LETTER X.

ON THE BAPTISMAL AND BURIAL SERVICES.

SIR,

HAVING spoken of the Liturgy generally, I will now make a few remarks upon one or two of those particular parts of it, to which you object. The first is, the Baptismal Service; you object to this because the Church, you say, there teaches baptismal regeneration. Now, without entering into a lengthened discussion upon this much-disputed point, I remark, that whatever the Church teaches, I will shew that you Dissenters believe that children are regenerated by Baptism. Baptism is a Divine and spiritual Ordinance, and is either of some spiritual benefit to the child, or it is not. Now, if it is of no spiritual benefit, why do you practice it yourselves? And if it is, what is that spiritual benefit? Mr. Scales gives the answer, when he says that Baptism is "a Christian Ordinance, a sign and a means of grace. We claim for it," says he, "all that Christ intended by it, when he appointed it to be the rite of initiation into his visible Church."* Now, there is not a Churchman in existence that claims any thing at all more for it, or who does not simply believe it to be neither more nor less than "a Christian Ordinance, a sign and a means of grace,—

* Scales, p. 273.

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the rite of initiation into Christ's visible Church." Churchmen believe that the child is, after Baptism, and by "means" of it, what he was not before it-a Member of Christ's Church. Mr. Scales truly says, that it is "a sign and a means of grace," or, in the words of the Church Catechism, 66 an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace," and "a means whereby we receive the same.' Mr. Scales calls it " a means of grace," ," that is, a means" whereby divine grace is communicated to the child ;- a means whereby the child receives grace;—" a means" whereby the child becomes a partaker of divine grace; which grace, thus communicated and received by or through Baptism, is the thing signified by the "sign," that is, by Baptism. Thus, Baptism is, as Mr. Scales truly calls it, both " a sign and a means of grace; "-the "means" of its communication, and the "sign" of its reception. Now, then, if Baptism be, as Mr. Scales it is, says a means of grace" to the child, and the child thereby receives grace by or through it; as the means, the child becomes a partaker of grace; and as grace is divine and spiritual, the child becomes, of course, a partaker of divine and spiritual grace: and what a regenerated character is more than this, I am at a loss to imagine. Dissenters themselves believe that no unregenerated person is a partaker of divine grace; that the very first grace communicated to a person is regenerating grace: therefore, whatever Churchmen believe, Mr. Scales and his brethren believe in baptismal regeneration, or that children are regenerated by Baptism. For, if Baptism be a means of grace, -a means whereby the child receives grace, and regeneration be the first grace communicated, then does the child receive the grace of regeneration by or through Baptism as the means. But, if the child does not receive regenerating grace by or through Baptism as the means, the question is, what grace does it thus receive? Of what grace is Baptism the means and the sign? Again, as the Holy Spirit is the glorious agent who

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conveys or communicates all grace, it must be he who communicates grace to the child by or through Baptism as the means, and if the grace thus communicated be the grace of regeneration, the child may very properly be said to be regenerated with, or by the Holy Spirit.

Moreover, Mr. Scales, speaking of the Primitive Churches, says, "the elements of these Churches were regenerated, holy characters; and he repeatedly gives us to understand that Dissenting Churches are like them ;-Churches of Christ, composed of “regenerated, holy characters." And, therefore, when he baptizes a child and receives it into his Church, that child of course becomes a regenerated character, made so by Baptism-the rite by which he was initiated into a Church composed of "regenerated and holy characters." Should Mr. Scales deny that the child is regenerated by Baptism, he places himself in an awkward predicament; for he must then either deny that Baptism is "a sign and means of grace," or that it is "the rite of initiation" into his Church, or that his Church is composed of "regenerated characters." Dissenters in this, as in every thing else, take very good care to contradict their theory by their continual practice.

At the same time, it is almost impossible to tell what they do believe, or what they mean; they cannot know themselves, for though they assert that Baptism is" the rite of initiation into Christ's visible Church," they continually deny it in their practice of admitting persons into Membership with them. For, although a person may have been Baptized in his infancy by a Dissenting Minister himself, and thus received into his Church; yet should that person afterwards desire to be considered as a Member of that Church, the Minister directly denies that his Baptism was "the rite of initiation" into his Church, and that he is, therefore, not a

* Scales, p. 93.

Member of it. And, if he wish to enter the Church, he must submit to another “rite of initiation," or mode of admission. In the first place, his wish must be signified to the Church; a couple of Members, generally Deacons, are then deputed by the Church to wait upon him, to converse with him, and to examine him respecting his spiritual experience, to see whether he has a "tender conscience" or not, and so on. After sitting in judgment upon him, they deliver their opinion respecting him, to the Church, and if their account be satisfactory, a day is appointed for his "coming before the Church." He then "comes before the Church;" that is, not before all those who have been Baptized, but before all those who have received another "rite of initiation," and tells them that he has been converted— that he has a "weak and tender conscience,"—that he wishes to be a "Dissenter on principle,”—that he knows that "pure attachment to Dissenting principles requires to be kept up by a keen hatred, and now and then a little round abuse of the Church"-that his own "attachment to Dissenting principles" has been much strengthened by such holy and heavenly means, and that he has no doubt but it can be kept up" by the same very charitable, Christian-like, and Evangelical means. After he has finished his " experience," he withdraws, while those who have received the second" rite of initiation," consult about the matter, which is finally put to the vote; and should the candidate be so fortunate as to have a majority of hands held up in his favour, he is then called in, and told that the Church has received him, and that he is consequently a Member, the Minister taking him by the hand as the "sign" of it. Thus ends this unscriptural and superstitious "rite of initiation,"-a mere fantastical farce. How absurd, therefore, is it for Dissenters to say that Baptism is "the rite of initiation" into the Church, when they in their practice invariably deny it to be such, and supersede it by a ceremonious invention of their own. Instead of calling Baptism" the rite," they

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ought to call it " a rite," or one of their rites of initiation," for they have clearly two, whether they are to be found in the Bible or not. They, however, tell us, and that repeatedly, "that the Word of God is their only rule of faith and practice." But it is a good thing that we are not obliged to believe them. Having the Word of God in our hands, we plainly see that "they reject the commandments of God, that they may keep their own traditions."

Speaking of the mode of the admission of Members amongst the Independents, a Dissenter says, "I here allude to the custom of requiring a Confession of Faith, a subscription to a Church-covenant, or a recital of spiritual appearances, commonly termed an experience.' For this heavy burden which they have laid upon men's shoulders, there is not the least warrant either from Scripture or common sense." He says, "To illustrate the subject, I will suppose a case: Some pious country gentleman is desirous of joining a neighbouring Dissenting Congregation. The Pastor is, perhaps, a respectable man, but his Deacons in an humble station of life,-say the gentleman's tailor and shoemaker. These are deputed by the Church to wait upon him, for the purpose of taking a measure of his conscience, and of enquiring into his spiritual attainments. After sitting in judgment upon him, they report to the Church, and if their account be satisfactory, a day is appointed for his admission, when he has to pass through the ordeal before mentioned. I am well aware that this is not the uniform practice, the loose connection subsisting amongst Dissenters allowing of every variety of Form."* And yet all these various Forms, I suppose, they wish us to believe, are to be found in the Word of God.

Thus it appears, that although Dissenters say that Baptism is the "rite of initiation" into their Churches, they have another "rite of initiation" of their own in

* Remarks, &c., p. 30.