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    Christian faith should he suffered t » o depend upon the bias imposed fey dot . education and connexions in the wafld , and highly proper and useful J&atAve should be habituated to

    regard ; the enlistment into the service ^ tf Christ , so far from being a mere a » atter of course , as one of the most serious acts of our lives , to be adopted 4 wiy as the result of a personal inquiry and conviction , and after a proper self-examination as to the motives

    with which we are actuated , and with reference to the difficulties and magnitude . of the undertaking- in which we are about to engage . In this point of view , a command from Ohrist

    himself calling upon us to use a ceremony of bis own prescribing , as the solemn and unequivocal expression of submission to his authority , must still he appropriate . l € s influence would not he confined to the time of

    its application , but in the earlier periods of life would form an object to oe looked forward to , for which our jaainds should be in a continued state of preparation , and by which we should become more closely united with a body of persons who had

    already entered thus solemnly into the Christian service and profession . In after life our baptismal vow would also present itself t (\ our minds as a moral bond , by which the doctrine and precepts of Christianity had been received as the most sacred rules and

    motives of action , the governing principles of our lives . A society thus fouoaed and united , and endeavouring ito maintain its consistency , to cultivate Christian love and charity , would

    « &ill be distinguished by a superior tone of character , by juster and brighter views of religion and moral obligation , and by warmer and purer affections , than the world , which too commonly takes up its Christian

    name as a mere matter of course , without ever deliberately inquiring into < jhe truth or purity of the doctrine it professes , and whose conduct is rather regulated by the common standard of moral * , rel igion and manners , than by any serious , deliberate altcirtinn to the purport , evidences and-duties of Christianity . Such a

    society , in proportion as- they were enli ghtened , sincere and consistent , would form a real Christian church , eoufoiunublcto the primitive standard

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    " ^—'Translation of KuinoeVs Note on Matt . iii . 6 , on Jewish Baptism . LUSTRAT IONS previous to sacrifices , solemn prayers , games and other festivities , were in use axnong the Greeks and Romans ; even they who had committed great crimes were wont to bathe the body or their

    hands for expiation of sip . Thus , " I go to bathe , in order to sacrifice . " Plaut . Aulul . 3 , 6 , 43 . " He who would sacrifice to the Gods above , must be purified by an ablution of the body / ' Macrob . Sat . iii . 1- " Ah ye too easy , who think that the dreadful crime of mujriler can be effaced

    by the water of p , . river 1 " Ovid . F ^ sti U- 36 . " It was a custom among the ancients when they killed a man , or slaughtered au animal , to wash the bunds in water for a purification from the defikment . " The Scholiast on Sophocles , Ajax G 0 " 3 . * w $ *

    * " To the margin of the sea m Hence then 1 go , and in the cleansing wave Wash off these Htalns , if so I may appease Yh * anger of the goddess . " Potter * Translation .

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    the persuasion fchat it to&ild be nn * charitable not to regard tfeem as real Christians ; and in wiuch * consequently , all orders of -character and intelli - gence are confounded . It is surely evident , that while tfhis perversion of

    and-tvould dffffcr ? * a 0 # t trt « rt % ri ^ l > hr ; from crhuvfcheb ; as * tl * ey me loo ^ ly d ^ . miaated * in \\* i ^ h the name of CJliriJ tmn i » proJasejly 6 t B ^ ersftitmusW applied to unconseious l > abes , Who ase thenceforward trailed Bp ^ naer

    the ceremony of baptism confounds the professor with the non-professor , and tends to foster an implicit confidence in an imaginary Christianity void of any of the essential requisites , the proper application of this ceremony , adopted us the result of a

    deliberate conviction , in obedience to the authority of Christ , must tend to keep up a rational and influential Christian profession ; and , therefore , that there is every reason to conclude that this , in common with the other Christian

    injunctions , will retain its obligation till " Ohrist shall appear a second time without sin unto salvation . " T . PINE .

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    785 Translation vf KuinoePs JV&te on Mati , iii ; 6 , > 9 n JEewteit Baptisin .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1826, page 736, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2555/page/36/