yer. The Lord's supper is to be administered in his church, and all these converts go to commune with Mr. Sawyer, will he admit them while unbaptized? certainly not; but, suppose he sprinkles ten of them, and they partake of the supper, the remaining twenty refusing to be baptized are not admitted. The next Lord's day the whole thirty offer themselves to our communion, but we can not admit any of them, because they are not baptized; suppose that ten of those who were not sprinkled are now immersed, and admitted to fellowsnip in the Baptist church, the remaining twenty can not be admitted, although ten have been sprinkled. The remaining ten unite with the Quakers. Now none of these sects can partake of the Lord's supper together; for neither the Baptist, nor the pedobaptist will partake with the Quakers. By this illustration it is evident, that Mr. Sawyer will not commune with his own father, &c. whatever evidence they may give of piety, until, in his judgment they are baptized. Pedobaptists say that we put up the bars, by not admitting them to commune with the Baptists. But suppose that the two sacraments are to be administered in the Baptist church; the elements are prepared, and a pedobaptist appears, saying, Sir, I wish to commnne with your church. We ask, what do you mean by communing? He replies, to partake of one of the sacraments. We ask, how many sacraments are there in Christ's church? He replies, two: baptism and the Lord's supper. We ask, which is to be received first? He replies, baptism. We ask, will you partake with us in the first? He replies, no; baptism is a mere non-essential; I will have nothing to do with it except to ridicule and throw contempt upon it, and on those who practice it; but I wish to commune with you in the second sacrament, the Lord's supper. We reply, if you can not partake with us in the first sacrament, we can not invert and break the divine rules to

give you the second. The pedobaptist replies then, you put up the bars against me. We reply, no, if there are any bars they are put up by the pedobaptiste, for while you refuse to commune with us in the first sacrament how can we partake with you in the second. When we ask the pedobaptists to come and partake with us in the first sacrament, they say we are proselyting, and obstinately refuse; but when they ask us to partake with them in the second ordinance, if we decline, they say we are bigoted and close communion; but we have as much ground for complaining because pedobaptists will not come and be baptized with us, as they have to be troubled because we will not partake of the Lord's supper with them.

A short time since a pedobaptist brother of this city related to me an occurrence respecting a certain baptist minister, refusing to admit a Presbyterian lady to the Lord's supper. She being about to leave the town, and reside where she could not have church privileges. While I was amused with his weakness, I pitied his ignorance, and left him. The actors in this scene, to which he had reference, were not a Baptist minister and a Presbyterian lady, but J. M. Mason, D. D., a Presbyterian minister in the city of NewYork in 1810, and a female member of the Dutch Reformed Church; an account of which you will find in Dr. Mason's Plea, p. 6, as related by the publisher of that work in 1816. Dr. Mason, said, 'one of these occasions it was impossible for him to forget; he had been distributing tokens of admission to the Lord's supper; after the congregation had retired he perceived a young woman at the lower end of an aisle, reclining in a pensive attitude; as he approached her she said, Sir, I am afraid I have done wrong. Doctor. Why have you done wrong? Lady. I went up with the communicants and received a token, but am not a member of your church, and I could not be at rest till

I had spoken to you about it. Dr. To what church do you belong? L. The Dutch Reformed church, and if you wish it I can satisfy you of my character and standing there. Dr. But what made you come for a token without_mentioning the matter before? L. I had not an opportunity, as I did not know in time that your communion was to be next Lord's day ; I am sorry if I have done wrong, but I expect to leave the city on Tuesday, and to be absent I can not tell how long, in a part of the country where I shall have no opportunity of communing, and I wished once more before I went away to join with Christians in showing forth my Savior's death. He (Doctor) consulted a moment with the church officers, who were still present, and it was thought most expedient not to grant her request; he communicated this answer, as gently as possible, to the modest petitioner. said not another word, but, with one hand giving back the token, and with the other putting up her kerchief to her eyes, turned away, struggling with her anguish and the tears streaming down her cheeks.'

She

But, it is asked, why are churches so close communion? We reply, the scriptures require it, and their whole precept and example are opposed to open communion. There is not an instance recorded in the Bible of two denominations partaking of the Lord's supper together. John, the Baptist, was not a Methodist, or Presbyterian; and as Christ and the apostles were baptized by him, they all belonged to the same denomination; and it is evident, from their inspired writings, that the apostolic denomination was elose communion. 2 Thess. iii. 6, 'Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the ragados (tradition or instruction) which he received of us.' See also Matt. v. 23, 24: Eph. ii. 19-22: 1 Cor. i. 9, 10: Heb. xiii.

9, 10. We solemnly believe that infant sprinkling and open communion is disorderly walk, for we have no such traditions or instructions, from the apostles' precept or example; and therefore we can neither practice such things ourselves, nor countenance them in others.

Pedobaptists say they will commune with all believers. If this is true, they make faith the only qualification for the Lord's supper, and all with whom they refuse to communicate are not pious. But there are about one hundred and thirty denominations of Christians, and no pedobaptist will commune with more then eight or ten of them. 'Those who have been educated in Arianism and Socinianism and are not yet brought off from these fundamental errors, are by no means admitted to the Lord's supper.'

President Edwards' Works, vol. 4, p. 409.

If pedobaptists admit those to their communion who condemn and ridicule their confession of faith, it proves that they esteem their creed of no value. And what is gained by open communion? Partaking of the Lord's supper changes no man's faith; nor does it in the least unite the different denominations. The Presbyterian leaves the Lord's table, saying, 'God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, whether sin or holiness.' And the Methodist leaves the same table saying, 'He who is a child of God to-day may be a child of the Devil to-morrow.'-(Methodist Discipline, 1808 edition, p. 92.)

Yet

The Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians have professed open communion for many years. they harmonize no more than the Baptists and Presbyterians do. But it is said we must have charity for those who err in faith, and lay aside our creeds and sectarian feelings when we come to the Lord's table; but is it that same charity which prompts the different denominations to take up their creeds and condemn all sects but their own, when they have left

the Lord's table? If it is I am constrained to say, that it is not that charity which thinketh no evil. Is there no way of exercising charity but by open communion? Charity and open communion are not the same thing, if they were the apostle's writings could be thus translated: 1 Cor. xiii. 13: 'Now abideth faith, hope, and aуanŋ open communion, these three; but the greatest of these is Col. iii. 12-14: αγαπη open communion. • Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, forgiving one another as Christ forgave you; and above all these things, put on open communion which is the bond of perfectness.' Gal. v. 6: Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which walketh by ayanns open communion.' John xiii. 35: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have aɣaл open communion one to another.' Gal. v. 14: 'For all the law is fulfilled in one word, aynŋstis, open communion.'

αγαπην

The word ayann occurs 112 times in the New Testament. In 23 instances it is translated charity, as at 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 8, 13. In one instance dear, Col. i. 13. And in 88 instances love, as at Luke xi. 42: John v. 42: xv. 9, 10, 13: xvii. 26: Rom. v. 5, 8: viii. 35, 39: Eph. i. 4: ii. 4. Hence charity is love not love to error and sin, but love to God, to his laws to good order, and to holiness for holiness' sake.Charity is not a fool, but readily distinguishes truth from error, for although, 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 6: Charity suffereth long and is kind; yet it thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. And while it is the spirit of charity to love all good men, and good things; yet God, the author of charity, hates sin, reproves error, and has no fellowship with such as do not the truth. And the great apostle Paul, who has often been quoted as a pattern of charity,