with him through it. It cannot have been established merely as an observance for dark and superstitious ignorance. I then determined to collect and weigh the testimony of Scripture on the subject; and with the Bible in my hand, and prayer in my heart, I have made the attempt, and I am thankful for the result; for I have arrived at conclusions I dare not mistrust, for they are very plain deductions from God's own word, and they embody and set forth his covenant love. During my progress I have referred to Calvin's Institutes, and an analysis of Bishop Bethell's work on Regeneration, and have cursorily examined some other works, but my time has not permitted me to study any. I should have been glad to have compared my results with those of the many learned men who have written on the subject, but it cannot be, and it is a very sufficient satisfaction to my own mind to know that I can give a full and most cordial assent to the twenty-seventh article and baptismal formularies of the Established Church.

We have great reason to be confident as to our own part of the question; but it were also well if our knowledge would make us thankful to God, and humble in ourselves, and charitable to our brother. It is pride that makes contention, but humility is the way of peace and truth."-BISHOP TAYLOR.

NOTES ON HOLY BAPTISM.

GRACIOUS GOD! Thou hast mercifully assured us, by thy holy servant James, that if any lack wisdom, it shall be given him, if he ask it of Thee in faith. Bow down thine ear O Lord, and hear me, for I am weak and ignorant. Lord, I believe thy word, help thou mine unbelief. Give me wisdom in this inquiry. Give me the light of thy truth, that my thoughts and words may be according to thy will. Give me thine own promise, most gracious Father, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that He may guide me into all truth. Blessed Jesus, be thou my Prophet! Be thou the Alpha and the Omega, the author and the finisher of my work! Amen.

PART FIRST.

The baptism of John whence it was we know, and what it was we now propose to inquire, by the light of God's truth, believing that the result will show the nature of our blessed Saviour's own ordinance,— Go ye and teach [or, make disciples of] all nations, baptizing them in [or, into] the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matt. xxviii. 19.

That Christ

Why baptizest thou? John i. 25. From this question which the Jewish doctors put to John, it is plain they expected the kingdom of the Messiah to be ushered in by baptism; and when John came baptizing with water, it excited no surprise; the Masters of Israel did not exclaim, What can this thing be? We may assume, then, that the baptism of John was intimately connected with the grand object of his mission, and what that object was, we will now state. To go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people. Luke i. 76, 77. To declare the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matt. iii. 2. should be made manifest to Israel. John i. 31. The salvation which John had to proclaim, was the remission of sins; and deliverance from the wrath to come. The Lord whose way he had to prepare, the Lamb of God, the Christ of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write. But remission of sins could not be desired, nor could the Christ be received without repentance, without a change of heart, a new creation. (See John i. 12, 13; John iii. 3.) The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God. 1 Cor. ii. 14. The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. Isaiah Lix. 20. John, therefore, as a wise master-builder, did not seek to accommodate his message to the mountains and valleys, and crooked things in the heart of the natural man, but at once proclaimed the necessity of repentance. Repent ye. Matt. iii. 2.

Repentance, then, was the first step in the Divine procedure, and the baptism was called the Baptism of Repentance.

Repentance, I have said, is a new creation, and it may be described from the sixth chapter of Romans, as a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness; and as that righteousness through which grace reigns. It is evident, a new state, producing or evidenced by different conduct and actions, fruits worthy of the change, is intended by the word; and as the heart is the fountain and treasury of a man's actions, the change must take place there; that is, it must be inward and spiritual. To this change must be attributed all the spiritual life and actings of the child of God; and thus, Bishop Latimer insists that faith is part of repentance.

Baptism with water, we know, is an outward and visible act, and what connexion or relation there is between it and the inward and spiritual work of repentance, it is our intention now to inquire.

Repentance or a new heart, or the cleansing of the heart, was one of the chief promises in the Jewish Scriptures; and the pious Israelite who waited for the dawn of the Gospel-day, when the things which had been written, were to be fulfilled, would rejoice when he heard the voice in the wilderness declare its necessity; and he would recognise in the pithy exhortation Repent ye, the admonition of the Prophet, Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye

die, O house of Israel? Ezek. xviii. 31. This great change must be the work of God, and it is peculiarly the work of God the Holy Ghost, and in compassion to our limited understandings, he shadows forth the operations of his mighty power by referring to the effects of water. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. Ezek. xxxvi. 25; and thus, we find, throughout the Prophets, water spoken of typically as the instrument for cleansing the impurities of the heart: and we know that water and blood were the chief shadows of the ceremonial law. The blessings of the Redeemer's kingdom are described as waters, as living water, yea, as a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. Isaiah LV. 1; Zech. xiv. 8; John iv. 14. And the Lord, the hope of Israel, graciously revealed himself to his chosen people, by the remarkable title of, The fountain of living waters. Jer. ii. 13, and xvii. 13. Thus water was peculiarly identified in the mind of a Jew, with the renewing of the heart, and times of refreshing from the Lord. Can we, then, be surprised that John was taught to introduce the dispensation of the Spirit by baptism? But did the Jew think that water could wash away sin, or restore strength to the wearied and broken spirit? certainly not. Neither did John so conceive of the water of his baptism; but he administered it as a sign or token, that as the waters of Jordan cleansed the impurities of the body, so in that kingdom which he asserted was "at hand," the Spirit of God would purify the heart. He knew and taught that his