Rutherford, and Mr. Wood: The Westminster Affembly of Divines; their Confeffion, Catechifms, and Directory: The Annot. of some of those divines, &c. And for the reformed churches in general (Mr. Baxter obferves), it is paft all queftion, by their conftant practice, that they require the profeffion of a faving Christian faith, and take not up with any lower. And refpecting the then practice in England, he fays, This is manifeft by our daily administration of baptifm. I never heard (fays he) any man baptize an infant but upon the parent's, or fufceptor's, or offerer's, profeffion of a juftifying faith.

This leads to your laft inquiry.

QUEST. V. Whether it be the general opinion, that the fame qualifications are required in a parent bringing his child to baptifm, as in an adult perfon for his own admiffion o this ordinance?

ANSW. Here, Sir, I fuppofe you intend only the fame qualifications in kind; or a profeffion and vifibility, in fome degree, of the fame fort of faith and repentance; meaning that which is truly evangelical and faving. And understanding you in this fenfe, I am perfuaded, by all I can obferve, that the generality of Proteftants are in the affirmative; not affenting to a fpecific and effential difference, whatever circumftantial and gradual disparity they may allow, between the two cafes you mention.

Mr. BAXTER fpeaking of the judgment and practice of the Chriftian fathers, tells us, that faith (juftifying faith, and not another kind of faith) was fupposed to be in the parent, for himself and his feed: Because the condition or qualification of the infant is but this, that he be the feed of a believer.-And he thinks the generality of the reformed are in these fentiments. He declares his own judgment in full concurrence herewith, and backs the fame with a variety of arguments, in his Five Difputations, and other writings. He obferves, it feems ftrange to him that any fhould imagine, a lower belief in the parent will help his child to a title to baptifm, than that which is neceffary to his own, if he were

anbaptized; because mutual confent is neceffary to mu tual covenant, and the covenant must be mutual: No man hath right to God's part, that refuseth his own They that have no right to remiffion of fins, have no right given them by God to baptifm.-If God be not at all actually obliged in covenant to any ungodly man, then he is not obliged to give him baptifm: But God is not obliged fo to him. Most of our divines make the contrary doctrine Pelagianifm, that God fhould be obliged to man in a ftate of nature in fuch a covenant.→ If the parent's title be questionable (fays he), the infant's is fo too; because the ground is the fame: And it is from the parent, that the child muft derive it ; nor can any man give that which he hath not.-We ought not (fays he) to baptize those perfons, or their chil dren, as theirs, who are visible members of the kingdom of the devil, or that do not fo much as profefs their forfaking the devil's kingdom: But fuch are all that profefs not a faving faith. If fuch are not vifibly in the kingdom of the devil, at least they are not visibly out of of it. All that are duly baptized, are baptized into CHRIST; therefore they are fuppofed to poffefs that faith. by which men are united or ingraffed into Christ: But that is only juftifying faith. Ten (Tayo he) where any man was ever faid in Scripture to be united to Chrift, without faving faith, or profeffion of it.—In a word, Mr. Baxter takes occafion to declare himfelf in this manner: If Mr. BLAKE exacts not a profeffion of faving faith and repentance, I fay he makes foul work in the church. And when fuch foul work fhall be voluntarily maintained, and the word of God abused for the defilement of the church and ordinances of God, it is a greater fcandal to the weak, and to the fchifmatics, and a greater reproach to the church, and a fadder cafe to confiderate men, than the too common pollutions of others, which are merely through negligence, but not justified and defended.

We are told by other impartial inquirers, that all the reformed do in their directories and practices require pro

feffions, as well as promifes, of parents bringing their children to baptifm; even profeffions of prefent faith and repentance, as well as promifes of future obedience; and thefe not merely of the moral, but the evangelical kind. The judgment of the Church of Scotland may be known by their adopting the Confeffion, Catechifms, and Directory of the Alfembly of Divines; who, when they require a parental profeffion (as in their Catechifms, &c.), intend it not of any lower kind, than a true gofpel faith and obedience. The mind of the Diffenters may be very much judged of by the reformed liturgy, prefented in their name upon King Charles's restoration; where parents credible profeffion of their faith, repentance, and obedience, is required in order to the baptifm of their children.-I might bring further evidence from the writings of particular divines among them, ancient and modern: But I muft for brevity omit this. Only I will give you a fpecimen in two or three hints. Mr. CHARNOCK, that great divine, obferves, "Baptifm fup"pofes faith in the adult, and the profeffion of faith in "the parent for his child."-The late eminent Dr. WATTS, in his Holiness of Times, Places, and People, thus declares himself, with respect to the infante of true he tievers: In my opinion, fo far as they are any way "members of the vifible Chriftian church, it is upon "fuppofition of their being (with their parents) members "of the invifible church of God.”

On the whole, as to our fathers here in New England, it is true, they afferted a baptifm-right in parents for themselves and children, whom yet they excluded from full communion; the ground of which difference was hinted before: And they denied a parity of reafon between the two cafes now in view, on fome accounts. Their chief ground was, that adult baptifm requires a measure of visible moral fitness or inherent holinefs in the recipient; whereas, infant-baptifm requires nothing visible in its fubject, but a relative fitness or federal holiness, the formalis ratio of infant-membership, accruing from God's charter of grace to his church, taking in the infant-feed

with the believing parent. Baptism they supposed to run parallel with regular membership; and the child of fuch a parent intitled to this covenant-feal in its own right, on the foot of a diftinct perfonal membership, derivative in point of being, but independent for its duration, and for the privileges annexed to it by divine inftitution. However, they certainly owned parental profeffion, as belonging to the due order and juft manner of adminiftration, both meet and needful.-Accordingly they provided, that parents claiming covenant-privileges for their children, fhould own their covenant-ftate, have a measure of covenant-qualifications, and do covenantduties, in fome degree, to the fatisfaction of a rational charity. And it ought to be remembered, they have left it as their folemn judgment, that even taking baptifmright for a right of FITNESS in foro ecclefiaftico, till the parents whofe children they claimed baptifm for, were fuch as must be allowed to have a title to it for themfelves, in cafe they had remained unbaptized: Looking upon them, although not duly fitted for the facrament of communion and confirmation, yet fufficiently fo for the facrament of union and initiation; profeffors in their infancy parentally, and now perfonally, in an initial. way; appearing Abraham's children, in fome measure of truth, to a judicious charity; juftly therefore baptizable, in their perfons and offspring, by all the rules of the gospel.--I am not here to argue upon the juftness of this scheme of thought on the cafe; but only to reprefent the fact in a genuine light.

I have no room, Sir, for any further remarks. But must conclude, with Chriftian falutes, and the tender of every brotherly office, from