BAPTISTS, or ANTIIVEDOB6PT1STS, in church history, a considerable sect, who are distinguished from other Chris tians by their opinions respecting bap tism, and who maintain that the ordinance must be administered by the immersion of adults, and not by the sprinkling of in fants. Such they say is the meaning of the word Atm-7ii;41: they call to their aid a variety of passages of scripture, none of which are however so decisive as to put the controversy to rest. And though it is certain that adults were baptised in the earliest periods of the christian system, there is no proof that infants were MA admitted to the ordinance. It is not for us to enter into this controversy, which has been cut short by some other Chris tians, who maintain that baptism was in tended only for the converts to the Chris tian faith,and was not to be repeated upon the children of believers. Hence, many persons in the present day do not think it necessary to baptise theirchildren, nor advise them to submit to it when they have attained to years of maturity. As the ordinance, when conducted with so lemnity, and liberality, is truly impressive, and as it does not occur to every one to Witness such a scene during their lives, we shall extract an account of one per formed in the neighbourhood of Cam bridge, and which has been well de scribed by the late excellent Mr. Robin son, whose name will live, when the dis tinction of sects and parties shall be ob literated from the Christian church, and when the only profession of faith will be that in the divine mission of the founder ; happy day, when no man shall be exclu ded from the right hand of fellowship, because he cannot believe in dogmas of self-created censors, and who cannot join i in the ceremonies, for which there is no direct sanction in the New Testament.
" Not many years ago, at Whittlesford, seven miles fromCambridge, forty-eight persons were baptised in that ford of the river from which the village takes its name. At ten o'clock, of a very fine morning in May, about 1500 people of different ranks assembled together. At half past ten in the forenoon, the late Dr.
Andrew Gifford, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Sublibrarian of the British Museum, and Teacher of a Bapti:t Con gregration in Eagle-steet, London, as zended a moveable pulpit, in a large open court-yard, near the river, and adjoin'ng to the house of the lord of the manor. Round him stood the congregation ; peo ple on horseback, in coaches and in carts, formed the outside semicircle ; many other persons sitting in the rooms of the house, the sashes being open, all were uncovered, and there was a profound si lence. The doctor first gave oat a hymn, which the congregation sung. Then he prayed. Prayer ended, he took out a New Testament, and read his text. " I indeed baptise you with water unto re pentance." He observed, that the force of the preposition had escaped the notice of the translators, and that the true read ing was—' I indeed baptise or dip you in water, at or upon repentance ;" which sense he confirmed by the 41st verse of the 12th of Matthew, and other passages. Then lie spoke, as most Baptists do on these occasions, concerning the nature, subject, mode, and end of this ordinance. He closed, by contrasting the doctrine of infant sprinkling with that of believers' baptism, which being a part of Christian obedience, was supported by divine pro mises, on the accomplishment of which all good men might depend. After ser mon, he read another hymn, and prayed, and then came down. Then the candi dates for baptism retired to prepare themselves. About half an hour after, the administrator, who that day was a ne phew of the doctor's, and admirably qualified for the work, in a long black gown of fine baize, without a hat, with a small New Testament in his hand, came down to the river side, accompanied by several Baptist ministers and deacons of their churches, and the persons to be baptised. The men came first, two and two, without hats, and dressed as usual, except that instead of coats, each bad on a long white baize gown, tied round the waist with a sash. Such as had no hair, wore white cotton or linen caps. The women followed the men, two and two, all dressed neat, clean, and plain, and their gowns white linen or dimity. It was
said that the garments had knobs of lead at,the bottom to make them sink. Each had a long light silk cloak hanging loosely over tier shoulder, a broad ribbon tied over her gown beneath the breast, and a hat on her head. They all ranged them selves around the administrator at the water side. A great number of specta• tors stood on the bank of the river on both sides; some had climbed and sat on the trees ; many sat on horseback and in carriages, and all behaved with a decent seriousness, which did honour to the good sense and the good manners of the assembly, as tt ell as to the free constitu tion of this country. First the adminis trator read an hylrin, which the people sung ; then he read that portion of scrip ture which is read in the Greek church on the same occasion, the history of the baptism of the eunuch, beginning at the 23d verse, and ending with the 39th. About ten minutes he stood expounding the verses, and then taking one of the men by the hand, he led him into the wa ter, saying, as he went, 'see, here is wa ter, what doth hinder ? if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest be bap tized.' When he came to a sufficient depth, he stopped, and with the utmost composure, placing himself on the left hand of the man, his face being towards the man's shoulder, he put his right hand between his shoulders behind, gathering into it a little of the gown for hold : the fingers of the left hand he thrusted under the sash before, and the man putting his two thumbs into that hand, he locked all together by closing his hand. Then he deliberately said, baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the SOD, and of tile Holy Ghost ;' and while he uttered these words, standing wide, he gently leaned him backward and dipped him once. As soon as he had raised him, a person in a boat, fastened there for the purpose, took hold of the man's hand, wiped his face with a napkin, and led him a few steps to another attendant, who then gave his arms, walked with him to the house, and assisted him to dress. There were many such in waiting, who, like the primitive susceptors, assisted during the whole service. The rest of the men followed the first, and were bap tized in like manner. After them, the women were baptized. A female friend took off at the water side the hat and cloak. A deacon of the church led one to the administrator, and another from him ; and a woman at the water side took each as she came out of the river, and conducted her to the apartment in the house, where they dressed them selves. When all were baptized, the ad ministrator coming up out of the river, and standing at the side, gave a short ex hortation on the honour and the pleasure of obedience to divine commands, and then with the usual benediction dismiss ed the assembly. About half an hour af ter, the men newly baptized, having ed themselves, went from their room into a large hall in the house, where they were presently joined by the women, who came from their apartments to the same place. Then they sent a messen ger to the administrator, who was dress ing in his apartment, to inform him they waited for him. He presently came, and first prayed for a few minutes, and then closed the whole by a short discourse on the blessings of civil and religious liberty, the sufficiency of scripture, the pleasures of a good conscience, the importance of a holy life, and the prospect of a blessed immortality. This they call a public bap tism." The baptists in England form one of the three denominations of protestant dissenters, and are divided into Particu lar and General : the former are Calvinis tical and Trinitarians ; the latter are Ar minians, and some very few Arians, but the greater part are Unitarians, with re gard to the person of Christ, considering him as man, the son of Joseph and Mary: BAR, in courts of justice, an inclosure made with a strong partition of timber, where the counsel are placed to plead causes. It is also applied to the benches, where the lawyers or advocates are seat ed, because anciently there was a bar to separate the pleaders from the attornies and others. Hence, our lawyers, whoare called to the bar or licensed to plead, are termed barristers, an appellation equiva, lent to licentiate in other countries.