22 CEYLON BRANCH—ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, 



" the covenant, or rather proved never to have belonged to ft, 

 " And although under the aspect that those apostate parents 

 6i had indeed been thoroughly instructed, and at the time of their* 

 " baptism made a good outward profession (which however by 

 " the result proved to have been specious and from worldly 

 " considerations) the passages above quoted might seem to plead 

 4< in favour of their children, yet we deem it safest and best 

 " that they be not baptized, unless one of the parents, either 

 " father or mother has remained faithful, for then are the cbii- 

 " dren holy. Our reasons for the above opinion are. 1, Chil- 

 " dren are not in the covenant of grace but by their parents. 

 " How then can their true admission into the covenant be pre- 

 " sumed when their parents have made a feigned and God pro- 

 " voking profession, or solemnly violated it by the sin of hea- 

 " thenistn and devil-worship. With respect to the children of 

 " idolatrous Jews the case was different. They were called God'» 

 " children and received circumcision notwithstanding the apos- 

 " tacy of their parents. They entered not by their immediate pa- 

 " rents, but in virtue of the covenant already made with them in 

 6 * Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to which they could appeal as giving 

 " them still a right to the blessings of the covenant. 2, Baptism can 

 " freely be withheld from such children without prejudice to them s 

 $ * for we all maintain in opposition to popery that not the mere 

 a absence but the wilful disregard of baptism is condemn?tion. 

 *• S t We consider the suspense of baptism in such cases advi- 

 '* sable as danger is to be apprehended lest Satan sh .uld seek 

 " to profane the baptismal Christianity of such children by the 

 " instrumentality of their apostate parents, in whose possession 

 " and under whose influence they grow up, to the dishonor of 

 ** Jesus our King. Thus will the truth suffer unnecessarily, 

 " the seal of the covei ant will be prostituted and Satan take 

 " occasion to triumph in appearance over nominal christians, 

 " who have been prima turcly and rashly baptized, but who in 

 " reality are his property. " 



