or a solemn recognition by religion of the entrance of a child
into the world, that this rite, in course of time, completely lost its
original nature, and, as with the heathen, _infancy_ took the place of
maturity: sprinkling of immersion. But while the age and manner of
baptism were altered, the ritual remained under the influence of the
primitive idea with which it had been instituted. The obligations were
no longer confined to the persons baptized, hence they must be
undertaken for them. Thus was the Christian Church landed in the
absurdity--unparalleled, we believe, in any other natal ceremony--of
requiring the most solemn promises to be made, not by those who were
thereafter to fulfill them, _but by others in their name_; these others
having no power to enforce their fulfillment, and neither those actually
assuming the engagement, nor those on whose behalf it was assumed, being
morally responsible in case it should be broken. Yet this strange
incongruity was forced upon the church by an imperious want of human
nature itself, and the insignificant sects who have adopted the baptism
of adults only, have failed, in their zeal for historical consistency,
to recognize a sentiment whose roots lie far deeper than the
chronological foundation of Christian rites, and stretch far wider than
the geographical boundaries of the Christian faith.

The intention of all these forms of baptism is identical. Water, as the
natural means of physical cleansing, is the universal symbol of
spiritual purification. Hence immersion, or washing, or sprinkling,
implies the deliverance of the infant from the stain of original
sin.[325:1] The _Pagan_ and _Christian_ rituals, as we have seen, are
perfectly clear on this head. In both, the avowed intention is to wash
away the sinful nature common to humanity; in both, the infant is
declared to be born again by the agency of water. Among the early
Christians, as with the Pagans, the sacrament of baptism was supposed to
contain a full and absolute expiation of sin; and the soul was instantly
restored to its original purity, and entitled to the promise of eternal
salvation. Among the proselytes of Christianity, there were many who
judged it imprudent to precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be
repeated; to throw away an inestimable privilege, which could never be
recovered. By the delay of their baptism, they could venture freely to
indulge their passions in the enjoyments of this world, while