divide, or separate; it must, therefore, relate to some body capable of being divided or separated. Upon reference to the first chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, we find that the Church is called the Body, of which Christ is the Head.The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, saith the Apostle, hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is his Body; and, from this description of the Church as the Body of Christ, the term Schism, in its application to it, denotes a division among the members of which that Body is composed, occasioned by a want of obedience to the government, which Christ, by his Apostles, settled in the Church, and a consequent separation from its communion, in contradiction to the Divine plan of its establishment; the design of which was, that all Christians should be joined together in the same mind, and in the same worship, continuing, according to the primitive pattern in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Such is the nature and quality of Schism, which Sin consists in its being a direct violation of the order and government established in the Church, thereby constituting a species of rebellion against its Divine founder." In support of this account of the Sin of Schism, Mr. Daubeny produces such apposite quotations from the Apostolic writings, and those of the primitive Martyr, St. Ignatius, as sufficiently warrant his drawing the following just and striking inferences: "If then the constitution of the Christian Church is the same now that it was in the days of the Apostles, (and if it is not, the time when, and the authority by which an alteration was produced in it, should be ascertained) the sin of Schism, however we may attempt to palliate it, is precisely the same sin it then was ; and if the primitive writers of the Church spoke so decidedly upon the subject, with a view of guarding its members against so heinous a sin, where it respected chiefly the separation of inferior ministers, from the jurisdiction of their respective bishops; what would they have said upon it, had they lived to mark the extent to which this sin is carried in the days in which we live? If they considered Schism, as it was then practised, as the greatest of all crimes, because it directly counteracted the divine plan in the establishment of the Church; what language would they have found sufficiently strong, to express their abhorence. of that babel of confusion, which now prevails in the Christian world? If the preservation of the government of the Church constituted an object of that importance in their eyes, as to subject any, the least, opposition to it to their severest censure, what must they have thought of that licentious practice, which leads to its total dissolution? When in consequence of all ideas respecting the nature of the Church having been in a great measure lost amongst us, men look not beyond themselves for that co mission, by which they presume to enter upon the ministry holy things; drawing congregations after them, and the 184 A succinct history of baptism. dividing Christian professors into as many sects and parties, as there are self-sufficient teachers to be found who have an end to answer, or a passion to gratify upon the occasion." [To be continued.] A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF BAPTISM, AS ADMINISTERED IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.Continued. Chap. 6. Of the TIME and PLACE of BAPTISM. N the former chapter we observed, that the baptism of adults was always, either for preparation or punishment, whilst catechumens were under instruction, or kept in a state of penance for scandalous transgression. Others deferred their baptism voluntarily, against the rules of the Church; a practice which was frequently complained of, refuted and condemned. Some did it, from laziness or negligence of their salvation; a very common reason, though not so commonly owned, on account of the reproach attending it. Others, from an heathenish principle, a love of the world, or an unwillingness to submit to the restraint of Christ's yoke :"They could spend their life in pleasure, and be baptized at the last, with the same advantage; for the "labourers who came into the vineyard at the last hour" had the same reward as those who had borne the burden and heat of the day."—An absurd and foolish reason, which those who were governed by it were ashamed to own. Others, from a sort of Novatian principle, pretending to be afraid of falling into sin after baptism, because there was no second baptism allowed, to regenerate men, to the kingdom of heaven; whereas, if baptized even at the hour of death, heaven would be open to them, and they might go undefiled into it. In the mean time, if they died before baptism, they hoped that God would accept the desire of receiving it for the sacrament itself.-Others pretending to follow our blessed Lord's example, deferred their baptism, till they were thirty years old; because he was of that age when he was baptized. A weak and erroneous pretence, fully refuted by Gregory Nazianzen, in his 40th Oration upon the subject of baptism. Many more were the pretences which men used for deferring their baptism; but these are sufficient to shew that great delays in this matter were commonly against the rules and orders of the Church; and the antient Christians always declaimed against it, as a dangerous and an unchristian practice. To obviate these pretences, the Church appointed certain times for baptism, in ordinary cases, allowing her ministers Still the liberty to anticipate them in case of great proficiency, or danger of death. The most celebrated time was Easter; next, A succinct history of baptism. 185 Pentecost or Whitsunday, and then Epiphany, on which Christ was supposed to have been baptized. The two former are sometimes mentioned without the other.-St. Jerome speaks of them without mentioning the latter;-and those two only are spoken of by Tertullian, who says, Easter was appointed for this solemn purpose, as being the time of Christ's sufferings, into which we are baptized; and that Pentecost was set apart for the same end, because at that time Christ manifested his resurrec tion to his disciples, and the grace of the Holy Spirit was first given; and the Angels predicted his second Advent as his Ascension. By Pentecost he does not mean a particular day, but the whole fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide,which was one continued festival in his time. This, perhaps, is the reason why some ancient canons allow no other time than that of Easter, for baptism, including the whole time from Easter to Pentecost, in the sense given by Tertullian. In the Council of Girone all catechumens are ordered to come only at Easter and Pentecost ;-and Siricius says, it was against the rules of the Roman Church to administer baptism at any other time but Easter, with its Pentecost, or fifty days following; exčept to infants, and persons in a languishing condition, and in danger of death. Pope Leo also, and after him, Gelasius, prohibited baptism at any other time, except in those cases; so that in the Roman and Western Churches, this was the general rule. In the Eastern Churches, and in Africa, Epiphany also seems to have been regarded as a festival sacred to the celebration of baptism. The festival of the Dedication of the Church was, in some places, likewise a solemn time for baptism. Sozomen observes it to have been so at Jerusalem, from the time that Constantine built the celebrated Church over our Saviour's grave on Mount Calvary, called Anastasis, or "The Church of the Resurrection." The custom of baptizing on the festivals of the Apostles and Martyrs, seems to have prevailed in many of the French and Spanish Churches; but it was condemned by many canons, and therefore cannot be spoken of as an authentic custom Indeed in the first planting of the Gospel, there was no obli gation to observe any stated times for baptism, because the Apostles made no law concerning it. They themselves baptized at any time, and left it to the prudence of their successors to make what regulations they should think proper. This is evi dent from a comparison of the history of the Acts of the Apostles, with the subsequent history of the Church. The promptness and proficiency of some catechumens above others, gave them an earlier title to baptism, if they desired it, especially in the Eastern Churches; without waiting for one of the greater festivals: so that as these solemn times were set apart for prudent reasons, so on a similar account they might be dispensed with;-especially as Tertullian observes, since every 186 A succinct history of baptism. day is the Lord's, and every time fit for baptism, if men are fit and prepared to receive it. The like asservation may be made with respect to the place of baptisin, which varied also with the state and circumstances of the Church. In the Apostolical age, they baptized in any convenient place. Thus John baptized in Jordan ;---Philip baptized the Ethiopian nobleman in the wilderness; Paul baptized the failor in his own house, and Peter baptized his Roman converts in the river Tiber, as Tertullian informs us. Nor was it considered a thing of any consequence, whether baptism was per formed in the water of a river, or a fountain, provided it was done by invoking the name of the blessed Trinity, and by a person properly authorized;-as the author of the Recognitions observes, lib. 4, chap. 32, who describes his own baptism and that of others, as given them by Peter in certain fountains in Syria, near the sea shore. And thus it seems to have continued till the time of Justin Martyr and Tertullian;-the latter of whom speaks of their going from the Church to the waters, and there making their renunciations as they had done in the Church before. And Justin Martyr says, they brought the persons who were to be baptized to a place of pure water, and there gave them the regeneration or new birth. But in after ages,when baptistries were erected, the custom was altered, and rules were made, that baptism should not ordinarily be administered any where but in them. Justinian, in one of his novels, refers to ancient laws, appointing that none of the sacred mysteries should be celebrated in private houses. Men might have private oratories in their houses, but they were not to administer baptism or the Eucharist in them without a particular licence from the Bishop. Such baptisms were frequently condemned by the ancient Councils, under the name of parabaptismata, or "Baptisms in private conventicles;"--and the Council of Trullo forbad all such, under pain of deposition to the Ad ministrator, and excommunication to the Receiver." In cases, however, of necessity, such as imprisonment. journeying, and the like, these rules were not obligatory; and hence we read of martyrs baptized in prison, others at sea, or on a jour.ney. Thus also oratories were sometimes allowed for the cele bration of the Eucharist:-And it is reasonable to suppose, that if the Eucharist was administered in them, baptism was not dis allowed. The Council of Eliberis, in Spain, speaks of Deacons presiding over people and baptizing in places where there was nei ther Bishop nor Presbyter; which we must suppose to have been country villages at some distance from the mother Church,where for the sake of convenience, the administration was performed by a deacon. So that, though the Bishop's Church was the or dinary place of baptism; yet, upon proper occasions, it might Le administered at other places with his permission. Extracts from the Rev. E. W. Whitaker's Discourses. 187 The renunciations made by the catechumens in the primitive Church, previous to their baptism, shall be the subject of our [To be continued.] next. EXTRACTS FROM THE REV. E. W. WHITAKER'S DISCOURSES. N his Sermon, "On the establishment of the Chuch," he has the following observations on the purity of our Liturgy: "How little the service we perform on the Lord's day differs from that which our earliest predecessors in Christianity were wont to pay; ye may judge from the following short account, copied from an eminent historian, who has taken it chiefly from what has been left us by the primitive martyrs. In these Assemblies (speaking of those of the Church) the Holy Scriptures were publicly read, and for that purpose were divided into certain portions, or lessons. This part of the divine service was followed by a brief exhortation to the people. The prayers, which make a considerable part of the public worship, came in at the conclusion of these discourses, and were repeated by the people after the Bishop or Presbyter, who presided in the service. To these were added certain hymns,which were sung not by the whole assembly, but by persons appointed for that purpose, during the celebration of the Lord's Supper and the Feasts of Charity. Such (continues the historian) were the essential, parts of divine service, which were observed in all Christian Churches, though, perhaps, the method and order in which. they were performed, were not the same in all." Behold, then, here particularized the lessons, the prayers, the sermon and the psalms, which are still continued in our religious assemblies ;and observe how little the service of our own Church differs. from that of the purest ages: a circumstance well worthy of admiration, after the revolution of so many centuries, and calculated to call to our minds the promise given to the disciples of our blessed Master, when he gave them permission to preach the gospel to all nations ;-" And lo! I am with you always, 'to, the end of the world." In his sermon on baptism, the subject of Sponsors is treated of thus :-- 1st.—“ That the duty of a surety for a child in baptism, being a sacred and very important office, it highly behoveth the parents to invite none to it, who are not of an age sufficiently considerate to be duly sensible of the charge which they take on themselves, or of principles, and a disposition to discharge it with integrity and that when they have found such, they do not impede then in performing the promise they have made to see that the chil |