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    trister is one of the chief parts , and , bs it were , the life of the sacrament : in so weighty a cause and great a matter , it had been well if > ou had used some authority of Scripture , or testimony of a learned author . For

    so far as I can read , the testimony of learned men is , that the essential form , and , ais it were , the life of baptisfn , is to baptize in the name of the Father , and of the Son , and of the

    Holy Ghost ; which form being observed , the sacrament remaineth in full force and strength , of whomsoever it be ministered , or howsoever by ceremonies or other additions it is corrupted /*

    1 quote these passages from 4 * A Defence of the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of England against some Modern Innovations , 1712 . "

    This Defence was anonymous , but is attributed , in MS . on the title-page , to " Dr Turner , Vicar of Christ-Church . London , and of Greenwich . "

    Of these innovations one was , ** baptism , administered by laymen ^ invalid . " On this subject Mr . Nichols thus writes : 44 In 1711 , there arose a controversy concerning the validity or invalidity of lay-baptism , in which some of our bishops and learned divines were

    divided in opinion . I he occasion of this dispute was as follows : Mr . Laurence , a learned layman , baptized and bred among the Dissenters , was not satisfied concerning the validity of his own baptism * and was baptized by a clergyman of-the Church of England ; and wrote the following ingenious tracts in defence of what he had done :

    one entitled , Lay-Baptism Invalid * 1711 ; a Defence of it in the same year ; and in 1712 , a tract intituled , Dissenters * Baptism null and void . " Lit . Anect . IV . £ 27 . Besides Dr . Turner ' s Defence , he appeared again in 1713 , under the

    title of " A Country Clergyman /* The validity of lay-baptism was also maintained in " The Judgment of Ihe Church of England , " and «« The Second Part of the Judgment , 171 & . " These were attributed to Bishop

    Fleet wood , who declares it the judgment of Ihe Church of England , that lay-baptism * seriously conferred in matter anil form prescribed by Christ , is n *> t to be reiterated , although it was irregular , for want of a proper

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    administrator . " To the same purpose the Upper House of Convocation , un % der Queen Anne , thus addressed the Lower House : " We , the president and bishops , have thought it hicu m * bent ou us to declare , that such

    persous as have been already baptized in or with water , in the name of the Father , and of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost , though their baptism was irregular for want of a proper adminifttrator , ought not to be

    baptized again . The High Church Doctors , Hickes and Brett , contended on the other side ; connecting this subject with their doctrines of { he divine right of the priesthood , and u the necessity and authority of sacerdotal absolution . "

    In 1714 , the same question Was discussed between several clergymen and some Dissenters at Exeter , ou the following occasion , as described in " A Caveat against the new Sect of Anabaptists , lately sprung up at Exon , " attributed to Mr . Withers :

    44 Mr . Benjamin Reed , of the city of Exeter , was designed for a Dissenting minister ; his parents gave him a suitable education , and he was for several years at a private academy ; all this time he seemed to be a

    resolute Nonconformist \ but about two or three months since , he left the Dissenters , and on a sudden declared himself a zealous Churchman . A litlle after he conformed , he was persuaded to renounce his former baptism as absolute ! v null and invalid ,

    because it was administered by one who was not episcopally ordained ; he submitted to be rebaptized , and the sacrament was solemnly repeated in the parish church of Heavytree , within a mile of Exeter . The person

    that officiated was one Mr . Jeukinson , who might have passed his life in obscurity if he had not made himself famous for having somewhat to do in so remarkable an affair . The godfathers were two clergymen , Mr . King and Mr . J . Walker . " ( Pp . 3 , 4 . )

    This pamphlet was followed by "A Defence of the Caveat against the new Sect of Anabaptists , ficc , in Answer to Mr . Reed ' s Reply ., By Hubert Stogdon , " of whom there is , 1 believe , some account in one of your early Volumes . [ IV . 57 , 1 $ » and 247- ] In both pamphlets , the charge agaitiHt the clergy turned upon tin *

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    i 7 fcfc Mr . Rtitt on AnahaptUm in the Church of England .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 722, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/6/