in one of them. No man that has a proper respect for his head and his heart, or his education, can, so far as we ought to judge, argue from oikos, oikia, family, house, or household, in favour of infant baptism. This argument from oikos or oikia was very satisfactorily disposed of almost thirty years ago, in my debate with Dr. McCalla. This was proved, as Christianity itself is sometimes proved, not merely by the first acclamation, but by the thousands and the myriads of intelligent Pedobaptists that have, in our own time, repudiated it, and, by overt acts, have renounced family and infant baptism, and voluntarily put on Christ by an immersion into his death.

But, besides the argument in favour of infant baptism, deduced from the family baptisms alluded to, we have no less than twelve pictures on the subject, collected from the vestibules and domes of the Greek and Roman Catholic churches. The first is that of the baptism of Christ, placed at the entrance of the great church at Pisa. Pisan tradition says this marble ornament was carried from Jerusalem by the Crusaders, about the commencement of the twelfth century. The Baptist stands with his hand upon the Saviour's head. The second is the baptism of the same subject in Jordan, taken from the church on the Via Ostiensis at Rome. The door which it covers is dated 1070. The third is from the door of the church at Beneventum, in Italy. Here Jesus is standing in a bath up to the middle, and the Baptist is pouring water on his head. The fourth is that of Jesus standing in the Jordan, with the Baptist pouring water, in streams, on his head. There is a centrepiece in the dome of the baptistery at Ravenna, A. D. 454. Here the Baptist stands on the bank of the river, pouring water out of a shell on the Saviour's head. Over his head is a crown of glory, and a dove, personating the Holy Spirit, descending from heaven to his person. The fifth is a representation, in Mosaic, of the Saviour's baptism in Jordan. Here, again, a patera, or a shell, is employed in pouring water on his person. This stands in the church in Cosmedin, at Ravenna, erected A. D. 401. The sixth is a represen tation of a bath, or baptismal fount, standing in the baptistery of Constantine, in Rome, near the Lateran. This is too shallow for immersion. The seventh argument is the baptism of a heathen king and queen, in a family bath at Chigi, near Naples, with a priest standing as if taking aim at the king's head, with a pitcher in his hand, a. D. 591. The eighth proof is that

of a kneeling candidate, with a priest holding a vase, or pitcher, at his head. He seems to be on the dry ground. The ninth is that of a boy, unclothed, receiving a stream from a pitcher. This is found in Rome, though the work of a Greek artist. The tenth is Laurentius, in the church of St. Lawrence, in Rome, or near it-extra muros-receiving a stream from a vase. The eleventh, that of Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome, being immersed in a bath; but also receiving a stream of oil or water falling upon his head from a vial, held by a longrobed priest. The twelfth is that of Jesus Christ, baptized by John in the Jordan, standing on the bank, with one hand on or near to his head. No shell nor vial is seen in the picture. Probably, the baptizer had dipped his finger in the Jordan. This stands in the chapel of the baptistery, in the small church of the Catacomb Pontianus, with a lamb at his foot. tizers, though I have called them priests, from their costume, are said to have been laymen; and Mr. Taylor admits the allegation, and quiets all scruples by the concession, that, in all extreme cases, baptism by the hand of laymen is of Divine authority, and, consequently, canonical and valid.

The bap

Now, the grand and solemn question is, What does all this prove? It proves not when the custom began, nor when these pictures were made; and if it did, they are all hundreds of years too late to prove primitive apostolic baptism. No one can, with any measure of self-respect, deny this. And this admitted, places these twelve arguments on the shelf, lettered, "OLD WIVES' FABLES!"

In the next place, statuaries, sculptors, and painters are always fond of catering to public taste and fashion, and will make to order any number of marble or other ornaments, just as Mr. Sartain, in his pictorial magazine, or as printers do in the Family Bible-make such representations of angels, men, costumes, and customs, as will command the highest admiration, secure the largest sale, and the most liberal price.

Thus, we see in one New Testament, in an orthodox pulpit, quite as sacred as the vestibule of St. Peter's, or the dome of St. Paul's, a pictorial representation of Paul's conversion. The admiration and taste of the artist conceived that it would be more pleasing to present Paul as a fine, athletic-looking man, mounted on a fiery Arabian courser, on his way to Damascus. And when arrested on his journey, by a glance of the Lord and

the majesty of his voice, the affrighted steed, springing like a deer from its lair, in frenzied mood plunging in the desert, unsaddles his rider and flings him over his head; while the unhorsed apostle, pertinacious of his hold of the bridle, brings. him to the ground, and appears as if about to rise, whip in hand, with full intent, in sad distraction, wildly looking hither and thither, as if to lay upon him the weight of his indignant arm. How suitable to such an event is such a scene, however well executed and elegantly decorated by the hand of a gifted artist!

Again: open our elegant Family Bibles of the nineteenth century, and what idea do they give of the Saviour's baptism in the Jordan! You will see opposite to the account of his baptism, or on the frontispiece of the volume, John the Immerser, alias, John the Baptist, standing upon a bluff bank of the Jordan, or, in other pictures, standing ankle-deep in its margin, lifting up a handful, or pouring a hornful, of the water of the river upon his head; while a dove, on its wing, is descending from an open sky, in the direction of the imposing scene. Now, what does this prove, but the ignorance or impiety of painters of the present day? And just so much, neither more nor less, do these twelve pictures, the twelve unanswerable arguments of C. Taylor, in favour of the pagan rite of sprinkling holy water, under the imposing name of Christian baptism, alias, Roman rantism! It is a fearful deception practised upon the credulity of an untaught and unteachable population. “O my people, they which lead thee (or call thee blessed) cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths !”* They have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know and am a witness, saith the Lord."+

* Isa. iii. 12.

† Jer. xxix. 23.

36

CHAPTER X.

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR QUESTIONS ON INFANT BAPTISM.

WE design this essay especially for the most uneducated portion of the reading community: embracing in its details the whole subject, action, and design of baptism. We, therefore, adopt the method of question and answer, as most instructive and impressive; only premising that our answers shall always be those, and those only, which the Holy Scriptures, history, and human experience authenticate and sustain.

Query 1. Who was the first Baptist? Answer. John, the harbinger of Christ, called "John the Baptist."

Q. 2. From whom did he receive authority to baptize? A. Not from men, but from God. He was sent by God to baptize, and did not institute it himself, nor learn it from the Jews. John i. 33.

Q. 3. Where did he baptize? A. In the Jordan, and at Enon, "because there was much water there."

Q. 4. Did those he baptized make confession? A. They "were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins."

Q. 5. Were they led or carried to his baptism? A. "There went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan, and were baptized by him in the Jordan."

Q. 6. Who was the most distinguished person whom he baptized? A. The Saviour of the world.

Q. 7. For what purpose was he baptized? A. Neither for confessing his sins, nor for receiving remission of them; but “to fulfil all righteousness,” or to honour the righteous institutions of God. "Thus," said he, "it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness," or observe every Divine institution.

Q. 8. How old was Jesus when baptized? A. About thirty years old.

Q. 9. Had Jesus been circumcised when an infant? A. He was circumcised the eighth day.

Q. 10. Had all those that John baptized been circumcised? A. Yes: they were all Jews.

Q. 11. What do you infer from this fact? A. That baptism did not come in the room of circumcision; otherwise no Jews would have been baptized.

Q. 12. When was Christian baptism introduced? 4. Not till John the Baptist had been beheaded, and Jesus Christ crucified; almost four years after the baptism of John.

Q. 13. Where was it instituted? A. On a mountain of Galilee.

Q. 14. By whom? A. By the Saviour in person.

Q. 15. In what words? A. "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;" or, according to the Evangelist Mark, “Go ye into all the world; preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."

Q. 16. To whom was this commission given? A. To the Apostles of Christ.

Q. 17. When and where did they begin to act under it? A. On the first Pentecost after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and in the city of Jerusalem.

Q. 18. How many were, there and then, baptized? A. Three thousand souls.

Q. 19. What qualification was required by the Apostles acting under this commission? A. Repentance.

Q. 20. Repeat the words. A. "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Q. 21. Any other indication implying whether none but professed, believing penitents were baptized on that occasion? A. "They that gladly received his word were baptized." Acts ii. 41.

Q. 22. Are infants capable of understanding, believing, and gladly receiving a preached gospel? A. Not such as we have in this age of the world.

Q. 23. What, then, would you infer concerning the first three thousand persons baptized by the Apostles of Christ? A. That there were no infants, nor families having infants, baptized by the Apostles in establishing the first Christian church ever planted on earth.

Q. 24. Had all the males baptized by the Apostles on this occasion been circumcised? A. Being Jews, they must have