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less for irreverent "free-handling" and noisy debate; but rather for devout meditation and adoring awe. They are not to be rudely denied or scornfully questioned ; but "heard meekly and received with pure affection," i.e., with undoubting faith and heartfelt gratitude for even such a peep into the clouds and darkness that enshroud the Majesty on High, a peep which is granted to our dim vision only to teach humility in the present, and stimulate our longing for the future, when we may see face to face and know even as we are known. (Job xi. 7; Ps. xviii. 7—15; lxxiii. 15, 6; 1 Cor ii. 10; xiii. 12; Phil. iv. 7; Litany.)

2.

"Hard things;" a trial of faith, test of obedience, and sure to prove valuable as they unfold in the future. On the same principle, children are taught the Alphabet, Catechism, Tables, and a variety of "Rules of Thumb," not understood at the time, or expected so to be, but, all the same, "received and believed;" and valuable in proportion as they are faithfully stored in memory for daily use and future comprehension. (Art. viii.)

3. What the whole Catholic and Apostolic Church has "received and believed" for so many hundreds of years, it cannot be wise or safe for anyone to reject now, merely because he does not understand its metaphysical subtleties, or fails to grasp the meaning of the scholastic terms employed, any more than it would be to shut out the noonday sun and work by a farthing rushlight. (Jer. vi. 16; Rom. xi. 20.)

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4. Far more sensible, to accept it humbly; to say with the Psalmist, Open Thou mine eyes," &c.; with the Apostles, Lord, increase our faith ;" and meanwhile act upon Christ's assurance, 'If any man will do God's will, he shall know of

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the doctrine," &c. ; for the promise is, that "He who hath, to him shall be given;" he who uses his few talents well, shall have more; the dawn shall brighten into day. (Ps. cxviii. 18; Prov. iv. 18; S. Matt. xiii. 12; S. Mark ix. 24; S. John vii. 17; Phil. iii. 15; S. James iv. 6.)

BISHOP COTTON'S SUMMARY.

We cannot too strongly impress on those who recoil from its definitions and distinctions, that its object was not to limit but to widen the pale of the Church, which various Heretical Sects were attempting to contract. It contains no theory of the Divine Nature, but contradicts certain false opinions about it, and states the revealed truths of the Trinity and Incarnation without any attempt to explain them. It especially censures four errors, viz. (1) the heresy of ARIUS, who "divided the Substance" of the Godhead, by teaching that the Father was the Supreme, and the Son an Inferior Deity; (2) of SABELLIUS, who "confounded the Persons," by supposing that the Father took our nature as the Man Christ Jesus, and after dying for our salvation operates on our hearts as the Holy Ghost; (3) of NESTORIUS, who so completely separated our Lord's Divinity and Humanity, as to teach that He is not one but two Christs; and (4) of APOLLINARIS, who asserted that He was not perfect Man, with a reasonable (rational) soul, but a Being in Whom the Godhead supplied the place of the Human intellect. (Calcutta, 1863.)

IS DISSENTERS' BAPTISM VALID?

This is a question often asked-"Is there any reason to believe that the ministration of the outward sign by a Dissenting preacher, conveys the inward grace which is necessary to salvation ?"

The following considerations may assist in suggesting a suitable answer.

1. The object of Baptism is to open the door of the Kingdom of Heaven for the admission of outsiders, i.e., to graft into the vine Christ Jesus, or

add to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, such as shall be saved. (Acts ii. 47.)

Query. How can this be done, except by some one who is (a) himself inside, and (b) in possession of the key? (S. Matt. xvi. 19.)

2. The effect of Baptism is to introduce new servants into the household of Christ, and new recruits into His army.

Query. Who can do this, but a duly commissioned Officer in either case?

3. The "grace" of Baptism is "remission of sins" and "new birth unto righteousness." (Nicene Creed and Catechism.)

Query. Who can pretend to convey such a message and gift from God to Man, except a duly appointed Ambassador? (2 Sam. xii. 13; Acts iii. 12, 16.)

4. Baptism is in all respects a purely Divine appointment, and man has not the right or power to pick and choose among its various particulars, so as to pronounce that this or that detail may or may not be added or subtracted, altered or omitted, according to circumstances.

5. The three parts of this ordinance are (a) the Ministry, (b) the Matter, (c) the Words; as plainly indicated by Christ Himself in His last command, "Go ye... Baptizing . . . . in the Name," &c. (S. Matt. xxviii. 19); where it is observable that no distinction is made between the three, but all are equally imperative.

6. Christ did not say, as He might, if He had so intended it, "Go everybody and baptize;" but "Go ye." And this limitation to a select few was ipso facto, an exclusion of all others. (Num. iii. 10; xvi. 7.)

7. Nor did Christ say, as He might if He had

chosen to do so, "Lo! I am with Baptism, whosoever may administer it;" but, "I am with you when baptizing."

8. Hence it is evident that in Christ's view of Baptism the Minister is as important a feature of the rite as the Matter and the Words.

9. No one would dream of acknowledging Baptism valid if any change were made in the Matter or the Words; i.e., if wine or milk, for instance, were used instead of water. How then can a change be made in the Minister without equally affecting the rite's validity?

10. By comparing S. John iii. 5 with vi. 53, it is obvious that if the plea of " Danger" warrants Lay Baptism, it gives equal sanction to Lay Celebrations of the Holy Communion, a measure never advocated by the warmest maintainers of the "Opus operatum" theory.

11. If, however, a Lay Churchman should, in such a case of imminent peril, use the right Matter and Words, and recognize his act as done by himself only in the character of Bishop's deputy, it is conceivable that his act may be accepted by God, and the door of the Kingdom thereby opened to the child.

12. But the case is widely different when a Dissenting Preacher is called in to perform the ceremony, not as Bishop's deputy and because of "great danger," but because ignorant people, being imposed on by his assumption of a "Reverend " title, &c., imagine him to possess in himself a sort of Sacerdotal character, which lifts him far above the "Lay" level.-[N.B.-This popular notion is a striking though unconscious testimony to the fact that the "Sacerdotal Principle" is of Divine origin, and that while Reading and Preaching are

quite within a Layman's province, none but a rightly Ordained Priest has any authority to minister in Sacraments and Sacramentals.]

13. For (a) the D. P. is himself standing outside the Church, and therefore cannot let anyone else in. (b) He is not only outside, but bitterly hostile, and always doing his best to pull it down. (c) He is nothing more than a Layman in Clerical Masquerade, and consequently no more authorised to meddle with Sacraments than a Lay Churchman. (d) The validity of any Ministerial act, like the authority of any Civil or Military Officer, depends not at all upon the assumed title, loud voice, fluent tongue, intellectual ability, personal piety, &c., &c, of the "Minister," but simply upon the genuineness of the Commission or Warrant by which he claims to be the Ambassador of the King of Kings, and to bind or loose in the name, i.e. by the authority, of the Holy Trinity.

14. The Greek and Roman recognition of Lay Baptism (which is often quoted as decisive) has no reference whatever to the acts of Dissenters done in defiance of the Church; and applies only to loyal Churchmen in full communion, as stated in section II above. Moreover, it is a comparatively modern innovation upon the ancient Catholic usage, which was based on the sound principle, that if a Rite of God's appointment could not be performed as He had ordered, it was wiser, safer, and more reverential, to leave it alone altogether. Thus the Jews during the seventy years' Captivity had no Daily Sacrifice; for though Priest and Victim were at hand, they had not the Temple Altar, which was one of the three requisites for its exact performance.

15. Our Private Baptism Rubric at first ran somewhat vaguely thus :-"One of them that be

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