believing, then we
must admit the same of all other families which we find marked as
Christians, though they be not expressly marked as baptized." He is not
proving, here, you notice, that there were children in any of these
households; he thinks he proves that elsewhere, by the doctrine of
chances. He is now showing the grounds for supposing that certain
"households" were baptized. He applies his argument respecting Crispus
to

5. Aristobulus's household.

6. Onesiphorus's household.

7. Narcissus's household.

8. Stephanas's household. This household was baptized by Paul separately
from its head, who was not baptized by Paul; this case being just the
reverse of that of Crispus.

"Eight Christian families, and therefore baptized." Now comes the
question of probability as to there being children in those households
not capable of faith.

Begin anywhere, in any congregation, on the Sabbath, and count eight
pews, the proprietors and occupants of which are the heads of families;
and the chance of there being no minor children in them is almost too
small to be appreciated. Should we read, in a secular paper, that a
foreign missionary had baptized eight households in a pagan village, the
general belief would be that it was a missionary of some Paedobaptist
denomination, and that children were baptized in those families.

I must read to you (said Dr. D.) something on the other side of this
argument. I found the following, not long since, in a deservedly popular
and useful Dictionary and Repository, written and signed by a gentleman
of excellent character and standing. He says:

"Infant baptism was probably introduced about the commencement of the
third century, in connection with other corruptions, which even then
began to prepare the way for Popery. A superstitious idea, respecting
the necessity of baptism to salvation, led to the baptism of sick
persons, and, finally, to the baptism of infants. Sponsors, holy water,
anointing with oil, the sign of the cross, and a multitude of similar
ceremonies, equally unauthorized by the Scriptures, were soon
introduced. The church lost her simplicity and purity, her ministers
became ambitious, and the darkness gradually deepened to the long and
dismal night of papal despotism."

"Probably introduced about the commencement of the third century, in
connection with other corruptions." Recall what I read to you from
Origen, born A.D. 185; from Tertullian, who flourished within o