A LETTER
ON PUBLIC BAPTISM,
AS ESTABLISHED BT
<! THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
IN THE
United States of America
VV\VVVVViVVV^Il\MVVVVV«VWV\%WV
By the Rev. FREDERICK DALCHO, M. D.
ASSISTANT MINISTER OF ST FAUi's CHURCH. ,
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CHARLESTON, (8. C.)
PUBLISHED BV E. MORFORD, NO, 8, BROAD'STREIlt.
1817,
A LETTER, «jc.
To C K , Esq.
Charleston, Feb. 18, 1817*
1>EAR SIR,
I have received your note re¬
questing me to administer Baptism to two
children in the house of their parent. I
would willingly comply with your wishes,
if the Church permitted me so to do; but,
as it would militate against her explicit di¬
rections, it is a paramount duty to obey
her authority. In refusing, therefore, to
comply with your request, you will, I trust,
believe, that I am influenced solely by a
sense of duty, and the solemn obligations
which I voluntarily contracted at my Ordi¬
nation-
It will, probably, be satisfactory to you
to be informed of the directions of the
Church upon this subject; and likewise,
of the obligations under which our Clergy
minister. Although these directions are
to be found in the Book of Common Pray¬
er., yet, it is probable, that they may have
escaped your observation; for I am fully
persuaded if you had read them with at-
4
tention, ^you would not have required what
I could not conscientiously perform. I
doubt not, however, after a candid peru¬
sal of this letter, you will acknowledge,
that I could not comply with your request,
without subjecting myself to ecclesiastical
censure, and to an awful responsibility at
the judgement seat of Christ.
In the first place, then, I must inform
you, that I am invested with no discre¬
tionary power in administering the Ordi¬
nances of Religion; and that every thing
relating to the discipline, rites and cer¬
emonies, usages and customs of the
Church, has been established by wiser
heads than mine, ages before you and I
were born. The right of the Church to
give directions in these cases, will not, I
presume, be called into question. It is
founded upon the right which every Soci¬
ety has to enact laws for the government
of its members, and which the Church ex¬
ercises in common with others- The Ar¬
ticles of our Religion confirm this right.
" The Church hath power to decree Rites
u or Ceremonies." (Art. 20.) " Every par-
" ticular or National Church hath author¬
ity to ordain, change and abolish cere,-
0
<fi monies or rites of the Church, ordained
" only by man's authority, so that all things
" be done to edifying." (Art. 34.) "The
" Protestant Episcopal Church in theUni-
" ted States of America," has ordained
certain Rites and Ceremonies, and she a-
lone has power to repeal them; I have
not.
As an Ambassador of our Almighty Re¬
deemer, (2 Cor. v. so.) the Lord Jesus
Christ, I am solemnly bound to declare his
will, and to administer his sacraments as
he has established them in his Church:
(Matt, xxviii—18, 19, 20.) As a Minister
in the Protestant Episcopal Church, I am to
be governed in all cases of Rites and Cer¬
emonies, by her judgment and authority.
It has not been left to me to say, how, and
when, and where the Sacrament of Bap¬
tism shall be administered; nor would it
become me to set up my own opinion in
opposition to the Scriptures, and the so¬
lemn decision of the ecclesiastical author¬
ity. These authorities have decided im¬
peratively, and must be obeyed. Were"*
every individual in the Ministry to act in*
conformity with his own opinion, or be gov¬
erned by his own convenience, or the c©n-
Venience of others, there would be an end
to the unity of the Church. (Phil. ii. 2 iii
4 6.) Difficulties and inconveniences would
then be urged which have but a fancied ex¬
istence, and excuses would be found for any
innovation that caprice might introduce.
The meekness of some; the infirmities
of others, and the indolence of many of
the Clergy might induce them to yield to
importunities and excuses, and produce a
variance in the service of the Church,
which would destroy that " beauty of ho¬
liness," which it is our anxious care to ex¬
hibit in the Sanctuary of our Lord. The
great Apostle of the Gentiles has left us a
lesson upon this subject, which should be
deeply impressed upon the hearts and
minds of both Clergy and Laity; " how is
" it then, brethren? when ye cometogeth-
" er, every one of you hath a Psalm; hath
" a doctrine ; hath a tongue ; hath a rev-
" elation; hath an interpretation. Let all
" things be done unto edifying." (l Cor.
xiv. 26.) And again (ver. 40.) "Let all
u things be done decently and in or-
" der."
If innovation be permitted in one thing,
it may be in another. If it be iuconveni-
y
ent to one person to carry his child to the
Church, to receive the sacrament of Bap*
tism, it may be inconvenient to another to
go there to receive the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper; for excuses can as readily
be found for the one as for the other.
The weather may be either too hot or too
cold; or the Church too damp or crowded;
and if we can find no other excuse, we
can, at least, say in this case as is some¬
times said in the other, I dont choose to go
to the Church. Then we might desire the
Minister to come and administer it to us in
our drawing-room ; and he has just as
much authority for doing the one as he has
for the other. If he choose to be an au¬
thority to himself, he declares himself in¬
dependent of the Church, and superior to
her authority; and if superior to her au¬
thority, he must be beyond her control,
and, consequently, must cease to be her
Minister. Both Sacraments were institu¬
ted by the same Divine Authority, and both
are alike ordered by the ecclesiastical law
of our Church, to be administered in the
same place. The command is Imperative;
and if we administer either in private hou¬
ses, except in cases of sickness, we vio-
8
late our Ordination vows, and set at defi¬
ance the authority of the Church.
The first direction which the Church has
given upon the subject, is contained in the
first Rubric prefixed to the office of " Pub¬
lic Baptism of Infants." It is in these words:
" The people are fb be admonished, that it
" is most convenient that Baptism should
" not be administered but upon Sundays and
" other Holy-Days, or Prayer Days," fijc.
This evidently implies, that the Baptism is
to be public, otherwise it would be a mat¬
ter of indifference whether it was adminis¬
tered upon a Church day, or not; but as it
is expressly ordered to be administered up¬
on Sundays, Holy-Days or Prayer Days,
it must be with the view that the congre¬
gation may have the opportunity of witnes¬
sing the admission of a new member into
the Church of Christ. "Nevertheless," the
Rubric continues,' if necessity so require;"
that is, if the Child be really sick, and can¬
not be brought to the Church, without ex¬
posing it to danger, " Baptism may be ad¬
ministered upon any other day." And for
this purpose, the Church has provided an
Office for the " Private Baptism of Child¬
ren;" which consists in the Baptising of
0
the child, with a prayer of thanksgiving to
God, but without requiring Sponsors, or be¬
ing accompanied with the exhortations and
prayers, prescribed in the public form.
To prevent this private Office from be¬
ing used for any but the sick; and to guard
against the healthy being baptised anywhere
but in the Church, she has declared, in the
first and second Rubrics prefixed to the Of¬
fice of " Private Baptism," that "the min-
" ister of every Parish shall often admonish
" the People, that they defer not the Bap-
" tism of their children longer than the
6i first or second Sunday next after their
" birth, or Holy-day falling between, un-
" less upon a great and reasonable Cause.
" And also they shall warn them, that with-
" out like great cause and necessity, they
" procure not theiil children to re
c£ baptised at home in the^r houses.
" But when need shall cctmpel them so to
" Jo," then Baptism is to be administered
according to the Office for Baptising the
sick. That it is the sick only, who are re¬
ally contemplated in this Office, is evident
from the third Rubric, authorizing the
Minister to use as many of the collects in
r
iO
the other Office, " as the time and present
" exigence will suffer
Here, then, you see, the Church has ex¬
plicitly declared, that children shall not be
baptised in private houses ; and that who¬
ever does baptise them in private houses,
disobeys her express commands.
Under the present view of the subject,
I shall not enter into a discussion of the
propriety of public baptism ; all that it now
concerns me to show is, that the Church
has ordered Baptism to be publicly admin¬
istered, and that her clergy are bound to
obey her authority. I will, however, just
observe, one of the reasons for the pub¬
lic baptism of children, evidently is, that
the congregation may know they are law¬
fully baptised ,* for we find by the fifth Ru¬
bric in the Office of " Private Baptism,"
that, " if the child which is after this sort
" baptised, do afterwards live," which
clearly implies that the child must be con¬
sidered in danger, before it is entitled to
receive private Baptism, " it is expedient
66 that it be brought into the Church, to the
" intent that if the Minister of the same
" Parish did himself baptise that child, the
" congregation may be certified of the true
11
" form of Baptism." This object would
unquestionably be defeated if baptism was
administered in private houses.
In the third Rubric, before the Office of
" Public Baptism of Infants," the church
directs that the " Godfathers and Godmo-
" thers, and the people with the children,
" must be ready at the Font, either imme-
" diately after the last Lesson at Morning
(t prayer, or else immediately after the last
" Lesson at Evening Prayer, as the Min-
ister by his discretion, shall appoint." If
there was no other Rubric, this would be
conclusive: The place, the Church ; the
time, immediately after the second Lesson.
In the seventh Rubric, after authorizing
the occasional omission of the Gospel, the
Exhortation, and a prayer founded upon it,
there is added, " bet note ; that in every
" Church, the intermediate parts of the
" service shall be used, once at least in ev~
" ery month (if there be a Baptism) for the
" better instructing of the people in the
" grounds of Infant Baptism." This Ru¬
bric expressly establishes the Church as
the place of baptism, and directs that the
whole of the baptismal office be read to
the congregation, once a month, if there
be a baptism, that the people may be made
acquainted with the nature of this Sacra-^
ment. It is evident, if Baptism was ad¬
ministered in private houses, this Rubric*
would be useless; for the Congregation
would have no concern in the business.
From these Rubrics it is perfectly clear,
that the ecclesiastical authority has deci¬
ded the Church to be the only proper
place for the baptising of persons, except
they be sick.
So much for the Rubrics. I will now
make a few remarks upon the Office itself-
In the first address to the Godfathers and
Godmothers, the Minister says—■" Dearly
" beloved, ye have brought this child here
" to be baptisedCan the Minister con¬
scientiously say this when he is brought to
the child, #nd not the child to him ? When
the service is performed in the church he
can say it with truth.
In the prayer immediately preceding
the baptising of the child, the Minister
prays—" regard we beseech thee, the sup-
^ plications of thy congregationI
know that Christ has said, " where two or
three are gathered together in His name,,
there He will be in the midst of them,"
13
(Matt, xviii. 20.) but I do not know that
two or three, or a dozen, met together in a
private house, can, according to common
parlence, or ecclesiastical usage, be called
a congregation; which is usually described
as " an assembly met to worship God in
public." (Johnson) The Church appears to
view it in this light. In the Office for the
Holy Communion, the prayer for " Christ's
" Church Militant," contains this address
to the Almighty—" and to all thy people
u give thy heavenly grace; and especially
" to this congregation here present." But
in the Office for " the Communion of the
" sick," which is administered in private
houses, this prayer is omitted; and the
word congregation no where occurs in the
service. Indeed it appears to have been
purposely avoided, to confine it solely to
worshippers in public; for in the third Ru¬
bric at the end of the Office, this phrase is
used, " or for lack of company to receive
" with him." So that they who receive
this Sacrament in private houses constitute
a company, and not a congregation.
It now only remains for me to show, that
it is the duty of the Clergy to submit to the
14
authority of the Church, without any re¬
gard to their own opinion or convenience.
The seventh article of the " Constitution
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America"' states, that no
person shall "be ordained until he shall
" have subscribed the following declaration :
« — and I do solemnly engage to con-
" form to the doctrines and worship of the
" Protestant Episcopal Church in these U-
u nited States." A subscription to this de¬
claration is made a pre-requisite to ordi¬
nation ; it is, therefore, not optional with
the Clergy whether they will conform to the
Church or not; but they solemnly engage
to do so, before they are clothed with Holy
Orders.
At the ordination of a Priest, he is ask¬
ed by the Bishop, in the presence of the
congregation, " will you give your faithful
<c diligence, always so to minister the
" Doctrine and Sacraments, and discipline
" of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded
w and as this Church hath received the
" same," ^c. To which he answers, " I
*l will so do, by the help of the Lord."
Here is an explicit promise made by the
Clergy, faithfully to perform their duty in
15
the administration of God's Ordinances^
and they have ratified and confirmed these
promises, by receiving, at the time that
they made them, the Holy Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper.
The penalties to which a Clergyman sub¬
jects himself who wilfully deviates from
the Rubrics^ is established by the i Oth Rule
of the Constitution of the Church in this
Diocess, It is as follows:
" Wilful error in religion, or deviation
" from the Rubric of the Church 5
" charges of viciousness of life, and dis-
" orderly behaviour, may be exhibited a-
" gainst a Clergyman to the State Conven-
" tion; and on clear and sufficient proof
" thereof, by viva voce evidence, on oath
" duly administered, in the Convention,
" or by a Commission to take such evi-
" dence, duly executed, such Clergyman
" shall be excluded the Convention; and
" the Convention shall request of the Ves-
" try or Congregation of the Church, in
" whfch he officiates at the time, to dismiss
54 him from the charge of their Churchy for
44 the reasons before mentioned ; and also
£S to inform the Bishop, (and if there be no
44 Bishop, the Standing Committee) which
40
ct Bishop, or Standing Committee, shall i?i~
"form the Board of Bishops of the Protes-
" tant Episcopal Church in the United
" States of America, that such Clergyman
" is an improper person to officiate in the
" Sacred Order of Priest or Deacon, in any
" Pr'Otestant Episcopal ChurchThis is
too plain to need comment. It is a just
punishment for the wilful neglect of duty,
and for a contempt of the authority of the
Church.
From the preceding statement you will
perceive the following syllogism may be
formed :
Major;—If a Clergyman wilfully deviate
from the Rubrics of the Church, he
subjects himself to ecclesiastical pun¬
ishment ;
Minor;—The Clergyman who baptises a
child at a private house, except it be
sick, wilfully deviates from the Ru¬
brics of the Church :
Conclusion;—-Therefore such Clergymari
is subject to ecclesiastical punishment.
I will close this letter with a few obser¬
vations. You are an Episcopalian. It is
your privilege to worship in a Church
whose ddctrines are found in the Bible, and
17
whose forms are derived from the Apos¬
tolic Age: Whose Ministry is Apostolical,
and therefore legitimate, and whose Ordi¬
nances are of God's own appointment.
These are blessings of no ordinary magni¬
tude; for they constitute a true Church.
You woulfl not, therefore, I am convinced,
wish to alter the forms which wisdom has
ordained; nor to change the customs which
antiquity has approved. You are a christ¬
ian, and would, I am sure, shrink from re¬
quiring any thing of your Ministers which
is forbidden by the laws of the Church.
And I likewise feel assured, if a Clergy¬
man could be found, who would be willing
to sacrifice his duty to his convenience,
and deviate from the Rubrics of the Church
to meet the wishes of the uninformed, or
unthinking, that you would cease to re¬
vere him as a conscientious Christian, and
would deem him to be an unfit person to
minister between God and his people.
From this exposition of the Rubrics of
the Church, and of the duties of the Cler¬
gy, I flatter myself, my Dear Sir, you will
be satisfied that I have acted from a sense
of duty in refusing to comply with your re¬
quest. And I trust you will do me
e
18
the justice to believe, that no other mo¬
tive could have influenced me in the dis¬
charge of the Sacred Office, or have indu¬
ced me to oppose the wishes of my friends.
I am, Dear Sir,
Yours, §c.
"OTm HOFF, FHIKTF.H.