however just, to their fears of popery and slavery, which were making large strides towards the destruction of civil and religious liberty, of which the dispensing power, and the declaration for liberty of conscience, were to be the principal engines.→→ This wise conduct of the Dissenters certainly saved the church and state. Thus, an end was put to the persecution of the Protestant Dissenters, by the penal laws; though the laws themselves were not legally repealed or suspended till after the Revolution in 1788. From this happy period of English history, the condition of the Presbyterians, and other Dissenters, began gradually to improve. William and Mary, who succeeded to the throne of England after the abdication of it by James II. were favourable to the Protestant religion, and the right of conscience. Notwithstanding the violent opposition which William met with from the high-church party, who were a numerous and powerful body, he succeeds in many points, to soften the rigors, and abate the national prejudices against the Dissenters. Little else has ocurred, since the happy era of the Revolution, but fruitless attempts for a repeal of the corporation and test acts. It is to be hoped, that the time is not far distant when these and some other statutes of an oppressive nature, will be repealed, and Englishmen, of whatever persuasion, shall tell and acknowledge, that no difference of opinion can divide their interests as Britons, nor disunite their affections as Christians.

Of the religious tenets of the Presbyterians, it is not necessary to enlarge very much. They continue to be one of the most numerous and respectable sects of Protestant Dissenters in England; are, doubtless, the richest and most learned body of men out of the pale of the establishment; and have now almost entirely forsaken the rigid and severe maxims of their forefathers. They are denominated Presbyterians, from their assertion, that the government of the church as appointed in the New Testament, is by presbyters. They acknowledge no head of the church but Jesus Christ. According to the original constitution of the Presbyterian church or congregation, they acknowledge the unity and equality of three persons in the Godhead, but the greater part of the Presbyterians of the present day are Unitarians, either what are opprobriously called Arians, or Socinians.

They acknowledge the authority and suficiency of the Holy Scriptures to salvation. They generally believe that all corruption and depravity is contracted, and not original. They are for the most part Pædobaptists, and admit the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which, Dr. Watts says, "is eating bread and drinking wine in the church in remembrance of the death of

Christ." They generally reject the doctrine of predestination, and some other doctrines intimately connected therewith.. The belief and practice of the modern English Presbyterians are pretty faithfully described in "An Abstract of a Profession of Faith made at a public Ordination at the Old Jewry, in 1754;" and also in some "Questions proposed to the Rev. Thomas Wright, at his Ordination, May 31, 1759, with the answers thereunto." These papers may be seen in the "History of Religion," published anonymous, in 4 vols. 8vo. in the year 1764. We close our account of the Presbyterians, by observing, that a lecture first set up in the year 1695, at Salters Hall, London, is still continued on the original foundation, and is supported by the contributions of the friends of Presbyterianism, in the city of London and its vicinity.

CHAPTER XVI.

EPISCOPALIANS.

In the modern acceptation of the term, belonging more espe cially to members of the church of England, and derive this title from episcopus, the Latin word for Bishop; or, if it be referred to its Greek origin, implying care and diligence, with which bishops are expected to preside over those committed to their guidance and direction. They insist on the divine origin of bishops and other church officers, and on the alliance between church and state. Respecting these subjects, however, Warburton and Hoadly, together, have different opinions, as they have also on the thirty-nine articles, which were established in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These are to be found in most Common Prayer Books; and the Episcopal Church in America has reduced their number to twenty. By some the articles are made to speak the language of Calvinism, and by others they have been interpreted in favour of Arminianism.

The Church of England is governed by the King, who is the supreme head, by two archbishops and twenty-four bishops. The benefices of the bishops were converted by William the Conquerer into temporal baronies; so that every prelate has a seat and vote in the House of Peers. Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, however, in a sermon preached from this text, "My kingdom is not of this world," insisted that the clergy had no pretensions to temporal jurisdiction, which gave rise to various publications, termed by way of eminence the Bangorian controversy. Hoad

ley being then Bishop of Bangor. There is a bishop of Sodor and Man, who has no seat in the house of Peers.

Since the death of the intolerant Archbishop Laud, men of moderate principles, have been raised to the see of Canterbury, and this has tended not a little to the tranquility of church and state. The established church of Ireland is the same as the church of England and is governed by four Archbishops and eighteen Bishops.

CHAPTER XVII.

BAPTISTS, OR ANTI-PÆDOBAPTISTS.

In church history a considerable sect, who are distinguished from other Christians by their opinions respecting baptism, and who maintain that the ordinance must be administered by the immersion of adults, and not by the sprinkling of infants. Such they say is the meaning of the word baptiso. They call to their aid a variety of passages of scripture, none of which are however so decisive as to put the controversy at rest. And though it is certain that adults were baptised in the earliest periods of the Christian system, there is no proof that infants were not admitted to the ordinance. It is not for us to enter into this controversy which has been cut short by some other Christians, who main-tain that baptism was intended only for the converts to the Christian faith, and was not to be repeated upon the children of believers. Hence many persons in the present day do not think it necessary to baptize their children, nor advise them to submit to it when they have attained to years of maturity. As the ordinance, when conducted with solemnity and liberality, is truly impressive, and as it does not occur to every one to witness such a scene during their lives, we shall extract an account of one performed in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, and which has been well described by the excellent Mr. Robinson, whose name shall live when the distinction of sects and parties shall be obliterated from the Christian church, and when the only profession of faith will be that in the divine mission of the founder: happy day when no man shall be excluded from the right-hand of fellowship, because he cannot believe in dogmas of self-created censors, and who cannot join in ceremonies, for which there is no direct sanction in the New Testament.

"Not many years ago at Whittlesford, seven miles from Cambridge, forty-eight persons were baptized in that ford of the ri

ver from which the village takes its name. At ten o'clock of a very fine morning in May, about 1500 people of different ranks assembled together. At half past ten in the forenoon, the late Dr. Andrew Gifford, Fellow to the society of Antiquaries, Sublibrarian of the British Museum, and teacher of a Baptist congregation in Eagle Street, London, ascended a moveable pulpit in a large open court yard, near the river, and adjoining to the house of the lord of the manor. Round him stood the congre gation; people on horseback, in coaches and in carts, formed the outside semicircle; many other persons sitting in the rooms of the house, the sashes being open, all were uncovered, and there was a profound silence. The doctor first gave out a hymn, which the congregation sung. Then he prayed. Prayer ended, he took out a New Testament, and read his text-1 indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. He observed, that the force of the preposition had escaped the notice of the translators, and that the true reading was- I indeed baptize or dip you in water at or upon repentance; which sense he confirmed by the 41st verse of the 12th of Matthew, and other passages. Then he spoke as most Baptists do on these occasions, concerning the nature, subject, mode, and end of this ordinance. He closed, by contrasting the doctrine of infant sprinkling with that of believ er's baptism, which being a part of Christian obedience, was supported by divine promises, on the accomplishment of which, all good men might depend. After sermon, he read another hymn and prayed, and then came down. Then the candidates for baptism retired to prepare themselves.

About half an hour after, the administrator, who that day was a nephew of the doctor's, and admirably qualified for the work, in a long black gown of fine baize, without a hat, with a small New Testament in his hand, came down to the river side, accom panied by several Baptist ministers and deacons of their churches, and the persons to be baptized. The men came first, two and two, without hats, and dressed as usual, except that instead of coats, each had on a long white baize gown, tied round the waist with a sash. Such as had no hair, wore white cotton or linen caps. The women followed the men two and two, all dressed neat, clean, and plain, and their gowns white linen or dimity. It was said, the garments had knobs of lead at bottom, to make them sink. Each had a long light silk cloak hanging loosely over her shoulder, a broad ribband tied over her gown beneath the breast, and a hat on her head. They all ranged themselves around the administrator at the water side. A great number of specta tors stood on the banks of the river on both sides; some had climbed and sat on the trees, many sat on horseback and in car

riages, and all behaved with a decent seriousness, which did honour to the good sense and the good manners of the assembly, as well as to the free constitution of this country. First, the administrator read a hymn, which the people sung. Then he read that portion of scripture which is read in the Greek church on the same occasion, the history of the baptism of the Eunuch, bc: ginning at the 23d verse, and ending with the 39th. About ten minutes he stood expounding the verses, and then taking one of the men by the hand, he led him into the water, saying as he went, See here is water, what doth hinder? If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest be baptized. When he came to a sufficient depth, he stopped, and with the utmost composure placing himself on the left hand of the man, his face being towards the man's shoulder, he put his right hand between his shoulders behind, gathering into it a little of the gown for hold: the fingers of the left hand he thrusted under the sash before, and the man putting his two thumbs into that hand, he locked all together, by closing his hand. Then he deliberately said, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: and while he uttered these words standing wide, he gently leaned him backward, and dipped him once. As soon as he had raised him, a person in a boat fastened there for the purpose, took hold of the man's hand, wiped his face with a napkin, and led him a few steps to another attendant, who then gave his arm, walked with him to the house, and assisted him to dress. There were many such in waiting, who like the primitive susceptors, assisted during the whole service. The rest of the men followed the first, and were baptized in like manner. After them the women were baptized. A female friend took off, at the water side, the hat and cloak. A deacon of the church led one to the administrator, and another from him; and a woman at the water-side took each as she came out of the river, and conducted her to the apartment in the house, where they dressed themselves. When all were baptized, the administrator coming up out of the river, and standing at the side, gave a short exhortation on the honour and the pleasure of obedience to divine commands, and then with the usual benediction dismissed the assembly. About half an hour after, the men newly baptized, having dressed themselves, went from their room into a large hall in the house, where they were presently joined by the women, who came from their apartments to the same place. Then they sent a messenger to the administrator, who was dressing in his apartment, to inform him they waited for him. He presently came, and first prayed for a few minutes, and then closed the whole by a short discourse on the blessings of civil and religious liberty, the sufficiency of Scrip