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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/whatisbaptismessOObost 
 
WHAT IS BAPTISM? 
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 BEING CHIEFLY 
 
 A REVIEW OF THE FIRST PART OF A WORK ENTITLED 
 
 AN " EXPOSITION OF THE LAW OF BAPTISM," 
 
 BY THE REV. EDWIN HALL. 
 
 TRANSMONTANUS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 GOULD, KENDALL AND LINCOLN, 
 
 59 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 
 1844. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, 
 
 By GOULD, KENDALL & LINCOLN, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 WEST BROOKFIELD. 
 C A. MIRICK, PRINTER. 
 
*** 
 
 - 'v 
 
 - 
 PREFACE. 
 
 While these sheets were under the writer's- hand, 
 the disposition that should be made of them was, in. 
 his own mind, quite uncertain. It was very doubt- 
 ful whether they would be published. One of two 
 things was certain : they would see the light through 
 the press ; Or they, would remain safe in his own custo- 
 dy, and their contents be known only to a few friends, 
 at whose solicitation they had been written. The. 
 .choice of these alternatives was to be determined en-? 
 tirely by advice. It has been so determined. Esteem- 
 ed friends to whom the manuscript has been sub- 
 mitted, on whose judgment there could be no hesitation 
 to rely, have concurred in desiring its publication ; and 
 they have urged a sufficient reason, namely, their opin- 
 ion that it may serve the cause of truth. 
 
 The circumstances which specially drew the wri- 
 ter's attention to this subject may be stated in general 
 terms. After the revival, in the winter of 1842-3, in the 
 blessings of which so many places participated, the sub- 
 
ject of Baptism (as usually happens after revivals, when 
 many are disposed to candid inquiry) was very gener- 
 ally agitated — discussed in conversation and argued in 
 the pulpit. On the part of the Psedobaptists, of differ- 
 ent denominations, within the circle of the writer's ac- 
 quaintance, Mr. Hall's book was the constant resort, 
 the bank upon which they drew for nearly all their 
 arguments. It furnished the matter of sermons ; not 
 only the matter, but much of the language, nearly 
 verbatim. It was declared unanswerable, and its au- 
 thor heralded as the redoubtable champion of the faith 
 which he had undertaken to defend. 
 
 The writer was very naturally led to look again into 
 a book upon which so many of his friends placed such 
 reliance, and which was the subject of so much ac- 
 claim ; and almost as naturally, he was led to employ 
 his pen in correcting the misrepresentations, in expos- 
 ing the errors, and in refuting the fallacies with which 
 the work abounds. 
 
 For the sake of those who may not have seen Mr. 
 Hall's book, more copious quotations have been made, 
 and his arguments more fully stated than would, for 
 any other design, have been necessary. It is hoped that 
 this essay may be fully understood without recurring to 
 the work which is more particularly reviewed. 
 
 The plan is meant to embrace two arguments distinct 
 and independent of each other. The question, What is 
 
Baptism ? is first settled by determining the meaning of 
 the original Greek word fiami'Cb). The argument is 
 designed to be complete and conclusive. A new course 
 of argument is then instituted, resting on the internal 
 evidence of the Scriptures, without regard to the signifi- 
 cation of the word. This is also designed to be complete 
 and conclusive in itself. These two arguments are, then, 
 combined, and s brought to bear together upon the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 The writer has no interest in this controversy, except 
 his interest in common with all others in the truth. 
 What the truth is, as regards this subject, is settled, in 
 his own mind, by a diligent investigation. He has ex- 
 amined the question and weighed the arguments on both 
 sides of it, till he sees it in its original simplicity. This 
 work is committed to the press from no other motive 
 than the hope that it may be instrumental in unveiling 
 error and promoting the cause of truth. 
 May, 1844. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction. ix 
 
 Part I. The Argument from the Classic 
 
 Meaning of BamiQu 21 
 
 Part II. The Argument from the Scrip- 
 tures 69 
 
 Part III. The Argument from the Clas- 
 sics and the Argument from Scripture 
 combined. 149 
 
 Conclusion 152 
 
 Note 163 
 
 1** 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Since a diversity of practice, called Baptism, has 
 obtained among the professed followers of Christ, a 
 discussion involving- two questions has arisen on the 
 subject. 1. What is Baptism 1 2. Who are proper 
 subjects of the ordinance 1 
 
 As regards the first question, the nature of the 
 controversy seems to be frequently, if not generally, 
 misapprehended. The point in debate .is commonly 
 misstated. The views brought into the discussion 
 are these : One party contends that several ways of 
 applying water are baptism ; the other, that nothing 
 hut immersion is baptism. The question, then, is not 
 concerning the mode, as commonly stated : it is con- 
 cerning the thing, the rite itself-. Not what is the 
 proper mode of performing baptism ? but, 
 
 What is Baptism? 
 
 This question is proposed as the subject of the 
 present essay. Thus stated, it presents the true 
 point at issue. It is to be regretted that most Baptist 
 writers have indirectly acquiesced in the statement 
 which makes it a dispute about mode: even those 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 who have, in the commencement, correctly defined 
 their position, have subsequently, " for convenience 
 sake," or "in conformity with custom," with or 
 without notice or apology, relapsed into the fashiona- 
 ble phraseology. But the term mode has no legiti- 
 mate place in the discussion, and ought to be banish- 
 ed from it, as constantly misleading the judgment, 
 giving the subject a deceptive coloring, and promot- 
 ing an erroneous estimate of its importance. 
 
 Hence, doubtless, it is, in a great degree, that this 
 question, which, since it originated, has elicited as 
 much controversy as perhaps any other in the whole 
 range of Christian Theology, is so frequently intro- 
 duced to the reader, or auditor, by descanting upon 
 its want of importance, as a dispute about what must 
 be classed with non-essentials, with mere modes and 
 forms — a dispute to which the spirit of the gospel is 
 averse. The spirit of the gospel is certainly averse 
 to all disputations, except those which truth must 
 necessarily encounter in her contest with error. In 
 such disputations, it is the Christian's business to en- 
 gage. The gospel directs him to contend earnestly 
 for the faith. But the Christian faith embraces no 
 non-essentials, nor are they admissible in practice. 
 Whatever God has enjoined is essential ; and if any 
 observance has crept into the church, which, for want 
 of divine sanction, is not essential to Christian obedi- 
 ence, the only evangelical treatment of it is to dis- 
 card it, and thus relieve the church of God, to say 
 the least, of an incumbrance. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 That baptism is necessary to salvation, is no doc- 
 trine of the Baptists. They never pronounce a bap- 
 tized person, by the simple efficacy of baptism, " re- 
 generated with the Holy Spirit ," " a member of Christ, 
 the child of God, an inheritor of the kingdom of 
 heaven:"* they never declare baptism to be " a seal 
 of the covenant of grace, of ingrafting into Christ, 
 of regeneration, of remission of sins: "f they never 
 affirm, that " by baptism,, we, who were the children of 
 wrath, are made the children of God," that " there is 
 no other way of entering into heaven," and that " in- 
 fants cannot be saved, unless original sin be washed 
 away by baptism."% These expressions are all taken 
 from the creeds, catechisms, liturgies, confessions of 
 faith and standard writings of Psedobaptist societies. 
 Is it not strange that such language should be held by 
 those who pronounce baptism a non-essential? It is 
 not strange, when we reflect that error is compelled, 
 by the necessities of her being, to dwell in alternate 
 extremes ; in shifting from one extreme to the other, 
 she must unavoidably be found opposed to herself. 
 Pasdobaptism, struggling for a precarious existence, 
 at one time suspends upon baptism the eternal inter- 
 ests of the soul ; at another time, beset by other an- 
 tagonists armed with different arguments, decries the 
 holy ordinance as " a mere form," an "external," 
 a " non-essential," in the administration of which we 
 
 * Episcopal Catechism and Liturgy, 
 t Presbyterian Confession of Faith, 
 t John Wesley. 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are at liberty to consult our own convenience, and 
 apply water in what manner we please. 
 
 Truth in this, as in every other subject, lies be- 
 tween extremes. Baptism is essential, not to the sal- 
 vation of the soul, but to the obedience of faith, to a 
 good conscience toward God, to comfort in believing. 
 God, in the economy of the gospel, has made it an 
 essential duty of the disciple of Christ ; and has made 
 peculiar blessings to individual believers, and impor- 
 tant interests of the church, dependent upon its faith- 
 ful performance. And how obvious the remark, that 
 the benefit designed to be conferred by the institution 
 cannot be secured, if the ordinance itself be super- 
 seded by some other ceremony. 
 
 What is Christian baptism? All denominations 
 which profess to practise it, answer harmoniously, 
 " It is one of the sacraments enjoined by Christ to be 
 observed by his followers." Surely, then, if this in- 
 junction is involved in any doubt, it is no unimportant 
 inquiry, the object of which is to ascertain its true 
 import. It is not a question concerning a mere form. 
 It concerns an ordinance of divine appointment. It 
 involves the regular organization, the obedience or 
 disobedience, of the churches. And if God has con- 
 ferred on baptism the dignity of a sacrament, it is 
 surely no trifling transgression of order in the church 
 which neglects it, and sets up its confession of faith 
 as a rule of practice in opposition to the word of God. 
 
 ' ' You unchurch us ! " is the language of crimina- 
 tion or complaint often employed by Paedobaptists. 
 
INTRODUCTION. X1I1 
 
 No, brethren, the Baptists may reply ; your relations 
 to the church are not changed by any act or opinion 
 of ours. We do think, they should be changed by 
 an act of your own. And, certainly, we interpose no 
 obstacle to that act of obedience to the command of 
 the great Head of the church. So far from it, we 
 throw wide open the door of the church, and invite 
 you to enter. To throw open the door and invite a 
 friend into the house, does indeed imply that he is 
 out ; yet for him to call it " thrusting him out," would 
 be a very petulant construction of an act kindly in- 
 tended. Baptist sentiments fully proved- are but the 
 declaration of a fact in regard to any one's relation to 
 the church. . Those sentiments turn nobody out of 
 the church, although they do regard* the members of 
 many Christian communities professing an evangeli- 
 cal organization, as having never been in. But this 
 feature of the controversy, which is clearly recogniz- 
 ed by all who say " you unchurch us, ".gives it im- 
 portance. The question, we see, implicates the le- 
 gitimacy of the church-membership of a large por- 
 tion of the professed disciples of Christ. 
 
 But this question has acquired overwhelming im- 
 portance from the principles which have been drawn 
 into the discussion, and from the manner in which it 
 has been conducted. It is perhaps of more conse- 
 quence for the sake of other doctrines of divine reve- 
 lation, for the sake of the credibility of the whole 
 volume of revelation, to refute the arguments by 
 which sprinkling and pouring are defended, than it is 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for vindicating the truth in regard to baptism, even 
 though it is a sacrament specially ordained of God. 
 Indeed, we have here an illustration of the close con- 
 nection which subsists among all the parts of the sys- 
 tem of truth ; so close that violence done to any mem- 
 ber endangers the whole body. Not that the truth of 
 God is in danger of being overthrown by any, or all, 
 of the puny weapons of human reason ; yet such, as 
 far as human efficiency extends, may be the tendency, 
 and such upon some minds may be the practical effect, 
 of defending a favorite tenet in defiance of just rules 
 of interpretation, and of the principles of sound rea- 
 soning. 
 
 "If," says a writer in the Christian Review, " the 
 mode of reasoning adopted by those who maintain 
 that baptism means any application of water, what- 
 ever the mode, were universally employed, the char- 
 acter of our philology would be utterly ruined. Let 
 the same principle be conceded to Unitarians and Uni- 
 versalists, in the exposition of disputed passages, and 
 no parade about the laws of language and usus loquen- 
 di will be able to uphold the pillars of orthodoxy." 
 
 All this, and more than this, is true. The weap- 
 ons with which Christian baptism has been assailed 
 may, with equal effect, be directed against any other 
 doctrine of Christianity. Adopt the 'principles of in- 
 terpretation employed by those who wring from the 
 Scriptures an approval of sprinkling as baptism, and 
 you may read what you please from the Bible. Adopt 
 their modes of reasoning, and you may prove what 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 you please, with the Bible or without it. Sanction 
 their principles of interpretation and modes of reason- 
 ing, and you put into the hands of the enemies of 
 Christianity every weapon they can desire to achieve 
 its complete overthrow. The Bible would then afford 
 every argument requisite to destroy its own authority. 
 There is no doctrine of the gospel which the sacred 
 volume might not be employed to refute, no heresy 
 which it might not be made to approve. And when 
 infidelity would be thus, as a natural consequence, 
 " confirmed in hostility to the Bible, as a book ex- 
 plained by its friends, not on just and rational princi- 
 ples, but according to their own purposes," when 
 scepticism had triumphed over the Christian religion, 
 and aspired at dominion over the universal empire of 
 truth, the weapons requisite to consummate that 
 usurpation could all be furnished from the armory of 
 Paedobaptism. 
 
 On no subject is the mind of the Spirit revealed in 
 language clearer, or more intelligible, than on that of 
 baptism. With the New Testament in his hands 
 exhibiting the legible characters of inspiration, unob- 
 scured in translation, unbeclouded by note or com- 
 ment, a plain man could not err therein. To raise 
 and sustain a controversy on so plain a subject, has 
 necessarily demanded other resources than Scripture 
 fairly interpreted, and reason legitimately exercised, 
 are able to supply. Hence the learned subtleties, the 
 specious perversions, the artful equivocations, the 
 plausible sophisms, the bold confidence of assertion, 
 2 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which have been arrayed in defence of anti-immer- 
 sion. The difficulties which have been made to sur- 
 round the subject, are no part of its nature ; it is in- 
 debted for them to the mysticism in which it has been 
 enveloped, by interested learning often enlisted in the 
 service of power and ambition. ' If neither popes nor 
 kings had ever impiously usurped the office of Christ 
 as head of the church, assumed control over the 
 ordinances of God's house, prohibited the reading of 
 the Scriptures, or prescribed arbitrary rules for their 
 translation, the "one faith" of- Christians would 
 never have acknowledged more than " one baptism." 
 The original language of the New Testament, instead 
 of being permitted to illuminate the Christian's path, 
 has been made to serve a purpose, by interposing a 
 medium of darkness to intercept the beams of truth. 
 
 The book published by the Rev. Edwin Hall, of 
 Norwalk, Conn., in 1840, with the title, " An Ex- 
 position of the Law of Baptism," affords ample illus- 
 tration of the foregoing remarks upon the nature and 
 tendency of the principles on which Paedobaptism 
 sets up its defence. The book is moreover, in its 
 spirit and logic, a fair specimen of a somewhat nu- 
 merous class of " discourses," published and unpub- 
 lished, on the same side of the question. It contains 
 nothing original. Or, is there a tint of originality in 
 the shade of new coloring which a brazen dogmatism, 
 and the unscrupulous employment of modes of dia- 
 lectics, that have been in undisputed possession of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 sophists ever since the nativity of Reason, have been 
 able to spread upon arguments old and common-place 
 and long since refuted 1 
 
 We are convinced (and for the love of peace and 
 for the interest of truth, the conviction is gratifying), 
 only a small minority in any religious body are gov- 
 erned by such a. spirit as Mr. Hall has breathed into 
 his publications. Among Paedobaptists, none but 
 those who approve should be held, in any sense, re- 
 sponsible for his course, so remote from the kindness, 
 meekness, gentleness and charity of the Gospel. All 
 the rest should, in charity, be presumed too generous 
 to countenance the ebullitions of such qualities of 
 temper. They, doubtless, regard in a proper light 
 the bold fallacies, the magisterial assertions, the 
 peevish invectives, the cynical innuendos, which make 
 up his passion-breathing paragraphs ; and they are of 
 a temper of mind which never could indite such com- 
 positions as his, especially his second performance, 
 the abusive attack on Mr. Wolsey and others. 
 
 Mr. Hall has, however, embodied in these " dis- 
 courses," all the principal, and most of the subordi- 
 nate, arguments upon which the non-immersionists 
 rely for the defence of their system ; and those argu- 
 ments are no otherwise affected by the temper in 
 which he writes, than to be exhibited destitute of 
 those plausible habiliments with which a prudent 
 composure usually covers up their naked fallacy. He 
 follows the example of other defenders of the same 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 faith, in erecting his pasteboard batteries, only neg- 
 lecting the paint necessary to make them appear for- 
 midable. To review his book is, therefore, virtually, 
 to examine the present state of the controversy, which 
 is the design of this essay, rather than to review any 
 individual writer. For this reason, his book is selected 
 to be kept prominently in view, while at the same 
 time, the remarks and arguments of others will often 
 be noticed under the topics which he introduces ; and 
 thus it is proposed to follow out the regular plan of 
 an essay on the question, What is Baptism? 
 

 
 PART I. 
 
 The Argument from the Classic Meaning of 
 Bamv'Cjji. 
 
 One verb, with its cognate noun, is always 
 employed in the New Testament, when the 
 rite of Baptism is designated. It is plain then, 
 that to ascertain the meaning of that verb must 
 determine the question. If the verb in the 
 original can be rendered to sprinkle, or pour 
 water upon, that is conclusive : sprinkling and 
 pouring are baptism. If it can be translated by 
 some word sufficiently generic to denote " any 
 application of water," and the translation suc- 
 cessfully vindicated, that is conclusive. The 
 ground now occupied by the Psedobaptist po- 
 lemics would need no other defence ; and their 
 practice would be justified. For the Baptists to 
 attempt, then, to maintain their exclusive views, 
 would be obstinate and wicked presumption. 
 
 And if, on the other hand, the uniform mean- 
 ing of the word used to denote the ordinance 
 be to immerse, that is conclusive. The ques- 
 tion may be considered as settled : Baptism is 
 immersion ; and immersion only is baptism. 
 1 
 
22 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 The whole question, therefore, turns on the 
 meaning of the word ^anjitpd. "With this 
 clew to guide our inquiries, both parties must 
 abide the result. There are, it is true, other 
 data upon which the question may be settled : 
 there are historical and standing' facts ; and 
 there .are circumstances of note, connected with 
 the administration of the ordinance, as narrated 
 in the New Testament ; and there are the places 
 where it was. administered, specially chosen as 
 being adapted to that purpose ; and there is the 
 symbolic import of the rite ; and there are figur- 
 ative allusions.: from these data alone, even 
 though we were ignorant of the meaning of the 
 term employed to indicate the ordinance, an an- 
 swer to the question, clear and decisive, could be 
 deduced. Yet, independently of these consid- 
 erations, or using them only for example and 
 illustration, the whole question may turn on 
 the meaning of the word QaitxiXpi. 
 
 It is, then, a philological question. We have 
 only to ascertain the meaning of a word. To 
 do this, in a language easy to be understood, of 
 which we have numerous lexicons, and 'in which 
 we have a copious literature, would not. seem a 
 difficult task. Nor is it in fact. Perhaps there 
 is not another word in the Greek language, 
 with respect to which this task could be more 
 easily executed than the word fioimi^o)- — it is of 
 so frequent occurrence in Greek writers., and so 
 uniform in its sense. How is it, then, that 
 there is a dispute about its meaning ? The 
 charge so often laid against Mr. Carson an- 
 
of BA1ITIZII. 23 
 
 swers the question. Men' decide upon their 
 creed, and " take their position," beforehand, 
 and then go to the Classics and to the Bible 
 with " a purpose to serve," a Creed or Con- 
 fession of Faith to defend. Charity reminds 
 us of the power of prejudice instilled from 
 very infancy. The prejudices of education 
 are almost omnipotent, especially when strength- 
 ened by the concurrence of the prejudices of 
 sect. Candor and sincerity are seldom a match 
 for them. The good man knows not how far 
 they influence his opinions or conduct. Char- 
 ity requires us to make large allowances, in this 
 respect, for those who maintain a controversy 
 upon a question turning upon so plain a point 
 as the meaning of the word fianTi^w, and reject 
 the evidence of a specific sense, so abundantly 
 furnished in the Greek language and litera- 
 ture. 
 
 What then is the meaning of the word @un- 
 t*£w ? The readiest way to satisfy the inquiry 
 would seem to be to consult the lexicons. But, 
 says Mr. Hall, " Carson admits he has all the 
 lexicographers against him." We are becom- 
 ing familiar with this cry of " Carson against 
 the world !" But the assertion is none the more 
 true for the frequency of its repetition. In the 
 sense in which it is made, in any sense service- 
 able to the cause which it is intended to serve, 
 it is not sustained by fact. The whole of what 
 Mr. Carson says oh this head — the remark 
 here quoted taken with its context — conveys an 
 idea very different from that which he is made 
 
24 CLASSIC MEANING- 
 
 to convey by isolating this remark from its con- 
 nection. On what point does it admit the lex- 
 icographers are against him ? Not with regard 
 to the primary or literal meaning of the word, 
 which is, as every linguist knows, the only 
 true meaning, as being that to which all figura- 
 tive uses must be referred in order to be under- 
 stood. " On this point," he says, " I have no 
 quarrel with the lexicons. There is the most 
 complete harmony among them in representing 
 dip as the primary meaning. ^ # ^ Ac- 
 cordingly, Baptist writers have always appealed 
 with the greatest confidence to the lexicons of 
 even Psedobaptist writers. On the contrary, 
 their opponents have often taken refuge in a 
 supposed sacred or scriptural use, that may be 
 screened from the fire of the lexicons." 
 
 Further on, Mr. Carson explains in what re- 
 spect the lexicons are against him. " Park- 
 hurst," he says, " gives six meanings to 
 the word panTi'^." I undertake to prove it 
 has but one : yet he and I do not differ as to 
 the primary meaning of this word. I blame 
 him as giving different meanings, when there 
 is no real difference in the meaning of this 
 word. He assigns it figurative meanings. I 
 maintain that in figures there is no different 
 meaning of the word. It is only a figurative 
 application. The meaning of the word is al- 
 ways the same. Nor does any one need to 
 have a figurative application explained in any 
 other way than by giving the proper meaning 
 of the word. Where this is known, it must be 
 
of BALITIZSl. 25 
 
 a bad figure that does not contain its own 
 light." 
 
 Thus, Mr. Carson " admits" the word has 
 figurative applications from which the lexicog- 
 raphers correctly draw the meanings they as- 
 sign it. But these meanings are made out " by 
 implication" from the one literal sense ; and in 
 this one sense the lexicons all agree. This 
 sense is to immerse. Do the lexicons give the 
 definitions " to wash, to luet, to drench V 
 Doubtless these definitions were correctly in- 
 ferred from the passages where the word oc- 
 curs : yet this ivashing, ivetting, drenching,- 
 was, in every instance where fywitiiQn conveys 
 those ideas, the result of an immersion. And 
 so it is with every secondary or figurative sig- 
 nification : we correctly apprehend it only by 
 resolving it into the' one primary sense 'to im- 
 merse.* We have a striking exemplification, 
 
 * " To explain this point more clearly," says Mr. Carson, " I 
 shall lay down a canon, and by this I mean a first principle in 
 criticism." p. 81. " That which does not contain its own evidence 
 is not entitled to the name of a critical canon. I do not request 
 my readers to admit my canon. I insist on their submission — 
 let them deny it if they can. My canon is, that in certain situ- 
 ations, TWO WORDS, OR EVEN SEVERAL WORDS, MAY WITH 
 
 equal propriety fill the same place, though they are all es- 
 sentially different in the significations. The physician, for in- 
 stance, may, with equal propriety and perspicuity, say either 
 " dip the bread in the wine," or " moisten the bread in wine." 
 Yet this does not import that dip signifies to moisten, or that 
 moisten signifies to dip. Each of these ' words has its own pe- 
 culiar meaning, which the other does not possess. Dip the bread 
 
26 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 in this statement of what Mr. Carson "admits," 
 of the misrepresentation which may be made of 
 a man's sentiments by fixing upon some de- 
 tached observation. 
 
 And thus Mr. Carson, having explained, as 
 well as defined, his position, amicably adjusts 
 the difference between himself and the lexicog- 
 raphers, and finds them all on his side. 
 
 But, in this general defection and desertion 
 of the lexicographers from the standard of Pae- 
 dobaptism, the " Chronicle of the Church" has 
 placed Mr. Hall at the head of a reinforcement 
 of three " native Greeks," with which veteran 
 band he proposes, " triumphantly, to meet 
 challenge and defiance." It must be that he 
 appropriates to himself the promise, " One 
 shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten 
 thousand to flight:" otherwise, he would not 
 take the field against such fearful difference. 
 He would not venture with his Grecian three, 
 Spartans though they were, to encounter the 
 host of lexicographers, critics and commenta- 
 tors, who have arrayed themselves under the 
 adverse standard. 
 
 does not say moisten the bread, yet it is known that the object of 
 the dipping is to moisten. 
 
 " Now, it is from ignorance of this principle that lexicographers 
 have given meanings to words which they do not possess ; and have 
 thereby laid a foundation for evasive criticism on controverted 
 subjects, with respect to almost all questions. In Greek it 
 might be said with equal propriety devauv fv OlP(D, or 
 fiuifnti e.v OiJ'O), moisten in wine, or dip in wine ,-" and 
 from this circumstance it is rashly and unphilosophically con- 
 cluded that one of the meanings of fiamix) is to moisten.'''' 
 
OF BAllTIZfL. 27 
 
 But let us see how much reliance Mr. Hall 
 may justly place upon these three native 
 Greeks. " The oldest is Hesychius. He gives 
 only the word (9«ttto>, [bapto,]^ and the only 
 meaning he gives is avulsm, [antleo] to draw 
 ox pump water." It would be amusing to pro- 
 duce some examples from the Greek classics, 
 and set the editors of the " Chronicle of the 
 Church" to translating them by this meaning. 
 Take one example, cited by Mr. Hall, on page 
 30. " Hippocrates says of a certain liquid, 
 that when it drops upon the garments, they are 
 ' baptoed :' '" that is, by this definition of He- 
 sychius, the garments are "pumped" by drop- 
 ping the liquid upon them ! It would be ex- 
 tremely difficult to find a passage in the clas- 
 sics where this meaning would make any bet- 
 ter sense than it does in this example. But it 
 is altogether superfluous to extend remark here, 
 Bapto is never used to denote the ordinance of 
 baptism ; and it differs in signification from 
 laptizo, as we shall hereafter show. Hesychi- 
 us, therefore, we dismiss, as having no evi- 
 dence to give in the case before us, and not to 
 be trusted if he had. 
 
 " Next in order comes Suidas, who gives only 
 §ami:i» [baptizo], and defines itnlwo) [pluno], 
 to wash" But tcIwo) does not include different 
 
 * The fact that "he gives only pamw," and leaves out a 
 word so much used as ^arcTi'Co), is sufficient to condemn his 
 authority. We should expect a dictionary so defective in words 
 to be defective also in definition. 
 
28 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 modes of washing. Its sense is specific. It is 
 limited in its application to the washing of 
 clothes. It means " to rinse foul clothes," by 
 putting them into water, and moving them 
 backward and forward, or upward and down- 
 ward. It is the most probable root of the Eng- 
 lish verb to plunge. Its proper signification, 
 according to Donnegan, is " to wet or soak in 
 water." This definition of Suidas approaches 
 " to immerse" sufficiently near to entitle him 
 to rank with other lexicographers who explicitly 
 so define the word ^umi"j x)% His authority, 
 therefore, is all in favor of immersion. 
 
 Gases^ remains. His first definition, as cit- 
 ed from the " Chronicle of the Church," is 
 Bqb/m [brecho], which is translated " to wet, 
 moisten, hedeia" His translation demands some 
 remark. We have no hesitation in saying that, 
 in the connection in which it is made, it is cal- 
 culated to deceive. It is not uncommon to hear 
 Psedobaptists, who are unacquainted with Greek, 
 affirm that baptizo means " to bedew," and refer 
 for their authority to this translation of Gases' 
 definition. Every Greek scholar knows that 
 baptizo never has any such sense ; but the En- 
 glish reader needs to be informed that it is 
 Bqpp) [brecho], not baptizo, which Mr. Hall, or 
 " the Chronicle," has defined. To defend those 
 definitions as applicable to baptizo, it must be 
 assumed that when one word may be used to 
 define another, the two words are, in every sense, 
 
 * Gases appears in Mr. Hall's book as " a learned Greek," of 
 the beginning of the present century. 
 
of BA1ITIZSI. 29 
 
 synonymous. If it be so, all languages must 
 abound in synonymes. Indeed, as all words 
 are defined by other words, we might, upon the 
 principle here introduced, extend the chain of 
 synonymes to every word in a language, or in 
 all languages. 
 
 Take the English verb dip and follow up 
 this principle in defining it. One definition of 
 that verb by Webster is, to wet : therefore to 
 dip and to wet are synonymous, i. e. all wetting 
 is performed by dipping. One meaning as- 
 signed to the verb wet, is to sprinkle; therefore 
 to dip and to sprinkle are synonymous. One 
 sense of the verb sprinkle, is to rain moderately: 
 therefore to dip signifies to rain moderately. 
 To rain is " to fall in drops from the clouds :" 
 therefore to dip signifies to fall in drops from 
 the clouds. Shall we pursue this absurdity far- 
 ther ? This is exactly the principle upon which 
 it is made out that fianTi'Qu) signifies to bedew. 
 Gases defines it Bqf%w [brecho] ; the two words 
 are, at once, assumed to be, in every sense, sy- 
 nonymous ; and every signification of brecho 
 is carried back and applied to baptizo. Such 
 imposition upon the unlearned deserves expo- 
 sure. 
 
 The reason why one word may be used to 
 define another, and yet the two not be univer- 
 sally synonymous, is that the one is more 
 generic than the other, that is, the one embraces 
 more particulars than the other. It rests on the 
 axiom, that the less is contained in the greater. 
 Thus §qex m [brecho] means to wet in any man- 
 
30 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 ner, by any application of water. Of course it 
 includes immersion ; and in that sense it defines 
 BakiitfA — in no other. Had brecho, the defini- 
 tions of which are thus attempted to be palmed 
 upon us for those of baptizo, been employed 
 in the New Testament to express the initia- 
 tory ordinance, no controversy could ever have 
 arisen on the subject. There would have been 
 no Baptists : indeed, there would have been no 
 John the Baptist. The rite would have been, 
 beyond dispute, as generic as the sense which 
 Mr. Hall and others struggle, against all the 
 evidences of philology and history, to impose 
 upon baptizo. 
 
 Gases gives two more definitions : "Aoi/w [louo] 
 to wash; to bathe; avileco [antleo] to draw, to 
 pump water. These are " chronicled" as " the 
 definitions of a native Greek, who not only does 
 not give immersion as the primitive significa- 
 tion of baptizo, but who does not give it at all, 
 except inferentially.". Yet " his lexicon is of 
 the ancient Greek language," Mr. Hall informs 
 us. We will therefore bring some examples 
 from the Greek classics, for any student who 
 uses Gases' lexicon to translate. 
 
 Polybius, in Lib. i. § 51, describes the naval 
 battle between the Romans and the Carthagi- 
 nians, which took place off Drepanum on the 
 island of Sicily. The battle was fierce to des- 
 peration ; and one of its results was nolla tup 
 o-M*qZ)v f:-)U7tt(^opto, many of the vessels were bap- 
 tized. Does he mean " many of the vessels were 
 wet, moistened, bedeioed, washed, or pumped?" 
 
of BAIITIZn. 31 
 
 Which of these senses do you prefer ? Or will 
 you admit the authority of common sense, and 
 understand that the ships were sunk? Under 
 similar circumstances, in Lib. xvi. § 5, he speaks 
 of a quinquereme as (tamtoftivyv [baptized], 
 sunk. The word is of frequent occurrence in 
 Polybius, always in the same unequivocal im- 
 port. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, . Lib. i. p. 49, Dindorf's 
 edition, speaking of the inundations of the Nile, 
 says ; " and many of the land animals, being 
 caught by the river arid baptized [pamilofievu] 
 perish" Do you understand that the animals 
 perished by • being wet, moistened, bedewed, 
 ivashed, or pumped ? 
 
 When Porphyry represents the sinner as 
 baptized up to his head ■[Bamlteiai [iszql xecpa- 
 fyg] in the Styx, a fabled river in hell, does he 
 mean that the sinner endures the dreadful pun- 
 ishment of being wet, moistened, bedeived, 
 washed, or pumped, — up to his head in the 
 river ? 
 
 Hippocrates says (p. 532,) Mi] yslaoco rov 
 11-jv vrja nolloiat, cfOQTioioi fiamiaovia, sna ^is t u- 
 cpopsvoi' jnq duXatTr^ on xarsfivdiosv avTijv 7ili]Qi] ; 
 " Shall I not laugh at the man who baptizes 
 his ship by overlading it ; then complains of the 
 sea that it ingulfs the full vessel ?" Here, the 
 same consequence of overlading the ship is ex- 
 pressed, in separate clauses, by ftamlZo) [bap- 
 tizo], and xaiafivdltw [katabuthizo] to ingulf, 
 or swalloio up in the abyss. The man is said 
 to baptize his ship ; and the same fate of the 
 
32 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 ship is expressed by saying the sea ingulfs it. 
 But, according to Gases' lexicon, the man by 
 overlading, toets, moistens, bedeivs, ivashes or 
 pumps his ship ; and thus wetting, moistening 
 &c. appears by the context to be equivalent to 
 ingulfing ship and cargo in the sea! 
 
 Lucian, in his dialogue, "Timon the man-ha- 
 ter," puts these words into the mouth of Timon: 
 " If I should see a man perishing in the fire, and 
 beseeching me to quench it, I would quench it 
 with pitch and oil ; and if the winter torrent 
 were carrying any one away, and he should 
 stretch out his hands and implore assistance, I 
 would thrust him away and baptize him head- 
 long [SartTi^ovra em xscpahjp'j so that he might 
 not rise again." This is wetting, moistening, 
 bedewing, ivashing, pumping, with some severi- 
 ty in the operation. 
 
 It is easy to multiply examples of this kind, 
 which prove that Gases' lexicon is defective. 
 With such definitions, we cannot read " the an- 
 cient Greek language." If he has blundered 
 upon other words as he has upon this, his 
 " two volumes quarto" must be a literary prodi- 
 gy. Whatever purpose is to be served will be 
 clumsily served by such authority. The cause 
 which is compelled to invoke such aid, must 
 indeed be desperate. No man, surely, unless 
 driven by stress of weather, would take shelter 
 in such a harbor as this. 
 
 We have thus disposed of Mr. Hall's three 
 "native Greek lexicographers." And we are 
 prepared to repeat, with increased confidence, 
 
OF BAI1TIZSI. 33 
 
 the declaration of Professor Stuart, after this 
 futile attempt to evade it, that " all the lexicog- 
 raphers of any note agree in the sense to im- 
 merse." 
 
 To confute, or confirm, this universal decision 
 of the lexicons, recourse is had to the classics. 
 This is a legitimate appeal. We have antici- 
 pated it a little in dealing with Gases. Use is 
 the arbiter of language. The language was 
 made before the lexicons. Whatever decision 
 is fairly obtained here, must be final. We can 
 appeal to no higher tribunal. 
 
 In consulting the authority of use, the natu- 
 ral course would seem to be to take a range 
 through the standard writings of the language, 
 and examine a sufficient number of passages 
 where the word in question occurs, to determine 
 its generally received acceptation. This would 
 be a task of some labor, if it were to be origi- 
 nally performed. But there are two considera- 
 tions which render it unnecessary, in the pres- 
 ent state of the question of baptism. One is, 
 the Greek classics have been ranged through, by 
 Professor Stuart and others ; examples from 
 different ages and dialects have been multiplied; 
 philological skill and acumen have done their 
 utmost. It is useless to repeat these investiga- 
 tions : the result has been given to the world in 
 ably written books and essays : it is that the 
 authority of use confirms the authority of the 
 lexicons : BaTtr^o) means to immerse. 
 
 The other consideration which renders it un- 
 necessary to go into an extensive examination 
 2 
 
34 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 of classic examples is, that Psedobaptist contro- 
 versialists have now taken a position which, if 
 it be tenable, and if they are sound expositors 
 of such examples as they select from the classics, 
 would have greatly abridged these philological 
 labors, had it been occupied before the labors were 
 undertaken. This is the position : " The ques- 
 tion is not, whether ^ami^oj sometimes signifies 
 to immerse, but whether it never signifies any 
 thing else. ^ ^ This is necessary to estab- 
 lish immersion as the only mode."^ Variously 
 expressed, but always in tones or terms of very 
 great assurance, this proposition echoes from 
 the pulpit and leaps from the press. " If, in 
 any one instance, it does not mean to immerse, 
 our argument is gained. There must be no 
 exception" &c. Thus is it repeated and reite- 
 rated ; but the reason is not assigned. Why ? 
 Wherefore ? Surely, this assumes not the dig- 
 nity of an axiom. It is not self-evident. We 
 are in search of the meaning of Banxit^. Why 
 shall we not regulate our investigations by the 
 same laws in finding the meaning of this, as of 
 any other word ? What principle of linguis- 
 tic legislation prescribes us this rigid rule ? 
 What exempts this word from the common law 
 of language ? Or has Buttti'zoj met with some 
 designing abettors by whom it has been instigat- 
 ed to revolt against all constituted authority, 
 and disown all the customary jurisdictions of 
 
 * Ridgley's Divinity, vol. IV. p. 175, note. But the same ground 
 is generally taken. 
 
OF BAUTIZSl. 35 
 
 the language ? If so it must be taught to re- 
 turn to its allegiance. 
 
 The ground arrogated by our Psedobaptist 
 friends is, " If in any one instance baptizo does 
 not mean to immerse, our argument is gained :" 
 or, to employ the martial figure by which we 
 sometimes hear the same thought expressed, 
 If we make a breach at a single point, the cita- 
 del falls ! It admits of a question whether this 
 figure is quite applicable. In warlike opera- 
 tions, a breach made in the wall generally se- 
 cures possession of the fortress to the besiegers. 
 The question here would be whether the dis- 
 covery of one single instance in which the word 
 does not mean to immerse, would be equivalent 
 to a breach in the wall. To prove the affirma- 
 tive, and thus legitimate the figure, would de- 
 mand some argument. Indeed, it cannot be 
 proved. Some more hyperbolical figure is re- 
 quisite to adumbrate this proposition. It should 
 be, If we extract one stone from the edifice it 
 falls ! Whether this figure is true to nature, 
 whether from the extracting of one stone the 
 edifice does fall, is no matter: it corresponds to 
 the idea which it is designed to shadow forth, 
 whereas the other does not. 
 
 And on this one stone which it is threatened 
 to extract from the Baptist edifice, the Psedobap- 
 tist. brethren think to found their system ! Will 
 not the foundation be narrow ? Will such a 
 cone reversed be sure to maintain its centre of 
 gravity ? Will the worshippers feel secure in 
 such a temple ? Are they satisfied to build on 
 
36 CLASSIC MEANING. 
 
 so small a foundation ? Yet, it is not certain 
 that the one stone can be extracted. The great 
 Master Builder seems to have used a firm ce- 
 ment. It is certain, that the crowbars and ham- 
 mers of philology and theology have hitherto 
 been plied upon the walls of the building in 
 vain. It retains all its original materials, firm 
 as ever. 
 
 It is remarkable indeed, if, in the whole com- 
 pass of Greek literature, baptizo never means 
 any thing else but to immerse. Hardly a word 
 in any language is confined to one sense. Yet 
 there is always a leading, literal meaning which 
 renders words, where there is not a " purpose 
 to serve," sufficiently definite. Why is not 
 that sort of definiteness which satisfies us with 
 respect to other words, sufficient to establish the 
 signification of baptizo ? The only answer is, 
 because it involves a controverted point in the- 
 ology. To admit it, would be to forsake a dar- 
 ling tradition which the church has long fondled 
 upon her bosom. 
 
 However, though there is no principle involv- 
 ed in this question by which we are " bound to 
 show that ftuTTiCb) never signifies any thing 
 else but to immerse," yet the progress of the 
 controversy hitherto, with all the "hunting over 
 the classics" of which it has been the occasion, 
 has certainly not produced an example of any- 
 other meaning. The Baptists may, without 
 much hazard, occupy the ground thus assigned 
 them. They will run little risk of a defeat, if 
 they find themselves (though as a body unde- 
 
of BAIJTIZSl. 37 
 
 signedly) intrenched upon this very ground, and 
 secure after repelling so many assaults conduct- 
 ed in such a spirit. And some of them have 
 stood intrenched here, with increasing confidence 
 in the strength of the position. 
 
 Having thus assigned us our position, the Pa> 
 dobaptists take theirs. One or two examples 
 from the classics are deemed sufficient to effect 
 the necessary " breach," by which " the citadel 
 must fall." Let us examine some of the exam- 
 ples relied on for this purpose. 
 
 Mr. Hall (p. 50) takes two or three of Mr. 
 Carson's examples :" He does not however 
 " take them," as he says, " in course and almost 
 at random on pages 83,84;" but culls them 
 from numerous passages over at least fourteen 
 pages, from page 83 (probably from page 1) to 
 page 97. The examples are of the same gene- 
 ral character. They all involve what by a 
 very customary solecism, is called " partial im- 
 mersion;" — " baptized up to the middle" " bap- 
 tized up to the head" " baptized his hand in 
 blood." The classics contain more examples 
 of this kind. The first may serve as a specimen 
 of them all. 
 
 It is found in Polybius, Lib. iii. § 72. It re- 
 lates to fording the river Trebia by the Roman 
 soldiers under Tiberius. The historian says, 
 [iblig ewg twv fiaai&v oi ns'Qoi @ami'C : o[i£voi, die- 
 fialvov, that is, scarcely baptized to the ivaist, the 
 footmen crossed the river. Robinson, in his 
 Dictionary of the New Testament, cites this 
 passage with the remark " spoken of men, par- 
 2* 
 
38 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 tially ;" and on such grounds it has been claim- 
 ed that the word sometimes implies " partial 
 immersion." How such a claim is to be sus- 
 tained by such references, is difficult to conceive. 
 Casaubon, in his Latin version of Polybius, 
 renders the passage, Ut pectoribus tenus qui 
 transibant merger entur. This is good Latin ; 
 and it furnishes the same evidence precisely 
 that mergo denotes partial immersion. An 
 English translator would render it, correctly, 
 " immersed to the waist." We often say in 
 English, " dipped to the brim," "plunged to the 
 neck," " immersed to the chin," and so of any 
 other word ordinarily understood to signify to 
 put under water. So, then, to immerse does 
 not mean to immerse ! In fact, by the principle 
 upon which this inferential sense is deduced from 
 baptizo, there is no word in any language which 
 means to immerse; for there can be none 
 which may not thus be limited by qualifying 
 adjuncts. It w T ould require a good deal of 
 rhetorical skill to express, by a circumlocution, 
 the idea commonly attached to immersion. It 
 could hardly be done without the aid of some 
 very significant gestures. 
 
 The manifest truth is, in such instances, as 
 elsewhere, total immersion is expressed. The 
 sense of the verb is predicated only of the part 
 under the water, not of the part above. It is 
 not said that the part above the waist was 
 baptized. So much of the body as is de- 
 signated was totally immersed. Mr. Carson's 
 " ancient classics" do not " fail him here." 
 
of BAnrizn. 39 
 
 " When will" learned divines " cease this play 
 upon the word," and abandon an attitude oppo- 
 sed to all the philosophy of human language, 
 and which often brings them into hostile contact 
 with common sense ! 
 
 Another example often relied on, is the well- 
 known verse of the Sibyl, predicting the destiny 
 of Athens, cited by Plutarch in his life of 
 Theseus, in these words : Aoxog, fiunjitry Juvcu 
 rot ov defug eariv. Thou mayest be dipped 
 [baptized,] O bladder, but it is not permitted 
 thee to sirik. To translate it thus, it is declared, 
 involves a plain contradiction : for, if it were 
 not permitted to sink, how could it be dipped ? 
 
 It should be borne in mind, that the object of 
 the anti-immersionists is not to prove aspersion, 
 nor any thing else in particular, but, by any 
 means, to refute " Baptist errors." Hence, no 
 meaning is assigned to baptizo in this place : it 
 is only appealed to to prove non-immersion — to 
 favor the cherished doctrine that baptism is a 
 generic term, denoting in the New Testament 
 a glorious uncertainty. 
 
 Now, it ought to be noted, that this seeming 
 contradiction, this paradox, constitutes the pecu- 
 liar characteristic of the ancient oracular re- 
 sponses and Sibylline verses. Some such subtle 
 ambiguity, generally of less obvious import than 
 this, distinguished all those pretended prophe- 
 cies. 
 
 Allusion is here made to the leather bottles, 
 or wine skins, which were in use among the an- 
 cients. They were made generally of goat 
 
40 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 skins ; and, when corked, were buoyant in con- 
 sequence of the inclosed atmosphere. Such a 
 bottle might be immersed by the pressure of the 
 hand ; but would immediately emerge when 
 the pressure was removed. The fancied con- 
 tradiction in the above translation vanishes by 
 a plain grammatical criticism. BamiTja is an 
 active verb; 8wm [duno], the verb rendered 
 " to si?ik" is neuter. Bamit^ [baptize] there- 
 fore, in the passive voice, means, thou mayst be 
 immersed by the action of some external agent : 
 ■dwcu [dunai], to sink, in a neuter sense, i. e. 
 of its own accord. Thou mayst be immersed 
 (viz. by the agency of another) ; it is not per- 
 mitted thee to sink (of thyself). 
 
 By thus representing Athens under the fig- 
 ure of a wine bottle, the Sibyl foretold the high 
 destiny of the state. Athens might be over- 
 whelmed by her enemies in foreign wars and 
 in civil commotions, though she never should 
 sink by her own weight ; but should always 
 retain a buoyancy which would enable her, 
 eventually, to rise above all her troubles. She 
 was destined to be immortal. The word is not 
 even used here figuratively. The verse con- 
 tains a trope ; but ccaxog [bottle] is the tropical 
 word, not fiaitTitft There is a paradox, but no 
 contradiction. The pith of the thought lies 
 entirely in the meaning to immerse. We shall 
 recur to this in connection with the following 
 example- 
 
 The Scholiast on Homer, (II. xvi. 333,) is 
 sometimes cited as irreconcilable with the no- 
 
of BAnnzn. 41 
 
 tion of immersion assigned to Bamt'Qo). The 
 poet represents Ajax as killing Cleobulus, and 
 says, " He struck him across the neck with 
 his heavy sword, and the whole sword teas 
 tvarmed with blood." The Scholiast remarks 
 upon this, " That the whole sword was so 
 baptized [BamtadepTog] in blood, that it became 
 heated by it." Here, say those who quote this 
 passage to confound the Baptists, the sword was 
 only stained with blood, or the blood only flow- 
 ed upon it : there was no immersion. 
 
 Homer, in describing the death of Cleobulus, 
 uses the strong, vivid language peculiar to him- 
 self. His commentators are evidently so cap- 
 tivated by it, that they think exaggeration, in 
 setting off the thought, impossible. And who 
 does not recognize the prerogative of annotators 
 to stop him short in his reading and point him 
 to a beauty, and prove that it does exist, even 
 though his own obtuseness should not be able to 
 perceive it ? The Scholiasts indulge in hyper- 
 bole on this verse of the bard. One of them, 
 Eustathius, (in loc.) paraphrases and expands 
 it thus : " In these words, Homer, wishing to 
 exhibit the depth of the wound made by the 
 sword, says, ' He struck the neck with his 
 sword, and the whole sword was warmed with 
 blood:' and" continues the Scholiast, " Homer, 
 conveying the suggestion by such a blow, says, 
 the whole sword sunk in, [nav $iq:og eiao) edv,] 
 and the skin only held on, and the head hung 
 down. 1 " All this Eustathius makes out from 
 the simple expression, " The sword was warmed 
 
42 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 with blood." And another, Dionysius of Hali- 
 carnassus, the Scholiast first mentioned, says, 
 " The sword was baptized in blood','' 1 by which 
 he doubtless would convey the idea that it was 
 dipped in blood — immersed in the very fountain 
 of Cleobulus' blood. No tamer thought could 
 satisfy his conception of the language of the 
 bard. This is not so great a stretch of im- 
 agination as is the other of Eustathius, given 
 above. Strip poetry and eloquence of every 
 ornamental license, and in what a despicable 
 plight will you leave them ! They would 
 sneak from the world, unfit and ashamed to be 
 seen. 
 
 One remark more here. Eustathius, as ren- 
 dered above, says, " The whole sword sank in." 
 To express this thought, he uses the verb <Ww 
 [duno] . So one scholiast on the place uses BanxiXja 
 [baptizo] ; another dvpw [duno]. Now, if there 
 were any purpose to serve, we have the same 
 ground upon which to raise an argument to 
 prove that dwu does not mean to sink or go 
 under, which is taken to show that fiamitco does 
 not mean to immerse. " The sword duno'd in" 
 must mean either into the blood or into the neck: 
 in the first case, one interested might argue just 
 as an adversary of immersion argues : — in the 
 other case, he would say, " The sword was cer- 
 tainly not totally sunk in the man's neck,: — 
 in no sense could it be said to go wholly under: 
 only the centre of the blade was covered ; not 
 the hilt nor the point. 
 
 Recur now to the verse of the Sibyl : " Thou 
 
of BATITIZSI. 43 
 
 mayst be dipped [baptized] ; but it is not per- 
 mitted thee to sink." dovco [duno] is the verb 
 here rendered " to sink ;" and on this sense of 
 dupco the argument, by which it is attempted to 
 be shown that (tanutfa, in this example, cannot 
 mean immerse, entirely depends. Recollect, 
 the argument is, that to translate baptizo " im- 
 merse" involves a plain contradiction ; for if a 
 thing were not permitted to sink, how could 
 it be immersed ? But this fancied contra- 
 diction (it has no real existence, as already 
 shown) disappears, if duno does not mean to 
 sink. Hence, those who bring this Sibylline 
 prophecy to support the generic theory, some- 
 times perceive the necessity of introducing an 
 auxiliary argument, sustained by classic refer- 
 ences, to show that duno signifies " to sink or 
 go under." But, by referring to Eustathius, 
 the argument drawn from the Scholiast by our 
 opponents proves that duno does not mean to 
 sink or go under. Now mark the necessities 
 of an erroneous theory. Error is always ne- 
 cessitous. To make the verse of the Sibyl sub- 
 serve the opposition to Gospel baptism, it is ne- 
 cessary to prove that duno means to sink or go 
 under : and to make the language of the Scho- 
 liast subserve the same cause, an argument is 
 demanded which proves that duno does not 
 mean to sink or go under. " It means," and 
 " it does not mean," are propositions somewhat 
 at variance. To reconcile them is incumbent 
 on those who adduce these two classic exam- 
 ples to disprove the specific sense of baptizo. 
 
44 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 Yet these examples are much relied on, are 
 sometimes cited together in the same sermon, 
 and probably figure oftener than any other in 
 discourses against the Baptists. In such palpa- 
 ble contradictions does Paedobaptism involve its 
 defenders ! 
 
 Mr. Hall copies the example of his brethren, 
 who still continue to press into their service the 
 line from the BaTga/o/uvoinaxlu, or " Battle of the 
 Frogs and Mice," in which, as they sometimes 
 tell us, a lake is said to have been baptized in 
 the blood of a mouse. Although the irrelevan- 
 cy of this example has been, long since, fully 
 shown, yet perhaps they are not greatly to 
 blame for clinging to it with such tenacity ; 
 since it ivould be so much to their purpose, if 
 the passage contained the word fianriio). It 
 claims a passing remark, merely to show, again, 
 to those who are unacquainted with Greek, and 
 are therefore exposed to be deceived by its 
 plausible introduction, that it has no bearing on 
 the question whatever. 
 
 Mr. Hall, quoting President Edward Beecher, 
 says, " The lake was bapto' d with blood." 
 Ah, then, it was not baptized ; it was bapto'd. 
 And this settles the claim of the passage : it 
 excludes it from all connection with the present 
 question. Bapto is never used to denote the 
 rite of baptism. But does not Mr. Judson say, 
 and was it not " the turning point with him," 
 that " bapto means alivays to dip or immerse?"^ 
 
 * Hall, p. 30. The answer direct is No, it was not " the turn- 
 ing point with him." He assigns better reasons in his " Ser- 
 mon." 
 
OF BATITIZSl. 45 
 
 Let us answer this interrogatory by propound- 
 ing another. Why will not gentlemen who 
 have the facilities for understanding this mat- 
 ter, give us their own opinions, the result of 
 their own careful investigations, instead of Mr. 
 Judson's ? • We seek the truth. If Mr. Jud- 
 son has committed a mistake, can we justify 
 ourselves in averting our eyes from its plain 
 exposure, and obstinately persisting in employ- 
 ing it to fortify error ? Honest candor forbids. 
 Truth is too precious a jewel to be allowed thus 
 to evade our possession. 
 
 Mr. Carson, whose learning and critical 
 discrimination all are compelled to admit, 
 proves by a thorough investigation, and the pro- 
 duction of numerous classical illustrations, that 
 §amoi [bapto], which is the word used in the 
 example now under review, has a different 
 meaning from fiamity). Bapto has two mean- 
 ings, to dip and to dye : baptizo has but one, 
 to dip or immerse. The latter is the word ex- 
 clusively employed to designate the Christian 
 ordinance. 
 
 About the time that Mr. Carson's book was 
 in course of publication, or at least before.it had 
 found its way to America, Professor Stuart, 
 of Andover Theological Seminary, was en- 
 gaged in researches on the same subject, with- 
 out, as he tells us, any knowledge of Mr. Car- 
 son's labors. He arrived at the same conclu- 
 sion as to the point before us. After examin- 
 ing a great variety of passages ; he says, " No 
 doubt then can remain that the word fianico 
 3 
 
46 CLASSIC MEANING 
 
 [bapto] means to tinge or color ; and in this 
 respect it seems plainly to differ from partjifya. 
 I find no instance in which the latter is employ- 
 ed in this sense. There may be some which 
 have escaped the extensive search which I have 
 made. But until I see them produced, I must 
 believe that the sense of tinging is appropriat- 
 ed only to Samo) [bapto] and its kindred words 
 in respect to form." 
 
 Thus much on the subject of classic use sat- 
 isfies our present purpose. The present state 
 of the controversy does not require an exten- 
 sive quotation of examples. That would be 
 merely to copy Professor Stuart and Mr. Car- 
 son. Their researches have made the wide 
 field of the classics unquestionably ours. Our 
 opponents tacitly acknowledge this, when they 
 take up with the forlorn hope of discovering 
 some one instance where SumiLsa does not mean 
 to immerse. It is only necessary now to review 
 the passages upon which they venture a reliance 
 in this extremity. 
 
 We find our citadel still standing firm, with 
 " thus saith the lord" inscribed on the banner 
 that waves over it. We are surer than ever, 
 after such abortive attempts to array classic au- 
 thority against us, that poam^u means to im- 
 merse. We believe, confidently, that it never 
 means any thing else; though we do not hold 
 ourselves bound to maintain that position. If, 
 after ransacking the Greek classics from gene- 
 ration to generation, and century to century, 
 through tomes and libraries, our opponents 
 
of BAHT1ZJI. 47 
 
 should succeed in finding one example where 
 the word does not mean to immerse, we should 
 not hold it of sufficient importance to destroy 
 the authority of nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 examples where it has that sense. 
 
 But here springs up a new difficulty, and, 
 like some Stygian ghost, stares upon us with 
 grim features. Words change their sense, and 
 sometimes get a peculiar sense. Consul, for 
 instance, imports a very different office from 
 what it once did. The word prevent formerly 
 meant to go before ; it now means to hinder. 
 Mr. Hall, with much parade of law and history, 
 though to use his own language, there is " not 
 much gospel" in it, has proved incontestably 
 that the word " provisions" in a law passed in 
 the reign of Edward III. " does not mean grain 
 or victuals or stores of any kind." Other in- 
 stances might be adduced. Suppose we were 
 to multiply them indefinitely, what would they 
 prove ? Why the simple proposition, " Words 
 change their sense." And who would have 
 denied it, without proof? You will not surely 
 claim to infer from such examples any particular 
 proposition — only a general one. You would 
 not infer that any particular word has changed. 
 You would not state your syllogism thus : Some 
 words change their sense ; quill is a word ; 
 therefore quill has changed its sense. A logi- 
 cian would call this undistributed middle. It 
 is like saying, Some men have died in 
 1843 : Prince Albert is a man : therefore Prince 
 Albert is dead. 
 
48 CHANGE OF MEANING 
 
 To hunt up examples of this kind is alto- 
 gether superfluous. They can serve but to 
 prove what every body admits. They can have 
 no bearing on the question which engages our 
 present inquiries, namely, What is the mean- 
 ing of the word ^utvti'Cm? This is a definite 
 question from which we must not ramble. Has 
 this word changed its sense ? If it can be shown 
 that it has, or had previously to the writing of 
 the New Testament, a point will be gained by 
 the abettors of sprinkling, pouring, etc. ' We 
 affirm that it has not : and we seem to have 
 accomplished what the laws of controversy do 
 not require of us* i. e. to have proved this neg- 
 ative. We take the whole range of Greek 
 literature, adduce examples of use from each 
 period and every dialect, and find throughout 
 but one uniform signification. In the Hellen- 
 istic Greek, or " Greek of Judea" if you please, 
 Josephus furnishes copious illustration of the 
 same unvariable meaning. The word is com- 
 mon with him always in the acceptation to dip, 
 to immerse. 
 
 But there is another subterfuge : Were it ad- 
 mitted that the word, in profane writers, never 
 means anything else, would it necessarily have 
 that meaning in the Scriptures ? This ques- 
 tion is often asked from the pulpit in tones and 
 manner which import a very confident negative, 
 like this of Mr. Hall (p. 52.): " Their entire 
 agreement in using the word to denote only an 
 immersion, would by no means settle the ques- 
 tion." 
 
IN BAHTIZn. 49 
 
 This is rather disheartening. It tells us, in 
 so many words, that we have been employed in 
 weaving cobwebs from the classics ; and here 
 is a brush which sweeps them all away. Were 
 we disposed to indulge an envious spirit, we 
 might find consolation in the fact, that our Pa> 
 dobaptist friends have toiled as industriously, 
 and expended as much capital, in this flimsy 
 manufacture (as they have suddenly discover- 
 ed it to be) as we have. If they have produced 
 fewer webs, it has been because, with the most 
 exemplary diligence, they could not find mate- 
 rial suited to their purpose. And the besom 
 carries away theirs with ours ! Why do they 
 not commence here? Why spend so much time 
 and toil in beating about the classics, if they 
 know the game is in another park? Is it not 
 the case that they recognize the authority of the 
 classics, as long as a lingering hope remains of 
 settling the question by it in their own favor; 
 and discard it, when they find it inflexibly 
 against them ? " Homer and Pindar and Xen- 
 ophon and the classic Strabo" would be unim- 
 peachable witnesses, were it not that they per- 
 versely testify to immersion. 
 
 The proposition now is, that fianTiZa) " may 
 have left its primary classic signification, and 
 [may] have received a generic sacred use."^ 
 This is the last resource. Hither is the final 
 retreat of the defenders of sprinkling, &c. 
 
 * Bap. Er. p. 16. See Note at the end. 
 
 3* 
 
50 SACRED USE 
 
 Here they are obliged to "take refuge, that they 
 may be screened from the fire of the" classics, 
 as well as "of the lexicons." Whatever 
 of the semblance of argument Mr. Hall's book 
 contains, rests on this foundation entirely. The 
 same is true of Dr. Edward Beecher's argu- 
 ment to defend his theory of purification. It 
 depends entirely on a sacred, wholly distinct 
 from the ordinary, use. And if, by attending 
 the sermons of Pasdobaptists on this question, 
 and perusing their writings of recent date,- we 
 acquaint ourselves with the present state of the 
 controversy, we shall find that they rest their 
 whole superstructure on this proposition. They 
 have been driven off from every other ground ;■ 
 and we have reason to anticipate a desperate 
 defence of this position, . especially from those 
 who, like Mr. Hall, evince a spirit which aims 
 at victory and triumph, as its ultimate object. 
 It is not attempted to be maintained that 
 fiamitw alone has this " sacred use." That 
 would be suspicious. Some other words are 
 adduced, or rather induced, to escort baptizo 
 with decent ceremonial, or dropping the figure, 
 exempli gratia. Mr. Hall finds in Acts 23: 
 8, three words which he compels to serve him 
 for example. " In our common version, the 
 passage reads thus : ' For the Sadducees say 
 there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spir- 
 it: but the Pharisees confess both.'" In clas- 
 sic Greek, he tells us, uvaazaaig [anastasis] the 
 word rendered " resurrection," means " a sim- 
 ple rising up :" the word ayyelo; [angelos] 
 
of BAnnzn. 51 
 
 means messenger : and the word rtpsvpta [pneu- 
 ma] rendered spirit, means wind. So that, con- 
 cludes Mr. Hall, " according- to the principles 
 on which our translation is branded as inade- 
 quate and unfaithful (he alludes to the claim of 
 the Baptists that certain words, which in King 
 James' version, are only transferred, should 
 have been translated) we must read it thus : 
 ' for the Sadducees say there is no rising up, 
 neither messenger nor wind.'" In repeating 
 this undevout parody of a passage of the book 
 of inspiration, made out as it is -from plain lan- 
 guage by an effort at perversion, the admonition 
 of the poet is brought to mind : 
 
 " But ne'er with wits profane to range, 
 Be complaisance extended." 
 
 But, as Mr. Hall repeats it several times, and 
 evidently relies much upon it for effect, as his 
 example has found imitators in the ministry, 
 and, above all, as it involves an important 
 principle, it must be analyzed. 
 
 At the head, then, of this retinue of words 
 chosen to escort fiamitM in the mystical pro- 
 cession of " sacred use," is avacrTaaig [anasta- 
 sis], used to denote "the resurrection of the 
 body, of which," says Mr. Hall, " the Greeks 
 had no idea." In the classics, it means •" a 
 simple rising up." Admitted : it has, as a fig- 
 urative application, " insurrection ;" but its. lite- 
 ral sense is "a rising up." This sense runs 
 through the whole family, nouns, adjectives, 
 verbs, adverbs, with aviaxr^ii [anistemi] as pa- 
 
52 SACRED USE 
 
 rent of them all. Is not this the sense in the 
 New Testament ? Applied to the resurrection 
 of the dead, does it not mean " a rising up ?" 
 Surely, it is neither less nor more a rising up, 
 from being said of the dead than of the living. 
 The act expressed is the same, whoever or 
 whatever may be the subject. When used alone, 
 the thought is elliptical ; tw vey.gCov is under- 
 stood. So is the word resurrection elliptical 
 when used alone ; " of the dead" is understood. 
 In the passage before us (Acts 23 : S) it is only 
 necessary to look back one verse — to the 6th, 
 to find the ellipsis supplied : it there reads ava- 
 cnaaig twv vexqup, " resurrection of the dead" 
 So that, if the book of Acts had been put into 
 the hands of a native Greek, he could have un- 
 derstood what was meant by avaaiaaig [anasta- 
 sis] without any explanation of this " Jewish 
 idea," and without taking any word out of its 
 common, classic signification. 
 
 But there is another fact which would have 
 helped his comprehension. Homer uses the 
 verb to express ; ' the resurrection of the dead." 
 Every Greek who could read at all, read Ho- 
 mer ; and if an author, so highly prized and so 
 much read, had used the word in that sense 
 nine hundred years before the Christian era 
 (for that is about the age of Homer), the idea 
 must have attached itself to the word, and ob- 
 tained some familiarity among the Greeks, be- 
 fore the New Testament was written. 
 
 In II. xxiv. line 551, Achilles exhorts old 
 Priam to restrain his srief for the death of his 
 
of BAIITIZSl. 53 
 
 son Hector, telling him his sorrow is unavailing; 
 Ovde i-uv avazj]aeig, " neither ivilt thou raise 
 him from the dead.'" 11. xxiv, 756, Hecuba, 
 lamenting over Hector, speaks of Achilles' 
 dragging him round the grave of Patroclus, 
 Achilles' friend whom Hector had slain, and 
 adds 'aveuTrjuev di fiw dvd' &g, nor thus did he 
 raise him (i. e. Patroclus) from the dead. 
 
 This is rather an unfortunate example to il- 
 lustrate the "sacred use" Anastasis has the 
 same meaning in the New Testament which it 
 has in the classics. 
 
 The same general remarks apply to ayyelog 
 [angelos]. It means messenger in the classics. 
 What else does it mean in the sacred writings ? 
 It often denotes, in the Scriptures, " the mes- 
 senger of the Lord :" but, with simple reference 
 to his office, the messenger of the Lord is nei- 
 ther more nor less a messenger than the mes- 
 senger of a man. There is a difference in dig- 
 nity. So has the courier of a king more dig- 
 nity attached to his character, than the runner 
 of a stage office : yet both are equally messen- 
 gers. We learn that God employs, on his er- 
 rands of mercy or judgment to men, an order 
 of beings inferior to himself, superior to men : 
 yet they are only his messengers. Gabriel 
 doubtless enjoys an exalted dignity at the 
 throne of the Eternal ; but the word ayyelog 
 does not express that dignity. It simply repre- 
 sents him as a messenger. What other offices 
 may be committed to the seraphim, we know 
 not ; they are revealed to us only in the office 
 
54 SACRED USE 
 
 which concerns ourselves, in our present rela- 
 tions to another world — " the messengers of 
 God to men." The word in the Bible, is ap- 
 plied indiscriminately to men and the higher 
 orders of intelligences, and even to Christ him- 
 self, who is " the messenger of the covenant." 
 Mai. 3:1. Angelos has its classic meaning, 
 then, in the Bible. 
 
 Mr. Hall's learned friend who was disposed 
 to puzzle him with the word nyevfia [pneuma], 
 affirming that, in the classics, it always means 
 toind, was either ignorant of the classical use 
 of the word, or disposed to quibble on one of its 
 meanings. Stephanus has collected several 
 examples in his Thesaurus, by which Mr. Hall 
 might have allayed the sceptic's windy argu- 
 ment without the potent charm of " sacred use." 
 
 Quoting from Aristotle, De Mundo, Stepha- 
 nus says, Alioqui nvevpa dicitur -r\ ev cpvioig y.av 
 ^(hotg xca diu ndcPTMV di^y.ovaa t^tipv/ug re v.ul 
 yovljuog dvala — sometimes that animated and 
 'prolific essence which exists in plants and ani- 
 mals, and pervades all things, is called nvsv/nu 
 [pneuma]. Those who are acquainted with 
 the ancient philosophy, know that this animate 
 principle, which the Peripatetics and other schools 
 held to exist, was not regarded as material. It 
 had an existence distinct from all the elements 
 of matter. It was the " soul of the world" — the 
 all pervading mind. 
 
 Plutarch, De Def. Oraculi, says of the Py- 
 thia (priestess of Apollo), y.uxuv Txrevuuiog dvaa 
 nfajorig, being filled with an evil spirit [nvev^ua]. 
 
OF BATITIZSl. 55 
 
 Or does he mean, the priestess was filled with 
 an evil wind ? He alludes, of course, to that 
 supernatural inspiration which was supposed 
 by the ancients to be communicated to the Py- 
 thia from the tripod, and to dictate the responses 
 of the oracle. The same writer says, in Axio- 
 cho, 370, El [ii\ Ti OeTov outcd? Evr\v Ttvedfia t^ 
 y/f/rj; unless indeed some divine spirit [rtveufux] 
 existed in the mind. 
 
 Sophocles, Oedipus C. 612. Kul nvsvfia 
 jfxvTOv ou7TOt' dvi' £p avdq&ui cplloig fisfiijxav, dire 
 ngbg nokiv Ttolsi, and the same spirit [nvev^a] 
 never entered into friendly men, nor in a state 
 towards a state ; just as we say a spirit of kind- 
 ness, or of enmity. 
 
 These examples are sufficient to show that 
 Ttvevfjct [pneuma] in the classics means spirit, 
 as well as wind. The word has not " left its 
 classic signification," in the sacred writings. 
 
 So that, to translate the passage, Acts 23 : 
 8, according to the meaning which classic au- 
 thority gives the words, does not " make the 
 Bible speak" either " falsehood or nonsense." 
 (p. 21.) It leaves it as it is, excepting one word : 
 " angel" would read messenger, from which the 
 English reader would get the same idea pre- 
 cisely which ayye.log [angelos] conveys to a 
 Greek, namely, " a heavenly messenger." And 
 thus Mr. Hall's witty argumentum ad absurdum 
 which has been so often repeated, and at which 
 there has been so much chuckling of holy 
 merriment, proves to be a mere " rising of the 
 wind." 
 
56 SACRED USE 
 
 Other words sometimes introduced lend an 
 equally flimsy support, to the "sacred use." 
 2uq$ [sarx] means flesh in the New Testament, 
 as well as in classic Greek. • Exudate* [ecclesia, 
 commonly rendered church in the English ver- 
 sion] signifies assembly, or congregation. In 
 the Scriptures, it is often applied to the congre- 
 gations of the faithful, in their distinct organi- 
 zations for worship and discipline ; and some- 
 times to the whole body of the saints, " the as- 
 sembly of the first born,"^ the sacramental 
 host of God's elect, militant, on earth, trium- 
 phant in heaven. But, in either of these ap- 
 plications, it is only necessary to recur to the 
 strictures already made upon angelos [ayyelog], 
 to show that the word is not used out of its 
 common, classic acceptation. An assembly of 
 saints or angels is neither more nor less an as- 
 sembly, than an assembly of heathen. &sog 
 [Theos] denotes a deity. To say that a word 
 applied to divinity in the character conceived 
 of by the heathen, assumes a new sense when 
 used to designate the true God with his glorious 
 attributes, is like saying that avdgwnog [anthro- 
 pos] man, could designate only a native Greek; 
 it could, by no means, without a change of 
 sense, be applied to a Jew, of the seed of Abra- 
 ham, and distinguished by his national peculi- 
 arities, or to a Eoman wearing his toga prce- 
 texta and seated in his curule chair. And the 
 English word man, on this principle, could be 
 
 * So the Greek reads in Heb. 12 : 23. 
 
of BAHTlZtt. 57 
 
 properly applied only to an Englishman : a 
 German or an Italian would not be a man* 
 
 * It is not difficult to foresee what use criticism may make of 
 these remarks : but no criticism can alter the facts, or the phi- 
 losophy, upon which the remarks rest- Oeog ^God] comprehend- 
 ed the Greek's conception of Divinity : in the philosophical writ- 
 ings, the word is used in this general sense, without reference to 
 any individual. That conception had its foundation in truth, as 
 every system of religion must have in order to secure votaries. 
 A system of error, with no basis or admixture of truth, never 
 has obtained, never can obtain, among men. The mind has an 
 instinctive perception of truth, over which unmingled error can 
 practise no delusion. The whole family of man originally pos- 
 sessed the knowledge of the true God : upon this foundation 
 they built their systems of idolatry, finding out many inventions. 
 The Grecians retained a pretty nearly correct idea of many— in- 
 deed, of most of the divine attributes. Their heathenism consist- 
 ed in distributing those attributes among numerous fantastical 
 deities, and in attempting to commingle them with the passions 
 and propensities of depraved human nature. The Greek, in re- 
 turning to the knowledge of Jehovah, was not obliged to discard 
 his abstract ideas of Deity. He was obliged to discard his poly- 
 theism, and to re-combine in one perfect Being the attributes 
 which the wild imagination of his poetical countrymen had dis- 
 persed, in independent forms of existence, throughout the uni- 
 verse. And he was obliged to give up his efforts to unite with 
 the attributes of perfect holiness the heterogeneous admixture 
 of depravity and sin. In these efforts his powers of imagination 
 had, in fact, never been able to succeed : and hence, in the Greek 
 mythology, sin, even when committed by a god, was regarded as 
 sin, and received the reprehension of his worshippers : and the 
 guilt of gods met retribution in the awards of sovereign, over- 
 ruling Fate. The God of the Christians, when preached to the 
 Greek, corresponded to his preconceptions of perfect Divinity. 
 Some of the philosophers had approached so near to a correct 
 apprehension and exposition of the attributes of Divinity, that 
 
 4 
 
58 SACRED USE 
 
 Perhaps it may be worth while to give a 
 passing notice to Mr. Hall's talk about trans- 
 ferring words from one language to another, 
 and adopting foreign words ; though his falla- 
 cies, in all that he attempts to pass for argu- 
 ment, are so glaring as hardly to need expo- 
 sure. Names of office, and terms expressive of 
 ideas entirely peculiar to a nation, may be 
 transferred ; and no reader, in meeting with 
 such a word, feels any interruption of the sense. 
 When history, or narrative, relates the transac- 
 tions of a khan, a sheik, or a quang heep, the 
 mind refers these terms, naturally enough, to 
 the generic idea of an office, and the sense, 
 though imperfectly understood, is sufficiently 
 explicit for all ordinary purposes of narration. 
 When the meaning of the narrator depends on 
 a more exact understanding of the term, he 
 must explain it. " Terms of science" are al- 
 ways defined, when introduced into the lan- 
 guage. When a foreign word becomes natur- 
 alized in a language, being conformed to the 
 
 some of the early Fathers (Origen for instance) were misled by 
 their speculations ; and the influence of Platonism became the 
 source of several heresies. 
 
 If before our introduction to Theophilus, we had, in conse- 
 quence of misrepresentation, misconceived of his character as 
 conprehending certain vices, and on becoming acquainted with 
 him, should find him free from those vices, would the name 
 Theophilus, therefore, no longer designate our new acquaint- 
 ance ? No more was the Greek, on being instructed in the 
 knowledge of the true God, introduced to a new idea which 
 Geog could not classically express. 
 
of BAnTIZSl. 59 
 
 genius of the language, and having acquired an 
 established sense, it is then no longer a foreign 
 word : it is vernacular. " Immerse" is not a 
 Latin word, though introduced from the Latin 
 language : it is as strictly English as dip or 
 'plunge is. Its meaning is established, as ex- 
 pressing a definite idea ; and it is in common 
 use in our language. It is not so with baptize. 
 This word has never been thus incorporated 
 into English. If it has, what is its meaning? 
 If you will settle this, you will decide the ques- 
 tion which is the subject of this essay.' It has 
 been anglicised in form, but never in sense. It 
 is an exotic which refuses to be acclimated — a 
 mere excrescence upon our theological litera- 
 ture. 
 
 No necessity exists, or ever existed, for trans- 
 ferring fiaTTT^w. If it means any, or denotes 
 every, application of water, there is no language 
 into which it could not be translated.^ Water 
 
 * Perhaps we should except the English language, in which 
 Mr. Hall says (p. 24), " There is no one word which fills up the 
 idea of immerse." " Dip" and " plunge" and " duck" are all 
 weighed in the balances and found wanting; " though," he in- 
 forms us, " they come nearer to it than any other words in the 
 language." But " dip" cannot " fill up the idea," because " I 
 may dip" [i. e. immerse] the point of " my pen in ink," with- 
 out dipping or immersing it all over. " Plunge" cannot " fill 
 up the idea," because " a horse plunges often" on dry land ; 
 and, therefore, it is a thing beyond controversy, that to plunge 
 into the water is not to plunge at all. The word, by feloniously 
 lending itself to a figurative application, has forfeited its literal 
 sense. "Duck" cannot "fill up the idea," because, Noah Web- 
 ster to the contrary notwithstanding, " it is only to dip the head 
 
60 SACRED USE 
 
 is an element so common and necessary, that 
 no language can be found which has not words 
 to express every application of it. To make 
 baptism what the non-immersionists would now 
 have it if they could, the Greek word §Q?yM 
 [brecho] corresponding to the English to wet, 
 should have been employed in expressing the 
 rite : no other word in either language is suffi- 
 ciently " generic." 
 
 Let us now look at some of the consequences 
 of this assumed " sacred use." 
 
 Suppose a Spaniard should acquire a suffi- 
 cient knowledge of English to write a book in 
 that language ; and suppose that in executing 
 the work, he should so far disregard the current 
 acceptation of words as to write immerse when 
 the sense he designed to convey was to sprin- 
 kle, to pour, or make any indefinite application 
 of ivater. And so of other words. Could we 
 
 under water." Alas, for our poor barren English ! We have 
 hitherto thought we conveyed one to another the idea which is 
 expressed by the Latin word mergo and the Greek flaTTTt'Co) ; 
 but we have been mistaken. It is questionable whether that 
 idea can be expressed in English ; certainly not, except by a la- 
 borious circumlocution, like this perhaps : " To put, or place, or 
 push down all over under the water, beneath the surface, so that 
 no part shall be above the plane which separates air and water, 
 but all parts shall be covered up and concealed out of view en- 
 tirely, below the surface of the water." 
 
 Mr. Hall gives here a perfect specimen of the reasoning by 
 which Bumi'lfii is proved to mean something else besides im- 
 merse. Human language can never furnish a word which may 
 not thus be robbed of its meaning. 
 
of BAI1TIZSI. 61 
 
 understand him ? Which sense should we get, 
 the one he intended, or the one he expressed? 
 Might he not almost as well have written for 
 us in Spanish ? But the evangelists and apos- 
 tles .stood in exactly the same relation to the 
 Greeks, in which the Spaniard would stand to 
 the English. They were Hebrews writing in 
 Greek. But this is the very fact which Mr. 
 Hall assumes, at first, as the foundation of his 
 "New Testament use." — At first, we say, for 
 elsewhere^ he evidently abandons this ground. 
 as untenable, and resorts to a more strictly sa- 
 cred use, when he rejects the authority of " that 
 Hebrew of the Hebrews, the Jewish Josephus." — 
 " Greek words," says he, " were applied to 
 Jewish ideas." And this constituted the " Greek 
 of the Synagogue" which differs, in the import 
 of words, from classic Greek. 
 
 This looks plausible. It would do well 
 enough, if the books had been designed to be 
 read only by Jews familiar with this " Greek 
 of the Synagogue." But with what propriety 
 could books written in this " Synagogue Greek," 
 if it differed so widely as is claimed from the 
 vernacular Greek, have been circulated among 
 men who were acquainted only with the classic 
 standard ? How could the native Greeks under- 
 stand these books, and pann^o) in particular of 
 which they knew no other meaning than to im- 
 merse, but which these foreigners had used to 
 denote " any application of water ?" Might 
 
 * Ban. Er. p. 29. 
 
 4# 
 
62 SACRED USE 
 
 they not as well, in regard to all words thus 
 barbarously employed, have written in Hebrew ? 
 
 But some of these books were written, ex- 
 pressly, for native Greeks. Luke's Gospel, and 
 the Acts of the Apostles are dedicated to The- 
 ophilus, a Greek. A number of the Epistles 
 are addressed to Greek churches. Paul was 
 the apostle of the Gentiles. Those who think 
 Matthew wrote originally in Hebrew, think also 
 that he himself translated his book into the 
 present Greek version : otherwise it would have 
 no claim to inspiration, any more than the En- 
 glish version has. He must have made the 
 translation for Greeks : the Jews were better 
 served by his Hebrew. Now, the books which 
 were thus, obviously, composed for native 
 Greeks differ not, in the sense of any words to 
 which the " sacred use" is said to belong, from 
 the rest of the New Testament. It follows that 
 the whole of the New Testament was adapted 
 to the understanding of native Greeks, that is, 
 of men accustomed to the classic use of words. 
 But such men could not have understood " the 
 Synagogue Greek" if Mr. Hall has rightly de- 
 scribed its anomalies. 
 
 In further proof that fiami'Co) did not leave its 
 classic sense for the purpose of embracing any 
 generic " Jewish idea," we may refer to the 
 practice of the Greek church. " The mode of 
 baptism by immersion," says Professor Stuart, 
 " the Oriental church has always continued to 
 preserve down to the present time." He adds : 
 " The members of this church maintain that 
 
OF BAIITiZfl. 63 
 
 fiaTtTity can mean nothing but immerge ; and 
 that baptism by sprinkling is as great a solecism 
 as immersion by aspersion ; and they claim to 
 themselves the honor of having preserved the 
 ancient sacred rite of the church free from 
 change, and from corruption which would des- 
 troy its significancy." He cites a long list of 
 authorities. See Bib. Rep. April, 1833. 
 " The native Greeks must understand their own 
 language ;" and here is their verbal and prac- 
 tical testimony. 
 
 The truth is, this theory of a " sacred use" 
 requires that something more be assumed, than 
 merely that " Greek words were applied to 
 Jewish ideas." It must be assumed, that some 
 mysticism was requisite to the sacred oracles, 
 which demanded a departure from the received 
 sense of human language. In no other way 
 can it be accounted for that words, and fianu'cco 
 in particular, take this wide departure from the 
 common sense, exclusively in the sacred books. 
 Josephus, who, as a writer, occupied for all hu- 
 man purposes, the same position relatively to 
 those for whom he wrote, as did the apostles 
 and evangelists, exhibits no such anomalies. 
 Writing for Greeks, he felt himself obliged to 
 conform to the established standards of their 
 language. Baptizo, with him, always means to 
 immerse. What purpose of divine revelation, 
 what object in the scheme of redemption, re- 
 quired for its accomplishment this mysticism, is 
 utterly beyond conception. 
 
 Will any one evade this difficulty by saying, 
 
64 SACRED USE 
 
 " The apostles, in their own persons, were at 
 hand to elucidate the books by oral instruc- 
 tion ?" This is adding inconsistency to absur- 
 dity. There was, then, one language of the 
 books, another of the preachers, while the books 
 were written for the perusal of the same peo- 
 ple whom the preachers addressed. Paul, in 
 preaching to a congregation of Greeks, finding 
 some obedient to the faith and asking baptism, 
 must have explained thus : " Brethren, I have 
 been obliged in speaking of this initiatory rite, to 
 use the word Bamboo, to immerse, because that 
 is the word in our sacred dialect : but I meant 
 only figs/co, [brecho] to wet. To be wet is all 
 the ordinance requires." Some shrewd philoso- 
 pher would, perhaps, have put the question, 
 " If there is no impiety in using the verb fig^x * to 
 define the rite, why may you not use it to express 
 it ? Why not employ it in your books, ^ and thus 
 let them speak what they mean ?" Paul must 
 have learned some logic which was never taught 
 out of the school of Gamaliel, if he could meet 
 such a question. If the books were designed 
 to be generally read and understood, it was a 
 strange propriety which demanded that they 
 should be written in an invented dialect, so 
 
 * Should it be objected that most of the books were not written 
 till after the time of Paul's preaching, this would not affect the 
 illustration. Any preacher subsequent to the publication of the 
 books would have been, literally, in this predicament. And 
 Paul, in preaching, must have anticipated the disagreement be- 
 tween the books written for the Greeks, and their common lan- 
 guage. 
 
OF BAIITIZn. 65 
 
 anomalous as to require the authors to decipher 
 them.^ 
 
 * Mr. Hall carps at the " allegation" of the Baptists, that to 
 transfer instead of translating the word pa7iTi'C.O) is to " diffuse 
 the opinions of a party," as an admission " that the word bap- 
 tizo, as used in the New Testament, does not mean immerse," 
 and that " if you leave people to learn its meaning from the con- 
 text for themselves you propagate the peculiar sentiments of 
 Paedobaptists among them !" He adds exultingly, " I believe 
 it. It is even so." See p. 28, and Baptist errors, p. 65. But if 
 the object in transferring is, to let people form an independent 
 judgment, " to leave them to judge of the meaning from the use," 
 why should not other words, as well as baptizo, be transferred ? 
 Are there no other words, of the meaning of which men ought 
 to form an independent judgment ? Certainly such a judgment 
 is important with respect to every woid which enjoins a duty, 
 or inculcates a truth. Why is it only in respect to baptizo, 
 the " people should be left to learn the meaning from the context 
 for themselves ?" Mr. Hall says, (Bap. Er. p. 121), " To urge 
 such arguments in this case is to argue that we should not trans- 
 fer this particular word for the best of reasons, lest hereafter 
 we should have to transfer other words for no reason." But what 
 reason has Mr. Hall assigned, or can he assign, for transferring 
 ftanTi'QM, which will not apply with equal force to other words i 
 Is it that baptizo involves a controverted point ? The same is 
 true of all words rendered in our version as expressive of repent- 
 ance, faith, regeneration, election or predestination, future 
 punishment and its duration, hell, damnation, devil — and indeed 
 most words which denote either a doctrine or a duty. And 
 could it ever have been proper in translating Matt. 3 : 2— Repent, 
 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand — to retain the Greek word 
 for repent, only expressing it in English letters and giving it a 
 termination analogous to English idiom ? Every one sees the 
 impropriety of rendering Rom. 8 : 30, Whom he did pro-orize 
 them he also called ; or, Matt. 25 : 46, And these shall go away 
 into aeonian punishment. Such jargon would be marvellously 
 
66 SACRED USE 
 
 One inference from this hypothesis of " sacred 
 use" were it established, would inevitably fol- 
 low : The Bible must never be put into the 
 hands of laymen ! While it speaks to human 
 understanding one thing, but means, in the 
 arcana of religion, another, it would certainly 
 mislead them. Common human learning would 
 be of no avail towards understanding it. None 
 but those who have been initiated into its occult 
 theology, could be safely, or' without sacrilege, 
 intrusted with it. Let us, then, cease to brand 
 Catholicism with priestcraft for limiting the word 
 of God to the clerical order; and for employing 
 efforts to suppress the translations and hin- 
 der the circulation of the Scriptures. This 
 craft is essential to the priesthood, and legiti- 
 mately exercised by it. The priests are sacred- 
 ly bound to guard the divine oracles, and pro- 
 claim to all presumptuous intruders, Procul ! 
 Procul ! O profani ! Off! off! ye profane ! 
 
 It is recorded of Caligula,^ that tyrant de- 
 lighting in blood, that he caused his decrees to 
 be posted upon pillars too high to be read, and 
 then rigorously inflicted the penalty attached to 
 their violation. What was wrong in this con- 
 duct of Caligula ? The decrees may have been 
 equitable enough. There was no iniquity in 
 
 calculated to enlighten men in the knowledge of the truth. 
 To adopt it throughout the bible would, doubtless, induce men 
 literally (as Mr. Hall says) to " leave the word of God to inter- 
 pret itself." Bap. Er. p. 65. 
 
 * I think it was Caligula — it was one of the Roman emperors. 
 
of BAnrizn. 67 
 
 nailing a parchment high up on a pillar. The 
 injustice consisted in punishing men for the 
 violation of a command which, by his own act, 
 he had kept from their knowledge. The 
 nature of his tyranny would have been the 
 same, had he published his constitutions in 
 some " Synagogue 1 '' Lati?i, attaching to the 
 words, or some of them, a sense specially for 
 these laws, and to be met with nowhere else. 
 And the case would be aggravated, if the very 
 word expressing the command were employed 
 in such invented sense. 
 
 The application cannot be mistaken. The 
 word baptizo, in the New Testament, conveys a 
 command. " So all evangelical Christians 
 agree," says Mr. Hall, " and such is the law of 
 Christ." But our Psedobaptist friends declare 
 that the word which enjoins the obligation is em- 
 ployed in a " sacred use" that is, in a sense not 
 to be met with any where else. The import of the 
 law is thus hidden from us. But a law without 
 a penalty is a nullity. No matter what may be 
 the penalty attached to this law. If there is 
 any penalty for disobedience, any reward for 
 obedience ; the bestowing of that reward, the 
 exacting of that penalty, is an act of arbitrary 
 tyranny, in no respect more justifiable than the 
 conduct of Caligula. Will any man dare em- 
 ploy his feeble hands to uphold a theory which 
 thus, by inevitable inference, reflects upon the 
 goodness and mercy of God ! 
 
 Let us now look about us a little, and see 
 what ground we occupy. We commenced with 
 
68 SACRED USE, ETC. 
 
 the proposition, evident upon a simple statement 
 of the case, " The whole question tarns upon 
 the meaning of the word ^amLtfa." We have 
 sought that meaning in the lexicons, in the 
 Greek classics, in the Hellenistic Greek of Jo- 
 sephus, in the opinion of the Greek church, as 
 illustrated by its uniform practice down to the 
 present day. From all these sources, Ave de- 
 rive only the one invariable sense to immerse. 
 On the authority of the classic examples pro- 
 duced by Prof. Stuart and Mr. Carson from the 
 Greek literature of different periods and dia- 
 lects, we have shown that this was the meaning 
 of the word, in profane writers, up to the time 
 when the New Testament was written : it had 
 not undergone any change of meaning, there- 
 fore, in common use. We have shown the in- 
 consistency, the absurdity, the priestcraft, the 
 irreverent reflection upon divine goodness, in- 
 volved in contending for a " sacred use" We 
 are now entitled to claim that SamCo) signifies 
 to immerse. And thus, upon principles fixed 
 by the philosophy of language and the laws of 
 mind, the question is settled. Baptism is im- 
 mersion, and immersion only is baptism. 
 
PART II. 
 
 The Argument from the Scriptures. 
 
 The foregoing 1 , argument seems to be com- 
 plete. It exhibits, in its result, the only rational 
 deduction from our philological data : and it is 
 decisive of the question. We cannot, with 
 logical propriety, add to it any thing more. In 
 pursuing the subject further, it seems requisite 
 to assume new data, and begin anew. But we 
 propose still to submit the selection of data to 
 our opponents, by no means however giving a 
 pledge to adopt their conclusions. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the fact 
 that there are other data, from which, indepen- 
 dently of the meaning of the term . employed 
 to indicate the ordinance, an answer to the 
 question, clear and decisive, may be deduc- 
 ed : There are historical and standing facts; 
 there are circumstances mentioned in the sacred 
 records as attending the administration of the 
 rite ; there are the places where it was ad- 
 ministered, specially chosen as being adapted 
 to the purpose ; there are figurative allu- 
 sions ; and there is the symbolic import of the 
 ordinance. To these we will turn our attention, 
 5 
 
70 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 while our opponents pursue the phantom, " sa- 
 cred use," through the Scriptures. 
 
 No system, it is true, can stand securely upon 
 a fundamental error ; and such, we have already 
 shown, is the basis of Peedobaptism. It may 
 tower up in showing grandeur for awhile, till 
 exposure crumbles its fragile foundation ; but, 
 then, the baseless fabric totters to its fall. But 
 we sometimes forget the clear exposure of a 
 fundamental error — forget, in our reading, the 
 things that are behind, while we eagerly pass 
 on to the things that are before ; and are, in 
 fact, like the reader who first opens his book in 
 the middle. Such may possibly be the case 
 with some one who reads the foregoing argu- 
 ment. He may still be taken by the plausibility 
 with which Scripture is employed to sustain the 
 " sacred use." Error always wears a comely 
 vizard ; otherwise she could not deceive us : 
 and if one mask is torn away, she sometimes, 
 by a sleight of hand, slips on another so dexter- 
 ously as hardly to allow a glimpse of her de- 
 formity. He who would expose error may as 
 well be prepared for this, her legerdemain; and 
 if the rending of one mask is not sufficient, re- 
 veal the sorceress by rending away another. 
 
 We will accommodate this essay to that pro- 
 pensity of human nature w r hich sometimes leads 
 us to begin the book in the middle. The sec- 
 ond part, like the first, shall consist of an argu- 
 ment distinct and conclusive. Those into whose 
 hands this essay may fall, will have four cours- 
 es submitted to their choice : they may read 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 71 
 
 the first part, the second part, or both, or neither. 
 Of course, we prefer they should read both, 
 and think the conviction of truth will be deep- 
 ened by accumulation of argument. 
 
 We decline all participation in the search for 
 a " sacred use" of terms in the New Testament. 
 The responsibility of an assumption which in- 
 volves such consequences, must rest with those 
 who make it. We recognize no such doctrine. 
 The gospel revelation required no mysticism. 
 Christ came not to introduce a new language ; 
 but to reveal the glad tidings of the new dis- 
 pensation, in the languages already understood. 
 If our friends, however, will pursue the irrever- 
 ent search, there is perhaps no objection to fol- 
 low as spectators ; and when we hear the voice 
 of exultation, to venture to approach and ask the 
 liberty of examining whether they have found 
 a pearl or a dry bone, a gem or a pebble. 
 
 In the very first step of our onward progress, 
 our ears are stunned by the noise of mingled 
 wonder and reprehension. " You exclude the 
 sacred writers from the witness-box ! Why not 
 call the Evangelists and Apostles and ask them 
 what they meant ? What do Matthew, and 
 Mark, and Luke, and John, and Paul mean by 
 baptize ?" 
 
 Suppose a native citizen of New York, emi- 
 grating to Cincinnati, were arrested on suspi- 
 cion as a counterfeiter, the crime alleged to have 
 been committed in New York. On the trial, 
 the prisoner brings witnesses of most unexcep- 
 tionable character from his native city, who tes- 
 
72 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 tify that they have known him from childhood ; 
 that he always sustained a good character; and 
 that, to their knowledge, the crime now charged 
 upon him. was committed by another person. 
 The court immediately acquits him; and, to all 
 impartial persons, the acquittal seems just. 
 But a party of the citizens, who have a purpose 
 to serve by confining the man in the peniten- 
 tiary,' forthwith .raise a hue and cry at the mon- 
 strous remissness of the police in turning such 
 a rogue loose in the community. You inquire 
 for the evidences of this remissness ; and are 
 informed of the startling fact, that " none of the 
 eminently pious clergymen of the city were 
 called to testify! They were excluded from 
 the witness-box !" In vain you reply, that " the 
 forgery, if committed at all, was done in a dis- 
 tant place ; that none of the clergy were there 
 to know any of the circumstances. They 
 "humbly conceive it would have been as well 
 to call" the clergy ! Why not call Dr. Beecher, 
 and Dr. Wilson, and Dr. Lynd, and the rest 
 of the clergy ? They are good men, and there- 
 fore ought to testify.' 0, the enormity ! 
 
 This is a parallel case. Banner, a native 
 Greek, is arraigned among foreigners as an am- 
 biguous character, and a counterfeiter of the 
 meaning of other words. As evidence in the 
 defence, a cloud of witnesses are brought from 
 Greece, who all prove the culprit's simplicity 
 and integrity of meaning, and disprove the spe- 
 cial charge against him. He is acquitted as 
 honest, and meaning what he says. But the 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 73 
 
 cry is raised, " What, exclude the sacred wri- 
 ters from the witness-box !" The answer is : 
 They were foreigners. This word had acquir- 
 ed its signification in another country, and un- 
 der circumstances of which they personally 
 knew nothing. They found the sense of this, 
 as of other words of the language, already es- 
 tablished : and the Holy Spirit, through them, 
 revealed the will of Heaven to men, in a lan- 
 guage intelligible to men. Otherwise, it were 
 no revelation. To be understood, it was neces- 
 sary for them, as Greek writers, to conform to 
 the Greek standard. Josephus, simply as a 
 writer of Greek, occupied the same position. 
 His authority cannot be cited to establish the 
 sense of Greek words. He was obliged to con- 
 form to the standard acceptation of words : and 
 we quote him merely to show that he did so ; 
 and thus, by proving that the " Greek of Judea" 
 did not depart from the classic sense of words, 
 and particularly that baptizo did not — that such 
 departure can be claimed only for the New Tes- 
 tament — we drive our opponents to their dernier 
 resort, a " sacred use" in the strictest sense of 
 the phrase — a " peculiar New Testament use," 
 as Mr. Hall expresses it. 
 
 However, we shall hear the testimony which the 
 sacred writers have to give as we advance, though 
 not bearing on the meaning of the word baptizo. 
 Their testimony respects (as already remarked) 
 the places where the rite was administered, and 
 the circumstances attending the administration, 
 and the figurative import of the ordinance, &c. 
 5* 
 
74 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 But first our attention is called to the Septu- 
 agint and Apocrypha. In the apocryphal book 
 of Ecclesiasticus, 34 : 25, the son of Sirach 
 says, " He that washeth himself after the touch- 
 ing of a dead body, if he touch it again, what 
 availeth his washing?" The word washeth 
 here is ^'amv'Qoixevog [baptizomenos].^ The 
 allusion probably is to the ceremonial purifi- 
 cation prescribed in Numbers, 19 : 16, 18 ; 
 " And whosoever toucheth one that is slain 
 with a sword in the open field, or a dead 
 body or a bone, &c. ; — And a clean person 
 shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and 
 sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the 
 vessels ^ ^ ^ and upon him that touched a 
 bone, or one slain, or. one dead, or a grave." 
 Mr. Hall's conclusion is, that here "the word 
 baptize is used to denote a purification by 
 sprinkling, with no reference to dipping or im- 
 mersing at all." (p. 40.) 
 
 but this Scripture — Numbers xix. — speaking 
 
 * Mr. Hall has a very noticeable note on this verse : " While 
 the word " washeW here is SamiQousrog [baptized]; the 
 word '■'■washing'''' is Iovtqu, [washing], showing conclusively 
 that the writer held the two words Suttti'^O) [baptizo] and 
 
 XovO) [louo — to wash] as synonymous." Let us reason so 
 with two English words : My friend writes me " I walk in the 
 fields daily ; but my health is no better : what availeth my exer- 
 cise ?" This shows, conclusively; that my friend holds the two 
 words to ivalk and to exercise as synonymous, i. e. all exercise 
 is lualking ! This kind of fallacy is fully exposed on p. 29 of 
 this work, and note on p. 25. 
 
FROM THE APOCRYPHA. 75 
 
 for itself, tells us something more than the 
 sprinkling of the " water of separation" was 
 necessary to complete the purification. A very 
 thorough and literal purifying was enjoined on 
 the seventh day : " he shall wash his clothes 
 and bathe himself in water." This is immer- 
 sion. Mr. Hall indirectly admits that here is 
 most probably an immersion (note p. 51). " The 
 word bathing" he says, " would not necessarily 
 imply an immersion ;" that is, it might possibly 
 not imply an immersion. This does not har- 
 monize very well with his " inevitable conclu- 
 sion" on pp. 39, 40, that here is " no reference 
 to dipping or immersing at all." 
 
 The son of Sirach, in referring to these cer- 
 emonies, very naturally fixed upon those prom- 
 inent ones which occurred on the seventh day, 
 and which, closing up the ritual requirements, 
 left the person " clean at even." Thus we see 
 that, in Num. xix, is clearly enjoined what is 
 distinctly named in Ecclesiasticus, an immer- 
 sion. 
 
 But Mr. Hall, reechoing what has been a 
 hundred times refuted, attempts to make another 
 use of this passage in Numbers, in propping up 
 his theory of sprinkling. He assumes (p. 56), 
 that this is one of the " divers washings" (bap- 
 tisms, as the Greek is) referred to by Paul in 
 Heb. 9: 10. And when the Baptists say, as 
 above, that the " baptism refers to the bathing" 
 he is " glad of the objection, because it dis- 
 tinctly recognizes the fact that Paul refers to 
 these purifyings as among his \ divers bap- 
 tisms.' " 
 
76 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 So, then, it appears that Mr. Hall is troubled 
 with doubts whether Paul does really " refer 
 to these purifyings" at all, among his " divers 
 baptisms." He expected and dreaded the denial 
 of this assumption, as well he might, so far, at 
 least, as it could serve his purpose, by confining 
 the purifying to the sprinkling. To find, or 
 fancy he finds it recognized in an objection, 
 throws him into ecstacy, as that is his only hope 
 for his argument, if indeed he thinks it an ar- 
 gument. Yet on grounds which, himself being 
 judge, are so dubious and trembling beneath 
 him, he ventures to rest with his argument for 
 sprinkling. All the other texts in the Leviti- 
 cal law upon which he hazards a reliance, are 
 equally precarious. The support which he 
 shall receive from them, depends altogether upon 
 the kind indulgence and " recognition" of his 
 antagonists. We would show every degree of 
 kindness to Mr. Hall ; but we must not indulge 
 our benevolence at the expense of the truth. 
 
 Paul alludes, in general terms, to the bap- 
 tisms, that is, immersions prescribed by the 
 law, — such as that already referred to, Num- 
 bers 19 : 19, " bathe himself in watery Mai- 
 monides says, as often quoted, " Whenever, in 
 the law, washing of the flesh, or of the clothes 
 is mentioned, it means nothing else than the 
 dipping of the whole body in a laver." There 
 were many of these immersions. See Num. 
 19:7,8,19. Ex. 29:4. Lev. 11:32, and 
 14 : 8, 9, relating to the cleansing of the leper, 
 referred to by Mr. Hall as being done by sprink- 
 
FROM THE APOCRYPHA. 77 
 
 ling, whereas the ritual enjoins " washing his 
 clothes, and washing his flesh in water." See 
 also Lev. 15:5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 
 18, 21, 22, 27. 
 
 On Judith 12 : 7, " Washed [Gr. baptized] 
 herself in a fountain of water in the camp," 
 Mr. Hall says, "The context shows that the 
 object of this baptizing was to remove a cere- 
 monial uncleanness." It does not show it very 
 clearly. Which verse of the context shows 
 this ? Where in the ceremonial law is the rit- 
 ual for this baptizing ? He cites the xv. chap, 
 of Leviticus. All the purifications there pre- 
 scribed are by " bathing in water." But which 
 verse describes Judith's .case, or prescribes the 
 ritual for her observance ? For a woman, the 
 only application of water prescribed in the 
 chapter is in the 18th verse. That can hardly 
 be the case of Judith. See the passage. 
 
 The Septuagint reads snv iTjg m^g tov 
 vdarog. On the preposition ent [epi], it is some- 
 times remarked that " it means more properly 
 at than in the fountain." Whether we under- 
 stand it at or in does not affect the meaning of 
 the verb. The question is often asked among 
 Baptists, " Where will the baptism be perform- 
 ed ?" The answer is as often at the river, as in 
 the river. You will not argue thence that the 
 Baptists do not immerse. Judith followed the 
 custom of that warm climate : she bathed fre- 
 quently. And she seems to have meant it as a 
 religious service, on the authority, perhaps, of 
 tradition, or of the general regard to cleanli- 
 
78 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 ness, which is a characteristic of the law. And 
 as the fountain in which she immersed herself, 
 was " in the camp," that is, within the grounds 
 occupied by Holofernes' army, " she went out 
 in the night" for that purpose.^ 
 
 Dan. 4 : 33, describes one circumstance of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's case thus : " His body was 
 wet (Gr. bapto'd) with the dew of Heaven." 
 " Sprinkled certainly," shouts a Paedobaptist ; 
 "for dew sprinkles ! wet by the gentlest distilla- 
 tion in nature !" An anecdote will be apropos 
 here. 
 
 On declamation day in a certain academy in 
 the State of New York, Mr. S., a tall young 
 man, on being called by the principal, came 
 forward with a great parade of assumed digni- 
 ty, mounted with lofty mien the three steps to 
 the stage, made a majestic bow, and commenc- 
 ed his harangue. He described a thunder- 
 storm, in the various stages of its progress : A 
 clear blue sky — a speck in the horizon — a cloud 
 distinctly visible — a distant rumbling — the cloud 
 ascending, and spreading, and gathering black- 
 ness. The sun is obscured. The lightnings 
 gleam and flash athwart the heavens. The 
 thunders bellow with terrific voice. The clouds 
 
 * It is strange, indeed, that so candid a man as Professor Stu- 
 art should make any thing of the circumstance that the fountain 
 was " in the camp." Yet he has this remark : " For into the 
 fountain in the midst of the camp, it is not probable that she 
 plunged." " Perhaps not," says Professor Ripley ; " but though 
 she did not plunge she might have immersed herself." She 
 might, surely, in the night. 
 
FROM THE SEPTUAG1NT. 79 
 
 seem burst asunder, and emptying their con- 
 tents, in one unbroken lake, upon the hills. 
 The torrents tumble and foam down the slopes 
 and precipices, and roll through the vallies. 
 And, to cap the description, " The boys and 
 girls of the village paddle in the brook!" 
 
 The fall from the sublime here is very sud- 
 den and very great. But no greater than is ex- 
 hibited in the case of Nebuchadnezzar by mak- 
 ing e.SacpT] mean "he was sprinkled."" Every 
 thing else answers to a highly wrought hyper- 
 bole. It is introduced with sublimity : " This 
 matter is by the word of the holy ones : to the 
 intent that the living may know that the Most 
 High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, v. 17. 
 This is the decree of the Most High which is 
 come upon my lord the king, v. 24. A voice 
 from heaven, king, to thee it is spoken, v. 31. 
 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon 
 Nebuchadnezzar : he was driven from men : he 
 did eat grass as the oxen, v. 33. his dwelling 
 was with the beasts of the field, v. 25 : his 
 hairs grew like eagle's feathers ; his nails like 
 bird's claws : till seven times passed over him." 
 And one circumstance in a case thus hyperbolic 
 in every other particular remains untold : " He 
 was sprinkled with dew /" We humbly con- 
 ceive it would correspond better with the rest of 
 the description to understand it as every Greek 
 would have understood it : " He was over- 
 whelmed, immersed in the dew of Heaven." 
 
 Naaman's case, 2 Kings, 5 : 10, 14. The 
 prophet directed Naaman to wash [lovaei] seven 
 
vut 
 
 80 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 times. Naaman, following this direction, dip 
 ped [baptized] himself seven times. The in 
 ference drawn by some is, " Therefore ho 
 [louo, to ivash] and ftunriQco [baptizo] are synon- 
 ymous. If the translators have used good En- 
 glish, we have the same ground in the English 
 to prove that to ivash and to dip are synony- 
 mous. Are they ? The two words may be 
 found standing in the same relation to each 
 other, in numerous instances in our language. 
 Washing may be performed by dipping, as we 
 learn it was in Naaman's case : and when it is 
 so performed, we may correctly employ either 
 term to designate the act : and so far they are 
 synonymous. But if the washing be done by 
 the use of a sponge or cloth, there is a washing 
 but no dipping. Washing includes more than 
 dipping : the former is generic ; the latter 
 modal. These criticisms apply exactly to 1-ovoj 
 [louo] and @ami%w. See p. 29, and note on p. 
 25 of this Work. 
 
 Elisha ordered the leper to wash. He did 
 not prescribe the mode of ivashing. Naaman 
 was at liberty to wash in what mode he pleas- 
 ed. He preferred immersion. The command 
 was satisfied, and the leper was healed. 
 
 There would be the same latitude for obedi- 
 ence in the rite of Christian baptism, if this 
 command of Christ had been expressed in a 
 general term — if it had run thus : " Go teach 
 all nations ivashing [lovovteg], or wetting [^qf- 
 Xorieg], them in the name &c, instead of im- 
 mersing [fictTTTit.ovTsg']. Bqe/o) [brecho] to wet 
 
FROM THE SEPTUAGINT. 81 
 
 should have been used, to make it correspond 
 with modern Paedobaptist views : that signifies 
 " any application of water." Loud and posi- 
 tive assertions that baytizo is generic, have no 
 weight against all the authority of the use of 
 the language, showing the one specific, modal 
 sense to immerse. The chain of classic autho- 
 rity which binds the word to this sense, must be 
 broken, and some evidence adduced to sustain 
 such assertions, before they will deserve any 
 consideration. Indeed, so far from its denoting 
 " any application of water," it does not neces- 
 sarily imply any application or presence of wa- 
 ter at all. Professor Stuart has shown that it 
 is frequently used to denote an entering or 
 plunging into a solid substance, as plunging a 
 sword into a man's body. " It is not confined 
 to liquids," says Mr. Carson, " but is applied 
 "to every thing that is penetrated. It denotes 
 
 MODE AND NOTHING BUT MODE." 
 
 These are the examples from the Septuagint 
 and Apocrypha, upon the evidence of which 
 the " sacred use" depends. And what do they 
 testify in its favor ? As to that, they might as 
 well not have been called to the witness-box. 
 They are honest witnesses, and will not con- 
 form their testimony to any man's creed. They 
 confirm, by the evidence of particular facts, 
 what was antecedently certain upon general 
 principles of reason, namely, that the Alexan- 
 drine Seventy, like all writers in a foreign 
 tongue, held themselves bound to conform, in 
 the signification of words, to the approved stan- 
 6 
 
82 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 dards of the language in which they wrote. 
 Those translators were Jews ; yet the word 
 fiami'cpi is not affected in its meaning by. their 
 " Synagogue Greek," any more than in the case 
 of Josephus. The " generic sense'''' finds no 
 countenance, in the "Greek of Judea." It 
 must be, as Mr. Hall calls it, " a peculiar New 
 Testament use" — a mysticism mysteriously re- 
 quisite to the Gospel. Let us, then, have the 
 testimony of the evangelists and apostles, only 
 entreating for them that they be not examined 
 by torture. 
 
 Passing to the New Testament, we are called 
 to witness the baptism of our Lord and Sav- 
 iour, as recorded Matt, iii, Mark i. We ap- 
 proach with solemn reverence. It is a specta- 
 cle upon which Heaven looked. down, and gave 
 an approving voice. We see him as he comes 
 from Nazareth of Galilee, approach to \eni\ the 
 Jordan. We hear him, in language of kind ex- 
 postulation, obviating John's scruples, who 
 knew he needed not the " baptism of repen- 
 tance ;" " Suffer it to be so now." We see him 
 baptized, according to John's general practice 
 (Matt. 3 : 6) ev, in, or as Mark says specially of 
 the Saviour's case, etc, into, the Jordan. We 
 see him " coming up out of the water." We 
 hear the voice of divine approval " from 
 heaven : This is my beloved son in whom I am 
 well pleased." 
 
 But our attention is now caught by the 
 strange language of the pulpit : " I profess I 
 see no immersion here ! He might have step- 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 83 
 
 ped into the water to be sprinkled ! And if 
 Christ was immersed, it was but one instance! ! 
 — no authority for the practice ! ! We have 
 scripture authority for following the Saviour to 
 the water, but no farther." 
 
 Part of the above language is employed by 
 Mr. Hall on another occurrence, the baptism of 
 the eunuch, Acts 8: 36, seq. In that account, 
 the inspired narrator tells us that " As they 
 went on their way, they came sm> t* tidwo, unto 
 a certain, water. ^ ^ * And they went down 
 both into the water [stg to vdoig], and he baptiz- 
 ed him. And when they came up out of the 
 water [sx tov vdajoq~\" the Spirit of God again 
 signified his approbation by sensible tokens to 
 both administrator and candidate. He. " caught 
 away Philip, and the eunuch went on his way 
 rejoicing." 
 
 " I profess," says Mr. Hall, " I see no im- 
 mersion in the account ! I see no proof of im- 
 mersion here ! ! !" 
 
 The sun is now shining brightly on the fields 
 and hills in front of the window where I am 
 writing. The landscape is beautifully illumi- 
 nated. The river reflects a gleam from its sil- 
 very surface. The green branches wave on 
 the hill-sides. If some Descartes, skeptical of 
 the evidence of his senses, were now to enter 
 and deny that the sun shines, that there are any 
 fields, hills or river, I could find no argument 
 to combat him. I would not make the attempt. 
 This man's mania might perhaps be more phi- 
 losophical ; but, practically, it would not differ 
 
84 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 from that state of vassalage to prejudice which 
 shuts out the light of reason and common 
 sense, subjects consciousness to skepticism, 
 and almost rivets fetters upon instinct. We 
 can hardly review the arguments of men who 
 have arrived at such conclusions, for their own 
 benefit : we may for the benefit of others. 
 
 The prepositions Big and ev (translated in), 
 we are assured, prove nothing ; they do not 
 necessarily mean anything more than to — to 
 the water, to Jordan. But w r e are previously 
 informed of Jesus' coming to Jordan (Matt. 3: 
 13), of the eunuch's coming to the water (Acts 
 8 : 36) : and in both cases e m [epi] is used. 
 So it will, at least, be admitted that after coming 
 to a position expressed by em, " to the Jordan," 
 there was a nearer approximation for the pur- 
 pose of baptism, which is expressed by ev and 
 etg [en and eis\. They came to the water, and 
 then came nearer to it. Orthodoxy is not out- 
 raged till there is an intimation of going into 
 the water : nor even then, provided they only 
 " step in," or go in "ankle deep:" or "knee 
 deep:" but that is the farthest limit; they 
 must stop there and be sprinkled. 
 
 But why go to the trouble of unbinding and 
 binding on again the sandals in order to sprinkle 
 and be sprinkled ? Why not send a servant of 
 the eunuch's train (for such great men never 
 travelled without attendants), to fetch a little wa- 
 ter in a cup ? They could hardly travel in the 
 desert without some such convenience. Or, to 
 the water," on the unreasonable supposition that 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 85 
 
 they carried no vessel for water, why could they 
 not have stopped at the margin, and "Philip, 
 having no convenient basin, have dipped his hand 
 in the water, and poured or sprinkled it upon 
 the eunuch?" (p. 84), They would thus have 
 saved the trouble and delay of taking off the 
 sandals. 
 
 If the prepositions ev and; sis [en and eis], 
 are not the words in the Greek language, which 
 express the relations in and into, please tell us 
 what words do denote those ideas. It is easy 
 to find instances where these English preposi- 
 tions deviate from their usual sense. Like ev 
 and eig, they often depend for their sense on the 
 words in connection. If ev vdau and eig vdojg 
 do not signify in mater, what Greek words can 
 we employ to express that thought ? And, tak- 
 ing the whole phrase @<xnTi£et,v ev vdccTi, or eig 
 vdwg, no words can more fully express the idea, 
 to immerse in water. 
 
 The preposition' anb [apo] rendered " out of " 
 in Matt. 3: 16, is sometimes subjected to criti- 
 cism in order to show that the candidate " came 
 up from the water." Ano [apo] does generally 
 mean from, though that also depends on the 
 connection ; and the place is always to be noted 
 whence the motion proceeds. Admit it should be 
 rendered/?*07?zin the instance of Christ's baptism, 
 does it mean he " went up from" the margin 
 of the stream particularly ; or might the same 
 form of expression be used if he " went up 
 from" the middle, or any other point ? But, in 
 the case of the eunuch, it is not o.no [apo], but 
 6* 
 
86 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 ex, [ek], the literal sense of which is out of: 
 " they went down into the water" (xure^aav 
 eig to vdMQ) and " they came up out of the wat- 
 er" (uv£{3i]<jav ex tov vdarog) : and in the interim 
 the baptism was performed. These are circum- 
 stances which correspond perfectly with immer- 
 sion. How ridiculously perverse the exposition, 
 which struggles to reconcile them with sprink- 
 ling or pouring, Mr. Hall has made fully ap- 
 pear. 
 
 We certainly cannot " prove to Mr. Hall that 
 the stream [where the eunuch was baptized] 
 was a foot deep." (p. 84). To a man who un- 
 derstood human language in a human significa- 
 tion, we could. The water must have been 
 deep enough to immerse a man, we would say, 
 having already shown that to immerse is the 
 only human sense of baptizo. But that, with 
 a hunter for the "sacred use,'" would be " beg- 
 ging the question." But there is another cir- 
 cumstance which would indicate there was a 
 considerable quantity of water. 
 
 " The way from Jerusalem to Gaza," in 
 which the eunuch was travelling, " is desert." 
 Some of our Psedobaptist friends (Mr. Burgess 
 and others) seem to have proved, to their own 
 satisfaction, that there was not water enough 
 along the whole road, a distance of some seven- 
 ty miles, to immerse a man. There was, how- 
 ever, the river Sorek in the route ; but, judging 
 from the map, the road did not probably strike 
 that, till more than half way to Gaza : this 
 probability alone gives any plausibility to the 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 87 
 
 argument that there was not water enough for 
 immersion along- the road; for if the road lay- 
 along the river, there would have been water, 
 of course. This was a part of the " wilderness 
 of Judea." Mr. Hall reminds us, quoting " an 
 American lady (Mrs. Haight)" that, in travel- 
 ling this desert, it is customary (indeed neces- 
 sary) to carry " water bottles." Of course, the 
 eunuch was provided in this respect. Why 
 not draw the cork from a bottle, and take a 
 little for the ordinance ? A few drops would 
 suffice; and the supply to last through the des- 
 ert would hardly have been diminished. Why, 
 except that a greater quantity was requisite, did 
 they descend from the chariot, after waiting till 
 they came to a " certain water ?" And please 
 note here, that no such silly reason can be as- 
 signed for seeking a place of " much water," as 
 Mr. Hall, following his leaders, has assigned in 
 the case of John's baptism : there were no mul- 
 titudes who, with their animals, needed drink. 
 This device fails here : there was only the eu- 
 nuch and his train, halting for a few moments. 
 Mr. Hall finds confirmation strong that the 
 eunuch w;^s sprinkled, in the Scripture which 
 he was reading. " He read the prophet Esa- 
 ias." Mr. Hall says, " Philip began ' at the 
 beginning.' " The words " at the beginning" 
 he distinguishes by quotation marks, and founds 
 an argument upon them, the conclusion of 
 which is that Philip began just where Mr. Hall 
 would have him begin, namely, at the Hi. chap, 
 and 13th verse. Whence are these words, " «fc 
 
S3 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 the beginning" quoted ? certainly not from the 
 account, in Acts, of the eunuch's conversion 
 and baptism. There is no such expression 
 there. Perhaps it. is taken from the first verse 
 of Genesis, and meant to designate the words 
 at which Philip began. But that cannot be, 
 for he • tells us precisely, chapter and verse, 
 where Philip began. At any rate, there is as 
 much ground to claim that Philip began at the 
 first of Genesis, as that he began at the lii. 
 chapter, and 13th verse of Isaiah. It is evident 
 that in taking in the 13th and 14th verses, a spe- 
 cious compliment is paid them, merely to make 
 suit with better grace to the 15th, which is the 
 real object of regard, because it possesses that 
 resistless charm, the word " sprokle." See 
 the place. 
 
 The historian of the Acts tells us that " Phil- 
 ip began" — not " at the beginning!' '.but "at the 
 same scripture," namely that which is repeat- 
 ed in the 22d, and 23d verses (Acts 8) : " He 
 was led as a sheep to the slaughter &c." This 
 is quoted from Isaiah 53 : 7, 8. The prophecy 
 has special reference to the Messiah ; and there- 
 fore it was peculiarly appropriate as a text from 
 which Philip might " preach to him Jesus." In 
 expounding the doctrines of the new dispensa- 
 tion to his attentive auditor, Philip, of course, 
 did not omit the first duty of the believer ; and 
 the eunuch, with' all the glowing ardor of a 
 young convert, embraced the first opportunity 
 to perform it. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 89 
 
 There are two declarations before cited^ 
 which we will here bring together in order to 
 see how they agree. One is " If Christ were 
 immersed, it would be but one instance, and 
 would afford no argument for the practice." 
 Mr. Hall expresses the same sentiment in differ- 
 ent words : " Had Christ and his disciples all 
 been baptized by immersion, it would not bind 
 us to an immersion." (p. 10S). The other is 
 " We have Scripture authority to follow Christ 
 to the water, but no farther-" We have heard 
 these two declarations in the same sermon. 
 
 Here is a distinct recognition of the example 
 of Christ as our pattern in baptism. But if he 
 be our pattern, shall we not copy his example, 
 whatever it may be, in this ordinance ? If "we 
 have Scripture authority to follow" him at all, 
 will not that authority accompany us as far into 
 the water as he went ? And if he went down 
 into the water and was immersed, would such 
 an example of the Saviour afford no argument 
 for the practice of immersion ? Or must the 
 declaration be qualified thus ? — We have Scrip- 
 ture authority to follow Christ" in baptism, 
 provided he were sprinkled or poured upon ; but 
 if he were immersed, his example is of no au- 
 thority. " It is but one instance, and affords no 
 argument for the practice." Those declarations 
 can be reconciled in no other way : in any other 
 view, they must come into dead collision. This 
 is at once admitting and rejecting the authority 
 
 * P. 83, of thia work. 
 
90 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 of Christ's example, to suit a favourite creed, 
 very unceremoniously. Shall ministers of the 
 gospel thus lightly speak of Christ's example 
 as one instance, and acknowledge or trample 
 upon its authority at pleasure ! 
 
 There is yet another reason, resuscitated by 
 Mr. Hall after the thousandth refutation, " for 
 supposing that Jesus was baptized in a mode 
 other than immersion." (pi 80.) This reason 
 is made out by a construction of the Saviour's 
 words to John : " For so it biecometh us to ful- 
 fil all righteousness." " The righteousness" 
 spoken of, we are requested to understand, was 
 " the righteousness required in the law." " He 
 went," says Mr. H, " at thirty years old — the 
 age at which the Levites were to enter upon the 
 priesthood. He went to enter upon the priest- 
 hood ; and was purified by his special forerun- 
 ner, to fulfil ' all the righteousness of the law.' 
 But this purification for the priesthood was per- 
 formed not by immersion, but by sprinkling." 
 Therefore, Jesus was sprinkled. 
 
 Mr. Hall endeavours to evade the objection 
 to this hypothesis, that " Christ was of the tribe 
 of. Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing 
 concerning priesthood" (Heb. 7 : 14.), by adroit- 
 ly slipping in, and slipping over, this declaration 
 of Paul, almost as though it constituted a link 
 in his own argument. But the objection is in- 
 superable. It cuts off every motive for an in- 
 duction into the priest's office according to the 
 Mosaic ritual. " The righteousness of the law" 
 would not have been fulfilled by such an indue- 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 91 
 
 tion : it would have been a direct violation of 
 the law, thus to consecrate one of any other 
 tribe than that of Levi. If it were done in- def- 
 erence to the Jews, as the people to whom had 
 been " committed the oracles of God,", it would 
 have produced no favourable impression upon 
 them. Every Jew, knowing the descent of 
 Jesus, would have- regarded him as an intruder 
 into the priest's office, as indeed he would have 
 been.. But Christ, being a priest -by "special 
 appointment of God," " after the order of Mel- ' 
 chisedec, and not called after the order of Aaron" 
 (Heb. 7 : 11), had no motive, was under no ob- 
 ligation to a Levitical consecration to the priest- 
 hood : " For the priesthood being changed, 
 there is made of necessity a change also of the 
 law." (v. 12) But waiving this objection 
 (which is alone sufficient to prostrate the. theo- 
 ry in question), if the object was "to fulfil the 
 righteousness of the law" by a Levitical induc-r 
 tion into the priesthood, that object Was not ac- 
 complished by John's baptism, or John's rhant- 
 ism, i. e. sprinkling. 
 
 The advocates of this scheme ought to dis- 
 criminate between priests and Levites, and tell 
 us into which office they would have Christ in- 
 ducted. The priests were the lineal descend- 
 ants of Aaron, and had the chief direction of 
 all the sacred rites : the Levites were, in the 
 ministry of the temple, the servants of the 
 priests, and subject to their control. God says 
 (Num. 8 : 19) " I have given the Levites as 
 a gift to Aaron and his sons, from among the 
 
92 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 children of Israel ; to do the service of the chil- 
 dren of Israel in the tabernacle of the congre- 
 gation." See also 1 Chron. 23 : 2S, &c. 
 
 The ceremonies of consecration of priests 
 and Levites are as different as the services res- 
 pectively prescribed. But Mr. Hall confounds 
 them. He would make the " sprinkling'' 1 of 
 " Num. 8 : 7, show how the ' washing' was 
 performed" of Exodus 29 : 4. But the two 
 passages do not refer to the same thing. In 
 Exodus xxix, are prescribed the ceremonies for 
 consecrating a priest ; in Num. viii, for induct- 
 ing a Levite. Washing is prescribed for the 
 priests, sprinkling for the Levites. But in 
 either case, the icashing or sprinkli?ig is but a 
 subordinate part of the ceremonies. The prin- 
 cipal part is sacrifices. The ritual for the Le- 
 vites occupies Num. viii, from ^the 5th verse 
 to the 15th. " The waters of purifying" must 
 be " sprinkled upon them :" they must " shave 
 all their flesh:" they must "wash their clothes:', 
 two bullocks must be offered, " the one for a 
 sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering:" 
 and all was to be performed " before the taber- 
 nacle," and in presence of " the whole assem- 
 bly of the children of Israel." 
 
 For the priests (if that is the office into which 
 Christ must needs be inducted), the sacrifices 
 and other ceremonies occupy nearly the whole 
 of the xxix. chapter of Exodus. There was 
 washing, putting on of the sacerdotal robes, unc- 
 tion, sacrifice, with many accompanying cere- 
 monies. And the consecration was to be re- 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 93 
 
 peated seven days: " Seven days shalt thou 
 consecrate them. And thou shalt offer every 
 day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement." 
 ver. 35, 36. 
 
 Yet, whether Christ is to be a priest or a 
 Levite, " the righteousness of the law" is to be 
 fulfilled, by violating all the requirements of the 
 law, except the single subordinate one of wash- 
 ing or sprinkling ! " For the honor of theo- 
 logical science among us," says the reviewer of 
 Burgess, in the Christian Review, " we sincere- 
 ly hope we shall never again be told, that bap- 
 tism in the Jordan, away from the temple, with- 
 out the robes of office, without a Jewish unc- 
 tion, without any sacrifice, without a sevenfold 
 repetition lasting seven days, is a consecration 
 to the sacerdotal office as required by the law of 
 Moses." 
 
 It is impossible to notice here all the absurdi- 
 ties of this theory. Mr. Hall and others resort 
 to it to account for Christ's submitting to John's 
 baptism, which as he was a sinless being, say 
 they, " could have no reference to repentance 
 or remission of sins." If Mr. Hall is satisfied 
 with this answer to his question — " why was Je- 
 sus baptized?" — we will offer another for his 
 decision : Why was a priest or Levite conse- 
 crated ? Was it not as an atonement for sin, or 
 being set apart to the public service of God? 
 Ex. 19 : 33, 36. Dr. Scott, in Numbers 8 : 
 6 — 8, has the following language : " The Le- 
 vites were not distinguished from the other Is- 
 raelites by any prescribed garments ; nor were 
 7 
 
94 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 they washed or anointed, after the manner in 
 which the priests had been : but though they 
 were set apart with less solemnity, to mark the 
 inferiority of their office, and because they were 
 not expressly typical of Christ as the priests 
 were (Lev. 8 : 9.) ; yet there was equally a re- 
 membrance of sin, both in its guilt and defile- 
 ment, and of the need of atonement and sancti- 
 fication, in the separation of them to their 
 office." So then, the theory which would iden- 
 tify Christ's baptism with the consecration of a 
 Jewish priest, has as clear a "reference to re- 
 pentance and remission of sins" as John's bap- 
 tism had, when applied to the multitudes of 
 Judea. 
 
 Those whose perverse obstinacy will brave all 
 absurdities in defending a favorite tenet, will 
 very probably persist in " looking for the refer- 
 ence in the righteousness required in the law." 
 All beside will look for some more rational expo- 
 sition of the Saviour's language to John. Christ 
 was, in himself a sinless being, " holy, harmless, 
 undenled, and separate from sinners." In his di- 
 vine character, his baptism could have no refer- 
 ence to repentance or remission of sins. But when 
 he put on our nature, became one with us, was 
 made "sin for us, who," in himself, "knew no 
 sin ;" it became him to fulfil all the righteous 
 requirements of God upon sinful man. It be- 
 came him to fulfil all righteousness, by observ- 
 ing all the divine institutions incumbent upon 
 his people — to furnish an example of perfect 
 obedience to his Father's righteous will, in the 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 95 
 
 relation which pertained to the sinful nature he 
 had assumed. And thus there was a propriety 
 in his submitting to the baptism of repentance. 
 John's baptism, then, administered to the Sa- 
 viour, was no exception to its ordinary im- 
 port. 
 
 A knot esteemed difficult for the " immer- 
 sionists" is found in Mark, 7:4, " The wash- 
 ing [^anriafiovg, baptisms] of cups, and pots, 
 brazen vessels, and tables," or couches [y.hvcbv]. 
 No difficulty can be made of the immersion of 
 " cups and pots and brazen vessels." These 
 were to be purified by being "put into water." 
 Lev. 11 : 32. All the trouble is with tables or 
 couches. " The immersion of those, it is some- 
 times declared with almost convincing empha- 
 sis, " is inconsistent — involves an improba- 
 bility — almost an impossibility." The law on 
 this subject is quite full : " Whether it be any 
 vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, 
 whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is 
 done, it must be put into water." Lev. 11: 32.^ 
 Couches are not definitely named, it is true; 
 but it is a question, whether any one would 
 have thought of excluding them from the gene- 
 ral enumeration, had not a purpose required it. 
 If this knot is not sufficiently undone, we shall, 
 incidentally, undo it farther as we advance by 
 the citation of some authorities to illustrate the 
 context, to which we now turn our attention. 
 
 It reads thus, Mark 7:3, 4. " For the 
 
 * See also Lev- 15 : 12 and 6 : 28. 
 
96 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash 
 their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of 
 the elders. And when they come from the 
 market, except they wash [fiamMjcavTat, baptize], 
 they eat not." 
 
 This scripture is employed as the charm to 
 conjure up a frightful "dilemma,"^ either horn 
 of which is considered dangerous to the Bap- 
 tists. On this, we are informed, the Baptists 
 divide into two hostile parties, between which 
 there are chronicled some rather unfriendly ren- 
 counters. One party with " Campbell [a Pcedo- 
 baptist] and Wolsey " at its head, contends, or 
 rather " fights,"! for supplying x 8l Q tt S> hands, 
 after ^anTLutavjuv [baptisontai], and reading it 
 thus: "Except they immerse their hands, they 
 eat not." The other party with " Carson and 
 Judd" at its head, " maintains stoutly" that 
 " the Jews actually immersed themselves, before 
 eating, when they came from the market." 
 
 We never before heard of this " measuring of 
 swords," and " hurling of thunderbolts" of 
 " these mighty champions." The difference 
 between the two views is considered unimpor- 
 tant. It does not affect the main question, in 
 the least, since in either view, there was an 
 immersion. But Mr. Hall has produced docu- 
 mentary evidence § — -from the archives of his 
 imagination — showing that such " assaults," 
 " battles," and " conflicts" have certainly trans- 
 pired — in his dreaming fantasies. In the fields 
 
 * Bap. Er. p. 27. t Id. 39, 40. $ Id. p. 27. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 97 
 
 of America and Scotland, and in the " mission- 
 ary" field, he has enjoyed the pleasing enter- 
 tainment of seeing them " fight till they could 
 fight no longer !"i And, in ecstatic vision, he 
 has " stood still and waited the issue," with all 
 that spirit of brotherly love and Christian 
 " kindness," which distinguishes his books 
 throughout, in full and active exercise. But, 
 except in the visions of excited fancy, after all, 
 no such collisions have occurred ; though we 
 make no dispute of Mr. Hall's word, that he 
 " should like''' to see them realized. He will 
 doubtless feel chagrined, when he awakes from 
 his trance, to find the Baptists at peace among 
 themselves, and all unconscious of the war he 
 has witnessed with such rapturous delight. 
 
 To return to the dilemma. The " immer- 
 sionists" must adopt one of the above views. 
 If they choose the first, they must " alter the 
 diction of the Holy Ghost;" they must add 
 [namely, xsigug, hands] to the word of God ! 
 If they choose the other, they must rest upon 
 a historical fiction. " No history of Jewish 
 customs can furnish a scrap of evidence to show 
 that whenever the Jews had been to the mar- 
 ket, they always immersed their whole bodies." 
 (Hall, p. 42.) 
 
 Evidently, the difficulty thus charmed into 
 existence, is now the chief reliance of the ad- 
 versaries of immersion. Hence, in one of Mr. 
 Hall's books (" on Baptism"), it is formally in- 
 
 * Id. p. 39. 
 
 7* 
 
98 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 troduced twice, and occupies twelve pages. In 
 the other( " Errors") it is expanded to eighteen 
 pages (23 to 41), besides incidental allusions. 
 It is held up in every point of view, exhibited 
 in every attitude, presented in all phases, 
 " stretched on the Procrustean bed," and stretch- 
 ed again, traced forward and backward, and 
 backward and forward, from premises to conse- 
 quences and conclusions, and back again through 
 conclusions and consequences to premises. In 
 his next publication, we shall expect to find it 
 occupying, at least, a hundred pages. 
 
 Mr. Hall arrives at the definite conclusion, 
 " from the facts in the case," that here " a bap- 
 tism of the person was performed by pouring 
 water on the hands." How did he reach this 
 conclusion ? The reader must give his close 
 attention, if he expect to comprehend the rea- 
 soning which conducts to this conclusion. By 
 assuming (p. 62) that the washing [ftannaojvTuc 
 baptisontai] of the 4th verse is the same as the 
 washing of the hands [viipuvTcti jag /eigag, nip- 
 sontai tas cheiras] of the 3d verse, it is made to 
 appear that the Jews baptized themselves when- 
 ever they washed their hands. It then only 
 remains to ascertain, how the Jews washed their 
 hands. The reasoning proceeds upon three 
 facts, which, it appears, determine the question 
 exactly, both " as to what the Jews did before 
 eating whenever they came from the market," 
 and how they did it. 
 
 1. At the marriage in Cana of Galilee, "there 
 were set there six waterpots after the manner 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 99 
 
 of the purifying of the Jews." " At the time 
 of the middle of the feast, these waterpots ap- 
 pear to have been empty."* How came they 
 empty ? Why, manifestly, the water had been 
 " drawn out" to wash the hands of the guests : 
 How else could they have become empty, if 
 they had ever been filled ? — And that this wash- 
 ing was done by pouring appears clearly from 
 the 
 
 2d Fact, namely, the oriental custom of 
 having " a servant come round with a pitcher, 
 and pour water on the hands of those about to 
 eat" : (p. 63) and from the 
 
 3d Fact, namely, that " Elisha the son of 
 Shaphat poured water on the hands of Elijah." 
 2 Kings 3: 11. 
 
 This is the argument, stripped of its oratory, 
 but retaining all its logic. Some would, per- 
 haps, think it farfetched ; but we are thus con- 
 ducted to two conclusions from which a third 
 may be inferred. 1. The Jews regarded the 
 washing of hands as baptism. 2. This wash- 
 ing was performed by pouring. 3. Therefore, 
 pouring is here recognized as baptism. A tri- 
 umphant conclusion ! As a favor to Mr. Hall, 
 we ask the reader to waive his common sense, 
 in examining the premises. 
 
 Shall we call this argument, or some more 
 appropriate name ? Whatever we call it, it as- 
 sumes, or implies that the " washing of hands" m 
 the third verse is synonymous with the " washing" 
 
 * Bap. Er. p. 44. 
 
100 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 in the fourth. This assumption cannot be prov- 
 ed. The text itself contains internal evidence 
 that two distinct customs are referred to; and this 
 evidence is twofold. 1. The words used are 
 different — vHpwvTcu [nipsontai] in the third verse, 
 fiamujwvxai [baptisontai] in the fourth. And 
 here it is proper to remark that baptizo is never 
 used in the New Testament with /£^«c, hands, 
 where the " washing of hands" is mentioned ; 
 it is always vtmoj [nipto] in such connections. 
 The plain inference is that something more 
 than a simple washing of hands is here intend- 
 ed. 
 
 2. In no other way, than by referring it to 
 two different customs, can this scripture be di- 
 vested of a tautology, not only vain but ridicu- 
 lous. " For all the Jews, except they ivash 
 their hands oft, eat not ; and when they come 
 from the market, except they wash their hands, 
 they eat not." That is like saying " I wash my 
 hands and face every morning, and Saturday 
 morning too." Here is evidence sufficient to 
 show an allusion to two distinct facts : and if 
 we were to add the invariable meaning of the 
 word baptizo, we should surely have a case 
 clear enough of immersion on coming from the 
 market. But that is Mr. Carson's mode of 
 "begging the question." We will therefore avoid 
 it ; remarking, however, that no man unaffected 
 by the spell of " sacred use" would ever think 
 of any other sense than to immerse, after that 
 sense had been proved, as Mr. Carson had 
 proved it, from the invariable use of the lan- 
 guage. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 101 
 
 We are now ready to encounter the dilem- 
 ma — one horn of which, it is supposed, must 
 push the immersionists to " alter the diction of 
 the Holy Ghost : they must add x £l Q a ?> hands, 
 to the word of God ! But how does this appear 
 to be adding ? Every sophomore knows how 
 frequently the genius of the Greek language 
 requires an ellipsis to be filled by a word taken 
 from a preceding clause. We are often obliged 
 to look back over several sentences, to get the 
 elliptical word ; but here we find it in the clause 
 immediately preceding. And there would be 
 no violation of syntax : for @cc7itmtojvtcu, in the 
 middle voice, would govern the accusative 
 %£iQccg ; the action of the verb, according to a 
 common modification of the Greek middle, 
 being understood as performed for the agent, 
 just as vnpoiVTdv governs the same accusative in 
 the preceding verse. * 
 
 * Mr. Hall has a sage grammatical criticism on this subject. 
 (Bap. Er. p. 34.) " When the writer omits the object in such a 
 case, and the meaning of the word is still reflexive, the subject 
 of the verb is its implied object. We pervert his meaning if we 
 understand or supply an object other than the one implied in the 
 very form of the verb — which makes its object identical with its 
 agent." The amount of this is, that an object, or accusative case, 
 can never be understood or supplied after a verb in the middle 
 voice, other than the one implied in the very form of Ihe verb. 
 Mr. Hall has certainly discovered here a new principle of Greek 
 grammar. This is original, beyond dispute. Will he not favor 
 the learned world with a new Grammar of the Greek Language, 
 carefully incorporating this principle and some others of which 
 we are indebted to him for the discovery ? If he will, the stu- 
 dent will succeed with it, as admirably in reading Greek, as he 
 
102 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 So goes one horn of the dilemma. Those 
 who take this view of the text do not add to it, 
 or " alter its diction," any more than, in pas- 
 sages without number, the translators of the 
 bible have done; as any English reader may 
 verify by noting the words in Italics, in almost 
 any chapter of his Bible. They understand this 
 scripture as referring to two modes of washing 
 hands in practice among the Jews: the one, a 
 general custom of washing hands before a meal ; 
 the other, a specific case, a more thorough ablu- 
 tion by plunging and soaking the hands in wa- 
 ter (expressed by ^anjiaoiVTat) on returning 
 from the market, or any place of public resort 
 (for that is the meaning of ayoQcc, agora, the 
 word rendered "market"). This exposition is 
 sustained by many eminent critics : Jahn, 
 Campbell, Wetstein, Rosenmuller, Lightfoot, 
 Schoetgen, and others. 
 
 If Luke 11 : 38 presents any objection to this 
 view, it is not the grammatical difficulty which 
 Mr. Hall has discovered. Our English version 
 reads ; " And when the Pharisee saw it, he 
 marvelled that he had not first washed before 
 
 would with Hesychius', or Gases' Lexicon. Paedobaptism stands 
 eminently in need of both a new Greek Grammar and Lexicon ; 
 and Mr. Hall appears eminently qualified to supply those deside_ 
 rata. In his first " published discourse," he rendered the form 
 fiantTiowviai in the passive voice, "Except they are bap- 
 tized" (pp 41, 42). Subsequently he discovered (either by his 
 own investigations, or by the kind suggestions of some friend) 
 that it was in the middle voice. And here he has discovered a 
 general principle of grammar till now unknown. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 103 
 
 dinner." " Had washed" is in the original 
 sGartiiodrj [ebaptisthe] ; which being in the pas- 
 sive voice, Mr. Hall says that therefore, " to 
 supply the word hands does violence to the 
 grammatical construction. It is quite as gross 
 a violation of grammatical usage as though the 
 passage were made to read in English, ' That 
 he had not first been baptized his hands? " 
 (Bap. Er. p. 35.) 
 
 Mr. Hall makes here a display of his usual 
 grammatical skill and accuracy. Had he con- 
 sulted some grammar, he would have learned 
 that there " is a well known Greek construc- 
 tion,"^ generally parsed as a case of synecdoche, 
 in which the passive has an accusative after it. 
 One case of this kind is where " the part af- 
 fected is often put in the accusative after the 
 passive voice."! This would be the construc- 
 tion, were the word /£*?«?, hands, supplied in 
 the text under consideration ; and there would 
 be no " violation of grammatical usage." 
 
 The only difficulty which this view has to 
 encounter in Luke 11:38, is that the word 
 /eigag, hands, is not in the preceding context. 
 But with this difficulty Mr. Hall's theory has, 
 in no less degree, to contend. He perceived 
 this, and endeavoured to avoid the toils which 
 he had himself laid, by declining to be " tied 
 down to grammatical nicety." He says, " It is 
 doing justice to the meaning to say, without 
 
 * Buttmann's Gr. Gram. § 131, Note 3, and § 134, 6, Note 2. 
 t Bullion's More's Gr. Gram. p. 330, Obs. 4. 
 
104 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 being tied down to grammatical nicety — ' that 
 he had not first washed? or ' that he had not 
 first washed himself.'' "# Let this translation be 
 analyzed. 
 
 " That he had not first washed" Washed 
 what ? Washed is an active verb, and must 
 have an object expressed or implied. Mr. Hall 
 contends that the hands only were washed, 
 the theory therefore requires that we understand 
 hands. But " he will not venture to stand 
 upon that ground." " He is compelled to make 
 the Bible give an uncertain sound ; and he actu- 
 ally proposes to make it read with an alias :"t 
 " That he had not first washed" alias " that 
 he had not first washed himself." This is but a 
 clumsy expedient to escape the gin after all. 
 The idea is not at all changed by it. If Mr. 
 Hall is correct as to the thing actually done, 
 namely, that the hands were washed on such oc- 
 casions, that is all that can be implied in the 
 words "washed himself." He does not believe 
 that the whole person was washed, though that is 
 strictly the sense, when he supplies "himself." 
 But he is not going to be " tied down to gram- 
 matical nicety." He only means " that he 
 had not first washed himself as to his hands." 
 Subaudit manus ; he understands hands : and 
 this is the case with both his translations, and 
 with his theory applied to both passages, Mark 
 7:4 and Luke 11:38. How dare he thus 
 " substitute his own invention for the word of 
 God ?" as he charges upon Mr. Wolsey. Thus 
 
 * Bap. Er. p. 35. t Id. p. 33. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 105 
 
 has he " infixed himself upon one of the forks 
 of the trident" which he himself forged. And 
 king James's translators are, by his theory, 
 brought into the same predicament.^ 
 
 If he will allow the Baptists the same free- 
 dom of translation which he finds it necessary 
 to employ himself, they will find no difficulty 
 in this view of the text, Luke 11 : 38. Surely, 
 the same license which would authorize Mr. 
 Hall to understand hands, or to predicate the 
 tvashing of the person upon the simple wash- 
 ing of the hands, would authorize a Baptist to 
 understand hands, or (if he claimed it, though 
 none do) to predicate the immersion of the per- 
 son upon the immersion of the hands. The 
 second rendering, in both cases, exhibits a very 
 great latitude of expression : the washing or 
 immersion pertains strictly to the hands ; but 
 there is as much an immersion in the one case, 
 as a washing in the other. 
 
 But for ourselves, we prefer the other horn of 
 the dilemma ; namely, that there was a custom 
 among the Jews, to which allusion is here made, 
 of literally immersing themselves when they 
 came from the market, or place of public con- 
 course. This is consistent with the very defi- 
 nite language employed in both texts (Mark 
 
 * It was very imprudent in them, if Mr. Hall's views are cor- 
 rect, to translate the word here. They ought to have trans- 
 ferred it, as they did elsewhere ; thus (to use his own language) 
 " leaving people to learn its meaning from the context for them- 
 selves ;"— to " judge of its meaning from its use in the sacred 
 writings." 
 
 8 
 
106 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 7 : 4, Luke 11 : 38). It is consistent with the 
 invariable meaning of the word fiixnutw, but, 
 in accordance with the plan of this essay, we 
 defer insisting on the full force of the argument 
 from the meaning of the word, till a more ad- 
 vanced stage of the work. It is consistent 
 with the Jewish tendencies to multiply ceremo- 
 nies, and add to the commands of God the tra- 
 ditions of men. On this subject, Mr. Hall has 
 spoken into existence another dilemma, which 
 shall here, by way of episode, have all the no- 
 tice it merits. 
 
 He is commenting (p. 40) on Ecclesiasticus 
 34 : 30, " He that washeth [baptizeth] himself 
 from a dead body, &c." Referring to Numbers 
 19 : 16, as illustrating the apocryphal text, he 
 says ; " The question then comes to this dilem- 
 ma : either the Jews had abandoned this mode 
 of purifying (viz. sprinkling) from a dead body, 
 as specifically and minutely pointed out by 
 God — or here was a baptism by sprinkling." 
 We have already shown (p. 74) that the law 
 originally prescribed an immersion. But we 
 have moreover the authority of Jesus Christ for af- 
 firming — notwithstanding Mr. Hall says, " Car- 
 son is driven here to assume, and that without 
 the least shadow ox pretence of authority" — we 
 have the authority of Jesus Christ, for affirming 
 that the Jews " had abandoned" " many things" 
 " specifically and minutely pointed out by God." 
 The Saviour says, Mark 7 : 8, &c, " For lay- 
 ing aside the commandment of God, ye hold 
 the traditions of men. * * * And he said unto 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 107 
 
 them, Full well ye reject the commandment of 
 God, that ye may keep your own tradition.^ ^^ 
 Making the word of God of none effect through 
 your tradition which ye have delivered : and 
 many such like things ye do." 
 
 Such were Jewish tendencies. And how per- 
 fectly in accordance with them was the custom, 
 on returning from the market, or any public 
 concourse, where they had been exposed to the 
 polluting contact of the Gentiles and of things 
 legally unclean, of immersing the whole body 
 in water. And this practice, with them, was 
 less cumbersome than may at first strike the 
 mind, from the fact that such occasions of de- 
 filement would not frequently occur, and also 
 from their loose mode of dress. 
 
 Here, then, in the seventh chapter of Mark, 
 is a " history of Jewish customs," affording 
 sufficient evidence of the practice in question. 
 This evidence will be decisive when we come 
 to insist on the meaning of the word (9a7zrt£w, 
 in the 4th verse. But let us see whether " there 
 is not a scrap of historical evidence" from some 
 other sources, bearing on this point. — And 
 please note the bearing of these quotations on 
 the " immersion of cups and pots, and brazen 
 vessels and couches," also. 
 
 The following, as cited by a number of au- 
 thors, is from Maimonides.^ " Wherever, in 
 
 * Maimonides, one of the most distinguished Jewish scholars, 
 was born at Cordova, in Spain, in 1139 " He was physi- 
 cian to the Sultan Saladin, under whose protection he establish- 
 ed a celebrated seminary at Alexandria. He wrote many 
 
108 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 the law, washing of the flesh, or of the clothes 
 is mentioned, it means nothing else than dip- 
 ping of the whole hody in a laver ; for if a man 
 dips himself all over except the tip of his little 
 finger, he is still in his uncleanness." Hilchoth 
 Mikva c. 1. §2. And again : " Every one that 
 is baptized [as they were on coming from the 
 market] must immerse the whole body." Idem. 
 And again : " In a laver which holds forty seahs 
 [about one hundred gallons] of water, every de- 
 filed man dips himself, except a profluvious 
 man; and in it they dip all unclean vessels. 
 A bed that is wholly defiled, if he dip it part by 
 part, is pure. If he dip the bed in the pool, 
 although its feet are plunged in the thick clay 
 at the bottom of the pool, it is clean. What 
 shall he do with a pillow or bolster of skin ? 
 He must dip them and lift them out by the 
 fringes," — sc. lest, being holden by the hand, 
 the water should not gain access to every part. 
 Hilchoth Cailim c. 26. These quotations are 
 from the " words of the Scribes, the commands 
 of the wise men," being a traditionary canon 
 for purification, as cited by Maimonides. 
 
 History explains how the Jews understood 
 the canon. Dr. Gale says, " We have frequent 
 mention of the Hemero-baptists, who were so 
 called from their practice of washing themselves 
 in this manner (namely, as prescribed by the 
 canon, i. e. by immersion) every day : as in 
 
 works. The Jews call him the Doctor, the great eagle, the glory 
 of the West, the light of the East, and consider him inferior 
 only to Moses." Encyc. Americana. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 109 
 
 the Apostolic Constitutions, where it is noted, 
 that unless they were so washed, they ate not : 
 they are inserted in the catalogue of Jewish 
 sects by Hegesippus ; and Justin Martyr, men- 
 tioning several sects also of the Jews, names 
 these among the rest, and calls them Baptists, 
 from this signification of the word. These 
 washings are what, in the Constitutions, are in- 
 tended by daily washings, or baptisms, as may 
 be further confirmed by that account given us 
 of one sect of the Jews by Josephus. Tertul- 
 lian, too, plainly intimates that the Jews used 
 to wash their whole bodies, when he says, 
 " The Jews daily wash every part of the body, 
 yet they are never clean." Gale's Reflections 
 on Wall's History of Infant Baptism. Let. iv. 
 where the authorities are quoted. 
 
 Schneckenberger, p. 38, says : " The Jews 
 lathed before entering the temple or the syna- 
 gogues," quoting Philo, who uses the words 
 fiudi'^eip — lovau/uevog cpaidqwETcu to awfia, — 
 bathing he purifies the body. He shows that 
 the Samaritan did the same — lavare aquis cor- 
 pus, — were accustomed " to bathe the body in 
 water.^ "For this reason" he adds, "syna- 
 gogues were erected by the side of rivers." 
 Theophylact says, "purifying themselves ac- 
 cording to the custom, by bathing and fasting" 
 [uyi'iadevisg xaia to edog "Kovo^bvov tcac v?]gjsv- 
 o^Tfc]. Philo says, "purifying their bodies by 
 bathings" \Ioviqoi~\. Tertullian, De Bap. 8, 
 speaks of Jews " who bathed every day (quoti- 
 die lavant), because they were defiled every day." 
 8* 
 
110 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 Epiphanius says, the Hemero-baptists maintain- 
 ed that " one ought to be baptized every day in 
 water" \ev idati\. Justin Martyr, Dial, cum 
 Tryph. 80, says these Hemero-baptists were 
 Pharisees, and (13, 18) combats their error, 
 saying, " Isaiah did not direct you to go into 
 the bath [sig fiukaveiov], whom not even the sea 
 could purify." The Babylonian Talmud, speak- 
 ing of the purifications of persons and things, 
 says, " nothing of the kind takes place without 
 immersion" (fib^to). 
 
 Schneckenberger, p. 141, quoting the Tal- 
 mud, says, " In proselyte baptism, the male, 
 after circumcision, is led into the water, and 
 completely immerses himself in the water. The 
 female is led into the water up to the neck, and 
 then immerses herself in the water ;" and on 
 page 145, he says ; " The other ordinary lustra- 
 tions of the Jews were performed in the same 
 way." 
 
 When the early writers attempt an enumera- 
 tion of the various Jewish rites of purification, 
 they always distinguish immersions from sprink- 
 lings. The Apostolic Constitutions, 6, 20, enu- 
 merate " purifications, incessant immersions, 
 sprinklings, expiations" [xuduoiaitwvg, avveyj] 
 ^anTiujuaja, Quvjiutiovg, u.yvsiag~\. The first 
 word here would seem to be generic, including 
 the three following species. Baptisms are par- 
 ticularly distinguished from sprinklings, &c. 
 Theodoret, too, in his Com. on Heb. 9 : 10, 
 distill guishes between baptisms, and purifica- 
 tions by sprinkling ; " Unclean persons," he 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. Ill 
 
 says, " were immersed, and purified by sprink- 
 lings." [ovioo yag sflami'CsOvio, kul joig tieql- 
 QuvTTjQiotg a7iexad(xQ0WT0~\. Surely he did not 
 mean the same thing by these two forms of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 " Vatablus, a distinguished professor of He- 
 brew at Paris, for whom the Jews of his ac- 
 quaintance entertained a very high regard," 
 held the opinion which seems so well establish- 
 ed by the above historical and critical references. 
 He says, on Mark 7:4, Se totos abluebant, 
 " They bathed themselves all over." 
 
 Grotius says, on the place, Majori cura se 
 purgabant a fori contactu, quippe non manus 
 tantum lavando, sed et corpus mersando ; " They 
 cleansed themselves more carefully from defile- 
 ment contracted at the market, to wit, not only 
 by washing their hands, but even by immersing 
 their body." 
 
 Spencer, on the Eitual Laws of the Hebrews, 
 says, E Judaeis nonnulli, puritatis accuratioris 
 laudem ambientes, se totos in aquas frequenter 
 immergebant ; " Some of the Jews, ambitious 
 for the credit of superior purity, frequently im- 
 mersed their whole persons in water." 
 
 Rabbi Salmon, on Ex. xxix, says, " not only 
 the hands and feet were washed, but the whole 
 body." 
 
 Starck, in his Hist. Bap. p. 8, says, " The 
 baptisms with the Jews were not by sprinkling, 
 but, in addition to washing the whole body, an 
 entire immersion." 
 
 Bruce, in his Travels in Africa, vol. 4, p. 275, 
 
112 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 mentions a fact which bears upon this subject. 
 He discovered " an independent people in the 
 west of Abyssinia called Falashas. The name 
 signifies exile, and the state is called Falasjan. 
 They have their own government which is al- 
 lowed by the Nagush of Abyssinia, on condition 
 of their paying a certain tribute. Bruce found 
 there a Jewish king Gideon, and a queen Ju- 
 dith, and about one hundred thousand effective 
 men." Enc. Rel. Knowl. Calmet, in his Dic- 
 tionary, makes the following remark, quoting 
 Bruce : " The Kemmont were once the same as 
 the Falashas. * ^ * They wash themselves 
 from head to foot on coming from market or 
 from any public place ; where they may have 
 touched any one of a sect, different from their 
 own, esteeming all such unclean." It would 
 seem that this nation of Jewish exiles have pre- 
 served the custom of their countrymen in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 These historical and critical notices of Jew- 
 ish customs are taken chiefly from Robinson's 
 History of Baptism, Ripley's Examination of 
 Stuart and the Christian Review. They are not 
 new to any man who has given his attention to 
 this controversy with that candor which, ever 
 having truth as its grand object, is willing to 
 examine both sides of the question. Any min- 
 ister of the gospel who is ignorant of them, is 
 utterly inexcusable — and especially so, if he en- 
 list as a controversialist on this subject. All of 
 them go to show the frequent immersions prac- 
 tised by the Jews, both of persons and things ; 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 113 
 
 several the daily and special immersions, on 
 coming from the market, or a public concourse. 
 Now, in the face of all this testimony, would it 
 not have been more becoming in Mr. Hall to 
 use some more qualified language, than " There 
 is not a scrap of evidence in the wide world to 
 show it ?" Is he ignorant of these " records 
 and traces of such a custom ?" Or can they be 
 set aside ? Even if these evidences were of 
 questionable authority, would there not have 
 been an appearance of more candor and honesty 
 in acknowledging their existence ? And even 
 if they could be rebutted and set aside alto- 
 gether, would not a modest man show some 
 deference to the opinions of such respectable 
 critics, especially when, as Paedobaptists, their 
 prepossessions and practice were all on his own 
 side ? 
 
 Our argument did not stand in need of his- 
 torical support. It was fully established by the 
 internal evidence of the passage. But, by these 
 references to history and criticism, opposition is 
 more directly met upon its own ground. The 
 hideous dilemma which recently threatened our 
 overthrow is now utterly ruined ; and this ■ scrip- 
 ture, emerging from the enchanter's mist, reads 
 in full capitals, immersion. 
 
 We come now to a consideration of the mi- 
 raculous agency of the Spirit, represented in 
 Scripture as the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 On this subject, Mr. Hall discourses' in this 
 wise, (p. 70) : " The mode, as indicated by the 
 uniform figure, is pouring, shedding forth,, 
 
114 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 sprinkling, coming down like rain, or like 
 shoiuers, falling upon" Referring to Acts 1 : 5, 
 he says, " I will not stop to show how grossly 
 this would sound, to alter it according to the 
 proposal of our Baptist brethren, so as to make 
 it read, ' But ye shall be immersed with (or in) 
 the Holy Ghost." And elsewhere (Bap. Er. 
 p. 43,) he says, " I need not speak of all the 
 startling and revolting ideas obtruded upon the 
 mind by the very thought of making ' baptized 
 with the Holy Ghost,' read " immersed in the 
 Holy Ghost.'" 
 
 But, pray, tell us what is startling or revolt- 
 ing in that thought. The answer seems to be 
 implied in this remark — at all events, he has 
 not " stopped" to give us any other — " The 
 Scripture is not so gross as to speak of the Ho- 
 ly Spirit filling a room like a material sub- 
 stance, and thus immersing people." (p. 69.) 
 But what is "so gross" in that mode of ex- 
 pression ? Is it the idea of a " material sub- 
 stance ?" Your forms of expression, " pour- 
 ing, shedding forth, sprinkling, falling upon, 
 all contain the same gross idea. They rep- 
 resent the third person of the Trinity as a ma- 
 terial substance, no less than immersion does. 
 And, according as Mr. Hall has defined his po- 
 sition, he would have us take these expressions 
 literally : for he quarrels with Mr. Carson for 
 insisting that there was an " immersion with 
 the emblems of the Spirit." He said, " Christ 
 did not say ye shall be baptized with the emblems 
 of the Spirit. He said, ' ye shall be baptized with 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 115 
 
 the Holy Ghost ;' with the Spirit itself, not with 
 its emblems." So then, Mr. Hall would have 
 us understand that the " Spirit itself" was 
 " poured, shed forth, sprinkled" " as a material 
 substance" — literally ; for he spurns at figures 
 and " emblems." 
 
 Query. Does Mr. Hall hold the doctrine of 
 the real presence of Christ's body and blood in 
 the eucharist ? He has here adopted the Pa- 
 pist's argument for transubstantiation. The 
 Saviour said, " This is my body," and, " This 
 is my blood ;" the body and blood themselves, 
 not the emblems. So the Catholics argue, and 
 so Mr. Hall argues. 
 
 It cannot, then, be the allusion to a material 
 substance contained in the figure of immersion, 
 which is so " revolting." The quantity im- 
 plied in the figure, must be the gross idea which 
 is so shocking — its " filling a room." So co- 
 pious a supply is vulgar. Were the figure 
 made to correspond with a little water in a ba- 
 sin, or in the palm of the hand, it would be 
 unobjectionable. But filling a room ! The 
 thought is too gross to be entertained by a mind 
 imbued, by education, with the more refined 
 ideas of aspersion and affusion. Well, if the 
 language of inspiration is not suited to some 
 men's fastidiousness, we cannot help it : the 
 Baptists are not answerable for that. They re- 
 ceive the Book just as God vouchsafed to in- 
 dicate it, with reverence and gratitude. 
 
 The story of the day of Pentecost (Acts ii.) 
 fully illustrates the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 
116 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 " They were all with one accord in one 
 place. And suddenly there came a sound from 
 heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it 
 filled all the house where they were sitting." 
 What filled the house ? " The sound" replies 
 Mr. Hall. That is, to say the least, a very un- 
 natural idea. To speak of a sound, suddenly 
 arrested in its expansive progress in the atmos- 
 phere, and wholly confined within definite, nar- 
 row limits, is certainly to impose upon the im- 
 agination the task of conceiving what has no 
 counterpart in nature. But here the case is ag- 
 gravated. There is "a sound'" — "a sound 
 from heaven"— a loud, roaring " sound, as of 
 a rushing mighty wind:" but immediately it is 
 pent up within the walls of a house ; " it fills 
 the house where they are sitting." 
 
 But, says some one, this event was miracu- 
 lous, and not to be scanned by natural princi- 
 ples. True, this baptism was miraculous ; but 
 miracles are never wrought without a manifest 
 object ; and for the particular circumstance now 
 under consideration, no object can be assigned. 
 The baptism of the Holy Ghost had for its ob- 
 ject the accomplishment of the most benign and 
 glorious purpose of heaven towards men : but 
 of what consequence to this miracle was it, that 
 the " sound from heaven" should be imprisoned 
 within the house, where they were sitting ? 
 The object was, certainly, not secrecy ; for, im- 
 mediately " this was noised abroad, and the 
 multitude came together." Certainly, not to con- 
 vince either those within, or those without, of the 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 117 
 
 reality of the miracle ; they had other evidence 
 sufficient. And besides, the disciples within could 
 not have known, that the sound was not heard 
 without ; and the people without could not have 
 known, that any sound was heard within. Will 
 any one say, that the account does not affirm that 
 the sound was confined to the house ? But, 
 we ask, of what importance is it to the narra- 
 tive to specify the fact, that " the sound filled 
 the house," if it were heard out of doors too % 
 It would be the merest garrulity. The circum- 
 stance of " filling the house" in particular, 
 must have a necessary connection with the 
 end to be accomplished. 
 
 Is it not more rational to understand that 
 the sacred penman, speaking of what was pre- 
 sent to his inspired perception, referred to what 
 he compares to " a rushing mighty wind," as 
 " filling the house where they were sitting ?" 
 Human reason conducts us much more readily 
 to this sense ; and it will be found, by putting 
 this question to plain men whose common sense 
 is their commentary, that such, in perhaps every 
 instance, is the idea they have imbibed from 
 the passage. It concerns us not what, in its es- 
 sential nature, that was which " filled the 
 house." Such speculations may engage a pre- 
 sumptuous philosophy, whose impious scrutiny 
 would explore the essential being of the God- 
 head. It is sufficient for us to know what God 
 has revealed ; " It filled all the house where 
 they were sitting." Of course, those who were 
 in the house are represented as covered, whelm- 
 9 
 
118 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 ed, immersed. The circumstance of its filling 
 the house thus finds a definite object connected 
 with the design of the miracle. This immer- 
 sion is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The 
 pouring out, shedding forth, is not the baptism, 
 any more than the pouring of water into a 
 bath is bathing. 
 
 Mr. Hall repeats here an objection to this 
 view, which has had some currency. " Immer- 
 sion," it is said (p. 69,) " has the act of dip- 
 ping entering necessarily into the idea, as well 
 as the act of covering." But as the disciples 
 were in the house before the descent of the 
 Spirit, the idea of dipping, or plunging, does 
 not enter into the figure. 
 
 This objection finds no countenance in the 
 usage of language. An English writer who 
 should speak of a rock at the bottom of the sea 
 as immersed, would hardly think himself using 
 the word even in a figure, though the waters 
 had rolled over the rock from the beginning of 
 time. Besides, as motion is relative, it is not 
 material to the act of immersion, whether the 
 object to be immersed approach the fluid, or the 
 fluid the object. Few would argue that the 
 Egyptians, when the watery wall on either 
 hand yielded and closed over them, were not 
 immersed. At all events, it was a very specific 
 application of water. Other words denoting mo- 
 tion, are used in the same manner. Take the 
 verb to enter. It expresses the action of going 
 into. Bear this in mind in reading Luke 9 : 
 34 ; " While he thus spake there came a cloud 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 119 
 
 and overshadowed them : and they feared as 
 they entered into the cloud." The " cloud 
 came" — the motion was of the cloud ; yet " they 
 entered into the cloud." 
 
 The above view of the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost is in accordance with the language of 
 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 17 : " For as he 
 that goes down into the water and is baptized, 
 is surrounded on all sides with water, so the 
 apostles were baptized all over by the Spirit. 
 The water surrounds the body externally, but 
 the Spirit incomprehensibly baptizes the soul 
 within."^ And to the same view corresponds 
 the opinion of the most distinguished critics 
 and commentators, most of whom speak of the 
 baptism of the Spirit as an overwhelming, 
 abundant outpouring, copious effusion, &c, 
 fitly represented in the figure of immersion. 
 
 " But who will pretend that all converted per- 
 sons are immersed into the Holy Ghost, accord- 
 ing to the manner in which (it is argued) the 
 apostles were immersed on the day of Pente- 
 cost, by 'pouring the Spirit upon them till it 
 filled the room, and so immersed them ?" (Hall, 
 p. 70.) Nobody, we reply. Those extraordi- 
 nary outpourings of the Holy Spirit were limited 
 to the apostolic age. They are part of the 
 miraculous agency which God, in the economy 
 of his grace, dispensed as auxiliary to the gos- 
 pel ministry, in the infancy of his visible 
 church. They were always followed by mirac- 
 
 * A9 cited by Prof. Stuart. 
 
120 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 ulous results — the understanding- of languages, 
 speaking with tongues, prophesying, and work- 
 ing miracles. The ordinary influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, in awakening and converting the 
 sinner, and comforting and supporting the child 
 of God, have continued in fulfilment of prom- 
 ise : but the baptism of the Holy Spirit ceased 
 with the age of miracles. The assertion that 
 " all converted persons are baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost" (p. 59), is but an assertion : it 
 has no sanction from the word of God. Paul, 
 in 1 Cor. 12 : 13, refers, specially, to those mi- 
 raculous gifts of the apostolic age. " These 
 gifts," says Macknight on 1 Cor. 12 : 8—10, 
 " continued in the church till the knowledge of 
 the gospel became so general among the dis- 
 ciples, that the church could uphold itself by 
 the exertion of the natural faculties of its mem- 
 bers." Those Christians who pray for the bap- 
 tism of the Holy Ghost, do not pray understand- 
 ingly. They ask God to exhibit one of the 
 most glorious displays of miraculous power, 
 which man. has ever been permitted to witness* 
 
 Another objection to immersion is drawn from 
 the account of the baptism in the house of Cor- 
 nelius, Acts 10 : 47. Can any man forbid 
 water that these should not be baptized, &c." 
 Mr. Hall stated the objection thus : " His (Pe- 
 ter's) idea seems to be — not that they might be 
 carried and applied to the water ; but that the 
 water might be brought and applied to them." 
 (p. 94.) 
 
 Suppose a walled city which was supplied 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 121 
 
 with water from a fountain without the wall, 
 should be besieged. The enemy erects a bat- 
 tery and mounts his cannon in a position to 
 command the fountain, and shower his shots 
 upon any one whose thirst may impel him to 
 the water. Do the besiegers, by this form of 
 hostilities, " forbid water" to the citizens ? If 
 they do, it is by keeping them away from the 
 fountain. This objection is a quibble. 
 
 We are now called to contemplate those figu- 
 rative allusions, in which the Scripture repre- 
 sents baptism as an emblem of the burial and 
 resurrection of Christ. Rom. 6 : 3, 4, "Bap- 
 tized into his death," and, " Buried with him by 
 baptism into his death." Col. 2 : 12, " Buried 
 with hirn in baptism, wherein also ye are risen 
 with him, through the faith of the operation of 
 God, who hath raised him from the dead." 
 
 These passages have always been a source of 
 infinite trouble to the adversaries of immersion. 
 They have ever been compelled to ply " the 
 laboring oar," and struggle to stem the cataract 
 which truth, through this channel, pours down 
 upon them. But vain their efforts of despera- 
 tion. No ingenuity has ever been able to de- 
 vise an interpretation which can, with any 
 plausibility, be made to supersede the apostle's 
 plain allusion to immersion, as symbolic of 
 Christ's burial and resurrection. 
 
 One expedient is, to deny the resemblance of 
 
 immersion to the manner of Christ's burial. 
 
 We sometimes hear from the pulpit language 
 
 like this : Though it be admitted that there is 
 
 9# 
 
122 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 in immersion a resemblance to our mode of 
 burying, yet would a Jew have seen any allu- 
 sion to burial in it ? Jewish sepulchres, we are 
 requested to know, were edifices above ground 
 into which a man enters as into a house. Ste- 
 phens lodged in a sepulchre in Petra. None 
 but the ignorant and the superficial, would ever 
 fancy any representation of Christ's burial in 
 immersion ! 
 
 This last is a charitable exclamation, because 
 it contains no reflection on the moral nature — 
 nor, indeed, on the intellectual nature ; it only 
 implies a deficiency of intellectual attainments. 
 True, the whole body of the Baptists (and, as 
 we shall show presently, the biblical scholars of 
 all ages and nations except a few American 
 controversalists) receive the brand ; but they are 
 called fools in the best possible sense, — not from 
 original imbecility, but from contemptible ac- 
 quirements. Or, perhaps, it is only designed to 
 say " Raca," and not, " thou fool." 
 
 So it appears, this mode of burial was not 
 peculiar to the Jews. The Arabs, or Edomites 
 (in whose country Petra was situated) interred in 
 this manner ; and so, we know, did the Greeks 
 and other Eastern nations. Such sepulchres 
 were more properly oriental than Jewish, as they 
 were common in the East. However they 
 may have been ordinarily constructed, that one 
 in which Jesus was laid, was so low as to make 
 it necessary to " stoop down" in order to look 
 into it. John 20 : 5. But does any one suppose 
 that men of all conditions in the East were 
 
FROM THE -SCRIPTURES. 123 
 
 provided with those expensive tombs? Al- 
 though a " rich man," like Joseph of Arirna- 
 thea, might hew out for himself a sepulchre in 
 a rock ; yet the millions, who were less favour- 
 ed of fortune, could not provide for their ashes 
 so costly a depository : they must lie down at the 
 summons of death in a common, humble grave. 
 
 There is a curious exposition of these passa- 
 ges which is of recent American invention. 
 Its design is to set aside, or open a way round, 
 the plain emblematic import of gospel baptism 
 as exhibited in these expressions of the apostle, 
 by making death, not burial, the principal idea. 
 " We are dead with Christ," says Mr. Hall, 
 " and we must no more live to sin than a dead 
 body must live. We are dead ; and more — we 
 are buried." This is orthodox : we are dead 
 to sin by the converting grace of the Holy 
 Spirit, before we may be buried with Christ in 
 baptism. In this sense, every baptized believer 
 " is dead, and more — he is buried." Thus, 
 after laboring at the oar through the Old Tes- 
 tament, the Apocrypha, the Gospels and the 
 Acts, to " render it probable" that baptism is an 
 emblem of purification, it is suddenly, on ar- 
 riving at Romans 6 : 4, discovered to be " a 
 token of death," corruption and worms. 
 
 This exposition is presented by Mr. Hall in 
 the following language : " It is not the mode 
 of the baptism that is referred to, but the ef- 
 fect of the baptism : — ' Our old man is cruci- 
 fied with him, that the body of sin might be 
 destroyed ;' ' that henceforth we should not 
 
124 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 serve sin;" ' that henceforth we should be dead 
 to sin:' " And this is the effect of baptism. 
 Does not this make baptism sufficient to salva- 
 tion ? What more is necessary to constitute 
 us the heirs of salvation, than that, in the apos- 
 tle's figurative language, " our old man be cru- 
 cified, that the body of sin be destroyed, that 
 henceforth we should not serve sin, that hence- 
 forth we be dead to sin ?" If such is the ef- 
 fect of baptism, it is not only essential, but 
 the only thing essential to salvation. This is 
 the issue of Mr. Hall's argument. 
 
 Query. Can any statement of the theory 
 which makes " the dying the principal idea" in 
 these passages, be made so as to avoid the same 
 conclusion ? Whatever be the end proposed in 
 these texts, it is to be accomplished " by bap- 
 tism" as the means, or " in baptism" as the 
 act.^ If death be the principal idea, the end 
 proposed, is it literal or figurative death ? If 
 literal, then (although there is no scripture 
 which says, " We are crucified with him in bap- 
 tism") Mr. Hall's argument for " putting the 
 believer to death in baptism" would proceed 
 upon sound premises. If figurative, then the 
 figure must be explained to mean " death to sin." 
 But he that is dead to sin is in a salvable state, 
 a state of favor with God, and heirship of 
 heaven. And, by the hypothesis, he is bap- 
 tized into this state, brought into it " by baptism" 
 
 * In Rom. 6 : 4, tino ^anxiu^aioq ; in Col. 2 .- 12, ev 
 fianTiajiiaTi. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 125 
 
 Is there any path from the premises to a diffe- 
 rent conclusion ? 
 
 We will here copy from the Christian Review 
 some remarks which are precisely in point, as 
 follows : 
 
 " We cannot forbear noticing here a novel 
 interpretation of Rom. 6: 4, ['buried with him 
 by baptism') which is beginning to gain curren- 
 cy among certain American writers. It is 
 gravely argued that Paul, in that passage, had 
 no allusion to baptism. See Stuart on the pas- 
 rage and those who have copied from him. 
 This is a discovery. The preceding quotations! 
 from the early Fathers and from the later Ger- 
 man critics, will show that none of them were 
 blessed with this extraordinary illumination. It 
 were easy to prove, that the biblical scholars of 
 all ages during the whole period intervening 
 between the Christian Fathers and the modern 
 German school, have all of them groped their 
 way in equal darkness. Here, then, we have 
 the remarkable fact, that while two or three 
 American controversalists,— in itself a suspi- 
 cious circumstance — , invent a new interpreta- 
 tion for a passage that overthrows all their far- 
 fetched arguments in favor of aspersion in bap- 
 tism, the whole host of learned critics, from 
 Justin Martyr down to Winer, Neander, Ols- 
 hausen and Tholuck, stand arrayed against 
 them in an unbroken phalanx. Will it be be- 
 lieved that this portion of a book, written for the 
 
 t The order is here inverted. The quotations referred to will 
 be found on subsequent pages. 
 
126 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 common people (who, by the way, have never 
 failed of apprehending the true sense of the 
 passage), has been subjected to all classes of 
 men in different ages of the world, in different 
 nations and in all cultivated languages, for 
 eighteen centuries, and that no man was ever 
 found to open the seal and dissect a figure, until 
 our enlightened opponents succeeded ? 
 
 " We must not omit, in this connection, to 
 mention a circumstance which sets the views of 
 the early church in regard to the point under 
 discussion, in a clear light. We allude to the 
 fact that the great body of the ancient church 
 reserved, except in cases of peril, all the bap- 
 tisms of the year until the festival of the death 
 and resurrection of Christ. If there were other 
 times of baptism, they were regarded as less 
 solemn and appropriate than the time of the 
 Passover, or Easter. Now, the whole ground 
 of this universal practice was, that Paul, in 
 their view, declared baptism to be an emblem 
 of death and the resurrection. — Augusti, 2, 7, 
 says, ' From the earliest times, this day was 
 selected for baptism, as special importance was 
 attached to baptism into the death of Christ.' — 
 Here the act speaks louder than words." 
 
 The " quotations from the early Fathers" 
 above referred to, are the following : 
 
 Hermas, Pastor, 3. " Men descend into the 
 water bound to death, but ascend out of it seal- 
 ed to life." 
 
 Justin Martyr in his Quaestio, 13, 17, says : 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 127 
 
 " We represent our Lord's sufferings and resur- 
 rection by baptism in a pool — aolvfi^rjOqa." 
 
 Apostolic Constitutions, Lib. 3, c. 17. " Bap- 
 tism relates to the death of Christ : the water 
 answers to the grave (avnracp^g.); the immer' 
 sion [xajudvcng katadusis] represents our dying 
 with him ; the emersion [avadvaig, anadusis] 
 our rising with him." 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, Mystagog, 2. " You 
 were led to a bath, as Christ was conveyed to 
 the sepulchre, and were thrice immersed to sig- 
 nify Christ's three days' burial." 
 
 Basil the Great, De Spiritu Sancto, 15. " By 
 three immersions we represent the death of 
 Christ" — " the bodies of those that are baptized 
 are, as it were, buried in water {^vQunxexai tq) 
 
 Gregory Nyssen, De Bap. Christi. " Com- 
 ing to the water, we conceal [evxovTtxofisv) our- 
 selves in it, as the Saviour concealed himself in 
 the earth." And again, Orat. Cat. 35, " Being 
 thrice overwhelmed in the water and again 
 raised from it, we imitate the burial and resur- 
 rection of Christ." And again : " All the dead 
 are buried under ground, instead of which wa- 
 ter is used in baptism." 
 
 Chrysostom, 25 Horn, on John, often quoted. 
 " When our heads^ enter the water, as a tomb, 
 
 * Would any one, who had not a purpose to serve, infer from 
 such an expression of this, that Chrysostom regarded the " dip- 
 ping of the head" as baptism ? Yet, it is on the strength of 
 such expressions that Mr. Hall, citing Dr. Pond, appends the fol- 
 lowing note to p. 98 of his work : " Jerome speaks of a mode of 
 
128 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 the old man is buried, and, plunging down, is 
 wholly concealed all at once' 1 — *«t xcnadvg 
 xcctm XQvnrsTcu olog "Aaduna^. 
 
 Theodoret, on Rom. 6:4. " Baptism is a 
 type of our Lord's death ;" and on Heb. 6 : 2, 
 " In holy baptism, we receive the type of the 
 resurrection." 
 
 Theophylact, on Col. 3:1. " Baptism typi- 
 fies by immersion the death, by emersion the 
 resurrection of Christ." 
 
 John Damascene, Lib. 4, c. 9. " Baptism 
 represents (dt]Xoi) the- death of our Lord ;" — " it 
 is a type (ivnog) of his death ;" — " the first bap- 
 tism was the flood ;" — " the old man was entire- 
 ly buried in the water." 
 
 Ambrose, De Sacramentis, 2, 7. " You im- 
 mersed yourself, (mersisti), that is, you were 
 buried." 
 
 Dionysius Areop. De Eccl. Hierarchia, 2. 
 " The total concealment in water (^ di fidoaog 
 ohy.j] y.alvipig) fitly represents Christ's death and 
 burial." 
 
 Leo, bishop of Rome, Decret. 9. " Trine 
 immersion represents the three days' burial of 
 Christ." 
 
 Fourth Council of Toledo, Can. 5. " The im- 
 mersion in water (in aquis mersio) is, as it 
 were, the descent into Hades, and the emersion 
 from the water, the resurrection." 
 
 Photius, quoted by Oecumenicus on Rom. 
 6 : 4, and Athanasius, Quaestio 94, give the 
 
 baptism as common in the ancient church, which was, not to dip 
 the whole body, but a c thrice dipping: of the head. 1 " 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 129 
 
 same explanation. So also do the bishops. Ge- 
 lasius, Gregory and Pelagius, in their rituals. 
 
 Prof. Stuart quotes the following from Chry- 
 sostom, Horn. 40, on 1 Cor. i. " To be baptiz- 
 ed and to submerge (aaiudveadat kataduestkai), 
 then to emerge (arudeveiv anadeuein) is a sym- 
 bol of the descent to the grave, and of the 
 ascent from.it." 
 
 We will pause here in our quotations to drop 
 a note for those who think it necessary to de- 
 scribe to us "Jewish sepulchres." The above 
 allusions to the emblematic import of baptism, 
 are taken principally from the Fathers of the 
 Eastern church. They were among the clergy 
 at the head of those bodies of Christians, who 
 dwelt among those eastern tombs ; and whose 
 associations, connected with those symbols, were 
 all formed upon the eastern mode of burial. 
 Surely, if these men, and the congregations to 
 which they preached, and the people for whom 
 they wrote, recognized the fitness of the sym- 
 bol, we need inquire no farther about their mode 
 of burial. Even after the ordinance was cor- 
 rupted, and trine immersion introduced, a cir- 
 cumstance connected with Christ's burial was 
 laid hold of to induce the churches to give it 
 countenance, and " fulfil," as Tertullian ex- 
 presses it, " somewhat more than our Lord has 
 decreed in. the gospel." To resume our quo- 
 tations : 
 
 " To these passages from the Christian Fa- 
 thers," continues the writer from whom we quote, 
 " we subjoin the testimony of some of the mod- 
 ern German critics. We bespeak particular at- 
 10 
 
130 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 tention to these, not 'only on account of their 
 impartiality, as they have no interest in the 
 controversy, but on account of their being the 
 very highest authority in language and antiqui- 
 ties. 
 
 " Neander, in his Church History, vol. 1, part 
 2. p. 361, says : " Baptism was originally by 
 immersion ; to this form various comparisons of 
 the apostle Paul allude." 
 
 " Thoiuck's Romans, ch. 6, v. 4. " In order to 
 understand the figurative use of baptism, we 
 must bear in mind the well known fact, that 
 the candidate in the primitive church, was im- 
 mersed in water and raised out of it again." In 
 his manuscript Lectures on Col. 2 : 12, he says : 
 " The candidate was immersed, and not sprink- 
 led as with us." 
 
 " Winer, in Manuscript Lectures on Christian 
 Antiquities, says : " In the apostolic age bap- 
 tism was by immersion, as its symbolical expla- 
 nation shows" 
 
 " Prof. Lange, on Infant Baptism, of 1S34, p. 
 81. " Baptism in the apostolic age was a 
 proper baptism, — the immersion of the body in 
 water." " As Christ died, so we die (to sin) 
 with him in baptism. The body is, as it were, 
 buried under water, is dead with Christ ; the 
 plunging under water represents death, and ris- 
 ing out of it the resurrection to a new life. A 
 more striking symbol could not be chosen." 
 
 " The author of the Free Inquiry on Baptism, 
 speaking of Rom. 6 : 4, and Gal. 3 : 27, says : 
 " What becomes of all these beautiful symbols, 
 when, as at the present day, baptism is admin- 
 istered by pouring or sprinkling ?" 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 131 
 
 " Bloomfield, in his Critical Digest on Rom. 
 6 : 4, says : " There is here plainly a reference 
 to the ancient mode of baptism by immersion ; 
 and I agree with Koppe and Rosenmuller that 
 there is reason to regret it should have been 
 abandoned, in most Christian churches, espe- 
 cially as it has so evidently a reference to the 
 mystic sense of baptism." 
 
 The testimony of Prof. Stuart shall conclude 
 these quotations. He says, " Most commenta- 
 tors have maintained that or v v era qp ?///£*'" \sune- 
 taphemen, rendered " We are buried," Rom. 
 6 : 4,] " has here a necessary reference to the 
 mode of literal baptism, which they say was by 
 immersion.'''' 
 
 To find our views approved by such authori- 
 ties, is calculated to administer one solace under 
 the mortifying reproach of our ignorance. 
 There is a long train of those who have hither- 
 to been regarded as illustrious for their learn- 
 ing and wisdom who share our reproach, and 
 are convicted of being as ignorant and superfi- 
 cial as we are. We are content to adhere to 
 an interpretation so accordant to the dictates of 
 common sense, especially when we know it has 
 been transmitted through a succession of such 
 men, embracing nearly all the biblical scholars 
 of Christendom, from the apostolic age down to 
 our own. 
 
 These selections have been made with strict 
 reference to the point under review, namely, 
 baptism as an emblem of Christ's burial and 
 resurrection. But they serve a double purpose. 
 Independently of the figure, they prove that 
 
132 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 immersion was the primitive practice. Had 
 quotations showing this latter fact simply been 
 admitted, the list would soon have swelled be- 
 yond our limits. In view of them, Prof. Stuart's 
 language expresses an inevitable conclusion. 
 " I know," says he, " of no usage that seems to 
 be more clearly and certainly made out. I can- 
 not see how it is possible for any candid man, 
 who examines this subject, to deny this." 
 
 What remains of Mr. Hall's " Mode of Bap- 
 tism" demands, at most, but a very summary 
 notice. On 1 Cor. 10 : 2, where the apostle 
 says, " The Israelites were all baptized unto 
 Moses in the cloud and in the sea," we will 
 give the lucid exposition of Prof. Stuart. He 
 says, " The reason and ground of such an ex- 
 pression must be, so far as I can discern, a sur- 
 rounding of the Israelites on different sides by 
 the cloud and by the sea, although neither the 
 cloud nor the sea touched them. It is therefore 
 a kind of figurative mode of expression, derived 
 from the idea that baptizing is surrounding with 
 a fluid." Again he says, " The cloud on this 
 occasion was not a cloud of rain; nor do we 
 find any intimation that the water of the Red 
 Sea sprinkled the children of Israel." Mr. 
 Hall (p. 89) has found such an intimation in 
 the 77th Psalm, though the psalmist, it appears, 
 has not placed the verses quite in the right 
 order. The context is improved, so as to favor 
 this intimation, by carrying back the 20th verse 
 and inserting it before the loth. But Mr. 
 Hall's dogmatism is extremely light in the scale, 
 against Prof. Stuart's reasoning, 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 133 
 
 Two objections to immersion are still, by- 
 some inveterate mental frailty which it seems 
 no refutation can reach, founded on the baptism 
 of the three thousand converts on the day of 
 Pentecost : 1, The want of water ; 2, The want 
 of time. With respect to the first, it is suffi- 
 cient to remark, — without consulting the geog- 
 raphy of Jerusalem and its vicinity for brooks 
 and pools, — that any argument which assumes 
 that in and around a populous city, such as Je- 
 rusalem then was, there was not water enough 
 for the purpose of immersion, contains its own 
 refutation. 
 
 With respect to the second, the want of time, 
 Mr. Hall may be reminded that the result of a 
 " mathematical calculation" depends very much 
 on the data. There were twelve apostles, not 
 eleven, as he says. Matthias had been previ- 
 ously " numbered with the eleven apostles." 
 Acts 1 : 26. There was time enough for these 
 twelve to administer the ordinance to the whole 
 number. The fact is so often repeated as to 
 have become familiar, that Chrysostom, with the 
 assistance of the clergy of his own church (top 
 xItjqov dnavTct zov ow t/tnv) immersed, on the 
 great sabbath of the Easter festival, x\pril 16, 
 404, three thousand catechumens. And in 496, 
 Remigius, bishop of Rheims, assisted by h s 
 presbyters, immersed, in one day, Clovis and 
 three thousand of his subjects. The early his- 
 torians set it beyond doubt that these were im- 
 mersed, by saying that " the bishop raised the 
 king up out of the water." And Oth o, the 
 apostle of the Pomeranians, seems (although 
 10* 
 
134 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 the account is less definite) to have immersed 
 more, in a single day than either Chrysostom or 
 Remigius.^ 
 
 However, as on the day of Pentecost, " they 
 were all with one accord in one place," the 
 seventy who had been specially commissioned 
 by the Saviour, Luke x, were there to aid in 
 the administration if necessary. This would 
 have made eighty-two administrators — a mate- 
 rial difference in the data for a " mathematical 
 calculation," 
 
 But it is the opinion of Dr. Adam Clarke 
 and others, that the three thousand were not all 
 baptized in one day. " As Dr. Stark, court 
 preacher at Darmstadt, well remarks, p. 9, of 
 his History of Baptism, 'In- the history of 
 those converted by Peter's preaching on the day 
 of Pentecost, there is nothing which compels 
 lis to infer, that all these were baptized on the 
 spot, and on the same day, which is taken for 
 granted by all who would prove sprinkling from 
 this passage.' "t 
 
 We are utterly at a loss to conjecture what 
 data are assumed in the problem of John's Bap- 
 tism, from which it is demonstrated that " im- 
 mersion was physically impossible." (Hall, p. 
 80.) If such data exist, Mr. Hall would have 
 greatly increased the strength of his argument 
 by producing them. 
 
 Commenting on the case of the jailor, (Acts 
 
 * Christian Review, March, 1838, which gives the authorities ; 
 Chrysostom, Palladius, Neander, Augusti, Rheinwald, Gregory 
 of Tours, Paulus Erailius, Schroeckh, Brenner. 
 
 t Idem. 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 135 
 
 16 : 19—34) Mr. Hall has produced a string of 
 assertions which, if dogmatism in its most con- 
 vincing form could pass for argument, would be 
 irresistible. After having stated that " it is 
 urged there might be a bath in the prison," he 
 proceeds to say, 
 
 Assertion 1 : " But this ground is now very 
 generally given up." 
 
 Assertion 2 : " Then he (the keeper) brought 
 them out of that (viz. the inner prison) into the 
 more common part of the prison ; — not out of 
 doors abroad." 
 
 Assertion 3 : "In this prison proper, the bap- 
 tism was performed." 
 
 Assertion 4 : " The Jailor's house, i. e. his 
 dwelling apartments, was doubtless attached to 
 the prison." 
 
 Assertion 5: " There was no going abroad at 
 all." 
 
 From these Jive assertions he jumps to the 
 conclusion, " that there was" no immersion" — 
 only " a simple, common baptism by sprinkling 
 or pouring." 
 
 Suppose we canvass these assertions a little. 
 The first is, " But this ground (namely that 
 there may have been a bath in the prison) is 
 now very generally given up." What is the 
 evidence of this ? Is it that " a way for im- 
 mersion is found out even without a bath in the 
 prison"? The inference does not follow from 
 the premise. It is not a logical inference that 
 one way " is given up," because " another way 
 is found out." The true state of the case is, 
 this account admits two alternatives, by either 
 
136 
 
 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 of which it coincides with the rest of the Bible, 
 in proof of immersion only as baptism. 
 
 1. There is a strong probability that there 
 was a bath in the prison. This probability 
 would amount almost to a certainty, if Mr. 
 Hall's 4.th assertion given above, were fully 
 confirmed. If " the jailor's dwelling apartments 
 were attached to the prison," there is hardly 
 room to doubt (in view of the climate and cus- 
 tom of the country) that a bath was provided 
 within the prison for the convenience of his 
 household, even though no such humane regard 
 were shown to the health and comfort of the 
 prisoners. In that case, assertion 3d might be 
 true, namely, " In this prison proper, the bap- 
 tism was performed." 
 
 2. The order of events gives countenance to 
 the opinion that the baptism was performed 
 without the prison. The keeper " brought 
 them out" of the prison ; " and they spake unto 
 him the word of the Lord, and to all that were 
 in his house." Note, this preaching was " in 
 the house." The baptism was then adminis- 
 tered, after which " he (the jailor) brought 
 them into his house." Now, we take it as a 
 point not to be debated, that they could not have 
 been brought in unless they were out, and that, 
 after preaching in the house, they would never 
 have been out unless they had gone out or 
 been carried out. Here comes in the " argu- 
 ment" which, just as Mr. Hall has stated it, is 
 " unanswerable" — " Why take the candidates 
 abroad at all in the night, if they might have 
 been baptized by sprinkling within ?" 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 137 
 
 Now note here, that if the jailor's house 
 was not connected with the prison, they cer- 
 tainly were " taken out of doors abroad," to 
 perform the baptism : if it was, their object in 
 going out of the jailor's " apartments" after 
 the preaching, must have been to go to the 
 bath " in the more common part of the prison." 
 But, in either case, immersion only could ren- 
 der it necessary to go out of the house. 
 
 For the second assertion, namely, " He 
 brought them — not out of doors abroad," Mr. 
 Hall seems to have cast about for a reason ; but 
 could find no better than this : " For we see 
 that he was ready to kill himself when he sup- 
 posed the prisoners had escaped." Yes, " when 
 he supposed they had escaped ;" but when he 
 found they had not, though the prison doors 
 were open, what occasion had he for vigilance ? 
 What need of bolts or bars to secure such pris- 
 oners ? Convinced of their holy character by 
 the influence of the Spirit on his own heart, 
 what hazard did he perceive in taking them 
 abroad if it were necessary, in order to comply 
 with their instructions ? 
 
 The fifth assertion, namely, "There was no 
 going abroad at all," is followed up by this re- 
 mark : " Paul would not go out upon leave till 
 the magistrates came and fetched him out." 
 Paul would not be " thrust out privily." He 
 would not be smuggled out of the city, so as to 
 leave the impression upon the public mind, that 
 he had broken jail and escaped, a fugitive from 
 justice. What has that to do with a question 
 whether, in the faithful discharge of his duty 
 
138 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 as a minister of the gospel, he went abroad to 
 preach and baptize, and then returned to his 
 prison ? Shame upon such cavilling ! 
 
 So the bath is not given up ; and if it were, 
 the substitute does not fail ; and according to 
 the proper rules of argument, we are entitled to 
 have it granted, on any rational ground — that 
 here was an immersion. 
 
 With regard to Paul's baptism, recorded Acts 
 9 : 18, Mr. Hall assumes, that Paul must have 
 received baptism in the very room where Ana- 
 nias found him, and asks, " What pretence for 
 a bath in this inner chamber ?" Paul, it seems, 
 was too " weak with fasting" to go out into the 
 court, or even an adjoining apartment, had there 
 been a bath there, to say nothing of getting to 
 one of the adjacent rivers of Abana or Pharpar. 
 2 Kings 5:12. There was abundance of water 
 at Damascus, and Ananias had time enough to 
 do the Lord's bidding ; but the difficulty was to 
 get the candidate to the water. There is some 
 insurmountable obstacle always in the way 
 of immersion ! 
 
 Here Mr. Hall " rests under the second in- 
 quiry :" — Not however till he has produced the 
 usual Paedobaptist chapter of history, in which 
 he comprises, in brief, all the support to the 
 cause he advocates, which can be wrung from 
 the Christian Fathers. He gives the head of 
 the chapter in these words : " The sick and 
 feeble were baptized by affusion or sprinkling." 
 After citing two or three examples ranging un- 
 der this head, he adds, " Many such cases are 
 all along incidentally recorded." Be they 
 
FROM CLINIC BAPTISM. 139 
 
 many or few, they are all such cases — cases of 
 " danger of death or other pressing necessity." 
 
 This introduces the subject of clinic baptism, 
 or baptism of the sick and bedridden. The sub- 
 ject is too extensive to be fully exhibited here. 
 The case of Novatian referred to by Mr. Hall 
 and all other Psedobaptist writers who ven- 
 ture upon the " historical argument" at all, is 
 so well selected that we may examine it here, 
 and then say to the reader ab uno disce omnes, 
 from one instance, learn all. 
 
 This case is mentioned by Eusebius. " Lit- 
 erally translated, it reads thus : — ' Who, assist- 
 ed by the exorcists, (having fallen into a dan- 
 gerous disease, and being supposed near to 
 death), received [ ] being poitred round 
 
 (nsQixvdeig, perichutheis) on the bed on which 
 he lay ; if indeed it is proper to say that such 
 an one could receive [ ].' There is no 
 
 word in the original for baptism, nor is it at all 
 certain that this word ought to be supplied ; in- 
 deed there is the strongest probability that it 
 ought not to be, for baptism when Eusebius 
 wrote, literally meant immersion ; and conse- 
 quently there was a manifest reason for omit- 
 ting the word altogether. The sense would be 
 given by inserting after \ received,' the ordi- 
 nance, or some word of like import. This pas- 
 sage is proof that in the time of Eusebius,^ 
 baptism was still understood to describe an act, 
 as well as to designate a rite, and therefore 
 Novatian could not be said to be baptized. The 
 
 * Eusebius lived in 215. 
 
140 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 following is a translation of the note of Valesi- 
 us on the word TiBQi/vOeig, poured about : — 
 'Rufinus rightly translates this, perfusum (pour- 
 ed about). For those who were sick were bap- 
 tized in bed ; since they could not be immersed 
 by the priest, they were only poured around 
 (perfundebaiitur) with water. Therefore, bap- 
 tism of this kind was not customary, and was 
 esteemed imperfect as being what appeared to 
 be received by men laboring under delirium, 
 not willingly, but from fear of death. In addi- 
 tion, since baptism properly signifies immer- 
 sion, a pouring of this sort could hardly be 
 called baptism. Wherefore clinics (for thus were 
 they called who had received baptism of this 
 sort) were forbidden to be promoted to the rank 
 of the presbytery, by the twelfth canon of the 
 council of Neo-Csesarea.' 
 
 " Nothing can be more striking as evidence 
 of immersion being deemed the only legitimate 
 baptism, except in cases of the greatest emer- 
 gency, than the expression used by Eusebius, 
 neqi'/vdeic, poured about, clearly an application 
 of water generally to the body."^ " Let it be 
 observed that even in clinic baptism, an effort 
 was made to imitate, as far as possible, the act 
 of immersion. It was not the aspersion of a 
 few drops of water on the face, but pouring 
 water all around the body, as the words negixv- 
 Obvq and perfusus show."! 
 
 Cornelius, bishop of Rome, in Eusebius' Ch. 
 Hist. 6. 43, makes the following remark upon 
 
 * Hinton Hist. Bap. p. 165. t Christian Review. 
 
FROM CLINIC BAPTISM. 141 
 
 this same case ; " Novatian was baptized by af- 
 fusion, while sick in bed, if it is proper to say 
 such an one was baptized." 
 
 The early history of the church affords abun- 
 dant evidence to confirm the inferences which 
 flow from these extracts. We learn that a cere- 
 mony was performed upon the sick who de- 
 sired baptism, what that ceremony was, and 
 how it was estimated. 
 
 1. It was performed only upon the sick and 
 those in extremity, and was not introduced till 
 the doctrine. of the. necessity of baptism to sal- 
 vation had obtained in the churches. This 
 doctrine lies at its .foundation. We subjoin 
 some authorities on this point. ^ 
 
 Neander, vol. 1, p. 361, remarks ; " Only 
 tvith the sick was there an exception," in regard 
 to immersion. 
 
 . Winer, in his lectures on Archaeology, in 
 manuscript, says; "Affusion was at first appli- 
 ed only to the sick, but was gradually introduc- 
 ed for others after the seventh century, and in 
 the thirteenth became the prevailing practice in 
 the West. But the Eastern church has retain- 
 ed immersion alone as valid." 
 
 Von Coin, in his new edition of Munscher, 
 and also Munscher himself, observe ; " Only 
 with the sick was baptism administered by as- 
 persion." 
 
 Stroth's Eusebius, vol. 1, p. 506. " Baptism 
 was administered to those on beds of sickness. 
 
 * From the Christian Review. 
 11 
 
142 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 by sprinkling and pouring ; in other cases it 
 was at that time by immersion." 
 
 Gieseler's Ch. Hist., Ger. Ed. vol. 2, p. 274. 
 " For the sake of the sick, the rite of sprinkling 
 ivas introduced.'''' 
 
 Dn Fresne's Lat. Glossary, on the word 
 clinici ; " From the custom of baptizing by 
 pouring or sprinkling the sick, who could not 
 be immersed (which is properly baptism), ivas 
 introduced the custom which now prevails in 
 the Western church." 
 
 Eheinwald's Christian Archaeology, p. 302 : 
 " Baptism was administered by immersion, only 
 in cases of necessity by sprinkling." 
 
 2. It was, as nearly as possible, an imitation 
 of immersion. The candidate was, poured 
 about (neoi'/vdF.ig) : — water was poured all over 
 the body. This innovation grew, at a later pe- 
 riod, into sprinkling. 
 
 3. It was not regarded as proper baptism, nor 
 did it entitle the subject to all the privileges of 
 one regularly baptized. " A pouring of this 
 sort could hardly be called baptism,'''' says Vale- 
 sius. " Wherefore they were forbidden to be 
 promoted to the rank of presbyters." 
 
 Baronius observes of cases of this kind ; 
 " Those who were baptized upon their beds 
 were not called Christians, but clinics."* 
 
 " Magnus inquired of Cyprian (see Epist. 
 76) whether persons thus baptized ' were to be 
 regarded as legitimate Christians, inasmuch as 
 they were not bathed in the salutary water, but 
 
 * Quoted by Hinton from Annates Baronii. 
 
FROM CLINIC BAPTISM. 143 
 
 poured about,'' (eo quod aqua salutari non loti 
 sunt, sed perfusi). Cyprian is not prepared to 
 give a decisive answer, but expresses his opin- 
 ion, and says each one must settle this question 
 for himself. His own views are thus stated ; 
 1 When there is a pressing necessity, with God's 
 indulgence, the holy ordinances, though out- 
 wardly abridged, confer the entire blessing upon 
 those who believe.' (Necessitate cogente, et Deo 
 indulgentiam suam largiente, totum credentibus 
 conferunt divina compendia.) 
 
 Now, " it is natural to inquire why affusion, 
 if it was of apostolic origin, should be limited 
 to the sick ? What objection could there be 
 that any one in health should be so baptized ? — 
 What need of any ' urgent necessity'' or (what 
 is still more strange) ' divine indulgence? in 
 order to make it pass ? What does Cyprian 
 mean by that antithesis of an abridged form but 
 total result ? In his time, antiquity had not 
 thrown sufficient obscurity round primitive 
 usages, to have it enter his thoughts that the 
 apostles must have sprinkled for want of water 
 in some cases, and of time in others. "^ 
 
 The conclusion, therefore, of the " argument 
 from history," may be expressed in the lan- 
 guage, with a little variation, in which Mr. 
 Hall introduces it. " That immersion was 
 early" [as the apostolic age], "and extensive- 
 ly" [as the prevalence of Christianity], " prac- 
 tised, is certain. That it ivas considered essen- 
 tial, is also certain. The practice was" [in the 
 
 * Christian Review. 
 
144 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 apostolic age, and the age immediately succeed- 
 ing] " invariable." And this we " propose as 
 indubitable." 
 
 " Here Mr. Hall rests," ipso facto, " under 
 the second inquiry ;" and as the third is but a 
 loosely bound bundle of inferences from soph- 
 isms already sufficiently exposed, and principles 
 shown to be unsound, we need delay our con- 
 clusion no longer. We have now followed 
 him through the New Testament. We again 
 disclaim all participation in the search which 
 has been made for a sacred use of terms in the 
 Bible. When God condescends to speak to 
 men, he speaks in the language of men. Those 
 purposes of mercy which inclined him to reveal 
 his will, required no mysticism — no heterogene- 
 ous blending of revelation and concealment. 
 But suppose a " sacred use" had been presump- 
 tuously admitted, what would the admission 
 have availed the adversaries of immersion ? 
 Nothing. In every passage which has been 
 produced, or can be, from the New Testament 
 and from the Old, as well as from the classics, 
 fiamito) has but the one constant meaning, to 
 immerse. And we will here state a problem 
 for the solution of any student of the Bible : 
 Take the word immerse and its synonyms, and 
 substitute one of them for baptize, in every pas- 
 sage where baptizo occurs, throughout the Bi- 
 ble ; you will always make good sense. Take 
 any other word and its synonyms, and substi- 
 tute in like manner; you will, in numerous 
 places, make nonsense. 
 
 But we are just now reminded that this evi- 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 145 
 
 dence of the New Testament avails us nothing. 
 After the sacred writers have been called to the 
 witness box, after we have heard the testimony 
 of Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and John, 
 and Paul, it is unceremoniously rejected. Hear 
 Mr. Hall : " Had they all" [namely, Christ 
 and his disciples'] " been baptized by immersion, 
 
 IT WOULD NOT BIND US TO AN IMMERSION."! ! 
 
 And the drift of his " third inquiry" is to show, 
 that, " On the supposition that the early disci- 
 ples always baptized by immersion, that mode" 
 
 is NOT ESSENTIAL ! ! pp. 107, 108. 
 
 The question is pertinent here, though it 
 seems rather late to ask it : What has the " ex- 
 positor of the law of baptism" been seeking? 
 On what errand has he gone through the New 
 Testament ? What business has led him from 
 one to another of the baptismal scenes ? Was 
 it a mere idle curiosity ? Or was his business 
 as indefinite as he would make the ordinance 
 and import of baptism? It is curious, and al- 
 most unaccountable to see him, and his brethren 
 in the ministry who adopt his views, in discuss- 
 ing the subject, turn round in successive stages 
 of their progress, and demolish with a blow 
 what they have been laboring with every re- 
 source to upbuild. Commencing with the in- 
 dubitable proposition, expressed or implied, 
 " The whole question turns on the meaning of 
 the word ftumitoi" we see them enter upon an 
 examination of the Lexicons and Classics, with 
 a view as we suppose of settling the question 
 legitimately there : but we are at length in- 
 formed, that nothing can be inferred from the 
 11* 
 
146 THE ARGUMENT 
 
 classical meaning of the word to help the decis- 
 ion of the question. " If it should be proved 
 indubitably," says Mr. Hall, (p. 13). "that the 
 word Baptizo in classic Greek means only to 
 immerse ; — to immerse the subject wholly ; this 
 would not settle the question." We then lis- 
 ten to a number of quotations, and what, at the 
 time, we suppose are intended as arguments, 
 drawn from the Septuagint and Apocrypha : 
 but we learn in conclusion that no progress has 
 been made yet ; it is still an open question. 
 We follow with eager attention through the 
 New Testament ; but are surprised, having ar- 
 rived at the end, to hear the declaration, that 
 all the examples of the New Testament — the 
 pattern of Christ, and the invariable practice of 
 his apostles — have no authority in settling the 
 question. It is, then, still an open question. 
 Where shall we go now to decide it ? If to 
 follow it from the beginning of the Greek clas- 
 sics to the end of the New Testament, still 
 leaves it an open question, where, when, by 
 whom shall it ever be set at rest ? 
 
 Such seems to be the extremity, to which we 
 are driven by this chain of denials. But per- 
 haps we misapprehend them. Perhaps it is 
 meant to be understood, that the question is set- 
 tled indefinitely : or, that it is definitely settled 
 that the ordinance is indefinite, — that it is any 
 application of water. We have sufficiently dis- 
 proved that. But on what grounds is it claimed 
 to be proved ? No other grounds have been oc- 
 cupied but the Classics, the Septuagint, the 
 Apocrypha and the New Testament : and if 
 
FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 147 
 
 we have rightly understood the declarations 
 successively made, that on neither of these 
 grounds — -always including the preceding — can 
 the question be settled, we are a little puzzled 
 to conceive where, or how, it has been decided 
 that the rite of baptism is indefinite, that is, 
 implies a generic application of water. 
 
 Our misapprehension (if we have misappre- 
 hended) must lie in this : It was meant by these 
 successive denials, that if on any or all of these 
 grounds, it should appear that immersion only 
 is baptism, that would not settle the question ; 
 it would still be an open question. But if, on 
 all or any of these grounds, it should appear 
 that pouring, sprinkling or any indefinite 
 " watering ceremony''' is baptism, that would 
 settle the question. In other words, if it should 
 appear from the Greek Classics, from the Sep- 
 tuagint and Apocrypha, and from the New Tes- 
 tament, as shown by the practice of Christ and 
 his apostles, that to immerse is the only mean- 
 ing of ficiTuCeiv [baptize], that would not set- 
 tle the question ; but if from all or any of these 
 sources, it should appear that pami&iv is gener- 
 ic in its sense, and means any application of 
 water, that would settle the question. An im- 
 partial judge would not pronounce this quite an 
 equitable adjustment of the grounds of contro- 
 versy ; but it corresponds exactly with the posi- 
 tion taken as formerly mentioned with respect 
 to Christ's example. See page S9 of this essay. 
 
 We are prepared to hear men who thus arro- 
 gate to themselves all the grounds of reasoning, 
 
14S THE ARGUMENT FROM THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 deny the possibility of proving that immersion 
 only is baptism, (p. 113) and even profess their 
 " belief that all men are unable to make out a 
 clear case of baptism by immersion in the New 
 Testament." (p. 94.) If to show that the in- 
 variable meaning of the word used to designate 
 the rite of baptism, in the Greek Classics, in 
 the Septuagint, in the Apocrypha, in the Hel- 
 lenistic Greek of Joseph us, is to immerse ; — 
 if to add the example of Christ himself, the 
 uniform practice of his apostles and of the 
 primitive church ; — if all this evidence does not 
 prove that baptism is immersion, we may freely 
 acknowledge we cannot prove it. But if we 
 will allow the infidel to make a similar adjust- 
 ment of the grounds of argument in his own 
 favor, he will easily prove that the Bible is a 
 fable, that the Saviour was an impostor, that 
 there is no God! Every man has a duty to 
 perform to aid in detecting this gunpowder plot, 
 which if carried into full and successful execu- 
 tion, must blow up all the grounds of ratiocina- 
 tion, make havoc of all the laws of belief, shat- 
 ter the citadel of truth, and drive men to 
 atheism. 
 
PART III 
 
 The Argument from the Classics and the 
 Argument from Scripture combined. 
 
 We have endeavoured, in this essay, to keep 
 the two parts, as far as possible, distinct and in- 
 dependent of each other. In the view of en- 
 lightened and unbiassed reason, the determina- 
 tion of the classic sense of fianji'Qw places the 
 question beyond further controversy. Having 
 ascertained that, we had a right to employ it to 
 silence every objection subsequently raised. 
 One demonstration of a theorem is sufficient to 
 determine the principle it involves ; we are not 
 obliged at every recurrence of the principle to 
 repeat the demonstration, or find out a new one. 
 
 This right was ours by the immutable laws 
 of sound logic. ^ But we have not claimed it. 
 
 * Mr. Ewing endeavoured to attach the " sacred use'''' to the 
 word rendered "burying" in English, in order to evade the 
 stubborn force of those passages which make baptism an em- 
 blem of Christ's burial. Noticing this evasion, Mr. Carson 
 says, " Burying in the Scripture meaning, must be the same as 
 burying in the common meaning ; otherwise the Scriptures are 
 not a revelation. This is a canon — a canon which is self-evi- 
 dent. If the Scriptures do not use words in the sense in which 
 they will be understood by those who speak the language, they 
 
150 THE TWO ARGUMENTS COMBINED. 
 
 We have met every objection on the ground 
 where our antagonists placed it, always in full 
 confidence of the result. 
 
 But we shall now claim for the argument 
 this its suspended right. In addition to the 
 evidence internal, circumstantial, and historical, 
 which we have adduced upon each text of 
 Scripture as we followed up the search for a 
 " sacred use," which evidence has always prov- 
 ed immersion, we now claim that the meaning 
 of fiumitw in these passages and in every pas- 
 sage is to immerse, only to immerse. The New 
 Testament, accurately translated, reads : Matt. 
 3:6, " And were immersed of him in Jordan" : 
 verse 11, " I indeed immerse you in water** * 
 he shall immerse you in the Holy Ghost and in 
 fire:" Mark 1 : 9, "Jesus — was immersed of 
 John in Jordan :" Mark 7:4, "And when they 
 come from the market, except they immerse, 
 they eat not" — " the immersion of cups and 
 pots, brazen vessels and tables:" Acts 2 : 41, 
 " Then they that gladly received the word 
 were immersed :" Acts 9 : 18, " And he receiv- 
 ed sight forthwith and arose and was immers- 
 ed :" 8 : 38, " And they went down both into 
 the water * * * and he immersed him :" 8 : 47, 
 " Can any man forbid water that these should 
 not be immersed, who have received the Holy 
 Ghost as well as we?" 16:33, — "And was 
 immersed, he and all his, straightway :" Rom. 
 
 do not instruct, but mislead. I overturn the whole system, then, 
 by taking away the foundation on which it rests. It assumes 
 what is not true in any instance." 
 
THE TWO ARGUMENTS COMBINED. 151 
 
 6 : 3, 4, " Immersed into his death," and, " Bu- 
 ried with him by immersion into his death :" 
 Col. 2 : 12, " Buried with him in immersion, 
 wherein also ye are risen with him, &c. :" And 
 the commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ 
 to his apostles, on his ascension day, is " Go 
 teach all nations, immersing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost." Matt. 28: 19. 
 
 If Mr. Hall thinks it necessary to present an 
 illustration of this last command of the Saviour 
 (so plain in itself that no illustration can make 
 it plainer), he must invent some comparison 
 more definite in its terms than " Go down from 
 Jerusalem to Jericho." Go is a generic term : 
 and that command would be obeyed by going 
 in a chariot, on foot, or " riding an ass' colt." 
 The command is simply and indefinitely, " Go." 
 A similar remark applies to the celebration of 
 the Lord's Supper to which he alludes, and 
 to which Psedobaptists are fond of alluding, as a 
 case parallel with baptism. The case is not at all 
 parallel. The command is " Take, eat," and, 
 " Drink ye all of it." The manner and cir- 
 cumstances of the observance constitute no part 
 of the command. Obedience is rendered by 
 simply eating and drinking — partaking of the 
 sacred emblems. Whether it shall be in the 
 night or daytime, in an upper or lower room, in 
 a reclining, sitting, or kneeling posture, is not 
 prescribed in the institution of the sacrament. 
 
 But the command of Christ enjoining bap- 
 tism, is definite to both administrator and candi- 
 
152 CONCLUSION. 
 
 date ; " Immerse," and, " be immersed" " Teach 
 all nations, immersing them :" " Believe and he 
 immersed.'''' This command is not fulfilled by 
 'pouring, sprinkling, or any indefinite applica- 
 tion of water. • "A sprinkled Christian," as the 
 Greeks called the Romans, is not a baptized 
 Christian. The command enjoins immersion. 
 That is the invariable import of the word @<xn- 
 n'ioj, which alone is used to express the com- 
 mand. And all the example of the New Tes- 
 tament, every allusion to the rite in the sacred 
 Scriptures, is illustration, clear as a sunbeam, 
 how those who were inspired by the Spirit, un- 
 derstood the mind of the Spirit in regard to 
 baptism. .The evidence from these two sources 
 combined, is sufficient to satisfy any mind in 
 which exists .no bias unfavorable to the convic- 
 tions of truth, that immersion only is bap- 
 tism. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Do not, then, lay aside the commandment of 
 God and hold the tradition of men, and with 
 solemn mockery offend his presence in the sanc- 
 tuary with a spurious ordinance. Do not charge 
 him with being a hard master, a tyrant, impos- 
 ing " a yoke of bondage," exercising " a ruth- 
 less despotism," and arbitrarily commanding 
 what, in some circumstances, cannot be obeyed. 
 There is no quarter of the inhabitable globe, 
 where immersion cannot be, without inconven- 
 ience, performed. In every climate, from the 
 
CONCLUSION. 153 
 
 frozen regions of Greenland to the burning 
 tracts of sandy Africa, the ordinance is, in fact, 
 administered in this, its primitive, scriptural 
 purity. 
 
 It is for those who make salvation dependent 
 upon baptism, to swell with pathos for " the 
 many that are sick ; the many that are in such 
 a state of health that they cannot go abroad — 
 much less go and be immersed, — especially in 
 winter, without endangering their lives. " (p. 1 14.) 
 When such cases occur, baptism is not a duty. 
 Individuals, in such a state, cannot attend the 
 stated worship of God in the sanctuary, which 
 is the duty and privilege of the Christian as 
 much as baptism is. We might deplore their 
 hard lot in this respect, with as much propriety 
 as in that of baptism ; but in so doing, we 
 should repine against God, and cast censure 
 upon his dealings with the children of men. 
 His requirements never clash with the dispen- 
 sations of his providence. " He will have mer- 
 cy and not sacrifice." Under such circumstan- 
 ces, he regards the ivilling as the obedient ; nor 
 will he withhold from them any of the blessings 
 promised as the reward of actual obedience. 
 
 Above all, do not calumniate this divine ordi- 
 nance and traduce its institutor by the irrever- 
 ent attempt to brand indecency upon it. What 
 do Psedobaptist polemics mean by telling us in 
 connection with this controversy, and so often 
 repealing one from another, that " the ancient 
 Christians were all baptized naked ?" How 
 ancient were the Christians who practised thus ? 
 12 
 
154 CONCLUSION. 
 
 By referring to them in connection with this 
 question, it is manifestly implied that they were 
 as ancient as the apostolic age, and that such 
 was the primitive practice : for our adversaries 
 know that it is the apostolic pattern for which 
 we contend, and to which we refer for imita- 
 tion ; not to any example of practice which 
 may have intruded itself into some of the 
 churches in a subsequent period. Such is clear- 
 ly the import of the remark, which Mr. Hall 
 quotes from Dr. Miller, of Princeton : " We 
 have the same evidence (to wit, from history), 
 in favor of immersing, divested of all clothing, 
 that we have for immersion at all," and, " so 
 far as the history of the church subsequent to 
 the Apostolic age informs us, these must stand 
 or fall together." The history of the church 
 immediately subsequent to the apostolic age, as 
 well as during the apostolic age, informs us of 
 immersion as exclusively baptism ; this we have 
 already seen. In view of the evidence adduced 
 from history, Prof. Stuart says, " It is a thing 
 made out." Now, If Dr. Miller's assertion be 
 true, that " so far as the history of the church 
 subsequent to the apostolic age informs us, the 
 practice of immersion and nudity in baptism 
 must stand or fall together," then certainly this 
 latter practice must have obtained, as immersion 
 did, immediately subsequent to, nay during the 
 apostolic age. ■ So that this historical argument 
 of Dr. Miller, and those who quote him, proves, 
 if it prove anything, that to baptize naked icas 
 the apostolic practice ! Yet Mr. Hall adopts it 
 
CONCLUSION. 155 
 
 with triumph, because it helps him to account 
 for the " invention of baptisteries" — and to com- 
 bat the Baptists. And we are accustomed to 
 see it in print, and hear it from the pulpit else- 
 where. Indeed, some who use this argument, 
 seem to glory in the shame of the church, and 
 think it necessary to assist the imagination, by 
 some remark, comparison or specification of in- 
 dividuals, to conceive of " the indecencies of 
 the scene." What recklessness to sustain a fa- 
 vorite system ! What is the tendency of such 
 an argument? What would it prove if its 
 premises were true to an extent sufficient to 
 make it applicable at all to the question in re- 
 gard to baptism ? Why, that the New Testa- 
 ment, with its high pretensions to divine inspi- 
 ration, is a base imposture ! that the gospel is 
 a lie ! that Christianity is a cunningly devised 
 fable to minister to cupidity and lust ! ! No 
 man of common sense and common decency 
 would hesitate to pronounce any system of reli- 
 gion which thus trampled upon all the common 
 instincts of shame, a system of imposture and 
 falsehood. And such, as far as it goes, is the 
 tendency of every remark which charges this 
 ordinance of God's appointment with indecency. 
 Is it possible that any of the ministers of Chris- 
 tianity will thus lay the axe to the root of the 
 gospel tree, rather than suffer the revered mis- 
 tletoe of profane tradition to be detached from 
 its trunk! 
 
 But the argument is without foundation. 
 The appeal to history is illegitimate : and Mr. 
 
156 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Hall, in his haste, says so, when he declares 
 that " from the beginning it was not so." " I 
 am ready to thank God," says Prof. Stuart, 
 " for the honor of the Christian religion, that 
 the New Testament contains no intimation of 
 such a usage, nor even any of the earlier Fa- 
 thers." What friend of the Gospel will not re- 
 spond to this sentiment of Prof. Stuart, with his 
 hearty Amen ? 
 
 The origin of such a usage, must be sought 
 in a subsequent period. It must be classed with 
 other corruptions and inventions of men. Other 
 departures from the apostolic pattern may be 
 less gross ; but they are, nevertheless, depart- 
 ures, and must all be ranked as corruptions to- 
 gether. Nudity in baptism may look up " to 
 the law and the testimony" with as bold a front, 
 as sprinkling or affusion can ; and they will, 
 alike, find themselves spurned away. They 
 must seek countenance elsewhere. 
 
 Any one, who, in the light of history, will 
 cast his eyes over Christendom must be impress- 
 ed with one fact. The Greek church in all her 
 branches, all to whom Christianity has been 
 carried by her missionaries, embracing " all the 
 Christians in Asia, all in Africa, and about one 
 third in Europe, practise immersion." The 
 rest of the Christian w T orld practises sprinkling, 
 &c. This is a fact which no well-informed 
 man will gainsay. In other words, the Eoman 
 Catholic church in all her branches, all to whom 
 Christianity was originally carried by her mis- 
 sionaries, all, in a word, who have ever ac- 
 
CONCLUSION. 157 
 
 knowledged the papal supremacy, practise 
 sprinkling, &c. All the rest of the Christian 
 world practises immersion. This is the same 
 fact stated conversely. A few dissenters from 
 the national establishments constitute an excep- 
 tion ; but the statement is true in its general ap- 
 plication. 
 
 This remark applies to the old world. In 
 the United States, the usage with regard to 
 baptism, is derived from ancestry, with the ex- 
 ception of those inroads upon hereditary reli- 
 gion, which are the natural and happy result of 
 free inquiry, in a land of perfect legal tolera- 
 tion. 
 
 The fact is before us, and what is the infer- 
 ence ? Surely, it must require the aid of some 
 principle uncongenial with reason and candor, 
 some principle not naturally implanted in the 
 mind, to enable any one to draw a conclusion 
 corresponding to this of Mr. Hall : " All the 
 leading denominations of Protestant Christen- 
 dom, save one," says he, (p. 5.) "maintain 
 that the mode of baptism is not essential ; and 
 for this opinion they go not to the decrees of the 
 Pope, nor to the traditions of the papal church." 
 A mind upon which operates no influence hos- 
 tile to rational deduction from fact, cannot resist 
 the force of the evidence which this feature of 
 Christendom presents, that there is some connec- 
 tion between Papal power and the practice of 
 sprinkling, &c, instead of baptism. The nature 
 of this connection is easily discovered, and its 
 12* 
 
158 CONCLUSION. 
 
 history traced, in the decretals and legislation 
 of the pontifical government.^ 
 
 Perhaps the subject should not be dismissed, 
 without adverting to the communion in the 
 Lord's Supper. The question of what is im- 
 properly called " close communion," turns en- 
 tirely upon views of baptism. It is, however, 
 premature, to introduce it before discussing the 
 other question involved in the controvery re- 
 specting baptism, namely, " Who are proper 
 subjects of the ordinance ?" A word may, 
 however, be said upon it here. 
 
 It is not made a question whether baptism is 
 a pre-requisite to the Supper. In that, all the 
 principal denominations of Christendom agree. 
 They adopt the fundamental principle that bap- 
 tism (whatever baptism be) must precede ad- 
 mission to the Lord's table. And they act 
 upon this principle ; they admit none whom 
 they consider unbaptized to their commun- 
 ion. The Baptists differ not, in principle, on 
 this subject, from their brethren of other denomi- 
 nations. Neither do they differ in practice. 
 They admit to the table all whom they consider 
 scripturally baptized. They differ from others 
 (and we have seen some of the grounds on 
 which they differ) as to who have been baptiz- 
 ed ; but when that question is disposed of, they 
 agree with others as to the proper recipients of 
 
 * The reader who will peruse Robinson's History of Baptism, 
 or the smaller work of Hinton with the same title, will find this 
 remark sufficiently illustrated. 
 
CONCLUSION. 159 
 
 the eucharist : and " they hold to no more close 
 communion than" other denominations do. 
 
 Let those who charge them with " lording- it 
 over the consciences of others," be put to the test 
 as to their own liberality. Suppose the socie- 
 ty of Friends, with no change of views upon bap- 
 tism, should adopt the sacrament of the supper. 
 Would Paedobastists receive them to their com- 
 munion ? No. What reason could they assign 
 for their refusal ? Are the Friends deficient 
 in " the customary tokens of piety," in exem- 
 plary living, and godly conversation, which con- 
 fer a title to church fellowship ? Nobody will 
 assert it. Why, then, " must they be debarred 
 from Christ's house on earth, and excommuni- 
 cate from his table ?" The only answer is, they 
 are unbaptized : and it is a sufficient answer, we 
 admit ; but those who talk of their liberality 
 in contrast with " Baptist close communion," 
 ought not to deem it sufficient. They should 
 not thus " tyrannize over the consciences of 
 others." They should renounce the doctrine, 
 that baptism must precede admission to the 
 Lord's supper — a doctrine by which they are 
 thus " compelled to join in this unhallowed pro- 
 scription of the children of God, and heirs of 
 salvation." 
 
 And how does it comport with these profes- 
 sions of liberality thus to denounce the Baptists, 
 and carry persecution against them as far as the 
 spirit of the age and of our free political sys- 
 tem will allow, for acting conscientiously upon 
 a principle which is thus held and acted upon 
 
160 CONCLUSION. 
 
 by the great body of the Saviour's followers ? 
 Will they not allow the Baptists the same liber- 
 ty of conscience which they exercise themselves? 
 Would they " strip them of their dearest rights ?" 
 Would they compel them to disregard the Lord's 
 appointment, to trample upon the authority of 
 the Head of the church, and practically abolish 
 one of his ordinances ? Of all this they would 
 be guilty, Paedobaptists being judges, were they 
 to admit unbaptized persons to their commun- 
 ion. It would be virtually to abolish baptism. 
 If you would oppose the Baptists on the subject 
 of communion, the only legitimate ground upon 
 which you can meet them is baptism. Rob- 
 ert Hall remarks on this subject as follows : 
 " This author, [the person against whom he 
 was writing] had informed us at the distance 
 of a few lines, that the Pcedobaptists, in general, 
 believe that none ought to come to the Lord's 
 table who are not baptized. If this is correct, 
 we may indeed easily conceive of their being 
 offended with us for deeming them unbaptized ; 
 but how our refusal to admit them to commun- 
 ion should become the subject of debate, is ut- 
 terly mysterious." 
 
 If liberality in dispensing from " that table 
 which is not ours, but the Lord's," be a virtue, 
 where shall it stop ? The master of the house 
 is not impoverished by giving, nor enriched by 
 withholding : and if, with unauthorized generosi- 
 ty, you transcend the limits which he has fixed 
 to his bounty, and communicate it to characters 
 which he has not designated, why may not all 
 
CONCLUSION. 161 
 
 men be partakers ? It is this same principle of 
 universal generosity which would lavish the 
 grace of salvation, and the gift of eternal life 
 upon all mankind, irrespectively of virtue or 
 vice, sin or holiness. 
 
 But Psedobaptist liberality finds a limit far 
 short of this extreme. By some rule unknown 
 to the Bible, they " thrust out from Christ's or- 
 dinance" thousands whom they acknowledge 
 to have been baptized ! This they do on every 
 communion occasion, and have done, custom- 
 arily, ever since infant communion was abrogat- 
 ed by the council of Trent. Previously to that 
 time, from the days of Cyprian, infant commun- 
 ion had accompanied infant sprinkling. Con- 
 sistency imperatively demands that they go to- 
 gether — that those who practise the one prac- 
 tise the other. No authority can be produced 
 from the word of God for excluding baptized 
 persons, whose Christian character has exhibit- 
 ed no cognizable change since receiving baptism, 
 from the table of the Lord.^ This is a closer 
 communion than the Baptists dare tolerate. 
 They recognize baptism as the door into God's 
 house ; the table of the Lord is spread within 
 for all who enter ; and none who come in by 
 
 * Dr. Dwight says, " Persons baptized in infancy are members 
 of the church of Christ, that is, of the church general." Dr. 
 Cox inquires, in reply, "In what conceivable sense can it be 
 said, that a person belonging to no one of the churches that con- 
 stitute the church general, nevertheless is a member of that 
 church general ?" Hard question. 
 
162 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the door do they, dare they, thrust from the 
 table. The door is ever open, and 
 
 More that come of free, good will 
 Make the banquet sweeter still. 
 
 Thus, when our faith is reviled, our practice 
 calumniated, our motives impugned, our order 
 assailed with fiery philippics, turn we for vindi 
 cation "to the law and the testimony." The 
 Bible is the rule of faith and practice. The 
 New Testament prescribes the ordinances of the 
 Christian dispensation, in language perfectly 
 intelligible, in terms of no ambiguous import. 
 But many at the present day who can read, re- 
 fuse to understand. When will the church uni- 
 versal abandon the traditions of men, and, with 
 unreserved fidelity to Christ, resume the ordi- 
 nances and the faith once delivered to the saints ? 
 That time will come as surely as the Bible is 
 true ; and it will be a blissful era. The moral 
 energies of God's people will be united. The 
 divine benediction upon humble submission and 
 faithful obedience to God, will be enjoyed in 
 overflowing measure. The full tide of heaven- 
 ly blessings will set in their favor, and carry 
 forward their efforts. Co-operating under such 
 influences, they will be an army of champions 
 in the cause of truth. They will be irresistible. 
 The world will be evangelized :. the gospel 
 universally triumphant. 
 
NOTE 
 
 Reference is occasionally made, in order to get at 
 a fuller development of Mr. Hall's views, to another 
 edifying volume which he has sent through the press. 
 This latter volume to which he has prefixed the title, 
 " Baptist Errors," is entitled to a place among 
 D'Israeli's "Curiosities of Literature." Some fu- 
 ture literary virtuoso will doubtless make it conspicu- 
 ous in his collection ; for it is hardly possible that its 
 author's friends, or the friends of his memory in com- 
 ing time, will be able to suppress it so completely 
 that a curious antiquary can not find a copy from 
 which to make curious extracts illustrative of human 
 nature. Among publications professedly religious, 
 it is a nonesuch. It is an angry attack upon his 
 neighbor, Mr. Wolsey, pastor of the Baptist church 
 at Norwalk, Ct., and is made up of the fretful rav- 
 ings of an irritated mind. It was not to be wondered 
 at, that Mr. Wolsey became the object of his ire, 
 since he (Mr. W.) had actually written a book in 
 which he had been so presumptuous as to differ from 
 Mr. Hall on the subject of baptism. And even this 
 offence might have been passed by, had not the book 
 (see the preface to " Baptist Errors") been " industri- 
 ously thrust into our families, and no effort spared to 
 undermine the faith of our people, and to draw our 
 youth and children away from the old paths in 
 which their fathers had roalked since the days of the 
 Pilgrims — now two hundred years!" This was 
 insufferable. And as there are, perhaps, some terms 
 of reproach and bitterness which he has refrained 
 from employing, " it will surely be judged" that he 
 
164 NOTE. 
 
 has " stood in the defence" " with as much kindness 
 as" the temper which such impudent, obtrusive her- 
 esy had provoked, " allowed." However convinced 
 of the truth, Mr. W. should have known better than 
 to preach it, or (worse still) write books in its de- 
 fence, to be thrust into families in the neighborhood 
 of Norwalk, thus endangering a faith which is, at 
 least, " two hundred years" old! And, by the way, 
 Mr. Hall, and as many of his congregation as approve 
 of this reason of their faith, ought to return to Ca- 
 tholicism : for that faith is older than " two hundred 
 years." 
 
 It was, however, impossible for him to restrain his 
 mood from biting at others, in its ungoverned sallies, 
 as well as Mr. Wolsey. Campbell (a P&dobaptist), 
 Carson, Ripley, Judd, Eaton, the American and 
 Foreign Bible Society, and other heretics of that 
 stamp, corporate or incorporate, were doomed (as 
 far as he could doom) to experience the effects of his 
 hot displeasure. But, after all, we have not heard 
 of any one's being injured by his ill humor. The 
 storm has raged and subsided without any disaster. 
 Campbell sleeps peacefully in his grave, notwithstand- 
 ing the railing accusations directed against him. No 
 swift bolt has struck Carson and sent him " down 
 the precipice — to perdition." (Errors, p. 27). Rip- 
 ley is unscathed, both in person and reputation. And 
 even Wolsey is safe, in the very neighborhood where 
 an infuriated spirit has, in imagination, rode upon the 
 clouds and hurled down thickest thunderbolts. No 
 one is injured ; nor is any cause prejudiced, except 
 that which has suffered at his hands such a moody 
 advocacy. 
 
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 ANTIOCH; 
 
 OR, INCREASE OF MORAL POWER IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 
 
 By Rev. P. Church. With an Introductory 
 
 Essay, by Rev. Baron Stow. 
 
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 " By some this book will be condemned, by many it will be read with 
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 PENTECOST. 
 
 OR, THE SOLE EFFICIENCY OF CONVERTING THE WORLD. 
 By Rev. P. Church, author of "Antioch." 
 
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"A CHURCH WITHOUT A BISHOP." 
 
 APOSTOLICAL AND PRIMITIVE CHURCH; 
 
 Popular in its Form of Government, and Simple in its Mode of 
 Worship. By Lyman Coleman, of Andover, Author of 
 " Christian Antiquities." With an Introductory- 
 Essay, by Dr. Augustus Neander, 
 Berlin, Germany. 1 vol. 12mo. 
 
 JUr 3 An important and very interesting work. Just published. «=CH 
 
 From the Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 2, No. 2. 
 "This is the title of a new work upon our table from the pen of one who 
 enjoys a high reputation in this country and in Europe. Appearing 
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 indicated in its title, it can hardly fail of attracting much more attention 
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 are sure, will feel that this unpretending duodecimo goes far toward 
 supplying a very obvious deficiency in our ecclesiastical history. 
 
 '•Most of the topics upon which Mr. Coleman touches in this volume, 
 have indeed been ably handled by others. But some such book as this 
 was yet needed, as a convenient manual for frequent use, as a repository 
 of the results to which patient and extended investigation will lead, and 
 as a guide to sources of information with which some are not very 
 familiar and which many have not the requisite time thoroughly to 
 explore for themselves. There are some cardinal points on the subject 
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 attractive form, not so much for the benefit of the few as of the many. 
 Unlettered men, and even some who are called men of letters, need to be 
 enlightened and fortified, in this way, against the pretensions of error. 
 
 " We are free to express the opinion that Mr. Coleman has done more 
 than any other writer toward meeting the wants of the churches in this 
 respect. His book is decidedly better adapted than any other with which 
 we are acquainted to take this place in our libraries; he has brought 
 together much valuable and well-authenticated information, and has 
 presented the whole in an acceptable form. 
 
 i; Mr. Coleman was well qualified to write on the topics here discussed, 
 by the studies in which he had been zealously engaged for several years, 
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 him a high reputation both at home and abroad. He has written, too. in 
 the present case, under the most favorable circumstances, having had 
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 shows convincingly that none of these facilities have been neelecied, 
 He has evidently spared no pains to make his treatise answer the high 
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 " The chapter on 'The Equality of Bishops and Presbyters' in the 
 primitive churches, is one of the best specimens of convincing cumulat ive 
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 success with which he has traced 1 'the rise of Episcopacy.' through its 
 various stages, is complete. The disasters which betel the churches in 
 consequence of this revolution in their government are well detailed. 
 And every position which is taken is so amply fortified by the best 
 authorities, that the work cannot be read without profit, or answered 
 without difficulty." 
 
 2 
 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE ; 
 
 The Scripture Doctrine of Church Order and Government. 
 
 By Rev. Warham Walker, Homer, N. Y. 
 
 One volume. 18mo. Cloth. 
 
 Contents — Introduction. — Church, definition of the term — Constitu- 
 tion of the Churches— First. Christian Church, in its incipient State — 
 The Church at Jerusalem — The Church at Antioch — Organization of the 
 Churches— Government of the Churches— The True Idea of Church Disci- 
 pline. Part 1. Formative Church Discipline. — Terms of Church Mem- 
 bership—Importance and necessity of Maintaining Formative Discipline 
 — Formative Measures. Part 2. Corrective Church Discipline — Power 
 of the Churches to Maintain Corrective Discipline — Limitations of the 
 Power of Discipline — Obligation of the Churches to Maintain Corrective 
 Discipline— Objects of Corrective Discipline — Spirit in which Corrective 
 Discipline should be conducted — The Law of Corrective Discipline — 
 Ounces demanding Corrective Discipline — The Process of Corrective 
 Discipline — The First Admonition — The Second Admonition — The Final 
 Act of Discipline — Treatment of the Excommunicated — Restoration of the 
 Penitent— Conclusion. 
 
 The following recommendatory notes from individuals residing in the 
 vicinity of the Author, were received by the Publishers with the manu- 
 script of the work. 
 
 From the Professors in Hamilton Literary and Theol. Institution. 
 
 "We have carefully perused the most important parts of the manu- 
 script, and the result has been highly gratifying. The work is charac- 
 terized by great sobriety and caution. We believe the views it presents 
 to be scriptural; and that where they are not supported by the direct and 
 and p^itive declaration of the word of God, they are, at least, sustained 
 by the general spirit of the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Such a 
 work as this, we think:, is greatly needed; it is well adapted to promote 
 correct views and uniformity of practice in relation to the subject of 
 which it treats. We cordially recommend it to the careful perusal of the 
 members of our churches. J. S. Maginnis, 
 
 Hamilton, Nov. 6, 1843. T. J. Conant, 
 
 A. C. Kendrick." 
 
 LIFE OF PHILIP MELANCTHON. 
 
 COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THE REFORMATION. 
 By F. A. Cox, D. D. L.L. D. 
 
 onesimus: 
 
 OR, THE APOSTOLIC DIRECTION TO CHRISTIAN MASTERS 
 
 IN REFERENCE TO THEIR SLAVES. 
 
 By Evangelicus. 
 
 MEMOIR OF ROGER WILLIAMS, 
 
 The Founder of the State of Rhode Island. 
 By Rev. James D. Knowles. 
 
EtpUtfs Notes. 
 
 THE POUR GOSPELS, WITH NOTES. 
 
 Chiefly Explanatory; intended principally for Sabbath School Teachers 
 
 and Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction. 
 
 By Henry J. Ripley, Prof, of Sacred Rhetoric 
 
 and Pastoral Duties, Newton Theol.Ins. 
 
 Seventh Edition. 
 
 t&* This work should be in the hands of every student of the Bible; 
 
 especially every Sabbath school and Bible class teacher. It is prepared 
 
 with special reference to this class of persons, and contains a mass of just 
 
 the kind of information wanted. 
 
 "The undersigned, having examined Professor Ripley's Notes on the 
 Gospels, can recommend them with confidence to all who need such helps 
 in the study of the sacred Scriptures. Those passages which all can 
 understand are left 'without note or comment,' and the principal labor 
 is devoted to the explanation of such parts as need to be explained and 
 rescued from the perversions of errorists, both the ignorant and the learned. 
 The practical suggestions at the close of each chapter, are not the least 
 valuable portion of the work. Most cordially, for the sake of truth and 
 righteousness, do we wish for these Notes a wide circulatien. 
 
 Baron Stow, R. H. Neale, R. Turnbull, 
 Daniel Sharp, J. W. Parker, N. Colver." 
 Wm. Hague, R. W. Cushman, 
 "Professor Ripley has given us a specimen of the right kind of Com- 
 mentary ; the Notes are more strictly explanatory than those of Mr. 
 Barnes; they occupy a smaller space; the style, though less pointed and 
 vivacious, exhibits more sobriety; the principles of interpretation are 
 more cautiously applied; and the explanations, particularly on the sub- 
 ject of baptism, are more correct." — Christian Review. 
 
 ACTS OP THE APOSTLES, WITH NOTES. 
 
 Chiefly Explanatory. Designed for Teachers in Sabbath Schools 
 
 and Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction. 
 
 By Prof. Henry J. Ripley. 
 
 "The external appearance of this book, — the binding and the printed 
 page, — ' it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold.' On examining the 
 contents, we are favorably impressed, first, by the wonderful perspicuity, 
 simplicity, and comprehensiveness of the author's style; secondly, by the 
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 the 'remarks' on each paragraph being carefully separated from the ex- 
 position ; thirdly, by the'correct theology, solid instruction, and consistent 
 explanations of difficult passages. The work cannot fail to be received 
 with favor. These Notes are much more full than the Notes on the Gospels 
 by the same author. A beautiful map accompanies them."— Reflector. 
 
 "The steady and extensive sale of Ripley's Notes on the Gospels afford 
 good reason to expect great popularity for the present work, and an ac- 
 quaintance with both will induce most readers to long for similar Notes on 
 the Epistles." — N. Y. Baptist Advocate. 
 
 " For those who desire aid in understanding and explaining this portion 
 of Revelation, and who have no access to larger commentaries, we cordial- 
 ly recommend this volume."— Baptist Record, Phila. 
 
Stye ittissionciry <0ntcrprt0*. 
 
 It has been well said, that " to imbue men thoroughly with the mission- 
 ary spirit, we must acquaint them intimately with Ike missionary enter- 
 prise." The spirit of missions seems everywhere to be increasing. The 
 circulation of printed documents, and other like efforts, are giving a 
 new impetus to the cause. 
 
 The following valuable works contain just the kind of information 
 needed. Let every one purchase and read them. 
 
 THE GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 Or the Christian Church constituted and charged to convey the Gospel to 
 
 the World. By Rev. John Harris, D. D., author oi 'Mammon,' 
 
 'Great Teacher,' &c. With an Introductory Essay, by 
 
 Wm. R. Williams, D. D., of New York. 
 
 Fourth Thousand. 
 
 $3=This work was written in consequence of the offer of a prize of two 
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 best essay on "The duty, privilege, and encouragement of Christians 
 to send the gospel of salvation to the unenlightened nations of the 
 earth." The~adjudicators (David Welsh, Ralph Wardlaw, Henry Mel- 
 ville, Jabez Bunting, Thomas S. Crisp) state " l\\a.t forty-two essays 
 were received, and, after much deliberation, the essay of Dr. Harris was 
 placed first. They were influenced in their decision by the sentiment, 
 style, and comprehensiveness of the essay, ana by the general adaptation 
 to the avowed object of the prize." 
 
 iXjr"This vvork has received the highest commendation. 
 
 MEMOIR OF ANN II. JUDSON, 
 
 Late Missionary to Burmah, including a history of the American Baptist 
 Mission in the Burman Empire. By Rev. James D. Kkowi.es. 
 
 " We are particularly gratified to perceive a new edition of the Me- 
 moirs of Mrs. Judson. She was an honor to our country— one of the 
 most noble spirited other sex. It cannot, therefore, Le surprising, that 
 so many editions, and so many thousand copies of her life and adven- 
 tures have been sold. The name — the long career of suffering — the self- 
 sacrificing spirit of the retired country-girl, have spread over the whole 
 world; and the heroism of herapostleship and almost martyrdom, stands 
 out a living and heavenly beacon fire, amid the dark midnight of ages, 
 anu human history and exploits. She was the first woman who resolved 
 to become a missionary to heathen countries." — American Traveller. 
 
 "This is one of the most interesting pieces of female biography which 
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 would do justice to the facts, and we must therefore refer our readers to 
 the volume itself. It ought to be immediately added to every family 
 library." — London Miscellany. 
 
 a* 5 
 
MEMOIR OF WM. CAREY, D. R. 
 
 Forty Years a Missionary in India. By Eustace Carey. With an 
 
 Introductory Essay, by Francis Wayland, D. D. 
 
 "With a Likeness. 
 
 £r3=During the forty years which Dr. Carey labored in the missionary 
 cause, he was instrumental in the publication of 212,000 volumes of the 
 Scriptures in forty different languages, embracingthe vernacular tongues 
 of at least 27,000,000 of the human race, besides performing other labors, 
 the enumeration of which would seem almost incredible. 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN. 
 
 Late Missionary to Burmah, containing much intelligence relative to 
 
 the Burman Mission. By Rev. Alonzo King. A New Edition. 
 
 With an Introductory Essay, by a distinguished Clergyman. 
 
 Embellished with a Likeness; a beautiful Vignette, 
 
 representing the baptismal scene just before 
 
 his death; and a drawing of his Tomb, 
 
 taken by Rev. H. Malcom. 
 
 D3 = In noticing the lamented death of Mr. Boardman, Mr. Judson, in 
 one of his letters, thus speaks of his late worthy co-worker on the field 
 of Burmah: "One of the brightest luminanesof Burmah is extinguished, 
 — dear brother Boardman is gone to his eternal rest. He fell gloriously at 
 the head of his troopp, in the arms of victory, — thirty-eight wild Karens 
 having been brought into the camp of king Jesus since the beginning of 
 the year, besides the thirty-two that were brought in during the two 
 preceding years. Disabled by wounds, he was obliged, through the whole 
 last expedition, to be carried on a litter; but his presence was a host, 
 and the Holy Spirit accompanied his dying whispers with almighty in- 
 fluence. Such a death, next to that of martyrdom, must be glorious in 
 the eyes of heaven. Well may he rest, assured, that a triumphal crown 
 awaits him on the great day, and ' Well done, good and faithful Eoard- 
 man, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" 
 
 From Rev. Baron Store. 
 "No one can read the Memoir of Boardman, without feeling that the 
 religion of Christ is suited to purify the affections, exalt the purposes, and 
 give energy to the character. Mr. Boardman was a man of rare excellence, 
 and his biographer, by a just exhibition of that excellence, has rendered 
 an important service, not only to the cause of Christian missions, but to 
 the interest of personal godliness. Baron Stow." 
 
 " The author had a fine opportunity for making an interesting book; and 
 in the execution he has done ample justice, alike to himself and to bis in- 
 teresting subject. This memoir beltings to that class of books, which may 
 be read with interest and profit by every one. It comprises so much of 
 interesting history, so much of simple and pathetic narrative, so true to 
 nature, and so much of correct moral and religious sentiment, that it can- 
 not fail to interest persons of all ages and of every variety of taste. It 
 should have a place in every family library, and especially in all Sabbath 
 school libraries."— Christian Watchman. 
 
 G 
 
THE KAREN APOSTLE; 
 
 Or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the first Karen convert, with notices 
 
 concerning his Nation. With maps and plates. By the 
 
 Rev. Francis Mason, Missionary. American 
 
 edition. Edited by Prof. H. J. Ripley, 
 
 of Newton Theol. Institution. 
 
 Second Thousand. 
 
 £[3"*This is a work of thrilling interest, containing the history of a 
 remarkable man, and giving also, much, information respecting the 
 Karen Mission, heretofore unknown in this country. It must be sought 
 for, and read with avidity by those interested in this most interesting 
 Mission. It gives an account, which must be attractive from its 
 novelty, of a people that have been but little known and visited by 
 missionaries, till within a few years. The baptism of Ko-Thah Byu, in 
 1823, was the beginning of the mission, and at the end of these twelve 
 years, twelve hundred and seventy Karens are officially reported as 
 members of the churches, in good standing. The mission has been 
 carried on preeminently by the Karens themselves, and there is no 
 doubt, from much touching evidence contained in this volume, that 
 they are a people peculiarly susceptible to religious impressions. The 
 account of Mr. Mason must be interesting to every one. 
 
 "Perhaps no nation, recently discovered, has attracted or deserved 
 more general interest than the Karen. All will be delighted to read the 
 memoir of one, who united with the common characteristics of his 
 countrymen such an extraordinary degree of zeal, ef perseverance, and 
 success, in the propagation of the gospel which he himself first received 
 in faith and in love." — Baptist Advocate. 
 
 "It is a valuable addition to the volumes now multiplying, which bear 
 testimony to the valuable character and results of the missionary work." 
 — Christian Intelligencer. 
 
 "This work will be read with interest, showing, as it does, the power 
 of the gospel upon a degraded people, and the rich blessings it confers 
 upon the heathen, both as it respects this life and the life to come. What 
 can be more interesting to a Christian mind, than to see the darkness 
 which, by nature, broods over the human mind, dispelled by the light of 
 the gospel, and a benighted spirit guided to a world of eternal day. A 
 striking instance of this, the memoir presents. It also shows how the 
 gospel can raise up an individual from the depths of wretchedness and 
 crime, and make him, thoueh possessed of small natural abilities, a rich 
 blessing to his fellow-men." — Vermont Chronicle. 
 
 A NEW GUIDE FOR EMIGRANTS TO THE WEST. 
 
 By John M. Peck, of Illinois. 
 
 " We earnestly wish this most excellent work was in the hands of those 
 hundreds of Emigrants, who are now about town, and intend to go ' West.' 
 The advice and information contained in these three hundred and seven- 
 ty-four pages, are really invaluable, and if attended to, would save an im- 
 mense amount of time, trouble, and last, not least, money. The author 
 may he depended upon; having had every opportunity for gathering facta 
 and knowledge on the subject." — N. Y. Messenger, 
 
 " The merits of the ' Guide for Emigrants.' published some years since, 
 are well known. The present volume, however, contains many improve- 
 ments on the former work, and embraces many additional facts in relation 
 to the States and Territories lying in, and bordering on, the Great Valley 
 of the Mississippi, which render it not only exceedingly valuable to the 
 emigrant or man of business, who may be induced to visit that portion of 
 the country, but ad who are desirous of gaining information relative to the 
 soil, climate, productions, and character and pursuits of the people who 
 reside in the Great Valley." — Mercantile Journal. 
 
 7 
 
MY PROGRESS IN ERROR, 
 
 AND RECOVERY TO TRUTH. 
 
 Or, a Tour through Universalism, Unitarianism, and Skepticism. 
 Second Thousand. 
 Extract of a letter from Prof. Stuart, Andover. 
 "Gentlemen:— I have received a copy of 'My Progress in Error/ and 
 read it with attention and much interest. I take the liberty to say, that 
 in my judgment, the author of that book has written a plain and unvar- 
 nished account of the operations not only of his own mind, but of many 
 others. The author has gone through the whole, without personal abuse 
 of any body, and without any slanderous insinuations. It seems to me, 
 that what he has said about the operations of Unitarian sentiments, he 
 has been compelled to say by a regard to truth. In fact, I regard the 
 book as a remarkable example of prudent forbearance, as to stigmatizing 
 either opponents or their sentiments. I predict it will be found fault 
 with, and violently attacked. But in my humble opinion, the reason of 
 this will be, that the author has drawn a true likeness of so many; and 
 when this is held up to public view, it is not a very pleasing portrait. 
 Who likes to be seen in a forbidding picture? The book will be read, 
 notwithstanding newspaper criticism ; and if 1 do not miscalculate great- 
 ly, it will aid much in opening the eyes of the public, as the workings and 
 evasions of a skeptical spirit. Bid the author of it God speed. 
 
 " Your friend and obedient servant, M. Stuart." 
 
 Opinions of the Press. 
 "In many of the passages we almost fancied that the writer bad been 
 sketching a history of our own ' progress in error,' so true is the history, 
 and fc so similar the feelings of those who are led away in the morning of 
 life, into the dark and dreary path of religious error. We should be irlad 
 to have this book placed in the hands of every young man whose mind is 
 unsettled upon the question of experimental religion, and especially of 
 those who are trying to believe the doctrine of Universalism."— Chris- 
 tian Secretary. 
 
 " It is written in a bold and comprehensive style. We doubt not it 
 will find numerous readers in the community, and may serve as a chart 
 to guide others in the progress of life." — American Traveller. 
 
 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 Containing a descriptive account of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Insects, 
 
 Reptiles, Serpents. Plants, Trees, Minerals, Gems, and Precious 
 
 Stones, mentioned in the Bible. By Wm. Carpenter, 
 
 London; with improvements. By G. D. Abbott. 
 
 Illustrated by numerous engravings, 
 
 also, Sketches of Palestine. 
 
 "This is a very interesting volume to general readers of the Bible. 
 Mr. Abbott has divested the work of its learned references, and adapted 
 it to the comprehension of all. Mr. Carpenter compiled the work from 
 the Natural History of the Rev. Br. Harris, of Dorchester. Mass , and very 
 ungenerously refused to acknowledge his obligations to the author, while 
 he abused him for his want of orthodoxy. Mr. Abbott las fail h fully ex- 
 posed the piracy. We recommend the volume as one of great value." — 
 American Quarterly Register. 
 
0abbat() School i8ook0 < 
 
 LIWCOLJN'S 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOL CLASS BOOK. 
 
 Comprising copious Exercises on the Sacred Scriptures. By E. Lincoln. 
 
 Revised and improved by an eminent Clergyman 
 
 and a Superintendent. 
 
 £l3™ The present edition has been thoroughly revised and enlarged by 
 gentlemen well qualified for the task, The book, in its present shape, is 
 one of the cheapest and most complete of the kind now in use. 
 
 "Having examined your Sabbath School Class Book, it gives us pleasure 
 to express our satisfaction with its design and execution. The great 
 benefit which a good class book accomplishes, consists in guiding the 
 mind of the scholar in the study of his lesson, and in suggesting topics 
 of conversation to the teacher. To this end we think your work is well 
 adapted, having avoided, in a great degree, the evils of extreme redun- 
 dance or conciseness. Wm. Hague, H. Malcom, 
 
 L. Bolles, Baron Stow." 
 
 E. Thresher, 
 
 LINCOLN'S SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS. 
 
 With the Answers annexed, giving, in the language of the Sacred Volume, 
 
 interesting portions of the History, and a concise View of the 
 
 Doctrines and Duties exhibited in the Bible. 
 
 Where Bibles cannot be furnished to each scholar, the Scripture Ques. 
 tions may be used with convenience, as the answers are printed. 
 
 MALCOM'S BIBLE DICTIONARY. 
 
 A Dictionary of the most important Names, Objects, and Terms, found in 
 
 the Holy Scriptures; intended principally for Sunday School 
 
 Teachers and Bible Classes. By H. Malcom, A. M. 
 
 Illustrated by thirty-nine Engravings on 
 
 Wood, and a Map of Palestine. 
 
 From the Minutes of the Vermont State Convention. 
 "Your Committee earnestly recommend Malcom's Bible Dictionary, 
 the worth of which every lover of the Bible will feel, and the low price of 
 which places it within the reach of all." 
 
 From the Minutes of the Boston Association, 
 "Believing that the advantages of Sabbath School and Bible Class in- 
 struction depend greatly on the intelligence of their teachers, and that 
 the extended circulation of Malcom's Bible Dictionary would conduce to 
 their better qualification, Resolved, That this work be recommended to 
 the patronage of the friends of early religious instruction." 
 
HAGUE'S GUIDE TO CONVERSATION 
 ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Designed for the Use of Bible Classes and Sabbath Schools. 
 Vol. I, Matthew— Vol. II, John. 
 By Rev. William Hague. 
 The object of this work is two-fold :— 1st. To facilitate the efforts of 
 the teachers in communicating instruction to their classes:— 2d. To ex- 
 cite a spirit of inquiry among the classes themselves. To this end. such 
 questions are asked as are adapted to lead the mind to think, and only 
 such as the scholar, with the Bible in his hand, may be expected to 
 answer, by the aid of his own reflecting powers. The questions are in- 
 terspersed with familiar remarks, which are designed to convey to the 
 scholar such information as may not he within his reach and also to 
 keep up a continuous conversation between the teacher and the class. 
 
 THE SAINT'S EVERLASTING REST. 
 
 By the Rev. Richard Baxter. 
 
 THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 In Three Books. By Thomas a Kempis. With an Introductory Essay, 
 
 by Thomas Chalmers, of Glasgow. A new edition. 
 
 Edited by Rev. Howard Malcom. 
 
 JAMES'S CHURCH-MEMBER'S GUIDE. 
 
 With an Introductory Essay, by Rev. H. Winslow. 
 Edited by Rev. J. O. Choules. 
 
 Wishes for its universal circulation are received by the Publisher 8 
 from ministers and brethren in every section of the country. 
 
 A pastor writes, "I sincerely wish that every professor of religion i n 
 the land may possess this excellent manual. 1 am anxious that ever y 
 member of my church should possess it, and shall be happy to promote its 
 circulation still more extensively." 
 
 A gentleman in Virginia writes: "I wish every Christian to possess the 
 Church-Member's Guide." 
 
 "The spontaneous effusion of our heart, on laying the book down, 
 was, — may every church-member in our land soon possess this book, and 
 be blessed with all the happiness which conformity to its evangelic sen- 
 timents and directions is calculated to confer."— Christiun Secretary. 
 
 THE BEAUTIES OF COLLYER. 
 
 Selections from the Theological Lectures of Rev. W. B. Collyer, D. D. 
 By Rev. J. O. Choules. 
 The merits of Dr. Collyer are thus noticed by an eminent reviewer. — 
 "His researches, his various learning, and accumulation of interesting 
 facts, his presenting old and familiar truths in a new and striking man- 
 ner, entitle him to rank high as a theological writer. His style is re- 
 markably elegant and polished, and there is a rich vein of evangelical 
 piety running through all his works." In making up the volume from 
 so eminent an author, the editor has selected those parts which he sup- 
 posed would create habits of thought in the Christian community, and 
 present a volume well suited for the Christian library. Indeed, this book 
 contains a rich treasure of truth upm seventy subjects, for all classes of 
 readers. It is well calculated to give youth a taste for reading, as it is to 
 encourage the mature Christian in his course of duty, and to confirm his 
 hopes of a happy immortality. 
 
 10 
 
JDr. % arris's ftlorks. 
 
 Probably no writer of modern times has so muck engaged the public 
 mind as Dr. Harris. All his works have been favorably received, ex- 
 tensively reviewed, and both the style and spirit highly recommended. 
 
 MISCELLANIES; 
 
 CONSISTING PRINCIPALLY OF SERMONS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 By J. Harris, D. D. With an Introductory Essay 
 
 and Notes, by Joseph Belcher, D. D. 
 
 THE GREAT COMMISSION; 
 
 The Christian Church constituted and charged to convey the Gospel to 
 
 the World. With an Introductory Essay, by 
 
 Rev. Wm. R. Williams, D. D. 
 
 Fourth Thousand. 
 
 THE GREAT TEACHER; 
 
 Or, Characteristics of our Lord's Ministry. With an Introductory 
 
 Essay, by Heman Humphrey, D. D. 
 
 Ninth Thousand. 
 
 MAMMON; 
 
 Or, Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. A Prize Essay. 
 Seventh Thousand. 
 
 UNION; 
 
 Or, the Divided Church made One. 
 Second Thousand. 
 
 ZEBULON; 
 
 Or, the Condition and Claims of Sailors. The Prize Essay, written for 
 
 the British and Foreign Sailors' Society. American Edition. 
 
 Edited by Rev. William M. Rogers and D. M. Lord. 
 
 Third Thousand. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN; 
 
 Paper, gilt edges. 
 
 THE GOLDEN CENSER; 
 
 Or, a Visit to the House of Prayer. Paper, gilt edges. 
 
ittusic Book©. 
 
 COMPANION FOR THE PSALMIST. 
 
 CONTAINING ORIGINAL MUSIC, 
 Arranged for Hymns in "The Psalmist," of peculiar character and metre; 
 and to most of which no tunes found in the collectionsnow in use are 
 adapted. By N. D. Gould, Teacher of Music, and Editor of the 
 "The Sacred Minstrel," "Church Harmony." "Sabbath 
 School Harmony," " Social Harmony,'' &c. 
 This work is designed, and the music has been written, expressly to 
 meet the wants of those who use The Psalmist. It is adapted tothe nu- 
 merous beautiful hymns of peculiar metre, which are embraced in that 
 collection, few of which are to be found in other Hymn Books, and to 
 none of which have any tunes been hitherto adapted. They are simple, 
 and suitable for either private, social, or public devotion. 
 
 It will at once be seen that, as the words and music are not only adapt- 
 ed to each other, but are placed together on the same page the work 
 must be of very great convenience to Singing Choirs where The Psalm- 
 ist is used. The work contains thirty-two common size music pages, 
 bound with neatly printed paper covers. Price SI 50 per dozen. 
 
 THE SABBATH SCHOOL HAEMONY. 
 
 Containing appropriate Hymns and Music for Sabbath 
 Schools, Juvenile Singing Schools, and Family 
 Devotion. By N. D. Gould. 
 "The work before us is got up in a very convenient and attractive form. 
 It contains about fifty tunes, and seventy-five hymns. The music is 
 most of it original, and of that style and character, which long experi- 
 ence in teaching has satisfied the author is best calculated to interest 
 notonly children, but persons of maturer age, when learning to sing. The 
 hymns appear to be selected with peculiar taste and care, and, for Sab- 
 bath School purposes, of such variety, as to require no other hymn book. 
 We especially commend this little work to the notice of Sabbath School 
 teachers, believing it to be the best work for Sabbath Schools now before 
 the public." 
 
 THE SACRED MINSTREL; 
 
 A Collection of Church Music, consisting of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 
 
 Anthems, Sentences. Chants. &c, selected from the most 
 
 popular productions of nearly one hundred 
 
 different authors in this and oilier 
 
 countries. By. N.D.Gould. 
 
 NATIONAL CHURCH HARMONY, 
 
 Containing Tunes calculated for Public "Worship. Anthems and 
 
 Sleect Pieces for Fasts, Thanksgivings. Christmas,. 
 
 Missionary Meetings. &c. By N. D. Gould. 
 
 New stereotype edition. 
 
 WINCHELL'S WATTS. 
 
 Enlarged, being an arrangement of all the Psalms and Hymns of 
 Dr. Watts. With a Supplement. 
 
 HYMNS FOR THE YESTRT MD FIRESIDE. 
 
 A choice Collection of about four hundred hymns. 
 
 12 
 
 
VALUABLE WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY 
 
 GOULD, KENDALL & LINCOLN, 
 
 |)ublisl)crs, Booksellers $c Stationers, 
 59 WASHINGTON STREET, 
 
 ELEMENTS OF MORAL SCIENCE. 
 
 BY FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. 
 
 President of Brown University, and Professor of Moral Philosophy. 
 
 Twenty-Fourth Thousand. 
 
 U3 13 This uork has been extensively and fav jrably reviewed in the 
 leading periodicals of the day, and has already been adopted as a class- 
 book in most of the collegiate, theological, and academical institutions 
 of the country. 
 
 "The work of Dr. Wayland has arisen gradually from the necessity of 
 correcting the false principles and fallacious reasonings of Paley. It is a 
 radical mistake, in the education of youth, to permit any book to be used 
 by students as a text-book, which contain erroneous doctrines, especially 
 when these are fundamental, and tend to vitiate the whole system of 
 morals. We have been greatly pleased with the method which President 
 Wayland has adopted : he goes back to the simplest and most fundamental 
 principles; and, in the statement of his views, he unites perspicuity with 
 conciseness and precision. In all the author's leading fundamental prin- 
 ciples we entirely concur." — Bib. Rep. and Theol. Review. 
 
 From Rev. Wilbur Fisk, Pres. of the Wesley an University. 
 
 "I have examined it with great satisfaction and interest. The work 
 was greatly needed, and is well executed. Dr. Wayland deserves the 
 grateful acknowledgments and liberal patronage of the public. I need say 
 nothing further to express my high estimate of the work, than that we 
 shall immediately adopt it as a text-book in our university." 
 
 From Hon. James Kent, late Chancellor of New York. 
 
 "The work has been read by me attentively and thoroughly, and I think 
 very highly of it. The author himself is one of the most estimable of men, 
 and I do not know of any ethical treatise, in which our duties to God, and 
 to our fellow-men, are laid down with more precision, simplicity, clear- 
 ness, energy, and truth." 
 
 "This is a new work on morals, for academic use, and we welcome it 
 with much satisfaction. It is the result of several years' reflection and 
 experience in teaching, on the part of its justly distinguished author; and if 
 it is not perfectly what we could wish, yet, in the most important respects, 
 it supplies a want which has been extensively felt. It is, we think, sub- 
 stantially sound in its fundamental principles; and being comprehensive 
 and elementary in its plan, and adapted to the purposes of instruction, it 
 will be gladly adopted by those who have for a long time been dissatisfied 
 with the existing works of Paley."— Lit. and Theol. Review. 
 
 A 1 
 
THE ELEMENTS OF 
 
 MORAL SCIENCE, ABRIDGED. 
 
 ADAPTED TO THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 
 
 Eighteenth Thousand. 
 
 D3=The attention of Teachers and School Committees is invited to 
 this valuable work. It has received the unqualified approbation of all 
 who have examined it; and it is believed to be admirably adapted to 
 exert a wholesome influence on the minds of the young, and lead to the 
 formation of correct moral principles. 
 
 " Dr. Wayland has published an abridgment of his work for the use of 
 schools. Of this step we can hardly speak too highly. It is more than 
 time that the study of Moral Philosophy should be introduced into all our 
 institutions of education. We are happy to see the way so auspiciously 
 opened for such an introduction. It has been "not merely abridged, but 
 also re-written." We cannot but regard the labor as all well bestowed. 
 The difficulty of choosing words and examples so as to make them intel- 
 ligible and interesting to the child, is very great. The success with 
 which Dr. Wayland appears to have overcome it, is, in the highest degree, 
 gratifying." — North American Review. 
 
 "We speak that we do know, when we express our high estimate of 
 Dr. Wayland's abilily in teaching Moral Philosophy; whether orally or 
 by the book. Having listened to his instructions, in this interesting de- 
 partment, we can attest how lofty are the principles, how exact and severe 
 the argumentation, how appropriate and strong the illustrations which 
 characterize his system and enforce it on the mind." — Chr. Witness. 
 
 "The work of which this volume is an abridgment, is well known as 
 one of ihe best and most complete works on Moral Philosophy extant, — 
 and is in a fair way of superseding Paley, as a text-book in our higher 
 seminaries. The author is well known as one of the most profound schol- 
 ars of the age. That the study of Moral Science, a science which teaches 
 goodness, should be a branch of education, not only in our colleges, but in 
 our schools and academies, we believe will not be denied. The abridge- 
 ment of this work seems to us admirably calculated for the purpose, and 
 we hope it will be extensively applied to the purposes for which it is in- 
 tended." — Mercantile Journal. 
 
 "So far as we have been able to examine the two works of Dr. Way- 
 land, we must say, that we are quite as well pleased with the smaller as 
 with the larger. The work, the author himself says, has been not merely 
 abridged, it has been re-inritten. It is written in a style well suited 
 to the comprehension of youth. The illustrations are apt and striking. 
 The work is divided into short chapters, as it should be, to suit for a class 
 book for the young. Each chapter is followed by questions for the aid of 
 the teacher, rather than for the learner."— Chr. Secretary, Hartford. 
 
 "We hail the abridgment as admirably adapted to supply the deficiency 
 which has long been felt in common school education, —the study of moral 
 obligation. Let the child early be taught the relations it sustains to nan 
 and to its Maker, the first acquainting it with the duties owed to society, 
 the second with the duties owed to God. and who can foretell how many 
 a sad and disastrous overthrow of character will be prevented, and how 
 elevated and pure will be the sense of integrity and virtue ?" — Eve. Gaz. 
 
 " It is a work of the highest and purest order of intellect. It is meta- 
 physics reduced to practical common sense, and made subservient to 
 Christianity. The original work has acquired for its profound and philo- 
 sophic author, a lar^re addition to the intellectual reputation, and the abridg- 
 ment, which is entirely re-written, compresses the whole substance in a 
 duodecimo of 240 pages, judiciously adapted to common understandings. 
 It would be a valuable addition to our high schools."— Bail y Advocate'. 
 
 2 
 
ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 BY FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. 
 
 Tenth Thousand. 
 
 t'3"" This work is adopted as a text-book in many of our principal 
 Colleges, and has an extensive sale. 
 
 Extract from the Preface. 
 
 " His object has been to write a book, which any one who chooses may 
 understand. He has, therefore, labored to express the general principles 
 in the plainest manner possible, and to illustrate them by cases with 
 which every person is familiar. It has been to the author a source of re- 
 gret, that the course of discussion in the following pages, has unavoidably 
 led him over ground which has frequently been the arena of political con- 
 troversy. In all such cases, he has endeavored to state what seemed to 
 him to be truth, without fear, favor, or affection. He is c mscious to 
 himself of no bias towards any party whatever, and he thinks that he who 
 will read the whole work, will be convinced that he has been influenced 
 by none." 
 
 THE ELEMENTS OF 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY, ABRIDGED. 
 
 ADAPTED TO THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. 
 
 Fifth Thousand. 
 
 The success which has attended the abridgment of " The Elements 
 of Moral Science," has induced the author to prepare the following 
 abridgment of " The Elements of Political Economy." In this case, 
 as in the other, the work has been wholly re-written, and an attempt has 
 been made to adapt it to the attainments of youth. 
 
 "The nr'mnal wirk of the author, on Political Economy, has already 
 been noticed on our pages; and the present abridgment stands in no 
 nesd of a recommendation from us. We may be permitted, however, 
 to say, tint both the rising and risen generations are deeply indebted to 
 Dr. Wayland, for the skill and power he has put forth to bring a highly 
 important subject distinctly before them, within such narrow limits. 
 Though "abridged for the use of academies," it deserves to be introduced 
 into every private family, and to be studied by every man who has an 
 interest in the wealth and prosperity of his country. It is a subject little 
 understood, even practically, by thousands, and still less understood theo- 
 retically. It is to be hoped, this will form a class-book, and be faithfully 
 studied in our academies; and that it will find its way into every family 
 library; not there to be shut up unread, but to afford rich material for 
 thought and discussion in the family circle. It is fitted to enlarge the 
 mind, to purify the judgment, to correct erroneous popular impressions, 
 a 1 1 jssist every man in forming opinions of public measures, which will 
 abidj the test of time and experience." — Boston Recorder. 
 
 "An abridgment of this clear, common sense work, designed for the 
 use of academies, is ju^t published. We rejoice to see such treatises 
 spreading among the people: and we urge all who would be intelligent 
 freemen, to read them." — New York Transcript. 
 
 " We can say, with safety, that the topics are well selected and ar- 
 range I ; that the author's name is a guarantee for more than usual excel- 
 lence We wish it an extensive circulation." — New York Observer. 
 
 "It is well adapted to high schools, and embraces the soundest system of 
 repu >lican Political Economy of any treatise extant." — Daily Advocate. 
 
CLASS BOOK OF NATURAL THEOLOGY; 
 
 Or, the Testimony of Nature to the Being. Perfections, and Government 
 
 of God. By Rev. Henry Fergus. Revised, enlarged, and adapted 
 
 to Paxton's Illustrations; with Notes, selected and original, 
 
 Biographical Notices, and a Vocabulary of Scientific 
 
 Terms. By Rev. Charles Henry Alden, A. M., 
 
 Principal of the Philadelphia High School 
 
 for Young Ladies. Third edition. 
 
 " We are glad to see this work of Fergus brought before the public with 
 advantages likely to engage auention, and sure to promote it^ usefulness. 
 We are e pecially pleased, that this has been done by one whose reputation 
 and devotion in the cause of female education will be a sufficient recc m- 
 mendation of it to those whom it seems to have been his particular design 
 to benefit. A growing attention to this branch of education, and consid- 
 erable improvements in it, have of late appeared. The book, as now pre- 
 sented, is better fitted for a class-book on natural theology, than an> with 
 which we are acquainted. The style of it is free and easy, yet concise, 
 and withal exceedingly chaste and classical.— the production ol a well-dis- 
 ciplined, well-stored, and pure mind. The author treats of the origin of 
 the world, the evidences of design in nature, the perfections of the Deity. 
 These, and his various topics, are illustrated by Paxton's admirable plates, 
 heretofore published in connection with Dr. Paley's work on the same 
 subject. These, together with the notes and explanations of the American 
 editor, are important additions, and contain much valuable information. 
 Besides these, there is inserted a lecture by Dr. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, 
 on "the wisdom of God in the formation of water," which is consonant 
 with the general spirit of the work, and abounds in wise and happy re- 
 flections." — Episcopal Recorder. 
 
 "The general plan of the work is excellent, and the details, so far as we 
 can judge, are <rood. We take a delight in running our eye over such a 
 work as this; it reconciles us with our lot, and vindicates "the v^ays of 
 God to man." It serves to awaken curiosity in the young student, to 
 extend and gratify inquiry, and to lead him from the objects of creation 
 around him, "to him in whom we live and move, and have our being." 
 It is a most admirable study for schools ' The proper study of mankind 
 is man.'" — U. S. Gazette. 
 
 "We do not hesitaie to pronounce the work one of the best class books 
 we have examined. It must have an extensive sale." — Journal of Belles 
 Lett res. 
 
 THE CICERONIAN; 
 
 OR THE 
 
 PRUSSIAN METHOD OF TEACHING THE LATIN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Adapted to the Use of American Schools. 
 
 By Prof. B. SEARS. 
 
 The plan of the work has been submitted to most of the teachers of 
 eminence in Boston and the vicinity ; to whom Professor Sears is in- 
 debted for several valuable suggests >ns and from whom he has received 
 most unqualified expressions of approbation of the work. 
 
 4 
 
YOUNG LADIES' CLASS BOOK; 
 
 A Selection of Lessons for Reading in Prose and "Verse. 
 
 By Ebenezer Bailet, A. M., Principal of 
 
 the Young Ladies' High School, Boston. 
 
 Twenty-third Stereotype Edition. 
 
 From the Principals of the Public Schools for Females, Boston. 
 "Gentlemen: — We have examined the Young Ladies' Class Book 
 with interest and pleasure; with interest, because we have felt the want 
 of a Reading Book expressly designed for the use of females; and with 
 pleasure, because we have found it well adapted to supply the deficiency. 
 In the selections for a Reader designed for boys, the eloquence of the bar, 
 the pulpit, and the forum, may be laid under heavy contribution; hut such 
 selections, we conceive, are out of place in a book designed for females. 
 We have been pleased, therefore, to observe, that in the Young Ladies' 
 Class Book such pieces are rare. The high-toned morality, the freedom 
 from sectarianism, the taste, richness, and adaptation of the selections, 
 added to the neatness of its external appearance, must commend it to all; 
 while the practical teacher will not fail to observe that diversity of style, 
 together with those peculiar points, the want of which, few, who have 
 not felt, know how to supply. Respectfully yours, 
 
 Abraham Andrews, 
 Charles Fox, 
 Barnum Field, 
 R. G. Parker. 
 
 From the Principal of the. Mount Vernon School, Boston. 
 "I have examined with much interest the Young Ladies' Class Book, 
 by Mr. Biilev, and have been very highly pleased with its contents. It 
 is my intention to introduce it into my own school, as I regard it as not 
 only remarkably well fitted to answer its particular object as a book of 
 exercises in the art of elocution, but as calculated to have an influence 
 upon the character and conduct, which will be in every respect favorable. 
 
 Jacob Abbott. 
 
 From the Principal of Franklin Seminary, NeicMarket, A 7 ". H. 
 
 "I have exami ned with much satisfaction the Young Ladies' Class Book, 
 by Mr. Bailey, and consider it the best work of the kind extant. Such a 
 work has long been a desideratum, and I am happy that it is so fully met 
 in the present work; the happy and judicious selections, indicate the 
 chaste spirit which has so long distinguished its author, both as a teacher 
 and a scholar. I earnestly desire that it may have a universal patronage. 
 I have selected it for my school, in preference to all others. 
 
 Yours, with esteem, Amasa Buck. 
 
 "The reading books prepared for academic use, are often unsuitable for 
 females. They contain pieces too masculine, too martial, too abstract and 
 erudite, and too little adapted to the delicacy of the female taste. We are 
 glad, therefore, to perceive that an attempt has been made to supply the 
 deficiency ; and we believe that the task has been faithfully and success 
 fully accomplished. The selections are judicious and chaste; and so far 
 as they have any moral bearing, appear to be unexceptionable. — Educa- 
 tion Reporter. 
 
 " We were never so struck with the importance of having reading books 
 for female schools, adapted particularly to that express purpose, as while 
 looking over the pages of this selection. The eminent success of the com- 
 piler in teaching this branch, to which we can personally bear testimony, 
 is sufficient evidence of the character of the work, considered as a selec- 
 tion of lessons in elocution; they are, in general, admirably adapted to 
 cultivate the amiable and gentle traits of the female character, as well as 
 to elevate and improve the mind."— Annals of Education. 
 a* 5 
 
ROMAN ANTIdUITIES 
 
 AND 
 
 ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 By C. K. DILLAWAY, A. M., 
 
 Late Principal in the Boston Public Latin School. 
 
 Illustrated by elegant Engravings. 
 
 Sixth edition, improved. 
 
 D3~This work is rapidly coming into use all over our country; it is 
 already introduced into most of our High Schools and Academies, and 
 many of our Colleges. A new and beautiful edition has just been 
 published. 
 
 From the Boston Education Reporter. 
 
 "The want of a cheap volume, embracing a succinct account of ancient 
 customs, together with a view of classical mythology, has long been felt. 
 To the student of a language, some knowledge of the manners, habits, and 
 religious feelings of the people whose language is studied is indispensably 
 requisite. This knowledge is seldom to be obtained without tedious re- 
 search or laborious i n vest igation. Mr. Dillaway 's book seems to have been 
 prepared with special reference to the wants of those who are just entering 
 upon a classical career; and we deem it but a simple act of justice, to say, 
 that it supplies the want, which, as we have before said, has long been felt. 
 In a small duodecimo, of about one hundred and fifty pages, he concen- 
 trates the most valuable and interesting particulars relating to Roman 
 antiquity; together with as full an account of heathen mythology as is 
 generally needed in our highest seminaries. A peculiar merit of this com- 
 pilation, and one which will gain it admission into our highly respectable 
 female seminaries, is the total absence of all allusion even the most re- 
 mote, to the disgusting obscenities of ancient mythology; while, al the 
 same time, nothing is omitted which a pure mind would feel interested to 
 know. We recommend the book as a valuable addition to the treatises in 
 our schools and academies." 
 
 From Ebenezer Bailey, Principal of the Young Ladies' High School, 
 Boston. 
 
 "Having used Dillajcay's Roman Antiquities and Ancient Mythology 
 in my school for several years. I commend it to teachers with greal confi- 
 dence, as a valuable text-book on those interesting branches of education. 
 
 E. Bailey. 
 
 "We well remember, in the days of our pupilage, how unpopular as a 
 study was the volume of Roman Antiquities introduced in the academic 
 course. It wearied on account of its prolixity, rilling a thick octavo, and 
 was the prescribed task each afternoon for a long three months. It was 
 reserved for one of our Boston instructed to apply the condensing appara- 
 tus to this mass of crudities, and so to modernize the antiquities of the 
 old Romans, as to make a befitting abridgment for schools of the first order. 
 Mr. Dillaway has presented such a compilation as must be interesting to 
 lads, and become popular as a text-book. Historical facts are stated with 
 great simplicity and clearness; the most important points are seized upon, 
 while trifling peculiarities are passed unnoticed."— American Traveller. 
 
BLAKE'S FIRST BOOK IN ASTRONOMY. 
 
 Designed for the Use of Common Schools. By Rev. J. L. Blake, D. D. 
 Illustrated by Steel-Plate Engravings. 
 
 From E. Hinckley, Prof, of Mathematics in Maryland University. 
 
 "I am much indebted to you for a copy of the First Book in Astronomy. 
 It is a work of utility and merit, far superior to any other which I have 
 seen. The author has selected his topics with great judgment, — arranged 
 them in admirable order, — exhibited them in a style and manner at once 
 tasteful and philosophical. Nothing seems wanting.— nothing redundant. 
 It is truly a very beautiful and attractive, book, calculated to afford both 
 pleasure and profit to all who may enjoy the advantage of perusing it. 
 
 E. Hinckley. 
 
 From B. Field, Principal of the Hancock School, Boston. 
 "I know of no other work on Astronomy, so well calculated to interest 
 and instruct young learners in this sublime science." 
 
 From James F. Gould, A. M. Principal of the. High School for Young 
 Ladies. Baltimore, Md. 
 •'I shall introduce your First Book in Astronomy into my Academy in 
 September. I consider it decidedly superior to any elementary work of 
 the kind I have ever seen. James F. Gould. 
 
 From Isaac Foster, Instructer of Youth, Portland, 
 "I have examined Blake's First Book in Astronomy, and am much 
 pleased with it. A very happy selection of topics is presented in a manner 
 which cannot fail to interest the learner, while the questions will assist 
 him materially in fixing in the memory what ought to be retained. It 
 leaves the most intricate parts of the subject for those who are able to 
 master them, and brings before the young pupil only what can be made 
 intelligible and interesting to him. Isaac Foster. 
 
 "The illustrations, both pictorial and verbal, are admirably intelligible; 
 and the definitions are such as to be easily comprehended by juvenile 
 scholars. The author has interwoven with his scientific instructions 
 much interesting historical information, and contrived to dress his phi- 
 losophy in a garb truly attractive." — N. Y. Daily Evening Journal. 
 
 " We are free to say, that it is. in our opinion, decidedly the best work 
 we have any knowledge of. on the sublime and interesting subject of 
 Astronomy. The engravings are executed in a superior style, and the 
 mechanical appearance of the book is extremely prepossessing. The 
 knowledge imparted is in language at once chaste, elegant and simple. — 
 adapted to the comprehension of those for whom it is designed. The 
 subject-matter is selected with great judgment, and evinces uncommon 
 industry and research. We earnestly hope that parents and teachers will 
 examine and judge for themselves, as we feel confident they will coincide 
 with us in opinion. We only hope the circulation of the work will be 
 commensurate with its merits." — Boston Evening Gazette. 
 
 " We do not hesitate to recommend it to the notice of thesuperintend- 
 ing committees, teachers, and pupils of our public schools." — State Her- 
 ald, Portsmouth, N H. 
 
 '• This neat and prepossessing little volume comprehends all the requi- 
 sites of a good book,— such a book as may safely be put into the hands of 
 children with advantage. The diction is chaste and pure, the subject 
 matter selected with great judgment, and the language is peculiarly 
 adapted to the comprehension of the young mind. The introduction of 
 it into our schools generally, will, we believe, essentially promote the 
 cause of education."— Saco paper. 
 
 7 
 
BLAKE'S NATURAL PHILOSOPH 
 
 A NEW EDITION, ENLARGED. 
 
 Being Conversations on Philosophy, with the addition of Explanatory 
 Notes, Questions for Examination, and a Dictionary of Philo- 
 sophical Terms. With Twenty-eight steel engravings. 
 By the Rev. J. L. Blake, D. D. 
 
 iXjr" Perhaps no work has contributed so much as this to excite a fond- 
 ness for the study of Natural Philosophy in youthful minds. The familiar 
 comparisons with which it abounds, awaken interest, and rivet the atten- 
 tion of the pupil. It is introduced, with great success, into the public 
 schools in Boston. 
 
 From Rev. J. Adams, Pres. of Charleston College, S. O. 
 "I have been highly gratified with the perusal of your edition of Con- 
 versations on Natural Philosophy. The Questions, Notes, and Explana- 
 tions of Terms, are valuable additions to the work, and make this edition 
 superior to any other with which 1 am acquainted. I shall recommend it 
 wherever I have an opportunity." 
 
 " We avail ourselves of the opportunity furnished us by the publication 
 of a new edition of this deservedly popular work, to recommend it, not 
 only to those ins true ters who may not already have adopted it, but also 
 generally to all readers who are desirous of obtaining information on the 
 subjects on which it treats. By Questions arranged at the bottom of the 
 pages, in which the collateral facts are arranged, he directs the attention 
 of the learner to the principal topics. Mr. Blake has also added many 
 Notes, which illustrate the passages to which they are appended, and the 
 Dictionary of Philosophical Terms is a useful addition. — U. S. Lit. Gaz. 
 
 PALEFS NATURAL THEOLOGY; 
 
 Illustrated by forty Plates, and Selections from the Notes of Dr. Paxton. 
 
 With additional Notes, original and selected, for this edition; 
 
 With a Vocabulary of Scientific terms. 
 
 Edited by John Ware, M. D. 
 
 "The work before us is one which deserves rather to be studied, than 
 merely read. Indeed, without diligent attention and study, neither the 
 excellences of it can be fully discovered, nor its advantages realized. It 
 is therefore gratifying to find it introduced, as a text-book, into the colleges 
 and literary institutions of our country. The edition before us is superior 
 to any we have seen, and, we believe, superior to any that has yet been 
 published."— Spirit of the Pilgrims. 
 
 " Perhaps no one of our author's works gives greater satisfaction to all 
 classes of readers, the young, and the old, the ignorant, and the enlighten- 
 ed. Indeed, we recollect no book in which the arguments for the existence 
 and attributes of the Supreme Biing, to be drawn from his works, are 
 exhibited in a manner more attractive and more convincing." — Christian 
 Examiner. 
 
 " We hail the appearance of Paley's Theolosry with unfeigned pleasure. 
 No man is an atheist after reading the work. Infidelity changes its char- 
 acter, and becomes downright and wilful opposition to the truth, after it 
 has gone over the pages before us. We recommend to all young men who 
 may see this article, to procure a copy of it forthwith; we advise parents 
 to procure it for their sons and for their daughters."— Trumpet. 
 
 
CLASSICAL STUDIES. 
 
 ESSAYS ON ANCIENT LITERATURE AND ART. 
 
 With the Biography and Correspondence of eminent Philologists. 
 By Barnas Sears. President Newton Theol. Institution, 
 B.B.Edwards, Prof. AndoverTheol. Seminary, and 
 C. C. Felton, Prof. Harvard University. 
 
 "This elegant book is worthy of a more extended notice than our limits 
 at present will permit us to give it. Great labor and care have been be- 
 stowed upon its typographical execution, which does honor to the Ameri- 
 can press. It is one of the rare beauties of the page, that not a word is 
 divided at the end of a line The mechanical part of the work, however, 
 is its least praise. It is unique in its character. — standing alone among 
 the innumerable books of this book-making age. The authors well deserve 
 the thanks of the cultivated and disciplined portion of the community, for 
 the service which, by this publication, they have done to the cause of 
 letters. Amid the tide of influences which are calculated to deteriorate our 
 literature, and degrade the standard of taste and learning, we leel under 
 great obligations to those who endeavor to restore the authority of ac- 
 knowledged models, to set up barriers against the sweeping flood of worth- 
 less literature, which is spreading far and wide its evil results, and con- 
 cerning which our chief consolation is. that it is likely to be as transitory 
 as it is deleterious. The book is a plea for classical learning. While its fine 
 introduction and some of the essays directly avow this design, the corre 
 spondence of literary men which it contains, aims indirectly at the same 
 result. The book is of a high order, and worthy of the attentive perusal of 
 every scholar. It is a noble monument to the taste, and judgment, and 
 sound learning of the projectors, and will yield, we doubt not, a rich har- 
 vest of fame to themselves, and of benefit to our literature." — Chr. Rev. 
 
 "This volume is no common-place production. It is truly refreshing, 
 when we are obliged from week to week to look through the mass of books 
 which increases upon our table, many of which are extremely attenuated 
 in thought and jejune in style, to find something which carries us back 
 to the pure and invigorating influence of the master minds of antiquity. 
 The gentlemen who have produced this volume deserve the cordial thanks 
 of the literary world." — New England Puritan. 
 
 " This book will do good in our colleges. Every student will want a 
 copy, and many will be stimulated by its perusal to a more vigorous and 
 enthusiastic pursuit of that higher and more solid learning-, which alone 
 deserves to be called 'classical.' The recent tendencies have been to the 
 neglect of this, and we rejoice in this timely effort of minds so well quali- 
 fied for such a work." — Rejlector. 
 
 "The object of the accomplished gentlemen who have engaged in its 
 preparation has been, to foster and extend among educated men. in this 
 country, the already growing interest in classical studies. The design is 
 a noble and generous one, and has been executed with a taste and good 
 sense, that do honor both to the writers and the publishers. The book 
 is one which deserves a place in the library of every educated man. To 
 those now engaged in classical study it cannot fail to be highly useful, 
 while to the more advanced scholar it will open new sources of interest 
 and delight in the unforgotten pursuits of his earlier days." — Prov. Jour. 
 
 " The work has been prepared by three gentlemen connected with as 
 many different institutions, who seem to have entered upon and executed 
 their labor con amore It is a beautiful example of the attractive force of 
 elegant and useful literature, overcoming the repelling elements of what 
 are presumed to be different creeds. And the product is worthy of the 
 sacrifice, if there have been one. It is an elegant and valuable tribute to 
 the value of classical learning. An introductory essay leaves a deep im- 
 pression of the worth and use of classical studies." — Portland Mirror. 
 
Elegant ittmtaturc Volume 
 
 Gilt Edges and Beautifully Ornamented Covers. 
 
 DAILY MANNA, 
 
 FOR CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS. 
 
 By Rev. Baron Stow, Pastor of the Baldwin Place Church, Boston. 
 
 tcS 3 " This work contains a text of Scripture for each day in the year, 
 with an analysis of its contents, and a verse of poetry. 
 
 " A perfect gem of a book, and full of gems from the mine that yields 
 the purest and brightest that are found in the world,— every one that sees 
 it will wish to have the volume." — N. Y. Observer. 
 
 "This is one of the most beautiful, and beyond all doubt one of the most 
 valuable, of those little books, that have been issued for the purpose of 
 suggesting themes of daily meditation to Christians. A passage is fur- 
 nished for each day in the year, and an appropriate division of the passage 
 is suggested as the foundation of thought, to which is appended an appro- 
 priate stanza."— Baptist Record. 
 
 "It is a charming little volume."— Boston Recorder. 
 
 THE YOUNG COMMUNICANT: 
 
 An Aid to the Right Understanding and Spiritual Improvement 
 of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 "A work of this character has been much needed, especially by the 
 young members of our churches." — Oh. Reflector. 
 
 "An exceedingly interesting and instructive little volume."— Chris- 
 tian Watchman. 
 
 "A timely little volume, just when we needed it. "We know of no 
 present to the young Christian more timely and valuable than this." — 
 Norwich Spectator. 
 
 "A book of choice practical matter, a little gem." — Boston Cultivator. 
 
 THE CASKET OF FOUR JEWELS, 
 
 FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Containing Apollos— Growth in Grace— The Golden Censer— and the 
 
 Christian Citizen. By John A. James, Jonathan Edwards, 
 
 and John Harris, D. D. 
 
 "These Jewels are truly 'pearls of great price,' compacted in a neat 
 and beautiful casket. Spiritual Christians have examined these jewels 
 separately, and expressing high admiration of their individual precious- 
 ness, have desired to possess them in a form less perishable and more 
 worthy of their excellence." — Salem Gazette. 
 
 10 
 
THE MARRIAGE RING; 
 
 OR, HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. 
 From the writings of John Angell James. 
 
 "It ia a precious little work, calculated alike to improve the morals 
 and promote the happiness of the domestic hearth."— Southern Wing. 
 
 "A beautiful little volume, and composed of lessons of sound wisdom 
 and useful instruction." — Boston Recorder. 
 
 " This is a charming little keepsake which every young married couple 
 ought to possess. It gives a most satisfying account of the nature and 
 duties of married life. It makes ' mutual attachment ' the indispensable 
 basis of the marriage state, raising its eloquent little voice against any 
 attempts to unite in marriage those who are influenced only by worldly 
 motives, selfish aims, or considerations of woildly honor. We commend 
 this little book to all young men and women who expect ever to be blest 
 in marriage; and we wish the ministers who take it upon them to join, 
 these young men and women, would see that the uninitiated have in their 
 possession this safe and useful little guide." — Norwich Spectator. 
 
 THE BIBLE AND THE CLOSET; 
 
 Or, how we may read the Scriptures with the most spiritual profit. 
 By Thomas Watson.— and Secret Prayer successfully managed, 
 By Samuel Lee. Edited by Rev John O. Choules. 
 "This class of publications supply the most striking deficiency in the 
 practical religious literature of the day. Here are rich views of scriptural 
 illustration and of religious sentiment, buried in the tomes of the six- 
 teenth and seventeenth centuries, and it is a good service to the church 
 of the nineteenth to re-open those mines. Our neophytes need it, and 
 our ministerial corps may ffnd models which can be most profitably imi- 
 tated."— Mr. Kirk's Letter. 
 
 LYRIC GEMS. 
 
 A COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL AND SELECT SACRED POETRY. 
 Edited by Rev. S. F. Smith. 
 
 "But this is an exception. We have read nearly every one, a circum- 
 stance rather extraordinary in case of a collection; but the good taste 
 here exhibited has charmed us. and disposes us strongly to recommend 
 the work to others." — Baptist Advocate. 
 
 " It is appropriately named ' Gems,'— not the least brilliant of which 
 are the contributions of the editor himself." — Christian Secretary. 
 
 THE CYPRESS WREATH: 
 
 A BOOK OF CONSOLATION FOR THOSE WHO MOURN. 
 Edited by Rev. Rufus W. Griswold. 
 
 "This is a most beautiful and judicious selection of prose and poetry, 
 from the most popular authors, interspersed with select passages from 
 Scripture, designed especially for the mourner. When the hand of death 
 has separated the bond of union existing between a parent and child, a 
 wife and busbar"!, or a brother and sister, the mind naturally turns away 
 in disgust from the delusive phantoms of happiness which the world af- 
 fords, and feels the need of the heavenly Comforter. It was with a view 
 of furnishing the mind, while in a state like this, and while he was him- 
 self a mourner, that Mr. Griswold prepared the Cypress Wreath. It is 
 not necessary to say that he has furnished a book exactly adapted to the 
 purpose for which it is designed, for the character and talents of the au- 
 thor are too well known to admit of a contrary opinion." 
 
GESENIUS* HEBREW GRAMMAR, 
 
 Translated from the Eleventh German Edition. By T. J. Conant. Prof. 
 
 of Hebrew and of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation in the 
 
 Theol. Institution at Hamilton, N. Y. With a Course of 
 
 Exercises in Hebrew Grammar, and a Hebrew Chres- 
 
 tomathy, prepared by the Translator. 
 
 Third Edition. 
 
 £Gr" Special reference has been had in the arrangement, illustrations, 
 the addition of the Course of Exercises, the Chreslomalhy, Sj-c, to adapt 
 it to the wants of those who may wish to pursue the study of Hebrew 
 without the aid of a teacher. 
 
 Prof. Stuart in an article in the Biblical Repository, says :— " With such 
 efforts,— such unremitted, unwearied, energetic efforts,— what are we to 
 expect from such a man as Gesenius? Has he talent, judgment, tact, as 
 a philologist? Read his work on Isaiah; compare his Hebrew Grammar 
 with the other grammars of the Hebrew which Germany has yet produced; 
 read and compare any twenty, or even ten articles on any of the difficult 
 and important words in the Hebrew, with the same in Euxtorff, Cocceius, 
 Stockins, Eichhorn's Simonis, Winer, even (Parkhurst, I cannot once 
 name), and then say whether Gesenius, as a Hebrew philologer, has talents, 
 tact, and judgment Nothing but rival feelings, or prejudice, or antipathy 
 to his theological sentiments, can prevent a unity of answer-" 
 From the Hon. Edward Everett. 
 
 Gentlemen, — I am greatly indebted to you for a beautiful copy of the 
 translation of Gesenius's Hebrew Grammar, by Prof Conant. The reputa- 
 tion of theoriginal is beyond the necessity of any testimonials, and I doubt 
 not, from the character of Prof. Conant, that the translation deserves the 
 favorable reception which, I am happy to see, it has met with. As a spe- 
 cimen of typography, the work does great credit to your press. 
 
 Your obliged friend and servant, Edward Everett. 
 
 "The work of Gesenius requires no eulogy from us: nor is this the place 
 to enter into a detailed examination of his theoretical views or practical 
 exposition of the structure of the language; but we concur with the 
 translator in considering that, as a philosophical arrangement and ex- 
 planation of its grammatical phenomena, it has no equal; and that it is 
 particularly distinguished by a chaste simplicity, and attractive clearness 
 of method, — qualities which not only imply a correct taste and logical 
 understanding, but evince, also, a "thorough mastery of the subject. 
 Professor Conant has rendered a substantial service to the cause of biblical 
 learning, and done honor to the important denomination of which he is a 
 member. Besides executing with excellent fidelity and good judgment 
 his translation of the Grammar of the great Hebraist of the age, he has 
 some useful additions of his own, and has, in numerous instances, cor- 
 rected mistakes of a too common class, which, if they give little trouble 
 to some readers, are the worst annoyance to others, — that of errors in 
 reference. He has also made additions of a very judicious as well as mora! 
 character, in a series of grammatical Exercises. The typographical exe- 
 cution is in the best style of the Cambridge university printers. The 
 letter-press is beautiful, and all but immaculate."— N. A. Review. 
 
 "Professor Conant has executed his task with great ability. He does 
 not appear merely in the character of a translator: the Chrestomathy and 
 Exercises prepared by him form a very valuable addition to the work. 
 The latter, especially, are prepared with great skill and ability, in such a 
 way as to lead the student forward, step by step, making him thoroughly 
 familiar with each point as he advances. One other point of extreme im- 
 portance in such a work, we must not fail to notice, — the correctness of the 
 printing. And when we add that the typography, — at least the English 
 part of it, — is as beautiful as it is correct, we have said as much as is 
 necessary to recommend the book to all studentsof Hebrew." — Recorder. 
 
 12