ing that "he would be a God to him, and to his seed after him ;" and promising that, finally, in him all the families of the earth should be blessed by the Advent of the Messiah. That this grace might be rendered the more sure, and that the faith of this chosen friend of God might have the firmer ground on which to rest, he added to his promise his sacramental seal or oath, that, by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, Abraham, and all who fol low the faith of Abraham, might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. For, saith the apostle, Abraham received circumcision a seal of the righteousness, that is, of the means of justification and acceptance with God, which is by faith.— This covenant, with all its appendages of rites and forms, of types and symbols, of prophets and priests, of altars and victims, with all its doctrines, its precepts, and its promises, was placed in the keeping of the church, for its consolation, før its instruction in righteousness, and for the quickening and direction in the divine life of all true believers. If we ask, then, with the apostle, what profit is there of circumcision? the answer will yield some useful lights on this subject. It is the seal which God has been pleased to annex to the propositions of his mercy, by which anciently he confirmed to the church the great charter of her spiritual privileges, and which, being impressed on every Israelite, continually reminded him of his obligations-continually placed before him his duties, and bis immortal hopes-assured him of the gra

cious protection of Almighty God, and designated him as a member of that chosen community to whose pious custody were committed his holy oracles, those precious treasures of divine truth. While other nations were left to the obscure teachings of nature, and the errors of a depraved reason, this sealed nation were made the depositaries of clearer lights, and the heirs of sublimer hopes. The emblems which were engraven, if I may speak so, on that seal, I mean the blood of circumcision, corresponding with the water of baptism, pointed to that purity of heart which is the end of all true religion; and to that precious blood, which is, at once, the purchase of our salvation, and the fountain in which all our sins are cleansed. Such was the benefit of this ancient rite to the church founded in Abraham, and afterwards embracing all the posterity of Israel: to them were committed the ora eles of God with all their lights, their hopes, their graces, their means of holiness and of eternal life.

These brief expositions will afford some principles by which to explain the nature and the benefits of that baptismal rite which Christ has substituted in the room of the Abrahamic and Mosaic symbol of the promise. Baptism is our christian circumcision; the seal of a more pure and luminous dispensation of the covenant than that either of Moses, or of Abraham. And it is with the view of proposing, as far as I am able, some precise and definite ideas on this initiating institution of the christian church, that I have made these pre

fatory observations on the corresponding rite of the preced ing dispensation.

That I may give as much perspicuity and precision as possible to our ideas concerning this holy ordinance, it will be necessary to go into some details concerning its original institution and design, and its proper subjects; because with these its benefits are intimately connected, and from them its duties and obligations immediately result.

1. The nature and design of baptism may be rendered obvious from two sources of illustration; onc is the use and application of a similar rite which was frequent in the ancient Jewish and Greek nations, whence, probably, it was transferred into the christian church; the other is the denomination, borrowed from the Abrahamic dispensation of the covenant, which, from the very first ages, it has received among christians, of a seal of the Covenant of Grace.

Many of the great and distinguished teachers, and founders of sects among the Jews, applied baptism as a right of initia tion into their respective schools. It was a symbol of discipleship, and regarded as an emblem of that purity of mind, and that virtuous simplicity of manners, which spring from the love of truth, and are expected in all those who are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom. Such was, probably, the meaning of the baptism of John, the great forerunner of the

Messiah.*

He taught a new and more rigorous discipline

of repentance than was known to the Jews of that age. And the disciples who followed him, admiring the sanctity of his doctrine and the abstemious purity of his manners, he initiated by baptism,† preparing them, in this manner, for that still more pure and perfect discipline which was shortly to be introduced by the Saviour of the world. It was, besides, required by the customs of that nation, that all proselytes from among the Gentiles should be initiated into the church of Israel and make their profession of the doctrines of Moses, and the prophets, by baptism.

The ordinance of baptism, therefore, considered simply in the view which has just been presented to you, contains a pledge of our discipleship-a public avowal of Christ as our great Master and Teacher-an explicit profession of our faith in the doctrines taught by his Spirit in those holy oracles committed to the custody of his church for its illumination and sanctification.

*The same rite of initiation into their schools, and with the same meaning, was frequently used by the philosophers of Greece, as well as of many eastern nations, from whom the Greeks borrowed it.

+ This fact serves to explain a passage in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul meeting with certain disciples in Asia who were very imperfectly instructed in the prin"ciples of the gospel, demanded of them unto what they had been baptised? that is, to what system of doctrines? They answered, unto John's baptism. They were disciples of John, and had embraced only the doctrine of repentance which he had taught. This custom explains the meaning of St. Paul when he thanks God that he had baptised none of them but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say he had baptised in his own name, thereby putting himself at the head of a new sect.

Although a man, at the age of reason, may justly make this profession for himself, it may be asked, perhaps, if a parent can rightfully make it in the name of his infant, so that when that infant shall have arrived at maturity, it shall be legally considered as his act? Whatever differences of opinion may exist with regard to this question, according to the various lights in which the subject of it may be viewed, all will agree in the following principle, that it is both the right, and the duty of a parent to place his beloved offspring under the best means to enlighten and cultivate their minds, to form their hearts, to regulate their lives, and to prepare them, if possible, for the highest happiness, both in this world, and the world to come; in one word, to initiate them in the school of Christ.* This school is the church: these means of education are the ordinances, the instructions, the discipline, the watchful care, and prayers of the church. And it is one, and not the least of the spiritual blessings resulting from baptism in infancy, that, thereby, parents, in addition to the tender constraints of natural duty, impose upon themselves the most solemn voluntary obligations to train

*Upon this subject, one would think that there could not exist any diversity of opinion. It seems to be a manifest principle of justice, that a parent has a right to enter into contract, or to make any engagement in the name of his child, for his benefit, which it is the privilege of his child, when he arrives at mature age, to accept; although he is at liberty also, to his own detriment, to reject; and which, if it involves his duty, as well as his interest, as in the present case, he is under sacred obligations to fulfil. Such engagement is not imposing on our posterity a burden, but gaining for them a benefit