verts are numerically stated, and at some distance from our Lord's ascension, appear to have amounted to about five thousand, while a great majority of the nation continued impenitent and incredulous. We read of no party formed against the Son of Zechariah, no persecution raised against his followers; and such was the reverence in which he continued to be held after his death, that the scribes and pharisees, those determined enemies to the gospel, dared not avow their disbelief of his mission, because all the people considered him as a prophet. The historian Josephus, who is generally supposed by the learned to have made no mention of our Saviour, bears decisive testimony to his merits, and imputes the misfortunes of Herod to the guilt he contracted by putting him to death.*

From these considerations, I infer, that if we suppose the converts made by the Apostles to have been universally baptized, on their admission into the church, (a fact not doubted by our opponents,) multitudes of them must have been in the same situation with the disciples at Ephesus. How is it possible it should have been otherwise? When the number of his converts were so

prodigious, when the submission to his institute appears to have been almost national, when of so small a number as twelve, two at least of the Apostles were of his disciples, who can doubt for a moment, that some at least of the multitudes who were converted on or after the day of Pentecost, consisted of such as had previously submitted to the batism of John? Is it possible that the ministry of the forerunner, and of the Apostles of our Lord, should both have been productive of such great effects among the same people, at the distance of a few years, without operating in a single instance in the same direction, and upon the same persons. Amongst the converts on the day of Pentecost, and at subsequent periods, there must have been no inconsiderable number who had for a time been sufficiently awakened by the ministry of John to comply with this ordinance; yet it is evident from the narrative in the Acts, as well as admitted by our opponents, that Peter enjoined on them all, without exception, the duty of being immersed in the name of Christ. That such a description of persons should need to be converted by the Apostles, will easily be conceived, if we allow ourselves to reflect on the circumstances of the times. "He was a burning and a shining light," said our Lord, speaking of his

forerunner, "and ye were willing for a time to rerejoice in his light." This implies that their attachment was transient, their repentance superficial, and that the greater part of such as appeared for awhile most determined to press into the kingdom of God, afterwards sunk into a state of apathy. The singular spectacle of a prophet arising, after a long cessation of prophetical gifts, his severe sanctity, his bold and alarming address, coinciding with the general expectation of the Messiah, made a powerful impression on the spirits of men, and disposed them to pay a profound attention to his ministry; and from their attachment to every thing ritual and ceremonial, they would feel no hesitation in submitting to the ceremony he enjoined. But when the kingdom which they eagerly anticipated, appeared to be altogether of a spiritual nature, divested of secular pomp and grandeur, when the sublimer mysteries of the gospel began to be unfolded, and the necessity inculcated of eating the flesh, and drinking the blood, of the Son of Man, the people were offended, and even of the professed disciples of our Lord, many walked no more with him. A general declension succeeded; so that of the multitudes, who once appeared to be much moved by his ministry, and that of his forerunner, the num

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ber which persevered was so inconsiderable, that all that could be mustered to witness his resurrection amounted to little more than five hundred, a number which may be considered as constituting the whole body of the church, till the day of Pentecost.

The parable of the house forsaken for a time by an evil spirit, swept and garnished, to which he returned with seven more wicked than himself, it is generally admitted, was designed to represent this temporary reformation of the Jewish nation, together with its subsequent apostacy. The day of Pentecost changed the scene, the power of the ascended Saviour began to be developed; and three thousand were converted at one time. Nor did it cease here; for soon after, we are informed of a great multitude of priests who became obedient to the faith; and at a subsequent period St. James reminds the Apostle of the Gentiles of many myriads of converted Jews, all zealous for the law.

Let me ask again, is it possible to suppose that none of these myriads consisted of such as had been baptized by John? Were they all, without exception, of that impious class which uniformly

* I. Corinthians, xv. 6.

held his mission in contempt? It is impossible to suppose it; it is contradicted by the express testimony of scripture, which affirms two of the Apostles to have been his disciples and companions.* But if such as professed their faith in Christ, under the ministry of the Apostles, were baptized on that profession, without any consideration of their having been previously immersed by John, or not, what stronger proof can be desired, that the institutes in question were totally distinct. Were we satisfied with an argumentum ad hominem, with the sort of proof sufficient to silence our opponents, here the matter might safely rest. But independent of their concession, I must add that it is manifest from the whole tenor of the Acts, that the baptismal rite was universally administered to the converts to Christianity subsequent to the day of Pentecost. Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you:" it is added almost immediately, "Then they that gladly received his words were baptized."

It will possibly be asked, if the rite which the forerunner of our Lord administered is not to be considered as a christian institute, to what dispensation are we to assign it, since it is manifestly

*John i. 35, 36, 37.