or how the addition of the single practice of "soliciting the Saints to pray for men," has in the Romish Church obscured the primary article of Justification: and yet no one could have anticipated beforehand, that this one wrong practice would have had effects so tremendous. If then wrong notions about the one Sacrament, among both Romanists and Pseudo-Protestants have had an influence so extensive, why should we think error, with regard to the other, of slight moment? Rather, should we not more safely argue, that since Baptism is a Sacrament ordained by Christ Himself, a low, or inadequate, or unworthy conception of His institution, must, of necessity almost, be very injurious to the whole of our belief and practice? Does not our very reverence to our Saviour require that we should think any thing, which He deigned to institute, of very primary moment,—not (as some seem now to think) simply to be obeyed or complied with, but to be embraced with a glad and thankful recognition of its importance, because He instituted it?
The other point, which was mentioned as important to be borne in mind, in the inquiry whether any doctrine be a Scriptural truth, was, that we should not allow ourselves to be influenced by the supposed religious character of those who in our times hold it, or the contrary. This we should again see to be a very delusive criterion, in a case where we have no temptation to apply it: we should at once admit that Pascal and Nicole were holy men, nay that whole bodies of men in the Church of Rome had arrived at a height of holiness, and devotion, and self-denial, and love of God, which in this our day is rarely to be seen in our Apostolic Church; yet we should not for a moment doubt that our Church is the pure Church, although her sons seem of late but rarely to have grown up to that degree of Christian maturity, which might have been hoped from the nurture of such a mother: we should not think the comparative holiness of these men of God any test as to the truth of any one characteristic doctrine of the Church of Rome. We should rightly see that the holiness of these men was not owing to the distinctive doctrines of their Church; but that God had quickened the seed of life which He had sown in their hearts, notwithstanding the
