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B.VPTISTKHY    OF    BISHOP    PAULINUS. 


Frontispiece 


THE  BAPTISM 


OF   THE 


Ages  and  of  the  NatioiNS. 


BY 

WILLIAM  CATHCART,  D.D., 

AUTHOR   OF    "the    PAPAL    SYSTEM,"    AND   OF    "THE   BAPTISTS 
AND   THE   AMERICAN    REVOLUTION." 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

1420  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


^ 


-Sr  ,^.  LENOX  ANO 
T.UO.^  FOUNPAT10..3. 

l897. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1878,  by  the 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Westcott    &   Thomson, 
Ftcreolypers  and  Ekctrotypers,  PliUada. 


PEEFAOE. 


The  primary  object  which  claimed  the  attention 
of  the  writer  of  this  little  work  when  he  began  its 
preparation  was  to  secure  and  record  reliable  infor- 
mation about  the  mode  of  baptism  used  by  the  great 
missionaries  w^ho  planted  Christianity  among  the 
pagan  communities  now  constituting  the  chief  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  How  did  St.  Remigius  baptize 
Clovis  and  his  three  thousand  soldiers?  How  did 
St.  Patrick  baptize  the  Irish  ?  How  did  St.  Augus- 
tine baptize  King  Ethelbert  and  ten  thousand  of  his 
subjects  ?  How  did  Paulinus  baptize  the  thronging 
thousands  of  Englishmen  whom  he  was  the  means 
of  converting  in  Northumberland  ?  How  did  Boni- 
face baptize  his  hundred  thousand  Germans  ?  How 
did  St.  Anschar  baptize  the  Scandinavians?  How 
were  the  whole  people  of  Kieff  baptized  when  their 
Russian  master,  Vladimir  the  Great,  just  rescued 
from  heathenism,  ordered  them  to  become  Christians? 
The  work  has  expanded  beyond  the  original  plan, 
and  it  is  chiefly  a  book  of  facts  and  baptismal  testi- 
monies. 


INTEODUCTIOH". 


The  name  of  the  work,  "  The  Baptism  of  the 
Ages  and  of  the  Nations,"  has  been  chosen  be- 
cause it  describes  its  contents.  Its  joages  afford 
ample  evidence  that  for  twelve  centuries  immersion 
was  the  baptism  of  all  Christian  countries,  whether 
the  climate  was  bitterly  cold  or  intensely  hot,  and 
that  it  is  the  baptism  of  about  a  fourth  part  of  all 
who  bear  the  Christian  name  to-day.  And  the 
author  has  by  no  means  exhausted  this  evidence  by 
the  large  amount  of  it  placed  before  his  readers. 

The  important  portions  of  this  work  were  writ- 
ten by  the  Latin  and  Greek  Fathers,  by  historians, 
schoolmen,  monks,  bishops,  archbishops,  cardinals, 
and  popes  of  the  Koman  Catholic  Church — men 
who  are  ranked  among  her  most  honored  sons  and 
holiest  saints — and  by  eminent  clergymen,  travellers, 
and  other  authors  of  modern  Protestant  communi- 
ties. In  short,  all  that  is  valuable  in  the  book 
was  written  by  some  of  the  leading  men  of  all  the 
Christian  ages,  and  in  a  fevr  cases  by  the  inspired 
penmen  themselves. 

5 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

No  fecial  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  descrip- 
tions of  baptism  and  of  baptisms  from  Greek  Chris- 
tian writers,  and  some  valuable  testimony  from  these 
sources  has  been  designedly  passed  by,  because  it  is 
universally  known  by  well-informed  persons  that 
immersion  is  now,  and  ever  has  been,  the  baptism 
of  the  Greek  Church  and  of  all  other  considerable 
Eastern  Christian  communities.  Nevertheless,  every 
part  of  Christendom  is  represented  in  these  pages, 
either  by  creeds,  by  leading  men  teaching  immer- 
sion, or  by  the  immersion  of  candidates  for  bap- 
tism. 

The  quotations  so  frequently  used  in  the  follow'- 
iug  pages  are  all  sustained  by  reliable  authorities. 

The  meaning  of  "baptizo"  is  never  discussed. 
Efforts  in  that  field  can  add  nothing  to  the  results 
already  obtained.  The  sole  object  of  this  work  is 
to  present  narratives  or  descriptions  of  baptism  by 
immersion  in  all  countries — a  field  largely  neglect- 
ed by  Baptists. 

The  work  is  divided  into  geographical,  not  chrono- 
logical, sections.  The  baptismal  records  of  each 
country  are  placed  together,  and  for  this  reason 
the  earliest  baptisms  are  not  found  on  the  first  pages. 

In  conmion  with  all  regular  Baptists,  the  writer 
firmly  believes  in  salvation  by  faith  alone — bij  faith  in 
the  merits  and  imputed  righteousness  of  the  glorious 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

Redeemer.  But  he  denies  the  authority  of  any  being 
outside  the  eternal  throne  to  alter  in  any  particular, 
or  to  set  aside,  any  precept  ever  given  by  the  sov- 
ereign Lamb.  As  the  Roman  Catholic  wafer  without 
the  cup  is  a  counterfeit,  and  not  the  Lord's  Supper 
which  it  chiims.to  be,  so  baptism  without  immersion 
is  not  the  baptism  the  Saviour  received  in  the  river 
Jordan.  It  is  a  mere  human  contrivance,  with  less 
resemblance  to  Christ's  baptism  than  the  Romanist 
wafer  bears  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  little  work 
has  been  prepared  to  extend  the  practice  of  baptiz- 
ing those  only  ivhose  sins  have  been  already  washed 
away  by  faith  in  the  Saviour  s  blood,  and  who  in 
immersion  solemnly  and  symbolically  profess  their 
burial  and  resurrection  with  Christ. 

The  writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  "  Bucknell 
Library"  of  Crozer  Theological  Seminary  for  the 
use  of  its  very  valuable  collection  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical writings  of  all  ages — literary  treasures  of  the 
highest  worth.  For  facilities  in  the  nse  of  the 
library  he  is  under  lasting  obligations  to  his  friend 
the  honored  President  of  the  Seminary,  and  to  the 
other  professors. 

He  has  also  received  important  assistance  from 
the  noble  library  of  the  American  Baptist  Histori- 
cal Society. 

His    grateful    acknowledgments   are   due   to   the 


8  INTnODUCTlON. 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  N.  Arnold  of  Chicago,  the  Rev.  Dr.  H. 
Malcom,  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Rowhind,  the  Rev.  Dr.  G. 
AV.  Anderson,  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Gubelmann,  and  Alfred 
T.  Jones,  Esq.,  editor  of  The  Jewish  Record,  Phila- 
delphia, and  to  several  other  friends  in  Europe  and 
America,  for  valuable  articles  and  information. 

Praying  tliat  the  heavenly  Head  of  the  militant 
Church,  -who  honored  immersion  by  observing  it  him- 
self in  the  river  Jordan,  may  bless  this  effort  to  the 
advancement  of  his  gospel,  we  commit  it  to  the  ex- 
amination of  all  who  love  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

TRINE  IMMERSION 5 

ENGLAND. 
The  English. — Their  Pagan  state  in  596. — Bertha. — 
Augustine  in  Kent. — Baptism  of  the  Ten  Thousand. 
— Gregory's  Letter  to  Eulogius. — Three  witnesses: 
Fuller,  Green,  Tradition. — The  Swale  in  Kent. — 
Gocelin  and  the  Ten  Thousand. — Importance  of  this 
Baptism. — Baptism  of  King  Edwin  and  many  others. 
— The  Spring  in  York  in  which  it  Occurred. — Three 
Thousand  Baptized  in  a  Spring  at  Harbottle, — The 
Statue  of  Paulinus. — The  Crucifix  and  Inscription. — 
Tradition.  —  Camden. — The  Old  Memory.  —  Paulinus 
Baptizes  for  Thirty-six  Days  in  the  Eiver  Glen  and 
in  the  Swale. — He  Baptizes  a  Multitude  in  the  Trent. 
— The  Mercians  Baptized. — Caedwalla  Immersed  at 
Rome. — Bede  and  his  Baptism. — The  Council  of 
Celichyth  and  Immersion. — Fridegod  and  Immer- 
sion.— Ethelred's  Immersion. — Ancient  Font. — Anlaf, 
a  Royal  Robber,  is  Immersed. — Lanfranc  and  Im- 
mersion.— Cardinal  Pullus  and  Immersion. — The 
Christening  of  Prince  Arthur  and  of  the  Princess 
Margaret.  —  Immersion  in  the  time  of  ''  Bloody 
Mary."  —  Immersion  in  1644.  —  Immersion  in  the 
Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines.  —  Lightfoot's 
Journal. — Coleman. — Marshall. — Westminster  Assem- 
bly's  Commentary. — Dr.  Chalmers. — Cave's  Descrip- 


10  CONTEXTS. 

PAGE 

tion  of  Early  Baptism. — The  Manual  of  Sarum. — 
Bingham's  Description  of  Early  Baptism. — Milman 
and  Immersion, — Maitland  and  Immersion. — Brad- 
ford Episcopal  Church  Baptistery. — Immersion  com- 
pulsory in  the  State  Church  in  England  if  demanded.     18 


IRELAND. 

• 

St.  Patrick  Baptizes  Hercus  and  many  Thousand  others. 
— He  Baptizes  the  Amalgaidhs  and  Twelve  Thousand 
Men  in  the  well  Tobiir-en-Adare. — Many  Converts  Bap- 
tized at  a  Fountain. — Another  Baptism  of  St.  Patrick 
near  Dublin. —  Usher  Mentions  it. — Immersions  Re- 
corded by  O'Farrell. — The  Irish  Immersed  three  times. 
— An  Irish  Bishop  and  Immersion 62 

AMERICA. 

John  Wesley  Immerses  a  Child  in  Georgia. — He  seem- 
ingly Refuses  to  Sprinkle  another. — A  Baptism  by 
Henry  Ward  Beeclier  in  his  Church. — Professor  Ly- 
man Coleman  on  Immersion  as  "  the  first  Departure 
from  the  Teaching  and  Example  of  the  Apostles  "....     71 

FRAXCE. 

Clovis  and  the  Franks. — Clovis  and  the  Battle  of  Ziilpich. 
— Christ  on  tlie  Side  of  Clovis. — Avitus  on  the  Baptism 
of  Clovis. — Gregory  of  Tours  on  the  Battle-prayer  of 
Clovis. — Clotikla. — Remigius. — The  Baptism  of  Clovis 
and  of  Three  Thousand  Soldiers. — Gregory's  Mode  of 
Baptism. — Alcuin  on  tlie  Baptism  of  Clovis. — Alcuin's 
Letter  to  the  Canons  of  Lyons  on  Baptism. — Hincmar's 
Account  of  the  Baptism  of  Clovis,  his  Army,  his  Sisters, 
and  others. — His  Baptistery. — Archbishop  Magnus  of 
Sens  on  Immersion. — Leidradus,  Bisliop  of  Lyons,  on 
Immersion. — Tlieodiilphus,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  on  Iiu- 


CONTENTS.  11 

PAGE 

mersion, — Hincmar  of  Eheims  on  Immersion. — Im- 
mersion of  Hastein,  a  Danish  Pirate. — Immersion  of 
another  Pirate. — St,  Fulbert  and  Immersion. — Ivo, 
Bishop  of  Cliartres,  on  Immersion. — Hugo  of  St.  Vic- 
tor on  Immersion. — Abelard  and  Immersion. — Peter 
Lombard  and  Immersion. — Dupin  and  Immersion....     79 

SPAIN. 

St.  Isidore  on  Immersion. — The  Fourth  Council  of  To- 
ledo on  Immersion 105 

SWEDEN  AND  DENMAEK. 
St.   Anschar. — His    Character^   his   Baptisms. — Poppo's 
Baptizing  Brook 109 

GEEMANY. 
Boniface,  the  Missionary. — Othlon. — Pope  Gregory  II. — 
Pope  Zacharias. — Boniface  Baptizes  many  Thousands. 
— Samson  the  Irishman. — Pope  Zacharias  and  Immer- 
sion.—  The  Oath  of  Boniface. — Willibrord  Baptizes 
Three  Men  in  a  Fountain. — Alcuin's  Standing. — Spain 
and  One  Immersion. — The  Fathers  favored  Trine  Im- 
mersion.— Alcuin  doubts  the  Genuineness  of  the  Letter 
of  Gregory  the  Great  to  Leander. — Kohlrausch  Sprin- 
kles the  Saxons  in  a  Eiver. — Alcuin's  "  Divine  Offices." 
— Two  Bishops  describe  Baptism  to  Charlemagne. — 
Eabanus  Maurus  and  Trine  Immersion. — Haymo  and 
Immersion. — Wilafrid  Strabo  and  Immersion. — Sup- 
posed Cases  of  Pouring. — Eegino  and  Immersion. — 
St.  Bruno  and  Immersion.  —  Otto  Immerses  Seven 
Thousand  in  Pomerania. — Eupert  and  Immersion. — 
Luther  and  Immersion 112 

SWITZEELAND. 
Calvin  and  Immersion 132 


12  CONTENTS. 


ITALY. 

PAGE 

Clinic  Baptism  jor  Death. — First  Baptism  for  Death  was 
Pouring. — It  was  Defective  for  some  Offices  if  the  Per- 
son Recovered. — Cave,  Eusebius,  Pope  Cornelius,  No- 
vatian,  tlie  Council  of  Neo-Caesarea,  Chrysostom. — 
Called  "Clinics"  in  mockery,  instead  of  Christians. 
— Cyprian  defends  Clinics. — Its  Decline  after  Infant 
Baptism  sprang  up. — Immersion  of  a  Paralyzed  Jew 
in  A.  D.  408  in  Constantinople. — Martyrdom  the  Sec- 
ond Baptism  for  Death. — Cyprian. — Immersion  only 
for  those  likely  to  Live. — Justin  Martyr  on  Immer- 
sion.— Ambrose  on  Immersion. — Pope  Leo  the  Great 
and  Immersion. — St.  Maximus  of  Turin  and  Immer- 
sion.— Arator  on  Immersion. — Gregory  the  Great. — 
Arian  Trine  Immersion  in  Spain. — Gregory's  Letter 
to  Leander  approving  of  One  Immersion  in  Spain. — 
Maxentius  of  Aquila  on  Immersion. — The  Catechism 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  and  Immersion. — Dr.  Malcom 
describes  a  Catholic  Immersion  which  he  Witnessed  in 
Milan. — Dean  Stanley  on  Immersions  in  Milan. — The 
Baptistery  of  St.  John  de  Lateran  and  its  Immersions. 
— The  Waxen  Drawers  anciently  worn  by  Popes  when 
Immersing 134 


EUSSIA. 

Vladimir  the  Great.— His  Baptism.— The  City  of  Kieff 
Immersed  in  the  Dnieper. — Kelley,  Dean  Stanley, 
MouraviefF.  —  The  Archdeacon's  Story  who  Accom- 
l)anied  Macarius.— The  Synod  of  Vladimir  and  Trine 
Immersion. — Kohl's  account  of  a  Russian  Baptism 
whicli  lie  Saw. — The  Russian  Dissenters  Immerse. — 
Immersion  of  a  Convert  through  a  Hole  in  the  Ice  in 
18G'J  in  Russia 155 


CONTEXTS.  13 

TURKEY  AND  GEEECE.— The  Greek  Church. 

PAGE 

The  Constitution  and  Canons  of  the  Holy  Apostles. — Their 
.  Antiquity  and  Authority. — They  Command  Immersion. 
— Dionysius  Exiguus,  Strabo. — Gregory  of  Nyssa  and 
Immersion.  —  Chrysostom,  his  Views  of  Baptism. — 
Philostorgius  and  vSingle  and  Trine  Immersion. — Bay- 
ard Taylor  describes  a  Baptism  in  Athens. — Dr.  Ar- 
nold's Translation  of  the  Greek  Baptismal  Service. — 
Dr.  Arnold  on  Greek  Immersion. — Dean  Stanley  on 
Greek  Immersion 163 

SEE  VI  A. 
Baptism  of  Prince  Milan's  Son 1S5 

TUEKEY,  PEESIA,  AND  THE  EAST. 

A  Miracle  by  Immersion. — Baptismal  Service  of  the 
Nestorians  now  in  Use. — The  Armenians  and  Im- 
mersion   186 

PALESTINE. 

Jewish  Proselyte  Baptism. — Lightfoot. — A  Modern  Eabbi. 
— The  New  Testament  and  Immersion. — Lightfoot. — 
Jerome  and  Immersion 190 

NOETH  AFEICA. 

Tertullian. — His  Baptism  is  Immersion. — Tingo. — The 
Bishops  of  North  Africa  and  Immersion. — Character 
of  Augustine. — His  Baptism. — Baptism  of  Epidophorus 
in  Carthage. — Primasius  of  Adrumeta  and  Immersion.  196 

EGYPT. 

Boys  Baptized  by  Athansius. — Immersion  among  the 
Copts 206 

2 


14  CONTENTS. 

ABYSSINIA. 

PAGE 

Account  of  Immersions  by  Bruce 209 

CONCLUSION. 

AVhat  has  been  Proved. — Thousands  can  be  Immersed  in 
One  Day. — Probably  a  Majority  of  all  Living  and  Dead 
Christians  were  Immersed. — Increase  of  the  Baptist 
Denomination. — Immersionists  will  never  yield. — Jus- 
tification by  Faith  burst  from  under  a  Mountain  of 
venerable  Papal  Heresies. — Immersion  will  arise  from 
the  Grave  of  Six  Centuries 212 


Index 217 


THE 


Baptism  of  the  Ages  and  tlie  Nations. 


TEIl^E  IMMEESIOH". 

Trixe  immersion  was  the  general  practice  of 
Christians  from  the  end  of  the  second  till  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  proof  of  this  state- 
ment is  overwhelming.  But  the  proof  that  triple 
immersion  was  the  usual  mode  of  baptism  prevailing 
for  a  thousand  years  among  Christians  begins  with 
Tertullian  at  the  end  of  the  second  century,  not  with 
Christ.  Beyond  Tertullian  no  record  in  the  literature 
of  men,  in  the  hook  of  God,  or  in  any  symbol  known  to 
mortals  utters  a  single  loord  about  three  immersions 
in  baptism.  There  is  not  the  faintest  shadow  of  evi- 
dence, before  the  close  of  the  second  century,  that 
ever  has  been  brought  forward,  or  that  can  be  secur- 
ed, to  prove  the  existence  of  trine  immersion. 

The  impossibility  of  finding  evidence  for  this  prac- 

15 


16  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

tice  before  Tertiillian's  day  is  a  deadly  defect.  If  it 
only  occupied  a  place  in  the  Scriptures  and  in  the 
observances  of  the  inspired  apostles,  and  perished 
immediately  after  the  death  of  the  beloved  John, 
trine  immersion  could  defy  all  opposition.  But  it  is 
not  in  the  "  Book  of  books,"  where  all  Christ's  insti- 
tutions are  described  and  recorded  ;  the  apostles,  and 
the  men  who  learned  the  truth  directly  from  them, 
never  even  hint  at  it;  and  its  advocates  can  only 
appeal  to  conjectures  to  establish  its  existence  before 
the  end  of  the  second  century.  Jerome  presents  the 
truth  about  the  origin  of  trine  immersion  when  he 
says  :  "  Many  other  things  which  are  observed  by 
tradition  in  the  churches  have  secured  the  authority 
of  written  law  for  themselves,  as,  for  example,  to  im- 
merse the  head  three  times  in  the  font."  ^  No  man 
that  ever  lived  cherished  an  established  religious 
practice  like  trine  immersion  more  affectionately, 
and  clung  to  it  more  tenaciously,  than  Jerome. 
Ko  writer  of  the  fourth  century  was  better  informed 
about  the  customs,  present  and  past,  of  the  Christian 
Church,  than  Jerome.  And  he  was  right ;  trine  im- 
mersion was  only  a  tradition,  and  of  course  ought  to 

^  Mnlta  alia  qiite  per  traditionein  in  ecclesiis  observan- 
tur,  authoritatem  sibi  scriptse  legis  iisurpaverunt,  veliit  in 
lavacro  ter  caput  mergitare. — Adver.  LuciJ'ereanos,  vol.  iii. 
p.  63.  Basil,  Froben,  1516. 


AGES   AND   THE    NATIONS.  17 

be  rejected  by  all  friends  of  Bible  Christianity.  Sup- 
pose that  a  vessel  is  near  the  shore  in  a  fierce  storm ; 
the  anchorage  is  excellent,  and  the  ship  has  an  an- 
chor capable  of  saving  her  in  any  hurricane  where 
it  can  secure  a  proper  hold.  The  vessel  carries  a 
massive  chain,  whose  huge  links  no  power  of  the 
tempest  can  snap,  and  by  this  the  anchor  is  bound 
to  the  ship.  But  half  a  dozen  links  next  the  anchor 
are  gone,  and  some  tarred  rope,  just  strong  enough  to 
sustain  the  weight  of  the  anchor  whilst  it  is  lowered 
into  the  sea,  fastens  the  anchor  to  the  great  chain ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  fierce  storm  rages  the  rope  breaks, 
the  anchor  is  lost,  and  the  ship  is  dashed  to  pieces 
on  the  rocks.  The  cable  of  history  proving  the  long 
continuance  of  trine  immersion  stops  with  Tertullian  ; 
there  is  only  the  tarred  rope  of  conjecture  to  reach 
from  his  day  to  Christ ;  and  with  Baptists  that  rope 
has  given  way  long  ago.  As  our  fathers  refused  to 
receive  infant  baptism  with  nothing  to  support  it  but 
conjectures,  so  they  rejected  trine  immersion  resting 
on  that  poor  basis  ;  and  their  successors  in  the  faith 
have  followed  their  example. 

2*  B       . 


18  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 


ENGLAND, 

AND  THE  PEOPLE  AVHO  USE  THE  LANGUAGE 
OF  BRITAIN. 

St.  Augustine  Immersed  Ten  Thousand  in  the 
River  Swale  in  a.  d.  597. 

"When  the  Euglish  first  invaded  Britain,  their 
future  home,  they  found  its  inhabitants  a  Christian 
people.  The  ancient  Britons  had  been  led  to  the  Sa- 
viour by  missionaries  from  the  East,  now  unknown, 
in  the  first  or  second  century ;  and  long  before  the 
conquest  of  their  country  by  "  the  Angles,  Jutes,  and 
Saxons"  in  the  fifth  century,  the  nation  worshipped 
Jesus.  The  victorious  English  were  fierce,  persecut- 
ing Pagans.  They  burned  the  churches,  tortured  and 
murdered  the  clergy,  and  slew  the  people  without 
mercy  ;  and  those  who  escaped  their  ferocious  wrath 
had  to  fly  for  refuge  to  Cornwall  and  Wales.  The 
new  settlers  reared  temples  in  honor  of  their  ancient 
gods  all  over  Britain.  In  the  end  of  the  sixth  century 
England  was  divided  into  several  petty  kingdoms  by 
its  heathen  masters,  the  most  powerful  one  of  which, 
at  that  time,  was  Kent.  The  wife  of  Ethelbert,  its 
king,  was  a  French  lady  and  an  earnest  Christian. 


AGES   AND  THE   NATIONS.  19 

There  is  reason  for  believing  that  it  was  largely  in 
response  to  her  appeals  that,  in  a.  d.  596,  Pope  Greg- 
ory the  Great  sent  forty  missionaries  into  Kent  with 
Augustine  at  their  head.  The  preachers  were  so 
wonderfully  successful  that  in  a  short  time  the  whole 
people  of  Kent  were  professors  of  Christianity. 

Ten  Thousand  Baptized  on  One  Day. 

Pope  Gregory  in  a  letter  to  Eulogius,  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  informs  him  of  this  remarkable  triumph. 
He  writes :  "  More  than  ten  thousand  English,  they 
tell  us,  were  baptized  by  the  same  brother,  our  fellow- 
bishop  [Augustine],  which  I  communicate  to  you  that 
you  may  know  something  to  announce  to  the  people 
of  Alexandria,  and  that  you  may  do  something  in 
prayer  for  the  dwellers  at  the  ends  of  the  earth."  ^ 

The  numbers  baptized  on  this  celebrated  Christmas 
Day  present  no  obstacle  to  our  belief  in  the  statement 
of  Gregory.  If  the  forty  missionaries  were  engaged 
in  baptizing,  the  ten  thousand  would  only  have  fur- 
nished tATo  hundred  and  fifty  for  each.  But  it  is 
extremely  probable  that  the  converts  baptized  each 
other,  w^hile  Augustine  stood  in  some  prominent 
place  blessing  the  people  and  the  waters. 

^  Plus  quam  decern  millia  Angli  .  .  .  sunt  baptizati. 
Gregor.  Mag.,  torn.  iii.  lib.  viii.  Ep.  30.,  p.  952.  Migne. 
Parisiis,  1849. 


20  THE    BAPTISM   OF   THE 

Paulinus  baptized  several  tliousand  on  one  baptis- 
mal occasion ;  Reraigius  enjoyed  a  similar  blessing ; 
and  the  apostles  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  were  favored 
with  an  ingathering  of  three  thousand. 

Three  Witnesses   who  give  Testimony  about 
THLS  Baptism. 

Dr.  Thomas  Fuller,  a  learned  Episcopalian,  in  his 
Church  History  states  ^  that  '*  The  archbishop  [Augus- 
tine] is  said  to  have  commanded,  by  the  voice  of 
criers,  that  the  people  should  enter  the  river  oonfidently, 
two  by  two,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity  baptize 
one  another  by  turns."  This  was  clearly  a  grand 
immersion. 

Green's  History  of  the  English  People  is  a  recent 
work  of  great  research  and  fidelity.  Its  Episcopa- 
lian author  is  **  Examiner  in  the  School  of  Modern 
History  "  in  Oxford.  In  his  history,  Mr.  Green  writes : 
"As  yet  the  results  [of  the  labors  of  the  Roman  mis- 
sionaries] were  still  distant.  A  year  passed  before 
even  Etlielbert  yielded,  but  from  the  moment  of  his 
conversion  the  new  faith  advanced  rapidly.  TJie  Kent- 
ifth  men  crowded  to  baptism  in  the  river  Swale.  The 
under-kings  of  Essex  and  East  Anglia  received  the 

^  FuHoi-'h  Church  llii^tory  of  Britain,  vol.  i.  pp.  97,  98.  Lon- 
don, 1837. 


AGES   AND   THE    NATIONS.  21 

creed  of  theii;  over-lord."  ^  The  Swale  spoken  of  by 
Green  was  in  Kent.  The  Yorkshire  Swale  could  not 
have  been  used  for  baptism  until  thirty  years  after 
the  immersion  of  the  ten  thousand,  as  the  people  of 
that  region  were  not  converted  till  A.  d.  627.  With 
this  fact  Mr.  Green  is  perfectly  familiar.  This  river- 
baptism  was  an  immersion. 

Tradition  bears  strong  testimony  about  this  bap- 
tism. In  an  English  almanac  of  recent  date,  on  the 
lower  half  of  one  page,  there  is  a  record  of  the  visit 
of  Garibaldi  to  England,  and  of  the  birthdays  of 
Prince  Leopold,  the  Princess  Beatrice,  and  George 
Canning;  and  then  a  statement  that  on  the  "20th 
of  April,  A.D.  597,  Ethelhert,  King  of  Kent,  and  ten 
thousand  Saxons  ivere  baptized  in  the  river  Swale."" 
This  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  tradition,  except 
about  the  day  itself. 

An  intelligent  gentleman  of  another  denomination, 
now  residing  in  Canterbury,  in  a  private  letter  before 
me,  after  describing  the  river  Swale,  remarks :  "  This 
is  the  Swale  in  Kent.  There  is  a  river  of  the  same 
name  in  Yorkshire,  hut  it  was  in  the  Swale  in  Kent, 
according  to  tradition^  in  ivhich  the  haptism  took ]} lace" 
[of  the  ten  thousand]. 

^  Green's  History  of  the  English  People,  p.  55.     New  York, 

1877. 


22  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

The  River  Swale,  in  which  the  Ten  Thou- 
sand WERE  Baptized. 
Ireland's  History  of  Kent  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  Swale :  "  The  stream  which  flows  be- 
tween the  Isle  of  Sheppy  and  the  mainland  is  called 
the  Swale  (Plate  I.),  and  its  two  extremities  the 
East  and  the  West  Swale.  It  extends  for  twelve 
miles,  and  is  navigable  for  ships  of  two  hundred  tons 
burthen.''  "  The  East  Swale  is  nine  miles  from  Can- 
terbury." According  to  Ireland,  the  Swale  was  a 
river  deep  enough  to  be  dangerous  for  ten  thousand 
persons  to  throng  its  waters. 

Gocelin's  Account  of  the  Baptism  of  the 
Ten  Thousand. 

This  monk  is  called  Joscelyn  by  William  of 
Malmesbury,  Gotzelin  by  Dupin,  and  Gocelin  by 
the  Patrologice  Latince.  He  was  a  Frenchman  by 
birth,  and  he  came  to  England  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. He  was  familiar  with  the  Chronicles  of 
Kent — ivritten  long  before  his  day — *^  two  of  which 
were  collated  by  him." '  William  of  Malmesbury 
tells  us'^  that  he  was  regarded  as   a   man  "  of  un- 

^  Bede's  Eadesiadicdl  Hidonj,  p.  37,  preface.  Bohn,  Lon- 
don, 1870. 

^  Knyliifh  Chronicle,  ]\h.  iv,  cap.  i.  p.  355.     London,  1847. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  23 

common  learning  "  and  of  great  worth.  In  his  Life 
of  St.  Augustine  he  speaks  of  him — 

"As  rejoicing  in  success,  as  men  delight  in  the 
harvest,  and  as  conquerors  exult  in  the  spoils  they 
have  captured.  He  secured,"  says  he,  "  on  all  sides 
large  numbers  for  Christ,  so  that  on  that  birthday 
of  the  Lord,  celebrated  by  the  melodious  anthems 
of  all  heaven,  more  than  ten  thousand  of  the  Eng- 
lish were  born  again  in  the  laver  of  holy  baptism, 
with  an  infinite  number  of  women  and  children,  in  a 
river  which  the  English  call  Sirarios,  the  Swale,  as  if 
at  one  birth  of  the  Church,  and  from  one  womb. 

"These  persons,  at  the  command  of  the  divine 
teacher,  as  if  he  were  an  angel  from  heaven  calling 
upon  them,  all  entered  the  dangerous  depth  of  the 
river,  two  and  tivo  together,  as  if  it  had  been  a  solid 
plain  ;  and  in  the  true  faith,  confessing  the  exalted 
Trinity,  they  were  baptized  one  by  the  other  in 
turns,  the  apostolic  leader  blessing  the  w^ater.  .  .  , 
So  great  a  progeny  for  heaven  horn  out  of  a  deep 
whirlpool !"  ^ 

'  "In  flu vio  qui  Sirarios  Anglice  dicitur,  .  .  .  omnes  pariter 
bini  et  bini,  minacem  fluminis  profunditatem,  ac  si  soUdum 
campura  ingrediuntur  .  .  .  alter  ab  altero.  .  .  .  Tanta  pro- 
genies in  coelum  de  profundo  gurgite  nasceretur."  Vita  Sand. 
August.,  Patrologice  Latitice,  vol.  80,  pp.  79,  80.  Migne. 
Parisiis. 


24  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

The  word  "  whirlpool "  is  a  striking  figure  of  the 
chasm  made  in  the  waters  by  plunging  the  candidate 
under  their  surface,  and  of  the  returning  waters  as 
they  rush  together  over  the  immersed  body. 

Gocelin,  like  many  others,  in  his  Life  of  Augus- 
tine makes  the  mistake  of  giving  to  the  Swale  of 
Yorkshire  the  credit  which  was  due  to  the  Swale  of 
Kent;  but  this  is  a  matter  of  no  moment,  and  a 
very  natural  mistake  in  a  foreigner. 

Gocelin  had  the  original  Chronicles  of  Kent,  cen- 
turies old  in  his  day ;  and  when  he  describes  these 
throngs  as  "  hcqAized  in  the  river  Sivcde,"  as  having 
"  entered  the  dangerous  depth  of  the  river,''"  and  as 
being  "  horn  for  heaven  [baptized]  oid  of  a  deep 
whirlpool,"  the  evidence  of  their  immersion  is  over- 
whelming. 

We  might  refer  to  the  universal  practice  of  im- 
mersion throughout  the  whole  Christian  communi- 
ties on  earth  in  the  sixth  century  as  evidence  that 
Augustine  would  be  likely  to  follow  the  custom  of 
all  other  churches  in  his  mode  of  baptism.  We 
might  point  to  the  fact  that  Pope  Gregory  sent  him 
to  England  ;  that  the  pontiff  exercised  over  him 
the  authority  of  a  spiritual  director;  and  that  he 
received  from  him  unquestioning  obedience.  Bede^ 
has  a  list  of  queries  sent  by  Augustine  to  Gregory, 
'  BtL'dio,  Hist.  Fecks.,  i.  27,  p.  4G.     Oxonii,  184G. 


AGES    AND   THE    NATIONS.  25 

■with  the  answers  returned  by  the  pope,  which  prove 
that  after  Augustine's  consecration  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury  he  administered  the  entire  affairs  of 
his  new  office,  even  in  insignificant  matters,  accord- 
ing to  the  wishes  of  his  master  at  Rome.  And  as 
Gregory  w^rote,  at  this  very  time,  about  the  baptis- 
mal usages  of  Rome  and  Italy,  "  We  immerse  three 
times,"  ^  we  might  establish  a  moral  certainty  that 
Augustine  immersed  three  times.  We  might  ex- 
hibit the  convincing  evidence  that  the  English 
Church  immersed  her  members  for  nine  hundred 
years  after  Augustine's  death,  and  Ave  might  natu- 
rally infer  that  she  only  followed  the  instructions 
and  example  of  her  founder  Augustine ;  but  it  is 
needless.  The  testimony  already  given  renders  it 
certain  that  the  first  great  baptism  of  "  more  than 
ten  thousand  of  the  English  "  in  Kent  was  by  im- 
mersion. 

This  was  the  first  baptism  in  that  race  which  owns 
the  British  Islands,  and  India,  and  territories  and 
fleets  all  over  the  lands  and  the  oceans  of  the  globf 
— a  race  that  has  reared  this  glorious  republic,  co- 
lossal in  resources,  in  area,  and  in  mental,  moral, 
and  material  powers — a  race  that  exerts  the  great- 
est influence  over  the  nations  of  the  earth  of  any 

^  Tertio  mergimus.  Patroloylce  Latince,  vol.  77,  p.  497. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 


26  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

kindred  peoples  in  human  history — and  a  race 
that  was  snatched  from  barbarism,  poverty,  and 
insignificance  by  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and  by  his 
gospel  invested  with  all  its  spiritual  and  temporal 
glories.  In  view  of  these  considerations  Augustine's 
baptism  in  the  Swale  is  one  of  the  most  important 
events  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 

Paijlinijs  Baptizes  Edwin,  King  of  Northum- 

BRiA,  AT  York,  with   Many  of  his   People, 

in  a.d.  627. 

Alcuin  relates  that  "  Easter  having  come,  w^hen 
the  king  had  decided  to  be  baptized  with  his  peo- 
ple under  the  lofty  walls  of  York,  in  which,  by  his 
orders,  a  little  house  [of  wood,  according  to  Bede] 
was  quickly  erected  for  God,  that  under  its  roof  he 
might  receive  the  sacred  water  of  baptism.  During 
the  sunshine  of  that  festive  and  holy  day  he  was 
dedicated  to  Christ  in  the  saving  fountain,^  with  his 
family  and  nobles,  and  with  tlie  common  people 
following.  .  .  .  York  remained  illustrious,  distin- 
guished with  great  honor,  because  in  that  sacred 
place  King  Edwin  was  washed  in  the  water  ^^  [of 
baptism]. 

Dr.  Giles,  in  a  note  in  his  translation  of  Bede's 

^  Fonte  salutifero  .  .  .  fiiit  lavatus  in  unda.  Alcuini 
Carmina,  Patrol.  Lett.,  vol.  101,  p.  818.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  27 

Ecclesiastical  History,  states  that  "  parts  of  the 
original  wooden  structure  of  King  Edwin  were 
discovered  in  making  repairs  in  the  present  cathe- 
dral of  York."  And  he  refers  to  Brown's  History 
of  St.  Peter's  Church  of  York  [the  cathedral], 
Avhich  in  Plate  III.  shows  "the  probable  position 
of  the  wooden  baptistery  enclosing  a  spring  still 
remaining."  ^ 

Edwin,  his  family,  his  nobles,  and  the  common 
people,  probably  numbering  several  thousand,  "  were 
dedicated  to  Christ  in  the  saving  fountain/'  "  ivere 
washed  in  the  water-/'  and  the  Episcopalian  trans- 
lator of  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  Hidory  makes  himself 
responsible  for  a  statement  that  the  spring  is  in 
the  cathedral  of  York  to-day,  in  which,  probably, 
this  vast  immersion  took  place.  This  was  the  first 
triumph  of  Christianity  in  the  north  of  England. 
It  occurred  A.  d.  627. 

Three  Thousand  were  Baptized  by  Paulinus 
IN  Northumberland  at  Easter,  a.  d.  627. 
About  eleven  miles  from  the  Cheviot  Hills,  which 
separate  England  from  Scotland,  and  about  the  same 
distance  from  Alnwick  Castle,  the  well-known  resi- 
dence of  the   dukes  of  Northumberland,  and   two 
miles  from  the  village  of  Harbottle,  there  is  a  re- 
*  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  Ilistonj,  p.  97.     Bohn,  London,  1870. 


28  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

markable  fountaiu.  It  issues  forth  from  the  top  of 
a  slight  elevation,  or  little  hill.  It  has  at  present 
as  its  basin  a  cavity  about  thirty-four  feet  long, 
twenty  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  deep.  By  placing 
a  board  over  a  small  opening  at  one  end,  its 
depth  can  be  considerably  increased.  A  stream 
flows  from  it,  which  forms  a  little  creek.  A  few 
shade  trees  with  knife-marks,  and  benches  similarly 
adorned,  bear  witness  to  the  presence  of  visitors. 
Indeed,  the  spring  is  a  place  of  public  resort  for 
the  population  for  many  miles  around,  and  for 
numerous  strangers,  on  account  of  its  early  baptis- 
mal associations.  The  author  of  this  little  work 
in  the  August  of  1869,  during  the  half  hour  which 
he  sjDcnt  beside  this  beautiful  fountain,  saw  several 
small  parties  of  visitors  who  had  come  to  examine 
"  The  Lady's  Well,"  as  it  is  called, — that  is,  un- 
doubtedly, "  Our  Lady's  Well,"  the  Virgin  Mary's 
AVell. 

An  ancient  statue,  as  large  as  life,  lay  prostrate 
in  the  fountain  for  ages — probably  from  the  period 
when  the  monasteries  were  destroyed  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.  This  statue,  wdien  the  writer  saw  it, 
was  leaning  against  a  tree  at  the  fountain.  It  was 
most  likely  the  statue  of  Paulinus.  It  was  called 
"  the  bishop."  Its  drapery,  the  action  of  the  atmo- 
sphere upon  the  stone  of  which  it  is  made,  and  its 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  29 

general  appearance  show  that  it  was  set  up  at  a 
very  remote  period,  perhaps  two  or  three  centuries 
after  Paulinus  baptized  the  Northumbrian  multi- 
tude in  the  fountain. 

The  traditions  of  Northumberland  point  out  the 
Lady's  Well  as  one  of  the  baptisteries  of  Paulinus, 
the  apostle  of  the  north  of  England.  The  History 
of  Norihiimherland  confirms  its  traditions.  A  large 
crucifix  was  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  fountain 
in  1869  (Plate  IL),  erected  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  Episcopal  Vicar  of  Harbottle — a  worthy 
clergyman,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  then  living.  On 
one  side  of  the  base  of  the  crucifix  it  bears  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  :  "  In  this  place  Paulinus,  the 
bishop,  baptized  three  thousand  Northumbrians, 
Easter,  627," 

The  learned  Camden,  whose  authority  on  such  a 
question  is  universally  respected  by  those  competent 
to  judge,  speaks  of  "  Harbottle  on  the  Coquet  Eiver, 
near  to  which  is  Holystone,  where  it  is  said  that 
Paulinus,  when  the  Church  of  the  English  was  first 
planted,  baptized  many  thousands  of  men."  ^  Cam- 
den was  born  in  1551,  and  the  tradition  about  the  bap- 

1  Harbottle,  cui  contiguura  est  Holyston  .  .  .  ubi  in  primi- 
tiva  Angloruni  ecclesia  Paulinum  multa  liominum  millia 
baptizasse  fama  obtinet.  Guih.  Camdeni,  Britannia,  p.  365. 
Amsterdami,  1639. 


30  THE   BAPTISM  OF   THE 

tism  rested  upon  a  strong  foundation,  or  he  would 
not  have  inserted  it  in  his  celebrated  Britannia. 

The  village  of  Holystone  is  almost  within  call  of 
the  "  Lady's  Well."  A  nunnery  stood  for  ages  in 
this  village,  to  which  the  fountain  belonged,  and 
which  was  most  probably  built  there  to  commem- 
orate the  sanctity  and  to  appropriate  the  efficacy 
of  so  holy  a  font ;  and  its  existence  is  strong  cor- 
roborative evidence  of  the  sacred  use  to  which  the 
pure  waters  of  the  fountain  were  devoted  by  Pau- 
linus.  Some  scanty  remains  of  the  convent  are  still 
to  l)e  seen  in  Holystone. 

More  Great  Baptisms  in  the  North  of 
England. 

Bede,  the  father  of  English  history,  was  one  of 
the  purest  and  best  men  that  ever  lived.  He  was 
a  prolific  writer  on  several  important  subjects ;  and 
though  he  died  in  A.  d.  735,  a  new  edition  of  his 
entire  works  in  five  volumes  has  been  issued  in  Paris 
within  twenty  years.  Treating  of  the  conversion  of 
his  Northumbrian  fathers  in  England,  in  A.  d.  627, 
he  says : 

"  Paulinus,  coming  witli  the  king  and  queen  of 
the  Northumbrians  to  the  royal  country-seat  of 
Adgefrin,'   stayed    there   with    them  thirty-six  days, 

'  Yevcrin  in  Oleivlalo,  near  Wooler,  in  Northumberland. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  31 

fully  occupied  iu  catechising  and  baptizing ;  during 
which  days,  from  morning  fill  night,  he  did  nothing 
else  but  instruct  the  people  resorting  from  all  the 
villages  and  places,  in  Christ's  saving  word ;  and 
when  instructed,  they  were  washed  in  the  river  Glen^ 
which  was  near  by,  with  the  water  of  absolution."  "^ 
He  adds :  "  These  things  happened  in  the  province 
of  the  Bernicians ;  but  in  that  of  the  Deiri  also, 
where  he  was  accustomed  often  to  be  with  the  king, 
lie  baptized  in  the  river  Swale,^  which  flows  past  the 
village  of  Cataract."  ^     Bede  records 

The  Baptism  of  a  Multitude. 

He  speaks  of  an  old  man  who  said  that  "  he  and 
a  great  multitude"  were  baptized  at  noonday,  in  the 
presence  of  King  Edwin,  in  the  river  Trent,  by  the 
bishop  Paulinus,  near  the  city  which  in  the  English 
tongue  is  called  Tiovulfingacestir."  ^  These  baptisms 
in  rivers  were  surely  immersions.     The  places  where 

^  The  river  BoAvent. 

'^  Fluvio  Gleni  .  .  .  lavacro  remission  is  abluere.  Hist. 
Eccles.,  lib.  ii.  14,  p.  104.     Oxonii,  1846. 

^  Baptizabat  in  Sualo  fluvio  .  .  .  praterfluit.     Ibid. 

*  Carrick,  Yorkshire. 

*  Baptizatum  se  fuisse  .  .  .  et  raultam  populi  turbain  in 
fluvio  Treenta.     Ibid.,  ii.  16,  p.  107.     Oxonii,  1846. 

^  Southwell,  Nottinghamshire. 


32  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

the  ordinance  was  administered  show  the  mode  clear- 
ly enough.  Then  Pauliniis  was  a  missionary  from 
Rome,  where,  according  to  a  letter  of  Gregory  the 
Great  to  Leander,  they  practised  trine  immersion. 

Baptism  of  the  Merciaxs,  a  Powerful  Saxon 
Kingdom  in  England. 

Alcuin  states  that  after  the  death  of  Penda,  the 
fierce  heathen  king  of  the  Mercians,  their  sovereign, 
Osway,  *'  caused  them  to  he  ivashed  in  the  consecrated 
river  of  baptism."  ^  This  occurred  about  A.  d.  658. 
Baptism  in  England  at  first  was  administered  in 
fountains  and  rivers,  until  baptisteries  were  erected. 

Caedwalla,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  is 
Immersed  at  Rome. 

This  ferocious  tyrant  shed  blood  as  if  it  was 
worth  less  than  water,  and,  finding  death  drawing 
near,  he  resolved  to  go  to  Rome  in  a.  d.  689  and 
wasli  away  his  sins  in  l^aptism ;  and  if  possible  he 
wanted  to  die  soon  after.  Alcuin  tells  us  that  he 
passed  over  the  ocean  and  the  Alps,  and  entered 
Rome,  where  his  presence  gave  delight  to  its  cour- 
teous citizens,  and  special  joy  to  the  clergy  ;  "  Whilst 

•  Sacrato  facicns  baptismatis  amne  lavare.  Pidrol.  Lat.,  vol. 
10],p.  R24.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AXD   THE   NATIONS.  33 

the  happy  kiDg,"  he  declares,  "  was  deemed  worthy 
to  be  immersed  in  the  ivhirlpool  of  hajitism.''^  ^ 

The  word  "  whirlpool,"  as  noticed  elsewhere,  de- 
scribes the  chasm  made  in  the  waters  by  the  body 
of  the  baptized  person  as  he  sinks  in  them,  and  the 
rushing  of  the  waters  to  cover  the  candidate  for 
immersion. 

The  Venerable  Bede  and  Immeesion. 

Bede,  whom  Catholics  and  Protestants  unite  in 
regarding  as  a  faithful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ — the 
first  great  English  author  who  appeared  in  the  new 
country  of  the  "Angles  and  Jutes  and  Saxons,"  a 
man  of  vast  information  for  his  times,  and  of  re- 
ligious knowledge  which  is  a  treasure  to-day — writes 
these  words  about  baptism  : 

"  For  he  truly  who  is  baptized  is  seen  to  descend 
into  the  fountain — he  is  seen  to  he  dipped  in  the 
waters — he  is  seen  to  ascend  from  the  imters ;  but 
that  which  makes  the  font  regenerate  him  can  by 
no  means  be  seen.  The  piety  of  the  faithful  alone 
perceives  that  a  sinner  descends  into  the  font,  and  a 
cleansed  man  ascends  [from  it] ;  a  son  of  death  de- 
scends [into  it],  but  a  son  of  the  resurrection  ascends 

^  Mergi  meruit  baptismi  gurgite.  Patrol.  Led.,  vol.  101,  p. 
1310.     Migne.    Parisiis. 


34  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

[from  it];  a  son  of  treachery  descends  [into  it],  but 
a  son  of  reconciliation  ascends  [from  it]  ;  a  son  of 
wrath  descends  [into  it],  but  a  son  of  compassion 
ascends  [from  it]  ;  a  son  of  the  devil  descends  [into 
it],  but  a  son  of  God  ascends  [from  it]."  ^ 

Bede,  the  father  of  English  history,  who  died 
A.  D.  735,  had  no  conception  of  any  baptism  which 
did  not  require  a  descent  into  the  font — an  immer- 
sion in  its  waters,  and  an  ascent  out  of  those  waters. 

The  Council  of  Celiciiyth,  held  in  England 
IN  A.  D.  816,  ON  Baptism. 

The  second  canon  of  this  council  reads :  "  Let  the 
presbyters  know  when  they  administer  sacred  bap- 
tism, not  to  j)our  holy  water  upon  the  heads  of  the  in- 
fants, hut  always  to  immerse  them  in  the  laver,  after  the 
example  given  by  the  Son  of  God  himself  to  every  be- 
liever u'hen  he  ivas  three  times  immersed  in  the  waters 
of  the  Jordan.''  ^     Whilst  at  this  period,  either  in  or 

^  Nam  videter  quidem,  qui  baptizatur,  in  fontem  descen- 
dere,  videtur  aquis  intingi,  videtur  de  aquis  ascendere  .  .  . 
peccator  in  fontem  dcsccndet,  sed  pnrificatus  ascendit. .  .  . 
]5aeda  Yen.,  in  St.  Joannis,  Evang.  Expos.,  iii.  5,  vol.  92,  pp. 
6G8,  669  ;  Patrol.  Lat.     Migne.     Parisiis. 

'  Ut  non  eflundant  a<|uam  sanctam  super  capita  infantiura 
sed  .semi)er  mergantur  in  lavacro  .  .  .  quando  esset  ter  mer- 
SU8  in  undis  Jordan  is.  Can.  11.  Cone.  Cclich.,  Havdu,  Cone. 
Collec,  vol.  iv.  p.  1224.     Parisiis,  1715. 


AGES   AXD   THE   NATIONS.  35 

out  of  England,  the  question  of  pouring  iu  baptism 
was  evidently  agitated,  the  decision  of  the  British 
bishops  plainly  showed  that  in  their  judgment  pour- 
ing was  the  destruction  of  the  truth.  This  canon  is 
recorded  by  Harduin,  another  learned  Jesuit,  in  his 
standard  work  Conciliorwn  Collectio. 

Fkidegod  and  Immersion. 
Fridegod  was  a  monk  of  Canterbury  in  the  tenth 
century,  who,  at  the  request  of  Odo,  his  archbishop, 
composed  lives  of  St.  Wilfred  and  St.  Owen  in  verse. 
In  his  Life  of  St.  Wilfred  he  states  that  "  he  showed 
that  those  to  be  saved  should  be  immersed  in  the 
clear  waters."  Elsewhere  he  asserts  that  the  "  com- 
mon people  seeking  holy  baptism  are  immersed."  ^ 

King  Ethelred's  Immersion. 
William  of  Malmesbury,  an  author  whose  veracity 
and  care  have  been  deservedly  commended,  declares 
that  "  when  the  little  boy  [Ethelred]  ivas  immersed 
in  the  font  of  baptism,  the  bishops  standing  around, 
the  sacrament  was  marred  by  a  sad  accident  which 
made  St.  Dunstan  utter  an  unfavorable  prophecy."  ^ 

^  Liquidis  salvandos  tinguere  .  .  .  tinguntur  plebes  sanc- 
tum baptisma  petentes.  Frideg.,  De  Vita  Si.  Wilfr.,  Patrol. 
Lat.,  vol.  133,  pp.  993,  1003. 

^  Cum  pusiolus  in  fontem  baptism!  mergeretur  circumstanti- 


36  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Ethelred  ascended  the  throne  A.  d.  979,  and  reigned 
for  thirty  years. 

The  font,  a  picture  of  which  ^ve  give  (Plate  III.), 
is  now  in  the  clmrch  of  St.  Martin,  Canterbury,  Eng- 
hiiid.  The  church  is  very  small  and  of  great  age. 
The  Canterbury  Guide  of  this  year  says  that  "the 
quantity  of  Koman  bricks  which  may  be  detected 
in  many  parts  of  the  structure  would  indicate  that 
it  was  originally  a  Roman  building.  The  walls  of 
the  chancel  are  almost  entirely  of  Roman  brick."  ^ 
The  same  Guide  says :  "  The  font  is  certainly  one  of 
the  first  in  England.  It  has  no  stand,  but  rests  on 
the  ground.  It  is  about  three  feet  in  height,  and 
capacious  within.  The  sculptures  upon  it  are  a  sort 
of  ornamental  interlacing  in  low  relief."  In  a  pri- 
vate letter  fi-om  a  courteous  gentleman  in  Canter- 
bury, who  recently  measured  the  font  for  me,  he 
states  that  "the  font  itself  is  very  ancient.  It  is 
thirty-eight  inches  high,  twenty-niue  inches  deep 
[the  cavity],  thirty-three  inches  wide  [evidently  the 
diameter  including  rim].  The  rim  is  five  and  a 
quarter  inches  thick.  The  inside  is  lined  with  lead, 
which,  of  course,  is  not  so  old  as  the  font  itself;  and 

bus  cpiscopis,  alvi  j)rofliivio  sacramcnta  interpolavit.  Willelmi 
Mahnh.y  Gesta.  Beg.  J  »<//.,  cap.  ii.  164.  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  179, 
p.  1131.     Migne.    Paris! is. 

^  The  New  Illustrated  Canterbury  Guide,  p.  31. 


Baptism  of  the  Ages. 


FONT  IN  CmiU'lI  OF  ST.  MAKTIN.  CANTERBURY 


Page  36. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  37 

the  depth,  as  it  is  now  used  ivith  this  lining,  forms  a 
sort  of  basin  which  is  only  thirteen  inches.  The 
font  is  circular  in  shape." 

From  this  letter  we  learn  that  the  original  cavity 
of  the  font,  before  the  introduction  of  the  leaden 
lining,  was  twenty-nine  inches  deep  and  twenty-two 
and  a  half  inches  ivide.  In  such  a  font  Ethelred 
was  baptized  by  immersion,  the  only  form  of  bap- 
tism practised  in  England  till  after  the  Reforma- 
tion. And  it  Avas  intended  to  accommodate  persons 
of  some  growth  as  well  as  infants. 

Anlaf,  King  of  the  Norwegians,  is  Immersed 
IN  England. 

Roger  of  Wendover  wrote  a  work  which  he  called 
The  Flowers  of  History^  relating  the  history  of  Eng- 
land from  A.  D.  449  to  A.  d.  1235.  The  following 
is  from  the  translation  of  that  work  by  Dr.  J.  A. 
Giles,  late  fellow  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford, 
an  Episcopalian : 

"  Sweyn,  king  of  the  Danes,  and  Anlaf,  king  of 
the  Norwegians,  arrived  at  London  with  ninety-four 
cogues  on  the  nativity  of  the  blessed  Mary,  and 
made  a  fierce  assault  with  a  view  to  take  it ;  but  being 
repulsed  with  great  loss  by  the  citizens,  they  turned 
their  rage  against  the  provinces.  King  Ethelred 
thereupon,  with  the  advice  of  his  nobles,  made  them 


38  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

a  payment  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds,  collected 
from  the  ^vhole  of  England,  to  induce  them  to  cease 
from  robbing  and  slaughtering  the  innocent  people. 
King  Ethelred  at  this  time  despatched  Elfege, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Duke  Athehvold  to 
King  Anlaf,  whom  they  brought  in  peace  to  the 
royal  vill  -where  King  Ethelred  then  was,  and  at 
his  request  dipped  him  in  the  sacred  font,  after  which 
he  was  confirmed  by  the  bishop,  the  king  adopting 
him  as  his  son,  and  honoring  him  with  royal  pres- 
ents ;  and  the  following  summer  he  returned  to  his 
own  country  in  peace."  ^ 

Many  of  these  Scandinavian  royal  pirates  were 
baptized  after  wholesale  robberies  and  murders  in 
the  British  Islands  and  in  France,  but  the  ordin- 
ance was  shockingly  profaned  by  its  aj^plication  to 
such  impenitent  enemies  of  the  human  race. 

LA^^FRANC   AND   IMMERSION. 

Lanfranc  was  an  Italian  who  reached  England 
by  way  of  Normandy,  where  he  was  abbot  of  the 
famous  monastery  of  Bee.  As  an  instructor  at 
Bee  his  reputation  spread  over  a  large  part  of  Eu- 
rope, and  drew  throngs  of  students  to  the  abbey 
schools.  He  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  who  made  him  Archbishop  of   Canter- 

^  Flou-crs  of  History,  at  A.  p.  994,  p.  272.     London,  1849. 


AGES    AND    THE    NATIONS.  39 

bury  four  years  after  the  victory  of  Hastings  had 
placed  the  crown  of  England  on  his  head.  His 
reputation  was  greatly  increased  by  his  Exposition 
of  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  Commenting  on  Philip- 
pians  iii.  20,  he  says : 

^^For  as  Christ  lay  three  days  in  the  sepulchre,  so 
in  baptism  let  there  be  a  trine  immersion."  ^  This 
was  the  testimony  of  a  native  Italian,  a  great 
French  teacher  and  the  head  of  the  English  Church. 

Cardinal  Pullus  on  Immersion. 

This  cultivated  Englishman  occupied  a  very  prom- 
inent place  in  theological  and  general  learning.  He 
read  lectures  for  five  years  in  Oxford,  and  after- 
ward he  was  professor  of  divinity  in  Paris.  He 
resided  for  a  considerable  period  in  Rome,  where 
he  was  such  a  favorite  with  the  pope  that  he  was 
created  a  cardinal  in  A.  d.  1144. 

In  his  only  work  which  has  come  down  to  us,  a 
valuable  system  of  divinity,  he  writes  of  baptism: 

"  Whilst  the  candidate  for  baptism  in  water  is  im- 
mersed the  death  of  Christ  is  suggested ;  whilst  im- 
mersed, and  covered  with  ivater,  the  burial  of  Christ  is 
shown  forth ;  whilst  he  is  raised  from  the  waters,  the 

^  Ut  enim  tribus  diebus  jacuit  Cliristus  in  sepulcliro,  sic  in 
baptismate  trina  sit  immersio.  Vol.  150,  p.  315  ;  Patrol.  Lat. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 


40  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

resurrection  of  Christ  is  proclaimed.  The  immersion  is 
repeated  three  times,  out  of  reverence  for  the  Trinity 
and  on  account  of  the  three  days'  burial  of  Christ. 
In  the  burial  of  the  Lord  the  day  follows  the  night 
three  times  ;  in  baptism  also  trine  emersion  accom- 
jxinies  trine  immersion."^  The  most  beautiful  ex- 
position of  Rom.  vi.  4  ever  penned ! 

The  Christening   of   Prince  Arthur  and   of 
THE  Princess  Margaret. 

Arthur  was  the  oldest  son  of  Henry  VIL,  King  of 
England,  and  the  brother  of  Henry  VIII.,  first  the 
persecutor  of  the  Reformation  and  then  its  jDrotector. 
Arthur  was  born  A.  H.  1486.  He  married  Catharine 
of  Aragon,  who  after  his  death  became  the  wife  of 
Henry  VIII.  and  the  mother  of  the  bloody  Queen 
Mary.  Leland,  whose  authority  in  such  a  matter 
is  unquestionable,  says,  in  a  very  lengthy  account 
of  Arthur's  baptism :  "  The  body  of  all  the  cathe- 
dral church  of  Winchester  Avas  hung  with  cloth  of 
arras,  and  in  the  middle,  beside  the  font  of  the  said 

'  Dum  baptizanihis  aqure  inimergitnr,  mors  Christi  insinu- 
atur ;  dnm  sul)  aqua  latet  mersus,  sepultura  Christi  roprsesen- 
tatur ;  dum  sublevatur  ex  aquis,  resurrectio  Christi  declara- 
tur.  Mersio  repetitur  tertio  ...  in  baptismo  quoque  trinam 
trina  mersionem  emersio  comitatur.  Card.  Eob.  Pull.,  lib. 
Oct. ;  Patrol  Lai.,  vol.  186,  p.  843. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  41 

church,  was  ordained  and  prepared  a  solemn  font^ 
in  manner  and  form  as  ensueth.  First,  there  was 
ordained  in  manner  of  a  stage  of  seven  steps, 
square  or  round  like,  an  high  cross  covered  with 
red  worsted,  and  up  in  the  midst  a  post  made  of 
iron  to  bear  the  font  of  silver  gilt,  which  ivithiii 
side  was  well  dressed  [lined]  with  fine  linen  cloth 
[to  protect  the  babe  from  touching  the  cold  stone 
or  metal],  and  near  the  same  on  the  west  side  was 
a  step,  like  a  block,  for  the  bishop  to  stand  on, 
covered  also  with  red  saye ;  and  over  the  front,  of 
a  good  height,  a  rich  canopy  with  a  great  gilt  ball, 
lined  and  fringed  without  curtains.  On  the  north 
side  was  ordained  a  travers  hung  with  cloth  of 
arras,  and  upon  the  one  side  thereof,  within  side, 
another  travers  of  red  sarsnet.  There  was  fire 
without  fumigations,  ready  against  the  prince's  com- 
ing. And  without,  the  steps  of  said  font  were  railed 
with  good  timber.  .  .  .  And  Queen  Elisabeth  was 
in  the  church  abiding  the  coming  of  the  prince.  .  .  . 
Incontinent  [immediately]  after  the  prince  was  put 
into  the  font  the  ofl[icers-at-arms  put  on  their  coats, 
and  all  their  torches  were  lighted."  ^  Here  the  bap- 
tism was  by  dipping  in  the  font. 

^  A  new  font  was  commonly  made  for  the  baptism  cf  a 

royal  child. 

^  Lelandi  Collectanea,  vol.  iv,  pp.  204-206.     London,  1774. 
4* 


42  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

The  Baptism  of  Arthur's  Sister. 
Margaret  was  baptized  in  1490.  When  very- 
young,  in  1502,  she  was  married  to  James  IV., 
King  of  Scotland.  She  was  the  grandmother  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  aunt  of  Queen  Elisa- 
beth. Writing  of  her  baptism,  Leland  says :  "  On 
the  morning  of  her  baptism  the  aforesaid  newborn 
princess  was  christened  in  the  following  manner: 
The  rich  font  of  Canterbury  and  Westminster 
Church  was  prepared,  as  of  old  time  the  custom 
was  for  kings'  children,  with  a  rich  round  canopy, 
with  a  great  gilt  ball.  The  aforesaid  princess  was 
brought  from  the  queen's  chamber  into  the  White 
Hall,  borne  by  the  Marchioness  of  Berkeley ;  and 
to  her  gave  assistance  the  Earls  of  Arundel  and 
Shrewsbury.  My  Lady  Anne,  the  queen's  sister, 
bore  next  before  her  the  chrism,  with  a  marvellous 
rich  cross  lace ;  and  before  her  the  Viscount  Wellis 
bore  a  rich  salt  of  gold  garnished  with  precious 
stones ;  and  before  him  the  Earl  of  Essex  bore  a 
taper.  .  .  .  When  the  said  princess  was  brought  to 
the  porch  of  Westminster  Church,  the  Lord  John 
Alcock,  Bishop  of  Ely,  was  there  ready  in  pon- 
tificals, who  christened  the  princess.  As  soon  as 
she  was  put  into  the  font  all  the  torches  were  light- 
ed. ..."  ^  I  have  given  but  a  small  part  of  this 
^  Lclandi  Collectanea,  vol.  iv.  pp.  '253,  2o4,     London,  1774. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  43 

royal  Romish  christening  as  treasured  up  by  Le- 
land,  but  I  have  quoted  enough  to  show  that  the 
little  princess  was  put  into  the  font  instead  of  be- 
ing sprinkled  with  water.  In  Leland  there  are 
substantially  the  same  accounts  given  of  the  bap- 
tisms of  Edward  VI.  and  Queen  Elizabeth. 

In  the  reign  of  EdAvard  YI.,  Walker,  a  very  high 
authority  on  baptismal  customs,  says :  "  Dipping 
was  at  this  time  the  more  usual,  but  sprinkling  was 
sometimes  used."^  These  times  were  probably  still 
times  of  real  weakness. 

Immersion  in  England  in  the  Reign  o 
"  Bloody  Mary." 

Watson,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  1558  published 
a  volume  of  sermons,  in  one  of  which  he  says : 

"Though  the  old  and  ancient  traditio7i  of  the 
Church  hath  been  from  the  beginning  to  dip  the  child 
three  times,  etc.,  yet  that  is  not  of  such  necessity ; 
but  that  if  he  be  but  once  dipped  in  the  water,  it  is 
sufficient.  Yea,  and  in  time  of  great  peril  and  neces- 
sity, if  the  water  be  but  poured  on  his  head,  it  will 
suffice."  2 

^  Walker's  Doctrine  of  Baptisms,  chap.  x.  p.  147.  London, 
1678. 

^  Holsome  and  Catholyke  Doctryne  Concerninge  the  Seven 
Sacraments,  pp.  22,  23.     London,  1558. 


44  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Immersion  in  England  in  1644. 

The  Kev.  Thomas  Blake,  living  in  Tamworth  in 
Staffordshire,  in  1644,  writes  of  immersion  : 

"  I  have  been  an  eye-witness  of  many  infants  dip- 
ped, and  I  know  it  to  have  been  the  constant  prac- 
tice of  many  ministers  in  their  places  for  many  years 
together.''^  ^ 

Mr.  Blake  practised  infant  baptism,  and  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  people  who  rejected  it. 

Immersion  in  the  Westminster  Assembly  of 
Divines. 

This  great  council  of  godly  men  framed  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  still  received  by  all  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians, by  all  Scotch-Irish  and  English  Pres- 
byterians, and  by  the  great  majority  of  American 
Presbyterians — a  Confession  held  in  high  esteem 
by  many  Baptists  and  others. 

Neal,  the  historian  of  the  English  Puritans,  de- 
clares that  "  there  was  not  one  professed  Anabaptist 
in  this  Assembly."  ^  It  is  remarkable,  under  these 
circumstances,  that  any  member  of  it  should  advo- 
cate dipping,  if  immersion  had  not  been  a  common 
custom  of  all  Christians  a  few  ages   before.      Dr. 

1  The  Birth  Privilege,  etc.,  by  Thomas  Blake,  A.  M.,  p.  33. 
London,  1644. 

2  Xeal's  Jlidonjof  the  Puritans,  iii.  IIG.     Dublin,  1755. 


AGES   AND   THE   XATIOXS.  45 

John  Lightfoot,  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  the 
Assembly,  kept  a  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  that 
body,  and  he  says  that  on  August  7th,  1644 — 

"  Then  fell  we  upon  the  work  of  the  day,  which 
was  about  baptizing  of  the  child,  whether  to  dip 
or  sprinkle  him ;  and  this  proposition,  '  It  is  lawful 
and  sufficient  to  besprinkle  the  child,'  had  been 
canvassed  before  our  adjourniug,  and  was  ready 
now  to  vote.  But  I  spoke  against  it,  as  being  very 
unfit  to  vote  that  it  is  lawful  to  sprinkle  when 
every  one  grants  it.  Whereupon  it  was  fallen  ujDon, 
sprinkling  being  granted,  whether  dipping  should 
be  tolerated  with  it.  And  here  fell  we  upon  a  large 
and  long  discourse,  whether  cUpinng  luere  essential, 
or  used  in  the  first  institution,  or  in  the  Jews'  cus- 
tom. Mr.  Coleman  went  about  in  a  large  discourse 
to  prove  tauveleh  [Hebrew  for  dipping]  to  be  dip- 
piug  over  head,  which  I  ansAvered  at  large.  .  .  . 
After  a  long  dispute  it  was  at  last  put  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  Directory  [for  Worship]  should 
run,  '  The  minister  shall  take  water  and  sprinkle  or 
pour  it  with  his  hand  upon  the  face  or  forehead  of 
the  child  ;'  and  it  Avas  voted  so  indifferently  that 
we  were  glad  to  count  names  twice  ;  for  so  many 
icere  univilling  to  have  dipping  excluded  that  the 
vote  came  to  an  equality  ivithin  one  ;  for  the  one  side 
was  twenty  four,  the  other  twenty-five — the  twenty-four 


46  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

for  the  reserving  of  dipping,  and  the  twenty-five 
against  it.  And  then  grew  a  great  heat  upon  it; 
and  u'hen  we  had  done  all,  we  concluded  upon 
nothing  in  it;  but  the  business  was  recommitted." 
The  next  day,  in  opposition  to  the  friends  of  the 
primitive  mode  of  baptism — of  whom  Mr.  Marshall 
on  the  second  day  was  the  principal  leader — it  was 
decided  that  the  Directory  should  read,  "  He  is  to 
baptize  the  child  with  water,  which  for  the  manner 
of  doing  is  not  only  lawful,  but  also  suflicient  and 
most  expedient,  to  be  by  pouring  or  sprinkling 
water  on  the  face  of  the  child,  without  any  other 
ceremony."  ^  This  was  a  singular  discussion  in  the 
venerable  Assembly  that  framed  the  great  Presby- 
terian Confession  of  Faith.  To-day  our  Presby- 
terian brethren  in  general  regard  immersion  with 
an  honest,  manly  hatred,  and  a  hatred  that  consid- 
erably exceeds  the  repugnance  shown  by  any  other 
religious  community.  Mr.  Coleman  was  "  so  per- 
fect a  master  of  the  Hebrew  language  that  he  was 
commonly  called  Pabbi  Coleman ;"  and  when  he 
died  "  the  whole  Assembly  did  him  the  honor  to 
attend  his  funeral  in  a  body,  March  30,  1646."  - 
Mr.  INIar^hall  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  Long 

^  The  Whole  Works  of  Lighffoot,  vol.  xiii.  300,  301.     Lon- 
don, 1824. 

2  Neal's  History  of  (he  Furitanf!,  iii.  294.     Dublin,  1755. 


AGES   AXD   THE    NATIONS.  47 

Parliament,  before  which  he  often  preached,  and  it 
was  accustomed  to  ask  his  opinions  on  all  questions 
relating  to  religion.  He  was  employed  in  most,  if  not 
in  all,  the  treaties  between  the  king  and  Parliament. 
A  bitter  enemy  spoke  of  him  as  "  a  famous  incendiary 
and  assistant  to  the  Parliamentarians ;  their  trumpet 
in  their  fasts,  their  confessor  in  their  sickness,  their 
counselor  in  their  assemblies,  their  chaplain  in  their 
treaties,  and  their  champion  in  their  disputations."  ^ 

"Annotations  of  the  [Westminster]  Assembly 
OF  Divines  "  on  Baptism. 

On  Romans  vi.  4  this  valuable  commentary  says : 
"  Buried  with  Him  by  baptism.  In  this  phrase  the 
apostle  seemeth  to  allude  to  the  ancient  manner  of 
baptism,  which  was  to  dip  the  parties  baptized,  and  as 
it  were  bury  them,  wider  the  water  Jor  a  while,  and  then 
to  draw  them  out  of  it  and  lift  them  up,  to  represent  the 
burial  of  our  old  man  and  our  resurrection  to  newness 
of  lifer  ^  The  authors  of  this  commentary  undoubt- 
edly believed  that  Paul's  baptism  was  immersion. 

It  is  denied  that  the  "Westminster  Assembly  ever 
authorized  or  approved  of  this  commentary.  It  is 
admitted,  however,  by  very  respectable  authority 
that   the  Parliament   which   created   the  Assembly 

^  Neal's  IllsUrnj  of  the  Puritans,  iv.  p.  130. 

'^  Rom.  vi.  4.     London  edition,  1651. 


48  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

by  one  of  its  committees  named  the  commentators 
and  fiirnislied  tliem  with  books,  and  that  seven  of 
the  committee  of  eleven  persons  ^vho  prepared  the 
^vork  were  members  of  the  AYestminster  Assembly 
of  Divines/ 

The  great  Dr.  Chalmers  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  agreed  with  the  exposition  of  Romans  vi. 
3-7  given  in  The  Annotations  of  the  Assembly  of  Di- 
vines.    Commenting  on  that  passage,  he  says  : 

"  The  original  meaninc/  of  the  ivord  '  baptism '  is 
*  immersion ;'  and  though  we  regard  it  as  a  matter 
of  indifference  whether  the  ordinance  be  performed 
in  this  way  or  by  sprinkling,  yet  we  doubt  not  that 
the  j^Tcvalent  style  of  the  administration  in  the  apostles' 
days  was  by  an  actual  submersion  of  the  whole  body 
under  water.  We  advert  to  this  for  the  purpose  of 
throwing  light  on  the  analogy  that  is  instituted  in 
these  verses."  ^ 

Dr.  Chalmers  in  this  quotation  places  himself 
with  the  great  Church  Fathers,  and  ecclesiastical 
historians  of  all  ages,  as  to  the  original  mode  of 
baptism,  and  witli  the  Baptists  of  every  land. 

Dk.  AVilijam  Cave  on  Immersion. 
Cave  was  born  A.  i).  1G34  in  England.     He  was 

^  Nc-al's  llidory  of  the  Puritans,  pp.  38G,  387.    Dublin,  1755. 
'  Chalmers's  works,  Commentary  on  Bomans,  at  vi.  4. 


AGES  a:st>  the  nations.  49 

educated  at  tlie  University  of  Cambridge,  and  he 
lived  and  died  an  Episcopalian.  Cave's  Primitive 
Chridianity  is  a  work  of  great  learning,  rare  merit, 
and  commendable  candor.  It  has  come  down  to  our 
times  in  recent  editions.  The  copy  before  me  was 
published  at  Oxford,  in  1840,  and  no  doubt  it  will 
journey  down  the  ages  in  other  editions  for  gen- 
erations to  come.  Treating  of  baptism,  he  writes : 
"Their  baptlsteria,  or  fonts  as  we  call  them, 
were  usually  very  large  and  capacious,  not  only  that 
they  might  comport  with  the  general  customs  of 
those  times  [the  times  of  the  early  Christians]  of 
persons  baptized  being  immersed  or  put  under  water, 
but  because  the  stated  times  of  baptism,  returning  so 
seldom,  great  multitudes  were  usually  baptized  at 
the  same  time.  In  the  middle  of  the  font  there 
was  a  partition,  the  one  part  for  men,  the  other  for 
women,  that  to  avoid  offence  and  scandal  they  might 
be  baptized  asunder."  ..."  The  party  to  be  baptized 
was  wholly  immerged,  or  pid  under  water,  which  was 
almost  the  constant  and  universal  custom  of  those 
times,  whereby  they  did  more  notably  and  signifi- 
cantly express  the  three  great  ends  and  effects  of 
baptism  ;  for  as  in  immersion  there  are,  in  a  manner, 
three  several  acts — the  putting  the  person  into  water, 
his  abiding  there  for  a  little  time,  and  his  rising  up 

again — so  by  these  w^re  represented  Christ's  death, 
5  D 


50  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

burial,  and  resurrection  ;  and  in  conformity  there- 
unto our  dying  unto  sin,  the  destruction  of  its  power, 
and  our  resurrection  to  a  new  course  of  life.  By 
the  persons  being  put  into  water  was  lively  repre- 
sented the  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the 
flesh,  and  being  washed  from  the  filth  and  pollution 
of  them ;  hy  his  abode  under  it — which  was  a  hind 
of  burial  in  the  ivater — his  entering  into  a  state  of 
death  or  mortification,  like  as  Christ  remained  for 
some  time  under  the  state  or  power  of  death ;  there- 
fore, '  as  many  as  are  baptized  into  Christ '  are  said 
'  to  be  baptized  into  his  death,  and  to  be  buried 
with  him  by  baptism  into  death,'  that,  the  old  man 
being  crucified  with  him,  the  body  of  sin  might  be 
destroyed,  that  henceforth  he  might  not  serve  sin, 
for  he  that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin,  as  the  apostle 
clearly  explains  the  meaning  of  the  rite ;  and  then 
by  his  emersion,  or  rising  vp  out  of  the  ivater,  was 
signified  his  entering  upon  a  new  course  of  life, 
differing  from  that  which  he  lived  before  ;  '  that 
like  as  Christ  was  raised  uji  from  the  dead  by  the 
glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in 
newness  of  life.'  "  ' 

"  This  immersion  was  performed  thrice,  the  person 
baptized  being  three  several  times  ]mt  under  ivater." 
The  authority  of  Dr.  William  Cave  for  an  ancient 
*  Cave's  Priviilive  Christianity^  pp.  152, 155-157.    Oxford,  1840. 


AGES   AND   THE   XATIOXS.  51 

Christian  custom  will  seldom  be  questioned  by  per- 
sons competent  to  judge. 

The    Eev.   William    Wall,   A.  M.,   Vicar    of 
Shoreham,  Kent,  England,  on  Immersion. 

Mr.  Wall  was  an  eminent  scholar.  His  History 
of  Infant  Baptism  is  a  work  of  very  great  merit; 
and  though  we  dissent  from  its  main  conclusion, 
yet  its  hearty  endorsement  of  immersion  makes  it 
a  welcome  w^itness  for  that  truth. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1705,  he  received  the 
thanks  of  the  Convocation  of  the  English  Church  for 
his  learned  book.  This  was  a  very  unusual  compli- 
ment, and  at  the  time  there  were  men  of  great 
learning  in  that  ancient  ecclesiastical  parliament. 
In  his  erudite  work,  Wall  states  that  "their  gen- 
eral and  ordinary  way  was  to  baptize  by  immersion^ 
or  dipping  the  person,  whether  it  were  an  infant  or 
grown  man  or  woman,  into  the  water.  This  is  so 
plain  and  clear  by  an  infinite  number  of  passages, 
that  as  one  cannot  but  pity  the  weak  endeavors  of 
such  Pedobaptists  as  would  maintain  the  negative 
of  it,  so  also  we  ought  to  disown  and  show  a  dis- 
like of  the  profane  scoffs  which  some  people  give 
to  the  English  Antipedobaptists  [Baptists]  merely 
for  the  use  of  dipping.  It  is  one  thing  to  maintain 
that  that  circumstance  is  not  absolutely  necessary 


52  THE   BAPTIS^f   OF   THE 

to  the  essence  of  baptism,  and  another  to  go  about 
and  represent  it  as  ridiculous  and  foolish,  or  as 
shameful  and  indecent,  ivJien  it  ivas  in  all  j^robabll- 
itij  the  ivay  by  which  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  for  cer- 
tain ivas  the  most  usual  and  ordinary  way  by  which 
the  ancient  Christians,  did  receive  their  baptism.''^  ^ 

"  The  Greek  Church,  in  all  the  branches  of  it, 
does  still  use  immersion,  and  they  hardly  count  a 
child,  except  in  case  of  sickness,  well  baptized  with- 
out it.  And  so  do  all  other  Christians  in  the  world 
excejjt  the  Latins.  That  which  I  hinted  at  before  is 
a  rule  that  does  not  fail  in  any  particular  that  I 
know  of:  All  those  nations  of  Christians  thai  do  now 
or  formerly  did  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Bishop 
of  Home  do  ordinarily  baptize  their  infants  by  pour- 
ing or  sprinkling.  And  though  the  English  did  not 
receive  this  custom  till  after  the  decay  of  Popery,  yet 
they  have  since  received  it  from  such  neighbor  na- 
tions as  had  begun  it  in  the  times  of  the  pope's 
power.  But  all  the  other  Christians  who  never  owned 
the  pope's  usurped  j^ower  do  and  ever  did  dip  their 
i)fants  in  the  ordinary  use. 

"  And  if  we  take  the  division  of  the  world  from 
the  three  main  ])arts  of  it,  all  the  Cliristians  in  Asia, 
all  in  Africa,  and  about  one-third  part  of  Europe, 

'  Wall's  Hislori/  of  lujunt  J^aptism,  p,  700.  Nashville, 
18G0. 


AGES   AND   THE  NATIONS.  63 

are  of  the  last  sort  [immersionists] ;  in  which  third 
part  of  Europe  are  comprehended  the  Christians  of 
Grsecia,  Thracia,  Servia,  Bulgaria,  Rascia,  Wallachia, 
Moldavia,  Russia,  Nigra,  etc.,  and  even  the  Musco- 
vites, who,  if  coldness  of  the  country  will  excuse, 
might  plead  for  a  dispensation  with  the  most  reason 
of  any."  ^  Wall  gives  excellent  testimony  for  the 
Baptists,  though  an  Episcopalian. 

The  Manual  for  the  Use  of  Sarum,  and  Im- 
mersion. 

This  was  a  document  of  great  authority  in  Eng- 
land, and  it  was  occasionally  quoted  on  the  Euro- 
pean continent.  Speaking  of  it,  Wall  says :  "  The 
offices  or  liturgies  for  public  baptism  in  the  Church 
of  England,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  did  all  along 
enjoin  dipping,  ivithout  any  mention  of  pouring  or 
sprinkling.  The  Manuale  ad  usum  Sarum,  printed 
1530,  the  twenty-first  of  Henry  VIII.,  orders  thus 
for  the  public  baptisms :  Then  let  the  priest  take 
the  child,  and  having  asked  the  name,  baptize  him 
by  dipping  him  in  the  water  thrice,  etc.  And  John 
Frith,  writing  in  the  year  1533  a  treatise  of  bap- 
tism, calls  the  outward  part  of  it  'the  plunging 
down  in  the  water  and  lifting  up  again,'  which  he 

^  Wall's  History  of  Infant  Baptism,  pp.  727,  728.     Nash- 
ville, 1860. 
5* 


54  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

often   mentions  Avithout   ever   speaking   of  pouring 
or  sprinkling."  ^ 

Joseph  BI^'GIIAM  and  the  Baptism  of  the 
Primitive  Church. 

Bingham  ^vas  a  learned  Episcopalian.  His  An- 
tiquities of  the  Christian  Church  for  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  has  enjoyed  the  unbounded 
admiration  of  students  of  primitive  church  history 
of  all  countries  and  communities. 

It  contains  a  larger  amount  of  exact  scholarly  in 
formation  about  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the 
early  Christians  and  errorists  than  any  work  ever 
%  written.     Of  baptism  Bingham  says : 

''Persons  were  visually  bcqytized  by  immersion,  or 
dij)j)ing  of  their  whole  bodies  under  water,  to  repre- 
sent the  death,  burial,  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
together,  and  therewith  to  signify  their  own  dying 
unto  sin,  the  destruction  of  its  power,  and  their 
resurrection  to  a  new  life.  There  are  a  great 
many  passages  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  which 
l)lainly  refer  to  this  custom.  Rom  vi.  4  :  '  We  are 
l)uried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death,  that  like 
as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  new- 

^  "Wall's  llisiory  of  Iifant  Baptism,  pp.  715,  716.  Kash- 
villc.  ISGO. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  55 

uess  of  life.'  So  again,  Col.  iii.  12:  'Buried  with 
him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  are  also  risen  with 
him,  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God, 
who  raised  him  from  the  dead.'  And  as  this  was 
the  original  apostolical  practice,  so  it  continued  to 
be  the  universal  practice  of  the  Church  for  many 
ages,  upon  the  same  symbolical  reasons  as  it  was 
first  used  by  the  apostles.  St.  Chrysostom  proves 
the  resurrection  from  this  practice;  'for,'  says  he, 
'our  being  baptized  and  immersed  IxaradusffOat']  in 
the  water,  and  our  rising  again  out  of  it,  is  a  sym- 
bol of  our  descending  into  hell,  or  the  grave,  and 
of  our  returning  from  thence.'  Wherefore  St.  Paul 
calls  baptism  our  burial.  For  says  he,  'were 
buried  with  Christ  by  baptism  into  death.'  And 
in  another  place,  '  When  we  dip  our  heads  in  water 
as  in  a  grave,  our  old  man  is  buried  ;  and  when  we 
rise  up  again,  the  new  man  rises  therewith.'  Cyril 
of  Jerusalem  makes  it  an  emblem  of  the  Holy 
Ghost's  effusion  upon  the  apostles :  '  For  as  he  that 
goes  down  into  the  water  and  is  baptized  and  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  water,  so  the  apostles 
were  baptized  all  over  by  the  Spirit:  the  water 
surrounds  the  body  externally,  but  the  Spirit  in- 
comprehensibly baptizes  the  interior  soul.'  It  ap- 
pears also  from  Epiphanius  and  others  that  almost 
all  heretics  who  retained  any  baptism  retained  im- 


66  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

mersion  also.  The  only  heretics  "who  did  not  ob- 
serve a  total  immersion  in  baptism  were  the  Euno- 
mians,  a  branch  of  the  Arians,  of  whom  it  was 
reported  by  Theodoret  that  they  baptized  only  the 
upper  parts  of  the  body  as  far  as  the  breast.  And 
this  they  did  in  a  very  preposterous  way,  as  Epi- 
phanius  relates,  *  With  their  heels  upward,  and 
their  head  downward.'  So  that  these  ivere  the  only 
men  among  all  the  heretics  of  the  ancient  Church 
that  rejected  this  way  of  baptizing  by  a  total  immer- 
sion in  ordinary  cases}  Indeed,  the  Church  was  so 
punctual  to  this  rule  that  we  never  read  of  any  ex- 
ceptio?i  made  to  it  in  ordinary  cases — no,  not  in  the 
baptism  of  infants.  For  it  appears  in  the  '  Ordo 
Bomanus'  and  Gregory's  ' Sacramentarium'  that  in- 
fants as  well  as  others  were  baptized  by  immersion; 
and  the  rules  of  the  Church,  except  in  cases  of  dan- 
ger^ do  still  require  it. 

'*  But  I  must  observe  further  that  they  not  only 
administered  baptism  by  immersion  under  water,  but 
also  repeated  this  three  times.  Tertullian  speaks 
of  it  as  a  ceremony  generally  used  in  his  time : 
*  We  dip  not  once,  but  three  times,  at  the  naming 
of  every  person  of  the  Trinity.'  The  same  is  as- 
serted by  St.  Basil,  St.  Jerome,  the  author  under 
the  name  of  Dionysius ;  and   St.  Ambrose  is  most 

^  Yet  this  was  an  iramorsion  as  far  as  it  went. — W.  C. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  57 

particular  in  his  description  of  trine  immersion. 
Two  reasons  are  commonly  assigned  for  this  prac- 
tice: That  it  might  represent  Christ's  three  days' 
burial,  and  his  resurrection  on  the  third  day,  and 
that  it  might  represent  their  profession  of  faith 
in  the  Holy  Trinity,  in  whose  name  they  were 
baptized. 

"In  the  apostolic  age,  and  some  time  after — before 
churches  and  baptisteries  were  generally  erected— they 
baptized  in  any  place  where  they  had  convenience. 
After  this  manner  the  author  of  the  Recognitions, 
under  the  name  of  Clemens  Komanus,  represents 
Peter  preaching  to  the  people,  and  telling  them  that 
'  they  might  wash  away  their  sins  in  the  watei  of  a 
river  or  a  fountain  or  the  sea  when  they  were 
baptized,  by  invoking  the  name  of  the  blessed 
Trinity  upon  them.' 

"Baptisteries  were  anciently  very  capacious,  be- 
cause, as  Dr.  Cave  truly  observes,  '  the  stated  times 
of  baptism  returning  but  seldom,  there  were  usu- 
ally great  multitudes  to  be  baptized  at  the  same 
time.'  And  then  the  manner  of  baptizing  by 
immersion,  or  dipping  under  water,  made  it  neces- 
sary to  have  a  large  font  likewise ;  whence  the 
author  of  The  Chronicon  Alexandrlnum  styles 
the  baptistery  whither  Basilicus  fled  the  'great 
illuminary;'    which    was   indeed    so   capacious    that 


68  THE   BAPTISM  OF   THE 

we  sometimes  read  of  couneils  meeting  and  sitting 
therein."  V 

IMlLMAN   AND   ImMERSION. 

This  learned  Episcopalian  makes  the  follo-sving 
statements  in  regard  to  early  baptismal  usages : 

"At  Easter  and  at  Pentecost,  and  in  some  places 
at  the  Epiphany,  the  rite  of  baptism  was  admin- 
istered publicly  to  all  the  converts  of  the  year, 
excepting  those  Jew  instances  in  which  it  had  been 
expedient  to  perform  the  ceremony  without  delay, 
or  where  the  timid  Christian  put  it  off  till  the  close 
of  life.  It  was  a  complete  lustration  of  the  soul. 
The  neophite  emerged  from  the  waters  of  baptism  in 
a  state  of  perfect  innocence. 

''  The  candidate  approached  the  baptistery — in  the 
larger  churches  a  separate  building.  There  he  ut- 
tered the  solemn  vows  which  pledged  him  to  his 
religion.  The  catechumen  turned  to  the  west,  the 
realm  of  Satan  [of  darkness],  and  thrice  renounced 
his  power.  He  then  turned  to  the  east  [the  region 
of  the  rising  sun],  to  adore  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness and  to  proclaim  his  compact  with  the  Lord  of 
life.     The  baptism  ivas  usually  by  immersion.''  ^ 

'  Bingliam's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  book  viii. 
cliap.  7,  sec.  2;  book  xi.  cliap.  6,  sec.  11  ;  cliap.  11,  sees.  4-6. 
'  Milman's  History  of  Christian iiy,  p.  466.     New  York,  1841 


ages  and  the  nations.  59 

Maitland's  "  Church  in  the  Catacombs,"  and 
Immersion. 

Maitland  was  an  Episcopalian,  whose  sympathies 
were  not  drawn  out  toward  the  Baptists.  He 
speaks  of  a  stone  "  which  seemed  to  have  belonged  to 
a  subterranean  baptistery,"  from  which  he  quotes  and 
translates  the  following  inscription : 

"  The  living  stream  cleanses  the  spots  of  the 
body,  as  well  as  of  the  heart,  and  at  the  same  time 
washes  away  all  [sin]."  ^  Of  course  the  stream  that 
washed  soul  and  body  was  the  stream  in  which 
the  baptismal  immersion  occurred.  Elsewhere  he 
says : 

"  The  immersion  was  required  to  be  threefold,  or 
trine,  as  it  was  technically  termed,  and  the  renun- 
ciation of  the  devil  and  his  works  was  thrice  re- 
peated." ^  This  was  the  baptism  of  the  ancient 
Roman  Christians,  according  to  Maitland. 

In    1850   there  was  a  Large    Stone  Baptis- 
tery IN  THE  Parish  Church   of  Bradford, 
Yorkshire,  England. 
The  vestibule  of  the  sacred  edifice  was  entered  by 

an  iron  gate,  and  in  it  stood  the  baptistery,  meeting 

^  The  Church  in  the  Catacombs,  p.  221.     London,  1846. 
2  Ihid.,  p.  224. 


60  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

the  eye  of  eveiy  worshipper  as  he  entered  the  build- 
ing. The  writer  has  seen  this  baptistery  several 
times.  It  was  a  large  block  of  stone  about  twelve 
feet  long,  about  six  feet  wide,  and  about  four  feet 
high.  On  one  side  of  it  there  was  a  cavity  the 
necessary  size  for  the  immersion  of  an  adult,  and 
on  the  other  an  opening  large  enough  for  the  im- 
mersion of  a  child  of  three  years  old.  This  block 
of  stone,  I  was  informed,  was  placed  in  the  church 
by  one  of  the  vicars  of  Bradford  about  fifty  years 
ago,  to  immerse  a  young  lady  of  Baptist  education 
who  wished  to  unite  with  the  Episcopal  Church. 

A  friend,  at  my  request,  on  a  visit  to  Bradford, 
within  a  few  months,  went  to  the  church  to  measure 
the  stone,  and  there  he  learned  that  in  repairing 
the  church  some  time  since  the  stone  with  two  fonts 
had  been  broken  up  and  removed. 

Immersion    is    the    only  Authoritative    and 

Legal    Mode  of  Bartism   for    Persons   of 

Sound  Health  in  England  at  this  Hour. 

The   service   prescribes    that    "The   priest    shall 

take  the  child  into  his  hands,  and  shall  say  to  the 

godfathers  and  godmothers,  Name  this  child.     And 

then,  naming  it  after  them  (if  they  shall  certify  him 

that  the  child  may  well  endure  it),  he  shall  dip  it  in 

the  water  discreetly  and  warily;  but  if  they  certify 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  61 

that  the  child  is  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water 
upon  it."^ 

Dipping  is  required  by  the  ecclesiastical  law  of 
the  Church  of  England,  unless  where  the  clergy- 
man is  certified  that  the  child  is  weak.  And  as  the 
Episcopal  Church  is  established  by  act  of  Parlia- 
ment as  the  church  of  the  nation,  its  ceremonies 
have  the  force  of  civil  laws ;  so  that  a  healthy 
child  which  has  never  been  baptized  in  any  way, 
whose  parents  want  it  immersed,  can  compel  by  legal 
penalties  the  clergyman  of  their  parish  to  immerse  it. 

^  J3ook  of  Common  Prayer :  Public  Baptism  of  Infants. 
Printed  at  the  University  Press,  Oxford,  1863. 


62  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


lEELAND. 

Early  Baptisms  in  Ireland. 

The  life  of  St.  Patrick,  Aj^ostle  of  Ireland,  by  Dr. 
Todd,  is  a  Avork  of  rare  value.  The  author,  at  the 
time  of  publishing  his  book  (1864),  was  senior  fellow 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  regius  professor  of  He- 
brew in  that  university,  and,  what  is  of  far  greater 
importance  to  us  at  present,  a  superior  scholar  in 
the  Irish  language  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  scanty  remains  of  ancient  Irish  literature.  Of 
course  he  was  an  Episcopalian.  He  gives  the  fol- 
lowing in  regard  to  one  of  Patrick's  baptisms  : 

"  Patrick  entered  into  the  king's  palace,  and  he 
said  to  Hercus  [after  some  conversation],  'Wilt 
thou  receive  the  baptism  of  the  Lord,  which  I 
have  with  me  ?'  He  answered,  '  I  will  receive  it  ;* 
and  they  came  to  the  fountain  Loirjles,  and  when  he 
had  opened  his  book  and  had  baptized  the  man 
Hercus,  he  heard  men  behind  his  back  mocking  him 
one  to  another  about  the  matter,  for  they  knew  not 
what  he  had  done.  And  he  baptized  many  thou- 
sand men  on  that  day."  ^  Now,  why  St.  Patrick  and 
1  St.  Patrick,  Apostle  of  Ireland,  p.  U2.     Dublin,  18G4. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  G3 

Hercus  should  leave  an  Irish  j^alace,  even  though 
it  were  but  a  hut,  for  baptismal  purposes,  and  go  to 
a  fountain,  is  a  puzzle,  unless  Hercus  Avas  immersed. 
Todd  mentions  another  baptism  of  St.  Patrick: 
"  Patrick  then  went  to  the  place  of  assembly  of  the 
clan  Amalgaidh,  not  far  from  the  present  town  of 
Killala.  Here,  according  to  The  Trijoartite  Life, 
he  found  a  great  assembly  of  the  people  Avith  their 
chieftains.  He  stood  up  and  addressed  the  multi- 
tude. He  penetrated  the  hearts  of  all,"  says  our 
author,  "  and  led  them  to  embrace  cordially  the 
Christian  faith  and  doctrine.  The  seven  sons  of 
Amalgaidh,  with  the  king  himself  and  twelve  thou- 
sand men,  were  baptized.  They  were  baptized  in  a 
well  [fountain]  called.  Tobur-en-adare."  ^  Of  course 
they  were  immersed,  as  they  were  bajMzed  in  the  well. 
Nennius,  in  his  History  of  the  Britons,  mentions 
"  the  baptism  in  one  day  of  seven  kings,  the  seven 
sons  of  Amalgaidh."  ^  Nennius  wrote  at  some  period 
between  the  eighth  and  the  tenth  centuries. 

Another  Baptism  by  St.  Patrick. 
Dr.  Blackburn,  in  his  St.  Patrick  and  the  Early 
Irish   Church — a  comparatively  recent  issue  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  Philadelphia — 

^  St.  Fatrich,  Apostle  of  Ireland,  p.  449.     Dublin,  1864. 
2  Nennius's  History  of  the  Britons,  p.  411,     Bohn,  London, 
1848. 


64  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

describes  the  kidnapping  of  some  of  St.  Patrick's 
converts,  just  after  their  baptism,  by  Caroticus,  or 
Carodoc,  a  Welsh  man-stealer,  as  follows : 

"  It  appears  that  one  evening  there  was  a  multi- 
tude witnessing  a  baptism.  A  goodly  number  of 
converts  dad  in  white  robes  ivere  at  the  fountain. 
The  minister,  who  seems  not  to  have  been  Patrick, 
was  baptizing  them.  Very  soon  after  a  band  of 
pirates  rushed  upon  them.  Some  were  slain  while 
the  drops  of  water  were  scarcely  dry  from  their 
foreheads  [or  from  their  clothing,  for  they  were 
immersed].  Others  were  carried  away  in  their 
white  robes.  The  captives  were  taken  to  the  sea- 
shore, put  into  boats,  borne  away  into  a  foreign 
land,  and  sold  into  slavery."  ^  Dr.  Blackburn,  by 
speaking  of  "  drops  of  water  on  their  foreheads," 
tries  to  leave  the  impression  that  these  people  were 
sprinlded.  But  ichat  brought  them  to  the  fountain, 
unless  to  enter  it  like  Amalgaidh  and  his  sons  and 
all  Christendom  at  the  timef  The  "Holy  Wells" 
of  Ireland  were  doubtless  all  ancient  fonts  of  St. 
Patrick. 

Another  Baptism  by  St.  Patrick. 

The  Abbe  McGeoghegan  wrote  a  history  of  Ire- 

»  St.  Patrick  and  the  Early  IrUh  Church,  p.  188.  Pliila- 
delphia. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  65 

land  in  French,  which  enjoys  considerable  credit  and 
bears  some  merited  censures.  He  gives  an  account 
of  a  baptism  by  St.  Patrick  near  the  future  capital 
of  Ireland.  He  says  :  "  The  high  reputation  of  sanc- 
tity which  St.  Patrick  had  acquired,  added  to  the 
number  of  miracles  he  wrought  everywhere,  having 
made  him  known  and  respected,  even  by  the  Pagans, 
the  inhabitants  of  Dublin  went  out  in  crowds  to  him. 
These  appearances  were  a  happy  omen  of  the  faith 
they  were  about  to  receive  from  this  saint.  He  bap- 
tized them  all,  with  Alphin,  son  of  Eochaid,  who  was 
at  that  time  their  king.  The  ceremony  ivas  performed 
in  a  fountain  near  the  city,  called  since  that  time  the 
fountain  of  St.  Patrick,  and  ivhich  became  an  object  of 
devotion  to  the  faithful  for  many  centuries,  till  it  was 
filled  up  and  enclosed  within  a  private  dwelling  in 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  saint 
had  a  church  built  near  this  fountain,  which  after- 
ward became  a  cathedral,  bearing  his  name."  ^ 

St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  in  Dublin,  built  about  A.  d. 
1190,  is  still  standing.  St.  Patrick  in  A.  d.  448  im- 
mersed a  throng  in  this  fountain.  On  examination 
of  Archbishop  Usher's  work,  to  which  the  Abbe  Mc- 
Geoghegan  refers  as  an  authority,  we  find  that  the 
learned  primate  of  Ireland  "  saw  himself  the  fountain 

*  McGeoghegan's  History  of  Irelaml,  p.  145.  Dublin, 
1849. 

6*  E 


66  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

of  St.  Patrick,  -which  had  very  lately  in  his  time  been 
enclosed  and  filled  up  within  a  private  house."  ^  The 
archbishop  also  speaks  on  the  same  page  of  the  bap- 
tism of  the  seven  sons  of  Amalgaidh.  And  just  as 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Lady's  Well  in  Northumber- 
land, England,  where  Paulinus  immersed  three  thou- 
sand persons  at  the  Easter  of  A.  d.  627,  was  selected 
as  the  site  of  a  Benedictine  nunnery,  so  a  church 
was  erected  near  this  holy  fountain  to  commemorate 
the  grand  event,  and  to  gather  the  blessings  which 
were  supposed  to  come  from  such  a  blessed  conse- 
cration. 

Immersions   Eecorded   by  Father  O'Farrell. 

The  Reverend  Michael  J.  O'Farrell,  in  his  Popular 
Life  of  St.  Patrick,  dedicated  to  Monsignor  Wood- 
lock,  rector  of  the  Irish  Catholic  University  in  Dub- 
lin, and  published  in  1863  by  D.  &  J.  Sadlier  of  New 
York,  speaking  of  the  Irishman  who  had  just  re- 
nounced Paganism  for  Christianity,  says :  "At  every 
step,  indeed,  the  transition  to  the  new  faith  was 
smoothed  by  such  coincidences  or  adoptions.  The 
convert  saw  in  the  baptismal  font  when  he  was  im- 
mersed the  sacred  icell  at  which  his  fathers  had  wor- 

^  Ilium  Patricii  fontem  vidimus  (intra  privatas  sedes  inclu- 
8ura  nuperime  et  obstructum),  Britannic.  Eccles.  Antiqiiit.,  p. 
449.     London,  1687. 


AGES    AXD    THE    NATIONS.  67 

shipped."^  St.  Patrick's  font,  according  to  Father 
O'Farrell,  was  a  well,  and  his  baptism  immersion. 

Speaking  of  a  celebrated  Irish  idol  called  Cean 
Croithi — that  is,  the  head  of  all  the  gods — made  of 
gold  and  silver,  around  which  twelve  inferior  gods 
of  brass  stood,  which  St.  Patrick  destroyed  at  a 
time  when  great  numbers  of  persons  were  present, 
O'Farrell  says :  "And  many,  beholding  it,  believed 
in  the  true  and  living  God,  and  being  baptized,  ac- 
cording to  the  apostle,  *  put  on  Christ.'  And  in  that 
place  St.  Patrick  by  his  prayers  produced  out  of  the 
earth  a  fountain  of  the  clearest  water,  wherein  many 
were  afterward  baptized''  ^ 

St.  Patrick  ascended  the  mountain  Croagh  Pat- 
rick, in  county  Mayo,  for  prayer  and  religious  med- 
itation, and,  according  to  O'Farrell,  "  after  descend- 
ing from  the  mountain,  invigorated  for  the  sacred 
duties  of  the  ministry,  St.  Patrick  came  to  the  dis- 
trict of  Corcothemne — not  far  distant,  it  would  seem 
— and  to  the  fountain  of  Sinn,  where  he  baptized 
many  thoumndsJ'  ^ 

O'Farrell  gives  the  following  account  of  the  con- 
version and  baptism  of  the  Amalgaidhs  and  many 
others,  already  mentioned  :  "  When  the  saint  entered 
Tirawly,  the  seven  sons  [of  Amalgaidh]  assembled 

1  Popular  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  p.  110.     New  York,  1863. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  135.  3  26i-c?.,  p.  157. 


68  THE   BAPTISE!   OF   THE 

Avith  their  followers.  Profiting  by  the  presence  of 
so  vast  a  multitude,  the  apostle  entered  into  the 
midst  of  them,  his  soul  inflamed  with  the  love  of 
God,  and  with  a  celestial  courage  preached  unto 
them  the  truths  of  Christianity;  and  so  powerful 
was  the  effect  of  his  burning  words  that  the  seven 
princes  and  over  twelve  thousand  men  were  con- 
verted on  that  day,  and  were  soon  after'  baptized  in  a 
well  called  Tobar-Enadhairc,  the  well  of  Enadhairc.''  ^ 

At  another  time,  when  St.  Patrick  was  near 
Lough  Neagh,  he  was  opposed  by  a  chieftain  named 
Carthen,  and  compelled  to  leave  the  neighborhood ; 
but  his  younger  brother  listened  to  the  divine  word 
and  became  a  convert.  "  Of  him,  perhaps,"  says 
O'Farrell,  "the  following  is  related:  While  on  a 
certain  time  the  saint  was  baptizing  in  the  holy  font 
a  chief  named  Cartan,  together-  with  his  wife,  he  fore- 
told to  the  woman  that  she  should  have  a  daughter 
to  whom  he  would  give  the  veil."  ^ 

Preaching  in  Ulster,  a  robber  band,  seeing  him 
on  a  journey,  first  thought  of  stealing  everything 
he  might  possess,  but  moved  with  compassion,  they 
changed  their  minds,  and  pretended  that  one  of  their 
company  who  feigned  to  be  dead  was  really  gone 
into  the  world  of  spirits ;   and  for  amusement  they 

1  Popular  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  p.  163.     New  York,  1863. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  182. 


AGES   AND   THE    NATIONS.  69 

plead  with  Patrick  to  restore  him  to  life.  The 
Irish  apostle  understood  the  trick,  and  earnestly 
prayed  for  the  man's  conversion  ;  and  as  Patrick 
went  his  way,  as  O'Farrell  says,  "  the  wretched  man, 
Garbanus,  was  no  more.  His  pretence  was  turned 
into  a  reality,  and  they  saw  before  them  the  corpse 
of  their  luckless  companion.  Affrighted  lest  the 
same  should  happen  to  them,  they  followed  the 
saint  and  fell  at  his  feet,  and  by  their  contrition 
obtained  pardon.  They  all  believed  in  the  Lord, 
and  in  his  name  they  were  baptized.  Then  did  the 
saint  revive  the  dead  man,  and  baptizing  him  in  the 
holy  font,  associated  him  unto  them  in  the  faith  of 
Christ."  ' 

We  do  not  assert  the  truth  of  all  these  incidents 
in  the  life  of  St.  Patrick,  though  some  of  them  are 
undoubted  facts ;  but  his  baptism,  when  described 
to  any  extent,  is  in  a  fountain,  in  a  well,  or  it  is 
plainly  declared  to  be  immersion.  St.  Patrick  gives 
an  account  of  his  own  conversion  in  his  Confession, 
just  as  a  regenerated  candidate  for  baptism  in  a 
Baptist  church  would.  He  required  apparently  the 
same  regeneration  in  his  converts,  and  then  he  im- 
mersed them.  The  story  of  his  life  makes  him  so 
like  a  Baptist  missionary  that  we  believe  he  was 
one. 

1  Popular  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  pp.  238,  239.     N.  Y.,  1863. 


70  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

The  Irish  Immersed  Three  Times  in  Water 
OR  IN  Milk. 
Michelet  needs  no  coniniendation  as  a  historian 
of  great  learning  and  of  unusual  exactness.  He 
says  of  the  ancient  Irish  that  their  "  infants  luere 
thrice  plunged  in  water,  or  in  viilk  if  the  jiarenU 
were  wealthy y  ^ 

Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Limerick  in  Ireland,  on 
Immersion. 

Gilbert  was  a  correspondent  of  Anselra,  the  godly 
and  learned  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  lived 
in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century.  In  his  lit- 
tle work  on  The  Constitution  of  the  Church  he  writes 
of  the  priest : 

"  It  is  his  duty  to  administer  baptism,  to  dip  be- 
lievers who  have  been  exorcised  and  who  have  con- 
fessed the  Holy  Trinity,  with  three  immersions  in  the 
sacred  font.''  ^ 

^  Michelet's  Ilislory  of  France,  vol,  ii.  p.  102.  New  York, 
18G9. 

^  Sub  trina  imnicrsione  sacro  fonte  intingere.  St.  Anselmus, 
Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  lo9,  p.  1000.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES    AND    THE    NATIONS.  71 


AMERICA. 

John  Wesley  and  Immersion. 

A  couple  of  curious  facts  are  recorded  by  Mr. 
Wesley,  in  his  journal,  in  connection  with  the  bap- 
tism of  two  children.  While  he  was  in  Georgia,  in 
1736,  he  makes  this  record: 

"  Saturday,  21st  February. — Mary  Welsh,  aged 
eleven  days,  was  baptized,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  first  church  and  the  rule  of  the  Church  of 
England,  by  immersion.  The  child  was  ill  then, 
but  recovered  from  that  hour."^  In  the  following 
May  he  writes : 

"  Wednesday,  May  5th. — I  was  asked  to  baptize 
a  child  of  Mr.  Parker,  second  bailiff  of  Savannah. 
But  Mrs.  Parker  told  me,  '  Neither  Mr.  Parker  nor 
I  will  consent  to  its  being  dipped.'  I  answered, 
*If  you  certify  that  your  child  is  weak,  it  will 
suffice,  the  Eubric  says,  to  pour  water  upon  it.* 
Slie  replied,  '  Nay,  the  child  is  not  weak,  but  I  am 
resolved  it  shall  not  be  dipped.'  This  argument  I 
could  not  confute.  So  I  went  home,  and  the  child 
1  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  130.     Philadelphia,  1826. 


72  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

was  baptized  by  another  person.''^  Mr.  Wesley  im- 
merses Mary  Welsh  "according  to  the  custom  of 
the  first  church  and  the  rule  of  the  Church  of 
England,"  and  he  requires  an  assurance  from  the 
mother  of  another  child,  ^vhich  he  is  requested  to 
baptize,  that  it  is  weak,  before  he  can  set  aside  the 
rule  of  the  English  Church  which  demanded  im- 
mersion ;  and  on  the  mother's  declaration  that  the 
child  is  not  weak,  he  goes  away  without  baptizing 
it,  another  performs  the  office,  and  Mr.  Wesley 
clearly  leaves  us  to  understand  that  in  his  opinion 
immersion  was  an  imperative  mode  of  baptism  in 
every  case  where  there  was  not  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  weakness. 

A  Baptism  in  Brooklyn,  New^  York. 

A  Baptist  lady  of  superior  intelligence  gives  the 
following  very  interesting  account  of  an  immersion 
by  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  in  his  own  church 
in  Brooklyn : 

"  Being  in  Brooklyn  for  a  few  days,  I  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  witnessing  a  baptism  by  immer- 
sion, the  administrator  being  none  other  than  the 
Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  Twenty-five  years  ago, 
shortly  after  he  became  i:»astor  of  Plymouth  Church, 
he  avowed  his  willingness  to  administer  the  rite  of 
*  Wesley's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  134.     Philadelphia,  1826. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  73 

baptism  by  immersion  to  any  one  who  preferred  it. 
For  some  years,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  pastors,  Mr. 
Beecher  used  the  baptisteries  of  Baptist  churches. 
But  at  a  time  when  the  edifice  of  Plymouth  Church 
was  undergoing  repairs  he  expressed  a  desire  that 
a  baptistery  should  be  placed  in  it,  that  they  might 
not  be  dependent  on  the  kindness  of  their  friends. 
His  request  was  cheerfully  acceded  to.  On  his  large 
pulpit  platform  stands  a  movable  desk,  table,  and 
chair.  On  setting  these  aside  and  turning  up  the 
carpet,  a  long  door  is  seen,  the  opening  of  which 
uncovers  the  pool,  with  steps  at  each  end  for  de- 
scending and  ascending.  On  the  occasion  when  I 
was  present — and  I  was  told  that  it  was  the  usual 
custom — the  ordinance  was  administered  after  the 
Friday  evening  prayer-meeting.  At  the  close  of 
the  service  on  that  evening  Mr.  Beecher  mentioned 
in  the  simplest  manner  that  candidates  w^ere  to  be 
baptized,  and  he  invited  the  congregation  to  repair 
to  the  main  audience-room.  This  large  room,  hold- 
ing three  thousand  persons,  of  course  was  not  filled, 
but  there  were  perhaps  five  hundred  persons  there. 
The  room  was  lighted  principally  at  the  point  where 
the  interest  centred.  There  was  a  solemn  stillness 
■while  the  people  waited  for  the  coming  of  the  ad- 
ministrator. The  candidates  were  but  two,  a  young 
man  and  a  young  woman.  Their  youthful  appearance 


74  thp:  baptism  of  the 

and  peaceful  countenances  added  to  the  interest  of 
the  scene.  After  singing  and  prayer  he  led  them 
down  successively  into  the  water  and  immersed  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Trinity. 

"  His  views  on  the  subject  are  well  known.  He 
believes  that  baptism  is  typical,  and  that  the  appli- 
cation of  water  in  any  form  answers  the  require- 
ment. But  never  were  candidates  more  completely 
buried  in  baptism  than  those  I  saw  laid  in  the  liquid 
grave  by  Mr.  Beecher ;  and  none  who  heard  his 
solemn  tones  and  noticed  the  interest  he  took  in  his 
part  of  the  ceremony  could  doubt  that  he  felt  he 
was  fulfilling  the  Saviour's  command — '  Teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them.'  His  manner  was  charac- 
terized by  simplicity  and  reverence,  and  there  w^as 
nothing  to  distinguish  it  from  the  same  ordinance 
as  administered  by  any  regular  Baptist  minister. 
Although  I  have  witnessed  inany  baptisms  in  the 
course  of  my  life,  this,  from  the  outward  circum- 
stances, was  of  peculiar  interest  to  me,  and  one 
not  soon  to  be  forgotten." 

Coleman  ox  Immersion. 

The  Kev.  Lyman  Coleman,  D.  D.,  for  many  years 
a  professor  in  Lafayette  College,  Pennsylvania,  is 
the  author  of  a  work  of  considerable  merit  on 
Cliristian   antiquities.      Dr.  Coleman    is   a  Presby- 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  75 

terian  minister,  "past  eighty  years  of  age  at  the 
present  time,  highly  esteemed  in  the  community  in 
which  he  resides,  and  revered  by  his  Presbyterian 
brethren.  He  is  a  man  of  deliberation  and  candor, 
and  his  opinions  have  much  weight  among  his 
people."  ^ 

Writing  of  immersion.  Professor  Coleman  says : 

"  We  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  this  mode 
of  baptism  was  the  first  departure  from  the  teach- 
ing and  example  of  the  apostles  on  this  subject.  .  .  . 
If  it  ivas  a  departure  from  their  teachings,  it  was  the 
earliest,  for  baptism  by  immersion  unquestionably  was 
very  early  the  common  mode  of  baptism." 

^^  Trine  immersion. — In  the  second  century  it  had 
become  customary  to  immerse  three  times,  at  the  men- 
tion of  the  several  names  in  the  Godhead.  This  is 
only  an  expansion  of.  the  idea  of  the  indispensable 
importance  of  immersion,  and  indicates  more  fully, 
the  foreign  origin  of  this  rite."  ^ 

"  In  the  primitive  church,  immediately  subsequent 
to  the  age  of  the  apostles,  immersion,  or  dipping, 
was  undeniably  the  common  mode  of  baptism.  The 
utmost  that  can  be  said  of  sprinkling  in  that  early 
period  is,  that  it  was  in  case  of  necessity  permitted 

^  From  a  Baptist  friend  of  Dr.  Coleman.    . 
2  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  pp.  366,  368.     Philadel- 
phia, 1852. 


76  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

as  mi  exception  to  a  general  rule.  This  fact  is  so 
well  established  that  it  icere  needless  to  adduce  au- 
thorities in  x>rooJ  of  it. 

"  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  baptism  by 
immersion  was  discontinued  -when  infant  baptism 
became  generally  prevalent.  The  practice  of 
immersion  continued  even  until  the  thirteenth  or 
fourteenth  century.  Indeed,  it  has  never  been  for- 
mally abandoned,  but  is  still  the  mode  of  adminis- 
tering infant  baptism  in  the  Greek  Church  and  in 
several  of  the  Eastern  churches. 

"After  the  lapse  of  several  centuries,  aspersion, 
or  sprinkling,  gradually  took  the  place  of  immer- 
sion without  any  established  rule  of  the  Church 
or  formal  renunciation  of  the  rite  of  immersion. 
The  form  was  not  esteemed  essential  to  the  validity 
of  the  ordinance.  The  Eastern  Church,  however, 
in  direct  opposition  to  these  views,  has  uniformly 
retained  the  form  of  immersion  as  indispensable  to 
the  validity  of  the  ordinance,  and  repeated  the  rite 
whenever  they  have  received  to  their  communion 
persons  who  had  been  previously  baptized  in  an- 
other manner."  * 

Professor  Coleman  in  these  declarations  speaks 
as  an  honest  man  who  had  read  the  writings  of  the 

^  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  pp.  395-397.  Philadel- 
phia, 1852. 


AGES    AND    THE    NATIONS.  77 

first  twelve  hundred  years  of  the  Christian  era, 
which  were  penned  by  the  followers  of  the  Saviour. 
He  who  speaks  otherwise  has  not  surveyed  the  rich 
and  large  harvest-field  of  testimony,  or  he  misrep- 
resents it.  It  is  due  to  Professor  Coleman  to  state 
that  he  contends  as  ably  as  any  man  could  with 
such  miserable  witnesses  that  immersion  was  not 
Christ's  mode  of  baptism  or  that  of  his  apostles. 
"  Immersion  was  the  first  departure  from  the  teach- 
ing and  example  of  the  apostles."  ..."  If  it  w^aa 
a  departure."  "  Immediately  subsequent  to  the  age 
of  the  apostles  immersion,  or  dipping,  w^as  undeni- 
ably the  common  mode  of  baptism."  But  he  no- 
wliere  admits  that  it  was  the  mode  of  administer- 
ing baptism  approved  by  the  apostles. 

Dr.  Coleman  declares  that  "  aspersion  [sprink- 
ling] did  not  become  general  in  the  West  until  the 
thirteenth  century,  though  it  appears  to  have  been 
introduced  some  time  before  that  period.  Thomas 
Aquinas  [he  died  A.  D.  1274]  says:  'It  is  safer  to 
baptize  by  immersion,  because  this  is  the  general 
practice.  Tutius  est  baptizare  per  modum  immer- 
sionis,  quia  hoc  habet  communis  usus.'  "  ^  The  cele- 
brated St.  Thomas,  whom  Dr.  Coleman  quotes,  does 
not    agree   with   the   professor    of    Lafayette,    that 

^  Coleman's  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  p.  398.  Phila- 
delphia, 1852. 


78  THE    EArTISM    OF    THE 

aspersion  was  ^^  general  in  the  thirteenth  century." 
He  expressly  declares,  in  his  own  clear  words  and 
in  Dr.  Coleman's  translation,  that  immerdon  is  the 
general  practice.  We  have,  however,  the  testimony 
of  Professor  Coleman  that  immersion  was  the  gen- 
eral mode  of  baptism  throughout  the  whole  Chris- 
tian Church  down  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, and  that  from  the  time  "immediately  sub- 
sequent to  the  age  of  the  apostles,  immersion,  or 
dipping,  was  undeniably  the  common  mode  of  bap- 
tism." 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  79 


FRANCE. 

The  Conversion  and  Baptism  of  Clovis. 
Before  the  conversion  of  Clovis  he  was  the 
chieftain  of  a  small  tribe  of  the  Franks  of  Tournai. 
In  a  time  of  great  danger  the  different  tribes  united 
together  under  a  chieftain  of  their  choice  and  made 
war  upon  the  common  foe.  But  the  union  ended 
with  the  close  of  the  war,  if  it  held  together  so  long. 
The  kingdom  of  France  had  no  existence  before  the 
conversion  of  Clovis,  and  the  royal  rulers  of  sec- 
tions of  the  Franks  were  often  treated  with  as  little 
ceremony  as  the  lowliest  members  of  their  clans.^ 
Clovis  was  a  brave  and  ambitious  Avarrior,  deter- 
mined to  extend  his  authority  and  his  territory. 
The  aim  of  his  life  was  to  subdue  all  his  neighbors 
and  become  the  head  of  a  great  empire. 

In  A.  D.  496,  the  Alemanni  threatened  to  cross 
the  Rhine;  the  Franks  gathered  from  all  quarters 
to  resist  them.  Clovis  was  elected  general  of  their 
army.     They  attacked   the  Alemanni'^   at   Ziilpich, 

^  Michelet's  Histonj  of  France,  vol.  i.  pp.  84,  85.  New 
York,  1869. 

^  Neander's  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church,  iii. 
8.    Boston,  1869. 


80  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

about  twenty-two  miles  south-west  of  Cologne,  and 
for  a  time  the  situation  of  the  Franks  was  des- 
perate. Clovis  vainly  appealed  to  the  gods  for  as- 
sistance. As  a  last  resort  he  cried  to  Christ,  the 
God  of  his  truly  pious  wife  Clotilda,  and  soon  the 
army  of  the  Alemanni  was  killed  or  captured,  and 
Clovis  gathered  increased  military  glory  from  his 
victory  in  this  deadly  conflict. 

He  appears  with  all  honesty  to  have  believed  that 
Christ  gave  him  his  triumph  in  the  battle  of  Ziil- 
pich,  and  soon  after  he  was  baptized — a  rough, 
bloody,  and  most  probably  unconverted  man,  but 
a  sincere  believer  in  the  might  and  rule  of  Jesus 
over  the  nations.  From  that  battle  it  was  every- 
where spread  abroad  that  Christ  was  on  the  side 
of  Clovis.  The  Christian  clergy  were  active  in 
giving  currency  to  these  representations.  The  king 
was  grateful  to  Christ  and  a  munificent  benefactor 
of  his  churches  for  his  divine  assistance;  and  Clovis, 
aided  by  the  prestige  of  victory,  by  confidence  in 
his  new  God,  and  by  the  active  eflTorts  of  all  the 
Christian  communities  scattered  throughout  France, 
marched  in  triumph  over  the  territories  of  his 
enemies,  sweeping  away  hostile  armies  and  Pagan 
gods  and  priests,  and  rearing  a  magnificent  French 
and  Christian  empire — Christian  only  in  part ;  but 
the  part   of  Christianity   planted   in   the   days  of 


AGES    AND    THE    XATIOXS.  81 

Clovis  finally  produced  most  of  the  other  fair  por- 
tions of  the  system  of  Jesus.  Avitus  of  Vienne, 
Gregory  of  Tours,  Aleuin,  and  Hincmar  of  Rheims 
will  furnish  us  with  some  facts  about  the  baptism 
of  Clovis. 


Avitus  of  Vienne  and  the  Immersion  of 
Clovis. 

Bishop  Avitus  occupied  the  see  of  Vienne  in  the 
end  of  the  fifth  century  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth.  He  was  useful  in  reclaiming  leading  Arians 
from  their  heresy  and  in  advancing  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  Frankish  Church.  He  wrote  a  letter  to 
Clovis  congratulating  him  on  his  baptism,  in  which 
he  says: 

"That  it  might  appear  in  due  order  that  you 
were  horn  again  out  of  the  water  for  salvation  on 
that  day  [Christmas  Day]  on  which  the  world 
received  the  Lord  of  heaven,  born  for  its  redemp- 
tion."^ 

In  the  baptism  of  Clovis,  of  which  Avitus  writes, 
the  king  was  born  again  out  of  the  water — that  is,  he 
was  immersed  in  it  and  lifted  up  out  of  it. 

^  Eegenerari  ex  iinda.  Ep.  Aviti  Viennen.,  Episc,  ad  Clod. 
Megem.  S.  Greg.,  Touronensis  opera  omnia,  Appendix.  Pa- 
trol. Lat,  vol.  71,  p.  1154. 

F 


82  THE    BArXISM    OF    THE 

Gregory  of  Tours  and  the  Immersion  of 
Clovis. 

Gregory  was  descended  from  an  illustrious  family, 
and  became  Bishop  of  Tours  in  A.  d.  574.  His  uncle, 
Gall  us,  was  Bishop  of  Clermont.  Gregory  wrote  a 
history  of  the  Franks  in  ten  books,  which  has  been 
repeatedly  published,  and  which  was  reissued  ten 
years  since  in  the  Patrologke  Latince,  the  finest  col- 
lection of  Christian  Latin  writers  ever  giyen  to  the 
world.  "  The  History  of  Gregory,"  says  Dupin,  "  is 
very  useful,  and  contains  many  things  of  great  con- 
sequence." ^  In  this  Avork  he  gives  the  following 
account  of  the  baptism  of  Clovis : 

"  The  queen  did  not  cease  to  charge  the  king  that 
he  should  know  the  true  God,  and  that  he  should 
despise  idols ;  but  he  could  by  no  means  be  moved 
to  believe  these  things  until  at  last  war  was  stirred 
up  against  the  Alemanni,  in  which  he  was  compelled 
by  necessity  to  confess  that  which,  of  his  free  will,  he 
had  previously  denied.  Moreover,  it  came  to  pass 
that  when  both  armies  were  hotly  engaged  there  was 
a  great  slaughter,  and  the  army  of  Clovis  began  to 
rush  to  sure  destruction ;  but  he,  seeing  this,  pained 
at  the  heart,  moved  to  tears,  and  with  eyes  lifted  up 
to  the  heavens,  said  :  'O  Jesus  Christ,  whom  Clotilda 

^  Dupiii's  Ecclesiastical  Illstonj,  i.  561.     Dublin,  1723. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  83 

declares  to  be  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  thou  who 
art  said  to  give  help  to  the  struggling  and  victory  to 
those  hoping  in  thee ;  devoted  to  thee,  I  entreat  the 
glory  of  thy  assistance;  and  if  thou  wilt  indulge  me 
with  victory  over  these  enemies,  and  I  shall  have  full 
experience  of  that  valor  which  the  people  dedicated 
to  thy  name  proclaim  that  they  have  put  to  the  proof, 
I  shall  believe  upon  thee,  and  I  shall  be  baptized  in 
thy  name.  For  I  have  called  upon  my  gods,  and 
they  have  been  far  from  helping  me  ;  from  which  con- 
sideration I  believe  that  the  gods  v.ho  do  not  come  to 
those  obeying  them  are  invested  with  no  power.  Now 
I  call  upon  thee,  and  I  desire  to  believe  upon  thee, 
only  let  me  not  be  overthrown  by  my  adversaries.' 
And  when  he  said  these  things,  the  Alemanni  began 
to  seek  flight ;  and  when  they  perceived  that  their 
king  was  killed,  they  put  themselves  under  the  au- 
thority of  Clovis,  saying,  '  We  entreat  that  no  more 
people  may  be  killed  ;  we  are  thine.'  But  he,  when 
the  war  was  prohibited  and  the  people  collected  to- 
gether, returning  with  peace,  informed  the  queen  in 
what  way  he  was  enabled  to  secure  the  victory,  by 
the  invocation  of  Christ's  name.  Then  the  queen 
secretly  ordered  St.  Eemigius,  Bishop  of  Kheims,  to 
be  brought,  entreating  him  to  recommend  the  word 
of  salvation  to  the  king. 

"  The  priest,  when  brought,  began  secretly  to  ad- 


84  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

vise  him  to  believe  on  the  true  God,  the  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth,  to  despise  idols,  which  were  of 
no  service  either  to  him  or  to  others.  But  he  said, 
*  Most  holy  father,  I  can  hear  you  joyfully.  There 
is,  however,  one  difficulty ;  the  people  who  follow  me 
will  not  permit  me  to  forsake  their  gods.  But  I  will 
go  and  speak  to  them  about  your  proposal.'  Meet- 
ing with  his  people,  the  power  of  God  ran  before  him 
before  he  uttered  a  word.  The  whole  people  shouted 
together,  '  We  cast  away  mortal  gods,  O  pious  king, 
and  we  are  prepared  to  follow  the  immortal  God 
whom  Kemigius  proclaims!'  These  things  were  com- 
municated to  the  chief  priest,  who,  full  of  great  joy, 
ordered  the  [baptismal]  laver  ^  to  be  prepared.  The 
wide  streets  to  the  church  were  shaded  by  painted 
canvas  and  adorned  with  white  curtains,  the  baptis- 
tery was  put  in  order,  balsam  was  poured  out,  burn- 
ing wax-lights  with  a  sweet  odor  shone,  and  the  whole 
temple  of  the  baptistery  "^  was  sprinkled  with  a  celestial 
perfume,  and  God  bestowed  such  favor  upon  those 
standing  there  that  they  reckoned  that  they  were 
placed  beside  the  odors  of  paradise.  Then  the  king 
demanded  that  he  should  be  baptized  first  by  the 
])()ntiff.  Tlie  new  Constantine  proceeded  to  the 
later,  about  to  blot  out  the  disease  of  ancient  lep- 
rosy and  the  filthy  stains  borne  a  long  time,  in  a 
*  Lavacrum.  '  Templum  baptisterii. 


AGES   AND    THE    NATIONS.  85 

fresh  fountain}  The  saint  of  God  addressed  him  as 
he  walked  to  baptism  with  eloquent  lips,  saying,  *  O 
Sicamber,  meekly  bow  thy  head;  adore  what  thou 
hast  burned,  burn  what  thou  hast  adored.'  For 
the  holy  Bishop  Remigius  was  a  man  of  eminent 
knowledge,  and  especially  imbued  with  rhetorical 
tastes ;  but  he  was  also  so  distinguished  for  sanctity 
that  he  was  regarded  in  virtues  as  the  equal  of  holy 
Silvester.  For  there  is  now  the  book  of  his  life  which 
tells  that  he  was  awakened  from  the  dead.  There- 
fore the  king,  confessing  the  omnipotent  God  in  the 
Trinity,  was  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

"  From  his  army  there  were  baptized  more  than 
three  thousand ;  and  his  sister  Albofledis  was  bap- 
tized." ' 

The  "  laver "  in  which  Clovis  was  baptized  is 
literally  a  hath,  and  could  not  be  used  to  represent 
a  basin  for  sprinkling  or  pouring.  But  Gregory 
describes  his  own  view  of  the  mode  of  baptism 
very  clearly  in  the  following  curious  miracle  which 
occurred  somewhere  in  Spain,  if  it  is  not  a  fable : 
"  The  bishop  and  the  citizens  found  the  [baptismal] 

^  Eecenti  latice.  S.  Gregor.  Episc.  Turonem.,  Hist.  Franc, 
lib.  secund.  cap,  31;  Patrol.  Lat.,  v.  71,  pp.  226,  227.  Migne. 
Parisiis. 

2  Ibid.,  lib.  ii.  cap.  30,  31 ;  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  71,  pp.  225-227. 


86  THE    BATTISM    OF    THE 

pool  full  which  they  liad  left  empty,  and  the  [water] 
rising  in  a  heap  higher  thaii  its  sides,  as  when  a 
measure  of  wheat  is  heaped  up  above  its  mouth ; 
and  you  could  see  the  waters  rippling  hither  and 
thither,  and  not  flowing  in  an  opposite  direction. 

"All  the  people  out  of  devotion  drink,  and  carry 
home  a  vessel  full  for  their  health ;  and  they  pro- 
tect their  fields  and  vines  by  a  very  wholesome 
sprinkling ;  and  after  an  uncounted  multitude  of 
amphorw  were  filled,  not  yet  even  is  the  heap  [of 
waters]  diminished.  Howbeit,  when  the  fii-st  infant 
was  immersed  the  water  began  to  withdraw."  ^ 

The  word  wliich  Gregory  uses  for  pool  is  piscina^ 
a  fishpond,  from  piscis,  a  fish.  The  same  word  is 
often  used  to  describe  a  pool,  a  cistern,  a  tank ;  and 
in  this  piscina  the  infant  is  immersed.  That  was 
Gregory's  mode  of  baptism  for  Clovis  and  all  other 
recipients  of  that  sacrament. 

Alcuin's  Account  of  the  Immersion  of 

Ci.ovis. 

lii  his  Life  of  St.  Vedastus,  Alcuin  informs  us  that 

Clovis  received  religious  instruction  from  that  saint, 

and  that  lie  recommended  him  to  St.  Remigius  for 

'  PiHcina  .  .  .  infuns  primus  intinctus  fiierit.  S.  Greg. 
Tnronen.  EpUc.  Mivuc,  lib.  i.  cap.  24;  De  Gloria  Mart., 
Patrol.  Lai.,  vol,  71,  p.  72o,     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  87 

further  enlightenment.  Writing  of  the  baptism  of 
the  king  of  the  Franks,  Alcuin  says : 

"  The  king,  with  no  doubts  about  the  faith,  with 
great  alacrity,  with  eagerness  on  the  way,  hastened 
to  see  the  most  holy  pontiff  Kemigius,  that  by  his 
most  sacred  ministry,  through  the  power  of  the 
divine  Spirit,  he  might  be  washed  in  the  living 
fountain  of  catholic  baptism  for  the  remission  of 
sins  and  for  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  He  led  the 
eager  king  to  the  fountain  of  life,  and  when  he 
came  he  washed  him  in  the  fountain  of  eternal  sal- 
vation [baptism].  So  the  king  was  baptized  with 
his  nobles  and  people,  who  rejoiced  to  receive  the 
sacrament  of  the  healing  bath,  divine  grace  having 
been  previously  given  them."  ^  The  man  who  is 
washed  m  a  fountain  or  in  a  font  is  clearly  not 
sprinkled  with  water,  nor  does  he  receive  the  pour- 
ing of  water  for  baptism  in  such  a  situation. 

In  a  letter  to  the  canons  of  Lyons,  Alcuin  rep- 
resents a  man  as  becoming  one  of  the  catechumens 
when  formerly  he  had  been  a  Pagan,  and  then  in 
the  name  of  the  Trinity  "  he  is  baptized  by  trine 
immersion."  ^     And   when   he   represents   Clovis    as 

'  In  fonte  salutis  eternse  venientem  abluebat.  Ak'uinus,  Vita 
Si.  VedasL,  FatroL  Lat.,  vol.  101,  pp.  686-690.    Migne.    Parisiis. 

^  Trina  submersione  baptizatur.  Alcuini  Episloke,  ep.  90  ; 
Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  100,  pp.  289,  290. 


88  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

wa.<lie(l  in  a  fbuntaiu,  he  means  that  "  he  was  hap- 
t'lzed  by  trine  immersion  in  a  fountain  " — the  only 
baptism  which  Alcuin  was  accustomed  to  tolerate. 

The   Immersion  of    Clovis,   as    described   by 

HiNCMAR   OF    KhEIMS,  WHOSE  PREDECESSOR,  St. 
ReMIGIUS,    BAPTIZED    THE    KlXG. 

The  baptism  of  Clovis  took  place  at  Rheims,  and 
it  is  probable  that  it  equalled  in  grandeur  any  bap- 
tismal service  in  Christian  history,  and  that  it  sur- 
passed every  other  similar  scene  except  two  or 
three. 

Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims  in  the  first  half 
of  the  ninth  century,  living  in  the  place  where  the 
memorable  baptism  occurred,  and  the  successor  of 
the  bishop  who  officiated  at  it — a  writer  with  every 
qualification  to  give  a  correct  account  of  the  most 
prominent  and  influential  event  in  French  history 
— describes  the  baptism  of  Clovis  as  follows : 

**  In  the  mean  time  the  way  leading  to  the  bap- 
tistery was  put  in  order.  On  both  sides  it  was 
hung  with  painted  canvas  and  curtains;  overhead 
there  was  a  protecting  shade ;  the  streets  were 
levelled  ;  the  baptistery  of  the  church  was  prepared 
for  the  occasion,  and  sprinkled  with  balsam  and 
other  perfumes. 

"  Moreover,  the  Lord  bestowed  favor  on  the  peo- 


AGES    AND    THE    NATIONS.  89 

pie,  that  they  might  think  that  they  were  refreshed 
with  the  sweet  odors  of  paradise. 

"And  the  holy  pontiff  Remigius,  holding  the 
hand  of  the  king,  went  forth  from  the  royal  resi- 
dence to  the  baptistery,  followed  by  the  queen  and 
the  people,  the  holy  Gospels  going  before  them,  with 
all  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  and  litanies,  and  with 
the  names  of  the  saints  loudly  invoked.  IMoreover, 
whilst  they  proceeded  together  the  king  interrogated 
the  bishop,  saying,  '  Patron,  is  this  the  kingdom  of 
God  which  you  promised  me?'  And  the  bishop 
said,  '  This  is  not  that  kingdom,  but  the  beginning 
of  the  way  by  which  you  approach  it.'  The  new 
Constantino  advanced  to  the  healing  font  in  wdiich 
the  leprosy  of  chronic  disease  and  the  filth  of  the 
ancient  pollution  of  iniquity  might  be  completely 
removed.  The  blessed  Remigius  officiated  on  the 
solemn  occasion,  by  whom,  in  apostolic  doctrine 
and  in  a  holy  life,  another  Silvester  ^  seemed  to  be 
represented. 

"  Clovis  having  entered  the  life-giving  fountain, 
the  holy  bishop  delivered  this  eloquent  address : 
'  O  Sicamber,  meekly  bow  thy  head,  and  adore  what 
thou  hast  burned,  and  burn  what  thou  hast  adored.' 
Framing    salutary   laws,   with   lowly   reverence   he 

^  In  alkision  to  a  fable,  believed  for  centuries  in  Western 

Europe,  that  Pope  Silvester  baptized  Constantine  the  Great. 

8^i' 


90  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

honored  the  cliurclies  built  for  religious  worship, 
that  he  might  adore  God  in  the  houses  which  with 
fierce  profanity  he  was  accustomed  to  give  to  the 
flames.  .  .  .  After  confessing  the  orthodox  faith  in 
answer  to  questions  put  by  the  holy  pontiff,  accord- 
ing to  ecclesiastical  custom  he  icas  hajotlzed  by  trine 
immersloi,^  in  the  name  of  the  holy  and  undivided 
Trinity — Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit;  and,  re- 
ceived by  the  pontiff  himself  from  the  holy  font, 
he  was  anointed  with  sacred  chrism,  with  the  sign 
of  the  holy  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  ISIoreover,  from  his  army  three  thousand  men 
were  baptized,  without  counting  women  and  chil- 
dren. His  sisters  also,  Albofledis  and  Landeheldis, 
were  baptized ;  and  there  was  great  rejoicing  that 
day  among  holy  angels  in  heaven  and  godly  men 
on  earth. 

"  Finally,  a  great  host  of  the  Franks,  not  yet  con- 
verted to  the  faith,  lived  with  Regnarius  for  some 
time  beyond  the  river  Somme.  King  Clovis,  hav- 
ing gained  famous  victories,  killed  Regnarius,  who 
was  covered  with  flagitious  crimes,  and  who  had 
been  delivered  to  him  bound  by  the  Franks ;  and 
he  induced  all   the  Frankish   people,  through   the 

^  Secundum  ecflesiasticam  niorem  bapti;catu8  est  trina  mer- 
sionc.  Vita  Sand.  Remifj.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  125,  pp.  1160- 
llGl.     Mitrne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  91 

blessed  Remigius,  to  be  converted  to  the  faith  and 
to  be  baptized." 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Anderson,  D.  D.,  of  this 
city,  at  my  request  gives  the  following  account  of 
the  baptistery  in  Paris,  represented  by  tradition  to 
be  the  one  in  which  Clovis  was  baptized : 

"The  baptistery  in  which  Clovis  is  said  to  have 
submitted  to  the  ordinance  has  long  been  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Rationale  in  Paris.  My  attention  was 
called  to  it  some  years  ago,  but  I  never  saw  it  till 
the  summer  of  1872.  On  that  occasion  I  visited 
the  library  and  made  a  careful  examination  of  the 
bath.  It  is  of  polished  porphyry,  fully  seven  feet 
long,  about  two  and  a  half  feet  deep,  and  nearly 
the  same  in  width.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
suitableness  for  the  purpose.  In  the  latter  part  of 
March  in  the  same  year  I  had  seen  three  men  bap- 
tized in  Rome  by  the  Rev.  James  Wall,  the  English 
Baptist  missionary  in  that  city.  The  baptistery  w^as 
smaller  in  every  way  than  the  one  in  Paris,  but  it 
was  quite  large  enough  for  the  due  observance  of 
the  ordinance.  As  to  the  authority  on  which  it  is 
said  to  have  been  used  on  the  occasion  of  the  bap- 
tism of  Clovis,  I  cannot  give  any  information." 

This  vessel  was  probably  used  for  the  baptism  of 
Clovis,  his  sisters,  his  warriors,  and  a  number  of 
women  and  children;    and  that  immersion   ivas  the 


92  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

mode  of  hajjtism  by  ^vhifh  the  king  and  so  many 
of  his  people  were  initiated  into  the  Christian 
Church  is  beyond  all  doubt,  whether  this  laver  was 
used  or  not. 

Archbishop   Magnus   of  Sens,  and  Immersion. 

Magnus  was  honored  by  being  consecrated  by  the 
pope  himself,  Leo  III.,  at  Kome,  A.  d.  801.  By  order 
of  Charlemagne  he  prepared  a  work  on  baptism  for 
the  information  of  the  clergy  and  the  faithful.  In 
this  treatise  he  says : 

"  Baptism  in  Greek  is  translated  immer'sion  in  Latin, 
.  .  .  and  therefore  the  infant  is  immersed  three  times 
in  the  sacred  font,  that  trine  immersion  may  mystically 
show  forth  the  three  days'  burial  of  Christ,  and  that 
the  lifting  up  from  the  waters  may  be  a  likeness  of 
Christ  rising  from  the  tomb."  ^ 

The  account  given  by  Magnus  of  baptism,  which 
is  quoted  above,  has  the  same  ideas  and  chiefly  the 
same  words  as  were  given  to  Charlemagne  by  one  of 
his  bishops,  and  appear  in  this  work.  But  there  are 
verbal  variations  in  the  original  Latin  which  indicate 
two  authors. 

^  Biiptisnuim  Grsece  Latine  tinctio  interpretatur  .  .  .  in- 
fans  tor  inergitur  in  sacro  fonte  ut  sepulturam  triduanani 
ChristI  trina  demersio  mystice  designaret,  et  ab  aquis  ele- 
vatio  Christi  resurgentis  similitudo  est  de  sepulcro.  Patrol. 
Lat.,  vol.  102,  p.  981.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  93 

Leidradus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  on  Baptism, 
A.D.  816. 

This  author  has  left  us  three  epistles  and  a  tract  on 
baptism.  He  was  a  man  of  distinction  among  the 
ecclesiastics  of  his  day.  He  was  sent  twice  into  Spain 
by  Charlemagne  to  reclaim  Felix  and  Elipandus,  who 
taught  that  Christ  as  a  man  was  the  Son  of  God  only 
in  name  and  by  adoption.  Speaking  of  baptism,  he 
says : 

"But  we  immerse  three  times  that  we  may  show 
forth  the  mystery  of  the  three  days'  burial ;  that 
whilst  the  infant  is  drawn  out  of  the  water  three 
times,  the  resurrection  [at  the  close]  of  three  days 
may  be  shown  forth,  ...  in  the  baptism  of  infants 
there  ought  to  be  no  censure  for  immersing  once  or 
thrice,  since  in  three  immersions  the  Trinity  of  per- 
sons [in  the  Godhead]  can  be  exhibited,  and  in  a 
single  immersion  the  oneness  of  Jehovah."^ 

Theodulphus,   Bishop   of   Orleans,   on   Im- 
mersion. 

Theodulphus,  an  Italian  who  enjoyed  the  special 
friendship  of  Charlemagne  and  of  Louis  the  Pious, 

^  Nos  autem  tertio  mergimus  .  .  .  infantum  in  baptismate 
vel  ter  vel  semel  mergere ;  quando  in  tribus  mersionibus 
personarum  trinitas,  et  in  una  potest  divinitatis  singularitas 
designari.  Leidrad.  Episc.  Ltigdun.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  99,  p. 
863.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


94  THE   BAPTISiC   OF   THE 

became  Bishop  of  Orleans  a.d.  794,  and  died  A.d. 
821.  He  wrote  several  works  in  prose  and  poetry. 
There  is  still  in  existence  a  beautiful  copy  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  which  was  prepared  at  his  expense, 
and  to  which  he  prefixed  a  preface  and  some  poems 
in  golden  letters.  In  his  tract  On  Baptism  he  says : 
"  ^ye  are  buried  with  Christ  when,  at  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  Holy  Trinity,  ive  descend  by  trine  immer- 
sion into  the  font  of  the  laver  as  if  into  a  certain  grave. 
When  divested  [by  baptism]  of  all  sins  as  ive  go  out 
from  the  font,  ive  arise  ivith  Christ."  ^ 

HiNCMAR   AND    IMMERSION. 

Two  French  bishops  in  the  ninth  century  bore  this 
name.  Hincmar,  Bishop  of  Laon,  was  arrogant  and 
quarrelsome.  He  had  bitter  controversies  with  the 
king,  his  clergy,  and  his  uncle  until  he  w^as  deposed. 
Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  the  uncle  of  Hinc- 
mar of  Laon,  was  a  man  of  superior  intellect  and 
culture,  and  of  very  great  influence  in  the  Church 
and  in  the  State.  He  gives  his  views  of  baptism  in 
the  following  words : 

"  Jf  I/O'*  believe  and  coifcss  three  iimnersions  in  the 

'  Sub  trina  iinmersione  in  fonte  lavacri,  quasi  in  quoddam 
sepulcrura  descendiraus  .  .  .  de  fonte  quasi  egredimur.  T/teo- 
dulf.  Aurelian.  Fpisc,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  105,  p.  223.  Migne. 
Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  95 

name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Father,  Son,  and  Sacred 
Spirit,  to  be  one  baptism,  because  there  is  one  God. 
the  Father  and  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  of  one  essence, 
of  one  Deity,  of  one  nature,  in  ^vhose  name  catholic 
baptism  is  administered — .  .  .  if  you  are  silent  about 
this  question,  lue  shall  therefore  say  that  the  three  im- 
mersions are  one  baptism^  ^  Hincmar  is  defending 
the  Trinity. 

Baptism  of  Hastein,  a  Danish  Pikate,  in 
France,  a.  d.  887. 

In  the  Flowers  of  History,  written  by  Roger  of  Wen- 
dover,  a  monk  of  St.  Alban's,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, we  have  an  account  of  the  ravages  and  mur- 
ders perpetrated  by  Hastein,  or  Hasting,  in  England 
and  France ;  and  to  crown  all  his  infamies  Roger 
records  his  impious  baptism.     He  says : 

"At  length  he  sent  his  servants  to  the  Bishop 
and  Count  of  Lunis  [a  French  city  he  vainly  tried 
to  capture],  informing  them  that  he  was  seized  with 
a  mortal  illness,  and  humbly  requesting  to  be  made 
a  Christian  by  them.  On  hearing  this,  the  bishop 
and  count  rejoiced  greatly,  and  making  peace  with 
the  enemy  of  peace,  allowed  his  people  free  admis- 

^  Tres  mersiones.  .  .  .  Dicimus  ideo  tres  mersiones  unum 
esse  baptisma.  Hincm.  lihem.,  De  Una  ei  Non  Trina  Dictate., 
Patrol.  Lai.,  vol.  125,  pp.  554,  555.     Migne.     ParisiLs. 


96  THE  BAPTISM   OF  THE 

sion  to  the  city.  At  length  the  wicked  Hastein 
•Nvas  carried  to  the  church  and  immersed  in  the 
sacred  font,  from  which  the  bishop  and  mayor  raised 
him  again  to  their  own  destruction;  and  after  re- 
ceiving the  holy  anointing  he  was  carried  back 
to  his  ships  by  the  hands  of  his  servants.  After 
this,  in  the  depth  of  night  he  was  clad  in  armor 
and  laid  on  a  bier,  having  directed  his  followers 
to  wear  their  coats  of  mail  under  their  tunics.  His 
comrades  then  with  feigned  sorrow  bore  him  from 
on  board  ship  to  the  church,  where  the  bishop  in 
his  holy  garments  was  ready  to  sacrifice  the  host 
for  the  deceased ;  when,  behold,  Hastein,  that  son 
of  perdition,  suddenly  sprang  up  from  the  bier,  put 
the  bishop  and  count  to  the  sword,  and  fell  with 
wolfish  rage  on  the  people."  ^ 

The  Immersion  of  a  Pirate. 

Ivicherus,  a  monk  of  Rheims,  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, the  author  of  a  history  in  four  books,  gives 
the  following  description  of  the  baptism  of  one 
of  the  numerous  outlaws  who  at  that  time  infested 
the  coasts  and  rivers  of  Europe  : 

"  On  the  appointed  day,  in  the  basilica  of  St. 
Marcial   the   Martyr,   the   services   of   the   bishops 

'  Eoger  of  Wcnclover,  at  A.  D.  887,  vol.  i.,  pp.  223,  224. 
London,  1849. 


AGES    AND    THE   NATIONS.  97 

being  over,  he  [a  pirate],  received  from  the  king 
himself,  descended  into  the  holy  font,  and  was  bap- 
tized by  trine  immersion  in  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  ^ 

St.  Fulbert  and  Immersion. 

St.  Fulbert,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century,  Avas  a  warm  friend  to 
learning  and  theology.  He  gave  lectures  to  the 
public  on  various  important  subjects  in  the  schools 
of  the  church  of  Chartres.  Throngs  of  students 
from  France  and  Germany  went  forth  from  his 
instructions  to  extend  his  fame  and  enlighten  the 
benighted. 

Kobert,  King  of  France,  highly  esteemed  St. 
Fulbert,  and  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  he 
was  the  honored  head  of  the  church  of  Chartres. 
Expounding  Romans  vi.  3,  4—"  Know  ye  not  that  so 
many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Christ,  were  baptiz- 
ed into  his  death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death,  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised 
from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so 
we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life,"  etc. — he 
says : 

"As,  therefore,  we  have  been  informed  that  the 

^  In  sacrum  fontem  descenderet  .  .  .  trina  immersione. 
Hist.,  lib.  iv. ;  Patrol.  L:it.,  vol.  133,  p.  24.    Migne.    Piirisiis. 


08  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

body  of  our  Lord  Je^ius  Christ  was  buried  in  an 
earthly  grave  three  days  and  three  nights,  so  also 
a  man  immersed  three  times  under  an  element  allied 
to  the  earth  [wafer']  is  covered;  and  thus,  whilst  he 
is  immersed  in  imitation  of  a  vital  mystery,  he  is 
buried;  ichen  he  is  raised  [from  the  ivater]  he  is 
awakened.  In  connection  -with  this  topic,  reflect  a 
little  upon  what  the  water  accomplishes  and  upon 
what  the  Holy  Spirit  performs:  The  water  brings 
down  the  person  dying,  as  it  were,  into  the  tomb ;  the 
Holy  Spirit  brings  him,  as  if  rising  again,  through 
to  heaven^  ^  At  this  period,  from  end  to  end  of 
Christendom,  baptism  ^vas  thus  described. 

Ivo,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  and  Immersion. 

Ivo  was  a  man  of  extensive  learning  and  of  un- 
usual reverence  for  the  old  customs  of  the  Church. 
His  morals  were  unblemished,  and  his  influence  was 
great  in  every  department  of  his  country  and  among 
all  classes  of  society.     He  died  A.  d.  1115. 

"Writing  of  baptism,  he  quotes  the  language  of 
Pope  Leo  the  Great  as  his  own : 

'  Et  liomo  ila  sub  cognato  terr?e  elemcnto  trina  vice  de- 
mcrsiis  operitur,  ac  sic  vitalis  iniitutione  mysterii  dum  de- 
mergitur  sepclitur.  .  .  .  Aqua  velut  morientem  deducit  in 
tumulnm  ;  Spiritus  Sanctus  vehit  resurgentum  perducit  ad 
c<L'luin.  S.  Falberll  Carnot.  Episc.  Ep. ;  Patrol.  La(.,  vol. 
141,  p.  200.     :Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  99 

"  Trhie  immersion  is  an  imitation  of  the  three  days' 
burial,  and  the  rising  from  the  waters  is  a  likeness  of 
the  resurrection  from  the  sepidchre."  ^ 

Gregory  the  Great  and  Leo  the  Great  are  quoted 
very  frequently  before  and  during  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury as  authorities  on  the  baptismal  question. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor  and  Immersion. 

Hugo  was  born  a.  d.  1096,  and  died  A.  d.  1140. 
He  was  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Victor  in 
Paris,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  literary  men 
in  Europe  in  the  twelfth  century.  His  works  are 
numerous,  and  treat  of  theology,  philosophy,  and 
other  questions.  He  Avas  a  great  admirer  of  St. 
Augustine ;  and  such  was  his  reputation  that  ob- 
scure authors  placed  his  name  U2:>on  their  produc- 
tions to  secure  for  them  the  respect  paid  to  the 
works  of  such  a  distinguished  writer.  Treating  of 
baptism,  he  states  that  "  trine  immersion  itself  is 
spoken  of  as  the  sacrament  of  the  Trinity  or  of  the 
three  days'  burial  [of  Christ].  Immersion  is  made 
baptism  by  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity.  After  you 
promised  to  believe  we  imrnersed  your  heads  three  times 
in  the   sacred  font "  ^  [candidates    for  baptism  were 

'  Sepulturam  triduanam  imitatur  trina  demersio.     De  Fide, 
Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  161,  p.  73.     Migne.     Parisiis. 

^  Ipsa  trina  immersio  sacramenturn  dicitur  vel  Trinitatis 


"r^7i/= 


100  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

placed  ill  the  water  up  to  the  neck  by  deacons  if  men, 
or  by  deaconesses  if  women,  after  which  the  bishop 
came  and  dipped  their  heads  in  the  water].  "  This 
order  of  baptism  is  observed  to  show  forth  a  double 
mystery ;  for  ye  were  rightly  immersed  three  times 
who  have  received  baptism  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity,  and  ye  were  rightly  immersed  three  times 
who  have  received  baptism  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  arose  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day ; 
for  this  trine  immersion  is  a  figure  of  the  Lord's 
burial,  through  which  [immersion]  ye  have  been 
buried  with  Christ  by  baptism."^ 

Hugo  then  proceeds  to  quote  the  letter  of  Gregory 
the  Great  to  Leander,  approving  of  one  immersion 
in  Spanish  baptisms,  though  he  admits  that  in  Rome 
they  had  three.  He  also  cites  Haymo,  Bishop  of 
Halberstadt,  who  declares  in  his  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Bomans  that  "he  immersed  little  chil- 
dren once  in  baptism." 

In  another  place  Hugo,  addressing  the  adminis- 

vel  .  .  .  baptisnuis  immersio  facta  est.  .  .  .  Postquam  vos  cre- 
dere promisistis  tertio  capita  vcstra  in  sacro  fonte  deniersimus. 
'  Recte  enim  tertio  niersi  cstis.  .  .  .  Kecte  enim  tertio  mersi 
estis.  .  .  .  Ilia  enim  trina  immersio  typum  dominje  exprimit 
sepultura;.  .  .  .  Semel  mergebatin  baptism©  parvulos.  Summa 
sentent.,  Trad.  v.  cap.  3 ;  Pulrol.  La/.,  vol.  176,  p.  130.  Migne. 
ParLslls. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  101 

trator  of  baptism,  says:  '^You  immersed  a  man,  and 
said,  'J  baptize  you  in  the  name  of  the  Father ,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  f  and  you  say  to  me, 
*  This  man  is  a  Christian.  He  has  been  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  /  have  immersed  him  three  times  in  the 
ivater,^  and  I  said  when  I  immersed  him,  I  baptize 
you  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit:" 

In  the  twelfth  century  immersion  was  the  recog- 
nized mode  of  baptism  in  Europe  and  out  of  it,  or 
such  language  could  not  have  come  from  the  great 
writer  of  St.  Victor. 

AbelapvD  and  Immersion. 

Abelard  in  the  twelfth  century  astonished  France, 
his  own  country,  and  all  Europe  by  the  splendor 
of  his  genius  and  by  the  rapidity  with  w^hich  he 
reached  the  loftiast  heights  of  fame.  This  acute 
reasoner  adopts  the  language  of  Pope  Gregory  the 
Great  about  baptism  as  his  own,  and  declares  that 
"  In  baptism  it  is  of  no  consequence  whether  you 
immerse  the  infants  once  or  three  times ;  by  three  im- 

^  Mersisti  liominem.  .  .  .  Ego  ilium  mersi  tertio  in  aquam. 
Ego  dixi  cum  mergerem.  .  .  .  Hugo,  de  St.  Vict.,  De  Sacram., 
lib.  ii.  pars  vi. ;  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  176,  p.  443. 
9* 


102  THE    BAPTISM  OF   THE 

viersions  the  Trinity  can  be  exhibited,  and  by  one 
the  unity  of  the  divinity."  ^ 

But  Abclard  did  not  say,  "It  is  of  no  consequence 
in  baptism  ^vhether  you  pour,  sprinkle,  or  immerse 
once  or  three  times." 

Peter  Lombard  and  Immersion. 

Lombard  "was  a  native  of  Italy,  and  at  first  a 
student  at  Bologna.  In  pursuit  of  a  theological 
education  he  came  to  Paris,  Avhere  he  employed  his 
advantages  so  successfully  that  he  was  appointed 
a  professor  of  theology  and  afterward  Bishop  of 
Paris.  He  composed  a  system  of  theology  based 
upon  the  writings  of  the  Fathei^,  and  chiefly  from 
Hilary,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  and  Augustine,  which 
was  received  with  enthusiasm  throughout  Europe, 
and  which  became  tlie  "text-book  of  divinity"  for 
some  generations.  He  died  A.  d.  1164,  after  wield- 
ing for  years  an  influence  seldom  equalled.  Writ- 
ing of  baptism,  he  says : 

"Baptism  is  called  dipping — that  is,  the  external 
washing  of  the  body — administered  with  a  prescribed 
form  of  words."  Then  he  approvingly  quotes  the 
following  from  Pope  Zachary :  "An  English  synod 
positively   decreed   that  any   one  immersed  without 

^  In  baptismate  vel  ter  vel  seinel  mergere,  qnando  tribus 
iiicnsionibus.  FcdroL  Lat.,  vol.  178,  p.  1510.    Mignc.  Parisiis. 


AGES    AND    THE    XATIOXS.  103 

the  invocation  of  the  Trinity  had  not  the  sacra- 
ment of  regeneration,  which  is  undoubtedly  true, 
because  if  any  one  is  jolunged  info  the  font  of  bap- 
tism without  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity,  his 
Christianity  is  not  comiDlete. 

"  If  you  inquire  about  the  immersion — in  what 
way  it  ought  to  be  performed — we  answer  briefly : 
Either  once  or  three  times,  according  to  the  different 
customs  of  the  Church."  ^  Lombard  then  proceeds  to 
quote  Gregory's  letter  to  Leander,  giving  his  sanc- 
tion to  trine  or  single  immersion  in  Spain, 

As  an  authority  for  the  baptismal  customs  of 
Western  Christendom  no  man  stood  before  Peter 
Lombard  in  the  twelfth  century. 

Durix,  THE  Church  Historian,  and 
Immersion. 

This  learned  Roman  Catholic,  though  writing  for 
his  own  community,  gave  the  world,  in  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  most  extensive,  exact, 
and  in  the  main  impartial  history  of  the  writers 
of  tlie    Christian    Church   ever    penned ;    and   his 

'  Baptismus  dicitur  intinctio  .  .  ,  sine  invocatione  Trini- 
tatis  mersus  fnisset  .  .  .  mersus  in  fontem  baptismi.  .  .  . 
De  immersione  vero  si  qneeritur  .  ,  .  vel  semel,  vel  ter  pro 
vario  more  eccleslse.  Sentent.  Qaatuor.,  lib.  iv.  dist.  iii.,  1,  2, 
9,  vol.  192,  pp.  843,  815  ;  Patrol.  Lat.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


104  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

record  of  the  movements  in  and  around  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  unusually  reliable. 

Speaking  of  baptism  in  the  third  century,  he 
says :  "  They  baptized,  -with  some  ceremonies,  those 
that  were  well  instructed  in  their  religion,  and  who 
had  given  satisfactory  signs  of  their  sincere  conversion. 
They  generally  dipped  them  thnce  in  the  water."  ^ 

Of  the  fourth  century  he  says:  "Baptism  was 
administered  to  infants  and  adults  with  many  cere- 
monies. They  were  dipped  three  times  into  the 
water,"  ^  etc. 

Of  the  thirteenth  century  he  says :  "  The  triple 
immersion  was  still  in  use."^ 

^  Dupin's  Ecclesiastical  HUtory,  i.  589.     Dublin,  1723. 
2  Ihiil,  i.  630.  3  j5,-^^  ii  395_ 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  105 


SPAIN. 

St.  Isidore  and  Immersion. 

Isidore  was  the  grandson  of  Theodoric,  King  of 
Italy.  He  was  born  at  Seville  in  Spain,  and  after 
the  death  of  his  brother  Leander  he  became  bishop 
of  his  native  city,  A.  d.  595.  Isidore  was  a  man  of 
profound  learning  for  his  day,  and  a  prolific  writer. 
He  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  countrymen 
and  the  Western  nations,  which  ages  did  not  remove. 
The  Eighth  Council  of  Toledo  gives  him  this  com- 
mendation :  "  The  excellent  doctor  of  our  age,  Isi- 
dore, the  greatest  ornament  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
the  last  of  the  Fathers  Avith  regard  to  the  times,  but 
such  as  may  for  his  learning  be  compared  to  the  first, 
the  most  learned  man  of  past  ages."  ^ 

Speaking  of  baptism,  Isidore  says :  "  Once  it  be- 
hooves us  to  be  washed  for  Christ,  as  Christ  has  once 
died  for  us ;  for  if  there  is  one  God  and  one  faith, 
of  necessity  also  there  is  one  baptism,  seeing  there 
is  one  death  of  Christ,  into  the  image  of  which  we 
are  immersed  through  the  viysiery  of  the  holy  font, 
1  Dupin,  ii.  4.     Dublin,  1824. 


106  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

that  dijing  to  this  world  we  might  he  buried  with  Christ, 
and  that  ive  might  be  raised  up  from  the  same  waters 
in  the  likeness^  of  his  remrrectiony 

St.  Isidore  speaks  on  the  mode  of  baptism  as  an 
American  Baptist  pastor  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Fourth  Council  of  Toledo  and  Im- 
mersion. 

This  Spanish  council  was  convened  by  King  Sise- 
naud  A.  D.  633.  It  was  composed  of  the  archbish- 
ops of  Seville,  Narbonne,  Braga,  Merida,  Toledo,  and 
Tarragona,  Avith  fifty-three  suffragan  bishops,  and 
with  seven  presbyters  representing  bishops.  Many 
of  the  orthodox  Christians  in  Spain  were  very  indig- 
nant at  the  change  in  baptism  from  trine  to  single 
immersion  ;  and  neither  Pope  Gregory's  letter  nor 
the  authority  of  their  own  most  venerable  bishops 
was  able  to  silence  them.  To  calm  this  disturb- 
ance and  unite  the  Spanish  Catholics  the  council 
decreed: 

"For,  shunning  the  scandal  of  schism  or  the  use 
of  an  heretical  practice,  we  observe  a  single  immersion 
in  baptism.     Nor  do  they  who  immerse  three  times  ap- 

'  In  ciijiis  iniaginein  inergiimir  per  mystoriuin  sacri  fontis, 
lit  t'onsepeliumur  C'hristo  niorientes  huie  inundo,  et  ab  iisdem 
aquis  in  forma  resurrcotionis  ejus  emerglmur.  De  Eccles.  Offic., 
Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  83,  p.  821.     Mlgne.     Parisiis. 


AGES    AXD    THE    NATIONS.  107 

pear  to  us  to  approve  of  the  claims  of  heretics,  al- 
though they  follow  their  custom  [of  trine  immersion]. 
And  that  no  one  may  doubt  the  propriety  of  this 
single  sacrament,  let  him  see  that  in  it  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  are  shown  forth.  For  the  im- 
mersion in  the  waters  is  a  descent,  as  it  were,  into  the 
grave ;  and  again  the  emersion  from  the  waters  is  a 
resurrection.  Likewise,  he  may  see  displayed  in  it 
the  unity  of  the  Deity  and  the  Trinity  of  persons — 
the  unity  whilst  we  immerse  once,  and  the  Trinity 
whilst  Ave  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  ^  The  council 
first  quote  the  letter  of  Pope  Gregory  to  Leander, 
which  they  emphatically  commend.  Gregory's  let- 
ter from  this  time  became  a  celebrated  document, 
to  which  for  centuries  there  was  continual  reference 
to  show  that  either  trine  or  single  immersion  was 
orthodox. 

This  canon  of  Toledo,  with  Gregory's  letter,  is  in 
Labbe  and  Cossart's  Sacrorum  Conciliorum.  The 
authors  of  this  immense  work  were  learned  Jesuits, 

'  Simplicem  teneamus  baptismi  mersionera  ;  ne  videantur 
apud  nos,  qui  tertio  mergunt.  .  .  .  Nam"  in  aquis  niersio, 
quasi  ad  infernum  descensio  est ;  et  rursus  ab  aquis  eraersio, 
resurrectio  est  .  .  .  unitatem,  dum  semel  mergimus  ;  Trini- 
tatem.  .  .  .  Cbne.  Tolet.,  iv.  can.  5,  Labbe  et  Cossart.,  vol.  x. 
pp.  614,  615.     Florentise,  1764. 


108  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

and  nothing  supposed  to  be  lacking  in  Catholic  or- 
thodoxy is  likely  to  be  found  in  its  pages. 

The  fifth  canon  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Toledo 
breathes  the  spirit  of  the  apostle  Paul  or  of  a  mod- 
ern Baptist. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  109 


SWEDEN  AND   DENMAEK. 

St.  Anschar  and  Scandinavian  Immersions. 

Till  the  ninth  century  little  had  been  done  by 
Christians  for  the  conversion  of  the  Danes  and 
Swedes.  Anschar,  though  *iot  the  first  laborer 
among  these  hardy  Pagans,  obtained  such  a  meas- 
ure of  well-deserved  success  that  he  is  justly  called 
"  the  apostle  of  the  Scandinavians."  He  was  born 
A.  D.  801  ;  he  was  •  educated  in  the  monastery  of 
Corbie  in  France,  of  which  he  became  a  monk,  and 
he  died  A.  d.  865,  having  been  a  legate  of  the  pope 
and  the  first  archbishop  of  Hamburg.  He  was  a 
true  successor  of  the  heroic  band  chosen  by  the 
Teacher  of  Nazareth  to  carry  his  gospel  over  the 
nations.  The  leader  of  an  enterprise  which  was  so 
successfully  started,  and  which,  under  the  labors  of 
his  successors,  became  everywhere  triumphant,  was 
honored  as  a  canonized  saint  among  the  Swedes  and 
Danes,  and  as  a  bishop  worthy  of  the  love  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

His  biography  was  written  in  prose  by  his  com- 
panion Rimbertus,  and  in  a  poetic  form  by  Gualdo, 

10 


110  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

a  monk  of  Corbie  iu  the  eleventh  century.  These 
two  works  were  published  in  Stockholm  in  1677,  iu 
Latin,  under  the  title  of  The  Double  Life  of  St. 
Anschar.  Peter  Lambecius,  an  eminent  scholar, 
wrote  notes  for  The  Double  Life.  Claudius  Arrhe- 
nius,  professor  of  history  in  the  great  Swedish  Uni- 
versity of  Upsala,  added  some  contributions  to  the 
work.  Gualdo,  describing  the  success  of  Anschar 
in  the  time  of  King  Horicus  [Eric],  relates  that 
"  both  sexes  hastened  to  be  immersed  in  the  sacred 
waters.^'  ^  And  again  :  "  When  the  king  had  ac- 
complished what  he  wished,  he  called  the  saint  to 
himself,  and  he  gave  him  liberty  to  build  churches 
throughout  the  region,  to  have  priests  with  him, 
and  to  immerse  freely  all  who  wished  [baptism]  in  the 
liquid  ivaters."  ^ 

Commenting  on  The  Double  Life,  and  especially 
on  the  conduct  of  some  of  Anschar's  converts  who 
wanted  to  defer  baptism  till  near  death,  that  its 
waters  might  wash  away  all  their  sins  just  as  they 
were  about  to  enter  heaven,  the  learned  Lambecius 
says : 

*'  They  who  delay  baptism  for  this  reason  are  not 

^  Sexus  uterque  sacris  mergi  properabat  in  iindis.  St.  An- 
echarii  Vila  Gcmina,  p.  195.     Ilohniie,  1G77. 

*  Qui  vellent,  liquidis  mersare  licenter  in  undis.  Ibul.,  p. 
202. 


AGES   AXD   THE   NATIONS.  Ill 

SO  censurable  as  those  who  put  it  off  as  long  as  pos- 
sible through  bashfulness  and  shame;  since  for- 
merly men  and  women,  laying  aside  their  bashful- 
ness,  their  whole  bodies  being  entirely  nude,  were 
baptized  in  the  presence  of  all ;  and  that  not  by 
sprinkling  indeed,  but  by  immersion  or  sinking 
them." ' 

Poppo,  an  honored  missionary  among  the  Danes, 
was  so  highly  esteemed,  according  to  Neander,  that 
many  places  were  named  after  him — such  as  Popp- 
holz,  a  forest  between  Flensburg  and  Schleswig, 
where,  as  tradition  relates,  he  built  himself  a  hut. 
"In  a  brook  which  flows  by  the  spot,  Hillegenbach, 
he  is  said  to  have  baptized  his  disciples.''  ^  No 
climate  for  ages  was  too  cold  for  the  Saviour's  en- 
joined immersion. 

^  Non  per  aspersionem  scilicet,  sed  per  immersionem,  seu 
Karadvaiv.  St.  Anscharii  Vita  Gemina,  p.  255.  Holmise, 
1677. 

2  Neander's  Histwy  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church, 
vol.  iii.  p.  289.     Boston,  1869. 


112  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


GERMANY. 

Baptisms  by  St.  Boniface,  the  Apostle  of 
THE  Germans. 

St.  Boniface,  whose  proper  name  was  Winfrid, 
was  born  in  Devonsliire,  in  England,  in  680.  When 
he  was  thirty  years  of  age  he  was  filled  with  en- 
thusiasm to  preach  Christ  to  the  heathen,  and  soon 
after  he  assisted  the  aged  Willibrord,  Archbishop 
of  Utrecht,  in  spreading  the  gospel  among  the 
Pagan  Frieslanders  for  three  years.  Afterward  he 
came  to  Upper  Hesse  as  a  missionary.  There,  in 
the  presence  of  a  great  multitude  of  idolaters,  he 
cut  down  an  ancient  oak  consecrated  for  ages  to 
Jupiter.  In  its  fall  the  tree,  instead  of  killing 
him,  broke  into  four  pieces,  and  the  daring  Boni- 
face denounced  the  absurdity  and  wickedness  of 
worshipping  such  an  idol.  Hosts  of  Pagans  forth- 
with gave  up  their  false  gods  and  were  baptized  as 
Christians. 

Othlon,  one  of  the  biographers  of  Boniface,  was 
a  German  monk  of  the  eleventh  century.  His  LifCj 
Letters,  and  Sermons  of  St.  Boniface  is  an  excellent 
work. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  113 

Gregory  the  Second  was  chiefly  remarkable  for 
exacting  an  oath  of  obedience  to  the  pope  from  the 
first  German  bishop — an  act  of  wrong  which  is  now 
universal  in  the  Papal  Church. 

Pope  Zacharias,  whose  letter  to  Boniface  on  bap- 
tism is  so  explicit,  was  a  prelate  of  signal  ability, 
and  his  opinions  on  the  initiatory  sacrament  of  the 
Christian  Church  were  those  accepted  by  all  Roman 
Catholics  in  his  day. 

Othlon,  in  his  life  of  Boniface,  after  speaking  of 
his  great  success  in  Frisia,  says :  "  There  also  he  en- 
tered other  parts  of  Germany  that  he  might  preach. 
He  went  to  the  Hessians  located  on  the  confines  of 
the  Saxons,  whom  in  like  manner  he  converted  in 
large  numbers  from  Paganism,  and  he  washed  many 
thousands  of  men  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism."  ^ 
This  was  one  of  the  largest  baptisms  that  ever  oc- 
curred, and  the  solemn  rite  was  administered  by 
immersion.  The  word  wash  is  never  employed  to 
describe  sprinkling  or  pouring  in  baptism.  Gar- 
ments are  washed  by  dipping. 

^  Tunc  etiam  alias  Germanise  partes  prsedicandi  causa  adiil, 
Hessones  videlicet  in  Saxonum  confinio  positos.  Quos  cum 
similiter  a  paganica3  superstitionis  cultu  magna  ex  parte  con- 
verteret,  multaque  millia  hominum  baptismatis  sacraraento 
abluisset.  St.  Bonifac.  Mogunt.  Archiepisc,  Vita,  cap.  12; 
Script.  Ecdesiast.,  viii.  ssec.  Mignc.  Parisiis,  1863. 
10  *  H 


114  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

Pope  Gregory  the  Second,  in  a  letter  to  the  Ger- 
man clergy  and  laity  commending  Boniface,  uses  the 
same  word  to  describe  his  baptism.  "  Some  persons," 
says  ho,  "  who  had  no  knowledge  of  God  or  of  holy 
baptism,  icere  ivashecV  in  -water" — that  is,  bathed  in 
water. 

Pope  Zacharias,  in  a  letter  to  Boniface  shoAving  the 
need  of  baptism  and  of  invoking  the  Trinity  in  ad- 
ministering it,  with  special  reference  to  the  error  of 
an  Irish  presbyter  in  Germany  named  Samson,  who 
taught  that  a  man  might  be  made  a  Christian  with- 
out the  bath  of  regeneration  and  without  the  invo- 
cation of  the  Trinity,  says :  "  Whosoever  has  been 
washed  without  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity  has  not 
the  sacrament  of  regeneration  [baptism],  as  it  is  as- 
suredly true  that  if  any  one  has  been  immersed  in 
the  baptismal  fountain  without  the  invocation  of  the 
Trinity,  he  has  not  been  made  perfect  until  he  shall 
have  been  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  Whosoever 
is  immersed,  the  Trinity  being  invoked  in  gospel  lan- 
guage after  the  rule  laid  down  by  the  Lord,  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  has  that  sacrament  without  doubt.  .  .  .  But 

*  Aliquos  vero,  qui  nee  Dei  cognitionem  habentes,  nee  bap- 
tismatis  sacri  unda  sunt  loti.  Ep.  IIL,  Grccjor.  Papce  IL, 
Script.  Ec4ilei*i(ist.,  viii.  sapc.  p.  oOl.     Migne.     Parisiis,  1863. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  115 

about  those  who  immerse  in  the  fountain  of  baptism 
without  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity,  it  is  known  to 
thy  fraternity  that  the  series  of  sacred  rules  contains 
something  which  we  advise  you  to  hold  tenaciously : 
'  Be  ye  holy,  as  I  also  am  holy.' "  ^  Here  there  is  no 
difficulty  about  the  mode  of  baptism  between  the 
errorists  of  that  day  and  the  pope.  It  was  immer- 
sion in  both  cases.  The  evil  which  Zacharias  sought 
to  banish  was  the  rejection  of  the  names  of  the  Trin- 
ity in  the  administration  of  baptism.  The  bajitism, 
which  he  first  calls  washing,  he  describes  as  immer- 
sion three  times  afterward. 

Boniface  had  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  obey  Greg- 
ory the  Second  and  his  successors.     In  it  he  swears : 

^  Quicunque  sine  invocatione  Trinitatis  lotus  fuisset,  sacra- 
mentum  regenerationis  non  haberet.  Quod  omnino  verura  est, 
quia  si  mersus  in  fonte  baptismatis  quis  fuit  sine  invocatione 
Trinitatis  perfectus  non  est,  nisi  fuerit  in  nomine  Patris,  et 
Filii,  et  Spiritus  Sancti  baptizatus  ...  si  evangelicis  quis 
verbis,  invocata  Trinitate,  juxta  regulam  a  Domino  positam, 
quicunque  mersus  esset  in  nomina  Patris,  et  Filii,  et  Spiritus 
Sancti,  quod  sacramentum  sine  dubio  haberet.  .  .  .  Sed  de  his 
qui  sine  invocatione  Trinitatis  mergunt  in  fonte  baptismatis, 
fraternitati  tuae  notum  est  quid  de  illis  sacrorum  canonum 
series  continet,  quod  et  tenere  te  firraiter  hortamur.  .  ,  . 
Sancti  estote,  quoniam  et  ego  sanctus  sum.  Zach.  Papce, 
Ep.  XL,  ad  Bonif.  Archiepisc,  pp.  943,  994;  Script.  Ecclesi- 
a^f.,  viii.  saec.     Migne,  1863. 


116  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

"  I,  Boniface,  bishop  by  the  grace  of  God,  will  ren- 
der to  you,  blessed  Peter,  the  chief  of  the  apostles, 
and  to  thy  vicar,  the  blessed  Pope  Gregory,  and 
his  successors^  allegiance  in  everything,^  and  the 
purity  of  the  holy  catholic  faith ;  and  I  will  abide 
in  the  unity  of  the  same  faith,  by  the  help  of  God." 
This  was  a  new  oath,  voluntarily  taken  by  Boniface, 
which  he  carried  out  to  the  letter  in  everything  ; 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  strict  compliance 
with  Zacharias's  baptismal  instructions  in  the  im- 
mersion of  candidates  as  well  as  in  the  sacred 
names  invoked  in  the  celebration  of  the  ordinance. 
Trine  immersion  was  universal  among  his  coun- 
trymen in  England,  and  those  of  them  who  left 
their  country  as  missionaries  buried  the  baptized  in 
the  waters.  Willibrord,  the  honored  predecessor  of 
Boniface  in  one  of  his  continental  mission-fields, 
and  one  of  his  own  countrymen,  who  had  the  great 
Alcuin  for  his  biographer,  was  once  in  an  island 
called  Fositeland,  from  its  god,  Fosite ;  and  in  that 
island,  according  to  Alcuin,  there  was  a  fountain 
which  boiled  up,  the  water  of  which  no  one  might 
presume  to  drink  unless  he  did  it  secretly,  because 
it  was  dedicated  to  the  god.     Alcuin  declares  that 

'  Oinnem  fideni  ...  in  imitate  ejiisdem  fidei  Deo  operante 
persistere.  Juramcnt.  quo  S.  BoniJ'ac,  Script.  Ecdes.,  viii.  saec. 
Migne.     Parisiis,  1863. 


AGES   AND   THE   XATIOXS.  117 

"  Willibrord  baptized  three  men  in  that  fountain, 
with  the  invocation  of  the  holy  Trinity."  ^  The 
baptism  took  place  in  a  fountain  boiling  up  from 
bubbling  springs  and  overflowing  its  sides. 

Immersion  was  the  baptism  of  Willibrord  of 
England  and  of  Zacharias,  whom  Boniface  was 
bound  by  a  solemn  oath  to  obey  in  religion  in  every- 
thing; and  Boniface  administered  immersion  to  the 
hundred  thousand  converts  whom  he  baptized  in 
Germany. 

Alcuin  ox  Immersion. 

This  distinguished  Englishman  was  a  graduate, 
and  subsequently  the  principal,  of  the  celebrated 
school  at  York,  at  that  time  the  chief  seat  of  learn- 
ing in  Western  Europe.  He  wrote  freely  and  cor- 
rectly in  Latin,  and  he  was  familiar  with  Greek  and 
Hebrew.  He  revised  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  pre- 
sented it  to  Charlemagne.  He  taught  astronomy, 
philosophy,  rhetoric,  mathematics,  and  theology  in 
the  court  of  Charlemagne,  and  he  founded  schools 
throughout  the  vast  empire  of  that  monarch  at  his 
expense  and  under  his  patronage.  He  wielded 
an  influence  over  the  emperor  and  Europe,  over 
churches,  states,  and  seats  of  learning,  greater  than 

^  Tres  homines  in  eo  fonte  cum  invocatione  sanctse  Trinita- 
tis  baptizayit.  Vita  St.  Willibrordi,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  101,  p. 
700.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


118  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

any  otlier  man  who  lived  in  the  eighth  century. 
His  religious  opinions  were  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  doctrines  held  by  Christians  in  England, 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy.  He  is  therefore  a 
first-rate  witness  for  the  general  practices  of  bap- 
tism in  his  times. 

Trine  Immersion. 

In  a  learned  letter  to  the  canons  of  Lyons  he 
says:. 

"  Spain,  formerly  the  nurse  of  tyrants,  is  now  the 
nurse  of  scliismatics.  There,  contrary  to  the  universal 
custom  of  tJie  holy  Church  of  God,  a  doubt  in  regard  to 
baptism  has  been  proclaimed.  Certain  persons  affirm 
that  there  should  be  one  immersion  [only],  performed 
with  the  invocation  of  the  Trinity.  The  apostle 
seems  to  differ  from  that  doctrine  where  he  says, 
*  For  ye  are  l)uried  with  Christ  by  baptism.'  Rom. 
.vi.  4.  And  though  tliis  is  to  be  understood  figu- 
ratively,  yet  we   know  that  Christ  was  three  days 

'  Universalem  sanctae  Dei  ecclesiae  consuetudinera  .  .  . 
affirniantes  quidam  sub  invocatione  Trinitatis  unam  esse  mer- 
sionem  agendani.  .  .  .  Possunt  tres  noctes  tres  mersiones,  et 
tres  dies  elevationes  designare  ...  in  nomine  sanctaa  Trini- 
tatis trina  subniei-sione  bajjlizatur  .  .  .  epistolam  vero  qiiara 
a  beato  Gregorio  de-simpla  niersione  dicunt  esse  conscriptam. 
Alcuini  Epistola,  Ep.  90;  Patrol  Lat.,  vol.  100,  pp.  289-293. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  119 

and  three  nights  in  the  sepulchre.  .  .  .  The  three 
nights  may  signify  three  immersions,  and  the  three 
days  thrice  lifting  up  from"  [the  water].  He  cor- 
rectly quotes  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose,  and  Pope 
Leo  the  Great  to  jwove  that  they  administered  bap- 
tism by  trine  immersion.  "  This  testimony,^'  says  he, 
^^  was  left  to  us  by  the  chief  teachers  and  most  holy 
Fathers."  He  then  appeals  to  the  baptismal  usages 
known  to  the  canons  of  Lyons :  "  The  Pagan  be- 
comes one  of  the  catechumens.  He  renounces  Satan 
and  all  his  hurtful  pomps,  etc.,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  holy  Trinity  he  is  baptized  by  trine  immer- 
sion." This  is  Alcuin's  baptism,  and  the  baptism 
of  all  Christians  East  and  West  when  he  wrote,  ex- 
cept some  Koman  Catholics  in  Spain,  who  gave  but 
one  immersion  in  baptism.  Alcuin  proceeds  to  no- 
tice a  letter  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  to  Lean- 
der,  a  Spanish  bishop,  written  in  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century,  in  which  he  approves  of  a  toleration 
for  a  single  immersion  in  that  countrj/,  for  certain 
reasons  which  he  gives ;  and  Alcuin  declares  that 
"  he  did  not  find  that  letter  in  the  book  of  his  epis- 
tles which  was  brought  to  him  from  Rome,  .  .  .  and 
he  doubted  whether  it  was  written  by  Gregory  or 
by  some  founder  of  that  party." 

Alcuin  had  considerable  reason  for  doubting  the 
genuineness  of  Gregory's  letter,  for  he  knew  that 


120  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

all  Europe,  and  all  Christians  outside  of  it,  observed 
one  baptism  in  three  immersions,  except  some  Span- 
iards who  administered  one  immersion  ;  and  this 
doubt  of  such  a  man  as  Alcuin  about  the  authen- 
ticity of  Gregory's  letter  is  a  strong  proof  of  the 
"universal  custom,"  as  he  calls  it,  of  "trine  immer- 
sion." If  immersion,  once  or  thrice,  or  pouring  or 
sprinkling,  were  all  usual  and  held  in  equal  esteem, 
why  does  the  most  intelligent  man  of  the  age  send 
to  Rome  for  Gregory's  Book  of  Epistles  to  see  if  the 
pope  had  written  a  letter  tolerating  one  immersion 
in  Spain  and  exacting  three  elsew^here?  It  was  a 
long  and  costly  and  dangerous  journey  to  Rome, 
and  it  is  clear  that  Alcuin  recognized  no  baptism 
but  trine  immersion,  or  he  would  never  have  sent 
to  Rome  on  such  a  business ;  and  he  believed  there 
should  be  no  other  in  Spain  than  the  plungings 
practised  in  all  other  countries. 

And  when  Alcuin  failed  to  find  the  letter  among 
Gregory's  Epistles,  he  concluded  that  it  must  be  a 
forgery,  as  no  pope  could  set  aside  the  trine  immer- 
sion administered  in  all  the  churches  for  ages. 

But  Gregory  did  write  the  letter,  and  kept  no 
copy  of  it.  Leander  received  and  preserved  it. 
The  same  thing  happened  to  other  epistles  of  the 
same  pope,  copies  of  which  were  not  in  his  Book  of 
Epistles  in  Alcuin's  time. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  121 

It  would  have  amazed  Alcuin  to  have  seeu  the 
work  of  a  descendant  of  one  of  his  adopted  Ger- 
man fellow-citizens,  had  he  been  able  to  look  down 
the  ages,  and  to  have  read  in  it  that  his  imperial 
patron  "Charles  sufficiently  experienced  how  little 
durable  was  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons,  when  at 
his  command  hundreds  at  the  same  moment  stepped 
into  a  river  and  had  water  poured  over  them  in 
sign  of  baptism."  ^  Alcuin  saw  these  Saxons  bap- 
tized on  several  occasions ;  and  if  he  had  given  an 
account  of  what  he  witnessed,  he  would  have  de- 
scribed them  as  being  driven  into  the  river,  and  as 
having  been  immersed  three  times,  and  he  would 
not  have  uttered  a  word  about  pouring,  for  Alcuin 
was  a  writer  of  strict  veracity. 

On  another  occasion  Alcuin  writes  about  baptism  : 

"  In  the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity  a  man  is  bap- 
tized by  trine  immersion,  and  he  who  was  made  for 
an  image  of  the  sacred  Trinity,  by  the  invocation 
of  the  holy  Trinity  is  directly  restored  to  the  same 
image."  ^ 

In  a  treatise  On  the  Divine  Offices  Alcuin  writes 
of  baptism: 

^  Kohlrausch's  History  of  Germany,  p.  97.  New  York. 
1870. 

"^  Trina    submersione.     Alcuini    de    Baptismi    Cceremoniis, 
Patrol.  Lat,  vol.  101,  p.  QU.     Migne.     Parisiis. 
11 


122  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

"  Then  tlie  priest  baptizes  the  infant  by  trine  im- 
mersion, invoking  the  holy  Trinity  only  once,  and 
speaking  thus :  *  I  baptize^  you  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,'  and  he  immerses  him  once;  'and  of  the 
Son,'  and  he  immerses  him  again;  'and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,'  and  he  immerses  him  a  third  time."  Such 
is  the  testimony  of  Alcuin — the  Dr.  Francis  Way- 
land  of  the  eighth  century — about  the  mode  of 
baptism  in  his  day. 

Descriptions  of  Immersion  sent  to  Charle- 
magne AT  his  own  Request  by  Two  of  his 
Bishops. 

In  the  works  of  Charles  the  Great  the  following  ac- 
counts of  baptism  are  given  by  two  of  his  prelates : 

"  What  the  Greeks  call  baptism  [baptism  is  a 
Greek  word]  is  called  immersion  by  the  Latins.  The 
infant  is  immersed  three  times  in  the  holy  font,  that 
triple  immersion  may  figuratively  exhibit  the  three  days* 
burial  of  Chrid.  The  lifting  up  from  the  waters  is  a 
likeness  of  Christ  rising  from  the  grave"  '^ 

^  Delude  baptizat  eum  sacerdos  aub  triua  mersione  .  .  . 
ego  te  baptize  in  nomine  Patris,  et  mergat  gemel ;  et  Filii,  et 
mergat  iterum  ;  et  Spiritus  Sancti,  et  mergat  tertio.  De  Divi 
Ojjic.,  cap.  19;  Patrolog.  Lat.,  vol.  101,  p.  1219.  Migne. 
r:irisiis. 

^  Latine  tinelio  dieitur,  infans  ter  mergitur  in  saero  fonte 
ut  sepulturam  triduanam  Christi  trina  demersio  mystice  de- 


AGES   AND    THE   NATIONS.  123 

The  second  writes :  "  Thus  a  man  made  for  an 
image  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  dipped  by  trine  immer- 
sion, in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  restored  to  the  image  of 
the  same  Trinity."  ^ 

Eabanus  Maurus  on  Immersion. 

This  distinguished  man,  after  presiding  over  the 
great  abbey  of  Fulda  for  twenty  years,  and  found- 
ing a  seminary  for  the  education  of  clergymen,  which 
sent  forth  many  able  ministers,  became  Archbishop  of 
Mentz  in  847.  His  conspicuous  abilities  as  a  teacher 
and  writer  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  German 
bishops,  and  conferred  honor  upon  his  great  instruc- 
tor, Alcuin.     Treating  of  baptism,  he  says : 

"After  these  things  the  fountain  is  consecrated, 
and  the  candidate  draws  near  to  baptism  itself;  and 
thus  in  the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity  he  is  baptized 
by  trine  immersion ;  .  .  .  baptism  ought  therefore  to  be 
conferred  by  trine  immersion  ivith  the  invocation  of  the 
holy  Trinity^  ^ 

signaret,  et  ab  aquis  elevatio  Christi  resurgentis  instar  est  de 
sepulcro.    Carolus  Magnus^  ii.  p.  940.    Migne.    Parisiis,  1862. 

^  Trina  submersione  tinctus.     Ibid.,  p.  938. 

'^  Trina  submersione  baptizatiir  .  .  .  oportet  ergo  cum  in- 
vocatione  Sanctse  Trinitatis  sub  trina  mersione  baptismum  con- 
fici.  Lib.  de  Sacr.  Ordin.,  cap.  14;  Patrol.  Lai.,  vol.  112,  p. 
1175.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


124  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

Haymo,   Bishop   of   Halberstadt,   ox   Im- 
mersion. 

Haymo  was  a  disciple  of  Alciiin.  He  flourished 
about  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century.  He  was  the 
intimate  friend  of  Rabanus  Maurus.  Commenting 
on  Romans  vi.  4,  he  says  of  Christ : 

"He  himself  arose  on  the  third  day  alive,  and 
we,  after  a  third  immersion,  shall  arise  to  life  from 
the  death  of  sins."^ 

WiLAFRID     StRABO     (oR     StRABUS)     AND     IM- 
MERSION. 

This  author  was  a  German  abbot  who  lived  in  the 
ninth  century.  He  wrote  in  prose  and  poetry,  and 
his  works  possess  learning  and  merit.  Of  baptism 
he  says : 

"In  the  beginning  believers  were  freely  baptized  in 
rivers  or  fountains.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
to  consecrate  the  same  laver  for  us,  was  baptized  by 
John  in  the  Jordan.  And  we  read  elsewhere  that 
John  was  baptizing  in  Enon  near  Salim,  because 
there  was  much  water  there.  And  Philip  the  evan- 
gelist baptized  the  eunuch  in  a  fountain  which  he 
found  by  the  way. 

^  Post  t4?rnani  morsioncm  resurgemus  de  morte.  Expos, 
in  EpiM.  ad  Rom.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  117,  p.  412.  Migne. 
Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  125 

"  So7ne  want  trine  immersion,  because  of  its  resem- 
blance to  the  three  days'  burial  [of  Christ],  and 
because  the  Apostolic  Canons  and  the  custom  of  the 
Romans  required  it/ 

^'Others  contended  for  a  single  immersion  to  exhibit 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead.''  Strabo  then  refers  to  the 
controversy  in  the  Fourth  Council  of  Toledo  about 
trine  and  single  immersion,  and  to  the  letter  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great  advising  the  Spaniards  to 
practise  one  immersion  for  the  sake  of  their  Arian 
neighbors,  though  declaring  that  the  Romans  ad- 
ministered baptism  with  three  immersions.  He  then 
adds :  "  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  7nany  were  baptized, 
not  only  by  immersion,  but  by  pouring  water  over 
them  ;  and  if  there  was  any  necessity '  baptism  could 
still  be  administered  in  that  way ;  as  in  the  Passion 
of  the  blessed  Laurence  we  read  that  a  certain  per- 
son was  baptized  from  a  pitcher  brought  in.  This 
was  customary  when  the  height  of  very  tall  persons 
would  not  permit  them  to  be  dipped  in  small  bap- 
tisteries." 

^  Primo  simplicitur  in  fluviis  vel  fontibus  baptizatos  cre- 
dentes.  .  .  .  AHi  trinam  immersionem  vohint  .  .  .  et  Eoman- 
orum  consuetude  observat. 

2  Alii  unam  propter  divinitatis  unitatem  contendunt  .  .  . 
non  solem  raergendo,  verum  etiam  desuper  fundendo  ...  si 
necessitas  sit.     De  Bebus  Eccles.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  114,  pp. 
957-959.     Migne.     Parisiis. 
11* 


126  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

St.  Laurence  was  martyred  about  A.  d.  258,  and 
the  Avork  in  which  Strabo  read  the  story  of  the  man 
whom  Laurence  baptized  by  pouring — The  Acts  of 
St.  Laurence — is  notoriously  mixed  with  falsehoods/ 
and  can  gather  no  authority  from  the  fact  that 
Strabo  quoted  it,  for  sacred  forgeries  were  alarm- 
ingly numerous  long  before  his  day.  And  as  the 
practice  of  immersion  in  baptism  in  the  time  of 
St.  Laurence  was  universal  except  in  the  case  of 
a  handful  of  Clinics — so  small  that  they  scarcely 
deserve  to  be  named — the  story  is  unworthy  of 
notice.  Strabo  appeals  to  no  occurrence  of  pour- 
ing in  his  day  except  m  case  of  necessity.  Immer- 
sion, trine  or  single,  was  the  baptism  of  Christen- 
dom. 

Kegino  on  Immersion. 

Regino  was  Abbot  of  Prum,  in  the  diocese  of 
Treves,  in  the  end  of  the  ninth  and  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tenth  century.  He  was  regarded  as  an 
author  of  some  standing  in  his  own  times,  and  men 
who  love  to  examine  the  writings  of  the  distant  past 
still  read  Abbot  Regino.  In  his  work  on  Ecclesi- 
astical Discipline  he  says : 

"  Those  xchoin  we  baptize  we  immerse  three  times ; 

'  Wall's  Ifi'.ftonj  of  Infant  Baptism,  part  ii.  chap.  ix.  2,  p. 
710.     Xa.shville,  1860. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  127 

and  we  instruct  them  to  renounce  in  words  Satan 
and  his  angels."  ^ 

St.  Bruno  and  Immersion. 

Bruno  in  the  eleventh  century  was  twelve  years 
Bishop  of  Wiirtzburg.  He  was  Duke  of  Carinthia, 
but  preferred  the  service  of  God  to  the  pursuits 
which  generally  engaged  nobles.  He  wrote  ex- 
positions of  the  ancient  creeds  and  of  the  Psalms. 
Commenting  upon  the  word  *'  deluge "  in  one  of 
the  Psalms,  he  says : 

"Here  deluge  signifies  baptism,  or  the  waters  of 
baptism,  through  which  a  man  is  purified,  as  the 
world  was  cleansed  by  the  Deluge."  ^ 

According  to  St.  Bruno,  baptism  covers  the  bap- 
tized person  with  water  just  as  completely  as  the 
Deluge  covered  the  earth.  Of  the  completeness  of 
its  submersion  there  can  be  no  question. 

Immersions  in  Pomerania. 
Otto,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  in  the  year  1124  was 

^  Ter  mergiraus  quos  baptizamus.  De  Eccles.  Dis.,  Patrol. 
LciL,  vol.  132,  p.  338.     Migne.     Parisiis. 

^  Hie  significat  diluvium  baptismnm  sive  aquas  baptismi. 
Expos.  Pscd.,  PairologixB  Lat.,  vol.  142,  p.  129.     Migne.     Par- 


128  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

preaching  as  a  missionary  in  Pomerania,  and  in  Py- 
ritz  lie  gathered  a  large  body  of  converts.  **  Seven 
days,"  says  Neander,  "  were  spent  by  the  bishop  in 
giving  instruction.  Three  days  were  appointed  for 
spiritual  and  bodily  preparation  to  receive  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism.  They  held  a  fast  and  bathed 
themselves,  that  they  might  with  cleanliness  and  de- 
cency submit  to  the  sacred  ordinance.  Large  vessels 
filled  with  water  were  sunk  in  the  ground  and  sur- 
rounded with  curtains.  Behind  these  baptism  was 
administered,  in  the  form  customary  at  that  period, 
by  immersion.  During  their  t^Yenty  days'  residence 
in  this  town  seven  thousand  were  baptized,  and  the 
persons  baptized  were  instructed  in  the  matters  con- 
tained in  the  confession  of  faith  and  respecting  the 
most  important  acts  of  worship."^ 

Rupert  on  Immersion. 

Rupert,  Abbot  of  Deutz,  in  Germany,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  opposite  Cologne,  in  the  twelfth 
century,  was  an  author  of  great  industry.  But  of 
his  numerous  works  his  commentary  on  almost  the 
entire  Scriptures  is  best  known.  He  speaks  of  bap- 
tism in  the  following  terms  : 

'  Ncandcr's  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church, 
vol.  vi.  p.  8.     Boston,  I860. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  129 

"  Otherwise  why  hy  trine  immersion  are  we  baptized 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit?"^ 

Luther  and  Immersion. 

The  great  German  Reformer,  who  rendered  harm- 
less the  thunders  of  the  Vatican  and  inflicted  blows 
upon  the  Papacy  from  which  it  will  never  recover, 
speaks  strongly  in  favor  of  immersion.  In  his  essay 
On  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  he  begins  with  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  First,  baptism  is  a  Greek  word.  In  Latin  it  can 
be  translated  immersion,  as  when  we  phmge  something 
into  water  that  it  may  he  completely  covered  with  water; 
and  although  that  custom  has  been  given  up  by  most 
persons,  for  they  do  not  wholly  submerge  the  chil- 
dren, but  only  pour  on  a  little  water,  yet  they  ought 
to  he  completely  immersed  and  straightway  draivn 
Old.''  ^     Such  is  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  greatest 

^  AHoque  cur  sub  trina  raerslone  baptizamur?  .  .  .  Trin.  et 
Oper.,  Patrol.  Lai.,  vol.  167,  p.  1034.     Migne.     Parisiis. 

"  Prirao  nomen  baptismus  Grsecum  est ;  Latine  potest  verti 
mersio,  cum  inimergimus  aliquid  in  aquam,  ut  totum  tegatur 
aqua.  Et  quamvis  ille  mos  jam  aboleverit  apud  plerosque 
(neque  enim  totos  demergunt  pueros,  sed  tantum  paucula  aqua 
perfundunt)  debebant  tamen  prorsus  immergi,  et  statim  re- 
trahi.  .  .  .  De  Sacram.  Bnpf.,  Opera  Lutheri,  vol.  i.  fol.  p.  31 9, 
1564. 

I 


130  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

iiistruinents  ever    used    by  Jehovah  to   extend   the 
empire  of  truth. 

Counsel  and  Advice  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther 
TO  a  Minister  [as  to]  how  a  Jewess  [a 
Vikc.in]  is  to  be  Baptized.     Anno,  1530. 

[Translated  from  the  German  by  the  Rev.  J.  S. 

GUBELMANN,    PHILADELPHIA.] 

"  Grace  and  peace  in  the  Lord :  It  is  not  neces- 
sary, dear  pastor,  to  remind  you  that  you  are  first, 
for  a  time,  diligently  to  instruct  the  person  who  is 
to  be  baptized  regarding  the  sum  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, of  the  Christian  faith  [creed  or  confes- 
sion], and  of  the  Lord's  Prayer;  also  concerning 
■what  baptism  is,  what  it  benefits  and  signifies. 

"  But  as  regards  the  [her]  public  baptism,  I  am 
content  that,  covered  with  a  cloth  (as  women  in  the 
bath),  she  shall  sit  in  a  tub,  with  the  water  reaching 
to  the  neck,'  clad  with  the  bathing-cloth,  and  that 
she  shall  be  three  times  dipped  with  the  head  into 
the  water  ^  ))y  the  baptizer,  ^vith  the  usual  words — 
iKiuK'ly,  *  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Amen.'  .  .  . 

''  The  dead  also  are  clad  with  a  white  garment  or 
winding-sheet,  thereby  to  remind  us  of  our  baptism, 

'  Ini  Wasser  bis  an  don  Ilals  reichend. 

'  Mit  dem  Ilanpt  drcimal  ins  "\V;vsscr  getaucht  wiirde. 


AGES    AXD    THE    NATION'S.  131 

by  which  we  are  with  Christ  buried  into  death,  etc. 
By  both,  by  baptism  and  by  death,  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  is  signified  and  expressed,  as  baptism 
itself  is  nothing  else  than  a  passage  through  death 
into  the  future  eternal  life. 

"  You  may  also  give  to  her  my  greeting  in  Christ 
and  service  of  Christian  love.  Farewell  in  the 
Lord.     From  my  solitude.     Anno  MDXXX." ' 

In  Luther's  small  Catechism,  Halle  edition,  print- 
ed and  published  by  Christoph  Salfeld's  Wittwe 
und  Erben  [widow  and  heirs  of  Christoph  Salfeld] 
in  the  year  1713,  the  following  passage  occurs  in 
the  appendix  to  the  Catechism,^  added  to  give  in- 
struction and  direction  concerning  baptism  : 

"  Do  you  wish  to  be  baptized  ?     Yes. 

"  Thereupon  let  him  take  the  infant  and  dip  ^  it 
into  the  baptism,^  saying,  'I  baptize  thee  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.' " 

^  LxdJiers  Worki^,  1560  (in  8  folio  volumes),  vol.  i.,  p.  183. 

^  Anhang  oder  Tauf  biichlein. 

^  The  word  here  used  by  Luther,  "  tauchen,"  cannot  pos- 
sibly mean  anything  else  than  "  to  dip,"  as  all  who  under- 
stand the  German  language  will  grant.  J.  S.  G. 

*  Tauche  es  in  die  Taufe. 


132  THE    BAPTISM   OF   THE 


SWITZEELAND. 

John   Calvin   and   Immersion. 

The  Reformer  of  Geneva  possessed  a  penetrating 
and  powerful  intellect,  an  extensive  and  accurate 
acquaintance  with  the  divine  word,  the  ancient 
Fathers,  and  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  Christians 
of  all  ages,  and  a  royal  influence  over  a  multitude 
of  believers  in  many  lands  and  generations. 

The  apostle  Paul,  Augustine  of  Hippo,  and  John 
Calvin  were  three  of  the  mightiest  ministers  ever 
commissioned  by  the  Saviour.  Of  baptism  Calvin 
■writes : 

"And  that  he  as  truly  and  certainly  j^erforms 
these  things  internally  on  our  souls  as  we  see  that 
onr  bodies  are  externally  washed,  siibmerged,  and 
enclosed  in  neater  "  [when  baptized].^     Again  : 

'•  Whether  the  baptized  person  is  wholly  immersed^ 
and  tliat  three  times  or  once,  or  whether  water  is 
only  poured  or  sprinkled  upon  him,  is  of  no  con- 
sequence.    In  tliat  matter  churches  ought  to  be  free, 

'  Viilennis  corpus  nostrum  extra  ablui,  snbraergi,  circura- 
(Inri.  Iiisdt.  ClirUt.  lielig.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  15,  sec.  14,  p.  641. 
London,  157G. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  133 

according  to  the  difference  of  countries.  The  very 
word  baptize,  however,  signifies  to  immerse;  and  it  is 
certain  that  immersion  ivas  observed  by  the  ancient 
Church:'  ' 

Our  Presbyterian  brethren  in  this  country,  the 
direct  foHowers  of  Calvin,  refuse  the  liberty  of 
baptizing  by  single  or  trine  immersion,  as  well  as 
by  pouring  or  sprinkling,  as  we  have  lately  no- 
ticed in  their  disapproval  of  the  immersion  ad- 
ministered by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  one  of  their 
ministers  in  this  State. 

As  the  very  word  baptize  means  to  immerse,  and 
as  it  is  certain  that  the  ancient  Church  immersed  the 
baptized,  according  to  Calvin,  how  is  it  that  a  sturdy 
Presbyterian  like  Calvin  should  license  any  change  ? 

^  Quanquam  et  ipsum  baptizandi  verbum  raergere  significat, 
et  mergendi  ritum  veteri  ecclesise  observatum  fuisse  constat. 
Inst  it  Christ.  Relig.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  15,  sec.  19,  p.  644.  London, 
1576. 

12 


134  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


ITALY. 

Clinic  Baptisms,  or  Baptisms  "for  Death" 
AND  Baptism  "  for  Life  "  in  the  Primitive 
Church. 

Many  of  the  early  Christians  after  the  days  of 
the  apostles  fell  into  the  pestilent  heresy  that  by 
baptism  tlieir  sins  were  remitted  ;  and  while  they 
universally  and  earnestly  insisted  that  immersion 
was  the  only  baptism  for  the  living  and  healthy,  yet 
to  secure  forgiveness  through  baptism  for  the  dying 
they  created  two  other  baptisms.  The  first  was 
pouring  water  all  over  a  dying  man  who  could  not 
be  immersed,  so  that  he  was  as  completely  drenched 
with  it  as  if  he  had  been  plunged  in  it.  This  bap- 
tism was  regarded  loith  tolei^ation  for  the  dying  only. 
If  a  man  recovered  from  threatened  death,  his  bap- 
tism was  regarded  as  defective,  and  it  disqualified 
him  from  ministerial  service  except  under  certain 
conditions.  Dr.  Cave,  the  Episcopalian  author  of 
Primitive  Christianity,  says  of  clinic  baptism — that 
is,  the  baptism  of  those  who  were  in  their  beds 
through  disease — that  "  it  was  accounted  a  less 
solemn  and  perfect  kind  of  baj^ism,  partly  because 


AGES   AND    THE   NATIONS.  135 

it  was  done,  not  by  immersion,  but  by  sprinkliDg — 
partly  because  persons  were  supposed  at  such  a 
time  to  desire  it  chiefly  out  of  a  fear  of  death."  ^ 

The  historian  Eusebius  says:  "It  was  not  lawful 
to  promote  one  baptized  by  pouring  on  his  sick  bed 
to  any  order  of  the  clergy."  '^  And  while  occasion- 
ally favoritism  or  necessity  might  set  this  order 
aside,  yet  for  a  great  while  the  stigma  of  a  vital 
defect  rested  upon  couch  baptism  if  the  diseased 
person  was  restored. 

Eusebius  quotes  with  approval  a  description  of 
clinic  baptism  by  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in 
which  he  expresses  doubts  about  the  validity  of 
Novatian's  baptism,  who  was  "poured  around"  in 
a  time  of  sickness,  and  he  a4ds,  "  If,  indeed,  it  be 
proper  to  say  that  one  like  him  did  receive  bap- 
tism." The  Council  of  Neo-Csesarea  in  its  twelfth 
canon  decreed  that  "  if  any  man  was  baptized  only 
in  time  of  sickness,  he  shall  not  be  ordained  a 
presbyter,  because  his  faith  was  not  voluntary,  un- 
less his  subsequent  faith  and  diligence  recommend 
him,  or  else  the  scarcity  of  men  makes  it  necessary 
to  ordain  him."^  Chrysostom  doubted  the  salva- 
tion of  such  men.     "They  receive  baptism,"  says 

^  Cave's  Primitive  Chridianily,  p.  150.     Oxford,  1840. 

2  Eccles.  Bist.,  vi.  43,  p.  244.     Parlsiis,  1659. 

^  Bingham's  Antiquities,  hook  iv.  chap.  3,  sec.  11. 


136  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

he,  "  lying  upon  their  beds,  you  receive  it  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Church.  They  receive  it  weeping, 
and  you  with  joy.  They  with  groans,  and  you 
with  thankso-ivintr.  While  the  sacrament  is  ad- 
ministered  children  cry,  the  wife  tears  her  hair, 
friends  are  dejected,  servants  weep,  the  whole  house 
is  in  mourning ;  and  if  you  observe  the  spirit  of  the 
sick  person  you  shall  find  it  more  full  of  sorrow 
than  that  of  the  bystanders."  ^  Chrysostom's  '^  idea 
of  a  sick-bed  baptism  is  the  opinion  we  entertain 
of  the  death-bed  repentance  of  one  whom  God  had 
often  called,  but  whose  ears  were  stopped  until  he 
felt  that  he  was  just  stepping  into  his  presence,  and 
then,  while  terror  was  his  master,  he  would  be  bap- 
tized somehow,  givings.  a  sorrowful  illustration  of 
the  doctrine  that  "conscience  doth  make  cowards 
of  us  all." 

These  sick-bed  professors  on  their  recovery  were 
greeted  with  sneers,  and  their  piety  subjected  to 
merriment.  The  clergy  sometimes  had  to  appeal 
to  Christians  to  treat  them  as  brethren,  and  not 
as  slaves  driven  to  make  a  profession  of  faith 
through  fear.     It  was  common  to  call  them  "  Clm- 

1  Dupin,  i.  p.  319.     Dublin,  1773. 

'  This  article  is  placed  with  Italian  descriptions  of  baptism 
and  baptisms,  because  Xovatian,  the  most  notorious  clinic  of 
all  time,  was  a  Roman  presbyter. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  137 

ic«,"  instead  of  Christians.  The  word  means  liter- 
ally a  bed,  and  as  applied  to  those  baptized  on 
their  couches  it  contained  the  idea  that  they  were 
ailing  disciples,  professors  from  fright,  sick-bed  ser- 
vants of  God,  who  were  not  likely  to  honor  him  in 
health.  Cyprian  is  indignant  at  these  reproaches, 
and  gives  utterance  to  his  feelings  in  these  words : 
"As  to  the  nickname  which  some  have  thought  fit 
to  fix  upon  those  who  have  thus  [by  baptism  on 
their  beds]  obtained  the  grace  of  Christ  through 
his  saving  water  and  through  faith  in  him,  and 
their  calling  such  persons  Clinics  instead  of  Chris- 
tians, I  am  at  a  loss  to  find  out  the  original  of  this 
appellation,"  etc.^ 

But  clinic  baptism  never  spread,  and  the  number 
of  times  when  it  occurred  is  very  much  smaller  than 
is  commonly  supposed.  It  could  only  exist,  even  to 
a  limited  extent,  when  believers'  baptism  was  the 
custom  of  Christians,  when  a  host  of  men  like 
Constantine  the  Great  and  Ambrose  and  Augus- 
tine, with  Christian  principles,  remained  unbap- 
tized  after  reaching  adult  or  mature  years.  As 
infant  baptism  became  general,  the  candidate  never 
put  off  baptism  through  shame  or  fear,  or  to  have 
all  his  sins  washed  out  just  before  entering  heaven ; 
and  as   a  consequence  clinic  baptism  declined,  and 

J  Ep.  76,  ad  Magnum,  pp.  121,  122.     Colonic,  1607. 
12* 


ins  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

was  limited  to  dyiug  babes.  But  a  brand  marked 
clinic  baptism  as  long  as  it  existed. 

More  than  a  century  after  Novatian  had  his 
memorable  baptism  by  "  pouring  around,"  Socrates, 
the  historian,  tells  us  that  a  Jew  had  been  confined 
to  his  bed  by  j^aralysis,  and  liad  been  benefited 
neither  by  medical  skill  nor  by  the  prayers  of  his 
Jewish  brethren,  and  that  he  determined  to  have 
recourse  to  Christian  baptism. 

Atticus,  the  Archbishop  of  Constantinople,  in- 
structed  him  in  the  first  principles  of  Christian 
truth,  and  preached  to  him  the  hope  in  Christ,  and 
then,  instead  of  going  to  his  bed  and  pouring  water 
around  him,  he  directed  him  to  be  brought  in  his 
bed  to  the  font.  And  the  paralytic  Jew  receiving 
baptism  with  a  sincere  faith,  as  soon  as  he  was 
taken  out  of  the  water  found  himself  perfectly  cured 
of  his  disease.^  In  the  Centurioe  Magdehurgenses  it 
is  said  of  this  convert,  ''He  was  brought,  together 
with  his  bed,  to  the  baptistery,  and  he  ivas  let  down 
into  the  sacred  font,  and  on  the  completion  of  the 
rite  he  was  lifted  up  again  from  it."  ^  This  baptism 
occurred  at  the  capital  of  the  empire  and  of  the 
intelligence  of  the  Eastern  world,  and  it  is  clear 

J  Eccles.  IlisL,  vii.  4. 

^  In  sacrum  lavacrum  demissus,  et,  peracto  ritu,  inJe  rur- 
suin  levatus.     Centu.  Magde.,  iv.  p.  576.     Xoriniburgap.  1765. 


AGES    AXD    THE    KATIONS.  139 

testimony  that  even  the  paralyzed  shunned  pouring 
around  for  baptism,  and  that  such  an  act  was  only 
"  the  forlorn  hope "  of  the  dying — an  act  which 
should  be  carefully  avoided  by  all  who  wanted 
obedience  without  serious  defects. 

Martyrdom  was  the  second  baptism  for  the  depart- 
ing. If  a  man,  without  baptism  in  water,  died  by 
the  persecutions  of  the  Saviour's  enemies  because 
he  loved  Jesus,  he  was  regarded  by  the  primitive 
Christians  as  baptized ;  and  his  baptism  in  his  own 
blood,  it  was  universally  understood,  would  wash 
away  his  sins.  Cyprian  says  of  unbaptized  catechu- 
mens who  were  slain  for  Jesus'  sake:  "These  were 
not  deprived  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  since 
they  were  baptized  in  the  most  glorious  and  power- 
ful baptism  of  their  own  blood."  ^  But  this  was  a 
baptism  for  the  grave,  and  valid  only  if  the  man 
departed.  If  he  recovered  after  being  half  or  two- 
thirds  martyred,  he  must  be  immersed  in  water  to 
have  his  sins  forgiven. 

The  ancient  Christians,  after  the  apostles,  had  two 
baptisms  for  those  going  into  eternity — profuse  pour- 
ing and  martyrdom.  If  the  man  recovered,  the 
first  was  regarded  as  defective;  the  second  could 
only  have  value  when  completed  by  death.  Bat 
for  those  in  health   there   ivas  but  one  baptism,  and 

'  C'upr.  Ep.  73,  ad  Jab.,  p.  108.     Coloniai,  1607. 


140  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

it  was  the  eomjylete  immersion  of  the  whole  body  in 
water. 

Justin  Martyr  and  Immersion. 

The  reputation  of  this  sufferer  for  Jesus  as  a  man 
of  intelligence  and  as  a  believer  of  undoubted  piety 
has  always  stood  high  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Treating  of  baptism,  he  writes : 

"As  many  as  are  persuaded  and  believe  that  the 
things  which  we  teach  and  declare  are  true,  and 
promise  that  they  are  determined  to  live  accord- 
ingly, are  taught  to  pray  to  God,  and  to  beseech 
him  with  fasting  to  grant  them  remission  for  their 
past  sins,  while  we  also  pray  and  fast  with  them. 
We  then  lead  them  to  a  place  where  there  is  water,^ 
and  there  they  are  regenerated  in  the  same  manner  as 
we  also  were ;  for  they  are  then  washed  in  that  water 
in  the  name  of  God,  the  Father  and  Lord  of  the 
universe,  and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit."  This  is  Professor  Coleman's  trans- 
lation.^    He  makes  the  following  comment  upon  the 

^  "'EiTTELTa  ayovrai  v(f  iifiihv  ivOa  viSup  sen  .  .  .  ~b  tv  tl>  vihri 
t6'te  XovTpov  TToiovvTai.  Just.  Philos.  et  Mart.,  Apol.  I.  Pro 
Christ.,  Patrolocjia  Grceca,  vol.  vi.  p.  240.  Migne.  Parisiis. 
1857. 

^  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  p.  271.  Philadelphia, 
1852. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  141 

statement  of  Justin  in  another  part  of  his  work  : 
"  Justin  Martyr  gives  us  the  first  and  intelligible 
account  of  a  Christian  baptism  [after  the  Kew 
Testament].  The  conducting  of  the  candidate  to  a 
place  ivhere  there  is  ivater,  and  then  baptizing  him, 
instead  of  causing  Avater  to  be  brought,  seems  to 
intimate  that  at  this  time  the  Eastern  Church,  or 
at  least  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  had  begun  to  baptize 
by  immersion."  ^  Dr.  Coleman  gives  his  views  with 
a  frankness  which  Justin's  simple  words  in  the 
original  Greek  would  naturally  inspire.  The  re- 
nowned martyr  and  apologist  for  Christianity,  like 
his  Master,  the  Son  of  Mary,  was  an  immersionist 
beyond  a  doubt. 

Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  on  Baptism. 

The  world  has  had  many  greater  but  few  better 
men  than  St.  Ambrose.  He  entered  a  church  in 
Milan  as  governor  to  quiet  a  violent  controversy 
about  a  successor  to  Auxentius,  the  dead  Arian 
bishop.  While  in  the  sacred  edifice  he  was  unan- 
imously proclaimed  bishop,  though  not  yet  baptized. 
He  accepted  the  ofiice,  and  he  discharged  its  duties 
in  a  spirit  of  fearless  fidelity,  and  he  lived  to  stand 
among  the  first  bishops  in  the  Christian  world.     In 

'  Coleman's  Ancient  Christianity  £xe???p/y?ec?, p.  368.  Phila- 
delphia, 1852. 


142  THE    BAPTISM  OF   THE 

the   little  work   lie  wrote — On  the  Sacraments — he 
says  to  a  baptized  person : 

"  Thou  wa^t  asked,  Dost  thou  believe  in  God, 
the  omnipotent  Father  ?  and  thou  saidst,  I  believe ; 
and  thou  ivast  immersed — that  is,  thou  ivast  buried. 
Again  thou  wast  asked.  Dost  thou  believe  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  in  his  cross  ?  and  thou  saidst, 
I  believe ;  and  thou  wast  immersed,  and  therefore 
thou  wast  buried  with  Christ,  for  he  who  is  buried 
with  Christ  shall  rise  with  Christ.  A  third  time 
thou  wast  asked,  Dost  thou  believe  in  the  Holy- 
Spirit?  and  thou  saidst,  I  believe;  and  a  third 
time  thou  ivast  immersed;  .  .  .  for  when  thou  dost 
immerse,  thou  dost  form  a  likeness  of  death  and 
burial."^  Ambrose  uses  the  language  of  Paul  as 
correctly  as  if  he  had  been  a  Baptist. 

Pope  Leo  the  Great  and  Immersion. 

Leo  became  Pope  of  Rome  A.  d.  440.  Like 
Gregory  VII.  and  Innocent  III.,  he  was  endowed 
with  splendid  talents.  In  any  position  in  humau 
society,  and  in  any  age  of  earthly  history,  Leo 
would  have  shone  as  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude. 

'  Mersisti,  hoc  est,  sepultus  es,  .  .  .  et  mcrsisti,  ideo  et 
Christo  es  consepultus :  qui  eniin  Christo  consepelitur  cum 
Christo  resurgit,  .  .  .  tertio  mei-sisti  ,  .  .  cum  enim  mergis, 
mortis  suscipis  et  sepultura?  similitudinem.  De  Sacramentis^, 
lib.  iv.  7  ;  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  IG,  p.  448.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   XATIOXS.  143 

Nothing  of  importance  to  the  interests  of  Christen- 
dom during  his  pontificate  was  effected  without  his 
powerful  assistance.  He  gave  the  see  of  Rome 
more  help  in  her  efforts  to  secure  the  mastery  of 
Christ's  Church  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  Few 
of  the  popes  have  had  ''Great"  added  to  their 
names,  and  few  of  them  have  deserved  it ;  but 
Leo's  shining  abilities  justly  earned  this  title. 
Speaking  of  baptism,  he  says : 

"  Trine  immersion  is  an  imitation  of  the  three  days' 
burial  [0/  Chrid'],  and  the  elevation  from  the  waters 
is  a  figure  [of  the  Saviour']  rising  from  the  grave.''  ^ 
These  words  of  Leo  were  used  for  centuries  by  the 
Church  teachers  of  the  Old  World,  as  the  Nicene 
Creed  was  quoted  as  a  general  expression  of  ortho- 
doxy. 

St.  Maxtmus,  Bishop  of  Turin,  and 
Immersion. 

This  prelate  was  the  author  of  sixty-three  hom- 
ilies that  have  come  down  to  our  times.  Though 
not  a  man  of  remarkable  ability,  he  possessed  an 
unusual  amount  of  piety.  His  works  were  pub- 
lished in  Paris,  with  the  writings  of  Pope  Leo  the 

^  Sepulturam  triduanam  imitatur  trina  demersio,  et  ab 
aquis  elevatio,  resnrgentis  instar  est  de  sepiilcro.  Ep.  16  St. 
Leo.  Mag.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  54,  p.  G99.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


144  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Great,  in  1623.  He  was  Bishop  of  Turin  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fifth  centtiry.  Of  baptism  and 
of  the  baptized  he  writes : 

"After  you  promised  to  believe  we  plunged  your 
bodies  three  times  in  the  sacred  fountain.  This  order 
of  baptism  is  observed  to  express  a  double  mystery ; 
for  ye  are  rightly  immersed  three  times  who  have 
been  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
arose  on  the  third  day  from  the  dead  ;  for  this  im- 
mersion, thrice  repeated,  is  a  figure  of  our  Lord's 
burial,  through  ivhich  ye  are  buried  with  Chrid  in 
baptism,  that  ye  may  rise  again  with  Christ  in  faith ; 
that,  Avashed  from  sins,  you  may  live  by  imitating 
Christ  in  the  sanctity  of  virtues."  ' 

Arator's  Description  of  Baptism. 

Arator  was  born  in  Italy,  and  flourished  from 
a.  d.  527  to  A.  D.  544.  He  followed  for  a  time  the 
legal  profession,  then  he  became  an  officer  in  the 
palace  of  King  Athalaric.  Pope  Vigilius  made 
him  a  subdeaeon  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

In  his  poetical  account  of    the  facts  recorded  in 

^  Tcrtio  corpora  vestra  in  sacro  fonte  deniersimus.  .  .  . 
Rccte  cnim  tertio  niersi  estis.  Ilia  enim  tertio  repetita  de- 
niersio  .  .  .  per  qiiain  Christo  consepulti  estis  in  baptismo. 
S.  Maxim.  Episc,  Taurcn.,  De  Bap.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  57,  p. 
778.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  145 

the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  speaking  of  the  Pente- 
costal converts,  he  says : 

"  The  Shepherd  multiplied  the  sheep,  and  he 
washed  not  less  than  three  thousand  of  the  common 
people  III  the  river  of  the  Lamb  on  that  day.  Here 
first  by  the  command  of  God  the  practice  of  bap- 
tism arose."  ^ 

Speaking  of  the  baptism  of  the  eunuch,  he 
writes :  "  The  abounding  faith  of  the  eunuch  began 
hastily  to  burn  for  the  waters  in  sight;  and,  im- 
mersed in  the  gulf,  he  laid  aside  the  burden  of  the 
serpent."  ^ 

Pope  Gregory  the  Great  and  Immersion. 

Gregory  the  Great  was  chosen  pope  at  the  end  of 
the  sixth  century.  He  honestly  and  earnestly  tried 
to  be  relieved  of  the  responsibility  and  honor  of  the 
Koman  see,  but  he  did  not  succeed ;  and  his  mod- 
esty greatly  increased  his  popularity.  The  success 
of  his  mission  to  the  Pagan  English  extended  his 
fame  among  all  Christian  nations.  He  was  warm- 
hearted and  sincerely  religious ;   he  was  sometimes 

^  Fhimina  dekiit  Agni  .  .  .  baptismatis  usus  exoritur.  De 
Aetibus  ApostoL,  lib.  i.  77;  Patrol  Laf.,  vol.  68,  p.  114. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 

^  Conspectis  properanter  aquis  .  .  .  gurgite  mersus.  Ibid., 
Hb.  i.  132  ;  vol.  68,  p.  152. 

13  K 


146  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

tyrannical  and  superstitious ;  lie  was  modest  and  he 
was  meddlesome ;  he  was  great  in  zeal,  in  shrewd- 
ness, and  in  the  estimation  of  all  Christians ;  he 
was  for  a  few  years  the  most  influential  man  in 
Christendom.  No  pope  was  ever  more  venerated 
than  the  first  of  the- Gregories.  Of  baptism  this 
pope  writes : 

"  The  body  is  immersed,  the  soul  is  washed."  * 
This  declaration  is  clear  enough  about  immersion, 
and  no  hint  is  given  that  pouring  or  sprinkling 
will  do  as  well. 

When  Gregory  became  pope  the  Arians  in  Spain 
were  numerous  and  annoying.  Like  Christians  in 
all  other  lands,  they  had  three  immersions  in  bap- 
tism, and  they  said  that  the  immersion  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  coming  first,  showed  that  the  Father 
was  above  the  Son  and  the  Spirit — that  the  second 
and  the  third  immersions  were  but  inferior  honors  for 
persons  subordinate  to  the  Father.  This  argument 
against  the  divinity  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Spirit 
was  extensively  used,  and  it  was  felt  by  many  to  be 
very  powerful.  To  oppose  this  heresy  some  of  the 
orthodox  conceived  the  idea  of  having  but  one  im- 
mersion in  the  three  sacred  names,  which  must  bestow 
undivided  and  equal  h(Hior  upon  each  person  in  the 

^  Corpus  intingitur,  aiiiina  abhiitur.  Gregor.  May.,  torn. 
V. ;  Patrol.  Lai.,  vol.  70,  p.  493.     Migne.     Parisiis. 


AGES  AND  THE  NATIONS.  147 

Trinity.  One  immersion,  however,  was  considered  an 
innovation,  and  many  denounced  it  as  if  it  were  not 
baptism,  just  as  a  man's  arm  is  not  the  man.  To 
obtain  the  assistance  of  Gregory's  great  popularity, 
Leander,  Bishop  of  Seville,  the  leading  prelate  of 
Spain,  wrote  for  the  pope's  opinion  on  the  disputed 
question.  Gregory  sent  a  reply,  from  which  we 
quote : 

"About  the  three  immersions  in  baptism,  no  one 
could  ansAver  more  truly  than  you  yourself  have 
judged.  We  immerse  ^  three  times,  to  show  the  mys- 
tery of  the  three  days'  burial,  and  that  the  infant 
drawn  out  of  the  waters  may  show  forth  the  resur- 
rection on  the  third  day.  But  if  any  one  thinks 
that  this  is  done  for  veneration  of  the  exalted  Trin- 
ity, immersing  but  once  in  the  waters  in  baptizing 
brings  no  opposition  to  that,  because  whilst  in  three 
subsistences  there  is  one  substance,  there  will  be  no 
fault  in  immersing  once  or  three  times,  since  in  three 

^  De  trina  meisione  baptismatis  nil  responderi  verlns  potest 
quam  sensisti.  Nos  aiitem  quod  tertio  mergimiis  Iridnanse 
sepulturae  sacraraenta  signamus,  ut  dum  tertio  infans  ab  aquis 
educitur,  resurrectio  triduani  temporis  exprematiir  .  .  .  rep- 
rehensible esse  nullatenus  potest  infantem  in  baptismate  vel 
ter,  vel  serael  mergers,  quando  et  in  tribus  mersionibus  per- 
sonarum  trinitas,  et  in  una  potest  divinitatis  singularitas  desig- 
nari.  Greyor.  Mag.,  torn.  iii.  ep.  43,  ad  Leand. ;  Patrol.  Lat., 
vol.  77,  pp.  497,  498.     Migne,     Parisiis. 


148  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

{mmersions  the  trinity  oj  jjersons  can  he  represented, 
and  in  one  the  nnit])  of  the  Godhead.  But  because 
DOW,  evGU  by  heretics,  the  infant  is  immersed  three 
times  in  baptism,  I  think  among  you  it  should  not 
be  done,  lest  while  we  count  up  the  immersions,  they 
divide  the  Godhead." 

Gregory  was  a  pontiff  of  whom  Catliolics  in  all 
ages  have  been  proud,  and  whom  other  Christians 
have  regarded  witli  favor.  Thoroughly  versed  in 
the  customs  of  all  Christians,  he  was  competent  to 
testify  about  the  universal  mode  of  baptism.  Greg- 
ory knew  nothing  of  sprinkling  or  pouring  in  bap- 
tism. If  either  had  been  customary,  how  easy  it 
would  have  been  to  tell  Leander,  what  so  many 
are  accustomed  to  say  at  the  present  day,  that 
"the  mode  of  baptism  was  of  no  account;  anything 
would  serve  if  water  was  used " !  But  Gregory 
only  knew  of  triple  or  single  immersion  in  baptism. 

Maxentius  of  Aquila  and  Immersion. 

jNIaxentius  owed  his  exalted  ecclesiastical  dignity 
to  the  special  favor  of  the  Emperor  Lothaire.  He 
jiresided  over  his  see  in  the  early  part  of  the  ninth 
century.     Of  bai)tism  he  writes  : 

"  In  the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity  they  are  baptized 
by  trine  immersion,  and  the  man  who  was  made  in 
the  image  of  the  holy  Trinity  is  properly  restored 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  149 

to  the  same  image  a  second  time  by  the  invocation 
of  the  sacred  Trinity."  ^ 

The  Roman  Cathlic  Church  and  Immersion. 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  Council  of  Trent 
compiled  a  system  of  divinity  called  the  Catechism 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  three  years  after  the 
dissolution  of  the  council  the  Catechism  was  given 
to  the  world  by  command  of  Pope  Pius  V.  In  this 
work  it  is  said : 

"  Wherefore,  baptism  by  the  apostle  is  called  a 
bath  ;  ^  but  the  ablution  is  not  rendered  more  perfect 
when  any  one  is  immei*sed  in  water,  although  we 
perceive  that  this  mode  ivas  long  observed  from  the 
earliest  times  in  the  Church,  than  either  by  the  pour- 
ing of  water,  which  we  recognize  as  a  frequent 
practice  now,  or  by  sprinkling."^  The  Catechi&in 
decreed  by  the  Council  of  Trent  and  issued  by 
Pope  Pius  V.  declares  that  immersion  was  long 
observed,  and  that  from  the  earliest  times  of  the 
Church.     No    statement    could    be    given    by    the 

^  Ti-ina  submersione  baptizatur.  Patrol.  Led.,  vol.  106,  p. 
57.     Migne.     Parisiis. 

"^  Vulgate,  Titus  iii.  5,  per  lavacrum  regenerationis, 

^  Ablutio  autem  non  magis  fit,  quum  aliquis  aqua  mergi- 
tur,  quod  diu  a  primis  temporibus  in  ecclesia  observatum 
animadvertimus.  Catech.  Cone.  Trident.,  p.  136.  Lipsise, 
1865. 

13* 


loO  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Roman  Catholic  Church  of  greater  authority  on 
any  question  than  this  solemn  assurance  in  regard 
to  the  baptism  of  the  early  ages. 

An  Immersion  by  a  Roman  Catholic  Priest 
IN  Milan,  witnessed  by  Howard  Malcom, 
D.  D.,  LL.D. 

The  doctor  writes  in  1875 : 

"  AVhen  I  was  visiting  portions  of  Europe  in 
1830,  I  went  to  Milan  in  Italy  to  see  the  Duomo, 
or  cathedral,  second  only  to  St.  Peter's  in  Rome. 
While  surveying  the  vast  interior  I  noticed  a  small 
party  entering  the  principal  door.  They  proceeded 
to  something  at  one  side  which  looked  like  a  high- 
post  bedstead  with  crimson  curtains.  As  they  ap- 
proached it,  it  was  rolled  out  on  wheels,  and  I  saw 
that  it  was  a  beautiful  baptistery  made  of  marble, 
holding  water  about  four  feet  deep,  and  of  the  size 
used  in  America  for  adult  baptisms. 

"  I  approached  the  party,  which  stood  at  one  side, 
while  a  handsome  priest  stood  at  the  other.  When 
he  liad  recited  the  appointed  liturgy,  he  stretched  out 
his  hands  toward  one  of  the  babes.  The  lady  stand- 
ing by  the  nurse  unfastened  its  dress  at  the  neck, 
and  with  one  skilful  effort  removed  all  its  clothing, 
leaving  it  wrapped  round  and  round  with  a  swad- 
dling-clotli  from  head  to  foot.     The  i)riest  received 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIOXS.  151 

it,  and  taking  his  place  at  the  side  of  the  font,  he 
carefully  lowered  the  child  into  the  ivater,  with  the 
appropriate  form  of  words.  I  stood  at  the  end 
of  the  baptistery,  and  not  one  of  the  little  ones 
made  any  outcry,  and  of  course  they  could  not 
kick. 

"  As  the  party  was  dispersing  I  respectfully  ap- 
proached the  priest  and  inquired  if  he  spoke  French. 
He  answered  in  the  affirmative.  I  then  told  him 
that  I  admired  his  form  and  his  skill  in  baptizing 
children — that  I  was  an  ecclesiastic  from  America, 
and  that  I  was  not  aware  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
practised  immersion.  He  said  that  immersion  was 
the  only  mode  of  baptism  at  the  beginning,  and  it 
continued  till  the  Roman  hierarchy  in  the  third 
century  [it  was  many  centuries  later]  introduced 
sprinkling;  but  Milan  continued  the  original  prac- 
tice till  that  time." 

As  Dr.  A.  P.  Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster,  Lon- 
don, declares : 

"  With  the  two  exceptions  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Milan  and  the  sect  of  the  Baptists,  a  few  drops  of 
water  are  now  the  Western  substitute  for  the  threefold 
plunge  inio  the  rushing  rivers  or  the  wide  baptisteries 
of  the  East."  ' 

^  Stanley's  History  of  the  Eastern  Oiurch,  p.  1 17.  New  York, 
1870. 


152  the  baptism  of  the 

The  Baptistery  of  St.  John  de  Lateran,  and 
AN  Ancient  Baptism  annually  Administered 

IN    IT. 

The  Rev.  A.  J.  Rowland,  pastor  of  the  Tenth 
Baptist  Church,  Pliiladelphia,  has  at  our  request 
kindly  furnished  us  with  the  following  account  of 
the  Lateran  baptistery  and  pool : 

"  I  visited  the  baptistery  of  St.  John  Lateran,  in 
Rome,  on  Sunday  afternoon,  Sept.  24,  1876.  The 
building  is  octagonal  in  form,  and  stiinds  a  little 
distance  from  the  fine  old  church  which  gives  it  its 
name.  One  is  struck  immediately  on  approaching 
with  the  antiquity  of  its  appearance,  and  is  not  sur- 
prised to  learn  fi'om  the  guide  that  it  dates  back  to 
the  time  of  Constantine,  and  that  in  this  very  build- 
ing the  first  Christian  emperor  of  Rome  was  bap- 
tized, A.  D.  337.  The  building  is  about  fifty  feet  in 
diameter.  The  pool  of  the  baptistery  is  of  green  ba- 
salt, and  it  is  about  twenty  feet  long  by  fifteen  wide, 
the  form  being  that  of  an  ellipse.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  false  wooden  floor  in  the  bottom,  but  the  depth 
even  iclth  this  was  something  over  three  feet.  I  asked 
the  'cicerone'  who  showed  us  the  place,  who  seemed 
to  belong  to  one  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy, 
the  meaning  of  this  large  font,  so  unlike  those  in 
modern  chui'clus,  and  he  replied  that  it^   size  was 


AGES   AND    THE    NATIONS.  153 

due  to  the  fact  that  anciently  2Jeoj)le  were  immersed. 
I  inquired  if  it  was  ever  used  for  immersion  now. 
'  Yes,'  he  said  ;  '  on  EaMer  Eve  Jews  and  Pagans  ivho 
accept  the  faith  of  the  Church  are  baptized,  here  in  that 
ivayJ  This  fact  I  subsequently  found  also  in  Bi^e- 
deker's  celebrated  guide-book. 

*'  On  the  right  and  left  of  the  baptistery  building 
doors  open  into  two  small  apartments,  now  known  as 
oratorios  or  chapels  ;  on  the  ceiling  of  one  of  them  is 
an  old  mosaic,  datiiig  back  to  the  fifth  century,  repre- 
senting John  the  Baptist  'performing  the  rite  of  im- 
mersion. It  struck  me  that  these  two  apartments 
may  have  been  originally  dressing-rooms  for  bap- 
tismal occasions.  Between  the  font  and  the  outer 
walls  there  is  space  enough,  I  think,  for  four  or  five 
hundred  spectators  to  witness  a  baptism.  On  the 
day  of  my  visit  this  space  was  occupied  in  part  by  a 
number  of  classes  of  boys  who  were  taught  by  Kom- 
ish  priests  very  much  after  the  fashion  of  our  Sunday- 
schools. 

"  Altogether,  the  building  proclaims  in  the  most 
positive  way  the  antiquity  of  the  practice  of  immer- 
sion. It  seems  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  ancient 
Church  would  have  gone  to  the  trouble  of  erecting 
this  large  building  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  im- 
merse its  members,  had  not  this  been  the  primitive 
and  prescribed  mode.     I  left  the  building  with  my 


3  54  THE   BAPTISM   OF   TIIF 

fiiith  iu  l)apti.<in  by  immersion  deeply  coufirmcd  and 
strengthened."  ' 

The  baptismal  service  in  this  church  at  Easter  was 
in  full  exercise  a  thousand  years  ago ;  and  the  mode 
Avas  immersion  and  the  time  Easter.'  Tlie  pope  ad- 
ministered baptism  in  the  font  of  St.  John  do  Lat- 
eran^  wearing  "a  pair  of  waxed  drawers" — that  is, 
waterproof  drawers. 
^  History  of  Baptism,  by  Kubiniion,  p.  lOG.     Xayhville,  1860. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  155 


RUSSIA. 

The  Baptism  of  Vladimir  the  Great,  Prince 
OF  Russia,  and  of  the  People  of  Kieff. 
Vladimir,  the  ruler  of  the  Russians  in  A.  d. 
988,  was  a  fierce  warrior  and  conqueror,  and  guilty 
of  a  licentiousness  unsurpassed  by  sultans  or  Solo- 
mons. He  was  as  heartless  a  despot  and  tyrant  as 
ever  trod  on  human  rights  and  bleeding  hearts.  He 
was  also  a  furious  idolater,  and  would  not  scruple  to 
offer  human  sacrifices  to  his  abominable  god.  He 
made  a  new  statue  of  Perune,  his  deity,  with  a  silver 
head,  which  he  placed  near  his  palace.  He  waged 
war  on  the  city  of  Kherson,  the  ruins  of  which  still 
exist  near  Sevastopol,  that  he  might  compel  the 
Greek  emperors,  its  sovereigns,  to  give  him  their 
sister  Anna  in  marriage,  and  through  some  exalt- 
ed ecclesiastic  to  confer  Christian  baptism  upon 
him.  He  captured  the  cit}'-,  and  the  fair  princess 
became  his  wife,  to  the  grief  or  deliverance  of 
nearly  a  thousand  women  whom  he  forthwith  dis- 
missed, 

Kelly,   in   his    History   of  Rusaia,   describes    the 


156  THE    BATTTSM    OF   THE 

bapti.-nis  followiiifr  tlie  capture  of  Kherson:  "Vlad- 
imir," says  he,  "  listened  to  some  catechetical  lec- 
tures, received  the  rite  of  baptism  and  the  name 
of  Basil,  and  restored  to  his  brothers-in-law  the 
conquests  he  had  recently  made. 

"He  had  Perune  tied  to  the  tail  of  a  horse  on 
his  return  to  Kieff,  dragged  to  the  Borysthenes,  and 
all  the  way  twelve  stout  soldiers,  with  great  cudgels, 
beat  the  deified  log,  which  was  afterward  thrown  into 
the  river. 

"  At  KiefF,  one  day,  he  issued  a  proclamation  or- 
dering all  the  inhabitants  to  repair  the  next  morn- 
ing to  the  hanks  of  the  river  to  he  hajytized,  which  they 
joyfully  oheyed."  ^ 

The  Immersion  at  Kieff,  according  to  Dean 
Stanley. 
"  The  whole  people  of  Kieff,"  says  he,  "  were  im- 
mersed in  the  Dnieper,  some  sitting  on  the  banks, 
some  i)lunged  in,  others  swimming,  while  the  priests 
read  the  prayers.  The  spot  was  consecrated  by  the 
first  Christian  church,  and  Kieff  henceforward  be- 
came the  Canterbury  of  the  Russian  empire."  ^ 

^  Kelly's  Hidory  of  Russia,  pp.  32,  33.  Bolin,  London, 
1854. 

2  Stanley's  llhtory  of  the  Eastern  Church,  p.  409.  New 
York,  1870. 


AGES   AND    THE    NATIONS.  157 

Mourayieff's  Account  of  the  Baptisms  after 
THE  Capture  of  Kherson. 

]VIoura\aeff  in  1842  was  chamberlain  to  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia,  and  "  under-procurator  of  the  most 
holy  governing  synod,"  St.  Petersburg,  1838.  The 
Rev.  R.  W.  Blackmore,  an  Episcopalian  chaplain  in 
Cronstadt,  who  translated  MouraviefF's  work,  says : 
*'  He  gives  a  clear,  succinct,  and  regular  account  of 
the  events  which  marked  the  introduction  and  prog- 
ress of  Christianity  in  his  native  country."  ^ 

Mouravieff  himself  says :  "  On  the  arrival  of  the 
Princess  Anna  at  Kherson,  she  induced  Vladimir  to 
hasten  his  baptism,  for  it  was  so  ordered  by  the 
wisdom  of  God  that  the  sight  of  the  prince  was  at 
that  time  much  affected  by  a  complaint  of  the  eyes ; 
but  at  the  moment  that  the  Bishop  of  Kherson  laid 
his  hands  upon  him,  ivhen  he  had  risen  up  out  of  the 
bath  of  regeneration  [baptism],  Vladimir  suddenly  re- 
ceived not  only  spiritual  illumination,  but  also  the 
bodily  sight  of  his  eyes. 

"  Vladimir  made  a  proclamation  to  the  people, 
'  That  whoever,  on  the  morrow,  should  not  repair 
to  the  river,  whether  rich  or  poor,  he  should  hold 
him  for  his  enemy.'     At  the  call  of  their  respected 

^  MouraviefF's  History  of  the  Church  of  Biissia,  Preface,  p. 
10. 

14 


158  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

lord  all  the  multitude  of  the  citizens  in  troops,  with 
their  uives  and  children,  flocked  to  the  Dnieper,  and 
ivlthout  any  manner  of  opposition  received  holy  bap- 
tism as  a  nation  from  the  Greek  bishops  and  priests  " 
[who  came  with  Vladimir  from  Kherson]. 

"Nestor,"  says  Mouravieff,  "draws  a  touching 
picture  of  this  baptism  of  a  whole  people  at 
once.  Some  stood  in  the  water  up  to  their  necks, 
other's  iip  to  their  breasts,  holding  their  young  chil- 
dren in  their  arms;  the  priests  read  the  prayers 
from  the  shore,  naming  at  once  whole  companies 
by  the  same  name.  He  who  was  the  means  of 
thus  brino-inc:  them  to  salvation,  filled  with  a 
transport  of  joy  at  the  affecting  sight,  cried  out 
to  the  Lord,  offering  and  commending  into  his 
hands  himself  and  his  people :  *  O  great  God,  who 
hast  made  heaven  and  earth,  look  down  upon  these 
thy  new  people.  Grant  them,  O  Lord,  to  know 
thee,  the  true  God,  as  thou  hast  been  made  known 
to  Christian  lands,  and  confirm  in  them  a  true 
and  unftiiling  faith  ;  and  assist  me,  O  Lord,  against 
my  enemy  that  opposes  me,  that,  trusting  in  thee 
and  in  thy  power,  I  may  overcome  all  his  wiles.' "  ^ 

This  baptism  of  a  whole  city  in  the  river  Dnieper 
was  the  grand  commencement   of  the   triumph  of 

'  MouravicfT's  History  of  (he  Church  of  Russia,  pp.  18,  15. 
Oxford,  1842. 


AGES   AXD   THE   NATIONS.  159 

Christianity  throughout  Russia.  Many  thousands 
were  immersed  in  the  Dnieper  at  this  time,  and  im- 
mersion has  been  ever  since,  and  is  to-day,  the  only 
baptism  of  the  Russians.  There  is  a  note  in  Mou- 
ravieff  on  this  great  baptism  in  the  Dnieper,  Avhich 
states:  "The  archdeacon  who  accompanied  Macarius, 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  into  Antioch  in  the  time 
of  Nikon  gives  a  very  similar  description  of  the  bap- 
tism of  a  whole  tribe  at  once,  of  which  he  himself 
and  the  patriarch  were  witnesses."^ 

The  Synod  of  Vladimir  in  Russia,  and  Trine 
Im3iersion. 
In  A.  D.  1274,  Cyril,  the  Metropolitan  of  Kieff, 
called  a  synod  at  Vladimir  to  restore  the  discipline 
of  the  Church,  and  among  other  regulations  "it 
forbade  the  practice  of  using  affusion  instead  of 
trine  immersion  in  holy  baptism,  which  was  probably 
creeping  into  our  churches  through  Galich  from  the 
West."  ^     This  decree  will  be  found  in  MouraviefF. 

A  Baptism  in  the  Russian  Church,  w^itnessed 
BY    Kohl,    a    German    Traveller,    about 
Thirty  Years  Since. 
"As  the  child,  so  long  as  it  is  unchristened,  is  a 

little  heathen,  and  as  such  a  subject  of  the  Evil 

^  Mouravieff's  History  of  the  Church  of  liussia,  p,  354.   Ox- 
ford, 1842.  2  ji,j^i^  p  48^ 


160  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Spirit,  the  priest's  first  address  to  it  is  a  demand 
that  it  will  renounce  him.  '  As  the  child  does  not 
answer,  the  godfathers  do  so  for  him,  and  then  the 
priest  spits  behind  him,  and  all  those  present  follow 
his  example :  they  spit  at  the  retreating  devil ! 
This  is  the  first  act  of  the  baptism.  As  an  inter- 
lude, the  priest  offers  up  a  prayer,  and  if  he  has 
brought  singers  with  him,  they  sing.  During  this 
time  the  child  is  in 'a  neutral  condition,  and  it  is 
in  fact  hard  to  say  to  which  kingdom  his  soul 
belongs.  The  evil  spirits  have  left  him,  but  the 
good  have  not  yet  taken  possession.  Before  the 
immersion  the  whole  party,  preceded  by  the  priest 
and  the  godfathers,  make  a  solemn  procession  around 
the  font.  This  is  repeated  three  times — in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  Then 
the  priest  consecrates  the  water  and  puts  a  metal 
cross  in  it,  and  afterward  immerses  the  child  three 
times,  again  in  the  three  sacred  names,  and  lastly 
pronounces  the  baptismal  names  bestowed  on  him. 
After  the  third  immersion  the  child  is  a  Christian, 
as  the  visible  sign  of  which  the  priest  suspends  a 
metal  cross  to  the  neck  by  a  black  string,  and  this 
is  kc})t  on  the  breast  as  an  amulet  through  life. 
It  is  then  dressed,  the  procession  around  the  font 
repeated,  the  godfather  carrying  the  child  instead 
of  the  godmother.     Burning  tapers  are  carried  be- 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  161 

fore  them,  whose  flame  is  always  supposed  to  sym- 
bolize the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Kussian  Church ;  they 
must  not  begin  to  flame,  therefore,  till  the  child  is 
supposed  to  be  filled  with  that  Spirit.  The  child 
is  then  anointed  on  the  body,  eyes,  ears,  mouth, 
hands,  and  feet.  Lastly,  from  four  places  on  its 
little  head  the  priest  cuts  crosswise  a  piece  of  its 
silky  hair.  This  is  rolled  up  sometimes  with  a 
little  wax  into  a  ball  and  thrown  into  the  font."  ^ 

The  Great  Dissenting  Community  of  Sta- 
ROVERS,  OR  Old  Believers,  in  Russia,  prac- 
tise Immersion. 

This  denomination  numbers  about  eight  millions, 
wdio  have  an  almost  idolatrous  regard  for  ancient 
national  customs  and  religious  observances  and 
peculiarities.  They  regard  the  smoking  of  tobacco 
as  a  sin  of  such  unusual  magnitude  that  the  drink- 
ing of  brandy  in  comparison  is  a  trivial  offence. 
Their  converts  from  the  Established  Church  are 
solemnly  rebaptized.  Dean  Stanley  describes  one 
of  their  villages  which  lies  "  beyond  the  uttermost 
barrier  of  Moscow,"  called  Preobajensk,  or  the 
Transfiguration,  and  according  to  him  its  people 
are  industrious,  commercial,  and  in  many  cases 
wealthy.     "A   straggling   lak^,''    he   says,    "  extends 

1  Russia,  by  J.  G.  Kohl,  pp.  251,  252.     London,  1842. 
14^:^  L 


162  THE   BAPTISM    OF    THE 

itself  right  and  left  into  the  village,  m  ivhich  the 
Starovers  hajMze  those  ivho  come  over  to  them  from 
the  Established  Church."  ^ 

Converts  of  Adult  Years  are  Immersed  in 
THE  Russian  Church. 

In  the  February  number  of  Harper^s  Magazine 
for  1869  there  is  a  woodcut  representing  an  im- 
mersion, as  above.  (Plate  IV.) 

The  traveller  who  witnessed  it  says:  "About 
fifty  versts  from  Nijne  Novgorod  the  population 
of  a  large  village  was  gathered  in  Sunday  dress 
upon  the  ice.  A  baptism  was  in  progress,  and  as 
we  drove  past  the  assemblage  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  a  man  plunging  through  a  freshly-cut  hole.  Half 
a  minute  later  he  emerged  from  the  crowd  and  ran 
toward  the  nearest  house,  the  water  dripping  from 
his  garments  and  hair."^  The  plate  from  which 
our  picture  is  taken  was  furnished  to  us  by  the 
proprietors  of  Harper'' s  Magazine. 

'  Stanley's  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  pp.  509,  511,  516. 
New  York,  1870. 

^  Harper's  Magazine,  vol.  38,  p.  300. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  163 


TUKKEY  AND   GREECE. 

THE  GKEEK  CHUKCH. 

"  The  Constitutions  and  Canons  of  the  Holy 
Apostles." 

This  work  is  divided  into  eight  books,  the  last 
one  of  which  ends  with  the  eighty-five  Canons. 

The  entire  work  is  full  of  Scripture  quotations, 
and  while  it  occasionally  teaches  error  it  is  rich  in 
l^recious  truths.  It  is  of  great  antiquity;  nearly 
all  its  latest  parts  come  but  a  short  way  into  the 
fourth  century,  and  its  earliest  portions  stretch  up 
almost  to  the  first.  The  whole  work  treats  of  doc- 
trines, the  rights  and  duties  of  the  clergy,  and  the 
principles  that  should  govern  all  Christians. 

In  canon  twenty-two  ^  it  condemns  all  deeds  like 
the  one  known  as  "the  heroic  act  of  Origen."  This 
canon  must  have  been  adopted  when  the  excite- 
ment against  the  fanaticism  of  Origen  was  at  its 
height. 

Canon  six :    "  Let    not   a   bishop,    presbyter,    or 

^  Constiiidions  and  Canons  of  the  Holy  Apodles.  New  York, 
1848. 


164  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

deacon  cast  off  his  own  -wife  under  pretence  of 
piety ;  but  if  he  cast  her  off,  let  him  be  suspended. 
If  he  continue  to  do  it  let  him  be  deposed."  ^  At 
the  Council  of  Nice,  A.  d.  325,  the  spirit  of  celi- 
bacy had  so  intensified  and  extended  itself  that  only 
Paphnutius,  an  Egyptian  bishop  brought  up  in  a 
comnuinity  of  monks  and  held  in  the  greatest  rev- 
erence, saved  the  clergy  from  the  disruption  of 
their  families. 

The  Constitutions  expressly  declare  that  a  life  of 
"  virginity  [in  monks  or  nuns]  is  not  commanded  by 
the  Lord ;  the  practice  is  a  voluntary  one,  and  must 
not  be  used  to  the  reproach  of  marriage."  ^  This 
decree  is  as  old  as  the  end  of  the  second  century. 

It  gives  advice  repeatedly  to  Christians  about  the 
proper  course  to  pursue  in  persecutions,  showing  that 
it  was  written  before  Constantine  the  Great  crushed 
his  Pagan  and  persecuting  enemies.  Whatever  these 
"  Constitutions  and  Canons  "  lack  of  the  inspired  au- 
thority claimed  for  them,  and  for  ages  freely  accord- 
ed to  them  by  nmltitudes,  no  competent  scholar  ever 
doubted  the  correctness  of  the  account  which  they 
give  of  the  government,  discipline,  and  practices  of 
the  churches. 

^  Constitulions  and  Canons  of  the  Ilohj  Apostles,  lib.  i.  cap. 
11.     New  York,  1848. 

2  Ibid,  lib.  viii.   Const.  24. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  165 

The  Baptism  of  the  Constitutions  and  Canons. 

"He  who  is  to  be  initiated  into  Clirisfs  death 
ought  first  to  fast,  and  then  be  baptized,  for  it  is  not 
reasonable  that  he  who  has  been  buried  with  Christ 
and  is  risen  again  with  him  should  appear  dejected 
at  his  very  resurrection."  ^ 

"Thou,  therefore,  O  bishop,  according  to  that 
type,  shalt  anoint  the  head  of  those  that  are  to  be 
baptized,  whether  they  be  men  or  women,  Avith  the 
holy  oil,  for  a  type  of  the  spiritual  baptism.  Then, 
either  thou,  O  bishop,  or  a  presbyter  under  thee, 
shall  pronounce  over  them  the  sacred  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
shall  dip  them  in  the  ivater.  And  let  a  deacon  receive 
the  man,  and  a  deaconess  the  woman,  that  so  the 
conferring  of  this  invaluable  seal  may  be  done  with 
a  becoming  decency."  ^ 

"  If  any  bishop  or  presbyter  shall  not  perform  three 
immersions  of  one  mystery,  but  shall  immerse  once  in 
baptism,  which  is  given  into  the  death  of  the  Lord,  let 
him  be  deposed.''  ^     This  is  the  version  of  this  section 

^  Constitutions  and  Canons  of  the  Holy  Apostles,  lib.  viii. 
Const.  22.     New  York,  1848. 

2  Ibid.,  lib.  iii.  Const.  16. 

'  'Et  Ttc;  iTTiCKonoq  r]  7rp£a(3vTepog,  /uij  rpia  BanTLOfiara  fiiac 
fj.VT]ciig  £7TLr£7IaTj,  a7JX'  ev  lidir-Lajia  elf  rov  davaruv  tov  Kvpiov, 
KaOaipEicdo).    Harduin  Cone.  Collec.,\o].xn.i>.  22.    Paris,  1715. 


166  THE   BAPTISM   OF  THE 

of  the  celebrated  fiftieth  canon  given  by  Dionysius 
Exigmis ;  ^  and  it  was  unqucstioDably  the  understood 
meaning  of  the  canon  about  trine  immersion  from  the 
beginning.  The  Bibliotheca  Veterum  Patrum  renders 
zftia  i^a-r irTij.azo.,  three  immersions.'"*  And  Strabo,  in 
the  ninth  century,  says:  "Some  want  trine  immer- 
sion, because  of  its  resemblance  to  the  three  days' 
burial  (of  Christ),  and  because  ^The  Apostolic  Canons 
and  the  custom  of  the  Romans  required  it'  "  ^  "  The 
Constitutions  and  Canons  of  the  Holy  Apostles  "  en- 
joyed the  highest  authority  for  many  centuries  in 
the  Church,  and  they  demand  trine  immersion. 

Gregory  of  Nyssa  and  Immersion. 
Gregory  Nyssen  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  popular  bishops  of  the  Eastern  Church.  He 
wielded  a  powerful  influence  in  the  councils  of 
bishops  and  in  the  public  aflliirs  of  the  Eastern 
Empire.  He  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
General  Council  of  Constantinople,  A.  d.  382,  and 
by  its  appointment  delivered  before  the  council  the 

^  Trinam  mersionem  ....  semel  mergat  in  baptismate. 
Codex  Canon.  Ecclcs.,  Patrol.  Laf.,  vol.  67,  p.  148.  Migne. 
Parisiis. 

"^  Si  quis  episcopus,  aut  presbyter,  non  tres  mersiones  fece- 
rit,  sed  unam  mersionem.  Biblio.  Vet.  Patrum,  Gallan,  torn 
iii.  244.     Venet.,  1767. 

3  See  Wilafrid  Strabo. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS  167 

funeral  oration  of  Meletius,  Patriarch  of  Autioch. 
In  A.  D.  385  he  preached  in  Constantinople  the  fu- 
neral discourse  of  the  Empress  Placilla.  Speaking 
of  baptism,  he  says  : 

"  Coming  to  the  water,  we  hide  ourselves  in  it,  as  the 
Saviour  hid  himself  in  the  earth."  ^  With  him  bap- 
tism concealed  or  covered  the  baptized  person  with 
water. 

Chrysostom  and  Immersion. 

Chrysostom,  the  persecuted  patriarch,  eloquent 
preacher,  and  earnest  Christian,  had  a  widespread 
popularity,  and  a  popularity  that  has  journeyed 
down  the  ages  for  fifteen  centuries,  and  is  never 
likely  to  suffer  any  abatement.  In  his  day  many 
of  the  clergy  hated  him,  and  for  some  reason  the 
Empress  Eudoxia,  who  took  special  charge  of  Ar- 
cadius,  her  unresisting  husband,  and  of  his  sceptre, 
regarded  Chrysostom  with  bitter  dislike.  Once, 
through  her  influence,  he  was  sent  into  exile,  but 
the  threatenings  of  the  people  and  the  persuasive 
terrors  of  an  alarming  earthquake  made  it  neces- 
sary to  recall  him  to  his  church.  A  silver  statue 
of  the   empress,  standing   upon   a  column   of  por- 

1  To  v(^ojp  epxo/uevoc  eKEivcj  tavrovq  hyKpvKTOfiev.  Greg.  Nys- 
sen,  torn,  iii,,  De  Bap.  Christ.,  vol.  xlvi.,  p.  585 ;  Patrol. 
Grceca.     Migne.     Parisiis,  1858. 


168  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

pliyiy,  had  been  placed  only  the  half  breadth  of 
the  street  from  the  church  of  St.  Sophia.  To  this 
statue  such  honors  were  paid,  and  around  it  such 
shouting,  confusion,  and  wickedness  prevailed,  as 
appeared  to  Chrysostom  to  be  a  disgrace  to  the 
temple  of  Jehovah.  In  a  moment  of  excitement 
he  denounced  the  statue  and  the  scenes  that  were 
constantly  occurring  around  it.  The  empress  was 
indignant,  and  John  had  to  leave  the  cai)ital  of 
the  Eastern  Caesars  again.  Chrysostom  is  the 
grand  representative  of  the  Greek  Church  of  the 
fourth  century.     AVriting  of  baptism,  he  says : 

"  For  we  shiJcing  our  heads  in  the  water,  as  if  in 
some  grave,  the  old  man  is  buried;  and  the  whole 
man,  having  sunk  entirely  down,  is  concealed.  Then, 
we  emerging,  the  new  man  arises  again.  For  as  it 
is  easy  for  us  to  be  immersed  and  to  emerge,  so  it  is 
easy  for  God  to  bury  the  old  man  and  bring  to  light 
the  new.     This  is  done  three  times."  ^ 

The  ancient  deacons  led  the  man  to  be  baptized 
into  the  fountain  up  to  the  neck  in  the  water ;  and 

^  KadaTrep  yap  ev  tlvl  Td<p(l>j  tC>  w^ari  Kara  6v6vtuv  ?}uo)v  rag 
Ke<paldg,  6  iralaLoq  avdpuTcoc  ddTZTerat,  Kai  Karadvg  Karu  Kpvirre-' 
rat  u7lO£  Kaftarra^.  Elra  dvavevovruv  ////wv,  6  Kaivbg  avetai  TrdTitv. 
'Q<77rep  yap  evKoXov  7]uiv  iSarrTiaaodat  koI  avavevaai.  Ovruq  evkoT^ov 
T(i)  deci  ddil>ai  t6v  dvdpuKOV  t6v  Tca/iatbv  Kal  dvacki^ai  rov  veov. 
Toi-ov  de  TovTo  yiverai.  Chrysos.  on  John  iii.  5,  vol.  viii.  p. 
168.     Parisiis,  1836. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  169 

if  the  candidate  was  a  woman,  the  deaconesses 
placed  her  in  the  same  situation;  and  the  act  of 
baptism  after  this  consisted  simply  in  sinking  the 
head  of  the  person  in  the  water  three  times  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Trinity;  and  in  this  way,  ac- 
cording to  Chrysostom,  "  the  whole  man,  having 
sunk  entirely  down,  was  concealed.^' 

Philostorgius  and  Immersion. 

Philostorgius  was  born  in  Cappadocia  about  A.  d. 
364.  He  was  educated  in  Constantinople,  and  it  is 
not  known  whether  he  was  a  lawyer  or  a  religious 
teacher.  He  wrote  an  ecclesiastical  history,  from  the 
origin  of  Arianism  to  A.  d.  425,  which  is  lost. 

Photius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  ninth  century,  made  an  abridgment  of 
the  work  of  Philostorgius,  which  still  remains ;  and 
in  the  abridged  history  Philostorgius  says : 

"  The  Eunomians  baptized  not  ivith  trine  immer- 
sion, hut  with  one  immersion,  baptizing,  as  they  said, 
into  the  Lord's  death."  ^ 

The  word  used  by  Photius,  and  most  probably  by 
Philostorgius,  means  sinking  or  causing  to  sink. 

From  the  way  in  which  Philostorgius  expresses  it, 

1  Karadvaiq.     Philostorg.  Eccles.  Hist.  Epiio.,  lib.  x.  cap.  4, 
p.  523.     Parisiis,  1673. 
15 


170  THE    BAPTISM    OF    TFIE 

it  is  clear  that  all  but  the  Eunomians  had  trine  im- 
mersion in  baptism  in  the  fourth  century. 

A  Baptism  ix  Athens  according  to  the  Rites 
OF  THE  Greek  Church. 

Bayard  Taylor,  the  well-known  traveller,  while 
in  Athens,  witnessed  in  a  private  house  the  immer- 
sion of  a  child.     He  says  : 

"I  neglected  no  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
ceremonials  of  the  Greek  Church.  In  the  East,  the 
sacraments  of  the  Church  have  still  their  ancient 
significance.  The  people  have  made  little  or  no 
spiritual  progress  in  a  thousand  years,  and  many 
forms  which  elsewhere  are  retained  by  the  force  of 
habit — their  orif^inal  meanino;  havins;  lon^  since  been 
lost  sight  of — are  still  imbued  with  vital  j^i'incij^le. 

"  The  parents  received  us  at  the  door.  Every- 
thing was  in  readiness  for  the  ceremony.  The 
priest — a  tall,  vigorous  Macedonian,  a  married  man 
— and  the  deacon — a  very  handsome  young  fellow, 
with  a  dark  olive  complexion  and  large  languish- 
ing eyes — now  prepared  themselves  by  putting  long 
embroidered  collars  over  their  gowns.  They  then 
made  an  altar  of  the  chest  of  drawers,  by  placing 
u])on  it  a  picture  of  the  Virgin,  with  lighted  tapers 
on  either  side.  Then  a  small  table  was  brought 
into  the  centre  of  the  room  as  a  pedestal  for  a  tall 


AGES   AXD   THE   NATIONS.  171 

tri-forked  wax  candle,  representing  the  Trinity.  A 
large  brazen  urn,  the  baptismal  font,  was  next 
carried  in  ;  the  priest's  son,  a  boy  of  twelve,  put 
coals  and  incense  into  the  censer,  and  the  ceremony 
began.  The  godfather,  who  was  a  venerable  old 
gentleman,  took  his  station  in  front  of  the  font. 
Beside  him  stood  the  nurse  holding  the  babe,  a 
lively  boy  of  six  weeks  old.  Neither  of  the  parents 
is  allowed  to  be  present  during  the  ceremony. 

"After  some  preliminary  chants  and  crossings, 
in  the  latter  of  which  the  whole  company  joined, 
the  priest  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  three  times 
over  the  infant,  blowing  in  its  face  each  time.  The 
object  of  this  was  to  exorcise  and  banish  from  its 
body  the  evil  spirits  which  are  supposed  to  be  in 
possession  of  it  up  to  the  moment  of  baptism.  The 
godfather  then  took  it  in  his  arms,  and  the  Nicene 
Creed  was  thrice  repeated — once  by  the  deacon,  once 
by  the  priest's  son,  and  once  by  the  godfather.  A 
short  liturgy  followed,  after  which  the  latter  pro- 
nounced the  child's  name — 'Apostolos' — which  he 
had  himself  chosen.  It  is  very  important  that  the 
name  should  be  mentioned  to  no  one,  not  even  to 
the  parents,  until  the  moment  of  baptism  ;  it  must 
then  be  spoken  for  the  first  time. 

"  The  position  of  godfather  in  Greece  carries  with 
it   a   great   responsibility.      In   the   two   Protestant 


172  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

sects  which  still  retain  this  beautiful  custom  it  is 
hardly  more  than  a  form,  complimentary  to  the 
person  who  receives  the  office,  but  no  longer  carry- 
ing with  it  any  real  obligation.  Among  the  Greeks, 
however,  it  is  a  relation  to  which  belong  legally 
acknowledged  rights  and  duties,  still  further  pro- 
tected by  all  the  sanction  which  the  Church  can 
confer.  The  godfather  has  not  only  the  privilege 
of  paying  all  the  baptismal  expenses  and  present- 
ing the  accustomed  mug  and  spoon,  but  he  stands 
thenceforth  in  a  spiritual  relationship  to  the  family 
which  has  all  the  force  of  a  connection  by  blood. 
For  instance,  he  is  not  allowed  to  marry  into  the 
family  within  the  limits  of  consanguinity  prohibited 
by  the  Church,  which  extend  as  far  as  the  ninth 
degree,  whatever  that  may  be.  He  also  watches 
over  the  child  with  paternal  care,  and  in  certain 
cases  his  authority  transcends  even  that  of  the  pa- 
rents. The  priest  and  deacon  put  on  embroidered 
stoles,  rather  the  worse  for  wear,  and  the  former 
rolled  up  his  sleeves.  Basins  of  hot  and  cold  water 
were  poured  into  the  font,  and  stirred  together  till 
a  proper  temperature  was  obtained.  The  water 
was  then  consecrated  by  holding  a  Bible  over  it, 
blowing  upon  it  to  expel  the  demons,  dividing  it 
with  the  hand  in  the  form  of  a  cross  nine  times — 
three  apiece  for   each   person  of   the  Trinity — and 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  173 

various  other  mystical  ceremonies  accompanied  with 
nasal  chanting.  The  censer,  now  puffing  a  thick 
cloud  of  incense,  was  swung  toward  the  Virgin,  then 
toward  us,  and  then  the  other  guests  in  succession, 
each  one  acknowledging  the  compliment  by  an  in- 
clination of  the  head. 

"A  bottle  of  oil  was  next  produced,  and  under- 
went the  same  process  of  consecration  as  the  water. 
The  priest  first  poured  some  of  it  three  times  into 
the  font  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  then  filled  the 
godfather's  hollow  hand,  which  was  extended  to  re- 
ceive it.  The  infant,  having  been  meanwhile  laid 
upon  the  floor  and  stripped,  was  taken  up  like  a 
poor,  unconscious,  wriggling  worm  as  it  was,  and 
anointed  by  the  priest  upon  the  forehead,  breast, 
elbows,  knees,  palms  of  the  hands,  and  soles  of  the 
feet.  Each  lubrication  was  accompanied  by  an  ap- 
propriate blessing,  until  every  important  part  of  the 
body  had  been  redeemed  from  the  evil  powers.  The 
godfather  then  used  the  child  as  a  towel,  wiping  his 
oily  hands  upon  it,  after  which  the  priest  placed  it  ^ 
in  the  font. 

"  The  little  fellow  had  been  yelling  lustily  up  to 

this   time,   but  the   hath   soothed   and    quieted   him. 

With  one  hand  the  priest  poured  ivater  p>lentifully  on 

his  head,  then  lifted  him  out  and  dipped  him  a  second 

''None  of  the  italics  after  this  are  Bayard  Taylor's. 
15* 


174  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

time;  but  insiead  of  affimon,  it  was  this  time  com} 
immersion.  Placing  his  hand  over  the  child's  mouth 
and  nose,  he  ijlunged  it  completely  under  three  times 
in   succession. 

"  The  Greek  Christians  skilfully  avoid  the  vexed 
question  of  'sprinkling  or  immersion,'  on  which  so 
much  breath  has  been  vainly  spent,  by  combining 
both  methods.  If  a  child  three  times  sprinkled  and 
three  times  dipped  is  not  sufficiently  baptized,  the 
ordinance  had  better  be  set  aside. 

"  The  screaming  and  half-strangled  babe  was  laid 
on  a  warm  cloth  ;  and  while  the  nurse  dried  his  body 
the  priest  cut  four  bits  of  hair  from  the  top  of  his 
head — in  the  form  of  a  cross,  of  course — and  threw 
them  into  the  font.  A  gaudy  dress  of  blue  and 
white,  with  a  lace  cap,  the  godfather's  gift,  was  then 
produced,  and  the  priest  proceeded  to  clothe  the 
child.  It  was  an  act  of  great  solemnity,  in  which 
each  article  assumed  a  spiritual  significance.  Thus  : 
'  I  endow^  thee  with  the  coat  of  righteousness,'  and  on 
went  the  coat ;  '  I  crown  thee  with  the  cap  of  grace,' 
and  he  put  it  on  ;  .  .  .  .  "  ^ 

^  IVavels  in  Greece  and  Bussia,  by  Bayard  Taylor,  pp.  54- 
59.     New  York,  1859. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  175 

"Office   of   Holy    Baptism"    of   the   Greek 
Church,  by  A.  N.  Arnold,  D.  D.,  Chicago. 

"B.  The  priest  enters,  and  changing  his  priestly  ivhite  robe  and 
sleeves,  and  touching  all  the  candles,  having  taken  the  censer, 
he  goes  to  the  font  and  incenses  it  with  a  circidar  motion ; 
and  having  laid  aside  the  censer,  worships.  Then  the  deacon 
says  : 

'  Bless,  O  Lord.' 

"R.   Then  the  priest,  ivith  a  loud  voice: 
'  Blessed  be  the  kiogdom  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  and  always,  and 
world  without  end.     Amen.' 

''R.   The  deacon: 

*  In  peace  let  us  beseech  the  Lord.' 

"i2.   The  choir: 

'  Lord,  have  mercy !  In  behalf  of  the  peace  that  is 

from  above  and  salvation  ;  in  behalf  of  the  peace  of 

the  whole  world ;  in  behalf  of  this  Holy  Family  and 

of  those  in  the  faith ;  in  behalf  of  the  sanctification 

of  this  water,  by  the  power,  and  the  energy,  and  the 

impartation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  let  us  beseech  the 

Lord.' 

(Then  follow  twelve  other  short  prayers,  occupy- 
ing a  page  of  the  book,  all  ending  as  above :  then 
the  following :) 

'  Help,  save,  have  mercy,  and  keep  us ; 


176  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

Through  tlie  all-holy,  undefiled,  hyper-blessed,  our 
glorious  Lady,  the  Mother  of  God.' 

"i2.  And  while  the  deacon  is  saying  these  things,  the  priest  says 
by  himself  the  following  prayer  secretly. 

(Here  follo^YS  the  prayer,  occupying  nearly  a  page.) 

"jR.  It  is  necessary  to  understand  that  he  does  not  speak  aloud, 
but  even  the  'amen'  he  says  to  himself.  Afterward  he  says 
this  prayer  aloud. 

(Here  follows  a  prayer,  occupying  a  whole  page, 
and  ending  as  follows,  after  a  reference  to  Christ's 
sanctifying  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  by  his  baptism :) 

*  Be  thou  present,  therefore,  O  merciful  King,  now 
also  by  the  impartation  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and 
sanctify  this  water.' 

"i?.  [Bepeat  three  times.) 

*  And  give  to  it  the  grace  of  redemption,  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Jordan.  Make  it  a  fountain  of  incor- 
ruption,  a  gift  of  sanctification,  a  deliverance  from 
sin,  a  medicine  against  diseases,  destructive  to  de- 
mons, inaccessible  to  hostile  powers,  filled  with  an- 
gelic strength.  Let  those  who  plot  against  thy 
creature  flee  from  it;  because,  O  Lord,  I  have  in- 
voked thy  name,  which  is  wonderful  and  glorious, 
and  terrible  to  the  adversaries.' 

"E.   Then  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  and  breuthes  upon  the 
water  three  times^  and  prays,  saying : 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  177 

*  Let  all  the  hostile  powers  be  shattered  under  the 
sign  of  the  venerable  cross  (three  time^).  Let  all 
the  aerial  and  invisible  idols  depart,  and  let  there 
not  hide  in  this  water  any  dark  demon ;  neither  let 
there  descend  upon  the  baptized,  we  beseech  thee, 
any  wdcked  spirit,  bringing  darkness  of  thoughts 
and  perturbation  of  mind.  But  do  thou,  O  Lord 
of  all,  make  this  water  a  water  of  redemption,  a 
water  of  sanctification,  a  purification  of  flesh  and 
spirit,  a  release  from  bonds,  a  remission  of  trans- 
gressions, an  enlightenment  of  souls,  a  laver  of  re- 
generation, a  renewal  of  spirit,  a  grace  of  adoption, 
a  garment  of  incorruption,  a  fountain  of  life.  For 
thou,  O  Lord,  hast  said,  "  Wash  you,  make  you 
clean,  put  away  the  wickedness  of  your  souls." 
Thou  hast  given  to  us  the  regeneration  from  above, 
through  water  and  Spirit.  Manifest  thyself,  O 
Lord,  in  this,  and  grant  that  the  one  baptized  in 
it  may  be  transformed,  so  as  to  put  off*  the  old 
man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts,  and  may  put  on  the  new^  man,  which  is  re- 
newed after  the  image  of  Him  that  created  him, 
in  order  that,  being  planted  together  in  the  like- 
ness of  his  death  by  baptism,  he  may  become  a 
partaker  also  of  his  resurrection,  and  preserving 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  increasing  the 
deposit   of   grace,   may   receive    the    prize    of    the 


178  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

heavenly  calliug,  aud  be  numbered  with  the  first- 
born who  are  registered  in  heaven,  in  thee,  our 
God  aud  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  For  to  thee  belong 
glory,  power,  honor,  and  worship,  together  with 
thine  eternal  Father,  and  thy  holy  and  good  and 
life-giving  Spirit,  now  and  always,  and  world  with- 
out end.     Amen. 

*  Peace  be  with  all.  Bow  your  heads  to  the 
Lord.' 

"R.  And  he  breathes  upon  the  vessel  of  oil  three  times,  and 
makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  three  times  upon  the  oil,  which 
is  held  by  the  deacon;  and  when  the  deacon  says,  'Let  us 
beseech  the  Lord,'  the  priest  shall  say  the  following  prayer : 

'  O  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  who  didst  send  to 
those  who  were  in  Noah's  ark  a  dove,  having  a 
twig  of  olive  in  its  mouth,  a  symbol  of  reconcilia- 
tion and  of  salvation  from  the  deluge,  and  didst 
foreshadow  by  these  things  the  mystery  of  grace, 
and  didst  furnish  the  fruit  of  the  olive  tree  for 
the  fulfilment  of  thy  holy  mysteries,  and  by  this 
didst  fill  with  the  Holy  Spirit  those  under  the  law, 
and  dost  perfect  those  under  grace,  do  thou  bless 
also  this  oil,  by  the  power  and  energy  and  impart- 
ation  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  so  that  it  may  become  an 
ointment  of  incorruption,  a  weapon  of  righteous- 
ness, a  renewing  of  soul  and  body,  an  antidote  of 
every  diabolical   influence,  a   deliverance  from  all 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  179 

evils  to  those  anointed  in  faith,  and  partaking  of 
it  to  thy  glory,  and  of  thy  only-begotten  Son,  and 
of  thy  all-holy  and  good  and  life-giving  Spirit, 
now  and  always,  and  world  without  end.' 

''B.  The  choir,  'Amen.^     The  deacon,  ^Let  us  give  attention,'' 
*'i2.  The  priest,  singing  the  hallelujah  three  times  with  the  people, 
makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  three  times  with  the  oil  on  the 
water.     Then  he  says  aloud, 

'Blessed  be  God,  who  enlightens  and  sanctifies 
every  man  coming  into  the  world,  now  and  always, 
and  world  without  end.' 

"i2.   The  choir,  ^Amen.^ 
"B.  And  the  one  to  be  baptized  is  brought  forward.     And  the 
priest  takes  of  the  oil,  and  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon 
the  forehead  and  th*  breast  and  the  bad.,  saying, 

'  The  servant  of  the  Lord  [name]  is  anointed  with 
the  oil  of  gladness,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  and  always, 
and  world  without  end.     Amen.' 

"i2.  And  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  his  breast  and  his 

back. 

"B.  {Making  it)  upon  his  breast,  he  says : 

'  For  healing  of  soul  and  body.' 
"B.  {Making  it)  upon  his  ears,  he  says : 

'  For  the  hearing  of  faith.' 

"B.  {Making  it)  upon  his  feet,  he  says: 

*  That  his  steps  may  go  in  thy  ways.' 


180  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

"R.  {Making  it)  vpon  his  hands,  he  says: 
'  Thy  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me.' 
"JR.  And  when  the  whole  body  has  been  anointed,  the  priest  bap- 
tizes him,  holding  him  in  an  erect  posture,  and  with  his  face 
to  the  east,  and  saying, 

'  The  servant  of  the  Lord  [name]  is  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  amen,  and  of  the  Son, 
amen,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  amen,  now  and  al- 
ways, and  world  without  end.     Amen.' 

"R.  At  each  invocation  sinking  him  and  raising  him. 

"R.  And  after  the  baptism  the  priest  washes  his  hands, 

'^R.  Singing  uith  the  people, 

'  Blessed  are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven, 
and  whose  sins  are  covered.' 

"R.  And  the  rest  of  the  psalm  three  times. 
"J2.  And  putting  on  him  the  vestments,  he  says: 

'  The  servant  of  God  [name]  is  clothed  with  the 
robe  of  righteousness,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  and 
always,  and  world  without  end.     Amen.' 

"R.  And  a  short  hymn  [troparion']  is  sung. 

*  Supply  to  me  a  shining  robe,  O  merciful  Christ, 
our  God,  who  clothest  thyself  with  light  as  with  a 
garment.' 
"R.  And  after  he  is  clothed  the  priest  prays,  saying  this  prayer: 

'Let  us  beseech  the  Lord.  Blessed  art  thou,  O 
Lord  God  Almighty,  the  Fountain  of  blessings,  the 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  181 

Sun  of  righteousness,  who  sheddest  the  light  of  sal- 
vation upon  those  in  darkness,  by  the  appearance 
of  thy  only-begotten  Sou  and  our  God,  and  who 
hast  given  to  us,  who  are  unworthy,  the  blessed  puri- 
fication in  the  holy  water  and  the  divine  sanctifica- 
tion  in  the  life-giving  anointing,  and  who  hast  now 
been  pleased  to  regenerate  thy  servant,  the  one 
newly  enlightened  by  water  and  Spirit,  and  hast 
given  to  him  the  remission  of  all  sins,  voluntary 
and  involuntary.  Do  thou,  O  most  royal  and 
merciful  Lord,  grant  to  him  also  the  seal  of  the 
gift  of  thy  holy,  almighty,  and  adorable  Spirit,  and 
the  participation  of  the  holy  body  and  the  vener- 
able blood  of  thy  Christ.  Keep  him  in  thy  sancti- 
fication,  confirm  him  in  the  orthodox  faith,  deliver 
him  from  the  wicked  one,  and  from  all  his  devices, 
and  keep  his  soul  in  thy  saving  fear,  in  purity  and 
righteousness,  in  order  that,  pleasing  thee  in  every 
work  and  word,  he  may  become  a  son  and  heir  of 
thy  heavenly  kingdom.' 

"R.  Aloud. 
'  For  thou  art  our  God,  a  God  of  mercy  and  sal- 
vation, and  to  thee  we  ascribe  glory,  to  the  Father, 
and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  and 
always,  and  world  without  end.  Amen.' 
"B.  And  after  the  prayer  he  anoints  the  baptized  icith  the  holy 
ointment,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  his  forehead, 


182  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

and  Ids  eyes,  and  his  nostrils,  and  his  mouth,  and  both  his 
ears,  and  his  breast,  and  his  hands,  and  his  feet,  saying  : 
'  The  seal  of  the  gift  of  thfe  Holy  Spirit.     Amen.' 

"B.   Then  the  priest,  ivith  the  sponsor  and  the  child,  make  the 
form  of  a  circle,  and  we  sing  : 

'  As  many  of  you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ  did 
put  on  Christ.     Hallelujah!' 

"i2.  This  is  done  three  times;   then  the  text, 
*The  Lord  is  my  Light  and  my  Saviour. 
The  Lord  is  the  Defender  of  my  life.' 

"i2.   'The  Epistle. 

Komaus  vi.  3-11. 

"i2.  Gospel  from  Matthew  ocxviii.  16-20. 

"R.  Then  the  bidding  prayer  and  dismission. 

>jC  5jC  ^  ?jC  ?}v  5fi 

"B.  After  seven  days  the  child  is  again  brought  to  the  church 
for  the  ablution  [cnroTiovaig).     After  three  short  prayers, 

"B.  The  priest  loosens  the  child's  girdle  and  garment,  and  unit- 
ing the  ends  of  than,  wets  them  with  clean  water  and  sprinkles 
(I'mivec)  the  child,  saying: 

'Thou  hast  been  justified,  thou  hast  been  enlight- 
ened,' etc. 

"B.  And  taking  a  new  sponge  with  water,  he  wipes  the  child's 
face,  and  head,  and  breast,  saying: 

'  Thou  hast  been  baptized,  thou  hast  been  enlight- 
ened, thou  hast  been  anointed,  thou  hast  been  sanc- 
tified, thou  hast  been  washed  in  the  name  of  the 


AGES    AND    THE   NATIONS.  183 

Father,  aod  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
now  and  ever,  and  world  without  end.     Amen.'  ^ 

"  The  lines  marked  R.  in  the  margin  are  the  rub- 
rics, and  are  printed  in  red  letters  in  the  book. 

"  The  confirmation  service  is  united  with  the  bap- 
tismal. The  anointing,  or  chrism,  mentioned  is  the 
Greek  rite  of  confirmation. 

"The  short  service  of  ablution  is  appended,  be- 
cause of  the  sprinkling  mentioned  in  it,  which  it  is 
supposed  may  have  been  mistaken  for  baptism  by 
some  of  those  not  very  well  informed  travellers  who 
have  testified  so  positively  that  they  have  seen  bap- 
tism performed  by  sprinkling  in  the  Greek  Church." 

Dr.  Arnold  and  Immersions  in  Greece. 

Dr.  Arnold — until  recently  a  professor  in  the 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary  of  Chicago — is  one 
of  the  most  scholarly  men  in  or  out  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  the  United  States.  He  was  for 
several  years  a  missionary  in  Greece,  with  the  most 
favorable  opportunities  for  becoming  familiar  with 
the  religious  observances  of  the  Greeks.  AVriting  of 
modern  baptism  among  them,  he  says : 

"  The  writer  has  repeatedly  seen  baptism  admin- 
istered according  to  the  Greek  ritual,  and  in  every 
instance  it  has  been  a  trijjle  immersion.  If,  as  may 
^  Translated  from  the  Ei';i;o?id)'fov,  pp.  137-147. 


184  THE    BAPTISM    OF   THE 

sometimes  happen,  any  little  portion  of  the  body  is  not 
completely  submerged  ivhen  the  child  is  placed  naked 
in  the  font,  the  priest,  by  a  movement  of  his  hand, 
sends  a  ivave  over  it.''  ^ 

The  Greek  Church  and  Immersion. 

Deau  Stanley,  an  eminent  Episcopalian,  makes 
the  following  statement : 

"  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  original  form 
of  baptism — the  very  meaning  of  the  word — was  com- 
plete immersion  in  the  deep  baptismal  waters,  and 
that  for  at  least  four  centuries  any  other  form  was 
either  unknown  or  regarded,  unless  in  the  case  of 
dangerous  illness,  as  an  exceptional,  almost  a  mon- 
strous, case.  To  this  form  the  Eastern  Church  still 
rigidly  adheres,  and  the  most  illustrious  and  vener- 
able portion  of  it — that  of  the  Byzantine  Empire — 
absolutely  repudiates  and  ignores  any  other  mode  of 
administration  as  essentially  invalid."  '^ 

"  The  validity  of  the  baptisms  [sprinklings]  of  the 
Western  Church  is  to  this  day  denied  by  the  Church 
of  Constantinople."  ^ 

Dean  Stanley  might  have  said  that  twelve  cen- 
turies instead  of  four  was  the  period  during  which 
immersion  was  the  baptism  of  Christendom. 
1  The  Baptist  Quarterly,  vol.  iv.  1870,  p.  83. 

^Stanley's  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  p.  117.  New 
York,  1870.  3  ji,ij^  p  4(5Q^ 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  185 


SEEY  I  A. 

A  Servian  Baptism  in  1876. 

Milan,  Prince  of  Servia,  through  the  war  which 
his  principality  lately  waged  with  Turkey  and  the 
conflict  of  1877  between  Russia  and  the  Ottoman 
Porte,  has  become  well  known  to  the  reading  world. 
In  1876  a  respectable  English^  paper  gave  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  baptism  of  his  child : 

"  The  infant  son  of  Prince  Milan  was  baptized  at 
the  palace,  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Greek 
Church.  He  received  the  name  of  Milosh.  Consul 
Kartzoff  represented  the  Emperor  of  Russia  as  spon- 
sor. There  was  no  godmother.  The  service  is  a 
long  one.  The  infant  is  stripped  naked  and  eom- 
pletely  immersed  in  the  font  A  collect  was  sung  for 
the  prince,  the  princess,  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia. 
With  the  exception  of  M.  Kartzoff,  all  the  foreign 
consuls  were  in  plain  clothes.  In  the  evening  there 
was  a  display  of  fireworks,  but  no  illumination." 

^  Deal,  Walmer,  Dover,  and  Kentish  Telegraph,  Oct.  28, 1876. 
16* 


186  THE   BAPl'ISM   OF  THE 


TUEKEY,  PERSIA,  AND  THE  EAST. 

A  Miraculous  Baptism,  a.  d.  1299. 

Matthew  of  Westminster,  in  his  Flowers  of 
Hidory,  written  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  tells  a  very  curious  Eastern  story.  He 
says : 

"  Paganus,  brother  of  the  great  Cassanus,  King  of 
the  Tartars,  loved  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Ar- 
menia, who  was  a  Christian ;  accordingly,  he  begged 
the  father  that  the  girl  might  be  given  to  him  in 
marriage ;  but  the  King  of  Armenia  would  not  grant 
his  request  unless  he  laid  aside  the  errors  of  heathen- 
ism and  became  a  Christian.  .  .  .  His  daughter,  wish- 
ing to  spare  the  people,  voluntarily  consented  [to  the 
marriage].  Afterward,  when  they  had  a  child  born 
of  the  male  sex,  he  was  found  to  be  hairy  and  shaggy 
like  a  bear.  And  when  he  was  brought  to  his  father, 
he  said  that  he  was  not  his,  and  immediately  ordered 
him  to  be  burned  in  the  fire.  But  his  mother  resist- 
ed, and  ordered  him  to  be  baptized;  and  immediately, 
as  soon  as  he  had  been  thrice  immersed '  i)i  the  sacred 
^  Flowers  of  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  531.     London,  1853. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  187 

font  all  the  hairiness  fell  from  the  child,  and  he  ap- 
peared smooth  and  the  most  beautiful  of  infants." 

A  Portion  of  the  Nestorian  Baptismal  Ser- 
vice NOW  IN  Use. 

"The  deacons  shall  bring  the  children  into  the 
baptistery,  their  earrings,  rings,  and  bracelets  having 
been  taken  off,  and  they  shall  inquire  the  names  to 
be  given  to  the  children,  and  shall  communicate  the 
same  to  the  priest.  The  deacons  shall  then  bind  up 
their  -  loins,  and  place  their  stoles  under  the  vessel 
containing  the  oil.  And  every  child  who  is  admitted 
shall  be  provided  with  a  napkin  to  be  wrapped  in 
after  baptism,  which  shall  be  carried  by  the  deacon 
on  his  shoulder.  .  .  .  Then  those  present  shall  care- 
fully and  properly  anoint  all  over  the  person  of  him 
whom  the  priest  anointed ;  and  they  shall  not  leave 
any  part  of  him  unanointed.  Then  they  shall  take 
him  to  the  priest  standing  by  the  font,  who  ah^iW  place 
him  therein,  with  his  face  to  the  east;  and  he  shall 
dip  him  therein  three  times,  saying  at  the  first  time, 
*  A.  B.,  be  thou  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father.' 
R.  '  Amen.'  The  second  time  :  '  In  the  name  of  the 
Son.'  E.  *  Amen.'  And  at  the  third  time  :  '  In  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  i?.  *  Amen.'  In  dipping 
him  he  shall  dip  him  up  to  the  neck,  and  then  j^ut  his 
hand  upon  him,  so  that  his  head  may  be  submerged. 


188  THE    BAPTISM   OF    THE 

Then  the  priest  shall  tuhe  him  out  of  the  font  and 
give  him  to  the  deacon,  Avho  shall  wrap  him  up  in 
a  white  napkin  and  commit  him  to  his  godfathers. 
Then  his  clean  clothes  shall  be  put  on,  but  his  head 
must  be  left  bare  until  the  priest  shall  bind  on  his 
head-dress  after  the  last  signing."^ 

The  Armenians  and  Immersion. 

The  Rev.  H.  G.  O.  Dwight — a  Congregational 
missionary  in  Turkey  of  great  worth  and  of  ex- 
tensive usefulness — in  his  work  called  Christianity 
in  Turkey,  published  in  1854,  writes: 

"  The  whole  number  of  Armenians  now  in  the 
world  is  estimated  at  not  far  from  three  millions. 
More  than  half  of  these — perhaps  two-thirds —are 
inhabitants  of  Turkey.  Large  numbers  are  found 
in  Russia,  especially  in  the  Georgian  provinces,  and 
very  many  also  in  Persia.  They  live  in  various 
parts  of  India,  and  some  are  fouud  in  Burmah  and 
China.  Wherever  they  go  they  are  marked  for 
their  enterprise,  ability,  and  intelligence,  and  it  is 
acknowledged  on  all  hands  that  they  possess  the 
elements  of  a  superior  character.  In  Turkey  the 
principal  merchants  are  Armenians,  and  nearly  all 
the  great  bankers  of  the  government;  and  whatever 

'  The  Nestorians  and  their  Rituals,  by  Badger,  Episcopalian, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  207,  208.    London,  1852. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  189 

arts  there  are  that  require  peculiar  ingenuity  and 
skill,  they  are  almost  sure  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
Armenians.  They  are  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the 
East."^ 

Giving  an  account  of  their  religious  rites,  Dwight 
states  that 

"BajMsm  is  performed  by  triple  immersion,  also 
by  pouring  water  afterward  three  times  upon  the 
head." ' 

The  triple  pouring  after  baptism  has  been  per- 
formed is  a  custom  in  the  Greek  Church,  as  will 
be  seen  by  looking  at  the  closing  portion  of  Dr. 
Arnold's  translation  of  The  Office  of  Holy  Baptism 
of  that  Church.  It  takes  place  seven  days  after 
the  baptism,  and  is  called  the  "ablution." 

The  baptism  of  the  Armenians  is  a  "triple  im- 
mersion," no  matter  what  additions  have  been  made 
to  it. 

^  Christianity  in  Turkey,  pp.  13,  14,     London,  1854. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  11. 


190  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


PALESTINE. 

Jewish   Proselyte   Baptism. 

Dr.  John  Lightfoot,  a  member  of  the  AVest- 
minster  Assembly  of  Divines  that  framed  the  Cod- 
fession  of  Faith  of  our  American  Presbyterian 
brethren,  a  Hebrew  scholar  of  unusual  research, 
represents  the  baptism  of  proselytes  as  ages  more 
ancient  than  Christ's  day,  and  he  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  method  of  performing  it : 

"  They  do  not  baptize  a  proselyte  by  night,  nor 
on  the  Sabbath,  nor  on  a  holy  day.  It  is  required 
that  three  men  who  are  scholars  of  the  wise  men 
be  present  at  the  baptism  of  a  proselyte,  who  may 
take  care  that  the  business  be  rightly  performed, 
and  may  briefly  instruct  the  catechumen  [candidate]. 

"As  soon  as  the  proselyte  grows  whole  of  the 
wound  of  circumcision  they  bring  him  to  baptism, 
and  being  placed  in  the  water,  they  again  instruct 
him  in  some  weightier  and  in  some  lighter  com- 
mands of  the  Law ;  which  being  heard,  he  plunges 
himself  and  comes  uji,  and,  behold !  he  is  an  Israelite 
in  all  things.     The  women  place  a  woman   in  the 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  191 

waters  up  to  the  neck,  and  two  disciples  of  the 
wise  men,  standing  without,  instruct  her  about 
some  lighter  precepts  of  the  Law  and  some  weightier, 
while  she  in  the  mean  time  stands  in  the  waters  ; 
and  then  she  plungeth  herself,  and  they,  turning 
away  their  faces,  go  out,  while  she  comes  up  out 
of  the  water. 

"Now,  what  that  plunging  was  you  may  know 
from  those  things  which  Maimonides  speaks  in 
Mikvaoth :  *  Every  person  baptized  must  dip  his 
whole  body,  now  stripped  and  made  naked,  at  one 
dipping.  And  w^heresoever  in  the  Law  washing  of 
the  garments  or  body  is  mentioned,  it  means  nothing 
else  than  the  washing  of  the  whole  body;  for  if 
any  wash  himself  all  over  except  the  very  tip  of 
his  little  finger,  he  is  still  in  his  un cleanness.' "  ^ 
This  by  some  is  supposed  to  be  the  source  of  Chris- 
tian baptism. 

Jew^ish  Proselyte  Baptism  by  a  Learned 
Kabbi  now  Officiating  in  a  Congregation 
OF  American  Israelites. 

"  1.  The  Mikveh  is  a  rabbinical  institution  of 
very  ancient  date.  \_Mikveh,  a  bath,  a  gathering 
of  running  waters.] 

^  Lightfoot's  Whole  Works,  vol.  xi.  pp.  59-61.  London, 
1823. 


192  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

"  2.  It  must  possess  dinieDsions  enabling  a  person 
of  average  size  to  plunge  into  it,  Avithout  leaving  a 
particle  of  the  body  exposed. 

"  3.  The  -water  must  flow  from  the  main  source, 
and  not  be  simply  poured  into  it. 

"  4.  Persons  voluntarily  joining  the  Hebrew  faith 
must  make  an  immersion  as  described  above,  typi- 
cal of  their  having  cleansed  themselves  of  errone- 
ous ideas  and  of  having  become  mentally  regene- 
rated." This  is  a  very  old  and  a  very  complete 
immersion. 

A  Jewish  friend,  of  marked  intelligence  and  of 
literary  tastes,  says  of  the  writer  of  the  above: 
"He  is  one  of  the  purest  and  noblest  followers 
of  God's  word  that  ever  lived." 

Immersion  in  the  New  Testament. 

"  Then  went  out  to  John  Jerusalem,  and  all 
Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan,  and 
were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their 
sins."   Matt.  iii.  5,  6. 

"  Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  unto 
John  to  be  baptized  of  him ;  but  John  forbade  him, 
saying,  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  com- 
est  thou  to  me?  And  Jesus  answering  said  unto 
him.  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us 
to  fulfil  all   righteousness.     Then  he   suffered    him. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  193 

and  Jesiis  when  he  was  baptized  went  up  straightway 
out  of  the  water r  Matt.  iii.  13-16. 

"John  did  baptize  in  the -wilderness,  and  preach 
the  baptism  of  repentance,  for  the  remission  of  sins ; 
and  there  went  out  to  him  all  the  land  of  Judea,  and 
they  of  Jerusalem,  and  were  all  baptized  of  him  in 
the  river  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins."  Mark  i.  4,  5. 

"And  John  also  was  baptizing  in  Enon  near  to  Sa- 
lim,  because  there  was  much  water  there."  John  iii.  23. 

"  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into 
death,  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the 
dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also 
should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Rom.  vi.  4. 

^^ Buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are 
risen  with  him,  through  the  faith  of  the  operation 
of  God."  Col.  ii.  12. 

Matthew  says  that  "  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea  were 
baptized  in  Jordan ;"  he  says  that  "  when  the  Sa- 
viour was  baptized  he  went  up  straightway  out  of  the 
water."  Mark  says  that  "  all  the  land  of  Judea,  and 
they  of  Jerusalem,  iver-e  baptized  by  John  in  the  river 
Jordan  ;"  and  the  apostle  John  declares  that  John  the 
Baptist  "  was  baptizing  in  Enon  near  to  Salim,  be- 
cause there  was  much  water  there."  These  baptisms 
were  undoubted  immersions. 

Professor  Coleman,  commenting  on  the  words  of 
Justin  Martyr,  "  We  then  lead  them  [candidates  for 
17  N 


194  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

baptism]  to  a  place  where  there  is  water,"  says: 
"The  conducting  of  the  candidate  to  a  place  where 
there  is  water,  and  there  baptizing  him,  instead  of 
causing  water  to  be  brought,  seems  to  intimate  that  at 
this  time  the  Eastern  Church,  or  at  least  the  Church 
of  Ephesus,  had  begun  to  baptize  by  immersion."^ 
If  the  professor  is  right  in  his  conjecture  about  the 
mode  of  Justin's  baptism,  then  every  one  baptized 
in  the  Jordan  or  at  Enon  wcis  immersed.  And  as  in 
the  New  Testament  there  was  "  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
and  one  baptimn,''  it  would  follow  that  all  baptisms 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament  were  immersions. 

The  great  Dr.  John  Lightfoot  says  of  John's  bap- 
tism :  "  That  the  baptism,  of  John  was  by  plunging  the 
body,  after  the  same  inanner  as  the  washing  of  unclean 
persons  and  the  baptism  of  proselytes,  seems  to  appear 
from  those  things  which  are  related  of  him — namely, 
that  he  *  baptized  in  Jordan ;'  that  he  baptized  *  in 
Enon,  because  there  was  much  water  there/  and  that 
Christ,  being  baptized,  *  came  up  out  of  the  water/  to 
which  that  seems  to  be  parallel  (Acts  viii.),  *  Philip 
and  the  eunuch  went  down  into  the  ivater/"^  etc.  That 
Dr.  Lightfoot  is  right  to  us  is  certain.  And  if  this 
statement  appeared  in  some  public  journal,  "  On  the 

*  Coleman's  Ancient  Chriatianity  Exemplified,  p.  368.  Phila- 
delphia, 1852. 

''  LirjhlfooCs  Whole  Worh,  vol.  xi.  p.  G3.     London,  1823. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  195 

second  Sunday  in  May  twenty-five  persons  were  bap- 
tized in  the  Mississippi  Kiver  at  Vicksburg,"  what 
person  of  intelligence  would  dream  that  they  were 
sprinkled  or  had  water  poured  upon  them  ? 

St.  Jerome  and  Immersion. 

The  monk  of  Palestine,  who  revised  the  New  Tes- 
tament of  the  Latin  Vulgate  and  translated  the  Old, 
was  a  power  in  the  fourth  century  and  for  ages 
afterward.  He  was  learned  and  pious  and  crotch- 
ety ;  a  troublesome  neighbor,  yet  a  blessing  to  the 
Church.  He  makes  the  following  statement  about 
trine  immersion  : 

"And  many  other  things  which  are  observed  in 
the  churches  claim  the  authority  of  the  written  law 
for  themselves,  as  in  the  font  to  plunge  the  head  three 
times  under  the  ivater.^^  ^ 

Commenting  on  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one 
baptism,"  Eph.  iv.  5,  he  asserts  that 

"We  are  immersed  three  times,  that  the  one  mys- 
tery of  the  Trinity  might  appear."  ^ 

'  In  lavacro  ter  caput  mergitare.  Adver.  Lnciferianos, 
torn.  ill.  p.  63.     Basle,  1516. 

2  Ter  mergiraur.     Ibid.,  torn.  ix.  p.  109. 


196  THE    BAPTISM   OF   THE 


NORTH    AFRICA. 

Tertullian  on  Baptism. 

Tertullian  was  born  in  Carthage  A.  d.  160. 
He  was  originally  a  lawyer,  and .  had  become  a 
presbyter  of  the  church  in  his  native  city.  His 
style  and  his  temper  are  stiff.  He  was  so  conscien- 
tious as  to  be  crotchety.  After  A.  d.  200  he  joined 
the  Montanists,  who  are  said  to  have  had  an  ex- 
aggerated opinion  about  the  amount  of  the  Spirit 
possessed  by  their  founder.  Before  he  became  a 
follower  of  Montanus  he  wrote  his  tract  on  baptism. 
Tertullian,  during  and  after  his  own  time,  enjoyed 
the  warm  regards  of  Christians,  especially  of  Cyp- 
rian, the  master-spirit  of  the  Church  in  North  Af- 
rica in  the  third  century.  Tertullian  was  a  lowly 
Christian,  as  his  last  words  in  De  Baptismo  show. 
"Ask,"  he  says,  "and  ye  shall  receive;  seek,  and 
ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you ;  and  when  you  ask,  I  only  pray  that  you  would 
remember  Tertullian  the  sinner."  He  was  the  first 
Christian  writer  who  used  the  Latin  tongue,  and 
Tertullian  composed  the  first  work  on  baj^tism  ever 


AGES   AND   THE    NATIONS.  197 

given  to  the  world  by  a  disciple  of  Jesus.     In  his 
treatise  on  baptism  he  says : 

"  We  little  fish  are  horn  in  the  ivater.''  ^  "  It  is 
of  no  consequence  whether  (^in  bajytism)  a  man  is 
washed  in  the  sea  or  in  a  pool,  in  a  river  or  in  a 
fountain,  in  a  lake  or  in  the  channel  oj  a  river ;  7ior 
is  there  any  difference  between  those  whom  John  im- 
mersed in  the  Jordan  and  those  whom  Peter  immersed 
in  the  Tiber."  ^  "  The  act  of  baptism  itself  belongs 
to  the  flesh,  because  we  are  immersed  in  water ;  ^  its 
effect  is  spiritual,  because  we  are  freed  from  sins." 
"  Christ  himself  ivas  immersed  in  the  water."  ^  "  It 
is  one  thing  to  be  sprinkled  or  taken  unawares  by 
the  violence  of  the  sea,  and  another  to  be  immersed 
by  the  discipline  of  religion."  '"  Quoting  from  Paul's 
letter  to  the  Corinthians  about  their  controversies 
his  saying  that  "  He  was  not  sent  to  immerse  men, 

^  Nos  pisciciiU  ...  in  aqua  nascimur.  De  Baptismo,  cap. 
1.     Lipsise,  1839. 

^  Nulla  distinctio  est,  mari  quis  an  stagno,  fluraine  an  fonte, 
lacu  an  alveo  diluatur.  Nee  quicquam  refert  inter  eos,  quos 
Joannes  in  Jordane  et  quos  Petros  in  Tiberi  tinxit.  Ibid., 
caj).  4. 

^  Ipsius  baptism!  carnalis  actus,  quod  in  aqua  mergimur. 
Ibid.,  cap,  7. 

*  Christus  ipse  aqua  tinguitur.     Ibid.,  cap.  9. 

^  Aliud  adspergi  vel  intercepi  violentia  maris,  aliud  tingui 
disciplina  religionis.     Ibid.,  cap.  1 2. 
17  « 


198  THE   BAPTISM  OF   THE 

but  to  preach,"  he  says  that  "He  should  first 
preach,  and  then  immerse.  .  .  .  He  could  lawfully 
immerse  who  had  a  right  to  preach."  ^  Elsewhere 
in  his  works  Tertullian  says  of  baptism  :  "  But  first 
in  the  church,  under  the  management  of  the  bishop, 
we  bear  some  testimony  that  we  have  renounced  the 
devil  and  his  pomps  and  angels.  Then,  answering 
somewhat  more  fully  than  the  Lord  appointed  in 
the  Gospel,  we  are  immersed  three  times.^'^ 

"Our  Saviour  commanded  us  to  immerse^  into 
the  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit ;  not  into  one 
person,  and  not  once,  but  three  times.  At  each 
name  we  are  immersed  *  into  each  j^erson.^' 

^  Non  ad  tinguendum  .  .  .  licuit  et  tinguere.  De  Baptismo, 
cap.  14. 

2  Ter  mergitainur.  De  Corona,  Patrol.  Led.,  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 

'  Ut  tinguerunt  .  .  .  in  personassingulas  tinguimur.  Liber 
ad  Prap.,  cap.  2G  ;  Ibid.,  ii.  213. 

*  Tertullian,  in  his  sixteen  duodecimo  pages  on  baptism, 
uses  tingo  forty-six  times  in  the  sense  of  dipping,  and  meryo, 
to  immerse,  abluo,  to  wash,  and  lava,  to  bathe,  ten  times  to 
describe  baptismal  immersion.  Tingo  and  mergo,  imviergo 
and  mergito,  with  Tertullian  were  identical  in  meaning.  He 
uses  Ungo  and  mergi(o  on  this  very  page  and  in  exactly  the 
same  sense.  Tingo  is  used  in  the  Vulgate  when  the  rich  man 
cries,  "  Father  Abraham,  have  compassion  upon  me,  and 
send  Lazarus  that  he  may  dip  (intingat)  the  tip  of  his  finger 
into  water  and  cool  my  tongue."  Luke  xvi.  24.     Tingo  is  used 


AGES    AND    THE    NATIONS.  199 

in  Matt,  xxvi.  23  and  in  Mark  xiv.  20  to  express  d'ppwg. 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor  (Summa  Sentent.,  tract  v.  cap.  3 ;  Patrol. 
Led.,  vol.  176,  p.  130)  quotes  Gregory's  letter  to  Leander  as 
if  he  had  said :  "  There  will  be  no  fault  in  immersing  (lingere) 
once  or  thrice,  since  in  three  immersions  (mersionibus)  the 
Trinity  can  be  represented."  AVith  Hugo  tingo  and  me^-go 
meant,  in  baptism,  the  same  immersion.  Boniface,  the  apostle 
of  the  Germans,  uses  tingo  in  the  same  sense.  He  tells  the 
English  Abbess  Eadburga  about  spirits  which  he  saw  in  a 
vision,  "  some  of  which  were  dipped  {tingehantur)  as  if  the 
whole  body  were  immersed  "  {mersare.  Ep.  Bonif.,  20 ;  Script. 
Eccles.,  viii.,  Saec.  Migne.  Parisiis).  In  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century  it  lost,  like  baptize,  the  idea  of  mode 
entirely,  and  came  to  be  employed  as  the  compilers  of  the 
Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent  {Catech.,  pars  ii.  cap.  2, 
quaest.  17,  p.  136.  Lipsise,  1865)  use  it  when  they  say:  "For 
those  who  ought  to  be  initiated  by  this  sacrament  are  either 
plunged  into  water  {in  aquam  merguntur),  or  water  is  poured 
upon  them,  or  they  are  tinged  (tinguntur) — that  is,  baptized — 
by  sprinkling."  But  for  1000  years  in  Latin  Christian  litera- 
ture tingo  meant  baptism  by  immersion,  and  it  was  used  ap- 
parently in  the  first  Latin  version  of  the  New  Testament  ever 
made.  Jerome,  in  his  revised  New  Testament  of  the  Vulgate 
in  the  fourth  century,  transfers  baptize  in  the  commission. 
Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Tertullian,  in  De  Baptismo,  cap.  13,  in  the 
end  of  the  second  century,  quotes,  most  probably  from  the 
very  earliest  Latin  translation,  the  same  commission  ;  and 
"  baptizing  them  "  is  immersing  them  [tinguentes). 


200  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 


The  Baptism  of  the  Bishops  of  North  Africa, 
A.  D.  2o6. 

In  that  part  of  the  world  as  early  as  the  end  of 
the  second  century  Christians  were  numerous.  In 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  a  council  was  held 
in  Carthage  to  settle  the  controversy  then  raging 
about  rebaptizing  heretics.  The  council  was  com- 
posed of  eighty-five  bishops. 

Each  bishop  gave  his  opinion,  and  Cyprian  re- 
corded each  declaration  and  numbered  it.  He  was 
the  leading  prelate  in  the  council,  and  he  gives  his 
decision  last.  Munnulus,  Bishop  of  Girba,  was  the 
tenth  speaker,  and  the  following  is  his  deliverance, 
as  translated  by  a  learned  Episcopalian  :  ^ 

"  The  true  doctrine  of  our  holy  mother,  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  has  always  been  with  us,  my  brethren, 
and  especially  in  the  article  of  baptism,  and  the  trine 
immersion  wherewith  it  is  celebrated,  our  Lord  having 
said,  '  Go  ye  and  baptize  the  Gentiles  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  etc'  " ''  Munnulus  then  proceeds  to  repudiate 
all   baptisms   administered   by  persons   outside   the 

^  St.  Cyprian's  Works,  translated  by  Nath.  Marshall,  LL.B., 
Vicar  of  St.  Yedastus,  London,  p.  241.     London,  1717. 

^  Vol  et  maxime  baptismatis  trinitate.  Cypriani  Opera^ 
Cone.  Carth.,  p.  230.     Colonic,  1G17. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  201 

Church.  Cyprian  breathes  no  word  of  dissent  from 
the  judgment  of  Munnulus  ;  and  no  living  man  in 
such  a  meeting  was  so  likely  to  relieve  his  mind  as 
the  Bishop  of  Carthage.  Tertullian,  sixty  years 
before  in  Carthage,  wrote  about  baptism :  We  are 
immersed  three  times ;  and  Cyprian,  when  asking  for 
Tertullian's  works,  was  accustomed  to  say,  "  Give 
me  my  master  ;"  so  that  an  agreement  on  all  great 
questions  existed  between  the  bishop  and  his  master 
the  presbyter.  Seventy-five  bishops  followed  Mun- 
nulus, and  no  one  of  them  differed  from  him. 

St.  Augustike  of  Hippo  and  Immersion. 

Augustine  was  a  native  of  North  Africa.  His 
father's  name  was  Patric,  and  his  mother's  Monica. 
Like  the  mothers  of  many  other  great  men,  Monica 
possessed  remarkable  talents,  and  she  was  a  devoted 
Christian.  For  many  years  she  labored  unsuccess- 
fully for  Augustine's  conversion.  His  education, 
except  in  Greek,  was  respectable,  and  he  became  a 
popular  teacher  of  rhetoric  in  Carthage,  Rome,  and 
Milan.  His  unconverted  life  was  very  immoral, 
and  a  considerable  part  of  it  was  spent  among  the 
heretical  Manichees.  At  Milan  the  discourses  of 
the  devout  Ambrose  led  Augustine  to  the  Saviour 
and  to  a  holy  life ;  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul  the 
apostle  were  peculiarly  blessed  in  shaping  his  opin- 


202  THE    BAPTISM    OF    THE 

ions  and  guiding  his  affections.  He  was  baptized  by 
Ambrose  at  Milan  A.  d.  387,  in  the  thirty-second 
year  of  his  age.  In  A.  d.  395  he  became  Bishop  of 
Hippo ;  and  from  that  obscure  spot  the  light  of  Au- 
gustine's genius  went  abroad  throughout  the  whole 
world.     He  died  A.  D.  430. 

Augustine  for  ages  was  the  great  Church  teacher 
of  Christendom ;  ecclesiastics  of  all  ages,  Reformed, 
Papal,  and  Greek,  have  joyfully  taken  a  place  at  his 
feet.  John  Calvin,  and  John  Knox,  and  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer,  and  John  Gill  occupied  the  very 
spot  on  which  famous  popes  and  cardinals  and  doc- 
tors knelt  before  the  mighty  teacher  of  Hippo.  No 
prelate,  in  the  Papal  chair  or  out  of  it,  enjoyed  the 
reverence  accorded  to  Augustine  for  years  during 
the  later  period  of  his  life.  He  had  some  errors  and 
a  good  many  faults,  but  he  was  unquestionably  at 
the  head  of  the  Christian  churches  in  his  day ;  and 
he  was  without  a  superior,  after  the  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  before  and  since  his  day.  He  writes  of 
baptism  as  follows,  in  his  sermon  on  ''  The  Mysteries 
of  Baptism  "  : 

"  After  you  promised  to  believe  we  plunged  your 
heads  three  times  in  the  sacred  fountain.  This  order 
of  baptism  is  observed  to  express  a  double  mystery ; 
for  you  have  been  rightly  immersed  three  times  who  have 
received  baptism  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity,  and  you 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  203 

have  been  properly  immersed  three  times  who  have 
received  baptism  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
arose  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day  ;  for  that  im- 
mersion thrice  repeated  gives  a  type  oj  the  three  days' 
harial  of  the  Lord,  through  which  [immersion]  ye 
are  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism,  and  with  Christ 
in  faith,  that,  washed  from  sins,  you  may  live  in  the 
sanctity  of  virtue  by  imitating  Christ.  Hence  the 
blessed  apostle  says,  'Are  ye  ignorant  that  they  who 
are  baptized  in  Christ  Jesus  are  baptized  in  his  death? 
for  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death, 
that  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Father,  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of 
life.' "  ^  Such,  undoubtedly,  were  the  universal  views 
of  the  mode  of  baptism  and  of  its  significance  in 
Augustine's  day. 

Some  persons  have  doubted  whether  Augustine 
ever  wrote  our  quotation.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
men  of  profound  learning,  like  Bingham,  the  author 

^  Postquam  vos  credere  promisistis  tertio  capita  vestra  in 
sacro  fonte  demersimus.  Qui  ordo  baptismatis  duplici  mys- 
terii  significatione  celebratur.  Recte  enim  tertio  mersi  esti.s 
qui  accepistis  baptismura  in  nomine  Trinitatis.  Recte  tertio 
mersi  estis  qui  accepistis  baptismum  in  nomine  Jesus  Christi, 
qui  tertio  die  resurrexit  a  mortuis.  Ilia  enim  tertio  repetita 
demersio  typum  dominicse  exprimit  sepulturse.  Per  quam 
Christo  consepulti  estis  in  baptismo.  Tom.  vi.,  appendix, 
Patrol.  Lai.,  vol.  40,  pp.  1207,  1208. 


204  THE   BAPTISM    OF   THE 

of  The  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  have  un- 
hesitatingly received  it  as  a  genuine  work  of  the 
great  teacher  of  Hippo.  The  sentiments  of  the 
quotation  were  those  of  Ambrose,  who  baptized 
him,  and  of  Jerome,  his  correspondent,  which  ap- 
pear in  this  volume,  and  of  the  whole  of  orthodox 
Christendom  at  this  period. 

Baptism  of  Epidophorus,  in  Carthage,  in  the 
Fifth  Century. 

In  that  highly  respectable  authority,  the  Ceniurice 
Magdeburgenses,  it  is  written  : 

"Victor,  in  the  Yandalian  persecution,  mentions 
in  his  third  book  a  certain  Epidophorus,  who  was 
baptized  in  Carthage,  whom  Milrita,  a  venerable 
deacon,  received  as  regenerated  from  the  inside  of 
the  fonty  ^  He  was  in  the  font,  and  of  course  im- 
mersed in  his  baptism,  and  Milrita  received  him  as 
one  born  again  from  the  cavity  of  the  font. 

Premasius,  Bishop  of  Adrumeta,  on  Baptism. 

This  prelate  lived  in  the  sixth  century,  and  pre- 
sided over  a  diocese  in  Korth  Africa.  In  his  com- 
mentary, at  Kom.  vi.  4,   he  writes: 

"So  that  in  this  way  from  sons  of  perdition  we 

'  De  alveo  fontis  generatum.  Cenhi.  Magde.,  iv.  p.  573. 
Norirahergae,  1765. 


AGES    AND   THE    NATIONS.  205 

are  made  sons  of  adoption.  We  die  beforehand  to 
our  former  nature  by  a  second  birth.  And  whilst 
ive  are  immersed  in  an  element  allied  to  earth 
[water],  we  are  hurled;  and  whilst  we  arise  from 
the  heart  of  the  font,  we  are  quickened  ;  and  from 
this  the  sacrament  of  baptism  is  very  great ;  and 
therefore  [Paul]  says,  '  We  are  buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death.'"  ^ 

^  Submergiraur  .  .  .  sepelimur ;  dum  e  sinu  fontis  assur- 
gimus.    Ad  Eput.  a  Rom.  Comm.,  Patrol.  Lat.,  vol.  68,  p.  444. 
Migne.     Parisiis. 
18 


206  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


EGYPT. 

A  Baptism  by  Athanasius. 

The  immortal  defender  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Saviour  when  a  boy  baptized  some  other  boys  in 
sport.  The  story  is  told  by  Sozomen/  Socrates,^  and 
by  Dean  Stanley,  chiefly  on  the  authority  of  Ku- 
iinus.     Stanley  says : 

"Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  was  enter- 
taining his  clergy  in  a  tower  or  lofty  house  overlook- 
ing the  expanse  of  sea  beside  the  Alexandrian 
harbor.  He  observed  a  group  of  children  playing 
on  the  edge  of  the  shore,  and  was  struck  by  the 
grave  appearance  of  their  game.  His  attendant 
clergy  went,  at  his  orders,  to  catch  the  boys  and 
bring  them  before  the  bishop,  who  taxed  them  with 
having  pkiyed  at  religious  ceremonies.  At  first, 
like  all  boys  caught  at  a  mischievous  game,  they 
denied,  but  at  last  confessed  that  they  had  been 
imitating  the  sacrament  of  baptism — tliat  one  of 
them  had  been  selected  to  perform  the  part  of 
bishop,  and  that  he  had  duly  dipped  them  in  the  sea 

'  Sozomen,  lib.  ii.  cap.  17.  ^  Socrates,  lib.  i.  cap.  15. 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  207 

with  all  the  proper  questions  and  addresses.  When 
Alexander  found  that  these  forms  had  been  ob- 
served, he  determined  that  the  baptism  was  valid  ; 
he  himself  added  the  consecrating  oil  of  confirma- 
tion, and  was  so  much  struck  with  the  knowledge 
and  gravity  of  the  boy -bishop  that  he  took  him 
under  his  charge.  This  little  boy  was  Athanasius."  ' 
Notwithstanding  the  doubts  of  some,  Dean  Stanley 
is  right  in  saying  that  "  the  story  has  every  indica- 
tion of  truth." 

The  Copts  and  Immersion. 

The  Copts  number  about  150,000.  They  are  the 
descendants  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  of  Joseph's 
time,  and  they  form  a  Christian  community  to  which 
the  Abyssinians  belong.  Their  chief  prelate  is  the 
Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  whose  residence  is  in 
Cairo.  They  regularly  choose  for  the  Abyssinians 
their  highest  ecclesiastical  ruler,  called  the  "  Abuna," 
when  the  office  is  vacant.  The  antiquity  of  their 
race  and  some  religious  peculiarities  make  them  a 
remarkable  people.  The  Right  Reverend  Richard 
Pococke,  Lord  Bishop  of  Ossory,  in  Ireland,  de- 
scribing their  customs,  says  : 

^^At  baptism  they  plunge  the  child  three  times  into 

^  Stanley's  Histcxry  of  the  Ettstem  Church,  p.  324.  New 
York,  1870. 


208    '  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

the  xoater,  then  confirm  it  and  give  it  the  sacra- 
ment." ^  A  more  recent  and.  unquestionable  author- 
ity says :  "  The  Copts  baptize  by  immersion,  and  prac- 
tise unction,  exorcism,  and  auricular  confession."  ^ 

^  Compendium  of  Modern   Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  30.     Dul)lin, 
1757. 

2  Chambers's  Encydopcedia.     Philadelphia,  1870.  • 


AGES   AND   THE   NATIONS.  209 


ABYSSINIA. 

Immersions   in   Abyssinia,   Doubtful   and 
Reliable. 

James  Bruce,  the  celebrated  Scotch  traveller, 
who  visited  Abyssinia  a  little  over  one  hundred 
years  since,  and  whose  descriptions  of  the  country, 
the  people,  and  their  customs  have  been  so  fre- 
quently confirmed  in  our  own  times,  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  baptismal  rites  of  the  Abyssinians. 
In  this  part  of  his  work  he  quotes  the  narrative 
of  a  sort  of  annual  commemoration  of  the  Sa- 
viour's baptism,  published  by  Alvarez,  chaplain 
to  the  Portuguese  embassy  under  Don  Rodrigo  de 
Lima,  which  reads : 

"  Before  the  pond  a  scaffold  was  built,  covered 
around  with  planks,  within  which  sat  the  king 
looking  toward  the  pond,  his  face  covered  with 
blue  taffeta,  while  an  old  man,  who  was  the  king's 
tutor,  was  standing  in  the  water  up  to  the  shoul- 
ders, naked  as  he  was  born,  and  half  dead  with 
cold,  for  it  had  frozen  violently  in  the  night.  All 
those  that  came  near  him  he  took  by  the  head  and 
plunged  them  m  the  water,  whether  men  or  women, 
J8*  0 


210  THE    BAPTIbM    OF   THE 

saying  in  his  own  language,  'I  baptize  you  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.' "  ^ 

Bruce  advances  a  number  of  plausible  reasons 
Avhy  the  account  of  Alvarez  should  be  discredited. 
We  have  no  desire  to  take  sides  in  the  controversy 
between  the  two  travellers.  If  Alvarez  tells  the 
truth,  the  baptism  he  describes  is  a  baptism  by  im- 
mersion. If  he  is  indebted  to  a  fertile  imagination 
for  his  facts,  his  story  shows  that  he  knew  well  how 
an  Abyssinian  baptism  should  be  performed,  as  we 
shall  presently  see.  He  would  not  have  represented 
a  mass  of  his  own  countrymen  as  being  baptized  in 
his  day  by  plunging  them  in  a  pond. 

Baptisms  seen  by  Bruce  Himself. 

"  But  this  I  can  bear  witness  of,"  says  our  intel- 
ligent traveller,  "  that  at  no  time  when  I  was  pres- 
ent— and  /  have  been  present  above  a  hundred  times 
at  the  baptisms  of  both  adnlts  and  infants,  ay,  and  of 
apostates  too — and  I  never  heard  other  words  pro- 
nounced than  the  orthodox  baptismal  ones,  '  I  bap- 
tize you  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  immerging  the  child  in  pure  water, 
into  which  they  first  pour  a  small  quantity  of  oil  of 
olives  in  the  form  of  a  cross."  ^      Immerging  is  only 

»  Bruce»  Travels,  vol.  iii.  pp.  667,  668.     Dublin,  1791. 

^Ibid.,  vol.  iii.  p.  663. 


AGES    AND   THE   NATIONS.  211 

an  older  English  form  of  the  Latin  word  immergo, 
to  immerse,  as  the  poet  says: 

"  Ye  dying  sons  of  men, 
Immerged  in  sin  and  woe  " — 

that  is,  overwhelmed,  immersed,  in  sin  and  woe. 

No  one  acquainted  with  Bruce's  perspicacity  and 
veracity  would  doubt  his  account  of  an  occurrence 
which  he  saw  but  once,  and  still  less  would  he  hesi- 
tate to  believe  his  description  of  an  event  which  he 
had  seen  "  above  a  hundred  times ;"  and  so  many 
times  Bruce  had  seen  persons  immerged  in  Abyssinia 
when  baptized.  In  one  of  his  journeys  he  writes: 
"At  half-past  eight  we  began  a  gradual  descent,  at 
first  easily  enough,  till  we  crossed  the  small  brook 
Maitemquet,  or  the  water  of  baptism."  ^ 

When  a  brook  or  creek  is  called  the  water  of  bap- 
tism, it  must  refer  to  immersion  as  the  mode  of  that 
baptism  from  which  its  name  is  derived. 

^  Bruce's  Travels,  vol.  iii.  p.  48S.     Dublin,  1791. 


212  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 


CONCLUSION. 

The  testimony  examined  makes  it  certain  that 
Augustine  immersed  King  Ethelbert  and  ten  thou- 
sand of  his  subjects  on  Christmas  Day,  that  Paulinus 
immersed  King  Edwin  and  thousands  of  his  subjects 
at  one  time,  and  that  immersion  was  the  mode  of 
baptism  commonly  used  in  England  till  the  Refor- 
mation. It  shows  that  Clovis,  with  three  thousand 
soldiers  and  with  many  women  and  children,  was 
immersed  by  St.  Remigius  in  Rheims,  and  that  im- 
mersion was  the  mode  of  baptism  in  France  till  at 
least  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  shows  that 
the  great  baptisms  of  St.  Boniface  were  immersions, 
and  that  all  succeeding  baptisms  for  about  five 
hundred  years  in  Germany  were  administered  in 
the  same  way.  It  shows  that  Vladimir  the  Great 
and  the  whole  population  of  KieflT  were  immersed 
on  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  Russia,  and 
that  immersion  is  the  mode  of  baptism  universally 
observed  by  the  whole  Russian  Church  down  till  this 
hour.  It  shows  that  in  Italy,  the  land  of  the  popes, 
immersion  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  till  the  twelfth  century  had  passed,  and  that 


AGES  AND   THE   NATIONS.  213 

the  ancient  form  is  still  observed  in  Milan ;  and  it 
shows  that  in  Spain,  Turkey,  Greece,  Persia,  North 
Africa,  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  and  Palestine  immersion 
was  once  universal,  and  that  in  some  of  these  coun- 
tries it  is  still  the  only  baptism  recognized.  In 
short,  immersion  was  universal  over  all  the  churches 
of  the  West  for  twelve  hundred  years  after  Christ, 
and  it  is  at  this  hour  the  baptism  of  the  various  sects 
of  the  Eastern   Church. 

The  baptism  of  the  three  thousand  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost  has  often  been  disputed,  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  immersing  them ;  but  the  missionaries 
of  Russia,  Germany,  France,  England,  and  Ireland 
baptized  an  equal  number,  or  four  times  as  many, 
at  one  time,  in  wells,  rivers,  baptisteries,  or  foun- 
tains, just  as  persons  were  baptized  in  New^-Testa- 
ment  times. 

Sometimes  immersion  is  represented  as  the  prac- 
tice of  only  an  insignificant  fraction  of  Chris- 
tians. About  one-fourth  of  all  the  Christians  on 
earth  administer  baptism  only  by  immersion  now; 
and  as  the  "whole  Christian  world  immersed  for 
twelve  centuries,  and  a  fourth  part  of  it  has  im- 
mersed ever  since  the  end  of  the  tw^elfth  century, 
it  is  probable  that  a  great  majority  of  all  the  persons 
that  ever  bore  the  Christian  name,  regarding  immer- 
sion as  the  only  divinely-appointed  mode  of  baptism, 


214  THE   BAPTISM   OF   THE 

were  plunged  in  the  sacramental  waters.  So  that  if 
truth  were  established  by  the  number  of  its  ad- 
herents, the  living  and  the  dead  would  give  us  the 
majority. 

The  Baptist  denomination  in  this  country  is  in- 
creasing at  a  very  rapid  rate.  With  little  or  ho 
aid  from  emigration,  with  an  army  of  prejudices 
assailing  us  all  around,  by  the  grace  of  (:rod  we 
have  spread  over  this  goodly  land,  until  from  471 
churches  in  1784  we  have  now,  in  1878,  23,908 
churches,  with  a  membership  of  2,024,224.^  We 
have  forty-two  colleges  and  theological  seminaries, 
and  fifty  academies  with  instructors  of  a  high  order 
to  impart  literary  and  theological  knowledge  to  stu- 
dents of  all  denominations.  AVe  have  twenty-nine 
weekly  newspapers,  five  semi-monthly,  and  thirteen 
monthly.  We  have  divinely-honored  missions  in 
Burmah,  China,  Japan,  Germany,  Sweden,  France, 
Spain,  Africa,  Italy,  and  among  the  white  men  of 
the  West,  and  in  the  Indian  territories.  We  have 
principles  as  pure  as  Jehovah's  word,  and  we  have 
unlimited  confidence  in  their  divine  Author;  and  as 
a  result  our  people  plan  and  foster  a  spirit  of  holy 

^  For  facts  and  figures  in  regard  to  our  history,  growth, 
and  numbers  in  this  country  see  The  Baptists  in  the  United 
States,  by  George  W.  Anderson,  D.  D.,  and  The  American 
Baptist   Year-Book,  Philadelphia. 


AGES  AND   THE   NATIONS.  215 

enterprise  that  stops  at  no  difficulty,  and  that  is 
ready  for  any  undertaking,  however  gigantic,  that 
promises  to  honor  God ;  and  abounding  success  has 
followed  our  sacrificas  and  exertions.  Our  views 
of  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism  have  entered 
Pedobaptist  communities,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
baptism  of  infants  has  been  declining  rapidly  for 
years,  and  the  practice  of  immersion  is  believed  to 
be  largely  on  the  increase ;  and  the  conviction  that 
it  is  the  original  mode  of  baptism,  observed  by  the 
Saviour  and  enjoined  upon  his  servants,  is  now  quite 
common. 

Immersionists  have  no  disposition  to  surrender 
their  revealed  mode  of  baptism.  In  the  East  and 
in  Russia  the  people  Avould  make  any  sacrifice — 
even  give  up  their  lives — rather  than  surrender 
New-Testament  dipping.  In  England  our  honored 
brethren,  notwithstanding  the  lax  views  on  the 
Lord's  Supper  supposed  to  prevail  among  many  of 
them,  stand  firmly  where  their  fathers  planted  them- 
selves, and  demand  Bible  baptism.  In  this  country 
our  people  at  this  moment  are  more  a  unit  in  utterly 
refusing  any  countenance  to  pouring  or  sprinkling 
than  probably  at  any  period  in  our  history.  One- 
fourth  of  Christendom  demands  immersion  for  all 
the  servants  of  Jesus  with  a  resolute  voice ;  and  with 
the  history  of  the  Church  during  the  first   twelve 


216     BAPTISM    OF    THE    AGES    AND    NATIONS. 

liuiidrecl  years  of  its  existence  "wholly  on  their  side, 
with  the  Scriptures,  and  Jehovah  who  gave  them, 
leading  on  their  heroic  warriors  to  battle,  their 
triumph  is  certain,  though  for  a  season  it  may  be 
deferred.  For  long  ages  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  was  buried  under  a  vast  mass  of  Komish 
fables  and  soul-destroying  heresies.  This  mountain 
was  high  and  broad  and  heaven-defying,  but  the 
truth  under  it  had  volcanic  power.  In  Luther's 
time  the  mountain  began  to  heave,  the  buried  power 
of  a  Saviour's  merits  tore  an  opening  from  its  base 
to  its  top,  and  the  laboring  volume  of  burning  love, 
rising  up  through  its  hardened  strata,  burst  its 
sides  and  scattered  them  to  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  and  sent  the  doctrines  of  glowing  love  over 
the  nations.  And  now  the  true  mode  of  baptism  is 
buried  deeply  from  three-fourths  of  the  Christian 
family.  For  six  hundred  long  years  it  has  slept 
in  its  grave;  but,  like  justification  by  faith,  it  will 
surely  spring  to  life  again — the  trumpet  of  the  great 
angel  guardian  of  truth  will  yet  be  sounded,  and 
the  divinely-given  baptism  will  come  forth  from  the 
buried  past  and  take  its  place  in  all  the  churches 
of  Jesus  everywhere,  and  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and 
one  baptism  will  become  the  creed  of  reunited  and 
purified  evangelical  Christendom. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abelaed,  101. 

Ablution  after  baptism,  182,  189. 

Abuna,  the,  207. 

Adgefin,  30. 

Africa,  North,  baptism  in,  200. 

Albofledis,  sister  of  Clovis,  85,  90. 

Alcock,  Lord  John,  Bishop  of  Ely, 
42. 

Alcuin,  26,32,  81,  86,  116,117,123, 
124. 

Alexander,  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 
206. 

Alnwick  Castle,  27. 

Alphin,  son  of  Eochaid,  65. 

Alvarez,  209. 

Araalgaidh,  63,  67. 

Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  56,  102, 
119,  137,  141,  201,  202,  204. 

America,  baptism  in,  71. 

American  Baptist  Historical  So- 
ciety, 7. 

American  Baptist  Year-Book,  214. 

Anderson,  Rev.  Dr.  (ieo.  W.,  8,  214. 
account  of  baptistery  in  Paris 
by,  91. 

Anlaf,  baptism  of,  .37. 

Anna,  wife  of  Vladimir,  155. 

Annotations  of  tlie  Westminster 
Assemt)ly,  47. 

Anointing  after  baptism,  207. 

Anointing  at  baptism,  159, 16-5,  173, 
179,  181,  187. 

Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 70. 

Anschar,  St.,  3,  109. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  77. 

Arator,  144. 

Arcadius,  167. 

Ariaus  on  immersion,  146. 

Armenians,  188. 

Arnold,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  N.,  8,  175,  183. 

Arrhenius,  Claudius,  110. 

Arthur,  son  of  Henry  VII.,  40. 

19 


Athalaric,  King,  144. 

Athanasius,  206. 

Athelwold,  Duke,  38. 

At  tic  us,  138. 

Augustine  of   Hippo,  .3,  18,  19,  24, 

99,  102,  132,  137,  201,  212. 
Auxentius,  141. 
Avitus  of  Vieune,  81. 

B. 

Baptism,  Abyssinian,  210-, 

Ambrose  on,  141. 

among  the  Armenians,  189. 

Arator  on,  145. 

Augustine  on,  202. 

by  H.  W.  Beecher,  72. 

by  immersion,  5,  7,  170,  189. 

by  martyrdom,  1.39. 

by  pope  at  Easter,  1.54. 

bV  pouring  water,  125, 

Clinic,  134,  1.35. 

Council  of  Celichyth  on,  .34. 

deferred  till  near  death,  110. 

emblem  of  the  etfusion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  .55. 

Gregory's  mode  of,  86. 

Hincmar  of  Rheims  on,  94. 

how  first  administered  in  Eng- 
land, 32. 

in  Athens,  170. 

in  the  Dniejjer,  1.57. 

in  Ireland,  62. 

in  rivers  or  fountains,  124. 

in  Russian  Church,  159. 

Leidradus  on,  93. 

Leo  the  Great  on,  143. 

Lombard,  Peter,  on,  102. 

Martyr,  .lustin,  on,  140,  19.3. 

martyrdom  a  baptism,  139. 

miraculous,  186. 

mode  of,  3. 

Munnulus  on,  200. 

of  Albofledis,  85,  90. 

of  ancient  Roman  Christians,  59. 

217 


218 


INDEX. 


Baptism  of  Atlianasius,  206. 

of  Clovis,  79,  82,  86,  88. 

of  "Constitutions  and  Canons," 
165. 

of  converts  hy  each  other,  20,  23. 

of  Copts,  207. 

of  Epidophorus,  204. 

of  Eunomians,  169. 

of  (Ireek  Church,  6,  52. 

of  llasteiu,  95. 

of  Jesus,  192. 

of  Jewess,  130. 

of  Jewish  proselyte,  190. 

of  Mercians,  .S2. 

of  paralytic  Jew,  138. 

of  pirate,  96. 

of  Triniitive  Church,  54. 

of  robbers  by  Patrick,  69. 

of  Saxons,  121. 

of  seven  kings,  6.3,  66,  67. 

of  son  of  Priuce  Milan,  185. 

of  ten  thousand  in  one  day,  19. 

of  twins,  58. 

of  upper  part  of  body  only,  56. 

place  of,  57. 

Pococke.  R.,  on,  207. 

Preniasius  on,  204. 

profanation  of,  38. 

remission  of  sins  by,  134. 

salvation  bv,  160. 

Stanley,  Dr.  A.  P.,  on,  151. 

symbol  of  the  grave  and  resur- 
rection, 94,  98,  107.  131. 

Terlullian  on,  196,  199. 
Baptist  denomination,  its  increase, 

214. 
Baptistery  in  Plymouth  Church,  73. 

in  Rome,  91. 

of  Clovis,  85,  91. 

of  St.  John  Lateran,  152. 
Baptisteries,  57,  58. 

at  Bradford,  England,  59. 

subterranean,  59. 
Baptizo,  6,  133. 
Basil,  56. 
Basilicus,  57. 
Bee,  monasterv  of,  38. 
Bede,  24,  26,  30. 

on  immersion.  33. 
Beecher,  Rev.  Henry  Ward,  bap- 
tism by,  72. 
Bingham,  Joseph,  54,  203. 
Blackburn,  Dr.,  63. 
Blackmore,  Rev.  R.  W.,  157. 
Blake,  Rev.  Thomas,  44. 
Boniface,  3,  112,  199,  212. 
Bradford  in  Yorkshire,  England, 
baptistery  at,  59. 


Britons,  ancient,  conversion  of,  18. 
Brown,  "  Hist,  of  St,  Peter's  Church 

of  York,"  27. 
Bruce,  James,  209,  210. 
BriJno,  St.,  127. 
Buckuell  Library,  7. 

o. 

Caedwalla,  32. 

Calvin,  John,  132,  202. 

Camden,  29. 

Canterbury,  letter  from  a  gentle- 
man in,  21. 

Caroticus,  or  Carodoc,  64. 

Cartan,  baptism  of,  68. 

Carthage,  Council  of,  200. 

Carthen  opposes  St.  Patrick,  68. 

Cassanus,  King  of  the  Tartars,  186. 

Cave,  William,  134. 
"Primitive  Christianity,"  49,  57. 

Cean  Croithi,  the  Irish  idol,  67. 

Celibacy,  164. 

Chalmers,  Dr.,  on  baptism,  48. 

Charlemagne,  92,  93,  117,  122. 

Child's   name  not  spoken  till  the 
moment  of  baptism,  171. 

Christening  of  Prince  Arthur  and 
Princess  Margaret,  40. 

"Chronicon  Alexandrinum,"  57. 

Chrvsostom,  55,  135,  167. 

Clark,  Rev.  Mr.,  133. 

Clemens  Romanus,  57. 

Clinic  baptism,  134. 

Clinics,  126,  136. 

Clovis,  3,  79,  80,  82,  212. 

Coleman,  Rev.  Lyman,  on  immer- 
sion, 75,  140,  141,  193. 

Coleman   of  Westminster  Assem- 
bly, 45. 
called  "  Rabbi,"  46. 

Consecration  of  the  fountain  be- 
fore baptism,  123. 

Constantiue  the    Great,   137,   152, 
164. 

"Constitutions  and  Canons  of  the 
Holy  Apostles,"  163. 

Copts,  the,  207. 

Corbie,  monastery  of,  109. 

Corcothemne,  67. 

Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  135. 

Council  of  Celichyth  on  baptism,  34. 
of  Neo-Ctesarea,  135. 
of  Trent,  Catechism  of,  149. 
of  Toledo,  105,  106. 

Cranmer,  Archbishop,  202. 

Croagh  Patrick,  67. 

Crozer  Theological  Seminary,  7. 


INDEX. 


219 


Crucifix  in  the  Lady's  Well,  Nor- 
thumberland, 29. 
Cyprian,  137,  139,  196,  200,  201. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  55,  159. 

D. 

Deluge  signifying  baptism,  127. 
Dionvsius  Exiguus,  56,  166. 
Dunstan,  St.,  35. 
Dupin,  22,  82,  103. 
Dwight,  Rev.  H.  G.  0.,  188. 

E. 

Eadbuega,  199. 
Edward  IV.,  43. 
Edwin,  King,  baptized  by  Pauli- 

nus,  26,  212. 
Elfege,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  38. 
JZlizabeth,  Queen,  43. 
Elipandus,  9.3. 
England,  immersion  practised  in, 

18. 
English  rear  temples  in  Britain,  18. 
Epidophorus,  204. 
Epiphanius,  55,  56. 
Eric,  or  Horicus,  King,  110. 
Ethelbert,  3,  20,  21,  37,  212. 

immersion  of,  35. 

wife  of,  18. 
Eudoxia,  167. 
Eulogius,  19. 
Eunomians,  56,  169. 
Eusebius,  135. 

F. 

Fasting  before  baptism,  128,  165. 
Felix,  93. 
Font,  57. 

St.  Martin's  Church,  Canterbury, 
36. 

St.  Patrick's,  67, 
Fositeland,  fountain  in,  116. 
France,  baptism  in,  79. 
Fridegod  on  immersion,  35. 
Frith,  John,  53. 
Fulbert,  St.,  97. 

Fuller,  Dr.  Thomas,  "  Church  His- 
tory," 20. 

G. 

Gallcs,  Bishop  of  Clermont,  82. 
Garbanus,  death  and  resurrection 

of,  69. 
Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  70, 
Giles.  Dr.  J.  A.,  26,  37. 


Gill,  Dr.  John,  202. 

Gocelin,  22. 

Godfather  in  Greek  Church,  172. 

Greek  Church,  baptism  in,  6,  52, 

163. 
Green's  "History  of  the  English 

People,"  20. 
Gregory  the  Great,  19,  24, 25,  32,  99, 

100,  103,  106,  107,  145. 
Gregory  II.,  113,  114. 
Gregory  VII.,  142. 
Gregory  Nyssa,  166. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  81,  82,  85. 
Gualdo,  109. 
Gubelmann,  Rev.  J.  S.,  8,  130, 

H. 

Harbottle,  Tillage  of,  27. 

Harduin's  Conciliwum  Oolleciio,  35. 

Hastein,  baptism  of,  95. 

Haymo,  100,  124. 

Hercus,  baptism  of,  62. 

Hilary,  102. 

Hillegenbach,  the  brook.  111. 

Hincmar  of  Rheims,  81,  88,  94. 

Hincmar  of  Laon,  94. 

Holy  wells  of  Ireland,  64. 

Holystone,  village  of,  30. 

Horicus,  King,  110. 

Hugo  of  St,  Victor,  99, 199. 


I. 


Immergo,  211. 
Immersion,  165,  21.3,  215. 

Abelard  on,  101,  209. 

Alcuin  on,  117. 

Aquinas  on,  77. 

Arian  theory  of,  146. 

Arnold,  Dr.,  on,  183. 

baptisms  bv,  212. 

Bede  on,  33*. 

Bingham,  Joseph,  on,  54. 

Bruno  on,  127. 

by  Augustine,  24. 

by  Beecher,  Rev.  H.  W.,  72. 

by  Boniface,  117. 

by  Clark,  Rev.  Mr.,  133. 

by  Copts,  208. 

by  heretics,  55. 

by  Roman  Catholics  at  Milan,  150. 

by  Patrick,  69. 

by  the  Starovers,  161. 

Calvin  on,  132. 

Cave,  William,  on,  48. 

Chrysostom  on,  168. 

Coleman  on,  74. 


220 


INDEX. 


Imtnersion,  Dnpin  on,  103. 
in  En<,'land  in  1644,  44. 
Fourth  Council  of  Toledo  on,  106, 

12.-). 
Fridegod  on.  35. 
Frith,  John,  on,  53. 
Fiilbert,  St.,  on.  97. 
GilWert  on,  70. 

Gresory  the  Great  on,  119, 125, 145. 
Gregory  of  Nvssa  on,  167. 
Ilayino  on,  100. 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor  on,  99. 
in  Abyssinia,  209. 
in  St.  John  Lateran,  153. 
in  Greek  Church,  184. 
in  milk,  70. 

in  New  Testament,  192. 
in  Pomerania,  127. 
in  reign  of  Bloody  Mary,  43. 
in  rivers,  .32. 

in  thirteenth  century,  78. 
in  Westminster  Assembly,  44. 
Isidore  on,  105. 

Ivo  on,  99. 

Lambecius  on,  111. 

Lan franc  on,  38. 

Leidradus  on,  93. 

Leo  the  Great  on,  142. 

Lombard,  Peter,  on,  102. 

Luther  on,  129,  130,  131. 

Magnus,  Archbishop,  on,  92. 

Maxentius  of  Aquila  on,  14S. 

Maximus  of  Turin  on,  143. 

^laurus,  Rabanus,  on,  123. 

Mil  man  on,  58. 

of  adults  in  Russian  Church,  162. 

of  Clovis,  81. 

of  infants,  76. 

of  Jewish  proselyte,  191,  192. 

of  three  thousand,  213. 

onlv  baptism  for  those  in  health, 
139. 

only  legal  baptism  in  England,  60. 

Philostorgius  on,  169. 

Pullus,  Cardinal,  on,  39. 

Regino  on,  126. 

Roman  Catholic  Church  and,  2, 
149. 

Rupert  on,  128. 

Strabo,  Wilafrid,  on,  124. 

Theoduiphus  on,  93. 

trine,  32,  39,  40.  43,  50,  56,  59,  70, 
75,  87,  90,  92-94,  97-99,  101,  103, 
104,  106,  116,  118,  123-125,  129, 
1.30,  132,  142-144,  147,  148,  159, 
160,  166,  168,  173,  187,  189,  195, 
198-200,  202,  207. 
not  in  the  Bible,  16. 


only  a  tradition,  17. 

origin  of,  16. 

reasons  for,  57. 

Wall  on,  51,  53. 

Wesley  on,  71. 

when  practised,  15. 
Immersions    recorded    by    Father 

O'Farreil,  66. 
Innocent  III,  142. 
Inscription  on  a  subterranean  bap- 
tistery, 59. 
Ireland,  22. 

earlv  baptism  in,  62. 
Isidore,  St.,  105. 
Ivo,  Bishop  of  Chartres,  98. 


James  IV.  of  Scotland,  42. 

Jerome,  16,  56, 102, 119,  195,  199,  204. 

John,  baptism  of,  193,  194. 

John  the  apostle  on  baptism,  193. 

Jones,  Alfred  T.,  Esq.,  8. 

Justin  Martyr,  140,  193. 


Kartzoff,  Consul,  185. 
Kent,  missionaries  in,  19. 
Kherson,  capture  of,  155. 
Kidnapping  of  converts,  64. 
Kietf,  baptism  at,  3,  156. 
Killala,  63. 
Knox,  John,  202. 
Kohl,  159. 


Labbe   and   Cossart's  "  Sacrorum 

Concilioruui,"  107. 
Lady's  Well,  Northurabria,  28,  66. 
Lambecius,  Peter,  110. 
Landeheldis,  sister  of  Clovis, ^0. 
Lan  franc,  38. 
Lawrence,  St.,  125,  126. 
Leandor,  32,  lOO,  103,  107,  119,  146. 
letter  of  Gregory  to,  120,  125,  147, 
199. 
Leidradus  on  baptism,  93. 
Leland,  40,  42. 
Leo  III.,  92. 

Leo  the  (ireat,  98,  99,  119,  142,  143. 
Lightfoot,  Dr.  Joiin,45,  190,  194. 
Loigles,  the  fountain,  62. 
Lombard,  Peter,  102. 
Long  Parliament,  47. 
Lothaire,  Emperor,  148. 
Louis  the  Pious,  93. 
Luther,  129,  130,  216. 


INDEX. 


221 


M. 

Macarius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 

159. 
McGeoghegan's,    Abbe,    "  History 

of  Ireland,"  64. 
Magnus,  Archbishop,  92. 
ISIaimonides,  191. 

Maitland's  "Church  in  the  Cata- 
combs," 59. 
Maitemquet,  the  brook,  211. 
IMalcom,  Rev.  Dr.  H.,  8,  150. 
Maniohees,  201. 

Margaret,  Princess,  baptism  of,  42. 
Mark  on  baptism,  193. 
Marshall,  46. 
Martyrdom    considered    baptism, 

139. 
Mary,  Bloody,  43. 
Matthew  on  baptism,  193. 
Matthew  of  Westminster,  186. 
Maxentius  of  Aquila,  148. 
Maximus,  Bishop  of  Turin,  143. 
Meletius,  Patriarch  of  Antiocli,  167. 
Michelet,  70. 
Mikveh,  the,  191. 
Milan,  Prince  of  Servia,  185. 
Milan,  sprinkling  not  practised  in, 

151. 
Milk,  immersion  in,  70. 
Milman  on  immersion,  58. 
Milosh,  185. 
Milrita,  204. 
Miracle  performed  by  Patrick,  65, 

67. 
Miraculous  filling  of  a  baptistery, 

85. 
Monica,  201. 
Mi>ntanists,  the,  196. 
Mosaic  in  St.  John  Lateran,  153. 
Mouravieff,  157,  159. 
Munnulus,  Bishop  of  Girba,  200. 

N. 

Nkagh,  Lough,  68, 

Neal,  44. 

Neander,  111,  128. 

Nennius,  63. 

Nesturiau  baptismal  service,  187. 

Northumberland,  3. 

Novatiau's  baptism,  135,  138. 

o. 

Oak  consecrated  to  Jupiter,  112. 
Oath  taken  by  German  bishop  to 
obey  the  popes,  113,  116, 
19^^ 


O'Farrell,  Rev.  Michael  J.,  66. 

"  Office    of     Baptism    of     Greek 

Church,"  175. 
Ordo  Romanus,  56. 
Origen,  163. 
Oswav,  32. 
0th  Ion,  112. 
Otto,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  127. 

P. 

Paganus,  186. 

Parker,  Mr.,  baptism  of  child  of,  71. 

Patric,  201. 

Patrick,  the  apostle  of  Ireland,  3. 

baptism  by,  62,  63,  64. 

conversion  of,  69. 

destroys  the  Irish  idol,  67. 

fountain  of,  65. 

and  the  robbers,  68. 
Paul  the  apostle  on  baptism,  54,  55, 

1.32. 
Paulinus,  3,  20,  26,  27,  30,  66,  212. 
Penda,  32. 

Perune  the  idol,  155,  156. 
Peter,  57. 

Philip  and  the  eunuch,  194. 
Philostorgius,  169. 
Photius,  169. 
Pius  v.,  149. 
Placilla,  Empress,  167. 
Pococke,  Richard,  207. 
Premasius,   Bishop   of   Adrumeta, 

204. 
Pullus,  Cardinal,  on  immersion,  39. 

R. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  123,  124. 
Regeneration  required  before  bap- 
tism, 69. 
Regino,  126. 
Regnarius,  90. 

Remigius,  St.,  3,  20,  83,  86,  89,  212. 
Riclierus,  95,  96. 
Rimbertus.  109. 
Roger  of  Wendover,  37. 
Roderigo  de  Lima,  209. 
Roman  Christians,  baptism  of,  59. 
Rowland,  Rev,  A.  J.,  8,  152. 
Rupert,  128. 

s. 

Sacramentarium,  Gregory's,  56. 
Sadlier,  D.  and  J.,  66. 
St,    Patrick's    Cathedral,    Dublin, 
65. 


222 


INDEX. 


Salfeld,  Cl)ristopher,  1S1. 
Samson,  an  Irish  presbyter,  114. 
"Sarum  Manual,"  53. 
Saxon.«,  baptism  of,  121. 
Scandinavians,  8. 
Scandinavian  immersions,  109. 
Sheppv,  Isle  of,  22. 
Sicainlier,  85,  89. 
Silvester,  85,  89. 
Sinn,  fountain  of;  67. 
Sisenand,  King,  106. 
Socrates,  138,  206. 
Sozomen,  206. 
Spain,  baptism  in,  105,  118. 
Spring  in  York  Cathedral,  27. 
Sprinkling,  132.  149,  151. 

discussed  in  Westminster  Assem- 
bly, 45. 

its    validity   denied    by    Greek 
Church,  184. 

sometimes  used,  43,  75. 
Stanley,  Dean,  151,  156,  184,  206. 
Starovers,  161. 
Statue  of  Paulinus,  28. 
Strabo,  Wilafrid,  124,  166. 
Swale,  the  River,  in  Kent,  21,  22. 
Swale,  the,  in  Northumberland,  31. 
Swevn,  King  of  the  Danes,  37. 
Synod  of  Vladimir,  159. 

T. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  describes  a  bap- 
tism, 170. 

Ten  thousand  baptized  in  one  day, 
19. 

Tertullian,  15,  56,  196,  199,  201. 

Theodoret,  56. 

Theodoric,  King  of  Italy,  105, 

Theodulphus,  93. 

Three  thousand  baptized  by  Pauli- 
nus, 27. 

Tiovulfingacestir,  31. 

Tirawly,  67. 

Tobur-en-adare,  well  of,  63,  68. 

Todd,  Dr.,  "  Life  of  Patrick,"  62. 

Trent,  baptism  in  the,  31. 

Triforked  candle  symbol  of  the 
Trinity,  171. 


Trinity,  invocation  of  the,  in  bap- 
tism, 114,  123,  148. 

u. 

Usher,  Archbishop,  65. 

V. 

Vedastus,  St.,  86. 
Victor,  204. 
Vigilius,  Pope,  144. 
Vladimir  the  Great,  3,  155,  212. 
his    miraculous    restoration    of 

sight,  157. 
Vows  taken  by  the  candidate  for 

baptism,  58. 

w. 

Walker  on  baptism,  43. 

Wall,  Rev.  William,  "History  of 

Infant  Baptism,"  51. 
Wall,  Rev.  James,  91. 
Wash,  use  of  the  word  in  baptism, 

113,  114,  115,  140,  145. 
Watson,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  43. 
Welsh,  Mary,  baptism  of,  71. 
Wesley,  baptism  of  two  children 

recorded  by,  71. 
Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines, 

44. 
Whirlpool,  24,  32. 
William  the  Conqueror,  38. 
William  of  Malmesbury,  22,  35. 
Willibrord,  112.  116.  117. 
Winfrid.    See  Boniface. 
Wooden    church    built    by    King 

Edwin  at  York,  27. 
Woodlock,  Monsignor,  66. 

Y. 

York,  baptism  at,  26. 

Z. 

Zacharias,  or  Zachary,  Pope,  102, 
113,  114. 


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