. So it is with the Lord's Supper. In each case it is God's +memorial, and not ours; and its benefit does not consist so much in +showing forth the state of our hearts at the time of administration, as +in sealing to us the promises of God. + +True, our feelings are awakened and strengthened, ordinarily, by the +ordinances; but that neither explains nor limits the meaning of them. We +are wrong if we suppose that the Lord's Supper has done no good unless +our feelings are vivid at the time of partaking. If we were sincere, our +act had the effect to engage and seal blessings from God of which we +were not aware, and may never be able to trace them back to that +transaction. So with regard to baptism. + +Some call this sacerdotalism, and are afraid to allow that the +sacraments have any influence or use, except as a testimony from us to +God. Romanism has driven us to the opposite extreme in our ideas of +sacraments. We do not vibrate back again too far toward Romanism, if now +we conclude that God employs his sacraments, properly received by us, as +seals from him of love and promises. Many Christians derive less comfort +and help from the Lord's Supper than they may, because they regard it as +profitable only so far as they can offer it to God with vivid feelings +on their part; and, when their frames are not as they desire, they +conclude that the ordinance is unprofitable. But let us also consider +who appointed this ordinance. It is the appointment of Christ, not ours; +and at his table we are his guests, not he ours. The Saviour is well +represented as saying to us, + + "Thou canst not entertain a king! + Unworthy thou of such a guest; + But I my own provision bring, + To make thy soul a heavenly feast." + +There is a divine side to sacraments, as there is a divine side in +conversion. While we are active in regeneration, there is a work of God +wrought in us, distinct from our faith and repentance, yet inseparable +from it. So, while sacraments are vows on our part to God, they are, +primarily, gifts, pledges, seals, on his part to us. Therefore, when one +says, "I can bring up my children, I can be a Christian, without the use +of sacraments," it is a proper reply, "But can God do his part toward +your children, and toward you, without them?" For, not only is prayer +"the offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his +will," but there is the additional truth, which is well expressed in +those lines of a hymn: + + "Prayer is appointed to convey + The blessings God designs to give." + +So with sacraments; they convey gifts from God, not primarily gifts from +us to God. + +He, then, who declines to have his children baptized, on the ground that +it is useless, may, in so doing, interrupt the communication of a +divinely-appointed medium between God and his child. For he need not be +told that the faith of parents brought blessings from the Saviour, when +on earth, to their children, nor be reminded that the benefits of +circumcision were bestowed on the ground of the parental relation to +God. + +One further illustration occurs to me of the power which resides in the +sacraments themselves, in distinction from their being a testimony from +us to God. Let me call to your remembrance notices which you sometimes +see, of young people going, in a frolic, before a clergyman or justice +of the peace, to be married, when they intended nothing but sport, and +found, afterward, that they had brought themselves into difficulty, and +were legally held to be married. + +You see by this that covenants do not, by any means, derive all their +efficacy from the feelings of a contracting party. Covenants and their +seals are the most sacred of all human transactions, and cannot be +lightly regarded, or trifled with. God reveals himself often under the +name of the God that keepeth covenant. So that we may not set aside the +sacraments, nor undervalue them. This leads me to say, furthermore, that +children, who doubt whether their parents sincerely and truly offered +them to God in baptism, the parents being in an unregenerate state, as +it afterward appeared, when they came with their children to the +ordinance, may be greatly comforted and encouraged by taking this view +of the divine sacrament of baptism as having a force and application in +their behalf, by the goodness of God, irrespective of their parents' +character. God will not let his sacraments depend, for their efficacy, +on the character either of the administrator or of the parents. For, if +the character of an administrator affected the baptism, it might so +happen that one could never really be baptized, since every successive +hand which applied it might prove, in turn, to be that of an unworthy +person. If a child is baptized on the profession of parents who +afterward show that they were not sincere, the child shall not suffer +thereby, if he recognizes the transaction, and makes it his own act. In +the case of a converted husband or wife, while one companion remained a +heathen, the children were, nevertheless, counted "holy," because the +Gospel leaned to the side of mercy, and gave the children the benefit of +the believing parent's faith, instead of attainting them through the +heathen parent. So, when a child is baptized in error, he shall not +suffer, nor even lose anything, if he will accept the covenant with its +seal. No one can justly reply to all this, that, therefore, every one +even though not of the church, may offer his child for baptism. No; for +these are exceptional cases, in which it is true that a covenant, even +if it be not fulfilled, has force, and things may enure under it which +one who does not make the required profession cannot receive. The +covenant, if but the outward conditions be complied with, places all, +who are in any way related to it, under various contingencies, which +sometimes, to some of the parties, may be productive of good. We see +illustrations of this in the great tenderness and love which we feel +toward a child whose parent has brought a stain upon himself and his +family. We find an echo, in our hearts, of those kind words of the Most +High, "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father;" and, if that +son behaves himself worthily, every good man is doubly careful to +protect and help him. In this way the broken, or unfulfilled, covenant +operates, with God and with man, to the good of some related to it. But +shall we, therefore, break our covenant? Shall the unworthy be +promiscuously admitted to its privileges? "Shall we continue in sin that +grace may abound?" + +In speaking of the influence of sacraments, I am aware that we approach +enchanted ground. The human heart loves a religion of forms and +ceremonies, which professes to renew and save without self-denial, +breathing around us the quietism of ordinances, and lulling us to drowsy +forgetfulness of duty in the luxurious enjoyment of an irresponsible +religion. While, therefore, we cannot too carefully guard against the +abuse of ordinances, we must not forget that God, who made man, body and +soul, chooses to convey some of his gracious operations to us by the +help of the two simple sacraments, and that they are intended to act +upon us, in the hands of his Spirit, in the first instance; not merely +serving as offerings to God. + +It is not that there are fewer children baptized now than formerly (if +such indeed be the case), that awakens sorrow and apprehension; but that +parents are deficient in the feelings which make us prize and use +baptism. This is the evil sign, and it is greatly to be deplored. One +must have intelligent views of the Scriptures as a whole,--of both +Testaments,--most fully to understand and value infant baptism; for its +roots were planted in the Old Testament. I always feel deep respect for +a church-member who comprehends this subject in its wide relations, and +is not swayed by the popular demand for an express sign at every step, +but can reason inferentially as well as when proofs are demonstrative +and palpable; and who has in his mind the whole system of redemption, +with its various economies, interdependent, and none made perfect +without the rest. When all our church-members come to understand and +feel the power of this subject in this manner, what times of enlightened +religious prosperity, and a high state of religious culture, it will +indicate. I pray and wait for the time when all our Paedobaptist +churches, of every name, will conspire to promote spiritual views of +children's baptism, holding it forth as the expression of spiritual +feelings, and discountenancing formalism in connection with it. Though I +was never an Episcopalian in my preferences, and though the appointment +of godfathers and godmothers may, like every good thing, relapse into +mere form, I honor it for its excellent and pious design of surrounding +the parents and the children with admonition and help. For there are +sponsors, I am happy to know, who are not mere formalists, but who make +it a rule to have an interview with their godchildren on or near their +birthdays, or the anniversaries of their baptisms, and, in an +affectionate, faithful manner, they endeavor to fulfil the vows which +they took upon themselves at the baptism. Blessings on such faithful +Christian friends! Happy the children who have them for helpers of their +faith and piety. Let us all, as church-members, be sponsors, at least by +prayers and a kind interest for it, to every child of a Christian +brother or sister, when we witness its baptism. Suppose a church-member, +after witnessing the baptism of an infant, its parents, perhaps, entire +strangers, goes to his place of private prayer, and, moved with +disinterested love toward those parents and the child, supplicates the +blessing of God upon them. Could Christian love be more pure than this, +or prayer more pleasing to God? In the revelations of eternity such +prayers will not only be rewarded openly by Him who saw those doors shut +with that secret love and piety, but blessings upon parents and child +without measure may be traced to such petitions as their procuring +cause. How good it is to perform such acts, knowing that they can never +come abroad in this world! Should every Christian who witnesses the +baptism of a child, afterward pray for that immortal soul in secret, +with special petitions, what an increased privilege and blessing it +would be esteemed to offer a child in baptism, and in God's house, +before a witnessing church, rather than at home! I hope, my dear +daughter, that you and Percival, as private Christians, will do good to +your own souls, and to the souls of baptized children, and to their +parents, by making it one of your private rules to pray in secret, on +the Sabbath, for every child whose baptism you witness. + +The effort to promote and enforce infant baptism, by ecclesiastical +enactments merely, is absurd. We must fertilize the soil, not spread +glass sashes over the plants. Give Christians right views and feelings +about their covenant privileges and duties; disabuse them of their +mistakes about the severance of the Old Testament from the New; teach +them to look at Abraham, not as a decayed peer, or an old Jew, but as +the founder of the church of all ages, to whom Almighty God virtually +said, 'On this rock I will build my church,'--Abraham being the first +foundation stone, waiting for apostles to be added with him, and, as our +great representative, bearing in his hand the covenant made with him for +us, as well, as for the other great branch of the family of God; show +them that baptism is now the initiating ordinance, and that the old +covenant was never repealed, though the seal be changed; let them see +what it is to have God in covenant with them to be the God of their +seed; and, withal, let us correct, or modify, the intense anti-papal +jealousy of the Christian rites, which makes us all, unconsciously, +verge to the opposite extreme, thus missing the divinely-appointed +intention and use which there is in our two simple ordinances; and then, +with the revival of such spiritual views and feelings, and, as a +consequence, with greater reference in the prayers of Christians, public +and private, to the subject, the practice of children's baptism will +increase, as surely as accessions to the Lord's table increase when +people come to have Christ in them the hope of glory. + +We, ministers, can do very much to promote a love for the ordinance in +many ways. We ought to make it convenient and pleasant by all the +expedients within our power. I like the practice which you speak of, in +your church, of the mother remaining with the child in the anteroom till +the introductory services and the loud organ-playing are over. Does +your pastor pour water into the child's face and eyes, and then begin +the words of baptism? I presume not; but I have seen it done. We should +not touch the child's head till near the close of the baptismal formula; +and then so that the child will not see the arm move toward it. + +Much can be done by these simple expedients to promote a quiet and +pleasant attendance upon the delightful rite. I like the practice, in +your church, of chanting low some appropriate words of Scripture before +and after the baptism. + +I am constrained to say, though with diffidence, that I fear some of my +good brethren give erroneous impressions by what they say of the +church-membership of children. They push it to extremes. They discuss +the question, What shall be done with baptized children, who, on +arriving at years of understanding, refuse to enter into covenant with +God? Church censures are asserted by some to be proper in such cases, +even to excommunication, or interference in some judicial way by the +church. So long as I believe in regeneration by the Holy Spirit, I +cannot feel that baptized children, as such, are, in any sense +whatever, in which the term is generally received among men, _members_ +of the church of Christ; while, in another and most important sense, +they do belong to the church, hold a relation to it, and are a part of +it. Strictly speaking, and in the highest spiritual sense, they are not +even "the lambs of Christ's flock;" for lambs have the nature of sheep; +but the children of believers are, by nature, children of wrath, even as +others. And yet, in another sense, they hold a most important relation +to the flock of Christ, as no other children do. In its most important +sense, they are not to the church even what they are to the state; they +have no place whatever in the invisible church,--the church which is +saved,--till they are born again. If children are regenerated by the act +of baptism, of course it is otherwise; but, not believing this, I am +clear that the baptized child of a believer differs from any other +unregenerate child, who is not baptized, only in this: that God looks +upon it with peculiar interest and love, and that it is surrounded with +special and peculiar privileges, opportunities, promises, and hopes, +with regard to its being brought to repentance and saving faith in +Christ; and by baptism it is initiated into special relationship to the +people of God. The church also has special duties with regard to it. +Some of my brethren give great occasion to those who resist children's +baptism, to argue against it as Romish in its nature and effect, by not +discriminating clearly in using the words members and membership in +connection with children. Read almost any modern book against infant +baptism, and you will find that its main force is directed against the +practice as a "church and state" institution, and as making persons +members of the church by means of sacraments. Let us who are really free +from such imputation, assert the truly spiritual nature and object of +this ordinance. I wish to see it divested of all that does not belong to +it, made eminently spiritual, expressed in terms which cannot easily be +misunderstood, and appealing to the natural affections, the +understandings, the consciences, of spiritual men and women, as, in its +sober and legitimate use, God's great appointment, from the call of +Abraham to the millennium, for the increase and perpetuity of his +church.[2] + +[Footnote 2: This subject is discussed by itself, and more at large, in +another part of this book.] + +You are aware that the great question, which has made most of the +trouble in the Christian church from the beginning, relates to the +meaning and use of sacraments and ordinances, or what we call Symbolism. +The tendency of the human mind, even in Paul's day, as indicated by him, +with other things belonging to it, under the name of "the mystery of +iniquity, which doth even now work," was, to increase the number of +sacraments and ordinances, and make them bear an essential part in the +work of regeneration. The right to multiply or extend them, and the +claim that they possess a saving efficacy, characterizes one great +division of the professed Christian church, while those who are called +Protestants and the Reformed, regard them chiefly as signs; though of +these, some seem to have much of that appetency after undue reliance on +forms which Paul seeks to correct in the Epistle to the Galatians, while +others go to an opposite extreme, and undervalue the two +divinely-appointed sacraments, which they think have no efficiency as +used by the Spirit of God, but only as signs used by us to represent +something. + +Between these divisions of the Christian church lies the battle-ground +of great ecclesiastical controversies from the beginning, as the +Netherlands were, for a long time, the battle-field of Europe. +Archbishop Leighton seems to strike the balance between formalism and +sacramental grace in ordinances, as well as any writer, in commenting on +these words of Peter, "The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth +also now save us." He says: + +"Thus, then, we have a true account of the power of this, and so of +other, sacraments, and a discovery of the error of two extremes. (1.) Of +those who ascribe too much to them, as if they wrought by a natural, +inherent virtue, and carried grace in them inseparably. (2.) Of those +who ascribe too little to them, making them only signs and badges of our +profession. Signs they are, but more than signs merely representing; +they are means exhibiting, and seals confirming, grace to the faithful. +But the working of faith and the conveying Christ into the soul, to be +received by faith, is not a thing put into them to do of themselves, but +still in the supreme hand that appointed them; and he indeed both causes +the souls of his own to receive these his seals with faith, and makes +them effectual to confirm that faith which receives them so. They are +then, in a word, neither empty signs to them who believe, nor effectual +causes of grace to them that believe not." + +Let me make the distinction very clear to your mind, for it is of great +practical importance. The "mystery of iniquity" in Paul's time, and +since his day, did not, and does not, consist in making too much of +God's ordinances in their purity and proper use. That cannot be done, +any more than you can intelligently love the Bible too much, or the +Sabbath. But, to pervert them, or to make additions to them, or to rely +upon them wholly, is Romanism. But can men make too much of having a +seal on a deed? Is the deed good for anything without the seal? Can they +make too much of having three witnesses to their wills? Those three +witnesses, instead of two, make an otherwise worthless writing, a man's +last will and testament. Thus, a true sign, ordinance, or seal, among +men, has inherent efficacy of some sort. Shall we deny it to the +ordinances and seals of Heaven? He who lays claim to the covenant, but +rejects the seal, deceives himself. They must go together. + +But will you not think me older even than I claim to be, because I am so +garrulous? I have many things to say, but will not say them with pen and +ink, hoping to see you shortly. Farewell, my dear daughter, to you and +your beloved husband, with abundant kisses for your little namesake, +who, I pray, may be spared to you, if God has any work for her to do on +earth. Dedicate her sincerely and entirely, beforehand, to God, and then +in his house, with baptism, before the assembled brethren in Christ; and +let your subsequent treatment of her be a repetition of the whole. +Baptizing a child, with right views and feelings, leads to much prayer +for it. Renew the consecration of your child daily, in little, sudden +acts of prayer, as well as in more deliberate offices of devotion. Thus +surround it with an atmosphere of faith and consecration, not forgetting +the public transaction in which you covenanted with God, before many +witnesses, for the child, and He, my dear daughter, with you, in its +behalf. For, a covenant implies two parties; and God is one, and you are +the other; and Jesus is the mediator, who said of children, "Of such is +the kingdom of God." "He that came down from heaven," had seen, in +heaven, how largely that world is peopled with them. "Of such is the +kingdom of heaven." Peace be with you. All send love. + + Your affectionate Father. + + + + +Chapter Third. + +BERTHA'S BAPTISM.--CHANTING AT BAPTISMS.--PUBLIC AND PRIVATE +BAPTISMS.--WEEK-DAY BAPTISMS.--A DAUGHTER'S LOVE.--BAPTISM OF A +DEAF-MUTE INFANT.--FIDELITY OF A BAPTIZED CHILD.--SUBJECTS OF +BAPTISM.--THE MODE.--IMPROBABILITY OF IMMERSION, IN THE NEW +TESTAMENT.--ON BEING BURIED IN BAPTISM.--NEW VERSION OF THE +SCRIPTURES.--OUR DIVISION INTO SECTS.--A MOTHER'S PLEA FOR INFANT +BAPTISM. + + Where is it mothers learn their love? + In every church a fountain springs, + O'er which th' eternal Dove + Hovers on softest wings. + + O, happy arms, where cradled lies, + And ready for the Lord's embrace, + That precious sacrifice, + The darling of his grace! + + KEBLE. + + +We took Bertha to church when she was two months old. The minister, +being fond of music, had, for some time, requested the choir to chant +select passages of Scripture at baptisms. + +So, as we came up the aisle with the child, the choir breathed out those +words, "And I will establish my covenant between thee and me, and thy +seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to +be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." "Suffer the little +children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the +kingdom of God." "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon +them, and blessed them." And, as we turned away from the font, they +added, "So shall he sprinkle many nations." "The Lord shall increase you +more and more, you and your children." "But the mercy of the Lord is +from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his +righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, +and to those that remember his commandments, to do them." + +How I loved that choir, and the congregation! for, many a face did I see +bathed in tears, and others beaming with smiles and love, as, with +respectful, half-turned looks, they seemed to give us their blessing. + +"Do you not think, more than ever," I said, to the beloved grandmother +of my child, after church, as we watched the little sleeper in her +cradle, "that people lose very much in having their children baptized at +home?" + +"It makes a different thing of it," she replied. "I felt that all the +congregation loved Bertha and you. How many prayers you obtained for her +and for yourselves, which you would have missed by a private baptism!" + +"Besides," I remarked, "'God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the +dwellings of Jacob.' I think that for that reason, and on the same +principle, namely, that he is more honored, he regards our public +dedication of children with more favor than a private baptism, except, +of course, where sickness makes the public service impossible. But it is +some trouble to mothers, and no doubt many shrink from it." + +"The trouble is more in anticipation than reality," she replied. "That +pastor's room, where they stay till the introductory services are over, +makes it more convenient and agreeable. But all the trouble, even if it +were far greater, is nothing compared with the satisfaction of having +taken your offering and come into His courts. You have paid your vows +unto the Lord, in the presence of all his people. You will remember +those prayers, those words of Scripture which were chanted, and your +feelings as you took the child into your arms to be presented to God, +and as you heard those adorable names pronounced upon her and then +received her back into your arms, as it were, from the hands of God." + +"What do you think," said I, "of the practice of having children +baptized in the church on a week-day? It enables the parents to attend +meeting on the Sabbath with more composure than when they bring their +children on the Sabbath." + +"But O," said she, "what is that, compared with the privilege of +bringing the child before the whole church of God, in his house, on the +Lord's day, and so identifying its baptism with the most solemn acts of +public worship? I do not like those week-day baptisms. Where they have +the communion lecture in the afternoon of a week-day, there may be +reasons of convenience for bringing the children for baptism then, +rather than on the Sabbath; but there is a great loss of enjoyment, and +also of impressiveness, in the ordinance, in doing so, I think. I was at +a place, several years ago, when fourteen children were baptized on a +Wednesday afternoon, in the church. I went to see it, but it was not +solemn at all. I could not help thinking what an impressive and useful +sight that would have been on the Sabbath, before all the people, and +how much more good, probably, it would have done the parents, even if +they had given up half the Sabbath in going and returning with the +children." + +"If people," said I, "thought more of the spiritual meaning and +privileges of baptism, and viewed it as they do in times of sickness and +death, they would think less of inconveniences and discomforts, and see +that the ordinance is something more than giving a child a name." + + * * * * * + +Some time after this, I called upon a cousin of ours, a young married +lady of our congregation, who, within a year, had come to us from +another place, she having been married to an educated, intelligent +member of another congregation, and who, from his great love for her, +had come with her to our place of worship from another denomination, +this having been made a condition of their marriage. For she felt that +she could not be debarred the privilege of sitting at the Lord's table +with her mother, three sisters, and brother, as she would be if she +united herself with her friend's church. The idea of going to any table +of Christ on earth where they could not come, thus seeming to +disfranchise her whole family whom Christ had gathered into his fold, +and some of them into heaven, did violence to her feelings. At one time, +it seemed likely that the engagement of marriage would be terminated, on +this ground alone. Some one of the gentleman's persuasion, who thought +that she "ought to follow Christ in ordinances," and "take up her cross" +in this instance, whispered to her that she was, perhaps, in danger of +denying Christ, from love to her kindred, and he said to her, "He that +loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." This had the +opposite effect from that which was intended, for it showed her, in the +strongest light, the error of supposing that love to Christ could ever +require her to separate from herself, at the table of Christ, such +friends of Jesus as the members of her dear Christian home,--a home +which had been like that of Bethany to many of the Saviour's friends. +She felt more sure of being actuated by right motives in giving up her +marriage, and not withdrawing fellowship from her mother and the family, +than she would be in sacrificing that fellowship to gratify a new +affection. Her next younger sister was baptized after the father's +death. She was a deaf-mute. The mother was a very beautiful woman. She +had borne severe trials for her religion with a spirit of patience and +Christian propriety which won the love and esteem of the community. She +went to the altar of God, a widow, with the little deaf and dumb child, +and presented it for baptism. It was as though the impending calamity of +its father's death had shut up some of the senses of the child, and God +had placed it in the mother's hand as a silent memorial to her, for +life, of his chastising love. She left her fatherless flock in the +family pew, and went with her nursling, not merely to give it to God, +but to receive for it the seal of his covenant, bowing submissively to +his inscrutable appointment, and imploring the God of Abraham to be +still her God, and the God of this her seed. That scene had not failed +to make deep impressions upon the other children; and now it was +proposed to one of them that she should, by connecting herself in +marriage, disavow her mother's right to cling, in those hours of +anguish, to that asylum of the fatherless, infant baptism,--that very +present help in trouble, the covenant of God with believers and their +offspring. The little child, moreover, had become a Christian, and had +sat with her sister, side by side, at the communion-table, for several +years. "Forbid it," she prayed with herself, "that I should go where I +cannot be allowed to follow Christ till I have separated this dear one +from my side." + +She once wrote a letter on the subject to the gentleman, which he +showed, after their marriage, to some of his friends. There will be no +impropriety in its appearing here. It ran thus: + + "MY DEAR MR. E.: Though I am not willing to deny that Roger + Williams was, as you say, raised up to illustrate some important + principles, and to help on the general cause of truth, I must say + that he strikes me as a very unreasonable man in much of his + behavior. Our puritan fathers did not come to this wilderness with + French, atheistic, idolatrous love for a goddess of liberty. They + came here, it is true, for liberty of conscience and freedom to + worship God. With a great sum they purchased this freedom. But + infidels could as well claim to be absolved by the laws from all + recognition of God, under the plea of liberty, as Mr. Williams and + his friends could make his demands for toleration. To insist that + our fathers, in their circumstances, should have opened their doors + wide to every doctrine, and to the denial of everything professed + by them, is unreasonable. They came here with an intense love for + certain truths and practices, which persecution had only served to + make exceedingly precious to them. To have proclaimed at once + universal toleration of every wind of doctrine, would have proved + them libertines in religion. Because they did not so, reproach is + cast upon them by some, who seem to me to be free-thinkers on the + subject of religious liberty. If other men wished to found a + community with doctrines and practices adverse to those of the New + England fathers, the land was wide, and it would have been the part + of good manners in Mr. Williams to have gone into the wilderness at + once, to subdue it and to fight the savages, all for love and zeal + for his own tenets, instead of poaching upon the hard-earned soil + of those who had laid down their all for what they deemed to be the + truth. It seems to me unphilosophical in some of our historians to + reflect, as they do, upon our forefathers for not being so totally + indifferent to what they deemed error, as to allow it free course. + Their strict, and, if you please, rigid ways, were the necessary + defences of their principles, which were just taking root here. + They did right in passing stringent laws to protect them; and + religious liberty was no more violated in doing so than is the + liberty of our town's people here, who, by the law of the State + protecting game, cannot take fish, or kill birds, during certain + seasons. + + "Besides, I never saw any proof that Mr. Williams was himself the + great apostle of toleration. I remember reading to father, during + his sickness, some remarks of the late John Quincy Adams, in which + he vindicates the New England fathers for banishing Roger Williams + as a 'nuisance.'[3] Mr. Adams surely cannot be accused of bigotry, + nor of being an enemy to the cause of freedom; and his remarks + seemed to me more just than the eulogies, by historians and + orators, of Mr. Williams. Father once showed me an old book of Mr. + Williams's, which we have now, called 'George Fox digg'd out of his + Burrowes,' in which Mr. W. inveighs against the Quakers for their + want of 'civil respect,' and for using 'thee' and 'thou,' in + addressing magistrates and others. He says, on the two hundredth + page, 'I have therefore publickly declared myself, that a due and + moderate restraint and punishing of these incivilities (though + pretending conscience) is as far from persecution, properly so + called, as that it is a duty and command of God unto all mankinde, + first in families, and thence unto all mankinde societies.'--It is + also a matter of history that the colony settled by Mr. Williams + refused their franchise to Roman Catholics, though even then the + Roman Catholics of Maryland were tolerating people of his own + faith, and Quakers also. Mr. Williams always seemed to me like one + of our pious, zealous 'come-outers.' He even forsook his own + denomination in three months after he had been baptized, and for + forty years denied the validity of their sacraments, and the + scripturalness of their churches and ministry. Such a man would + even at this day be excommunicated by every society, unless it + were some association for the encouragement of radical notions of + liberty. I no more see in him the impersonation of religious + freedom, than in some other good people who go or stay where they + are not wanted. I am not disposed to deny that you and your + friends, with their principles, of which you, erroneously, I think, + claim Mr. Williams as the great exponent, 'have a mission,' as you + say, to perform; but I do not feel called upon to join in it. Some + of your writers seem to me--shall I say it?--a little too sure of + having just the right pattern and patent-right in ordinances, and + somewhat too complacent in not being liked by other denominations, + and perhaps a little disposed to look for persecution. Now I was + pleased with a remark of Matthew Henry's, on Mark 10:28, that 'It + is not the suffering, but the cause, that makes the martyr.' But we + were brought up under different associations, and cannot see just + alike in all things. I cannot, however, contradict, by any step + which my feelings would incline me to take, the Christian + citizenship of those who are dear to Christ, and are so precious to + me. As much as I love you, I think you should feel perfectly free + to leave me in my happy home, if you cannot allow me to retain my + fidelity to my own conscientious convictions of truth, and to the + sacred rights of those whom nature and grace have conspired to make + inseparable from my own Christian hopes and joys." + +[Footnote 3: "Can we blame the founders of the Massachusetts Colony for +banishing him from their jurisdiction? In the annals of religious +persecution is there to be found a martyr more gently dealt with by +those against whom he began the war of intolerance; whose authority he +persisted, even after professions of penitence and submission, in +defying, till deserted even by the wife of his bosom; and whose utmost +severity of punishment upon him was only an order for his removal as a +nuisance from among them?"--_Discourse before Mass. Hist. Soc._, 1843, +pp. 25-30.--[ED.]] + +The gentleman agreed to allow her the largest liberty, and they were +married. He knew that she had a mind and heart that were more precious +than rubies, and that the heart of a husband could safely trust in her. +The sequel will show, however, how good it is to be matched as well as +mated, and, in the conjugal relation, to be "perfectly joined together +in the same judgment." + +The object of my call, that evening, was to rejoice with her, and to be +the bearer of some congratulations at the recovery of their infant, +whose death had been expected for some time. The child was now perfectly +restored. + +As I stood in the entry, not having rung the door-bell, and was hanging +up my hat and coat, some one in the parlor said: + +"What good can it do the child or us to sprinkle a little water on its +head?" + +"Good-evening, Mr. M.," said the husband, as I went in. I was +interrupted in my expression of a fear that I had intruded upon their +conversation, by their assurances to the contrary. "I am glad you came +in," said Mr. Kelly, "for perhaps you can help us. You heard, I suppose, +what I was saying as you came in. If I am not mistaken, Mr. M., you +yourself are not very strenuous about infant baptism, for I have heard +of your making inquiries on the subject." + +"Not only have all my doubts been removed," said I, "but the baptism of +my child has been the source of the richest instruction and comfort." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," said Mrs. K. + +"But," said Mr. K., "you do not, of course, derive your warrant for it +from the word of God. That is our only guide, you know. There is no more +authority in the Bible for baptizing children than there is for praying +to saints. You are probably aware that the practice originated in the +third century of the Christian era." + +_Mr. M._ It originated with a man by the name of Abraham, I believe, +sir, two or three thousand years before Christ. + +_Mr. K._ O, then, you go to Judaism for it! + +_Mr. M._ Judaism comes to me with it, and hands it over to me. There was +something good in Judaism, we all think. Judaism was not a Mormonism, as +certain ways of speaking of it not unfrequently would make us think it +to have been; it was not an exploded folly, but the form which the +church of God bore for two thousand years. But it began before Judaism; +it is older than Moses. Judaism received it from Abraham. It is like a +great river rising in a desert place, and seeming to lose itself in a +lake, but flowing out again into another lake, and thence to the sea. So +Judaism was only a great lake, which took and seemingly held this river +of baptism for a time, but its current went on and flowed into another +lake, the Christian dispensation. But you cannot say that a river which +makes a chain of lakes, rises, for that reason, in the first lake. No, +its head spring, in this case, was antecedent to the lake. + +_Mr. K._ Did Abraham or the Jews baptize children, Mr. M.? + +I answered, "Every male child of Abraham's descendants, who should not +receive the sign of consecration to God, was to be cut off from among +the people. Proselytes of the covenant and their children were baptized, +very early." + +_Mr. K._ But where is the command to apply baptism to children? + +_Mr. M._ Where, my dear sir, is the command to discontinue that which +was enjoined upon the founder of the race of believers for all time? I +believe in the perpetuity of Abraham's relation to us as the father of +the faithful, as I believe in Adam's relation to us as the +representative of the race, and in the Saviour's relation to us as our +representative. God seems to love these federal headships, as we call +them. Abraham did not receive circumcision being a Jew, but, as the +apostle says, "as a seal of the righteousness which is by faith, which +he had while he was yet uncircumcised." We have Scripture for that, Mr. +Kelly. And "the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after," did +not disannul that covenant "that was confirmed before of God in Christ." +How can you call circumcision a Jewish ordinance, when the Bible so +explicitly denies it to be of Jewish origin? + +_Mr. K._ O, I do not understand this Abrahamic covenant. I take the New +Testament for my guide. + +_Mr. M._ You think well of the book of Psalms, I presume, as a help to +prayer and pious feelings? + +_Mr. K._ Yes; but in all matters of faith and practice, the New +Testament, like the doings of the latest session of the legislature, is +the rule for New Testament believers. You might as well have tried to +govern the ancient Jews with the New Testament, as enforce the laws of +the Old Testament on us. + +_Mr. M._ Is the privilege of having God stand in a special relation to +my child an Old Testament ordinance, in the same sense with ceremonial +observances? + +_Mr. K._ Not exactly that, but it is a superstition to baptize children, +now that circumcision is done away, and believers' baptism is enjoined. + +_Mr. M._ Believers' baptism is enjoined, but children's baptism is not +therefore prohibited. + +_Mr. K._ But where is it enacted? + +_Mr. M._ If the original form of dedicating children is essential, why +is not the original form of the Sabbath essential, the very day which +was first appointed? How dare we change a day which God himself ordained +from the beginning, until he makes the change as peremptory as the +institution itself? Have we any right to infer, in such an important +matter? Where is the express, divine command,--not precedent, example, +usage, but where is the enactment,--making the first day of the week the +Christian Sabbath? + +_Mr. K._ So long as we may keep the thing, observing one day in seven, +it makes no difference which day we keep, if we can all agree on one and +the same day. We do not all agree to retain circumcision in any way. + +_Mr. M._ So long as we may retain the thing signified by circumcision, +it makes but little difference what form is used to express it. + +_Mr. K._ The apostles, who changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the +first day, knew the mind of Christ. + +_Mr. M._ And so the men, who first practised infant baptism, knew the +minds of the inspired apostles, and they knew the mind of Christ. But to +go a step further back, the only ground for inferring that the Sabbath +is rightly changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, is the +incidental mention of Christ's meeting his assembled disciples a few +times after his resurrection on the first day. On that slight ground we +are all content to rest our present observance of the Sabbath. Now, I +say that the mention of the baptism of households eight times, in one +form and another, is as good a warrant for infant baptism, as those two +or three Sabbath-evening meetings were for the institution of the +Lord's-day Sabbath. + +_Mr. K._ I cannot agree with you, Mr. M., in putting circumcision on the +same level with the Sabbath. + +_Mr. M._ I myself see a resemblance in the changes made in the two +cases. I have no wish to proselyte you to my views. I have only answered +your polite inquiries. + +_Mr. K._ O, I know that; we shall be good friends still; but I see no +grounds for baptizing children on the faith of their parents. + +_Mr. M._ We look at the thing from different points of view. I see it as +clearly as I see that the church of God is essentially the same in all +ages, with its variety of forms. This matter of children's baptism is +with me a spiritual thing, and is independent of dispensations. You know +that a river may have, in one district of the earth through which it +flows, one name, and in another district another name, while it is the +same river. Now, the divine recognition of believers' children, as +standing in a special covenanted relation with God, is the headspring of +infant dedication by the use of a rite. The object of this recognition +is, that He may have a godly seed. God does not perpetuate religion +directly by natural descent, it is true, but he seeks to promote it by +descent from a pious parentage, and he therefore endows that parentage +with special privileges and promises. The inclusion of children with +their believing parents has been the great means of perpetuating +religion in the earth. It is a stream which washed the shores of Judaism +under the name of circumcision; now it washes the shores of the Gentiles +under the name of baptism. For the Saviour or the apostles to have +reaeppointed infant dedication, with the use of the cotemporary +initiating ordinance, would, to my mind, be as superfluous as for the +allied powers to have agreed that the Danube should still run through +Austria. + +_Mr. K._ Your principle of interpretation, Mr. M., has brought in all +the darkness which has covered the earth in the Romish apostacy. There +will be no end to human inventions in religion, if this principle +prevails. + +_Mr. M._ But, my dear sir, there certainly has been an end at the very +beginning; for what inventions in Protestant worship have non-prelatical +Paedobaptists made? Surely that practice has not been prolific of +superstitions. I often hear this alleged, Mr. K., and we are called +Romish and Popish because we baptize infants. But will it not be best +for Christian sects to allow each other entire liberty of conscience, +and not accuse each other of tendencies to Romanism, when all are +zealously Protestant? Here is a piece, which I cut from a newspaper +lately, which describes the baptism by immersion of some females and +others, one Sabbath in January, the thermometer below zero, a place +being cut through the ice for the purpose, and a boy watching with a +pole to keep the floating ice from the opening. Shall I call this +Romish, superstitious, fanatical? Shall I say, How can we, consistently +with such practices among Protestants, say anything about the doctrine +of penances? No. I prefer to think that those who do these things are as +good Protestants as myself, and I will not impeach their rigid adherence +to their belief, by imputing Romish tendencies to their modes of +worship and their ordinances; for no people are further from Romanism in +their principles than they (unless it be some of us Paedobaptists, Mrs. +Kelly). + +_Mr. K._ Well, there is no quarrelling with you; but let me say that +when another sect sees you employing an ordinance which has no warrant +in the Bible,--sprinkling water upon people, on proper subjects and +improper subjects for baptism, when we know that the word _baptize_ +means to _immerse_, and that believers only are properly baptized,--how +can we be silent? Would you be silent if Episcopalians should set up +Latin prayers, or the confessional; or the Methodists turn their +love-feasts into the old Passover? + +_Mr. M._ We must tolerate the mistakes and errors of those who, in the +main, are confessedly good, and are conscientious in what we deem their +errors. When the noble array of great and good men in the Episcopal Low +Church, and among the Methodists, fall into such mistakes as you have +specified, there will be opportunity for other Christians to express +themselves. But you are rather rhetorical in your reasoning, to compare +the practice of infant baptism by Owen, and Watts, and Doddridge, and +Leighton, and Baxter, and all like them, with Latin prayers and a return +to the Passover. + +_Mr. K._ There is not a case of sprinkling in the New Testament. You are +too well-informed to deny this. + +_Mr. M._ Mr. K., there is not one instance of baptism, in the New +Testament, where there does not appear to me to be an improbability of +its having been administered by immersion. + +By this time Mrs. K., who had been called away to attend to her child, +returned, and hearing my last remark, said, with a significant look at +her husband: + +"We shall require you to prove that, Mr. M." + +"Most willingly," said I. "Do you think, cousin Eunice, that the +multitudes who came to John and the apostles to be baptized, brought +changes of raiment with them?" + +"No," said she; "and there were no conveniences for making a change of +dress in those places, I presume." + +_Mr. M._ Were they immersed in the clothes which they had on? + +_Mrs. K._ That does not seem probable. Some of them, at least, had +valuable garments, we may suppose, and few, if any, would wish to have +their apparel wet through, or to keep it on them, if wet. + +_Mr. M._ They were not immersed without clothing, of course, +promiscuously, and, therefore, I believe that they were all baptized by +sprinkling or pouring, their loose upper garments allowing them to step +into the water, or very near it; and John, standing there (and the +apostles, also, when they administered baptism), and laying on the water +with his hand, or, which is not impossible, with the long-accustomed +bunches of hyssop. The Episcopal mode of administering the Lord's +Supper, enables me to conceive how baptism by sprinkling could be +administered rapidly. As six or more people are kneeling, the Episcopal +minister gives each his portion of the bread, and repeats the formula, +not to each one, but once only while his hand is passing over the six. +So, I imagine, John repeated whatever form he had (and the apostles +theirs) to companies, while, in rapid succession, he applied the water +to them. It is impossible to account for the performance of such +incredible labor as John must have undergone, unless we adopt some such +supposition as this, or confess that John's baptism was, throughout, a +miracle. But "the people said, John did no miracle." If the apostles +sprinkled three thousand in this way, by companies, in one day, as they +could easily have done, we can see how the same day there could be +"added unto them about three thousand souls," even if "added" meant +being baptized. That the apostles had assistance in administering +baptism at this early period, is not probable. They had not yet proposed +to have helpers in taking care of the poor, much less to share with them +the first administration of Christian baptism. If any church were to +require me to believe, before admitting me to the Lord's table, that the +apostles immersed three thousand people at the day of Pentecost, after +nine o'clock in the morning, in the midst of necessary labors, and at +that driest season of the year, or in tanks, I could no more believe it +than I could confess that the earth is flat. + +_Mrs. K._ But "John was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there +was much water there." + +_Mr. M._ "Much water," in those countries, was on a smaller scale than +in North America. They would have needed all the lake-shore or river +banks that could be found, to witness the baptisms, and to pass in and +out of, or to and from, the water, conveniently, while John stood to +receive them in or near the water. A fountain or small body of water +would not have accommodated those multitudes; not because the water +would not suffice, for a small running stream would be enough, and would +have afforded "much water;" but think what inconvenience there would +have been in baptizing a crowd around a small stream. Baptism by +immersion, among us, though a few gallons of water only are needed, is +more conveniently done where there is "much water;" because the +spectators can spread themselves along the banks, and then there is no +confusion. The most convenient and rapid way of baptizing multitudes by +sprinkling would be, for the administrator to stand in the water, and +let the people pass by him. Besides, those multitudes who came to John's +baptism needed "much water" for themselves and their beasts. + +_Mrs. K._ But the Saviour went down into the water, and came up out of +the water. + +_Mr. M._ So did John, in the same sense; and so did "both Philip and the +Eunuch;" but John and Philip did not, therefore, go under the water. But +Mr. Kelly will tell you that _down in_ to, and _up out_ of, might as +well have been translated to and from, in the case of the Eunuch. If you +insist that going down into the water involves immersion, it follows +that Philip went under the water with the Eunuch, and there baptized +him. + +_Mr. K._ We shall set those matters right in that new version of the +Bible which you were complaining of the last time I saw you. Down into, +and up out of, are required by the word baptize, which means immerse. + +_Mr. M._ No, my dear sir, not always, even in the New Testament. The +word had come, even in the Saviour's time, to signify purification, or +consecration, irrespective of the mode. The Pharisees, in coming from +the market-places, except they wash, eat not. The word is baptize. But +they did not bathe at such times; they "baptized" themselves by washing +their bodies. We read of the baptism of beds, which was merely washing +them. The Israelites were baptized unto Moses. There the word means, +simply, inaugurated, or set apart, with no reference to the mode; for, +they were not immersed, but bedewed, if wet at all; they were not buried +in that cloud, for the other cloud that led them was in sight; they were +not buried in the sea, which was a wall to them on either hand. + +There is a good illustration, it seems to me, of the change in words +from their literal meaning, in the passage where Christ is called the +"first-born of every creature." He was not _born first_, before all men, +but he has the "preeminence" over all creatures, as the first-born had +among the children. Here is an illustration, from the New Testament, of +the way in which _baptism_ may cease to denote any mode, and refer only +to an act of consecration. + +As to that new version of the Bible, Coleridge says, that the state +ought to be, to all religious denominations, like a good portrait, which +looks benignantly on all in the room. So the Bible now seems to look +kindly upon all Christian sects; and, for one, I love to have it so. +But, some of you, good brethren, who are in favor of this new version to +suit your particular views, are trying to alter the eyes of the portrait +so that they shall look only on you, and to your part of the room. We +think that you ought to be satisfied with the present kind look which +you get from them. There is one comfort--you will make a new picture to +please yourselves, and we shall keep the old portrait. + +"Please do not be too severe on my husband for that mistake of his," +said Mrs. K.; "I think that he is getting better of it, in a measure." + +_Mr. K._ I will make you a present of the book when it arrives, and, +perhaps, you will agree with me. But I am surprised to hear you say that +you do not believe the Saviour to have been immersed by John. + +_Mr. M._ It was not Christian baptism, at any rate, if he were; for the +names of the Trinity are essential to Christian baptism, and those names +had not been thus applied. + +Besides, John could not have plunged and lifted those thousands without +superhuman strength and endurance, which we know he did not possess. The +same reasoning applies, in the baptism of the three thousand at the day +of Pentecost, both as respects what I have said of raiment, and the time +and strength of the apostles. + +The baptism of the Eunuch was, to my mind, most probably by sprinkling, +making no change of raiment necessary. "See, here is water,"--a spring, +or stream, by the road-side, quite as likely (and, travellers now say, +more probably) as a pond. Yes, sir, Philip went down into the water just +as much as the Eunuch did, if we follow the Greek literally. I think +that _down_ refers to the chariot, the act of leaving it to go to the +water. But the English version, as it now stands, makes strongly for +your view of the case in the mind of the common reader. + +Saul of Tarsus was baptized after having been struck blind, and while he +was in a state of extreme exhaustion from excitement, without food; for, +during three days, "he did neither eat nor drink." He was baptized +before he ate; for, we read, "And he arose and was baptized; and, when +he had received meat, he was strengthened." It does not seem to me +probable that they would have put him into a river, or tank, before +giving him food. But it seems to me natural and suitable for Ananias to +draw nigh, and impress the trembling man with the mild and gentle sign +of Christianity, the rite giving a soothing and cheering efficacy to the +words of adoption, and in no way disturbing him in body or mind. I have +always regarded the baptism of Saul as a strong presumptive proof with +regard to baptism by affusion. + +So with the midnight scene of baptism in the prison at Philippi. The +preparation of one or more large vessels, to immerse the household, is +not congruous with the circumstances narrated, as I read them. But the +quiet and convenient act of baptism by sprinkling, falls in harmoniously +with the other parts of the transaction. For my part, I have always +wondered how any one can fail to see that there are so many +improbabilities of immersion in every case of baptism, in the New +Testament, as to counteract any weight which the word baptize carries +with it, more especially since the word and its derivatives are +employed, in the New Testament, in cases where the mode of using the +water is evidently not intended. + +_Mr. K._ "Buried with him in baptism." Mr. M., you will confess that +this is an impregnable proof-text. You have never been "buried with him +in baptism." + +_Mr. M._ But I am "risen with him," Mr. K. With all humility and tears, +I must say to you, "If any man trusteth to himself that he is Christ's, +let him also think this with himself, that as he is Christ's even so +also we are Christ's." Your application of the passage, just quoted by +you, disproves your interpretation of it. If we must be buried in water, +when we are baptized, then no one is risen with Christ who has not been +immersed. You thus disfranchise four fifths, to say the least, of God's +elect. No, my dear sir, being buried with Christ in baptism does not +mean immersion. People in the frozen ocean, the sick and dying, who are +sprinkled with water in the name of the Christian's God, are "buried +with Christ in baptism into death;" that is, profess to be dead and +buried to sin, as Christ was dead and buried for it. Besides, follow out +the passage, and there is no allusion to the form of baptism, as I can +perceive, but to something else. "Buried with him by baptism into death; +that like as Christ was raised,"--from the water?--yes, if water baptism +be now in the writer's mind; but no,--"like as Christ was raised from +the dead, by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in +newness of life." The word buried, therefore, in this passage, refers to +the completeness of the Saviour's death for sin (as we say intensively +of a deceased person, he is dead and buried), and of the completeness +of our renunciation of it. We are dead and buried to sin, as Christ was +for it; and we rise to newness of life, when we profess to be +Christians, as Christ rose from the dead, not from the water. + +_Mr. K._ How is it with infants? Are they dead and buried to sin when +they are baptized? If being buried, in this passage, means being dead +and buried to sin, then infants are regenerated by baptism. + +Mr. K. gave his wife a pleased look, as though he had placed me in a +dilemma. + +"Mrs. Kelly," said I, "how do you suppose that nursing children ate the +first passover?" + +"I suppose that they ate it through the faith of their parents," said +Mrs. K., looking narrowly into the stitches of her crochet-work, to +control a smile. + +"That passover, however," said I, "was the means of saving those +children, who, many of them, were the first-born in their respective +families. Yet they were saved by the passover through the faith of their +parents. Do not understand me as urging the comparison to an extreme; I +only say that there we have an example of parents acting for the child +in a matter of faith. The infant child was incapable of believing, and +even where the first-born was grown up, the parent acted for him in the +ordinance, by sprinkling the door with blood. I do not prove infant +baptism by this, but I use it to show that parents may use an ordinance +for their infants. Mr. K. asks if baptized infants are buried with +Christ in baptism into death,--that is, die unto sin and rise to newness +of life. The parents profess by the baptism that they will use means to +effect this in their children, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. I +should like to ask Mr. Kelly if he believes that every person who is +immersed, is buried into death, spiritually, with Christ, or is actually +dead to sin forever; or, whether it is only a profession of one's hope +and intention. For we have all known some, who had been buried in water, +that did not prove to have died unto sin." + +_Mr. K._ Of course it is a symbol; and all we insist on is, that Paul +must have had immersion in mind, as the form of baptism, when he spoke +of being buried by baptism. + +_Mr. M._ When Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ," do you suppose +that the idea of a cross was in his mind? Did he intimate that +sanctification is effected by a piece of wood, with a transverse beam, +used as a gibbet? Or did he simply mean, I am dead to the world, and the +world is dead to me, yea, and put to death (not merely dying in a +natural way), through the power of the Saviour's sufferings and death on +my behalf? The burial of Christ, following his death for sin, and so +completing the idea of dying, is enough to have suggested the figure, I +think, of our being not only dead with Christ, but buried with him, by a +Christian profession; that is, we utterly cease from the world and sin, +professedly, as Christ not only died, but went into the tomb. But what +does "risen" refer to in that passage,--the water or death?--"from +whence also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of +God." + +_Mr. M._ Why, how do you understand it? + +_Mr. K._ I prefer, if you please, that you should answer. Many +understand it thus: "You are buried in water, to denote death to sin; +you are lifted up out of the water (as Christ was lifted up by the +Baptist), to live a new life." If this be so, what is "the operation of +God," which is spoken of there? Does it need any such "operation" for +an immersed person to rise out of the water? No, my dear sir, our +interpretation makes plain and thorough work of the whole passage. Our +idea of that controverted passage (your great proof-text) is this: You, +Christian professors, were, all of you, baptized, on profession of your +faith;--when you made a Christian profession, you signified by it your +dying unto sin, as Christ died for it, so that, I may say, you were dead +and buried to sin. But, as Christ came to life again, so you rose with +him, not to sin, but to live a new life. Hear Dr. Watts on the passage: + + "Do we not know that solemn word, + That we are buried with the Lord, + Baptized into his death, and then + Put off the body of our sin? + + "Our souls receive diviner breath, + Raised from corruption, guilt and death; + So from the grave did Christ arise, + And lives to God above the skies." + +I do not believe that the mode of baptism is alluded to at all in this +text. + +_Mr. K._ I cannot agree with you, sir. The contrary is perfectly clear +to my own mind. + +"Mr. M.," said Mrs. Kelly, "do you think that you and Mr. K. would ever +think alike on this subject?" + +"Never," said I. "People almost always end where they began, when they +discuss this topic; only they do not always leave off in such +good-nature as Mr. K. and I intend to do. I never knew a person to +change his views to either side, unless he began as an inquirer, and not +as an advocate." + +"What is the reason," said Mrs. K., "that good people are left to differ +so about unessential things in religion, when they all hold to the same +way of being saved?" + +"I suppose," said I, "that, as poor human nature is, for the present, +more is effected, on the whole, by letting us divide into sects, and +giving us each some external or speculative discrepancies to excite our +zeal. It is a sad reflection upon us, if this be so, and our sectarian +behavior illustrates that hardness of our hearts, in view of which, +perhaps, God suffers us to divide as we do. But, still, you see how +wisely God has ordained that good people shall not differ about +essential things--that might be fatal to the success of his truth; but +they are left to divide about forms, and ordinances, and some doctrinal +matters which do not involve the question of the way to be saved. In +that they all agree." + +_Mrs. K._ How pleasant it would be if they would all think alike! + +_Mr. M._ Perhaps it might not be best at present. They should tolerate +each other's views, meet and act together where they may; but I do like +to see a man heartily attached to his own denomination, without bigotry. +I have not much partiality for those schemes of union which require and +expect each sect to give up its peculiarities, and which seek to +amalgamate us. It is unnatural. Let each be thoroughly persuaded of his +own faith;--different temperaments and habits of thought are suited by +different modes and forms;--but let us treat each other as Christians, +and with urbanity and kindness. That is the most sublime spectacle of +union. It comes nearer to fulfilling the prayer of Christ, "that they +all may be one," when we differ strongly, and yet keep the unity of the +spirit. I am doubtful whether, even in heaven, there will not be such +innocent diversity of views about things successively beyond our +knowledge or comprehension, as to stimulate inquiry and discussion; but +that we shall ever be capable, as we are here, of alienation, in +consequence of these varying opinions, is impossible. + +_Mr. K._ Do you not think, Mr. M., that we shall all think alike about +baptism in the millennium? + +_Mr. M._ I suppose that you expect that we shall all give up infant +baptism. But my expectation is that, as we approach that day, the last +prophecy of the Old Testament will be as truly fulfilled as it was at +the coming of Christ, and that the hearts of the fathers will be turned +to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Parental +piety and discipline will be greatly promoted, and an attendant of it +will be, I suppose, a greater use of the ordinance of infant baptism, +demanded by the pious feelings of parents, as pious feeling in the +regenerate craves the ordinance which commemorates the love and +sufferings of the Redeemer. The feelings of pious parents will require +the ordinance of infant baptism, as an expression of their earnest +desire to have fellowship with God as the God of the believer and his +offspring, the covenant-keeping God. It is to the increase and +prevalence of this feeling that I look now for an increasing observance +of infant baptism; for, without such feeling, the ordinance is an empty +name. Where that feeling exists, it soon modifies the speculative views +of a parent. As our conscious need of an atoning Saviour soon dispels +the former difficulties about the doctrine of the Trinity, so a longing +desire to have special covenanting with God for a dear child, makes the +subject of God's everlasting covenant with Abraham, as the great +believer, and the father of believers, plain. + +Now, before I forget it, please let me tell you of an objection to +infant baptism, which I lately met with, drawn from the effect of the +prevalent practice of it in a community. + +The objection is, it prevents us, in a measure, from fulfilling Christ's +command, "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them." For, going into the +Roman Catholic or Greek churches, or an Armenian country, and making +converts, the missionaries cannot baptize them, for, alas! they were +baptized in infancy, and to re-baptize is against the law of the +countries. + +Now, this seems to me no great calamity; for if the converts themselves +recognize their baptism, and adopt it as profession of their faith, it +is like a man's acknowledging the hand and seal on an instrument, made +irregularly at first, but now, under competent circumstances, declared +to be equivalent to his own act and deed at the date of this +declaration. He would not need to re-write the document, nor to use wax +or wafers again, except in witness of his acknowledging the original +act. "Though it be but a man's covenant, yet, if it be confirmed, no man +disannulleth or addeth thereto." + +But, however it may be in such countries and communions as I have named, +certainly it cannot be a calamity if the practice of infant baptism +becomes such a spiritual and practical thing, that young persons are +generally converted, so that adult baptisms disappear. I love to notice, +when several persons join our church, how few of them receive baptism, +showing that their baptism in childhood has been followed by conversion. +The fewness of adult baptisms, with us, compared with cases of infant +baptism, is a good sign. They will be fewer and fewer, in proportion as +our parents make and keep covenant with God for their children. + +Mr. Kelly was at this moment called out, but requested me to remain and +finish the conversation with Mrs. K. She resumed it, saying: + +"Had I better read any more on the subject? My feelings lead me +strongly to take our little one to church. I feel that I should be +strengthened by the solemn act of doing what the covenant of your church +says, 'avouching the Lord Jehovah to be your God and the God of your +children forever.' I do wish to feel that I have done something like +bearing testimony before God, in a special way, that I give my child to +him, and engage God to be his God." + +_Mr. M._ I should candidly examine whatever Mr. K. wishes you to read or +hear on the subject, and not be afraid of the truth, let it lead where +it may. But what first made you think of baptizing your little boy? + +_Mrs. K._ I always loved the ordinance. But, when I thought that Henry +was going to die, I was watching him all night, and, as I was praying, +it occurred to me that I wished I could see the church praying for him; +and that led me to think of the church praying for a child when it is +brought into the house of God. I felt that night that, if I could speak +to the pastor, I would ask him to request the prayers of the church for +him as for one who, if he got well, should be brought into the house of +God, and be publicly consecrated, and I with him, again, as his mother, +to the Lord. I had given him and myself to God; but I felt the need of +some more special act, on which I could fall back in my thoughts, and of +which God would graciously say to me, "I am the God of Bethel, where +thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me." + +_Mr. M._ How kind it was in God to remind Jacob of that pile of stones, +and to call himself the God of Bethel! O, how he loves marked exercises +of consecration and love! + +_Mrs. K._ My husband always said, "Let him offer himself for baptism +when he grows up, and understands the meaning of it." I told him that +when I was admitted to the church I was not baptized, but I had this +pleasant feeling, that I had a baptism in infancy by my dear good mother +to think of now, and to seal by my own acknowledgment. If Henry had died +without being baptized, or should now be hindered from it, I should +never cease to grieve. + +_Mr. M._ You think, however, that he would be saved, nevertheless. + +_Mrs. K._ O, saved! that is not all. I do not think merely of his +getting into heaven. Though we are saved wholly by grace, is there not +something implied in "washing our robes, and making them white, in the +blood of the Lamb?" I do not believe in justification by works nor by +sacraments, yet I do believe in their wonderful effect, through grace +alone, upon our character and future condition. I do believe, Mr. M., +that there is a difference between children whose parents, impelled by +love to God, make public offering of their children to him, with solemn +vows, and daily perform their vows, treating their children as baptized +in the name of the Trinity, and children whose parents either carelessly +baptize them, or feel no such spiritual desires for them as to seek the +use of any public ordinance, nor any special private consecration. I +believe that God regards them differently. He has placed his mark on the +baptized. I must go with my son to God's house, as Hannah did, and with +her feelings. How strange! She prayed for that son, and then, as soon as +he was weaned, she gave him away to God; for it is beautifully said, you +know, "And the child was young." Well, I think I understand that. I +could leave Henry in the temple, if the service of God's house required +him; for, when he was sick, I gave him up to God, and as long as he +liveth he shall be the Lord's. How did cousin Bertha feel about the +baptism after your little boy died? + +_Mr. M._ It was often the chief topic of her conversation. Her father +wrote a full statement of his views, which helped her greatly. We have +read it over since we lost our child. I will send it to you, if you +wish. You can read it, with Mr. K.'s books, and I wish you to show it to +him if he cares to see it. + +All this was done. Kind feelings prevailed; there was not much +discussion, and, one Sabbath morning, little Henry Kelly was brought to +church. But the mother was without the father. He was called to a +distant place on business; but he allowed his wife to act her pleasure +in the case during his long absence. More of this in its place. + + + + +Chapter Fourth. + +IS THERE ONLY ONE MODE OF BAPTISM? + + Were love, in these the world's last doting years, + As frequent as the want of it appears, + The churches warmed, they would no longer hold + Such frozen figures, stiff as they are cold; + Relenting forms would lose their power, or cease, + And e'en the dipped and sprinkled live in peace; + Each heart would quit its prison in the breast, + And flow in free communion with the rest. + + COWPER. + + +Opening my entry door, on my return, several faces looked out to welcome +me, all in the house having waited till a late hour, with surmises as to +the cause of my long absence, and then all dispersed, except the +venerable, and not yet aged, grandmother of little Bertha. With her it +was always pleasant to talk. + +_Mr. M._ Have you had no company this evening? I was in hopes that the +Moores would come in, as they promised to do. + +_Mother._ They have been gone nearly an hour. Mr. Moore wished to read +husband's letter, so Bertha lent it to him. + +_Mr. M._ Father will be glad to know how much good his letter is doing. +Cousin Eunice would be glad to see it, and I wish to read it again, for +I find that I am likely to need more instruction, if I am to discuss the +subject as I did this evening with Mr. Kelly. + +_Mother._ Was he at home? I hope you did not get into a controversy +about baptism; for, of all things, nothing dries up religious feelings +like that. + +_Mr. M._ The subject has taken too practical a hold upon my feelings to +have that effect. I find myself more and more led to believe that God +gave his church an appointed form of baptism, and that that form was +sprinkling; for I search the New Testament in vain for a single case +where immersion seems to have been practised. I believe that, under the +operation of early tendencies, of which Paul writes to the +Thessalonians, the church began to prefer immersion as more sensuous, +making a stronger appeal to the passions. But I believe, with the New +Testament for my guide, that immersion was not practised by the apostles +themselves. The word baptize had, even in the Saviour's time, to go no +further back, come to mean a thing done irrespective of the mode. How +would it sound, "I have an immersion to be immersed with, and how am I +straitened?" &c. "Are ye able to be immersed with the immersion that I +am immersed with?" I believe that sprinkling was the original mode of +Christian baptism. And it seems to me unlikely that God would appoint an +ordinance, and not appoint, by precept or example, the mode of it. I +believe that the mode of baptism was appointed, as well as the rite +itself, and I see no instance of baptism in the New Testament by +immersion. Pouring, whether more or less copiously, has this probability +in its favor, in addition to the impression which the narratives make, +viz., The Lord's Supper typifies the death of Christ. Burying in +baptism, then, would be superfluous; it is more likely that the form of +this other sacrament would represent something else, and that is, the +Holy Spirit's cleansing influence, because Christ speaks of being "born +of water and of the Spirit," thus associating water with the Spirit. We +moreover read of "the water and the blood," water thus being +distinguished from blood. Now, the Holy Spirit is always named in +connection with being poured out. We are baptized with, not in, the Holy +Ghost. It would do violence to our feelings to hear one speak of our +being immersed in the Holy Spirit. So that I fully believe in sprinkling +as the original New Testament mode of baptism. And, still, I am inclined +to agree with your friend, the professor, who spent New-year's evening +with us, and has just published a book on baptism. + +_Mother._ What ground does he take? + +_Mr. M._ He writes somewhat in this way: As to the mode, I believe it to +be unessential; for it seems to me contrary to the genius of +Christianity to make a particular form of doing a thing essential to the +thing. What else is there in Christianity, if we are to except baptism, +in which modes are regarded or made essential? It is not so, he says, +with the Lord's Supper, surely; the upper room, night, sitting or +reclining, unleavened bread, a particular kind of wine, and all such +things, are not regarded by any as necessary to the ordinance. It is +very interesting, he says, to notice, that, whereas the old dispensation +prescribed the mode of every religious act, minutely, and a departure +from it vitiated the act itself, Christianity threw off everything like +prescriptive modes altogether. Considering the attachment of the human +mind to forms and ceremonies, he knows of nothing in which Christianity +shows its divine origin and supernatural power more, than in its sublime +triumph, so immediately, in the minds of great numbers, over forms and +ceremonies. We can hardly conceive, he says, what a revolution a Jew +must have experienced in giving up Aaron, and altars, and times, and +seasons, and all the minute regard for his religious ceremonies, at +once. Even if it were the original practice to baptize only by +immersion, he cannot think that Christianity could have enjoined it as +the only proper mode of applying water, in signifying religious +consecration. Bread and wine, eaten and drunk decently and in order, in +any way whatever, constitutes the Lord's Supper; water, applied to the +person, by a proper administrator, in the name of the Trinity, +constitutes Christian baptism; but, had the New Testament required us to +recline, and lean on one arm, and take the Lord's Supper with the other +arm, insisting that this posture is essential to that sacrament, or had +it specified the quantity of bread and wine, he thinks it would have +been parallel to the uninspired requirement of a particular mode in +applying the water in baptism. + +"Baptize," he further remarks, it is said, means immerse. Suppose that +it does. Supper means a meal; therefore, one does not "eat the Lord's +Supper," unless he eats a full meal; for, if baptize refers to the +quantity of water, supper refers to the quantity of food and drink in +the other sacrament. He then seems to exult, and says, "I am glad that I +am not in conscientious subjection to any mode of doing anything in +religion, as being essential to the thing itself." + +_Mother._ What answer can be made to this? + +_Mr. M._ It is a very common ground, and a convenient one, to answer the +argument from _baptizo_, and the early practice of immersion in the +Christian church after the apostles. No doubt the early Christians +satisfied themselves with this reasoning, in departing from the +apostolic practice of sprinkling. But I prefer to adhere strictly to the +New Testament model. There is no immersion there. Now, is it allowable +to depart from the original mode? This could not be done in the first +initiating ordinance of the church,--circumcision. A departure from the +prescribed rule would have vitiated the ordinance. But, does not +Christianity differ essentially from the former dispensation in this +very particular, that it does not make the mode of doing a thing, +essential? Yet, it may be said, Human ordinances are all strictly +binding in the very forms prescribed. For example: "Hold up your right +hand," says the clerk, or judge, to a witness; "you solemnly swear--." +Let the witness, instead of holding up his right hand, if he has one, +and can move it, capriciously say, "I prefer to hold up the left, or to +hold up both. I wish to show that modes and forms are unimportant." He +would be in danger of contempt of court. If so small a departure from +the mode of swearing would not be allowed, much less would he be +permitted to kneel, or to lie on his face, unless he were some devotee. +No; there is a prescribed form, and he must yield to it. It is also +said, that, if there were cases in the New Testament in which it were +doubtful, at least, whether immersion were not practised, we might argue +in favor of mixed modes. But immersion is baptism, in my view, because a +person who is immersed is sure to get affused; and, affusion with water +is all of the baptism which seems to me essential. Leaving those who +first departed from the apostolic mode of baptism by sprinkling, to +answer for themselves, no one, of course, will deny that those who +conscientiously think that they ought to be baptized by immersion, are +acceptable with God, as well as others who are of a contrary persuasion. +Paul speaks of "divers baptisms." There began to be such in his day. He +speaks also of the "doctrine of baptisms" (plural), showing the same +thing. + +But I came near forgetting one thing, which I wished to say, which is, +that, in reading the Bible last evening, I found a new encouragement in +taking infants to the house of God. + +_Mother._ I should like to hear anything new on that point. I thought +that everything had been exhausted which referred to that subject. + +_Mr. M._ I mean that it was new to me. Luke says that the parents of +Jesus brought him to Jerusalem "to present him to the Lord," and that, +arriving there, they brought him into the temple to do for him after the +custom of the law. Now, I always carelessly thought that this meant +circumcision. + +_Mother._ Of course it does; I always thought so. + +_Mr. M._ No; for he had already been circumcised, when he was eight days +old. "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the +child, they called his name Jesus." Then the next verse speaks of a +subsequent act: "When the days of her purification were accomplished +they brought him to Jerusalem." Mary could not have come to Jerusalem on +the eighth day; but, on the second occasion, she was present; for Simeon +addressed her. So that we have the example of the infant Saviour, in +bringing our infants into the temple; and, if we are scrupulous as to +following the Saviour in ordinances, we may as well begin by following +him into the temple, with our infants. + +_Mother._ It is beautiful to think of Jesus, even in his infancy, as an +example, and that he was forerunner to the infants of his people, while +yet in his mother's arms. + + + + +Chapter Fifth. + +SCENES OF BAPTISM--HENRY KELLY.--THE YOUNG PARENTS AND THEIR BABE.--THE +LOST MARINER'S FAMILY.--THE FEEBLE-MINDED YOUTH.--THE REASONABLENESS, +POWER, AND BEAUTY, OF CHILDREN'S BAPTISMS.--HUSBANDS SHOULD COME WITH +THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN.--MOSES IN THE INN. + + Since, Lord, to thee + A narrow way and little gate + Is all the passage; on my infancy + Thou didst lay hold, and antedate + My faith in me. + + GEORGE HERBERT. + + The parent pair their secret homage pay, + And proffer up to Heaven the warm request, + That He, who stills the raven's clamorous nest, + And decks the lily fair in flowery pride, + Would, in the way his wisdom sees the best, + For them and for their little ones provide, + But chiefly in their hearts, with grace divine, preside. + + BURNS. + + In all men sinful is it to be slow + To hope: in parents, sinful above all. + + WORDSWORTH. + + +In a few Sabbaths from this time we had a most interesting scene at our +church. + +Little Henry Ferguson Kelly was brought, and offered up in baptism by +his mother. We all felt deep respect for her as a woman of decided +character, and a devoted Christian. We saw that she wept much during the +service. The father was not there. She held the little boy upright on +her arm, and he turned his face over her shoulder, looking all about the +church, above and below. He then undertook to apply his little palm to +his mother's cheek, with several decided strokes, to rouse her usual +attention, which he seemed to miss. She took his hand in hers, and held +it, and he then rested his cheek, and his chin, alternately, upon her +shoulder. + +A sweet little girl, two months old, was also brought by a young couple +to be baptized. Few things are more interesting than the sight of a +young couple, with their first-born child, standing before God. A world +of thought and feeling passes through their minds in those hallowed +moments. Not much more than a year had gone since they stood before God +to take the vows of marriage from those same lips, perhaps, which now +lead their devotions, and bless them out of the house of the Lord. The +little child is an offering which gathers about itself more of rich joy +and gratitude, recollection, present bliss, and anticipation, than any +gift of God; it is itself an ordinance, a little rite, a sign and seal +of covenants and love to which earth has no parallel. The light of +nature almost teaches us the propriety of infant dedication, in the use +of the prevailing religious rite. The only wise God manifested his +goodness and wisdom, in establishing his covenant with the children of +those who love him, as really as in creating a companion for Adam. + +There were other sights, on this baptismal occasion, besides Henry +Ferguson and his mother, and the young couple with their child. + +A woman, in the habiliments of the deepest mourning, went up the aisle, +leading with her finger a little boy between two and three years old, +followed by a noble son of fifteen, and his sister of twelve. Our +pastor's rule, as to the limit of age within which children may be +admitted to baptism, is this: So long as a parent, or guardian, or next +friend, has the immediate tutelage of a child, so as to direct its +instruction and government, and thus continues to exercise parental +authority, he may properly offer the child for baptism; and therefore, +as children differ as to degrees of maturity within the same ages, no +express boundary of time can be prescribed to limit those baptisms which +are by the faith of another. + +The father of these three children had been lost at sea on a whaling +voyage. The seaman's chest had come home, and so the last star of hope +as to his return had set. The mother had become a Christian; she felt +the need of a covenant-keeping God for her children. There she stood, a +sorrow-stricken woman, and her household with her, to receive for them +the sign of the covenant from the God of Abraham. + +There was another sight in that group: A man and woman, honest, good +people, in humble circumstances, had had bequeathed to them, by a +widowed sister of his, who was not a professor of religion, a +feeble-minded youth of about ten years; and this uncle and aunt had +adopted him as their child. They also came, the husband leading the boy +along, with his arm over the boy's shoulder to encourage his hesitating +steps, and the wife behind them. He was a member of a Sabbath-school +class; by no means an idiot, yet deficient in some respects. He was +entrusted with affairs about a farm which did not require much +responsibility. + +Little Henry Ferguson began to coo and crow, as they came successively +and stood, in a half-circle, round the table with the silver basin upon +it. The feeble-minded youth was mostly occupied with the actions of +Henry, who, on seeing his face covered with uncontrollable expressions +of interest in him, began to reach after him, and respond to his pleased +looks; nor did he cease his efforts to go to him, till he felt the +minister's hand upon his forehead from behind, when he turned his large, +beautiful eyes into the face of the minister, with silent wonder at +being apparently spoken to with so unusual a manner and tone. A hush +went through the congregation. + +The young couple next presented their little Alice, and gave place to +the widow's household. Was there a dry eye in the house? Signs of +weeping came from all sides. Mortimer was led by his arm in his mother's +hand, and was baptized. Sarah loosened her straw bonnet, and let it fall +back from her head, to receive the simple rite; when the widow lifted +the little boy, who had never known a father's love, and the pastor, +after waiting a moment to control his emotions sealed him in the name of +our redeeming God. + +After an involuntary pause for a few moments, owing to the deep emotion +in the congregation, poor Josey was led forward. Minister and +congregation seemed to make but slight impression upon him; Henry +Ferguson was the charm throughout; he even turned his head, while the +minister's hand was on it, to smile at the child. The promise was not +only to those believing parents, all of them, and to their own children, +but to him that was afar off; his new parents having availed themselves +of the large covenant of grace, to invoke its promised blessings upon +him, on the ground of their faith. "May these parents," said the pastor +in his prayer, "remember, in all times of solicitude and trouble with +this dear dependent child, that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, in whose +name he is baptized, can have access to his mind, 'making wise the +simple;' and may that blessed Spirit make him his care." + +Part of the time, while the hymn following the baptism was read and +sung, I found myself pursuing some thoughts which the interesting scene +just witnessed had suggested. + +Why, I asked myself, could not these parents have been satisfied with +dedicating these children at home, without this public and special act +of consecration? + +I was at no loss for an answer. The same reason applies as when one +seeks admission to the church of Christ, by a public profession of +religion, either by appearing before a congregation and assenting to a +covenant, or to be confirmed, or to be immersed in water. Offering a +child in baptism is making a public profession of religion with regard +to it. Some say to us, What need is there of joining a church? Why may I +not be a Christian by myself? We know what we say, in reply to such +questions. We are aware how much the public act helps the private +feelings and conduct, besides being required by our feelings when they +are deep and strong. I thought of this illustration: In the wakeful +moments of the night, upon a lonely bed, one feels a special nearness to +God. He can think of God, as he lies upon his pillow, both with prayer +and meditation; but suppose that he rises from his bed and kneels at the +bedside, and, with oral prayer, prevents the night-watches, and cries? +His voice at that midnight hour affects his mind; the darkness and +stillness impress him with a sense of the presence of God, and though +his ejaculations on his pillow were acceptable, has he not probably done +that which, through Christ, is peculiarly acceptable to God, and is +profitable to himself as his child? He who was always in communion with +the Father, the man Christ Jesus, nevertheless, sometimes withdrew into +a mountain, and continued all night in prayer, and, rising up a great +while before day, he went into a solitary place, and there prayed. These +special acts of worship, no true Christian needs to be told, are good +and acceptable to God, and profitable for men. We do not refrain from +them, pleading that they are nowhere commanded in the New Testament, or, +that, so long as we pray at stated times, or strive to live in a praying +frame, these special devotions are superfluous. So, while it is our duty +and privilege to dedicate our children to God in private, it is +acceptable to him, and profitable to us, if we take them, and bring an +offering, and come into his courts. + +The baptism of the feeble-minded youth furnished me with an illustration +of the suitableness of parents and guardians doing for children, in +religion, that which they are constantly doing for them in common +things, that is, conferring privileges and blessings upon them without +their consent. There seemed to be such an illustration of the riches of +free grace, in the baptism of this poor child, such a comment on that +passage, "I am found of them that sought me not," it corresponded so +much with the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man, that we +all felt instructed and softened by it, and, at the same time, we all +had feelings toward that helpless boy, such as we, perhaps, never could +have had but for his baptism. Never will a member of that witnessing +congregation see him, without a feeling of tenderness and something +bordering on respect; he will not be merely "Silly Joe" to them; that +element of truth in the heathen superstition, which leads heathens and +pagans to regard an idiot as something sacred, will have its +verification with regard to him; the children of that assembly will be +restrained from rudeness and cruelty, in their sports with him, by that +transaction, while the prayers offered for him at the time, and the many +ejaculations which the sight of him will occasion in the hearts of good +people, will make his baptism one of his richest blessings. O, what a +loss it is to have a child baptized at home, or anywhere and at any +time except among the public services of the Sabbath in the sanctuary of +God! Necessity, indeed, controls our choice, many times, in this thing; +and we are accepted of God irrespective of time and place, in yielding +to his providence. + +Since my mind has been deeply interested in this subject, leading me to +converse with parents and with ministers, and to make observation with +regard to it, I have seen and heard many things relating to the +providences of God, in connection with the baptism of children, which, +while we ought to be slow in confidently interpreting providences, make +us do as Mary is said to have done, in regard to things relating to her +child,--she "kept these things and pondered them in her heart." We +cannot say, for example, that the death of that little girl, whose +father refused to let his wife enjoy the privilege of going, alone, with +the child, to the house of God for baptism, or to invite the pastor to +his house for the purpose, was a judicial consequence of his conduct; +but we know that his own thoughts trouble him, and that he has a sorrow +bound upon his heart, which he will carry with him to his grave. + +Neither is it certain that the little one, who was raised to life from +a sickness which baffled the physicians, was spared to her pious mother +for her Christian behavior, in taking it, a few months before, to the +house of God, and offering it in baptism, with no help from her husband, +but with many sad thoughts that the father of the child--he on whose arm +she and the child needed to rest--refused her gentle and affectionate +pleadings with him, to support and cherish her at an hour so precious to +her heart. Nor will we say that the kind and obliging husband, not a +professor of religion, who served his wife so manfully, and with such a +cheerful spirit, on such an occasion, would not have acquired, in other +ways, the respect and love of the people, or that he could trace to it, +absolutely, great prosperity in business, through the assistance of +prominent members in that church. Sure we are that no such motive +influenced him; but it is equally true that we cannot link ourselves to +God's service, nor to his friends, in any way, without receiving his +blessing. "Come thou with us, and we will do thee good." "Blessed is he +that blesseth thee." In the eyes of estimable people, and of all whose +good opinion and best wishes are most desirable, the man who overcomes +any little pride, or sensitiveness, or fear of man, and goes with his +pious wife and child to the house of God, and offers the child, for her, +to be baptized, is more of a man than before, gains reputation for some +desirable qualities, excites respect for self-reliance, the quiet +performance of a duty from which certain feelings might lead him to +shrink, and in the increased love and esteem of others, to say no more, +he has his reward. + +God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise +his child. His wife was a Midianite; her associations with the ordinance +were not like those of Moses, and perhaps he had yielded too much to her +known feelings. At least, the child had not been circumcised, and we are +told, "The Lord met him in the inn, and sought to slay him." Some +accident there, or a sudden and alarming illness, made him feel that God +had a controversy with him. Zipporah was not slow to interpret the +providence. If Moses had said with himself, So long as I consecrate my +child to God by prayer, the seal of the covenant cannot be essential, +God taught him his mistake. As soon as the rite had been performed, we +read, "So he let him go." It may be noticed, here, that the unworthy +manner in which Zipporah performed the rite, did not make it invalid. +They who fear that their baptism was not solemnized, in all respects, as +it should have been, may draw instruction and comfort from this +narrative. + +There have been instances, within my knowledge, in which one or both of +the parents of a child have yielded to some untoward influences, and +have withheld the child from being baptized. While I cannot, and would +not, interpret certain events connected with this omission, on the part +of some from whom better things might have been expected, nothing has +ever impressed me more than the dealings of God with such parents. I +have been made to think by such coincidences, more than once or twice, +of Moses in the inn. It will not be amiss to say, that those who are +neglecting to bring their children for baptism, within a suitable time, +unless providentially hindered, will do well to examine their feelings +and motives, with that quickened conscience, which the solemn +providences of God toward them may be intended to excite. He is "a +jealous God;" and he keepeth covenant "to a thousand generations." + + + + +Chapter Sixth. + +TESTIMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS + +HOUSEHOLD BAPTISMS.--"PAEDOBAPTIST CONCESSIONS."--THOMAS SHEPARD'S VIEWS. +BAPTISM OF HIS CHILD. THE FATHER'S RECORD.--GREAT INFLUENCE OF THE +FAMILY RELATION IN HEATHENISM AND PAGANISM.--THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF +AMERICA.--DISSUASIVE FROM ALTERCATION.--QUESTIONS TO A MINISTER ON HIS +PRACTICE IN BAPTISMS.--LIBERALITY.--PAUL AN EXAMPLE. + + Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.--Ps. 90. + + The Lamb hath but one bride, the one church of all times.--ANON. + + That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power + of God.--THE APOSTLE PAUL. + + Schoolmen must war with schoolmen, text with text. + The first's the Chaldee paraphrase; the next + The Septuagint; opinion thwarts opinion; + The Papist holds the first, the last the Arminian; + And then the Councils must be called to advise, + What this of Lateran says, and that of Nice; + The slightly-studied fathers must be prayed, + Although in small acquaintance, into aid; + When, daring venture, oft, too far into 't, + They, Pharaoh like, are drowned, both horse and foot. + + FRANCIS QUARLES. + + +Being determined to possess myself of suitable information on the +subject of baptism as practised by the early Christian fathers, I +called the next evening to see my pastor, when the following +conversation took place: + +_Mr. M._ I wish, sir, to know the plain and simple truth about the +evidence from ecclesiastical history with regard to infant baptism. The +internal evidence, confirming the scriptural argument, fully satisfies +me, yet, as a matter of interesting information, I should like to know +how it was regarded in the age next to that of the apostles. You know we +often read, and hear it said, that infant baptism is an error which +crept into the Christian church about the third century. Now, did it +creep in; or did the apostles practise it? + +_Dr. D._ If infant baptism crept into the church, and if it be an +unauthorized innovation, one thing seems very strange, that, in this +Protestant age, when we are all so jealous of Romish and all human +inventions in matters of religion, the ablest and soundest men of all +Christian denominations but one, are firmly persuaded of its scriptural +authority, and are increasingly attached to it. In the great +reformations which have arisen from time to time, this practice would +have been swept away, had it been an error. It is more than we can +believe that Protestant denominations should all, with one exception, +adhere to an unscriptural practice, at the present day especially. + +_Mr. M._ Well, sir, leaving the scripturalness of the ordinance out of +question, what support does the practice get from church history? How +far back to the times of the apostles can we trace it? Did any practise +it who could have received it from the apostles, or have known those who +did? + +_Dr. D._ You must come with me into my study, and we will examine the +authorities. + +I will not burden your attention and memory with many citations. Two or +three indisputable witnesses are better than a host. I rely chiefly on +the testimony of ORIGEN for proof that the practice of infant baptism +was derived from the apostles, though I will show you that his testimony +is confirmed by other witnesses. + +ORIGEN was born in Alexandria, Egypt, A.D. 185, that is, about +eighty-five years after the death of the apostle John. To make his +nearness to the apostles clear to your mind, consider, that Roger +Williams, for example, established himself at Providence in 1636, say +two hundred and twenty years ago; yet how perfectly informed we are of +his opinions and history. But Origen, born eighty-five years only after +the death of John, knew, of course, the established practices of the +apostles, which had come down through so short a space of time. "His +grandfather, if not his father, must have lived in the apostles' day. It +was not, therefore, necessary for him to go out of his own family, to +learn what was the practice of the apostles. He knew whether he had +himself been baptized, if we may judge from his writings, and he must +have known the views of his father and grandfather on the subject. He +had the reputation of great learning, had travelled extensively, had +lived in Greece, Rome, Cappadocia, and Arabia, though he spent the +principal part of his life in Syria and Palestine." + +I would place implicit reliance on the testimony of such a man, under +such circumstances, to any question of history with which he professed +to be familiar, even if I differed from him in matters of opinion. But +such a man would not state, for veritable history, that which the world +knew to be false. + +Now, what is Origen's testimony as to the fact, simply, of the +apostolic usage with regard to infant baptism? + +In his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Book v., he says: + +"For this cause it was that the church received an order from the +apostles to give baptism even to infants." + +In his homily on Lev. 12, he says: + +"According to the usage of the church, baptism is given even to infants, +when, if there were nothing in infants that needed forgiveness and +mercy, the grace of baptism would seem to be superfluous." + +In his homily on Luke 14, he says: + +"Infants are baptized for the forgiveness of sins." + +It was the practice, then, in Origen's day, to baptize infants. He tells +the people of his day, to whom he preaches and writes, why it was that +the church had received a command from the apostles to baptize them, not +proving to them the fact of history, but, taking that as well known, +explaining the theological reason for it, as he understood it. + +It is now 1857. Eighty-five years ago, the length of time after the +apostles to the birth of this man, brings us back to 1772. There is good +Dr. Sales, who was born in 1770. Suppose that he should say that +steamboats came from England at the time that the Hudson river was +discovered, and that they had plied there ever since? + +No man in his right mind (not to say a scholar like Origen), however +singular his opinions, would assert, for veritable history, that which +was as palpably false as such a fiction respecting steamboat navigation +upon the Hudson would be. Yet Origen asserts that the practice of infant +baptism was received directly from the apostles. Everybody could +contradict him if he were in error. + +_Mr. M._ But we know that he was in error in saying that forgiveness of +sins was a consequence of baptism. + +_Dr. D._ Very well. The erroneous opinions, or practices, of men, with +regard to the shape of the earth, did not prove that there was no earth +in their day. On the contrary, their theories and speculations are +proof, if any were needed, that the earth then existed, surely. A man +who boldly advocates a theory, fears to assert for fact that which all +the world knows to be false. + +_Mr. M._ If infant baptism were then practised, and had been received +from the apostles, why should Origen assert it in his books, and in +preaching, since everybody must have known it sufficiently. Does not +this prove that it was not generally believed? + +_Dr. D._ Why, my dear sir, am I not every Sabbath telling how that +Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures? People do not need +to be informed of it as a truth of history, but they need to be reminded +of it, and to be exhorted in view of it. So of every doctrine, and +everything connected with religion. We tell the plainest, the most +familiar, truths to our church-members, continually; and the common +repetition of those truths is, rather, a proof of their general +acceptation than otherwise. + +_Mr. M._ In a court of justice, such testimony as that of Origen would +certainly be conclusive, in the case of a patent-right, or maritime +discovery. But you said that there were other testimonies of equal +weight. + +_Dr. D._ TERTULLIAN was born at Carthage, not far from A.D. 150, that +is, about fifty years after the apostles. He wrote, therefore, within a +hundred years of the apostle John. But he was a man of peculiar views, +extravagant in his opinions, an enthusiast in everything. He proves that +the practice of infant baptism was established, by arguing against the +expediency of baptizing children, and unmarried persons, lest they +should sin after baptism. His argument, with respect to both these +classes of persons, is the same. His language is, "If any understand the +weight of baptismal obligations, they will be more fearful about taking +them than of delay." He argued that baptism should be deferred till +people were in a condition to resist temptation. These are his words: + +"Therefore, according to every person's condition, and disposition, and +age, also, the delay of baptism is more profitable, especially as to +little children. For why is it necessary that the sponsors should incur +danger? For they may either fail of their promises by death, or may be +disappointed by a child's proving to be of a wicked disposition. Our +Lord says, indeed, 'Forbid them not to come to me.' Let them come, then, +when they are grown up; let them come when they understand; let them +come when they are taught whither they come; let them become Christians +when they are able to know Christ. Why should their innocent age make +haste to the forgiveness of sins? Men act more cautiously in temporal +concerns. Worldly substance is not committed to those to whom divine +things are entrusted. Let them know how to ask for salvation, that you +may seem to give to him that asketh. + +"It is for a reason no less important that unmarried persons, both those +who were never married, and those who have been deprived of their +partners, should, on account of their exposure to temptation, be kept +waiting," &c. + +As these extracts prove that the institution of marriage existed in +Tertullian's day, so they prove the existence then of infant baptism. +Nothing can be more conclusive. How pertinent and useful to his object +would it have been, could he have assailed the practice of infant +baptism as a human invention! He would not have failed to use that line +of attack, had it been possible. Now, as certain articles in the +newspapers, in a distant part of the country, remonstrating against the +street-railroads, for example, prove that street-railroads exist there, +so does Tertullian's argument against infant baptism prove that it was +practised within one hundred years after the apostles. + +_Mr. M._ Is not this stronger, if anything, than Origen's testimony, +being so much nearer the apostolic age? + +_Dr. D._ For that reason it may have more weight; but Origen's +testimony, being direct and positive, is most easily quoted. He was near +enough to the apostolic age for all the purposes of credible testimony. + +There is another historical testimony, if you wish to hear of more, +which has great weight. + +THE COUNCIL OF CARTHAGE, one hundred and fifty years after the apostles, +and composed of sixty-six pastors, has given us full testimony on the +subject. A country presbyter, by the name of Fidus, had sent two cases +for their adjudication. One was, "Whether an infant might be baptized +before it was eight days old?" Here is the answer: + +CYPRIAN, and the rest of the presbyters who were present in the council, +sixty-six in number, to Fidus our brother, Greeting: + +"---- As to the case of Infants: whereas you judge that they must not be +baptized within two or three days after they were born, and that the +rule of circumcision is to be observed,--we are all in the Council of a +very different opinion." "This, therefore, was our opinion in the +Council, that we ought not to hinder any person from baptism, and the +grace of God. And this rule, as it holds for all, is, we think, more +especially to be observed in reference to infants, even to those who are +newly born." + +This was written, within a hundred and fifty years from the time of the +apostles, by sixty-six ministers of Christ, some of whom, we may +suppose, must have had grace enough to show a martyr-spirit in resisting +so gross an invention as the baptizing of infants would have been, if +apostolic example had restricted baptism to those who were capable of +faith. Did Paul reprove an abuse of the Lord's Supper, among the +Corinthians, and would he not have given an injunction against so Jewish +a superstition as the baptizing of children in place of the antiquated +circumcision would have been, if it were not commanded, had the churches +in his day seemed inclined to practise it? + +_Mr. M._ All these things amount to a demonstration, in my view. + +_Dr. D._ You would like to hear something from AUGUSTINE, whose +"Confessions" you have read with so much interest. + +In his writings, on Genesis, Augustine says, about two hundred and +eighty-eight years after the apostles, "The custom of our mother, the +church, in baptizing infants, must not be disregarded nor accounted +useless, and it must by all means be believed to be (apostolica +traditio) a thing handed down to us by the apostles." "It is most justly +believed to be no other than a thing delivered by apostolic authority; +that it came not by a general council, or by any authority later or less +than that of the apostles." He also speaks of baptizing infants by the +authority of the whole church, which, he says, was undoubtedly delivered +to it by our Lord and his apostles. + +Augustine was a man of distinguished piety and learning, whose testimony +is every way worthy of implicit confidence. But, connected with his +history, we have another substantial evidence with regard to the +subject. He conducted a famous controversy against the Pelagians, who +denied original sin. They were confronted with the argument from infant +baptism. "Why," it was said, "are infants baptized, if they need no +change of nature?" It would have been a triumphant answer could they +have shown that it was an unscriptural practice, not countenanced by +Christ or the apostles. But Pelagius said, "Men slander me as though I +denied baptism to infants, whereas I never heard of any one, Catholic or +heretic, who denied baptism to infants." Pelagius and his friend +Celestius, who was with him in the controversy, were born, the one in +Britain, the other in Ireland. They lived for some years in Rome, where +they knew people from all parts of the world. They had also lived in +Carthage, Africa. One finally settled in Jerusalem, and the other +travelled among all the churches in the principal places of Europe and +Asia. But they had never heard of the man, not even a heretic, who had +denied infant baptism. + +Here is another interesting proof. Irenaeus, Philastrius, Augustine, +Epiphanius, Theodoret, wrote catalogues of all the sects of Christians +which they had ever heard of; but, while they make mention of some who +denied baptism altogether, and with it, according to Augustine, a great +part of scripture, they mention no denial of infant baptism by any sect +whatever. + +_Mr. M._ I suppose, then, that the only way of disposing of this +argument is by rejecting all testimony except that of the New Testament. +Some say they can prove anything from the fathers; so they insist that +the Bible alone must be our guide. + +_Dr. D._ They are right in making that the only and sufficient rule of +faith and practice. But how do these good people and the rest of us know +that the books of the Old Testament, as we have them, were the very +books to which Christ and the apostles referred as the word of God? If +infidels refuse to receive the Bible, saying, 'There is no proof that +these are the identical books known to Christ, and quoted by him and the +apostles,' What shall we say? The Bible itself gives us no specific +direction how to prove its genuineness. It is interesting to observe +that we go to uninspired men to prove that we really have the Bible as +Christ and the apostles sanctioned it. We go to Josephus, neither +inspired nor even a Christian; to the Talmud, to Jerome, Origen, Aquila, +and other uninspired men, to find a list of the books which we are to +receive as given by the inspiration of God. And, as to the New +Testament, we go to Eusebius and other uninspired writers, and find that +the Christians of their days regarded these books as of divine +authority. It is on such evidence as this that we rely for the authority +of those sacred writings, which tell us what are the doctrines, +precepts, and rites, of religion. Now, we see from this that uninspired +testimony to divine things has its use. It is neither wise, nor any +proof of intelligence, to refuse a proper place to such testimony. We do +not ask Josephus nor Eusebius how to interpret these books for us, nor +does their erroneous opinion with regard to matters of faith disparage +their testimony as to the existence and authenticity of the sacred +canon. Neither can we properly say, "The early Christian fathers had +wrong notions, some of them, about infant baptism; therefore they cannot +be allowed to testify whether infant baptism was practised." However +heretical they may have been, they could not alter the well-known facts +of history, in the face of enemies and friends. + +_Mr. M._ Are you not accustomed to rely much, in your scriptural +argument for infant baptism, on the baptisms of households by the +apostles? + +_Dr. D._ I am; and that reminds me of an interesting passage, which I +will read to you from this book:[4] + +[Footnote 4: Taylor on Baptism.] + +"Have we eight instances of the administration of the Lord's Supper? Not +half the number. Have we eight cases of the change of the Christian +Sabbath from the Jewish? Not, perhaps, one fourth of the number. Yet +those services are vindicated by the practice of the apostles, as +recorded in the New Testament. How, then, can we deny their practice on +the subject of infant baptism, when it is established by a series of +more numerous instances than can possibly be found in support of any +doctrine, principle, or practice, derived from the practice of the +apostles?" + +But you will ask him (said Dr. D.), how he proves that there were +infants or young children in the households baptized by the apostles. + +This is his answer: + +"Is there any other case besides that of baptism, where we would take +families at hazard, and deny the existence of young children in them? + +"Take eight families in a street, or eight pews containing families in +a place of worship; they will afford more than one young child." + +_Mr. M._ How does he make out eight cases of household baptism by the +apostles? + +_Dr. D._ Let us examine his list: + +1. Cornelius. + +2. Lydia. + +3. The jailer at Philippi. "Thus the church at Philippi, just organized +by the apostles, and consisting of but few members, offers two instances +of household baptism." + +4. Crispus. "Compare Acts 18: 8, and 1 Cor. 1:14--16, by which it +appears that this Crispus was baptized by Paul separately from his +family, which was not baptized by Paul. Yet Crispus 'believed on the +Lord with all his house.' If his house believed, it was baptized. It +was, then, a baptized household. But if we believe that the family of +Crispus was baptized because we find it registered as believing, then we +must admit the same of all other families which we find marked as +Christians, though they be not expressly marked as baptized." He is not +proving, here, you notice, that there were children in any of these +households; he thinks he proves that elsewhere, by the doctrine of +chances. He is now showing the grounds for supposing that certain +"households" were baptized. He applies his argument respecting Crispus +to + +5. Aristobulus's household. + +6. Onesiphorus's household. + +7. Narcissus's household. + +8. Stephanas's household. This household was baptized by Paul separately +from its head, who was not baptized by Paul; this case being just the +reverse of that of Crispus. + +"Eight Christian families, and therefore baptized." Now comes the +question of probability as to there being children in those households +not capable of faith. + +Begin anywhere, in any congregation, on the Sabbath, and count eight +pews, the proprietors and occupants of which are the heads of families; +and the chance of there being no minor children in them is almost too +small to be appreciated. Should we read, in a secular paper, that a +foreign missionary had baptized eight households in a pagan village, the +general belief would be that it was a missionary of some Paedobaptist +denomination, and that children were baptized in those families. + +I must read to you (said Dr. D.) something on the other side of this +argument. I found the following, not long since, in a deservedly popular +and useful Dictionary and Repository, written and signed by a gentleman +of excellent character and standing. He says: + +"Infant baptism was probably introduced about the commencement of the +third century, in connection with other corruptions, which even then +began to prepare the way for Popery. A superstitious idea, respecting +the necessity of baptism to salvation, led to the baptism of sick +persons, and, finally, to the baptism of infants. Sponsors, holy water, +anointing with oil, the sign of the cross, and a multitude of similar +ceremonies, equally unauthorized by the Scriptures, were soon +introduced. The church lost her simplicity and purity, her ministers +became ambitious, and the darkness gradually deepened to the long and +dismal night of papal despotism." + +"Probably introduced about the commencement of the third century, in +connection with other corruptions." Recall what I read to you from +Origen, born A.D. 185; from Tertullian, who flourished within one +hundred years after the apostles; from Cyprian and the Council of +Carthage; from Augustine and his antagonist, Pelagius, who expressly +said that he had never heard of any one, not even the most impious +heretic, denying baptism to infants. + +In contrast with such a passage as the one just read to you, I am +reminded of the host of writers, on our side of the question, who, +almost all of them, make such candid and full concessions, that they +furnish their brethren of the opposite side with many of their arguments +against us. I remember reading a book of "Paedobaptist Concessions," +containing a formidable array of points yielded by our writers, so that +a common reader might ask, What have you left as the ground of your +belief and practice? But the thought which arose in my mind was, +Notwithstanding all these concessions, they who make them are among the +firmest believers in baptism by sprinkling, and in infant baptism. That +cause must be affluent in proofs, and deeply rooted in the scriptural +convictions of men, which can afford to make such concessions to its +antagonists. These refuse facts, which we afford to others for so large +a part of their foundation, show how broad and sufficient ours must be. + +The quotation which I read to you, speaks of Popish tendencies as having +already begun. This is true; and more may be added. In the second +epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul tells us that the mystery of iniquity +was already at work. On the subject of religious days and festivals, the +first Christians very soon began to be superstitious, incorporating +heathen festival days into Christian observances, under the plea of +redeeming and sanctifying them, with some such feelings and reasoning as +that with which people, now, would transfer secular music to +sanctuaries, saying that the enemy ought not to have all the best music. +It is true that this sensuous, and, afterward called, Romish, tendency, +corrupted everything. The pure stream of apostolic doctrine and practice +was like the Moselle, which you saw from the fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein, pursuing its unmingled course distinctly for some +distance in the turbid Rhine, till at last it yields to the general +current. Infant baptism, as we learn from ecclesiastical authorities +with one consent, proceeded from the apostles; yet soon it began to be +practised with many superstitious absurdities; and, moreover, +immersion, making such powerful appeals to the senses, suited the taste +of the age far better than sprinkling, so that not only did it become +the common mode, but the subjects were completely undressed, without any +distinction, to denote the putting off the old man and the putting on of +the new, and the putting away of the filth of the flesh.[5] Public +sentiment finally abolished this practice. After a considerable time +affusion, or sprinkling, returned, and became the prevailing mode, +without any special enactment, or any formal renunciation of the late +mode. The Eastern church, however, retained immersion, while the Greek +and Armenian branches use both immersion and sprinkling for the adult +and child. But the sick and dying were always baptized by sprinkling, +which is sufficient to prove that sprinkling was regarded as equally +valid with immersion. It is natural to say that it was superstitious to +baptize the sick and dying, by sprinkling, if we hold that only +immersion is valid baptism. The sick and dying cannot be immersed; now, +is it superstition for a sick person, giving credible evidence of piety, +to be admitted into the Christian church, and receive the Lord's Supper? +In order to do this properly, the subject must be baptized; hence, we +derive one powerful argument that sprinkling is valid baptism. Our Lord +would never have made the modes of his sacraments so austerely rigid, +that the thousands of sick and feeble persons, ministers in poor health, +climate, seasons of the year, times of persecution and imprisonment, and +all the stress of circumstances to which Christians may be subjected, +should be utterly disregarded, and one inconvenient, and sometimes +dangerous, form, of applying water, be insisted on, inflexibly, as +essential to the introductory Christian rite. If the early Christians +baptized the sick by sprinkling, they of course supposed that it was +valid baptism. If it was valid at all, and in any case, of course it was +Christian baptism, even if other modes were most commonly used. + +[Footnote 5: See "Coleman's Ancient Christianity," chap, xix., sec. 12. +He refers to Ambrose, Ser. 20. Chrysostom, Hom. 6. Epistle to Col., &c., +&c.] + +_Mr. M._ I suppose, then, that you would not object to administer +baptism in any other mode of applying water than sprinkling, or pouring. + +_Dr. D._ One mode was, I believe, practised at first; and the New +Testament teaches me that this was affusion. The application of water in +any way, by an authorized administrator, to a proper subject, in the +name of the Trinity, may be valid baptism; but I prefer the New +Testament mode, as I understand it, and am happy to allow others the +same liberty of judgment which I enjoy. It would be an extreme case +which would lead me to administer the ordinance in any other way than by +affusion. + +But, said Mr. D., you began by inquiring respecting the practice of +infant baptism in the early ages. I presume that your mind is settled +with regard to the connection of the practice with God's everlasting +covenant with believers and their offspring. I lately read a statement +of this point, which pleased me much, in the writings of the famous Rev. +Thomas Shepard, the early pastor of the church in Cambridge, +Massachusetts. He says: + +"There is the same inward cause moving God to take in the children of +believing parents into the church and covenant, now, to be of the number +of his people, as there was for taking the Jews and their children. For +the only reason why the Lord took in the children of the Jews with +themselves evidently was his love to the parents. 'Because he loved thy +fathers, therefore he chose their seed.' So that I do from hence +believe, that either God's love is, in these days of his Gospel, less +unto his people and servants than in the days of the Old Testament,--or, +if it be as great, that then the same love respects the seed of his +people now as then it did. And, therefore, if then because he loved them +he chose their seed to be of his church, so in these days because he +loveth us he chooseth our seed to be of his church also." + +Though the title of the treatise from which I read is called the +Church-Membership of Children, to which expression I have very great +objections, and feel that it has done harm, yet this good man held the +doctrine of infant church-membership in a sense which is free from all +reproach of making people members of the church otherwise than by +regeneration. His belief on this point comes out under the following +illustration: + +"These children may not be the sons of God and his people really and +savingly, but God will honor them outwardly with his name and +privileges, just as one that adopts a youngster tells the father that +if the child carry himself well toward him, when he is grown up to years +he shall possess the inheritance itself; but yet in the meanwhile he +shall have this favor, to be called his son, and be of the family and +household, and so be reckoned among the number of his sons." + +One of the chief reasons which brought this excellent man to New +England, was that he could not in Old England enjoy the ordinance of +infant baptism in its purity. Let me read the following, addressed by +him to his little son, who afterward became pastor of the church in +Lynn, Massachusetts, and was a burning and shining light. His words will +show you that he had no superstitious notion about the church-membership +of children, though he represented the common belief at that day, and +that he did not count baptism in infancy a saving ordinance; yet you +will see how he uses it to plead with his son to be reconciled to God. +He writes: + +"And thus, after about eleven weekes sayle from Old England, we came to +New England shore, where the mother fell sick of consumption, and you my +child was put to nurse to one goodwife Hopkins, who was very tender of +thee; and after we had been here diverse weekes, on the seventh of +February, or thereabout, God gave thee the ordinance of baptism, whereby +God is become thy God, and is beforehand with thee, that whenever you +shall return to God he will undoubtedly receive thee; and this is a most +high and happy privilege; and therefore blesse God for it. And now, +after this had been done, thy deare mother dyed in the Lord, departing +out of this world into another, who did lose her life by being careful +to preserve thine; for in the ship thou wert so feeble and froward, both +in the day and night, that hereby shee lost her strength, and at last +her life. Shee hath made also many a prayer and shed many a tear in +secret for thee; and this hath bin oft her request, that if the Lord did +not intend to glorify himselfe by thee, that he would cut thee off by +death rather than to live to dishonor him by sin; and therefore know it +that if you shalt turn rebell agaynst God, and forsake God and care not +for the knowledge of him, nor to beleeve in his Son, the Lord will make +all these mercys woes, and all thy mother's prayers, teares, and death, +to be a swift witness agaynst thee at the great day." + +The practice of infant baptism, and a belief in what is called the +church-membership of children, surely had no injurious effect upon a +parent who could speak thus to his child. Yet Shepard took as high +ground as any with regard to this subject. He derived appeals from +baptism to his child, which were both encouraging and admonitory in the +highest degree. + +O, said Dr. D., what a people the descendants of Abraham might have been +forever, had they kept that covenant of which circumcision was the seal. +Had they remembered only this, and had they adhered to it, "I will be a +God to thee and to thy seed after thee," and had they been a +covenant-keeping people, their peace, as God says to them, would have +been as a river; an endless, inexhaustible tide of prosperity and +blessedness. + +And now, if Christian parents will but lay hold on that covenant as they +may, that Abrahamic covenant, still in force for them who are Christ's, +and so Abraham's, seed, and heirs according to the promise, we should +soon see, in family religion, in the early conversion of children, and +in their large Christian culture, those promises of God fulfilled which +have respect to the great increase, chiefly by this means, of his +church in the latter days. This is one thing which makes me love and +prize infant baptism so much; its being an expression and exponent of +parental love, faithfulness, and zeal, in those with whom it is preceded +and followed by the entire consecration of their children to God, their +feelings and conduct toward them agreeing with the covenant made for +them with God. + +But, in saying this, let me guard you against the erroneous notion that +infant baptism is primarily a parent's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward God. No, it is God's covenant, an expression of his +feelings toward the children of believers. That is the chief thing which +gives it value. For, it is not because parents love their children, that +God commands that they be offered in baptism; but because God loves +them, and has promised to be a God to them, as he is to their parents. +People, however, sometimes treat the ordinance as though it were their +act toward God, and not primarily his act toward them. They, therefore, +are liable to use it with far less effect than if they were receiving in +it, and by it, God's own transaction with them and the little child. + +_Mr. M._ In thinking of Pagan and Mohammedan nations, lately, at the +Concert of Prayer for Foreign Missions, I was struck with this thought, +how error has been transmitted from father to child, and what an awful +power for evil lies in transmitted family influence, when it is +corrupted. This led me to think whether God did not have this in mind +when, in establishing his church in Abraham, he connected children with +parents in his covenant, and gave a sign and seal to be affixed to their +children as a constant admonition to parental faithfulness. All his +former dealings with the world seem to have failed, because of its great +wickedness,--fire, plagues, good examples, great riches, and power +conferred upon the good; and then he added, as a special means, the +family constitution, and by it he secured a seed to serve him to an +extent sufficient to keep the world from extinction, and to be the +repository and source of divine knowledge. I began to think that, if we +would keep religion from dying out, we must fall in with God's great +plan; for Satan makes use of it, and holds generation after generation +in bondage by means of the family constitution. So I set myself at work +to find out ways by which we might promote family religion; and I could +find no better plan than the old one, of promoting scriptural and +spiritual views of the dedication of children. Then I thought how much +discredit has been cast upon that ordinance, which is intended to be the +great sign and declaration of parental piety and faithfulness; and that +family religion had, proportionably, declined, with the indifference of +Christians to this powerful means of promoting the eminent zeal and +efforts of parents in behalf of their children's spiritual good. Youths +of fifteen to twenty-one years of age are, in a large proportion, the +causes of prevailing wickedness,--Sabbath-breaking, profaneness, and +other things. They need just what the ordinance of baptism, properly +observed and fully carried out by covenanting parents, would do for +them. But, in being present at the formation of new churches, I have +mourned to see that, instead of declaring infant baptism to be the duty +of believers, as was formerly done in our older churches, a compromise +with modern lax views is made, by merely permitting infant baptism, +saying, in the confession of faith, that, "Baptism is the privilege only +of believers and their children." + +But the idea of getting up a zeal in favor of infant baptism, or a +public sentiment in the churches which should enforce it as a duty, +seemed to me unprofitable; but it occurred to me, whether something +could not be done to interest Christian parents in the subject, by +showing them the infinite privilege of having God for their God, and the +God of their seed, and then the naturalness and propriety of using an +ordinance to express and to assist it. People need instruction on the +subject; instruction which will commend itself to their Christian +feelings. We cannot legislate them into a spiritual observance of the +Lord's Supper, much less of baptism. + +_Dr. D._ No; and I trust that our denominations who practise infant +baptism, will never urge it otherwise than in connection with parental +piety, and as a helper of parental obligations. + +_Mr. M._ But ought we not to stir ourselves up with regard to parental +duties? and, if so, must we not necessarily insist on the dedication of +children to God, and upon baptism as the acceptable way of signifying +it, and the powerful means of helping us to perform our duties? + +_Dr. D._ Surely we ought; and in doing it we have the satisfaction to +know that we are laboring for something more than to establish a mode +of applying an ordinance. In urging the baptism of children, if we do it +not for the sake of the ordinance, but for the things which it signifies +and promotes, we advance the cause of piety in the parents. + +_Mr. M._ Would that some one would blow a trumpet in the churches on +this subject. I do feel that if parents would appreciate the influence +of such a state of heart as would lead them to offer their children to +God in baptism, as an expression of their previous and subsequent views +and feelings toward their children, we should see a new state of things +in the rising generation. How striking it is that the Old Testament +closes with such a passage as that last verse of Malachi. It is the +promontory of the Old Testament, looking across the coming ages, +yearning toward the new dispensation, and, as it were, making signals, +concerning the forerunner of that new era, with those words: "And he +shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of +the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a +curse." May we not conclude that this is God's most acceptable way of +effecting the revival of religion from one period to another? + +_Dr. D._ I have no doubt of it. + +_Mr. M._ I spoke to our good Deacon Goodenow about it, lately; but he +said he had a great horror of a controversy about baptism, and he was +afraid that, to say much upon this subject, would involve us in one. I +told him that I would not be for reflecting upon other denominations; +that my motto, with regard to them and us, is, "Live, and let live." I +would only appeal to our own people, and encourage them to take up the +subject afresh, in a spiritual manner; that is, to dwell upon the +privilege and duty of being in covenant relations, with our children, to +God, baptism being the ordinance of ratification, and its memorial. + +_Dr. D._ Your reference to controversy about baptism makes me think of +one which I listened to in a rail-road station, last winter, while +waiting in a snow-storm, several hours, for the cars. Two students of +divinity, as I took them to be, were discussing their respective tenets +with regard to baptism. I was reading a book, but could not help hearing +what they said. One was decrying infant baptism as a "rag of Popery," +"the last relic of Rome in Protestantism," "a device of Satan to fill +up the church with unconverted members," and much more to that effect. + +His friend, in reply, undertook to give his impressions of immersion. He +spoke of India-rubber bathing-dresses;--a tank in which he saw two or +three men and as many women, one of them a young lady, immersed, to his +apparent disgust;--of Elder some one breaking the ice at some cape on +New Year's Sabbath, and immersing several carriages full of females, who +went back dripping wet, to the carriages, and rode an eighth of a mile +to the vestry;--of several females immersed, in a southern State, going +into a creek with white garments, and with white fillets about their +heads, and coming out yellow; and he asked his fellow whether infant +baptism could be any worse than such things. + +_Mr. M._ What did his friend say? + +_Dr. D._ O, it was the common talk on both sides, painful and revolting. +I could not help saying to them, as the cars were coming up, and we were +parting, "But, if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be +not consumed one of another." + +_Mr. M._ They probably left each other as little convinced of the +opposite opinions, respectively, as when they began. + +_Dr. D._ More confirmed and set against each other's views, I have no +question. There has been far too much of this. Ridicule and sarcasm are +Satan's favorite weapons. Good people ought not to use them against each +other, whatever be the temptation. Perhaps, as human nature chooses +variety, and we are differently affected by different presentations of +truth, men must be divided into sects; but intolerance, bigotry, +exclusiveness, in us or in others, cannot stand before the spirit of the +age. We may work better, divided into denominations, forbearing with one +another, and loving one another in Christ, and for his sake. + +_Mr. M._ Are you often called upon by persons who are troubled on the +subject of baptism? + +_Dr. D._ I do not spend much time in discussing the mode. When a young +person is troubled on the subject, I am always careful, first of all, to +find out whether there is any secret bias, for any reason, toward +another denomination; in which case, I pause at once; for you might +argue forever in vain. There is iron on board the ship, which controls +the needle in the compass. I always make it easy and pleasant for such +to follow their evident inclination and wishes. + +_Mr. M._ Are they generally ready to go? + +_Dr. D._ No, they say they do not like strict communion; but I cannot +help them. I will not be a sectarian, even for infant baptism. + +_Mr. M._ Are you in favor of admitting people to our church who do not +believe in infant baptism? + +_Dr. D._ Young people, who say that their minds are not made up on the +subject, or those who have not had their attention directed to it, +cannot be required to signify their cordial assent to it; but it is +enough if they are not opposed. In the case of parents who steadfastly +decline to practise infant baptism, after waiting a proper time to +instruct them, I advise them to join another denomination more in +accordance with their views. We do better to be apart, and it is no +reflection upon either side to say this. A Paedobaptist church ought to +maintain its principles by requiring assent to its standard of faith; +yet, where there is no church of a different denomination, within +convenient distance, I surely would not exclude a child of God from the +Lord's Supper for differences of opinion and practice about baptism. I +would admit, by special vote, to occasional, or even to stated +communion, in such a case. + +_Mr. M._ Do you ever re-baptize? + +_Dr. D._ Where a person was baptized with water, in the name of the +Trinity, by an authorized person, of any denomination, I would not +re-baptize. The alleged heterodox or immoral character of the +administrator, at the time of baptism, does not invalidate it; +otherwise, one might be baptized many times, and, the administrators +proving unworthy, the subject could never get baptized. Christ would +never let his ordinances depend thus upon uncertainties. Let a person +but recognize his baptism, if performed in infancy, by entering publicly +into covenant with God, and that will be sufficient. I endeavor to show +people how wrong it is to lay undue stress on the ordinance, forgetting +whether they have that which is signified by it, and which alone gives +it value. + +_Mr. M._ True, sir, but it has its importance, and stress is to be laid +upon the due observance of it. + +_Dr. D._ I mean that where I find the conditions of valid baptism +complied with, I try to turn away the thoughts from any superstitious or +ceremonial dependence upon the sacramental act. You remember the answer +in the catechism to the question, "How do the sacraments become +effectual means of salvation?" + +_Mr. M._ How I used to say that, at my mother's knee, with my hands +folded behind me, to keep them still: "The sacraments become effectual +means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth +administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of +his spirit in them that by faith receive them." + +_Dr. D._ I was thinking, the other day, and not for the first time, by +any means, what a noble man was Paul. He was unwilling that people +should call themselves after him, as their leader, and therefore he was +glad to leave the act of baptizing to his associates. Some, however, +infer from this that he disparages baptism. "Christ sent me not to +baptize, but to preach the gospel." Baptism, in its place, has its +importance, and so has preaching; but whether he should be the baptizer, +or delegate the administration to Silas, or Mark, was not of so much +consequence as that he should preach. How he put things in their right +places, according to their proportions, exalting the great, vital +things, sinking others to their subordinate, though useful, spheres, and +becoming all things to all men to save them. With his contempt of +formalism, I hardly know of a greater trial of patience than he must +have had in consenting to circumcise Timothy. He there shut the +window-shutters, and lighted an exhausted lamp, for a time, though he +knew the sun was up, to gratify some who had not opened their eyes to +the morning. How far from a contentious, ambitious spirit, was he, even +with his intense convictions. There are many good people, in all +communions, who are longing for the time when all the old walls of +separation between true Christians will have as many gates in them, at +least, as heaven has,--on the east three gates, on the north three +gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. But I +rejoice even in our liberty, if we choose to exercise it, of separation, +without molestation, though we lose much good to ourselves, and much +influence, and, in times of general religious interest, it leads to +early discussions about modes and forms. How many times have I seen a +growing attention to religion in a community checked by debates and +discussions as to ordinances. + +_Mr. M._ If more pains were taken to instruct our own people as to the +oneness of the ancient and the Christian church, and to show them how +the consecration of children is a part of religion, as reestablished by +the Most High, it seems to me great good would follow. + +_Dr. D._ If you will draw out your thoughts on the subject, and let me +see them, we may prepare something which may be useful. You view the +subject on the popular, practical side. Let us see what the results are +to which you have come. + +Having agreed to make the effort at my leisure, I may report hereafter +as to my success. And now I will ask my reader's attention to an +interesting letter, which, on my return home, I found awaiting me. + + + + +Chapter Seventh. + +TERMS OF COMMUNION. + + Him first to love, great right and reason is, + Who first to us our life and being gave; + And after, when we fared had amisse, + Us wretches from the second death did save; + And last, the food of life, which now we have, + Even He himselfe, in his dear sacrament, + To feede our hungry soules, unto us lent. + + Then next to love our brethren, that were made + Of that selfe mould, and that self maker's hand, + That we;[6] and to the same againe shall fade + Where they shall have like heritage of land,[7] + However here on higher steps we stand; + Which also were with selfe-same price redeemed + That we;--however of us light esteemed. + + SPENSER.--"_An Hymne of Heavenly Love._" + + ----PRAIRIE,----, 185-. + + +MY DEAR BROTHER: Here we are, at our journey's end. We have had a most +romantic journey, arriving in health, though wayworn, much of our ride +having been in wagons. My wife says, Give my love to brother, and tell +him of the scene at "the hill Mizar." Your letter, which we found +awaiting us, made her think that you would be deeply interested in the +story. This, by and by. + +[Footnote 6: As we.] + +[Footnote 7: The grave.] + +As we were leaving C., one morning, in the great mail-wagon, a man and +his wife, with an infant in her arms, took seats with us, bound far +beyond our own home. The parents had been delayed by the birth of the +child during the journey from New York. They proved to be truly +excellent people, and they made our journey with them very agreeable. + +The father, Mr. Blair, had been greatly tried during his stay at the +hotel where his wife was sick. There was only one church in the village. +The administration of the Lord's Supper occurring while he was there, he +went to avail himself of a stranger's privilege at the table of Christ. +He found, however, that the ordinance was not to be administered till +the afternoon, and, moreover, the hymn-book, and some things in the +sermon, disclosed to him that the church was one which closed its doors +against communicants who had not been baptized by immersion, on +profession of their faith. + +He was strongly inclined to partake of the ordinance, without saying +anything respecting his baptism. But, on the whole, he concluded that it +would be respectful to intimate his situation to one of the church, +peradventure they had a rule favorable to such a case as his, or, at +least, had agreed to shut their eyes, and ask no questions, in such +circumstances. + +He, therefore, introduced himself to a venerable man, who, he inferred, +was a deacon. He frankly told him who he was, and that he wished to +partake of the Lord's Supper. + +The good man said to him, "I am sorry that you said anything about it; +but, so long as you have, I don't see how I can consistently encourage +your partaking of the ordinance." + +_Stranger._ On what ground, sir? + +_Deacon._ Why, we do not hold you to have been baptized. + +_Stranger._ I was baptized in infancy, by believing parents, and have +been a professing Christian fifteen years. + +_Deacon._ That is not believers' baptism, as we view it. The Lord's +Supper, in our communion, is for baptized persons only. We hold to no +baptism but by immersion. + +_Stranger._ I certainly would not intrude, and I will not ask you to act +inconsistently with your principles. But I am a wayfaring man. I have +not had the opportunity to partake of the Lord's Supper for several +months. The life and health of my wife have been remarkably preserved in +this village. Here is the birthplace of my first-born, a place never to +be forgotten by us. I wish to make a Bethel of it. I wish to come to my +Saviour's table with my thanksgivings, and pay him my vows, which my +lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I +rejoiced when I heard that this was your sacramental Sabbath. + +_Deacon._ Your church would not admit an unbaptized person to the Lord's +table, however much he might plead for admission. + +_Stranger._ O, my dear sir, how unfair that reasoning is. This is +placing me on a level with one who rejects baptism. I profess to have +been baptized to the best of my knowledge, and to have fulfilled the +requirements of Christ. Should a man come to our church, and say, I have +reason to believe that I have been baptized, though I cannot bring +evidence to satisfy you, except so far as you have confidence in me, his +case would be parallel with mine. Such a man we would not exclude. + +_Deacon._ Perhaps we shall not agree, if we continue to discuss the +point. I am sorry that our rules operate to your inconvenience. We wish +to see everybody on New Testament ground, and we think that the surest +way to bring them there is to stand there ourselves. By departing from +the literal command to immerse, and by baptizing infants, the church of +Christ became corrupted with traditions and human inventions. We are at +the antipodes to all this; we refuse everything which is not in black +and white on the surface of the Bible, and so we are the more consistent +Protestants. + +"Considering the day and the occasion," said my friend to us, "I forbore +to argue, or to press the good man by asking him if the 'seventh-day +Sabbath' people had not the advantage of him as to greater consistency +in their Protestantism; or, whether the church-membership of females was +anywhere in black and white on the surface of the Bible. As to his +going to the antipodes, to get clear of Romish principles and practices, +I was strongly tempted to say that, to avoid being one of the acids, it +surely was not necessary, nor best, to become an alkali. But having +often reflected how God uses one and another sect, and its set of +principles and practices, to correct evils, by their sharp antagonism, +and to restore a balance to ecclesiastical disorders by allowing some to +go, for a while, to an opposite extreme, I did not find it in my heart +to inveigh, nor to upbraid. It also seemed good to be in a land of +liberty, where even Christians could, from a sense of duty to Christ, if +they chose, fence out their acknowledged brethren and sisters from their +table. There are great inconveniences, and, now and then, hardships, +resulting from it; but our friends, of course, suppose that greater +good, on the whole, than evil, is the consequence, apart from +considerations of duty. But I know of a congregation, in a small place, +who have had public worship for several years, but have not had the +Lord's Supper administered, because they cannot agree as to terms of +communion." + +"Well," said I, "tell us what you did in the afternoon." + +"In the afternoon," he continued, "I went to meeting, and, when the +ordinance was to be administered, I took a seat in a pew alone. I +watched to see which aisle the good deacon would serve, and concluded to +sit there, so as not to seem clandestinely seeking from another deacon, +who would not know me, my inhibited bread; for I wished to be honorable +in the transaction, and, besides, I desired that my friend should see +me, and, if he had changed his mind, give me the symbols. So I sat where +he would pass, in a pew by myself, but he did not look at me." + +"How did it make you feel?" said I. + +"In some respects," said he, "I never enjoyed my thoughts more at the +administration of the Supper. I had no feeling of resentment or +ill-will. The exclusion of four fifths of the Christian family from the +Lord's table by one portion of it, for such a reason, seemed to leave me +in such good company, that I said to myself, 'They that be with us are +more than they that be with them.' I rejoiced in Robert Hall, John +Bunyan, and others like them. I thought of that interesting piece in +Bunyan's works, 'Water Baptism no Bar to Communion.' I questioned +whether this church and its sister churches would not hear a mild +reproof from the lips of Christ,--'I was a stranger, and ye took me not +in.' Certainly they could not say with Job, 'If I have eaten my morsel +alone.' Using the table of Christ for a wall or bars against +acknowledged Christians,--that table, that Supper, which, of all places +and scenes, is most suggestive of communion and fellowship,--seemed to +me so great a mistake, that I could not in charity regard it as a sin, +because, as such, it would be so criminal. I always believed, before, +that the mode of baptism was not essential to Christian fellowship; but +that afternoon I saw it, I felt it; I worked out the sum myself, and saw +the demonstration, I felt very happy in belonging to the great host of +God's people who can commune together, however much they differ." + +"While I was sitting there alone, put aside, one might say, by my +brothers and sisters, whom I had, as it were, run in so cordially to +meet, one thought came over me, as they were feasting with Christ, which +made me weep. I thought of the possibility of being set aside in the +great day. I said, to myself: + + 'I love to meet thy people now, + Before thy face with them to bow, + Though vilest of them all; + But, can I bear the dreadful thought, + What if my name should be left out + When thou for them dost call?'" + +"This did me good. Yet, while I was sitting there, I seemed to see the +Saviour approach me, with a smile. His look seemed very significant, as +though he would say, 'I understand it.' Those words came to my mind: +'Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and, when he had found him, he +said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and +said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto +him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And +he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.' I surely said and did +this." + +"Never before," said he, "had I such views of the condescension and +gentleness of Christ toward us, erring creatures. Here was a church +erring, it seemed to me, in a point which must peculiarly wound the +heart of the Redeemer, whose last discourse with his disciples had this +for its burden, that ye love one another. And yet there were, in that +church, many with whom Christ was communing with a love that seemed to +them unqualified. So he treats us all. I never had a greater flow of +charity toward all my fellow-Christians than on that occasion. I +resolved that I never would be a sectarian in anything, while I also +felt more strongly than ever attached to my own views, and confident of +their truthfulness, and in love with their beauty." + +When he had finished his narration, his wife asked me what I thought +with regard to her husband's proceedings. I asked her to state +particularly what she had in mind. She then expressed a doubt whether it +were proper for us to intrude upon fellow-Christians, when we know that +their principles forbid their communing with us. She said that she +remonstrated with her husband, as soon as he told her that the ordinance +was not free to all evangelical Christians, and that she tried to +dissuade him from appearing to obtrude himself. She did not view it as +uncharitableness, but only as a denominational rule. + +I asked her what her husband said in self-defence;--for we loved to hear +her conversation. + +She said that he turned it off by saying, "Men do not despise a thief, +if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry." + +She said that soon they experienced the utmost kindness from the members +of that church, who, learning the occasion of their sojourn in the +village, poured upon them their hospitality. Several wished to remove +her to their dwellings. They had a "Busy Bee," and made up everything in +an infant's wardrobe for her. She opened her travelling-bag, and took +out a white enamelled paper semi-circular box, containing a pin-cushion, +made of straw-colored satin, in the shape of a young moon, with these +words tastefully printed in pins: "Welcome, little stranger!" She held +it up to us in one hand, while with the other she wiped her eyes. Never, +she said, had kindness affected her so much;--she believed that it +hindered her in gaining strength, her feelings were so continually +wrought upon by ingenious devices of loving-kindness. It became known +that the husband had proposed to commune, and what the issue had been. +This only served to make them all the more generous. They felt it +deeply, and bore it as a necessity which they evidently regretted; but, +with much self-respect, they refrained to make any apology, or +explanation; "and, for this," said the wife, "I respected them." There +was one elderly maiden-lady, however, who once was so far excited when +the subject was alluded to, while several of them were sewing in the +wife's room, that, after moving about in her chair, evidently struggling +with her emotions, she ventured at last to say, "O, if I could get hold +of that old fence, how I should love to shake it!" They all smiled; and +one sensible and well-educated woman immediately gave a pleasant turn to +the conversation. + +I fully agreed with the wife in her very dignified and proper view of +the whole subject. Is there not something extremely charming in the +highly lady-like sentiments and expressions of a Christian woman, as +contradistinguished from those of a gentleman? He, with all his +urbanity, is apt to show the smallest possible vein of testiness, or, at +least, the clouded look of high-bred sense of honor. It seems to me +there is no power which woman exerts over us, in softening and +humanizing our feelings, more beautiful and effectual, than in her +delicate forbearance and charity in taking the kind view of an +irritating subject, without compromise of principle, but just the view +which reflection, and gentler moods, and the softening hand of time, +invariably present. She arrives at it at once, by intuition; our slow +and phlegmatic sense goes through a process of mistake and +rectification, to reach it. + +It occurred to me to test this good lady's feelings a little further, by +reading to her an item from a newspaper, which I had met with in the +cars a few days before, and which I had transferred to my pocket. It had +disturbed my equanimity a little. It was an extract from the annual +circular letter of a conference of ministers to their churches, in one +of the New England States, in 1855, in which mention was made of "the +monstrous and soul-damning heresy of infant baptism." + +I asked the lady how we ought to feel at such a demonstration. She said, +"I presume I know how you gentlemen would be likely to feel and act +under the impulse of the moment; but the true way to regard and treat +it, as it seems to me, is, with pertinacious forgetfulness." She would +not let it disturb her feelings; and she quoted George Herbert: + + "Why should I feel another man's mistakes + More than his sicknesses, or poverty? + In love I should; but," &c. + +Susan said that she was reminded of visits made to her mother's house, +by some who would persuade her mother that she belonged to an +"unbaptized church;" thus seeking to put in fear the children who were +about to make a profession of religion. Her mother replied to these +visitors, that there was far more apprehension in her own mind whether +they themselves were properly baptized, if but one mode is valid.--As to +Mr. Blair's effort to commune at that table, she said that she would +never seek nor receive as a boon from men, that which her Saviour had +purchased for her, and for them, with his own blood. + +Our conversation was here interrupted by the exclamation of my wife, "Do +look at that beautiful sight, that cascade, on the hill." + + + + +Chapter Eighth. + +THE ROAD-SIDE BAPTISM. + + How beautiful the water is! + To me 'tis wondrous fair; + No spot can ever lonely be, + If water sparkle there. + It hath a thousand tongues of mirth, + Of grandeur, or delight, + And every heart is gladder made + When water greets the sight. + + MRS. E.O. SMITH. + + Sweet one! make haste, and know Him too; + Thine own adopting Father love; + That, like thine earliest dew, + Thy dying sweets may prove. + + KEBLE. + + +We were about to turn a corner in a defile of the mountains, and a large +perpendicular buttress of the ridge stood out, so as nearly to close up +the road. It presented a surface of about twenty feet directly in front, +as we drove up, and, from the top, which was nearly a hundred and twenty +feet from the ground, a cascade fell into the air for about forty feet, +and, without touching anything, became dishevelled, and disappeared in +mist. + +It was one of the most beautiful objects which I ever saw. It was pure +white, relieved against the wet and very black rock. It waved to and fro +in the air like a streamer; it had a slow pulse, lifting it and letting +it drop, like the appearance of a waterfall seen from the window of a +car in motion, only this was irregular and quite slow; it was soft and +fleecy; it made no audible noise; it looked dangerous to see it fall +from so great a height; but it was caught in the air, to your relief, as +one who falls in his dream lights upon his soft bed. The lines of Gray, +in his Bard, were suggested by the sight of this mountain, though not by +any close resemblance: + + "Loose his beard; his hoary hair + Streamed like a meteor to the troubled air." + +The ladies had other images suggested by it. One said, "It is a +beautiful hand, waving Godspeed to us on our journey." That brought +tears into the eyes of some of us, reminding us so of meetings and +partings at home, and chording well with our pilgrim condition. We +concluded to make response; and we tarried there. + +The rock seemed to be full of water, oozing out from the seams, dripping +over rich mosses, with jets, here and there, leaping into the light with +a bound of a few inches, and quietly expiring among the thick +weather-stains and lichens, as if satisfied with their brief existence. +The little things made me think of the sweet souls of infants passing +into time, and then immediately out of it. As we listened, we heard what +Addison describes in his version of the twenty-third Psalm: + + "And streams shall murmur all around." + +The ladies took off their bonnets, and we our hats, and we stood under +the cascade, looking up, and feeling, or fancying that we felt, the cool +spray on our heads and faces. We drank of the rock, and we thought of +that Rock which followed Israel. It seemed good to have such an image of +Jesus as such a rock, with the strength of the hills in it, and with its +inexhaustible springs, its beautiful entablature, its cool shadow, +following a company through a desert. What thoughts and feelings did it +give us respecting our adorable Immanuel, God with us. Dear Susan, +looking up, said, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." + +After invoking the blessing of God, and refreshing ourselves from our +little store, our friends wandered away by themselves, and left us to +enjoy the opportunity for prayer, which we supposed they also sought in +withdrawing from us. + +As they returned, the father had the little boy on his two hands, and, +approaching me, he looked up to the cascade, and said, "'See, here is +water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?'" + +I was at no loss to understand the quotation and the request. + +"Would you like to have the little one baptized here?" said I. + +"We should," they both exclaimed. "We are going into a destitute place +at the West, and there is no church, you tell us, within several miles +of where we expect to live. It is very uncertain about our being able to +procure baptism for the child there; and where could we enjoy the +ordinance more, or make it more impressive upon our hearts, than here, +so long as we have no house of God, which we remember, however, from +'the hill Mizar'?" + +I told them that the experience of Philip and the eunuch, in the desert, +was, just as likely as not, the same as ours. "See, here is water." The +probability of its being a road-side spring, in a rock, or out of the +earth, was greater than of its being a pool in the desert, large enough +to immerse a man in it, leaving out of view the inconveniences of being +bathed along the way. We have both gone "down out of the chariot," said +I--(you would have smiled to see our great, strong, muddied wain)--and +we have done what the literal Greek says they did, "went down _to_ the +water;" and when we start, we shall "come up _from_ the water." But let +us read 'the place of the Scripture' which the eunuch was reading when +Philip joined him. + +Susan took from her bag the blue velvet-covered Bible, which you gave +her, unclasped it, and turned to the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, at +my request, and began to read. O, how soft and sweet was the sound of a +female voice, repeating words of inspiration in that beautiful, solitary +spot! The Scriptures had not been divided into chapters and verses for +the eunuch, as for us, but we noticed that the last verse of the chapter +preceding "the place of the Scripture which he read," not divided from +it in his copy of Isaiah, was, "So shall he sprinkle many nations;" +which, we thought, proved that the eunuch had had the idea of baptism +suggested to him by those words; and quite as conclusively proving it, +as "buried with him in baptism" proves immersion. + +However, being agreed on all these points, we made no long discourse +about them, but dwelt upon the Son of God as the Redeemer of Abraham's +seed, and in whom all the promises of God, including those made to +Abraham, are yea, and in him amen. + +I said to my friends, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are about to +write their several and joint names on this child's forehead. + +"As a lamb has the owner's mark upon his side, this child is to be +claimed by them, to be brought up for the service and glory of its +redeeming God. + +"You are to give him away, to be disposed of by the Most High. You are +to be, for Him, what the mother of Moses was for Pharaoh's +daughter--nurses to your own child. This dear child lay helpless and +exposed, with all of us, to destruction; the Redeemer passed that way; +he heard its cries: he had compassion upon it; he saved it from the +condemning sentence of divine justice; and now he calls you, and says, +'Take this child, and bring it up for me, and I will give thee thy +wages.' He does not commit the child to church, nor pastor, nor +Sabbath-school, but to its own father and mother, who may and will avail +themselves of all the appointed and the useful helps for its nurture and +admonition in the Lord; but he looks to you, as having the chief and +principal responsibility, to bring up this child for God. + +"You covenant to lay your plans for this child, so that he may, by the +surest means, live for God. To this end you will pray with him and for +him; teach him what was done for him in baptism, and before, and +afterwards; how God was beforehand with him, and was found of him who +sought him not. He is to be trained up as a Christian child, with a view +to his early conversion, and your great concern is not to be, how he may +promote his private happiness, or yours, but how he may best serve God. + +"To this end, you will, from the first, watch over all his moral +faculties, and instil into him the principles of truth and uprightness; +not letting him run loose among the vanities of the world, and feed +upon its miserable, corrupted sentiments, and choose worldly and godless +persons for his intimate associates, his manners and his habits being +like a garden which runs to weeds, and his whole nature left to the +perils of sin, trusting to some sudden act of conversion to bring him +right; but you will rather be diligent to 'fill the water-pots with +water,' and wait for Christ to turn it into wine. You intend, and you +promise, that you will educate this child from the beginning with all +that strictness of Christian principle which you would expect of him +were he, in his infancy, to be a professing Christian, his duty being +the same, and, consequently, yours toward him, whether he is regenerate +or not,--one and the same law of God being our rule, irrespective of +conditions. + +"In all times of sickness and peril, you are to feel that this child is +the Lord's, to be disposed of by him, without consulting you. If called +to die and leave him, you will remember that you received him from God, +that he belonged to God at first, and when he was placed in your care; +and that God, who thus has the most perfect claim to him, will perfect +that which concerns him, even if his parents are in the grave. + +"And while you thus covenant with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, +covenant with you, and with the child through you, to be the God of your +seed, affording you special help in training the child, bestowing +special blessings upon it tending to its spiritual good, having a +particular regard for it as something lent to him, and belonging to you; +while, in another sense, it is lent to you, and belongs to him; and he +and you are to regard the child agreeably to this beautiful +transmutation of ownership and loan. The baptism itself cannot save the +child, any more than the Lord's Supper can save you; but it is among the +first of means to promote the salvation of the child, not merely through +its effect on you, or its remembered grace and goodness when the child +can be made to appreciate it; but above all, and through all, and in +all, it seals that covenant of a covenant-keeping God, assisting your +efforts and those of the child,--that promise, I say, 'I will be his +God, and he shall be my son.'" + +We named the little boy, PHILIP, as a memorial of the road-side baptism. +We stood under the shadow of that great rock, and worshipped Abraham's +God. "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, +and Israel acknowledge us not." The voice of prayer was joined by chimes +and symphonies from trickling rills, and the freshening breeze in a +silver-leaved maple, leaning at an angle of thirty-five degrees, just +above us in the rock, all as quiet as the dear infant's breathing; +while, now and then, the sudden flapping and rushing of birds' wings +made the monotone around us more soothing. + +From a little jet of water, that formed an arc of about an inch, as it +burst into life and then disappeared in a great moss-bed, I caught my +palm full, and laid it upon the unconscious head. + +The little hands were suddenly lifted and dropped, as though a slight +shock had been experienced, then a smile played round the mouth, and the +sleep seemed deeper. + +And will God in very deed dwell on earth? Will the adorable Trinity be +present at such a scene as this? Present! "All power is given unto me in +heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing +them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." +He will not appoint this ordinance, and fail to be present; the God of +redemption is a party to that transaction by which an immortal soul, +with an existence commensurate with his own, is consecrated to him by +its natural guardians, acting in the place of God, and for the child, +and joining them in covenant. + +"Shall we ever forget this?" said the husband to his wife, as we were +riding along that beautiful afternoon. + +"Never," said she; but she added, sensible woman as she was, "the beauty +and sentiment of the place seemed to me nothing, compared with the +privilege of covenanting with God, and having him covenant with us for +the child. After all," said she, "I would have been glad to have had the +baptism in our little church at home, and to have secured good Mrs. +Maberry's prayers, and those of our church, for the child, at its +baptism. I must write to her, and get her to tell the Maternal +Association about it, and ask them not to forget little Philip." + +"What would you have named it," said my wife, "had it been a girl?" + +"O," said she, smiling, "I was thinking on the hill, that, if it had +been a girl, I should have called it Candace, for the Ethiopian queen." + +"And Canda, for shortness and sweetness, I suppose," said her husband, +his eyes twinkling and sparkling with love, as he looked at her, and +from her upon us. + +"He's a sweet little thing, you know he is," said the mother, burying +her face in the child's bosom, and giving it something between a good +long smell and a good long kiss, or both; a thing which mothers alone +know exactly how to do. + +"Suppose," said I, "that, instead of little Philip, it had been you, +sir, and Mrs. Blair, who had needed to be baptized. + +"Here you are, on a journey. You do not know that you will be able to +avail yourselves of religious ordinances, in your new home, for a long +time to come; and, besides, regarding baptism not merely as a profession +of religion, but as an act of Almighty God, sealing you with his +appointed sign of the covenant, you have strong desires to receive it, +here in this 'way unto Gaza, which is desert,' from my hands. + +"'See, here is water,' in rich abundance. But, alas! there is no pond, +nor pool, no lake, nor river!" + +"Even if there were," said my wife to Mrs. Blair, "I should shudder to +have you venture into untried waters, in this lonely place. Fear, at +least, would prevent any peace of mind, or satisfying enjoyment." + +"'What doth hinder me to be baptized?' you would properly say to me," I +continued. "'O,' my reply could be, 'the water is not in an available +shape. Had we time to scoop out a tank in the earth, or make a stone +baptistery in the rock, then you might be 'buried with him by baptism +into death.' But it is impossible. This living fountain of waters in the +mountain, full and overflowing though it be, does not allow of Christian +baptism. Besides, as to suitable apparel, and all the necessary +arrangements for comfort, not to say propriety,--you see that baptism, +here is out of the question.'" + +"Do you think," said Mrs. Blair, "that the Head of the church has +appointed any such invariable mode of administering baptism,--one that +cannot be applied in numerous cases?" + +I said to her, "I cannot believe it. The genius of Christianity seems +opposed to it. Let all who will, use immersion; we love them still, and +rejoice in their liberty, but I cannot agree that it was the New +Testament method. Even had it been, I should expect that the rule would +be flexible enough to meet cases of necessity." + +"I was thinking," said Mr. Blair, "that, at least, four fifths of all +the people of God have gone to heaven unbaptized, if immersion is the +only valid mode of baptism. This is rather a serious thing, if the +solemn words, 'He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved,' look +only to baptism by immersion. It seems to me," he added, "that the +providence of God would have brought in some great reformation from so +calamitous an error in the church, if it were an error. Some Luther, or +Calvin, or Knox, or some John Baptist, would have been raised up, as in +other emergencies, to bring the church back to her duty." + +"How clearly," said I, "does that seem to prove that all the people of +God have, as Paul says, 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism,' however +variant their modes of worship and administration may be." + +"How many baptized children, from Christian families," said my wife, +"are gathered together in heaven! I cannot think of them as the +unfortunate subjects of a superstitious or corrupt observance, at the +hands of the ministers of Jesus, in all ages of the world. There must +seem to them, as they increase in knowledge, a beautiful fitness in +their having had those adorable names inscribed upon them, with God's +own initiatory seal of his covenant. What loving-kindness it must appear +to them, that God gave them the ordinance of baptism, and became their +God! How it will stand out before their minds as a principal +illustration of being saved by grace!" + +"And then, again," said Mr. Blair, "think of the millions of children in +heaven who were not baptized,--saved, the most of them, from heathen and +pagan lands. How 'the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, +hath abounded unto many.' Baptism is not an austere law. There is +nothing austere or rigid, in any sense, connected with it; but it makes +me think of the water itself, scattered in so many beautiful and pliable +forms all over the earth, in fountains, water-falls, dew, rain-drops; +and, when it cannot 'stand before His cold,' it comes down softly upon +us, in crystal asteroids and all the geometrical forms of snow. I love +to think that God has associated that beautiful element, the water, with +religion. And now it does not seem accordant with the works and ways of +Him, of whom we say, 'How great is his goodness, how great is his +beauty,' to make one obdurate mode of bringing the water in connection +with us essential to an ordinance, whose element seems everywhere to +shun preciseness." + +"Water is certainly a beautiful emblem of open communion," said one of +the ladies. "It must be conscious, one would think, of violence done to +its ubiquitous nature, to be made the occasion of separating beloved +friends, at the Table whose symbolized Blood has made them one in +Christ." + +But we had to part. I told them that my wife and I would certainly be +sponsors for little Philip, in the best sense; we would make a record of +its history, thus far, among our family memorials; tell our children +about him, and charge them in after life to inquire for him, and lose no +opportunity of doing him good. Though, as to that, I could not help +saying, no one knows in this world who will be benefactor or +beneficiary. + +"Our children will always be interested in each other," said his wife, +"for their parents' sake." + +"Can we not sing a hymn?" said the husband. + +We found that our voices made a quartet. Susan was ready with her +beautiful contralto, Mrs. Blair sung the soprano, Mr. Blair the tenor, +and I the base. + +THE BAPTISMAL HYMN. + + "Lord, what our ears have heard, + Our eyes delighted trace-- + Thy love, in long succession shown, + To Zion's chosen race. + + "Our children thou dost claim, + And mark them out for thine; + Ten thousand blessings to thy name + For goodness so divine. + + "Thee, let the fathers own, + And thee, the sons adore, + Joined to the Lord in solemn vows, + To be forgot no more. + + "Thy covenant may they keep, + And bless the happy bands + Which closer still engage their hearts, + To honor thy commands. + + "How great thy mercies, Lord! + How plenteous is thy grace! + Which, in the promise of thy love, + Includes our rising race. + + "Our offspring, still thy care, + Shall own their fathers' God; + To latest times thy blessings share, + And sound thy praise abroad." + +We saw them and their baggage on board the wagon that was to take them +over to the river; we waved our farewell, and sent our kisses; and, just +as they were turning a corner which hid them from our view, the father +stood up in the wagon, and held little Philip as high as he could (the +mother, of course, reaching up her arms to hold them both fast), as +though to catch the last benediction. The long, flowing white dress of +the child gave the picture a waving, vanishing effect, reminding us of +our first sight of the cascade, which, with the whole transaction to +which it gave occasion, has taken a permanent place in our sleeping and +waking dreams. + + + + +Chapter Ninth. + +THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH. + + Go, now, ye that are men, and serve the Lord.--PHARAOH. + + We will go with our young, and with our old, with our sons, and with our + daughters.--MOSES. + + Hosanna to the Son of David.--THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. + + The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be + established before thee.--PSALM 102:28. + + +The reader will now be introduced, in imagination, to a seat in the +window of a country parsonage, with honeysuckle-vines trained over an +arched lattice-work that spans the window. There are several large +maples in the yard, which is a grass-plot, where six gentlemen are +enjoying pleasant conversation, and are seated at their ease, some in +chairs, and the rest on a sofa, which, at the suggestion of a kind lady, +they had lifted from its place in the parlor to the yard. + +They are all of them pastors of churches, met, for social intercourse +and friendly counsel, at the house of one of their number, with their +wives, who are also together by themselves, in a pleasant room on the +north side of the house, and into whose sayings and doings these +husbands will, no doubt, be disposed to make, in due time, suitable +inquiry. + +Those wonderful little elves, the humming-birds, are frequent visitors +to those honeysuckles, under which I have placed my reader to be a +listener. How many vibrations those little wings make in a minute, how +so long a bill can have subtractive force sufficient to get anything +from the flower, how, when obtained, that product is conveyed to the +throat, and where these creatures build their nests, and whither they +migrate, are questions which will, perhaps, divert attention from +everything else for a time, especially if the reader has escaped for a +season from a large city, and is one of those who there "dwell in +courts." Perhaps, therefore, he will choose to refresh himself, in +silent contemplation, in this arbor; and I will make true report of all +that transpires in the yard. + +One of these pastors, Mr. A., has been reading to his brethren, for +their judgment as to the soundness of his views, a sermon, not yet +preached, on the relation of baptized children to the church. We will +call him, and two of the ministers who agreed with his views, by their +initials, respectively, which consisted of the first three letters of +the alphabet; while the three who dissented from them had, as initials +to their names, letters remote from these. Neither Messrs. A., B., and +C., nor Messrs. R., S., and T., had had any previous concert or +comparison of views on this interesting subject; but they found +themselves thus arrayed on different sides of the question. + +Omitting the sermon that gave occasion to the discussion which follows, +a few lines only will put us in possession of the whole subject. I give +the opening paragraph: + +"It is held by all who practise infant baptism, that the children of +believers have a peculiar relation to the church. That relation is very +generally expressed by the word membership. We have treatises, by the +most orthodox divines, on the church-membership of the children of +believers; which children they freely call members of the Christian +church; and, in catechisms and confessions of faith, the church of +Christ is declared to consist of such as are in covenant relations with +God, and their offspring." + +The sermon being finished, Mr. R. was first called upon by the chairman, +Mr. C., for his remarks. The question, as stated by the chairman, was, +Are the children of believers, in any sense, members of the church? If +so, what is it? and, if not, what relation to the church do they +sustain? + +_Mr. R._ I presume that brother A. does not wish us to take up time with +criticisms upon his style. He seeks to know our views with regard to the +subject of the sermon. I am compelled to say, at once, that I differ +from the views expressed by the reader, if he means by the terms, +_members_ and _membership_, which he employs, all which they would +convey to the majority of hearers. But I noticed that when he, and those +excellent men whom he quotes, come to define what they mean by members, +and membership, in this connection, they make explanations, and +qualifications, and also protestations, showing that no one can be, in +their view, a member of the spiritual, or, what is called the invisible, +church of Christ, without repentance and faith. Rightly understood, +therefore, they are free from any just imputation of making unscriptural +terms of membership in the kingdom of Christ. And, perhaps, when those +of us who dissent from some of their propositions, fully understand the +limitations which the writers themselves affix to their use of terms, no +great discrepancy will be found to exist. + +It admits of a question, therefore, in my view, whether the terms +_members_ and _membership_, as applied to children, really mean that +which these writers themselves intend to convey by them; for certainly +they do not mean all which their readers at first suppose. The terms in +question require a great deal of explanation, which a term, if possible, +ought never to need. And, after all has been said, a wrong impression is +conveyed to the minds of many, while opponents gain undue advantage in +arguing against that which, for substance, all the friends of infant +baptism cordially maintain. + +If Br. A. is asked, "In what sense are children members of the church," +he resorts, for illustration, to citizenship, and to the sisterhood in +the church itself, to show how children and females may be members of +the community, and, in the case of females, may belong to the church, +while yet their privileges and functions are limited. So, he says, the +children of believers are a component part of God's church, not entitled +to the use of all its privileges till they are renewed by the Spirit of +God, yet so related by the sovereign appointment of God to those who are +members, as to be, in a subordinate sense, a part of the church. + +Could the friends of infant baptism agree on some term, which would +express their common belief with regard to the relation of believers' +children to the church, better than _member_, I think it must have a +happy effect in promoting harmony of views and feelings, and take away +from others the grounds of several present objections. + +It was here agreed that, instead of the question going round to each in +turn, the conversation should be free, subject to the rule of the +chairman. + +Mr. A., the reader, then said that he should be glad to learn from his +Br. R. precisely what his views were of the relation of baptized +children to the church. "Let us see," he said, "how far we are agreed as +to the actual nature of this relation." + +"Well, then," said Mr. R., "I will begin with this: + +"_They are the children of God's friends_. We all know how God reminds +Israel of their relation to Abraham, his friend, tells them they are +beloved for the fathers' sakes, and he remembers his covenant with those +friends of his, their fathers, when provoked by the children's sins. +Toward the child of one who loves God (not merely a church-member, but a +friend of God), I suppose there are affections on the part of God, of +which our own feelings toward the child of a dear Christian friend are a +representation. This love to the child of his friend, I always thought, +is the great element in that arrangement of the Most High which we call +the Abrahamic covenant; for he who made us, knew how much a love for our +children, on the part of others, draws us together, and what bonds are +constituted and strengthened between men through their children; and +that one great means of promoting love to Him would be, his manifesting +special love and care for the offspring of those who love him. God has a +people, friends; and the children of such are the children of his +dearly-beloved friends. In this we are all agreed." + +"Certainly," said Mr. A., "but you will go further than this, I +presume." + +_Mr. R._ Yes, Mr. Chairman. One thing more is true of them: + +_They are the principal source of the church's increase_. The selection +of Abraham, with a view to make of his lineage, the banks, within whose +defensive influences grace should find helps in making its way in this +ungodly world, had reference, I believe, to that power of hereditary +family influence, which has not ceased, and will not cease, to the end +of time. It is beautiful and affecting to see that recognition of our +free agency, and that unwillingness ever to interfere with it, which +leads the Most High to fall in with the principles of our nature +established by himself, in placing his chief reliance on the natural +love of parents for their offspring to contribute, by far, the larger +part of those who shall be converted. In this arrangement and +expectation do we not find the deep roots of infant baptism? which thus +appears to be neither Jewish nor Gentile, but grows out of our nature +itself, which also requires, which demands, some rite, a symbolic sign +and seal. God made the children of Adam partakers with him of his curse; +so that the parental and filial relation was, from the beginning made a +stream to bear along the consequences of the first transgression. No +new thing, therefore, was instituted when God, in calling Abraham, +appointed the parental and filial relation to bear, on its deep and +mighty stream, the most powerful means of godliness in all coming +generations. How little do we think of this, Mr. Chairman, and brethren; +how apt we are to neglect this great arrangement of divine providence +and grace,--the perpetuation of the church, chiefly by means of the +parental and filial relation. But, if such be the divine appointment, +and the children of believers are therefore the most hopeful sources of +the church's increase, of course they may be said to belong to the +church, in a peculiar sense, but without being "_members_." + +_Mr. A._ I think you are coming on very well toward my ground. I +certainly agree with you thus far. + +_Mr. R._ If I am not taking up too much time, Mr. Chairman, I should +like to proceed a little further, in order to do full justice to my +views. If I am found to agree with Br. A., it will be just as pleasant +as though he agreed with me. + +_Chairman._ Please to proceed. Two things which are equal to the same +thing, are equal to each other. + +_Mr. R._ I will, then, say, once more: + +_The children of believers are the subjects of preeminent privileges and +blessings._ Special promises are made to them from love to their +parents; great advantages are theirs, directly and indirectly, from +their relation to those who are the true worshippers of God; +forbearance, long suffering, the remembrance of consecrations and vows, +prevail with God, oftentimes, in their behalf when they have broken +their father's commandment and forsaken the law of their mother. No +words of tenderness, in any relation of life,--said Mr. R., turning to +the Psalms,--surpass those, in which are described the feelings of God +toward the rebellious sons of Abraham: "But he, being full of +compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a +time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath." "For +he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." God still +remembers Abraham, his servant, in the person of every father and mother +who loves him, and is steadfast in his covenant; and "the generation of +the upright shall be blessed." Mistakes in family government, growing +out of wrong principles, too great reliance upon future conversion, and +the neglect of that moral training which is essential to the best +development of religious character, and, indeed, without which religious +character is often a melancholy distortion, or sadly defective, may be +followed by their natural consequences; and we cannot complain,--for God +works no miracle, nor turns aside any great law, in favor of our +misconduct; yet it remains true that all who love and serve him, and +command their children and households to fear the Lord, enforcing it in +all the proper ways of government, discipline, example, and the right +observance of religious ordinances, public and private, may expect +peculiar blessings upon their offspring. + +One of the youngest of the company, the father of one young child, here +inquired, if the speaker would have us infer that the conversion of such +children is to be looked for as a matter of course. + +_Mr. R._ Ordinarily, they will grow up in the nurture and admonition of +the Lord, to be followers of Christ; the proportion of persons baptized +on admission to the church, will become small; a healthful tone of +religious feeling will pervade our churches; less and less reliance will +be placed on startling measures, on splendid talents, on novelties, to +promote the cause of religion; but Christian families will extend like +the cultivated fields of different proprietors, whose green and +flowering hedges, instead of stone walls, mingle all into one landscape. +"And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of +righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." "And my people shall +dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet +resting-places." "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and +great shall be the peace of thy children." Such, I believe, is sure to +be the manner of the church's prosperity, and therefore the children who +are to be the subjects of these inestimable blessings must be said, in +some sense, to _belong_ to the church, they being the objects of special +regard with the church and with God. Br. A. agrees with me in all this, +I presume. + +_Mr. A._ Entirely; or, rather, you agree with me. + +"Now, Br. A.," said an earnest man of the company,--who, however, +immediately checked himself, and bowed to Mr. R., and said, "I dare say, +Mr. Chairman, that Br. R. was going to put the very question which I +intended to ask." + +_Mr. R._ Proceed, Br. S. I owe an apology for speaking so much. + +_Mr. S._ Will Br. A., Mr. Chairman, please to tell us why he feels +obliged to call these children "_members_ of the church?" + +For, we all know, that, notwithstanding all these glorious things, which +are spoken of them, to which Br. A. has also referred, not one baptized +child of a true believer can be, really, a member of the church, in +regular standing, till he, like the unbaptized heathen convert, has +repented of his sins and believed on the Lord Jesus. All the promises +and privileges appertaining to his relationship as a child of a +believer, promote, and make more certain, his repentance and faith; and +therefore, if asked, "What profit, then, hath circumcision, and its +substitute, infant baptism?" we can reply, "Much every way;" but it +never stood, and never can stand, in the place of justification by free +grace through the personal exercise of faith in the Redeemer. + +_Mr. C._ But I wish to ask, in the name of Br. A., and for my own sake, +what objection there is to retaining the name, _member_, in this +connection? + +_Mr S._ My answer is, it is the occasion of great stumbling to those who +reject infant baptism, and are confirmed in rejecting it, by +misapprehending the views and feelings of many who use the term in an +objectionable sense. + +The discussion now became animated. Mr. S. said that he had a further +objection. It leads many, who use it erroneously, into perplexing and +fruitless positions. Assuming that the children are members of the +church, they discuss the question, as the sermon has stated, Of what +church are they members? Some reply, Of the church to which their +parents belong. Others say nay, but of the church universal. Then they +feel it incumbent upon them to provide some means of discipline for +these so-called members. In case they grow up, and neglect to come with +their parents to the Lord's Supper, must they not be disciplined? Some +insist that discipline, in some of its forms, must be administered, and, +in certain cases, excommunication must take place. + +_Mr. T._ I know it, and I wonder at it. I should like to ask, who has +deputed to any church the power to say when the divine forbearance with +a child of the covenant has come to an end? Does it terminate at the age +of twenty-one in the case of male children, and at eighteen in the case +of females? David, when a full-grown man, plead the covenant of God with +his mother: "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the +son of thine handmaid." Or, does it cease on the child's leaving the +parental roof for another place of residence? Or, on entering upon the +married state? Or, upon the commission of some great act of outward +transgression, shall we pronounce the covenant to be dissolved? Do we +not see that we are meddling with a divine prerogative, if we assume to +act in such cases? Expostulations, warnings, entreaties, from parents, +pastor, brethren of the church, may always be in place; but further than +these we cannot proceed. + +"Perhaps, too," said Mr. R., "if discipline were to fall anywhere, it +might more justly descend on the parents of such a child." + +_Mr. T._ The seeming mockery of a church punishing a youth for the +neglect of that which he himself never promised to do, would most +likely have the effect to drive him to a returnless distance from the +church, extinguishing the last ray of hope as to his conversion. A fit +parallel to such proposed church-discipline of children, is found in the +practice, which was not uncommon, twenty-five years ago, in a region of +our country where great religious excitements prevailed for some time, +when it was publicly recommended, in preaching and from the press, that +parents who had labored in vain for the conversion of children, should, +in certain cases, punish them, to make them submit to God. + +_Mr. D._ Is it possible? + +_Mr. T._ Yes, sir; and the records of those times furnish instances in +which this was done. Of such means of grace, I am happy to say, we have +no such custom, neither the churches of God. + +_Mr. S._ Nor shall we probably ever see young people disciplined by the +churches, for not repenting and believing the Gospel. It is insisted on +as theoretically proper, but they have never ventured to carry it out in +practice. + +Mr. C., the chairman, said, "Brethren, there is strong authority in +favor of the sermon. Since you have been talking, I have been looking +over Dr. Hopkins's works, to find this passage, which, if you please, I +will read. Dr. Hopkins says: + +"Though under the milder dispensation of the Gospel, no one is to be put +to death for rejecting Christ and the Gospel, even though he were before +this a member of the visible church, yet he is to be cut off, and cast +out of the visible kingdom of Christ. And every child in the church, who +grows up in disobedience to Christ, and, in this most important concern, +will not obey his parents, is thus to be rejected and cut off, after all +proper means are used by his parents, and the church, to reclaim him, +and bring him to his duty. Such an event will be viewed by Christian +parents as worse than death, and is suited to be a constant, strong +motive to concern, prayer, and fidelity, respecting their children, and +their education; and it tends to have an equally desirable effect upon +children, and must greatly impress the hearts of those who are in any +degree considerate and serious." + +Again: "When the children arrive at an age in which they are capable of +acting for themselves in matters of religion, and making a profession of +their adherence to the Christian faith, and practice, and coming to the +Lord's Supper, if they neglect and refuse to do this, and act contrary +to the commands of Christ in any other respect, all proper means are to +be used, and methods taken, to bring them to repentance, and to do their +duty as Christians, and, if they cannot be reclaimed, but continue +impenitent and unreformed, they are to be rejected and cast out of the +church, as other adult members are who persist in disobedience to +Christ."[8] + +[Footnote 8: Hopkins's Works (1852), vol. ii., pp. 158, 176.] + +"Such words, from such a source," said Mr. C., "are entitled to great +consideration." + +"But," said Mr. S., "here is a passage from his own theological +instructor, President Edwards: + +"It is asked,' he says, 'why these children, that were born in the +covenant, are not cast out when, in adult age, they make no profession.' +He replies, 'They are not cast out, because it is a matter held in +suspense whether they do cordially consent to the covenant or not; or +whether their making no profession does not arise from some other cause; +and none are to be excommunicated without some positive evidence against +them.'" + +"My dear sir," said Mr. A., "Mr. Edwards is there speaking of those who +merely refuse to own the covenant, without being guilty of scandalous +sin." + +_Mr. S._ It is evident, nevertheless, that Hopkins goes further than he, +and requires that those who, at years of full responsibility, refuse to +own the covenant, shall be cut off. Modern writers on this subject, +while insisting on the church-membership of children, draw back from +this position, and are more in harmony with what, it seems to me, may be +said to be the general sense of the churches on this subject. I feel +glad, when reading such passages as those from Hopkins, that we have +liberty of opinion, and are not compelled to swear by the words of any +master. I bow to such a divine as Dr. Hopkins, but he fails to satisfy +me that he is right in these views of church-discipline for children. + +Mr. R., who was the oldest man of the company, now returned to the +discussion, and said: "It is clear that one cannot be dispossessed of +that which he never possessed, except as in the case of a minor, who may +have his claim to a future possession wrested from him. Of what is a +child of the covenant, allowing him to be, while a child, a member of +the church,--of what is he in possession? Not of full communion, not of +access to the Lord's table, not of the right to a voice in the call and +settlement of a pastor, nor in any other church act. From what, then, is +he turned out by being cut off? He has never arrived at anything from +which he can be separated, except the covenant of God with him through +his parents, and its attendant privileges of watch and care. If, then, +we excommunicate an unconverted child, we can only declare the covenant +of God with him, henceforth, to be null and void,--an assumption from +which, probably, Christian parents and ministers would shrink. The same +long-suffering God, who bears and forbears with ourselves, we shall be +disposed to feel, is the God of this recreant child, and no good man +would dare to pronounce the child to be separated from the mercies of +'the God of patience and hope.' One who, being in a church, breaks a +covenant to which he assented, may be a just subject for discipline, +even to excommunication; but, all the promises of God to the child being +wholly free, conditioned, at first, upon his parents' relation to God, +all the disability which the child seems capable of receiving, is, that +the promises made to him he must fail, by his own fault, to receive. +Who will declare even his prospect of their fulfilment to be terminated +at any given time? Much more, who will undertake to divest him of things +which he never had? The church-membership, from which you profess to +expel him, does not yet exist in his case; he has not reached it. All +the church-membership of which, if any, he has been possessed, is, his +hopeful relation to God and his people through a parent. To +excommunicate a child from this would be a strange procedure." + +_Mr. A._ That is the strongest thing which I have heard on that side. I +must confess (said he, rising and leaning against one of the maples) +that I am a little staggered. + +But Mr. B. came to reinforce his faltering brother. + +"Here," said he, "is the Cambridge Platform. You will all be willing to +hear from that source." + +"Let us hear," said two or three voices. + +Mr. B. read as follows: + +"The like trial (examination) is to be required from such members of the +church as were born in the same, or received their membership, and were +baptized in their infancy or minority, by virtue of the covenant of +their parents, when, being grown up unto years of discretion, they shall +desire to be made partakers of the Lord's Supper; unto which, because +holy things must not be given to the unworthy, therefore it is requisite +that these, as well as others, should come to their trial and +examination, and manifest their faith and repentance by an open +profession thereof before they are received to the Lord's Supper, and +otherwise not to be admitted thereunto. Yet those church-members that +were so born, or received in their childhood, before they are capable of +being made partakers of full communion, have many privileges which +others, not church-members, have not; they are in covenant with God, +have the seal thereof upon them, namely, baptism; and so, if not +regenerated, yet are in a more hopeful way of attaining regenerating +grace, and all the spiritual blessings both of the covenant and seal; +they are also under church-watch, and consequently subject to the +reprehensions, admonitions, and censures thereof, for their healing and +amendment, as need shall require."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Cambridge Platform, chap. iii. 7.] + +_Mr. R._ Now, please, Br. B., what does all that prove? + +_Mr. B._ Why, it proves that, in the judgment of the Cambridge Platform, +the children of church-members are members of the churches. + +_Mr. R._ It shows that the Cambridge Platform calls them members; but it +gives us no proof that they are properly called members. A great deal in +that extract, I undertake to say, will command the cordial assent of all +who practise infant baptism, if we except the use of the term members. +It shows that, as to coming into the company of true believers, and +being one of them, the only way is through repentance and faith,--a way +common to the unbaptized. The only advantage, but one which is +exceedingly great and precious on the part of the believer's children, +being, that they "have many privileges," and "are in a more hopeful way +of attaining regenerating grace." But the term membership does not +express their relation to the church before they are converted. + +_Mr. B._ (After a pause.) I do not know but you are right. + +Mr. C., the remaining advocate of the sermon, said, "Let me refresh +your memories with the famous case quoted in Morton's New England +Memorial. He says: + +"'The two ministers there (Salem, 1629), being seriously studious of +reformation, they considered the state of their children, together with +their parents, concerning which letters did pass between Mr. Higginson +(of Salem) and Mr. Brewster, the reverend elder of the church of +Plymouth; and they did agree in their judgments, namely, concerning the +church-membership of the children with their parents, and that baptism +was a seal of their membership; only, when they were adult, they being +not scandalous, they were to be examined by the church officers, and +upon their approbation of their fitness, and upon the children's public +and personally owning of the covenant, they were to be received unto the +Lord's Supper. Accordingly, Mr. Higginson's eldest son, being about +fifteen years of age, was owned to have been received a member together +with his parents, and being privately examined by the pastor, Mr. +Skelton (the other minister of Salem), about his knowledge in the +principles of religion, he did present him before the church when the +Lord's Supper was to be administered, and, the child then publicly and +personally owning the covenant of the God of his father, he was admitted +unto the Lord's Supper, it being there professedly owned, according to 1 +Cor. 7:14, that the children of the church are holy unto the Lord, as +well as their parents.'" + +Mr. R. stood up, and, with an animated look and manner, but with a very +pleasant voice, said: + +"What, now, my good brother, did these good ministers do, with this +youth, more or less than we all do for the children of our pastoral +charge? + +"Of what practical use was his so-called infant 'church-membership,' in +addition to his being, as we all hold, a child of the covenant?" + +They made no reply for a little while, till at last Mr. A. said: + +"Well, Br. R., what names would you substitute for _members_ and +_membership_?" + +_Mr. R._ "THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH;" for you have it in the last +sentence of the extract which you read from Morton;--the true, the most +appropriate, and, in every respect, the best name for those who are so +ambiguously called _members_. + +_Mr. B._ There is great beauty and sweetness in that name, I +confess,--"the children of the church," "the church's children." + +_Mr. R._ A father never, except for concealment, says, "a member of my +family," when "a child" is meant. The term _members_, besides being +equivocal, and requiring explanation, is not so good as "children of the +church," an expression which includes and covers all that any would +claim for "infant church-members." + +_Mr. C._ I confess, I like Br. R.'s views and proposition. If, by +calling the offspring of believers, "the children of the church," we, by +implication, abridged any of their privileges, or if, by calling them +church-members, we believed that they acquired rights and privileges not +otherwise appertaining to them, we ought to prefer the words member and +membership; but it is not so. No one of the writers cited,--and the +proofs we all know could be extended by quoting from other +authors,--claims the right of a child to full communion, except upon +evidence, in his "trial and examination," that he is regenerate. Indeed, +the only use to which the terms member and membership seem to be +applied, is, in furnishing some ground for urging the discipline and +excommunication of the child. This, though urged by some, is urged in +vain. + +_Mr. R._ Other terms, in connection with members and membership, have +been proposed, such as members in minority, members in suspension, +future members; but all in vain. The children of believers are certainly +the children of the church, and such I devoutly hope and pray they may +come to be called. + +_Mr. A._ Seeing that the use of the term _member_ keeps before our minds +a theoretical, hard necessity, from which every one shrinks, I think I +will alter my sermon so far as to dismiss the term, and, with it, all +sense of inconsistency in neglected obligations as to disciplining these +young "members." + +"Well, Br. A.," said Mr. B., "I will join you in submission." + +"So will I," said Mr. C. "How good it is to be convinced, and to give up +one's own will; is it not?" + +"It ought to be," said Mr. A., "to those whose great business it is to +preach submission. But I think we did not differ at first, except as to +the use of terms." + +_Mr. T._ I wish to make a confession. Though I have always been of Br. +R.'s opinion, I have felt it to be invidious, and, for several reasons, +disagreeable, to call a meeting of "the children of the church,"--making +a distinction between them and the other children of my pastoral charge. +Am I correct in such views and feelings? + +"Come, Mr. Chairman," said Mr. A., "we have not paid you sufficient +deference, I fear; for we have hardly kept order, in addressing one +another, and not through you. Now, please to speak for us, and tell us +what you think of Br. T.'s difficulty." + +_Mr. C._ I have sinned with you, as to keeping order, if there has been +any transgression; but I have been so much interested and instructed, +that I forgot my preeminence over you. But to Br. T., I would say, There +is a church; and it means something, and something of infinite +importance. All our labors have this for their end, to make men +qualified for worthy church-membership, on earth, and in heaven,--the +conditions of admission here and there, as we hold, being essentially +the same. This church, which we thus build up, has children, call them +what we may, the objects of God's peculiar love. On that topic I need +not dwell. We ought to pay some marks of special regard to these +children, for God has done so. As to its being invidious, it is not more +invidious than to address our congregations as partly Christians, and +partly unconverted; or to invite the unconverted to meetings especially +designed for them. Meetings of the children of my church, called by me, +and addressed by me, never fail to make very deep impressions upon the +young, upon their parents, upon other children, and upon the parents of +those children. Another form of effecting the same desirable ends, is, +to call meetings of parents in the church, and their children, and to +address the parents and the children in sight and hearing of each other. +In doing so, if there are any parents in the church who are withholding +their children from baptism, we have the best of opportunities to +conciliate their feelings to the ordinance of baptism. We all know how +little is effected in our minds by abstract reasoning upon any subject, +where the feelings are deeply concerned; close argument, invincible +logic, absolute demonstrations, and all measures seemingly intended to +coerce the will, excite resistance, and confirm us in our prejudices. +But open to a parent, who has doubts on the subject, its inestimable +benefits to all concerned, and he will be more disposed to see the +grounds for it, and the abundant proofs of its divine authority, which +the atmosphere of pure reason had not sufficient power of refraction to +make him apprehend. + +_Mr. S._ I thank the chairman heartily for those remarks. May I add a +leaf from my observation? I have noticed that in such meetings of +parents, in the church, and their children, good influences sometimes +reach those who are pursuing the mistaken course of withholding their +children from baptism, under the plea that they can consecrate their +children to God as well without baptism, as with it. They need to learn +the spiritual power which God has vested in the sacraments of his own +appointment, and to be disabused of the notion that the baptism of a +child is, from beginning to end, merely a human act, of which God is +only a spectator;--they need to feel that baptism is something conferred +upon a child by God; and not merely a sign, but a seal. + +"Yes," said Mr. R., "it is an ordinance of God, and the neglect of it is +not merely a failure to obtain blessings, but a disregard of a divine +ordinance; not merely the withholding a sign of allegiance, but the loss +of a seal,--the government seal, not ours, which God would affix to the +intercourse between himself and our souls. If we, pastors, feel this +deeply, and so perceive the design of God in bestowing baptism upon the +children of his people, we shall convey to the hearts and minds of +doubting Christian parents, persuasive influences, which will succeed +where arguments and appeals, based on mere proofs and obligations, have +failed." + +_Mr. A._ It is gratifying, now, to think that these things, and others +like them, may be done without calling the children "members of the +church." Except discipline, it is obvious that everything in the way of +watchfulness may be done for them as children of the church, which it +would be proper, or even possible to do, if they were counted as +members. + +_Mr. R._ I am aware of the analogy which many, who plead for the term +members, seek to carry out between the Old and the New Testament church, +making children members of the Christian church, because the church in +ancient days included the children. But it seems to me that there is +the same difference, now and formerly, between the relation of children +to the church, that there is between the relation of the whole religious +community, now and formerly, to the church of God. Formerly, all the +members of the religious community were, by their association under the +same belief and worship, members of the church. To make the case with us +parallel, our whole Christian community ought to be members of the +church. No examination or discrimination should be used; to belong to +the Christian community should constitute church-membership. + +But this, we know, is not the case. God chooses now to make up his +visible church not as formerly, but of those who give credible evidence +of regeneration. They who worship with us, but do not profess to be +Christians, are hopeful subjects of effort and prayer, whom we expect to +receive hereafter to the visible church, on profession of their faith. + +As the Christian church is constituted differently from the Jewish +church, in this respect, discrimination and separation taking place +between the members of a Christian congregation, have we not analogical +reason to infer that it may also be thus with regard to children?--who +once, indeed, were members of the church of God, but, under the +dispensation of the Spirit, they fall, with other unconverted members of +the congregation, out of membership in the church. + +_Mr. C._ And yet, Br. R., the fall is not far, nor hurtful. They are +entitled to all the privileges, and they enjoy, or should enjoy, all the +care and effort, which they would have under a different name. Only they +do not come to the Lord's Supper, as a matter of course, as they did to +the Passover. + +_Mr. S._ Suppose that the legislature should incorporate a fish-market, +and cede to the proprietors fifteen square miles of the sea, within +which they should have the privilege of taking fish. All the fish, +within those fifteen miles of salt water, might be said to _belong_ to +the market; yet every one of them must be taken by hook and line ere his +belonging to the market is of any practicable value. So the children of +the church may be said to belong to the church, and are to constitute +her chief resource. Rivers, and other distant or neighboring waters, +would also send fish to that market, even if they were "far off;" but it +is from the bay at her doors that the market would derive her principal +supplies. I do not see that children are members of the church, any +further than those fishes belong to that market. Go there when you will, +you see the stalls filled from those adjacent waters; supplies are +continually coming in; they are, in a sense, secured to the market by a +covenant; yet every fish is caught and handled, before he has anything +like membership in that market, as really as though he swam and were +caught in Baffin's Bay;--only he is now far more likely to be caught, +and, in a sense, he already belongs to the market by the seal of the +state. + +Mr. A., the reader of the sermon, not having much ideality, but much +plain good sense, yet taking everything literally at first, and from his +own honesty supposing that all figures of speech are to be cashed, as it +were, for what they purport on their face, immediately challenged his +brother to carry out the illustration. He asked him whether the constant +passage, in and out, of fishes from and beyond the ceded fifteen miles, +allowed of any resemblance, in the migratory creatures, to the children +of the church, who are born and remain in the limits of the church, and +are designated, individually, by virtue of their parentage. + +Mr. S. replied, that he did not mean to make a comparison to satisfy all +the points of the case, and he hoped that the brethren would take it +with due allowance. + +Mr. T. said that he had thought of this illustration: "All the young +male children of the Levites might be said to be members of the +priesthood. They certainly 'belonged' to the priesthood. But no one of +them could officiate till he had complied with certain conditions, nor +if he was the subject of certain disabilities. He believed that the +children of God's people have, by the grace of God, as really a +presumptive relation, by future membership, to the church of Christ, as +an infant Levite boy had to sacred offices; prayer, with the child, as +well as for it, and faithful training, with a spiritual use of God's +appointed ordinances, constitute, he was persuaded, as good reason to +hope that the child of a true believer will become a Christian, and +that, too, early in life, as that the young son of Levi would minister +in the levitical office." + +"O," said Mr. B., "how many cases there are which seem to disprove +that. You will be obliged to reflect severely on some good people as +parents, if you take so strong ground." + +_Mr. T._ I do not despair of a child whose parents, or parent, has +really covenanted with God for him, even though the child be long a +wanderer from the fold. + +But it is the same now with Abraham's spiritual seed as it was with his +natural posterity,--neglect on the part of parents may work a forfeiture +of the covenant promises; failure in family government, above all +things, may frustrate every good influence which would otherwise have +had a powerful effect in the conversion of the child. The sons of Eli +were not well governed; Esau was evidently of an undisciplined spirit. +With regard to the children of several good men, in the Bible, it may be +inferred, that the public engagements of the fathers hindered them from +bestowing needful attention upon their sons. The only thing derogatory +to the prophet Samuel, of which we are informed, is, that his sons were +vile. With regard to certain cases of mournful wickedness, on the part +of the children of eminently good men, it will be found that some of +these men, occupying, perhaps, important stations of a public nature, +such as the Christian ministry, were so engrossed in their public duties +as not to give sufficient time and attention to their own families; +which is a great shame and folly in any father of a family. In vain do +we plead the covenant promises, if we neglect covenant duties. Grace is +not hereditary in any sense that compromises our free agency; its +subjects are born "not of blood;" there are many of the children of the +kingdom who will be cast out into outer darkness, but among them, we may +venture to say, will not be found those whose parents diligently sought +their moral and religious culture in the exercise of a strict, +judicious, affectionate, prayerful, watch and care, praying with them in +secret, which, it seems to me, is, perhaps, the most powerful of all the +means which a parent can use to influence the moral and religious +character of a child. + +"Is it not a mournful inconsistency," said Mr. R., "for us to be +laboring and spending our strength and lives for the conversion and +salvation of others, and not be equally zealous for the souls of the +children whom God has given us?" + +_Mr. C._ Our habits of seclusion and study may operate to make us +reserved, moody, and so repulsive, to our own children. We ought to be +interested in their every-day affairs, and watch for opportunities to +form their opinions, on moral as well as religious subjects, and be as +kind and assiduous to them, certainly, as we endeavor to be to other +children. + + * * * * * + +What more could these good men have said, with regard to the subject, +had they concluded to adopt the terms "member" and "membership," to +express the relation of children to the church? They were not conscious +of omitting or diminishing one privilege or blessing to which the +children of the church are entitled; everything which the most strenuous +advocates of "infant church-membership," so called, mention as accruing +to them, they claimed in their behalf. Did infant church-membership +admit to the Lord's Supper, as it did to the passover, the children +would now, with propriety, be said to be "members of the church." But, +inasmuch as, under the Christian dispensation, they cannot come to the +sacrament which distinguishes between the regenerate and the +unregenerate, without a change of heart, they, and all those who are +associated with the church in general acts of worship, and in Christian +privileges, but are not converted persons, are, alike, under the +Christian system, removed from outward membership--only, that the +children of the church have privileges and promises which go far to +increase the probability of their future church-membership, and directly +to prepare them for that sacred relation. + +"THE CHILDREN OF THE CHURCH," then, is the sufficient name by which it +seems desirable that the children of believers should be designated. +And, instead of using the term "church-membership," applied to them, we +shall include everything which is properly theirs, we shall lose +nothing, we shall prevent great misunderstanding, and liability to +perversion, by substituting the "Relation of Baptized Children to the +Church," whenever we wish to express the peculiar and most precious +connection which they hold, in the arrangements of divine grace, with +the covenant people of God. + + + + +Chapter Tenth. + +MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS. + + The mother, in her office, holds the key + Of the soul; and she it is who stamps the coin + Of character, and makes the being, who would be a savage + But for her gentle cares, a Christian man. + --Then, crown her Queen o' the world. + + OLD PLAY. + + +The pastors now adjourned their session under the maples, and repaired +to the room where their wives were sitting. The ladies had finished +their deliberations, and had been strolling in the woods. But they, too, +had been engaged, like their husbands, in conversation about their +children, and the children of the church. "Maternal Associations" had +been the chief topic. They had discussed their advantages, and had +considered objections to them. The result was, that they had unanimously +agreed to promote such associations in their respective churches. Their +influence on young mothers, in helping them to train their children, +affording them the results of experience gained by others; the privilege +of stating difficult and trying cases for advice, of praying together +for their children, of having those mothers, during the intervals of +their monthly meetings, pray for the children of their sisters, and +sometimes, specially, for a child in peculiar need of prayer, commended +these associations to their judgment and affections. One lady referred +to the possible disclosure of family secrets, at such meetings, which it +was unpleasant to hear, and to the undesirableness of revealing the +faults of a child. They agreed that these things should never be done, +and that it was easy to avoid them by employing a friend, if necessary, +to state the case, hypothetically, so as to conceal its connection with +any member of the circle. The ladies had gone so far as to adopt a +little manual, for their respective circles, which they submitted to +their husbands for criticism. One of the gentlemen read it, as follows: + +"MATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS. + +"Maternal Associations are designed for mutual instruction and +consultation, in connection with united prayer. Subjects for reading and +discussion relate chiefly to the physical, mental, moral, and religious +training of children. Some individual is usually prepared at each +meeting to give method and tone to the conversation, which might +otherwise become desultory. The faults of children who are known to the +members are _not_ made the subject of remark; but cases of difficulty +are so presented as to avoid individual exposure. Associations conducted +on these principles are found to be greatly beneficial. + +"CONSTITUTION OF----CHURCH MATERNAL ASSOCIATION. + +"Impressed with a sense of our entire dependence upon the Holy Spirit to +aid us in training up our children in the way they should go, and hoping +to obtain the blessing of such as fear the Lord and speak often to one +another, we, the subscribers, do unitedly pledge ourselves to meet at +stated seasons for prayer and mutual counsel in reference to our +maternal duties and responsibilities. With a view to this object, we +adopt the following constitution: + +"ARTICLE I. This circle shall be called the 'Maternal Association +of----Church;' any member of which, sustaining the maternal relation, +may become a member by subscribing this constitution. Other individuals, +sustaining the same relation, may be admitted to membership by a vote of +two thirds of the members present. + +"ART. II. The monthly meetings of this Association shall be held on +the----of the month. + +"ART. III. The quarterly meetings in January, April, July, and October, +shall be held on the last Wednesday of the month, when the members shall +be allowed to bring to the place of meeting such of their children as +may be under the age of twelve years, and they shall be considered +members of the Association. The exercises at these meetings shall be +such as shall seem best calculated to instruct the minds and interest +the feelings of the children who may be present. + +"ART. IV. At each quarterly meeting there shall be a small contribution +by the children for benevolent purposes. + +"ART. V. The time appropriated for each meeting shall not exceed one +hour and a half, and shall be exclusively devoted to the object of the +Association. Every monthly meeting shall be opened by prayer and reading +a portion of Scripture, which may be followed by reading such other +matter as relates to the interests of the Association, or by +conversation tending to promote maternal faithfulness and piety. These +exercises may be interspersed with singing the songs of Zion, and with +humble and importunate prayer, that God would glorify himself in the +early conversion of the children of the Association, that they may +become eminently useful in the church of Christ. It is desirable that +the last meeting in the year be spent in reading the Scriptures and in +prayer. + +"ART. VI. Every member of the Association shall be considered as +sacredly bound to pray _for_ her children daily, and _with_ them as +often as circumstances will permit; and to give them from time to time +the best religious instruction of which she is capable. + +"ART. VII. It shall be the duty of every member to qualify herself, by +daily reading, prayer, and self-discipline, to discharge faithfully the +arduous duties of a Christian mother; and she shall be requested to give +with freedom such hints upon the various subjects brought before the +Association as her own observation and experience may suggest. + +"ART. VIII. When any mother is removed by death, it shall be the +special duty of the Association to regard with peculiar interest the +spiritual welfare of her children, and to evince this interest by a +continued remembrance of them in their prayers, by inviting them to +attend quarterly meetings, and by such tokens of sympathy and kindness +as their circumstances may render proper. + +"ART. IX. Every child, upon leaving the Association, at the prescribed +age, shall receive a book from the mothers, as a token of their +affection, to be accompanied by a letter, expressive of the deep +interest felt in their temporal and spiritual welfare. + +"ART. X. The officers of the Association shall be a 'First Directress,' +a 'Second Directress,' a 'Secretary,' and a 'Corresponding Secretary,' +who shall be appointed annually in September. + +"ART. XI. The duty of the First Directress shall be to preside at all +meetings, call upon the members for devotional exercises, and regulate +the reading. In the absence of the First Directress, these duties shall +devolve upon the Second Directress. + +"ART. XII. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to register the names +of the members, and of their children, and to supply each of the mothers +with a list of the same, together with a copy of the constitution. She +shall also keep a record of the proceedings of each meeting, and, as far +as may be convenient, of the topic discussed, and of the remarks +elicited by it. This record shall be read at the commencement of the +next subsequent meeting. She shall likewise receive the contributions of +the children, keep an account of the same, and pay it according to the +vote of the Association. + +"ART. XIII. It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to write +the letters addressed to the children upon leaving the Association, to +conduct the general correspondence, receive the contributions from the +mothers, and purchase the books to be given to the children. + +"ART. XIV. Any article of this constitution may be amended by a majority +of the members present at any annual meeting. + +"It is recommended to the members of the Association to observe the +anniversary of the birth of each child in special prayer, with +particular reference to that child. May He who giveth liberally, and +upbraideth not, ever preside in our meetings, and grant unto each of us +a teachable, affectionate, and humble temper, that no root of bitterness +may spring up to prevent our improvement, or interrupt our devotions. +The promise is to us and to our children; we have publicly given them up +to God; his holy name has been pronounced over them; let us see to it +that we do not cause this sacred name to be treated with contempt. May +Christ put his own spirit within us, that our children may never have +occasion to say, + + '_What do ye more than others?_'" + + * * * * * + +No criticism was made upon this production, but the pastors commended +it, and rejoiced in the good which an increased attention to the subject +would be sure to accomplish. They promised to preach on the subject, +and, in their pastoral visits, to encourage mothers in the churches to +join the Associations. + +One of the ladies said that she had a paper, which she had thought best +to read, if the company pleased, when they were all together, and she +had therefore reserved it until the gentlemen came in. + +It was a paper in the handwriting of a Christian friend, which was found +in her copy of the "Articles and Covenant" of her church, after her +decease. This lady had been in the habit, as it seemed, of reading over +those articles and the covenant, on the Sabbath when the Lord's Supper +was to be administered; and the religious education of her children, +being identified with her most sacred thoughts and moments, she read +these questions at the same time. + +The lady who read them said that it was proposed by some to append them +to the little manual already presented for Maternal Associations. + + * * * * * + +"QUESTIONS TO BE THOUGHT UPON. + +"1. Have I so prayed for my children as that my prayer produced an +effect upon myself? + +"2. Have I realized that to train my children for usefulness and heaven +is probably the chief duty God requires of me? + +"3. Have I realized that, if I cannot eradicate an evil habit, probably +no one else can or will? + +"4. Have I granted to-day, from indulgence, what I denied yesterday from +principle? + +"5. Have I yielded to importunity in altering a decision deliberately +made? + +"6. Have I punished the beginning of an evil habit? + +"7. Have I suffered the indulgence of an evil habit through sloth or +discouragement? + +"8. Have calmness and seriousness marked my looks, tones, and voice, +when inflicting punishment? + +"9. Was my convenience, or the guilt of the child, the measure of its +punishment? + +"10. Has punishment been sufficiently private, and have I tried to +affect the mind more than the body? + +"11. Do my children see in me a self-command which is the effect of +principle? + +"12. Have I, in my plans, my heart, and conduct, sought first for my +children the kingdom of God? + +"13. Have I commended God to my children, and my children to God? + +"14. Have I aimed to govern my children on the same principle and in the +same spirit which God adopts in the government of his creatures? + +"15. Have I, in pursuance of the above resolution, acted in the spirit +of that prayer in God's word, 'Them that honor me, I will honor, and +they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed'? + +"16. Have I aimed to secure the love and obedience of my children? + +"17. Have I remembered that it is full time to make a child obey when it +knows enough to disobey? + +"18. Do I realize that the fulfilment of covenant promises is dependent +on my fidelity? Gen. 18: 19. + +"19. Have these resolutions been undertaken in the strength of Christ, +remembering 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me'? + +"20. Have I labored to convince my child that its true character is +formed by its thoughts and affections? + +"21. Do I daily realize that each of my children is a shapeless piece of +marble, capable, through my instrumentality, of being moulded into an +ornament for the palace of the King of kings? + +"22. Do I, by my conversation and actions, teach my children that +character, and not wealth or connexions, constitutes respectability? + +"23. Do I realize what circumstances are educating my children;--my +conversation, my pursuits, my likings, and dislikings? + +"24. Do I realize that the most important book a child can and does +read, is its parents' daily deportment and example? + +"25. Do my children feel they can do what they like, or that they must +do what they are commanded? + +"26. Have I felt that a timid child is in great danger of being +insincere? + +"27. Do I, as an antidote to timidity, cultivate the fear of God and +self-respect? + +"28. Do I realize that I must meet each child at the judgment-seat, and +hear from it what my influence over it has been as a mother? + +"29. Do I realize that it is in my power to exert such an influence that +Christ shall see in each the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied? + +"30. Do I realize that my children will obey God much as they do me? + +"31. Do I impress on my children that little faults in Christian +families may be as dangerous to the soul, and as evil in their +tendencies, as larger faults where there is no Christian education? + +"32. Do I realize the danger of retarding or hindering the work of the +Holy Spirit, by evil habits, worldly pursuits, or companions? + +"33. Do I make each child feel that it has a work to do, and that it is +its duty and happiness to do that work well?" + + * * * * * + +The paper having been read, one of the pastors stated that he knew the +lady who had been referred to; that she died leaving a large family of +children, all of whom, he had learned, were now members of the church of +Christ except the youngest, of tender age. He hoped that the Questions +would be printed in the Manual for the Maternal Associations. + +"I was struck with the remark in some old writer," said Mr. R., "that +'God had clothed the prayers of parents with special authority.' It made +me think that, as the Saviour promised the apostles, for their necessary +assurance and comfort, that they should always be heard in their +requests, while engaged in establishing the new religion, so parents are +encouraged to think, since family religion, the transmission of piety by +parental influence, is so important, in the view of God, that they will +have special regard paid to all their petitions for aid, as God's +vicegerents in their families." + +But the repast was now ready. It was a goodly sight, when that company +of ministerial friends and their wives were sitting round that table. +"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together +in unity." There is a mysterious charm in eating together. It is well +known that associations designed for social acquaintance and +conversation, have, very generally, fallen to pieces soon after the +relinquishment of the repast. Our great ordinance, for the communion of +saints, is appointed to be at a table, where it originated. The flow of +kind feeling, which had prevailed during the afternoon among these +friends, seemed now to be in full tide, and many were the entertaining +and gratifying things which were there said and done. All possible ways +in which the products of an acre or two of well-cultivated land could be +prepared to tempt the appetite, were there. Br. S. was informed that +those fried fishes swam in Acushnit brook no longer ago than when he was +rehearsing his parable of the fishes. The strawberries had been kept on +the vines a day or two, for the occasion, and were in perfection. Eggs +figured on the table in every shape into which those most convertible +things could turn themselves; and, being praised, the lady of the house +said that she must tell them of Ralph, a boy of fourteen, whom her +husband had taken to look after his horse and garden, giving him his +tuition in Latin and other branches, for his services. Ralph was a great +amateur in fowls and eggs. No sooner did a hen cackle, but he resorted +to the nest, and, with his lead-pencil, wrote the day of the month upon +the egg. The lady rung her table-bell, and called him to her, telling +him to bring his egg-basket. He brought in an openwork, red osier +basket, with a dozen and a half of eggs in it, laid on cotton batting, +each egg as duly inscribed as the specimens of a mineralogist. Ralph was +highly praised. + +"I suppose you think, my son," said Mr. R., "that an egg, like +reputation, should be above suspicion." + +"It is best to be safe, sir," said he. + +"Ralph," said Mr. S., "do you know who baptized you?" + +"You baptized me yourself, sir." + +"Do you remember, Ralph, how you reached out your hands, at that time, +and took my hand, and put my finger into your mouth, and tried to bite +it with your little, new, sharp teeth?" + +Ralph blushed, and smiled. + +"You do not remember it, Ralph. Well, I do; and now, Ralph, you must +come and preach your first sermon in my pulpit." + +"It will be a long time first, sir," said Ralph. + +"Your dear mother told me, when she was sick, that she thought she left +you in the temple, like Samuel, when she offered you up in baptism." + +"Be a good boy, Ralph," said another of the pastors; "we will all be +your friends." He retreated slowly, feeling not so much alone in the +world. + +The company did not separate till two of their number had led in prayer, +seeking, especially, the blessing of God upon their own children, and +that they, as parents and ministers, might be warned by the awful fate +of the sons of Aaron and of Eli, and not feel that the ministerial +office gave them a prescriptive right to the blessings of grace for +their children, but rather made them liable to prominent exposure and +calamity, if they suffered public duties to interfere with that first, +great ordinance of God, family religion. + +The horses were now coming to the door. Farewells and good wishes were +intermingled, the joyous laugh at some pleasantry or sally of wit made +the house and yard alive for some time, the pastors had arranged their +exchanges for several months to come, visits and excursions were planned +and agreed upon, till one by one the vehicles departed, leaving the +parsonage silent, while its occupants sat down to rest a while, and talk +over the events of the day, in their pleasant window under the +honeysuckle. + + + + +Chapter Eleventh. + +BAPTISM OF THE SICK WIFE AND HER CHILDREN. + + In having all things, and not Thee, what have I? + Not having Thee, what have my labors got? + Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I? + And having Thee alone, what have I not? + I wish nor sea, nor land; nor would I be + Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee. + + QUARLES.--"_Emblems._" + + He whom God chooseth, out of doubt doth well. + What they that choose their God do, who can tell? + + LORD BROOKE (London, 1633).--"_Mustapha._" + + +A lady with whom we spent a summer at a watering-place, and who was then +an invalid, and with whom we had formed an intimate acquaintance, was +now very sick, with cancerous affections, which threatened to end her +life at no distant period. + +She had become established in the Christian faith, during her illness, +and, being a woman of great intelligence and cultivation, it was +instructive to be in her company. Many a lesson had I learned from her, +in the freshness and ardor of her new discoveries as a Christian, the +old themes of religious experience being translated by her renewed +heart, and discriminating mind, into forms that made them almost new, +because they were so vivid. She was fast ripening for heaven; she had +looked in, and her face shone as she turned to speak with us. + +A lady, a friend of hers from a distance, was visiting us, and, knowing +that she was sick, requested me to call with her upon the invalid. +Hearing that I was in the parlor, she sent for me to come up and sit +with her and my friend, after they had seen each other a little while. +She was in her easy-chair, able to converse, and was calm and happy. + +The door opened suddenly, as we were talking, and in rushed a little boy +of about six years, his cap in his hand, a pretty green cloth sack +buttoned close about him, his boots pulled over his pants to his knees, +and his face glowing with health and from the cold air. + +"O, mother!" said he, before he quite saw us,--and then he checked +himself; but, being encouraged to proceed, after making his +salutations, he said, in a more subdued tone, holding up a great red +apple, "See what the man, where we buy our things, sent you, mother. He +called me to him, and said, 'Give that to your mother, and tell her it +will be first-rate roasted.'" + +As the mother smelt of it, and praised it, with her thanks, the boy hung +round her chair, and wished to say something. + +"Well, what is it, my son?" + +He spoke loud enough for us to hear, with his eyes glancing occasionally +at us, to be sure that we were not too intently looking at him, and, +with his arm resting in his mother's lap, he said: + +"Do, please, let me go with my sled on the pond. It is real thick, +mother. Gustavus says that last evening it was as thick as his big +dictionary, and you know how cold it was last night, mother. Please let +me go; I won't get in; besides, if I do, it isn't deep--not more than up +to there; see here, mother!" putting his little mittened hand, with the +palm down, as high as his waist. + +His mother looked troubled, and knew not what to say to him, but +remarked to us, "O, if I were well, and about the house, I could divert +him from his wish; but," said she to him, "if you will ask Gustavus to +take care of you, and bring you home when he comes, you may go." + +Off he went, making fewer steps than there were stairs, and we heard his +merry voice without announcing his liberty. + +"Here I am," said she to us, "with those three children, who come home +from school twice a day, and there is no mother below to receive them. +With the best of help, things sometimes go wrong, and the young woman +who sews for me cannot, of course, do for them what a mother could. +Nothing has tried my patience, in suffering, more than to hear the door +open, and my children come in from school, and to feel that I am +separated from them, within hearing, while I cannot reach them." + +She controlled her feelings, and helped herself to conceal them by +turning to rock a cradle which stood behind her, though we perceived no +need of her doing so; yet we must all distrust our own ears in +comparison with a mother's. The child was a boy seven months old. + +"Do you know," said she to me, "that I am thinking of joining your +church? I have had a very trying visit from my own pastor, and he says +that I am too sick to be baptized by immersion, and that it is, +therefore, too late for me to receive Christian baptism. It is not +necessary, he says, in order to being accepted of God. I was born and +brought up in that Communion, and never thought much of the subject of +baptism till I hoped that I began to love God, here in my sick-room. If +baptism is so important as our ministers tell us it is, in their +preaching and by their practice,--for you know how important they deem +it, in times of religious attention, to have people baptized in our +way,--I cannot see why it is not important to me. If it is man's +ordinance, and merely for an effect on others, very well; but if God has +anything to do in it, I feel that I need it as much as though I were in +health. So my husband asked your minister to come and see me, and he +did; and he is to baptize me and my children on Saturday afternoon, and +administer the Lord's Supper to me after church the next day." + +I asked her what ground of objection her pastor had in her case. + +_Mrs. P._ My minister tells me it is superstition to be baptized on a +sick-bed, and that they are careful not to encourage such Romish +practices. + +"But, O," I said to him, "Mr. Dow, I am afraid it is because your form +of baptism will not allow you to baptize the sick and dying, so you make +a virtue of necessity." He colored a little, but said, pleasantly, +though solemnly, "We see how important it is, Mrs. Peirce, to attend to +the subject of religion in health, when we can confess Christ before +men, and follow the Saviour, and be buried in baptism with him." + +That made me weep, though perhaps it was because I was weak; but I said, +"God is more merciful than that, Mr. Dow. I know that I have neglected +religion too long, but God has brought me to him, by affliction, and now +I do not believe that the seals of his grace are of such a nature that +they cannot be applied to people in my condition. I feel the need of +those seals, not as my profession to God, but as his professions of love +to me. I believe you are wrong, Mr. Dow. You seem to make baptism our +act toward God, chiefly; now I take a different view of it. My sick and +weak condition makes me feel that in being baptized, and in receiving +the Lord's Supper, I submit myself to God's hand of love, and take from +him infinitely more than I give him."--"O, that is rather a Romish view +of ordinances," said he, smiling.--"No," said I, "Mr. Dow, I am not +passive in the ordinances, any more than in regeneration; my whole soul +is active in receiving their influences. But there is something done for +us in the ordinances, as there is something done for us in regeneration, +while we actively repent and believe. Are you not so afraid of Romanism, +and of 'sacramental grace,' that you go to an opposite extreme? for it +seems to me a morbid state of feeling. I wish for no extreme unction, +but I do believe that, in being baptized, and in receiving the Lord's +Supper, something more is done for us than helping us to take up and +offer to God something on the little needle-points of our poor feelings. +I should feel, in being baptized, that God has adopted me, and not +merely I him; and, in the Lord's Supper, that it is more for Christ to +give me his body and blood, than for me to give him my poor affections." +He asked me if I had not been reading the Oxford Tracts. I told him that +I read the Oxford Tracts, and other Puseyite publications, in their day, +and that I saw through their errors, and had no sympathy with their +views. + +But I told him I was satisfied that the human mind, in that +development, was craving something more supernatural in religious +ordinances, to make the impression that the hand of God is in them, and +not that we are the principal party. So, instead of taking enlightened, +spiritual views of ordinances, the Tractarians sought to improve the +quality, by multiplying the quantity, of forms; and others are following +them into the Roman Catholic church in the same way. + +"There always seemed to me," she said, "to be a grain of truth in every +great error. Is it not so? Even among the Brahmins of the East, and +among savages, each superstition, and every lie, retains the fossils of +some dead truth. When a new error breaks out among us, I feel that the +human mind is tossing itself, and reaching after something beyond its +experience. It seems to me," she continued, "that, at such times, it is +good for ministers and Christians to reexamine their mode of stating the +truths of the Bible, to see how far they can properly go to meet the new +development, and, by preaching the truth better, intercept it. The cold, +barren view, which many take of ordinances, makes some people hanker +after forms and ceremonies; whereas, if we would present baptism and +the Lord's Supper as divine acts toward us, we might meet the +instinctive wants of many, and hold them to the side of truth. + +"But I told Mr. Dow that I was no formalist, nor did I believe in +compromising the truth to win errorists. Clear, faithful, strict +doctrinal views commend themselves to men's consciences." + +I came near saying to the good lady, that, if she were able to talk in +such a strain, and to say so much to her minister, he, surely, could not +have deemed her so enfeebled in mind as to be incapacitated for +admission to the Christian church. + +"I told him, also," she added, "I was satisfied that his unvarying mode +of baptism was not ordained by Him who sent the Gospel to every +creature.--Why, said I, Mr. Dow, what do you make of the apostles' +baptizing the jailer, 'at the same hour of the night,' and 'before it +was day?' It could not have been for any public effect. What need to +have it done just then? Was it superstitious and Romish? No; it was to +comfort the soul of the poor, trembling convert, with a sense of God's +love to him. How it must have soothed and cheered him to receive God's +hand of love in that ordinance, before he himself fully knew what the +making of a Christian profession implied! I want that same hand of love +here, in my prison of a sick-chamber,--And, I never thought of it much +before, but, I said then, it seemed so clear to me that they would not +have gone to all the trouble, that night, and in the prison-house, and +after the terrors of the earthquake, to put a whole family into +bathing-vessels. To take people from sleep, ordinarily, and immerse them +in water, would be a singular act; much more when they are weak and +faint, as the jailer's family must have been, from fear and excitement. +In my own case, I could not be immersed, even at home; it would probably +cost me my life. Sprinkling came to me as so sweetly harmonious, in that +scene of the jailer's baptism, that I believed it to be the apostolic +mode of baptizing, and I told Mr. D. that I should imitate the jailer; +and that I should send for a minister who could imitate Paul and Silas." + +"But," said I, "what brought you to believe in the propriety of +baptizing your children?" + +_Mrs. P._ Your minister enlightened me on that subject. I told him my +heart yearned to have it done; for I took the same view of it which I +have mentioned with regard to my own baptism--that it is something which +God does, to and for the children, primarily, and it is not merely a +human act. He said that it was like laying "a penal bond" on children, +to baptize them, and oblige them to do or be anything without their +consent. O, how many such "penal bonds" I have laid on my children, +already!--the more the better, I told him. "A penal bond" to love and +serve God!--I mean to add my dying charge to it, and make it as binding +as I can. How imperfect such a view of baptism is! It is God coming to +us with his seal, not we coming with our own invention to him. I wished +to have God enter into a covenant with me, who hope I love him, to be a +God to my children forever. I felt that I could die in peace, if I might +feel some assurance of this; and, it seemed to me that, to have a sign +and seal of it from God himself would make me perfectly happy. + +She handed me a book, which her pastor had lent her, and she asked me to +read a passage, to which she pointed. It was an argument against baptism +in sickness. Speaking of the penitent thief, the writer says: + +"The Saviour did not, as a Papist would have done, command some of the +women, that stood by bewailing, to fetch a little water; nor the +beloved disciple to asperse the quivering penitent." + +Remembering the view which the mother of little Philip took of such +things, I merely said, that the writer seemed to me to asperse a large +part of the Protestant world, under the name, Papist. Christian baptism, +I remarked, had not been instituted when the Saviour and the thief were +on the cross. + +I received an invitation from the husband, a day or two after, to be +present at the baptism of his wife and children. The husband was not +professedly, nor in his own view, a regenerate man, but one of the best +of husbands and fathers, destitute, however, of the one thing needful. + +The wife had on a loose cashmere dressing-gown, but was sitting in bed +for greater support and comfort. + +The pastor read to her the articles and covenant of the church. She +assented to them; whereupon, at his request, I laid the church-book of +signatures before her, gave her a pen full of ink, and she wrote her +name among the professed followers of the Lamb. + +The pastor then declared her to be admitted, by vote of the church, into +full communion and fellowship, after she should have received the +ordinance of baptism. + +He rose, and read, "And Jesus came unto them, and spake, saying, All +power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto +the end of the world. Amen." + +He continued: "My dear Mrs. Peirce, God is your God. He will have his +name written upon you, by its being called over you, with the use of his +own appointed sign and seal of baptism. The name in which he has chosen +thus to appear to you, is not God Almighty, nor his name Jehovah; but +those names which redemption has brought to view, and which impress upon +us the acts of redeeming grace and love. Do not feel, chiefly, that you +give yourself up to God in this transaction, though this, of course, you +do, and it is essential that you do so; but feel that the Father, Son, +and Spirit, come to you, and own you in the covenant of redemption, in +consequence of your accepting Christ, by faith, which itself, also, is +the gift of God. Professing repentance of your sins, and faith in the +Lord Jesus, you are now to receive, from the Sacred Three, a sign and +seal, confirming to you all the promises of grace, adopting you as a +member of the whole family in heaven and earth, and engaging God to be +your God. + +"And now, as you are, yourself, a child of God, your children God adopts +to be, in a peculiar sense, his. This is the method of his love from the +beginning. Had Adam remained upright, doubtless his children would have +been confirmed in their uprightness; but, inasmuch as he fell, and, by +his disobedience, they were made sinners, God reestablished his covenant +with Abraham as the father of all believers, under a new +church-organization, to the end of time, promising to be the God of a +believer's child." + +He then read this hymn; and certain expressions in it never struck me +with such force and sweetness as in that baptismal scene: + + "How large the promise, how divine, + To Abraham and his seed; + I'll be a God to thee and thine, + Supplying all their need. + + "The words of his extensive love + From age to age endure; + The angel of the covenant proves, + And seals, the blessing sure. + + "Jesus the ancient faith confirms + To our great fathers given; + He takes young children to his arms, + And calls them heirs of heaven. + + "Our God, how faithful are his ways! + His love endures the same; + Nor from the promise of his grace + Blots out the children's name." + +"And now," said he, "as you belong to the church of Christ, so your +children, in a certain sense, and that a very important and precious +sense, _belong_ to the church. Your little, unconscious babe belongs, in +that sense, to the church. You will not, you cannot, misunderstand me. +These are the children of a child of God. All your brethren and sisters +in Christ count them in their great family circle. They covenant with +you to pray for them, to watch for their good, and to rejoice in it, to +provide means for their spiritual prosperity, and to seek their +salvation. But, above all, God will ever have special regard to them as +the children of his dear child. + +"Receive now," said he, "the divine ordinance of baptism, whereby God +signifies to you, and seals, all that is implied in being your God." + +He drew near the bed, with a silver bowl, from which he sprinkled water +upon the head and forehead of the dear believer, whose countenance +expressed the peace of receiving, rather than the effort of giving, +while her lips moved now and then during the quiet scene. + +They brought Edward, the first-born, and he stood, with his hand in his +mother's hand, and was baptized. There were almost tears enough shed by +us for his baptism, had tears been needed. Lucy came next, and then the +rosy-cheeked Roger, who had been persuaded to leave his new sled, a +little while, that Saturday afternoon. + +But now the little boy was coming in from his cradle. His mother raised +herself in the bed, and received him in her arms. He had been weaned, +but, on coming to his mother, he began to make some solicitations, +which, beautiful and affecting though they were, some of us endeavored +not to see, but turned to smell of some violets, and to open a book of +engravings. The mother smiled, and held him off, but immediately put two +fingers, one on each eye, and wept;--the marriage-ring on one of those +fingers,--ah, me! how had the finger shrunk away from it. The nurse took +the child and diverted its attention. The husband sat far on the bed, +put one arm under the pillow that supported his wife, and held her hand +in his. Recollections and anticipations, we knew, were thronging, +unbidden, into that mother's soul. She had been reminded of fountains of +love sealed up, and yet there were opening within her living fountains +of water. She grew calm, beckoned for a little book on the table, opened +it, and pointed her husband to a stanza, which she had marked, and he +read it for her:-- + + "When I can trust my all with God, + In trial's painful hour, + Bow all resigned beneath his rod, + And bless his sparing power; + A joy springs up amid distress, + A fountain in the wilderness." + +That was her profession of religion, and her signal to the pastor to +proceed. The father took the little boy in his arms, held him over the +bed, before his wife; the pastor reached from the other side, and +baptized Walter, in the name of the covenant-keeping God. The father +held the child for the mother's kiss, and then took him away, fearing a +repetition of the previous scene. But the wife drew her husband back to +her, and left a kiss on his own cheek, amidst his tears. + +"And now," said the pastor, after prayer, "God has been in this place, +and has himself applied to you and your children the seal of his +everlasting covenant. Do not make your faith in it to depend on the +degree of equanimity or vividness in your feelings; but remember what +Elizabeth said to Mary: 'And blessed is she that believeth, for there +shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the +Lord.'" + +"O," said Mrs. P., "is it possible that I live to see this day? I almost +forget my sickness, my separation from my husband and children, in the +thought that God is my covenant God, and the God of my children. My +baptism is to me a visible writing and seal from God; and my children's +baptism is the same. I always used to think of baptism merely as a +profession on our part. O, how much more there is in it, besides that! +It is God's covenant and testimony toward me. Blessed names!" said she, +soliloquizing,--"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! sweet society of the +Godhead! They come together; they are like the three that came to +Abraham's tent. Each has his precious gift and influence for my soul. +Why was I allowed to see this day, and enjoy this?" + +The pastor said, "This is just one of those things which make us say, +'His goodness is unsearchable.' There seems to be no way of accounting +for this rich, free, sovereign love." + +"Can I fear," said she, "to leave my children in such hands? No. God of +Abraham! 'thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.' +Faithful God! 'a God to thee and thy seed after thee;' what power the +seal of the covenant has to make you believe it; yes, and seemingly to +hear it read to you. Do speak to all our dear mothers, and tell them in +health to make far more, than many do, of baptism for their children." + +"And have you no blessing for me?" said the husband, as the pastor rose +to go. + +"Dear sir," said the pastor, "they seem to have left you alone." + +He had been sitting, somewhat out of sight, at the foot of the bedstead; +but, it was evident, from several signs, that his feelings were deeply +moved. + +The pastor took his arm, and, bidding the wife an affectionate but hasty +adieu, he went with him to the sitting-room below. + +"I need no arguments," said the husband, "to satisfy me, further, that +you are right. You have a system of religion which, I see, is good for +everything, and for everybody, and for all times, and places, and +circumstances. Sir, I have been sceptical; but I must confess that a +religion which can come into a family, like mine, and do what it has +done, through you, sir, to mine, and to me, must be from God. Sir, I +shall always respect our pastor for his consistency with his principles, +and for many other reasons; but I prefer principles like yours, which +can go to the sick and dying, and to little children whose mother----" + +Here he began to weep. The pastor said, "To take a mother from a young +family of children, like yours, Mr. Peirce, is just the thing which we +should prevent, could we have the ordering of affairs." + +"I feel," said Mr. P., "that God's hand is upon me. Passages from the +Bible, which I learned at sea, from love to my mother, come to me now. +She put a Bible in a box, and covered it up with a dozen pairs of +woollen hose, knit with her own hands. I have been saying to myself, in +the chamber, 'Behold, he cometh with clouds.' It is growing dark over my +dwelling; God is descending upon us in a cloud. 'Behold, he taketh away, +who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, what doest thou.' O, you +never lost a wife, my dear sir, nor looked on a motherless family, as I +begin to do. God help me, for I shall lose my reason." + +"No, my dear sir," said the pastor; "think what has just taken place up +stairs. You now seem to say, as Manoah did, 'We shall surely die;' but +his wife said, 'If the Lord were pleased to kill us,--he would not have +showed us all these things.' God has bestowed on your children, through +their believing mother, his covenant, to be their God.--You are a Notary +Public, I believe, sir." + +"I am," said Mr. Peirce. + +"Then," said the pastor, "you know the importance of seals." + +"O, yes," said Mr. P. "A gentleman, last week, came near losing the sale +of a large property, situate in one of the Middle States, because he had +had some papers executed, here, before a court not having a seal. I told +him, beforehand, that he was wrong; but he wished to know of what +possible use a seal could be, when the judge and the clerk used printed +forms, and the blanks were filled under their own hands. The papers came +back, and he had to do his business over again, and before a court +having a seal." + +"But he was perfectly honest, at first, I presume," said the pastor, +"only the form was defective." + +_Mr. P._ Yes, sir; but the form, in such a case, is the warranty. You +know that the power to have and use a seal is one of the things +specially conveyed by a legislature. + +"God has seals," said the pastor. "One is baptism. It used to be +circumcision. But, as the old royal seal is broken at the coronation of +a new king, God appointed a new seal, baptism, to mark the new +dispensation; as he also changed the Sabbath of creation in honor of +his Son's reign, and removed the memorial of his deeds of greatest +renown, the Passover, for one that signifies still greater deeds, the +Lord's Supper. Thus God has his seals. He attaches great importance to +them. He binds himself by them. Your wife, being a child of God, it is +his arrangement, from the beginning, to enter into covenant with her in +behalf of her children. He stands, now, in a special relation to them, +and has placed the beautiful seal of Heaven upon his promise to that +dear sick mother, 'I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.'" + +"Is it necessary that the father should be left out?" said Mr. P., +covering his face with his handkerchief. "They are mine, and God holds +me responsible for them. I am to be left alone with them in the world. +Is there not mercy for me, too? O, I had such a gleam of hope in the +chamber! As I saw the water descending from your hand upon those dear +heads, I thought, How much like a divine act such baptism is,--something +from God. I always thought of baptism as a cross, to which I must +submit; now I see that it is a token of love, bestowed upon me. So I +thought of those words: 'I am found of them that sought me not.' God +seems to have come to me in that baptism. I was expecting that, if I +ever became a Christian, I must, in token of my submission, be buried in +the waters of baptism. I would be willing to be, still, if necessary; +but that gentle baptism, coming to me and mine, seems like God being +beforehand with me, doing something with me and for me. It made me think +of Christ inviting himself into the house of Zaccheus, to save his soul. +I always felt that I must obtain religion wholly of myself; now I feel +that God has begun the work in me. I am sustained and borne on. That +baptism was the most powerful appeal that ever reached my heart. It +seems to me, in its connection with the gospel, like a beautiful +symphony of instrumental music in an anthem, which strives to interpret +the words. It proved an overture to me, indeed, in the best sense. But, +my dear sir, how near we came to losing all this which my wife has +enjoyed." + +The door opened, and little Lucy came in with two plates and two silver +knives, and that great red apple which her mother had received a few +days before. "Mother sends her love to you, sir, and begs that you and +father will eat this." + +They looked at the apple for a few moments, when the husband said, "I do +not feel like eating it. Do oblige me by taking it home with you." + +The pastor took it home with him, placed it on his mantel-piece in his +study, where, for several days, it gave such an odor as to attract the +notice of every one that came in. The hand that sent it to him, in less +than a week had finished its work on earth. The apple then became a +hallowed thing. There it remained till it wilted, grew soft, and finally +turned nearly black. + +A little, unceremonious visitant to his father's study would often climb +into the chair near the shelf, and express his wonder, and repeat his +questions, at the seeming mystery,--first, of not eating the apple, and +suffering it to be wasted; and then, of letting it remain when it ought +to be thrown away. It was not long, however, before the apple was buried +in a pot of earth. In due time green shoots appeared. And when the +pastor saw them, he said with himself, "The children of thy servants +shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee." + +How it grew in the pastor's study, a little sacramental emblem of +hallowed scenes, and of infinitely precious truths,--how a place was +selected, and afterwards prepared, for it, near a garden-wall which +separates the wife's little garden from her grave,--and how the husband +came alone, one Sabbath, and joined the church, receiving the seal of +baptism from the same hand that sprinkled the water upon the heads of +his wife and children,--I cannot tell you now, nor, after so long +detention, would you be willing at present to hear. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Bertha and Her Baptism, by Nehemiah Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BERTHA AND HER BAPTISM *** + +***** This file should be named 20428.txt or 20428.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/2/20428/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth, Curtis Weyant and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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