sented, was born on the twenty-eighth of January, at Salwarp, in the county of Worcester." (Robinson's History of Baptism. A very valuable work, full of interesting researches.)

A Catechism published in 1548 alludes to baptism as follows:-"What greater shame can there be, than a man to professe himself to be a Christen man because he is baptized, and yet he knoweth not what baptisme is, nor what strength the same hath, nor what the dyppyng in the water doth betoken when God is added and joyned to the water, then it is the bathe of regene

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a bathe that washeth our soules by the Holy Ghoste, as Saynct Paule calleth it, saying, God hath saved us thorowe hys mercye by the bathe of regeneracion for baptisme and the dyppynge into the water doth betoken that the olde Adam, with all his sinne and evel lustes, ought to be drowned and kylled by daily contrition and repentance." *

William Tyndal, otherwise called Hychins, thus speaks of baptism :-"The plungynge into the water sygnyfyeth that we dye and are buryed with Chryst, as concernynge the old lyfe of Synne which is Adam. And the pullynge out agayn sygnyfyeth that we ryse agayn with Chryst in a newe lyfe." (The Obedyence of a Chrysten Man.)

The first Prayer-Book of Edward VI., following the Manual of Sarum,† directed the priest to dip the child in the water three times; "first, dypping the right side; secondly, the left side; the third time dypping the face towards the fonte." (2, Edw. VI. A.D. 1548.) But in the second Prayer-Book the direction for trine immersion was

* Catechismus, that is to say, a short instruction into Christian religion for the syngular commodite and profyte of childre and yong people. Set forth by the mooste reverende father in God, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitane. (Gualterus Lynne, excudebat. 1548.)

Manual of Sarum :-"Deinde accipiat Sacerdos infantem per latera in manibus suis, et interrogato nomine ejus, baptizet eum sub trina immersione, tantum sanctam Trinitatem invocando, ita dicens: N. Et ego baptizo te in nomine Patris : et mergat eum semel versa facie ad aquilonem, et capite versus orientem: et Fili: et iterum mergat semel versa facie ad meridiem: et Spiritus Sancti. Amen: et mergat tertio recta facie versus aquam. (Ritus Baptizandi.) The Sarum Ritual was drawn up about A.D. 1085, by Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, and chancellor of England. It was adopted by almost the whole of England, Wales, and Ireland, and continued in use until the reign of Edward VI.

Then the Prieste shall take the childe in his hands, and ask the name and naming the child, shall dyppe it in the water thryse: First, dypping the right side; Secondly, the left side; the third time dypping the face toward the fonte.

omitted, and the priest was simply directed to dip the "But if they (the godfathers the child is weak, it shall

child discreetly and warily. and godmothers) certify that suffice to pour water upon it." This is the first authentic permission for altering the mode of baptism we find in the ecclesiastical annals of Great Britain.*

Dr. Wall, in his History of Infant Baptism, says:— "In the Church of England, it being allowed to weak children (in the reign of Queen Elizabeth) to be baptized by affusion, many fond ladies and gentlewomen first, and afterwards, by degrees, the common people, would obtain the favour of the priest to have their children pass for weak children, too tender to endure dipping in the water. As for sprinkling, properly called, it seems it was, at 1645, just then beginning, and used by very few."

The alteration of the rubric in 1661 shows that immersion was no longer the rule: "If they shall certify him that the child may well endure it, he shall dip it in the water discreetly, &c. The custom of sprinkling in England has, in a great measure, arisen from the principles laid down in the Directory of 1644, when the Presbyterian power had, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, gained the ascendency over the Anglican Church. The Assembly of Divines then debated the manner in which baptism should be directed in their formula, and decided by a vote of twenty-five to twenty-four, that sprinkling alone should be mentioned without reference to immersion; but, as we have already seen, the episcopal ritual still retains the

Then the Priest shall take the child into his hands, and shall say to the godfathers and godmothers, Name this child; and then, naming it after them (if they shall certifie him that the child may well endure it), he shall dip it in the water, discreetly and warily; But if they certifie that the child is weak, it shall suffice to pour water upon it.

direction for immersion, although it admits sprinkling or pouring as equally valid.

In the Prayer-Book of 1549, the administration of baptism was followed immediately by two ancient customs, which were omitted in 1552-the putting on the chrism, or white vesture, and the anointing. The signing of the cross upon the child was retained. The address to the congregation, with the Lord's Prayer, and the thanksgiving that follows, were placed in the PrayerBook in 1552. It is an addition which unequivocally expresses the regeneration of each baptized infant. It is as follows::

"Then the Minister shall say,

"We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.

Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this child is regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ's church; let us give thanks unto Almighty God for these benefits; and with one accord make our prayers unto Him, that this child may lead the rest of his life according to this beginning.

"We yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased Thee to regenerate this infant with Thy Holy Spirit, to receive him for Thine own child by adoption, and to incorporate him into Thy holy church."

Robinson, in his History of Baptism, acknowledges that baptisteries, which imply an intermediate state of the ordinance between that in rivers and that in fonts, were but few in Britain. Yet he adds, "there were,

however, as Bede observes, some of these oratories or baptismal chapels erected here at first." The period of these is between the coming of Austin and the conquest by the Normans.

In his account of Edwin's conversion to the Christian faith, Bede informs us that a wooden booth was hastily erected at York, which was called St. Peter's Church, and in which the king and many of the nobility were catechised and baptized. On this very spot, Edwin afterwards built a stately and magnificent church of stone. Robinson refers a chapel of the Abbey of Braintree in Essex to that period; he notices also a Roman bath, at the west end of the parish church of St. Mary at Dover, which he thinks had been used at first for the church. baptistery.

The accompanying plan of the old cathedral and baptistery of Canterbury (Fig. 49), is taken from a paper

Fig. 49. PLAN OF SAXON CATHEDRAL, CANTERBURY, A.D. 950.

A. Nave. BB. Towers. C. Chapter. D. Choir. E. Baptistery.

on Choirs and Chancels, read by Arthur Ashpitel, Esq., F.S.A., before the Society of Antiquaries in London, on January 15th, 1857.

The church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Cambridge, is remarkable for the antiquity and peculiarity of construc

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