"The following are the chief doctrines of this ancient church :

"1st. They hold the doctrine of a vicarious ATONEMENT for the sins of men, by the blood and merits of Christ, and of the justification of the soul before God, by faith alone, in that atone

ment.

"2nd. They maintain the REGENERATION, or new birth of the soul to righteousness, by the influence of the spirit of God, which change is called, in their books, from the Greek, the META-NOIA, or change of mind.

"3rd. In regard to the Trinity, the creed of the Syrian Christians accords with that of St. Athanasius, but without the damnatory clauses. In a written and official communication to the English resident at Travancore, the Metropolitan states it to be as follows: We believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons in one God, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance, one in three, and three in one: The Father generator, the Son generated, and the Holy Ghost proceeding. None is before or after the other; in majesty, honor, might, and power, they are COequal; unity in trinity, and trinity in unity. In the appointed time, through the disposition of the Father and the Holy Ghost, the Son appeared on

earth for the salvation of mankind: he was born of the Virgin Mary, through the means of the Holy Ghost, and was incarnate God and

Baptists differ only from other sects of Christians as to the subject and the manner of administering baptism. They say that, agreeably to the command, it should be done by immersion, and that such is the meaning of Barritw: therefore that baptism means immersion, and that it was thus understood and practised by the apostles. That Christ went down into the river Jordan to be immersed by John. That the person who administered the ordinance, and the person baptised, went down into the water, Acts viii.-That those who are baptised are said to be buried in baptism, which language, they conclude, could not with any degree of propriety be adopted, unless it signified immersion. That it is thus administered in the Greek church, and that it is also ordered to be thus administered in the church of England.

1 See the OPHION; or the Theology of the Serpent and the Trinity in Unity, just published 8vo. And the Biblical criticisms in the CLASSICAL, BIBLICAL and ORIENTAL JOURNAL (a quarterly publication).

They say that when Christ commanded the disciples to go and teach all nations, baptising them, such teaching could not include infants; therefore that infant-baptism is contrary to the command, and that it must mean adults who are capable of being taught. But they make another distinction. They hold that all adults who are capable of being taught, ought not to be baptised, but only those who bring forth fruit meet for repentance, agreeably. to those words, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth, and is baptised, shall be saved." To persons who were thus convinced, and who proved their sincerity by an example of obedience to the divine precepts, they contend, baptism was only administered by the apostles. That their first inquiry was, whether they were proper subjects for baptism, viz. if their repentance was sincere, and if they believed in Christ. Acts xiii. 12. "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised." ch. viii. "And the eunuch said, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.”

Immersion was also a solemn ceremony under the Mosaic dispensation.

ANABAPTISTS.

They were so named because they rebaptised their converts, as the word signifies. This custom of rebaptising when of an adult age, is not modern. In the early ages of the church, Donatus, a famous minister, separated from the body of professors, and rebaptised those who were capable of making a profession of their faith, after the manner of the eunuch.

PARTICULAR AND GENERAL BAPTISTS.

Since the time of Calvin, the custom of rebaptising adults was for a long time confined to those of the Calvinistic persuasion; but of late years, many who were not receivers of that doctrine, but who were strictly Arminians, embraced the same opinion respecting this ancient rite. There now was a necessity for a distinction between these two sects; therefore the first, or those who believed in election, were termed PARTICULAR BAPTISTS, and the

other GENERAL BAPTISTS.

SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS

Are so called, because they keep the seventh day as the sabbath, and consider it holy. They say that there is not any command in scripture for keeping the first day of the week, and that the command to keep the seventh day was never abrogated by Christ. In every other respect, they are baptists, either general or particular.

PEDOBAPTISTS.

By Pædobaptists are meant those, who baptised infants. These are not properly a sect, as all established churches, and all dissenters, who thus administer baptism, are so called.

From the time of the first schism of Arius, when all the Christian world was thrown into confusion, to the sixteenth century, so fruitful was the mind of Christian professors in generating new opinions in religion, that governments thought it prudent to put a stop to any thing of this nature, by enacting laws to prevent the like confusion in future. But