Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 1.djvu/390

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TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.

and admission into His Church". I put the substance of the two places side by side in this way.

St. John iii. 5. St. Matt, xxviii. 19.
If you would enter into the kingdom of God, you must be born of water and of the Spirit. If you would be a Disciple, or Christian, you must be baptized by Apostolical authority in the name of the Holy Trinity.

What made me stronger in this opinion, was observing the like argument in our Divine Master's language, when speaking of the other Holy Sacrament. As thus: for I wrote the four places down, to make my meaning plain to the very eye.

St. John vi. 53. St. Matt. xxvi. 28.
If you would have life in you, you must eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood. If you would eat Christ's body and drink his blood, you must take and eat the bread, and drink of the cup, blessed by those who have authority to bless it, in remembrance of Him.

"I hope, Sir, you will not think that I am using the Bible too freely: but I must own, to me it is very convincing, when I see one part of our Saviour's discourses thus pointing as it were to another, and both so thoroughly agreeing with the known customs of the early Church, as I have always understood these do.

"For it is now some few years, Sir, since I began to think on this subject, and what few doubts I had, were very much settled by a book which you kindly spared me from your Lending Library. I think it was called 'A conference of two men on the subject of Infant Baptism.' And it showed to my thinking most clearly, the opinion of the Church on that subject, in times when they must have known what the very Apostles used to do.

"These things, in my plain way, I tried to point out to my sister; and I was in hopes to have convinced her, that wilfully to remain unbaptized is a more grievous sin than the generality of Dissenters (aye, and a great many Churchmen) imagine. I