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Nicodemus that there was meaning in what he had said, the Saviour reiterated and enlarged upon his assertion in the most solemn manner: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God... that which is born of the flesh is flesh, &c.:" which led Nicodemus to ask the question, "How can these things be?" submissively waiting an explanation. And then our Lord says," Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" This appeal to him was, I apprehend, intended to excite his recollection of his own Scriptures, and the character of the servants of God in every age: as though our Lord had said, " Art thou ignorant that all the eminent men of your nation, in whom you glory, were regenerated characters-men inspired of God, and partakers of his holiness? And do you not recollect such passages as Psalm li.; Jer. xxxiii. 8.; Ezek. xi. 19.; Ezek. xxxvi. 25 -29?" I conceive our Lord's question to have been especially designed to bring to his recollection these and similar passages of the Old Testament, in which allusion is doubtless made to the ceremonial ablutions of the Jews; and that he used the terms water and spirit, symbolically as they are used in those passages-the Spirit, to express the quickening influence by which men are made partakers of a spiritual life; and the water, to express that purifying and Divine influence by which they are made partakers of God's holiness. In this symbolical way only, as in the 25th and 26th verses of the 36th chapter of Ezekiel, and in many other passages, the terms spirit and water seem to be used for the two great characteristics of a regenerated man-divine life and purity. Doubtless the whole work of regeneration is by the power and grace of the Holy Ghost; but in our Lord's reply to Nicodemus, it must

have been his intention by allusions familiar to Nicodemus, to explain the meaning of what he had said; and therefore he could not assume his knowledge of the personality of the Holy Ghost. The expression, "the spirit," would naturally be understood by a Jew as indicating the Divine energy and source of life; and I conceive this interpretation to be the more necessary, because I apprehend there is no other instance in the whole Scriptures in which a Divine person and a material agent are similarly associated, as they appear upon the supposition that the Holy Ghost is personally intended. The words of the Baptist, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Matt. iii. 11), appear similar; but, if the interpretation of this passage which I offered in your volume for 1820 (p. 728) be correct, is not the true one. The common interpretation proceeds up. on the supposition, that the meaning of that passage is, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, as with fire," which is untenable without altering the sacred text. But the interpretation offered in the paper I have referred to is not liable to similar objection; and I humbly conceive it receives much strength from a parallel conversation of our Lord's, John vi. 53-63*; a passage in which it is curious to observe, that it has the same aspect with respect to the Lord's Supper, that the other has with regard to baptism: and it seems as far-fetched to suppose that our Lord designed to intimate any thing respecting baptism in the one case, as that he intended to intimate anything respecting the holycommunion in the other. It is observable that both the passages are accompanied by a similarity of remark,

The allusion in this passage is, I presume, to the paschal lamb; though the drinking of the blood, so contrary to Jewish institutions and habits, ap. pears, I confess, to present a considerable difficulty.

which tends very much to shew an agreement in their character and tendency. To Nicodemus, the Saviour says, "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?" And, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he which came down from heaven," &c. In the sixth chapter -to a company composed partly of affectionate disciples, partly of persons who, like Nicodemus, were disposed to receive explanation and instruction, but partly and principally of temporary followers, inclined to cavil and to find excuses for finally withdrawing from him-he says, "Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?" And then he adds, what I conceive perfectly explains his meaning in both cases; "It is the Spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Here, I apprehend, Scripture is its own interpreter, and that a careful comparison of the two passages, and of the texts referred to, "6 comparing spiritual things with spiritual," will make the meaning sufficiently obvious.

After our Lord had, in an abrupt but appropriate and most impressive manner, fixed in the mind of Nicodemus the idea of spiritual regeneration, he advanced to an exhibition of the glorious and characteristic doctrines and mysteries of the kingdom of God, knowing him now to be prepared to reverence his words, and to meditate with profit upon his amazing declarations; and it is highly probable, from the subsequent conduct of Nicodemus, that he became a humble and intelligent believer; and that he was eminent for his faith and affectionate attachment to the Redeemer; though, by the mysterious overruling of Divine Providence, and for unknown but certainly wise purposes, he was permitted to

continue in a station from which his attachment to the rejected Messiah we might have supposed would necessarily have caused him to be expelled.

When the holy writers and speakers of the New Testament make use of the term baptism, they have frequently, I conceive, a more particular reference to the thing signified, than to the outward and visible sign. Surely if it be true of circumcision, it is not less true of baptism, that it is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter. "Baptism doth save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh," the external observance, but the spiritual baptism of the mind. and heart, " the answer of a good conscience towards God." (1 John iii. 21, and iv. 17.) That

the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," is a New Testament maxim which should never be for gotten, and a lively impression of which would be of singular use in many controversies, and not least so in that on the question of baptismal regeneration. In proportion as the nominal church became corrupt and secular, this maxim was lost sight of; and external obser vances were magnified, till at length transubstantiation and the opus operatum became triumphant. The history of many ages will shew how awfully successful have been the labours of the unregenerate professors of Christianity, in rendering it a plastic secular concern, subservient to the purposes of human depravity.

I offer the above remarks with humility and deference. If the thoughts are original and just, they may be of some value: if otherwise, I shall be glad to receive, and will candidly weigh, the objections of your biblical correspondents.

To prevent any misapprehension of my meaning, I would add, in conclusion, that the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity, seems to me to have been, without doubt, the faith of the an

cient believers; though I apprebend that it was not intended that the distinct personality of the Son and the Holy Ghost should be clearly recognised till after the full publication of the Gospel. That distinct personality may, however, be abundantly proved from the New Testament, without the aid of any dubious or overstrained passage.

J. M. W.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. AFTER consulting various authors sacred and profane, with a view to discover on what authority Calvary is so generally spoken of as a mount or mountain, I find myself unable to gain any information on the point. I should feel greatly obliged, therefore, if some one of your readers, learned in Biblical antiquities, would resolve my doubt. QUÆRENS.

MISCELLANEOUS.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I HAVE read with much satisfaction the concise but able and convincing refutation inserted in your Number for last November (p.728,) of the unguarded and unjust charges urged by the Quarterly Reviewers against the Church Missionary Society. It would be well if writers of their talent and influence, and who profess to be ranged on the side of Christianity, orthodoxy, and loyalty, against the seditious, the blasphemous, and the anti-Christian part of the press, would look a little more cautiously to the probable effect of some of their statements than they seem to have done in the present instance. It can give no pleasure to the friends or conductors of that work to find the paper in question hailed as follows by the Monthly Magazine; a publication which needs no stigma of mine to point out the character of its principles on all subjects of politics or religion. Speaking of the article under consideration, (Quar. Rev. No. L., Oct. 1821,) the conductors of the Monthly Magazine remark:

"Martyn's Memoirs exhibit a deplorable picture of devotional hypochondria. Mr. Martyn, we doubt not, was a harmless, wellmeaning creature, who had fallen into such mistaken notions of the

Almighty's goodness and his own unworthiness, as to consider it a proof of infinite mercy that he was ' out of hell,' There are many Mr. Martyns in England; but we thank God we are not of the number. This article contains also some spirited and just observations on the abortiveness of missionary labours. It appears that the Church Missionary Society' expended up. wards of 30,000l. last year, and that of twenty converts made at one of their eight stations in four years, they had all relapsed except one!"

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Leaving the Quarterly Reviewer to parry off as well as he can the disgraceful panegyrics of such an ally in the anti-missionary crusade, I shall request permission to touch upon another point of some importance brought forward in his critique. I shall not at present dilate upon the general opinions and conclusions of the reviewer, relative to the missionary character and labours of the sainted Martyn, whose humble, holy, zealous, and disinterested exertions for the salvation of the heathen will be remembered and appreciated long after the strictures and the praises of his contemporaries are forgotten; but I would be permitted to offer a few cursory remarks on certain passages in the article in question, respecting the discretion be observ

ed in administering the rite of baptism to the idolatrous people of the East. In pp. 443 and 444, the reviewer has thought proper to assert, (and that notwithstanding the praises he has liberally and honourably bestowed upon him, in other parts of the review,) that "his management was too rigorous at the outset; that he made no allowance for the gradual reception of the truths which he taught; he fancied that nothing was gained to the household of faith, unless the proselyte were at once as good a Christian as himself. An extract or two from his Journal will explain this, and the loss of many opportunities of adding to the number of those who would be saved, through a too punctilious attention to single and insulated points of doctrine. [Query, Is the term “insulated" strictly applicable to any part of that volume which forms one consolidated mass of divine and imperishable truth ?]Application for baptism having been made to him by one of the native women, and refused, he thus observes upon it:" (the subjoined passage is taken from page 275 of the first edition of the Memoir.)

"Your account of a native woman, whom you baptized, came in season for me. I have been subjected to some similar perplexities, but I think no one would refuse baptism in the case you mention. The woman, who is making the same petition here, promises to marry, and comes frequently for instruction, but her heart is not touched with any tender sense of sin, and of her need of mercy. Yet, if there be no scandal in her life, and she professes her. belief in those points in which they are interrogated in the Baptismal Service, may I lawfully refuse?—I cannot tell what to do. I seemed almost resolved not to administer the ordinance till convinced in my own mind of THE TRUE REPENTANCE of the person."

On this extract from Mr. Mar-
CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 242.

tyn's correspondence with his excellent friend Mr. Corrie, the re viewer remarks, and that after having admitted that the supposed candidates for baptism, "though convinced of the truth, were ignorant of the spirit, of Christianity," that "it appears to have escaped Mr. Martyn, that the Hindoo had better offer an imperfect service to the Most High, than bow his knee in the temple of Juggernaut. Is nothing gained, if, by admitting those people to the rites of baptism, we save, as we undoubtedly shall, their women from the funeral pile, their children from the Ganges, and their young damsels from the impurities of the most revolting of religious rites? Is it nothing to instruct and purify by degrees? but must we insist on au absolute, a thorough regeneration at once, or refuse to admit them into our communion?"

Having fairly transcribed the sentiments of the Quarterly Reviewer, on this important point, I would ask, Are they just? are they warranted by fact? are they such as the editor of an accredited and widely circulated journal ought to have presented to the public?

I must begin by noticing the concession made by the reviewer himself respecting the ignorance of those who were desirous of being admitted to the sacrament of baptism: "Though convinced of the truth, they were ignorant of the spirit, of Christianity." And were these persons in a fit state of preparation to come to the holy fount? Could they seriously undertake those promises and vows, whose especial object is to enforce "the spirit of Christianity?" Is a person considered qualified to take a solemn oath in any temporal concern, without having first informed himself of the spirit of his obligation? And can any thing be more preposterous than an engagement on the part of a Hindoo, in the presence of the Searcher of all hearts, "to renounce the world,

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the flesh, and the devil; to believe all the articles of the Christian faith; obediently to keep God's holy will and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of his life;" while he knows nothing of the spirit or meaning of the stipulations into which he professes to enter? Would it be wise, or merciful, or pious, on the part of a minister of Christ, thus to entrap him into a vow which he has no intention of keeping, and which he does not even understand?

But I will next consult an authority, to which the Quarterly Reviewer is accustomed to defer; namely, that of the episcopal author of the Elements of Christian Theology." In the 2d vol. third edition (on Article XXVII.), his lordship thus expresses himself on the subject of Christian baptism: "Tertullian, who lived about sixty years afterwards, says, 'They that come to baptism must use the devotions of frequent prayer, fastings, kneelings, and watchings, and the confession of all their past sins, that they may at least do as much as was done in John's baptism.' From these passages it appears, that the persons to be baptized were required to undergo certain preparations, and to make certain promises; and that the whole of this important business might be conducted with the greater regularity and solemnity, it was customary to perform baptism, except in cases of necessity, only twice in the year-namely, at Easter and Whitsuntide. The candidates gave in their names several weeks before the day appointed: they were in the mean time instructed and examined by the ministers of the church; and it was indispensibly necessary that they should be able to give some account of the grounds of their faith; and, beside this previous instruction, they were called upon at the time of their baptism, by answering certain questions, to declare their belief in the fundamental doc

trines of the Gospel, and to promise obedience to its precepts in a manner similar to our form of baptizing adult persons."-And again, page 459;"In ancient times," remarks his lordship, "a mixture of milk and honey was given immediately after baptism, and a white garment was put upon the persons baptized, as emblematical of the purity which they had now acquired."

Though the practice of the primitive church, to which the bishop immediately refers in the foregoing extract, might be sufficient to decide the point at issue between the Quarterly Reviewer and the defender of Henry Martyn, I would nevertheless strengthen my argument by shortly consulting the declared and authoritative sentiment of the Church of England on the subject. Referring to her office of Adult Baptism (and be it remembered; that Mr. Martyn, in the passage quoted by the reviewer, was immediately speaking of adults), I find the following rubric: " When any such persons as are of riper years are to be baptized, timely notice shall be given to the bishop, or whom he shall appoint for that purpose, a week before at the least, by the parents, or some other discreet persons; that so due care may be taken for their examination, whether they be sufficiently instructed in the principles of the Christian religion; and that they may be exhorted to prepare themselves, with prayers and fasting, for the receiving of this holy sacrament." Next follows a peculiarly striking exhortation to the persons about to be baptized, requiring them " faithfully" to undertake those promises and vows which I have already noticed. In like manner, our excellent catechism represents" repentance whereby they forsake sin, and faith whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God, made to them in that sacrament," as "what is required of persons to be baptized."

It may perhaps be replied, that

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