What did Jesus mean by this saying ?—That the disciples would be persecuted like their Master, and be brought through great sufferings, as he was. Was this true?-V. 41. Why were men not to behold the mote in their brother's eye? What did he mean by the mote?-Little faults, which people saw in others, but passed over the great ones in themselves. If we know rightly our own failings, shall we not be indulgent to those of others?-V. 42, end. What was the right course to be pursued? Ought we not to be watchful over ourselves first of all? Shall we not find enough to be sorry for, and to occupy our thoughts in ourselves?

GLOSSARY.-V. 38. Mete. Measure out.-V. 39. Ditch. Pit.

V. 40. That is perfect shall be, (margin.) "Shall be perfected as his Master;" that is, in sufferings.-V. 41. Mote. A very small, thin splinter or shiver of wood.

GENERAL REMARK.-There are duties which we owe to others, as well as to God. "This commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John iv. 21.) Our character will be seen as much by the way in which we behave towards others our schoolfellows, companions, and friends-as in our duties towards God. And if we are not merciful and kind to them -forbearing; hesitating to judge or condemn them; backward in seeing their faults, but quicksighted towards our own-how can we hope that God will bless us by being merciful and kind to us, in this world and the next.

INFANT BAPTISM.

ST. PAUL tells us, that the covenant which God made with Abraham, could not be disannulled by the law. The promise was made "to Abraham and his seed:" the sign or seal of it was circumcision, which Abraham received, and his seed, at eight days old. Infants then were included in the covenant, which was never disannulled; and they have, therefore, an equal right to the external sign of it which succeeded to circumcision; viz., baptism.

Humas, who lived in the days of the Apostles, and wrote his works before the Gospel of St. John was written, represents the church as built of living stones that have received the seal of baptism; and speaks of infants as the fairest of its stones. It is therefore evident, that in the days of the Apostles, infants were received into the church by baptism.

Justin Martyn, born 11 years before the death of St. John, says, "Several persons among us were made disciples of Christ in their

infancy." The only form in which any were admitted as disciples, was baptism. He further says, "Baptism is to Christians instead of circumcision," which took place at the age of eight days.

Irenæus, who was born three years before the death of St. John, says, "Christ came to save all who are regenerated: infants, little children, young men, and aged persons." In the usual phraseology of those times, the word regeneration was used for baptism. Irenæus had been a disciple of Polycarp, of whom he says, "Polycarp was taught by the Apostles, and had conversed with many who had seen Christ, and was appointed by the Apostles bishop of Smyrna, and always taught those things which he had learned from the Apostles." Dr. Gilly in his "Memoirs of Felix Neff," shews that "It is most probable, that the Alpine churches of Dauphinè were planted while Irenæus was bishop of Lyons," and received the same religious doctrines with the 13 bishops of Dauphinè, over whom Irenæus presided. A letter addressed to Pope Lucius 2nd, in 1144, states one of their doctrines to be, that "sins are not remitted by the sprinkling of water in baptism." Another is, "They have their children baptised." Therefore, among the doctrines taught in the churches planted by Irenæus and his brother missionaries, were infant baptism, and baptism by sprinkling.

Origen, born about the year 184, says, "The church had from the Apostles an order to give baptism to infants." Origen's forefathers had been for several generations Christians, and, therefore, had probably been so in the time of the Apostles. He could scarcely therefore be ignorant of what the practice of the Apostles was, nor whether he had himself been baptized in infancy or not.

150 years after the death of St. John, there was an assembly of 66 Christian bishops, who spoke of Infant Baptism as a known, established, uncontested, practice. A question was proposed to this assembly, whether baptism ought to be deferred till the infant was eight days old; (the time at which circumcision was appointed to be administered,) and their unanimous decision was, that "there was no cause for delaying the baptism of newly born infants."

St. Ambrose speaks of "those infants that are baptised." Chrysostom, 280 years after the Apostles, said, "we baptise infants, that there may be super-added to them a brotherhood with Christ."

St. Augustine, says, "The whole church practises Infant Baptism: it was not instituted by councils, but was always in use."

Pelagius, says, he had "never heard even an impious heretic who asserted that infants are not to be baptised."

A passage in an oration over Basil, by Gregory Nasiander, proves that he had been baptised in infancy.

The eleven last mentioned fathers and doctors of the church, flourished between the years 260 and 331 after the Apostles.

It appears, in short, that during the first 400 years, one person (Fidus) urged the delay of baptism to infants till eight days; but not one denied its lawfulness.

In the next 700 years, no one questioned it, except that small number who, like the Quakers, argued against all baptism by water.

In the year 1120, one sect of the Waldenses declared against the baptism of infants, because they thought them incapable of salvation; but this sect soon came to nothing.

The next appearance of this opinion was in 1522.

Thus, for 1100 years after Christ, Infant Baptism was the uninterrupted practice of the Church.

It was the Jewish custom to baptise infants. Dr. Lightfoot, says, "The baptizing of infants was a thing as well known in the church of the Jews, as ever it has been in the Christian church." Therefore, when our Lord commandeth his disciples to " baptise all nations," it seems evident that they were intended to do it in the manner which they had been accustomed to in the church in which they were born, otherwise the baptism of infants, to which they had always been accustomed, would surely have been expressly forbidden.

Infants are capable of regeneration. We believe that those who die in infancy are saved; but man is born in sin, and cannot enter the kingdom of God, unless he be born again. If infants are, therefore, capable of receiving the inward spiritual grace, why should the outward and visible sign be withheld from them?

We read of St. Paul's baptizing "the household" of Stephanas; "Lydia" and her "household," &c. It is evident throughout the Scriptures, that the words "house" and " 'household," signify children as well as parents. Calmet, in speaking of the Greek word used to signify the "household" of Lydia, says, "The natural import of the term includes children of all ages.' "It very often expresses the presence of infants." One thing, however, is certain, that whether Lydia's children were adults or infants, they were baptized in the faith of their mother; and the same may be said of the household of the jailor at Philippi.

The Greek word Baptize, signifies to wash a thing by water coming over it, which may be either by sprinkling or pouring water on it, or by putting it under water. The Pharisee "marvelled" that Christ had not first "washed" before dinner. The Greek word is

“baptized.” The ancient manner of washing the hands, was by pouring water upon them.

The Greek word which bears simply the signification of to "dip," or to immerse, is not baptize, but bapto. It is used, for instance, in Rev. xix. 13, "A vesture dipped in blood." Luke xvi. 24, “Dip the tip of his finger in water," &c. But this word is never used to express the ordinance of baptism. Let us then examine, in reference to these words in the original language in which the New Testament was written:

1st. The superstitious customs of the Jews, recorded Mark vii 4. The Greek is, "The baptizing of cups and pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds, or tables." It is evident that, at least with regard to beds and tables, sprinkling or pouring water must be meant. We read, Num. xix. 18, "Take hyssop and dip it in water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons," &c.

2nd. The baptism of John. The words used in our translation, "baptized in Jordan," furnish no argument for immersion: for the word translated "in," is more than a hundred times translated "at," and a hundred and fifty times "with." Thus, Matt. iii. 2, “I indeed baptize you arith water.” The words might therefore be, "and were baptized of him at or by Jordan." As they stood by the river, he baptized them with its waters. Since baptism is an outward sign of the inward baptism, by the Holy Ghost, we may suppose that there would be some resemblance in the sign to the expression by which the thing signified is described; and this resemblance is to be found in sprinkling or pouring, but not in dipping. John says, "I indeed baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." If "in" were used in the first part of the sentence, the latter part could not be made to correspond with it, as it is evident that "in" could not be used there. St. Peter, referring to the fulfilment of this promise, says, "Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye see and hear." To shed forth, signifies to pour out, or scatter, in which there is no resemblance to immersion. The Spirit descended from heaven; and of this spiritual baptism, water, descending from the hand upon the subject, was the most expressive representation. To this resemblance between inward and outward baptism, God adverts by the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel-"I will pour water on him that is thirsty." “I will pour my spirit upon thy seed." I will sprinkle clean water upon them." And St. Paul-"Having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience." In all these instances, allusion is obviously

made to sprinkling and pouring, but not to dipping. St. John the Baptist refers to a resemblance between his baptism by water, and that of Christ by the Spirit. We have seen in which mode of baptism that resemblance is found, and may therefore infer that John baptized in that manner, and not by immersion. And this inference is confirmed by historical evidence. A people in Mesopotamia, who call themselves "the followers of John the Baptist, who was a follower of Jesus Christ," informed Mr. Wolfe, the missionary, that their customs respecting baptism are as follows: "The priests, or bishops, baptize children 30 days old. They take the child to the banks of the river, and hold it near the surface of the water, while the priest sprinkles the child." Mr. Wolfe, asked, "Why they baptized in rivers?" and they answered, "because John baptized in the river Jordan." The learned John Gregory, says, "That when in the primitive times the rite of baptism was performed in rivers, the persons to be baptized stood up and received the sacrament." Hence, the word anada, which signifies to stand up, is used in the Arabic and Syriac Gospels for baptizing. In the ancient Greek church, the water was poured upon men and women kneeling; and children were set upright in a font, and had water poured upon them.

We see, therefore, that no argument for immersion can be drawn from the fact that John baptized in the river Jordan; but that there is every reason for believing, that the baptism of John was by sprinkling.

3rd. The baptism on the day of Pentecost. On that day 3000 persons were baptized, and added to the church. It was impossible that time could allow of the immersion of all these. It does not appear that they left the place in which they were assembled, and there was no river in or near the city. The want of water, and the want of time, form a sufficient proof that baptism was not administered by immersion on the Day of Pentecost.

Then again, in the 1st Cor. x. 1, 2, St. Paul, says, "Moreover, brethren, I would not have you ignorant, how that all our fathers were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." The Israelites were not immersed in the waters of the sea, but "passed through on dry ground;" yet they would probably be sprinkled with its spring and the cloud which went before them, in passing over them to go behind, "poured out water," as is said in the 77th Psalm.

This passage is decisive, also, as to Infant Baptism. The whole of the Israelites, babes and parents, were included in the sprinkling of waters from the cloud and from the sea, which St. Paul calls