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Untitled Article
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Untitled Article
? race ; y et he thought the best way to gef rid of the temptation , and silence certain scrupulous clamours which had been excited in
his rnind , was to get dipped ; as he conceived thut in this there could be no harm , and that afterwards there could be no pretence for the continuance of those
scruples , which should be thus met and silenced on their own ground . As his religious experience was well known , and he had at that time been of considerable standing in the church of' God , he was afraid that if this were known , it
might be the means of stumbling others , and turning them out of the way . He could not expect a Baptist minister to do this privately for him , as this was inconsistent with the end which they profess to have in view by ministering baptism . He at last thought of a method of dissolving the difficulty .
Having made earnest prayer and supplication to God in his cham - ber , he walked down to the beach , which was , very near his own dwelling , and having stripped himself , as if intending to bathe , he waded into the water to a
considerable depth , and then said , " Thomas , I baptize thee in the name of the Father , and of th « Son , and of the Holy Ghost ;" and having so said , he dipped himself thrice over head , returned
to the shore , and thus jinally terminated the temptation , and the ceremony to which it gave birth I feel no scruple to recommend the same measure to any person in the same circumstances ; and
advise them never to put them-• elves in the hands of those , who wish them to adopt their plan of baptism , that they may exhibit them publicl y ^ and thus glory in ik eirj ?<^ .
Untitled Article
On Societies for the Suppression of Vice . Sir , The following letter , which was lately addressed to a worthy friend on the subiect of a
nronosed i 6 Society for the Suppression of Vice by criminal Informations , " in one of our large provincial towns , having been thought by several persons who have seen it to contain some just and important observations , if this should
appear to you to be the case , your giving it a place in the Repository will be esteemed a favour . V . F *
To Mr . H . B . March 28 , 1811 . "My Dear Sir , cc As it was chiefly in compliance with your request , that I
attended at your house on Thurs - day fortnight , I think it right to state to you the reasons which induce me , for the present at least , and till I see more clearly the object of the proposed c Society for the Suppression of Vice , ' to
decline becoming a member of it . Indeed I have already suffered myself to be engaged in so many associations for public purposes , that I find it impossible ,
consistently with the duties I owe to my family , and my other connections , to take an active part in any further scheme , however excellent . Already I am conscious that I do not discharge as I oui * ht the duties
at present incumbent upon inc . But with respect to the proposed establishment , I confess I have great doubts ; though none which regard the motives of those who stand forward as its proposers . I doubt not that their intentions are excel *
lent ; and the great object which they mean to prom ( He has my warmest wishes . * But I doubt
Untitled Article
On Societies for the Suppression of Vice . 411
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1811, page 411, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2418/page/27/
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