BAP 



BAR 



tors stood on the bank of the river on 

 both sides ; some had climbed and sat on 

 the trees ; many sat on horseback and in 

 carriages, and all behaved with a decent 

 seriousness, which did honour to the 

 good sense and the good manners of the 

 assembly, as well as to the free constitu- 

 tion of this country. First the adminis- 

 trator read an hymn, which the people 

 sung ; then he read that portion of scrip- 

 ture which is read in the Greek church 

 on the same occasion, the history of the 

 baptism of the eunuch, beginning at the 

 23d verse, and ending with the 39th. 

 About ten minutes he stood expounding 

 the verses, and then taking one of the 

 men by the hand, he led him into the wa- 

 ter, saying, as he went, 'see, here is wa- 

 ter, what doth hinder ? If thou believest 

 with all thine heart, thou mayest be bap- 

 tized.' When he came to a sufficient 

 depth, he stopped, and with the utmost 

 composure, placing himself on the left 

 hand of the man, his face being towards 

 the man's shoulder, he put his right hand 

 between his shoulders behind, gathering 

 into it a little of the gown for hold : the 

 fingers of the left hand he thrusted under 

 the sash before, and the man putting his 

 two thumbs into that hand, he locked all 

 together by closing his hand. Then he 

 deliberately said, ' I baptize thee in the 

 name of the Father, and of the Son, and 

 of the Holy Ghost ;' and while he uttered 

 these words, standing wide, he gently 

 leaned him backward and dipped him 

 once. As soon as he had raised him, a 

 person in a boat, fastened there for the 

 purpose, took hold of the man's hand, 

 wiped his face with a napkin, and led 

 him a few steps to another attendant, 

 who then gave his arms, walked with him 

 to the house, and assisted him to dress. 

 There were many such in waiting, who, 

 like the primitive susceptors, assisted 

 during the whole service. The rest of 

 the men followed the first, and were bap- 

 tized in like manner. After them, the 

 women were baptized. A female friend 

 took off at the water side the hat and 

 cloak. A deacon of the church led one 

 to the administrator, and another from 

 him ; and a woman at the water side took 

 each as she came out of the river, and 

 conducted her to the apartment in 

 the house, where they dressed them- 

 selves. When all were baptized, the ad- 

 ministrator coming up out of the river, 

 and standing at the side, gave a short ex- 

 hortation on the honour and the pleasure 

 of obedience to divine commands, and 

 then with the usual benediction dismiss- 

 ed the assembly. About half an hour af- 

 VOL. IT; 



ter, the men newly baptized, having dress> 

 edthemselves, went from their room into 

 a large hall in the house, where they 

 were presently joined by the women, 

 who came from their apartments to the 

 same place. Then they sent a messen- 

 ger to the administrator, who was dress- 

 ing in his apartment, to inform him they 

 waited for him. He presently came, and 

 first prayed for a few minutes, and then 

 closed the whole by a short discourse on 

 the blessings of civil and religious liberty, 

 the sufficiency of scripture, the pleasures 

 of a good conscience, the importance of 

 a holy life, and the prospect of a blessed 

 immortality. This they call a public bap- 

 tism." 



The baptists in England form one of 

 the three denominations of protestant 

 dissenters, and are divided into Particu- 

 lar and General : the former are Calvinis- 

 tical and Trinitarians ; the latter are Ar- 

 minlans, and some very few Arians, but 

 the greater part are Unitarians, with re- 

 gard to the person of Christ, considering 

 him as man, the son of Joseph and Mary: 



BAR, in courts of justice, an inclosure 

 made with a strong partition of timber, 

 where the counsel are placed to plead 

 causes. It is also applied to the benches, 

 where the lawyers or advocates are seat- 

 ed, because anciently there was a bar to 

 separate the pleaders from the attornies 

 and others. Hence, ourlawyers, whoare 

 called to the bar or licensed to plead, are 

 termed barristers, an appellation equiva* 

 lent to licentiate in other countries. 



BAR, in law, a plea of a defendant, 

 which is said to be sufficient to destroy 

 the plaintiff's action. It is divided into 

 bar special, bar to common intendment, 

 bar temporal, and bar perpetual. Bar 

 special, falls out upon some special cir- 

 cumstances of the case in question, as 

 where an executor, being sued for his tes- 

 tator's debt, pleads that he had no goods 

 in his hands at the day on which the writ 

 was sued out. Bar to common intend- 

 ment, is a general bar, which commonly 

 disables the plaintiff's declaration. Bar 

 temporary, is such as is good for the pre- 

 sent, but may afterwards fail ; and bar 

 perpetual, is that which overthrows the 

 plaintiff's action for ever. In personal 

 actions, once barred, and ever so, is the 

 general rule ; but it is intended, where a 

 bar is to the right of the cause, not where 

 a wrong action is brought. In criminal 

 cases, there are especially four pleas in 

 bar, which go to the merits of the indict- 

 ment, and give reason why the prisoner 

 ought not to answer it, nor be tried upon 

 it ; as, a former acquittal, a former convix*- 



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