public ordinances and great festivals was commemorative of a distinct event. It is also agreed by all, that as the paschal lamb was slain in commemoration of the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, when the destroying angel slew the first-born of Egypt; so, on the night the paschal lamb was eaten, the Lord's supper was instituted as commemorative of the death of him, who in the Gospel is represented as having been slain, to make an atonement for the sins of men. It is also agreed that the Christian sabbath is commemorative of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now to suppose that baptism, as Mr. Olmsted asserts, (and as it is conceded many pious and intelligent Christians believe,) is commemorative of the burial and resurrection of Christ, destroys the analogy which, in certain respects, exists between the Jewish and the Christian institutions. For according to this supposition, we have two ordinances commemorative of the same event, which was not the case with any of the Jewish festivals. Moreover one of these, viz. baptism, upon this supposition, is commemorative of two facts wholly different in their nature; the one (the burial of Christ) natural, and the other (his resurrection) supernatural. Again, the great object of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, was that they might receive the law; hence these two facts or events were commemorated by two distinct institutions. So the great object of the death of Christ was to open the way for the reception by men of the law of the SPIRIT OF LIFE. Therefore the design of the two institutions expressly enjoined by the author of Christianity, was to commemorate two great facts, both of which were performed publicly, and in the language of Leslie, "such as men's outward senses could judge of." These were his own death, and the descent of the Holy Ghost. It is conceded on all hands, that the first of these was performed in the most public manner, in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and in the presence of the rulers and people of Israel; therefore on this it is unnecessary to dwell.

Jesus Christ is represented in the New Testament as having ascended to heaven, seven days before the day of pentecost. He was crucified at the passover: after his resurrection he continued to converse with the disciples for forty days. As the law was delivered from Mount Sinai fifty days after the Israelites left Egypt, pentecost, which was commemorative of that fact, took place fifty days after the passover.

When Christ was about to ascend into heaven he commissioned his disciples to preach his Gospel unto all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, but en

joined upon them to remain for a short time at Jerusalem, at the same time assuring them that not many days hence, they should be baptized with the Holy Ghost; by which alone they could be qualified to fulfill the commission he had given them. And there is every reason to believe that they confidently expected to receive that gift on the day of pentecost; for it is stated, when that day was fully come, "they were all, with one accord, in one place." When they were thus congregated, "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."*

As already remarked, this was the day on which the law was given from Mount Sinai. And on this day the law went forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The giving of this new law was attested by the same symbol as the giving of the old. The Lord descended on Mount Sinai, in fire. On this occasion there appeared cloven tongues, as of fire. But although the symbol was the same, the signification was very different. The fire on Mount Sinai expressed the consuming nature of that fiery law given to the Israelitish church; but this expressed the purifying efficacy of the Holy Spirit, exercised through the Gospel of peace. The one declared that the iniquity of Israel remained; the other that it was taken away. The Israelites entreated that they might not see that great fire, and that God might not speak to them any more, lest they should die. But this fire was given as an emblem of God's so speaking to them, that they who believed should live. As the priests and the Levites could not enter upon the discharge of their functions until the law was given from Sinai; so the apostles of Jesus Christ could not enter upon their public ministry until they received the law of the Spirit of life. And as the feast of pentecost was commemorative of the giving of the law from Sinai; so the ordinance of baptism, which for the first time was on that day, and after the descent of the Holy Ghost, administered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was designed to commemorate, not the burial and resurrection of Christ, but the miraculous descent and influence of the Holy Spirit.

This sustains the analogy which, in certain respects, exists between the Levitical and Christian institutions. The three great

*Acts ii. 1-4.

feasts of the former, as already stated, were the passover, the pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles; the first to commemorate the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, the token being the blood of the paschal lamb; the second, to commemorate the delivery of the law from Mount Sinai; and the last, during which the law was publicly read, and expounded to the people, to express their gratitude to God for his dealings towards them, and their miraculous preservation in the wilderness, and also to express their trust in him.

So in the Gospel dispensation, we have three great leading and commemorative institutions; two of them expressly enjoined by its author, and the third instituted by the apostles: the Lord's supper, baptism, and the Christian sabbath. The first, like the passover, to commemorate the deliverance of guilty men through the blood and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The second, like the feast of pentecost, to commemorate the issuing of the law of the Spirit of life. And the third, bearing a striking analogy to the feast of tabernacles, being commemorative of the resurection of Jesus Christ, who thereby procured for his followers all spiritual blessings; and gave them à pledge that as the Israelites were protected during their wanderings in the wilderness, and were finally put in possession of the promised land; they too, during their pilgrimage, should be supplied with all needed good, and finally reach their purchased possession. This view of the subject presents the ordinances of the Gospel as full of meaning, and both beautiful and harmonious. But to maintain that baptism is commemorative of the burial and resurrection of Christ, is to introduce confusion, and to leave that great fact, the descent of the Holy Ghost, which gives life and efficacy to the whole system, destitute of any commemorative ordinance whatever. Moreover, as the facts commemorated under the Levitical dispensation, were performed in the most public manner, so also were these two great facts, which Jesus Christ designed to be commemorated by the two ordinances which he expressly enjoined upon his followers. We have already seen that the crucifixion of Christ was performed in the most public manner; and the descent of the Holy Ghost was equally so.

The day of pentecost was a holy convocation to the Jewish church, and at that time there were present at Jerusalem, not only great multitudes of the inhabitants of Judea, but also Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, and Cappadocia, and Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. And when the report of the effusion of the Ho

ly Spirit was spread through the city, the multitudes just mentioned repaired to the spot; and were confounded at the miracle, because every man heard the disciples speak in his own language. And they were amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? and how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?* Therefore this miracle was performed in the most public manner, and was addressed to men's external senses, and as a consequence, three thousand persons on that occasion were converted to the Christian faith; and were the first subjects of that ordinance which the author of Christianity designed to be commemorative of that great miraculous fact. And in a very short time afterwards, five thousand more were added to the church, many of whom no doubt were present on that occasion. We are also informed that among the converts were a great company of the priests. Mr. Olmsted, therefore, is mistaken in asserting that "the great miracle which baptism was designed to commemorate was witnessed only by a very few select or chosen ones," and as is usual with him, in his attempts to destroy the force of Mr. Leslie's argument, instead of combating the statements of the evangelists, he is waging war upon an error which has crept into the church.t

Mr. Olmsted asserts that the Christians were at first a small despised party; but according to him, it happened that after one or two centuries a very small portion of every civilized people became proselytes to the Christian faith, except among the Jews themselves. But we have just shown, that immediately upon the opening of the commission of the apostles, great multitudes believed. It has also been shown, that in the reign of Claudius, only ten or fifteen years after the death of Christ, Christianity had spread as far as Rome; and that from the letter of Pliny to the emperor Trajan, only about seventy years after the first promulgation of the Gospel, the remote province of which he was the governor, was so filled with Christians, not only in the cities, towns, and villages, but in the open country,

* Acts, chap. ii.

It is to the writer a cause of regret, that he 'should feel constrained, in the advocacy of the truth, to introduce into this work any topic which can be construed into controversy with his brethren, of any Christian denomination. He would beg leave to assure those who may favor these pages with a perusal, that in combating a favorite opinion of a very numerous and useful denomination of evangelical Christians, he has no design whatever to wound or in any way to harass their feelings. And if any such will point out to him, another mode of successfully meeting the Infidel objection which has been under consideration, and which will be consistent with truth; should this work reach a second edition, he will cheerfully insert it.

that the temples of the heathen gods were deserted, and purchasers of the sacrifices could not be found. So that although Christians were despised by the heathens and by the unbelieving Jews, yet so far from their being confined for one or two centuries to a very small portion of every civilized nation; before the death of the men who witnessed the facts which the Christian institutions are designed to commemorate, there is every reason to believe that a very large portion of every civilized nation were Christians, and among whom the commemorative institutions of the Gospel of Christ were regularly observed.

Mr. Olmsted maintains that there is no analogy between the observance of the Christian institutions, and that of the anniversary of American independence. But from what has been said, the intelligent reader cannot but perceive that the cases are strikingly analogous. It is true that "the people, the whole people, of this great country were all conusant of the fact of their being declared free on the 4th of July, 1776, and that from that day to this the people of this whole country have celebrated that great event on that day in every year, a day which they never celebrated for any thing before." And it is equally true, that all the disciples, who, on the day of pentecost, were with one accord in one place; and the three thousand, who were then added to the church; and in all probability the greater number of the five thousand, who shortly after were added to it, were all conusant of the fact that the Holy Ghost did, on that day, miraculously descend among the disciples, for their own eyes and their own ears witnessed the miraculous facts. And from that day to this, Christians, all Christians, and every individual among them, (with the exception of a very small sect that have sprang up in modern times) however dispersed over the whole earth, have kept up the memory of that miraculous event by observing an ordinance, which previously had never been practised. Nor does the fact that baptism was previously administered among the Jews invalidate the truth of this statement; nor yet does it destroy the analogy which exists between the observance of this ordinance and that of the anniversary of American independence.

The 4th of July, 1776, although a day of public rejoicing, on account of American independence, was not the first day of public rejoicing ever held in this country. Previous to that period, the 4th of June was so held, but commemorative of the birth of George III. the then sovereign of the country. But when independence was proclaimed, the day of rejoicing was changed from the 4th of June