the magistrates or clerks thereof. Yet baptism, when it is administered by a person, whose ordination and call is not agreeable to the principles, constitutions, and practice of this church, the essentials of the sacrament being observed, that baptism is esteemed as valid, though not as lawful. And although the reformed churches, (so far as I can learn,) would inflict the highest censure upon women or laicks, as profaners and mockers of the holy sacraments, if they presumed to dispense them, and would not have the least scruple to baptize those on whom they had wickedly usurped a power to impose a mock of it; yet I find they have declined to determine so clearly in the case of re-baptizing of these who were baptized by deposed ministers; which, I think, doth not proceed so much from the want of a parity of reason, as it doth from the offence, which may sometimes be taken by a great part of a church, who do not understand, or are not satisfied with the grounds of their deposition, or perhaps may be altogether ignorant of their being deposed. But when a deposed minister hath so little interest, and so few followers, that he is esteemed by most, yea by a vast majority, to be lawfully deposed; in that case it might give offence, not to re-baptize a child who was so unlawfully baptized.

TITLE IV.

Of the Lord's Supper.

1. The Lord's supper, so called from the time of its institution and first celebration, is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to the appointment of Jesus Christ, his death is shewed forth, and they that worthily communicate, not after a corporal and canal manner, but by faith feed upon his body and blood, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, have their union and communion with Him confirmed, testify and renew their thankfulness and engagements to God, and their mutual

love and fellowship each with other, as members of the same mystical body.

2. Those who are to be admitted to this sacrament, must be found to have a competent knowledge of the fundamentals of the Christian religion, and to be of such an inoffensive walk and conversation, both towards God and their neighbours, that they are not known to be guilty of any scandal that meriteth church censure. By the 12th chapter of the French Church Discipline, art. 2. persons shall not be admitted to the Lord's supper, till they be above twelve years of age. But I am sure, if children at nine years of age can express themselves piously and knowingly, shewing that they have the grace signified and promised, the seal of the promise cannot warrantably be denied unto them. By the 6th article of that chapter, a man that is deaf and dumb, shewing his piety and religion what he can, by evident signs, tokens, and gestures, may be admitted to partake, when by a long experience of the holiness of his life, the church shall perceive he has faith. By the 7th art. thereof, the bread of the sacrament is to be administered to those who cannot drink wine, they protesting that it is not through contempt, and they doing what they can towards it, by putting the cup as near their mouth as they may do, to avoid giving any manner of offence. And by the 10th art. of the same 12th chapter, they say, in as much as several sick persons come to receive this sacrament, which gives occasion that severals make scruple of drinking the wine after them, the pastors and elders shall be warned to take good heed that care and prudence be used in this matter. They may communicate last.

3. Ordinary bread is to be used; and it is most decent it be leavened wheat bread. Any kind of wine may be used in the Lord's supper, yet wine of a red colour seemeth most suitable. In case a society of Christians should want the fruits of the vine of all sorts, I cannot think but it might be supplied by some composure as like unto it as could be made: And if any church laboured under that invincible necessity, were it not safer for them to interpret that as a call and warrant to communicate, though

wanting the fruit of the vine, than to construct it an authorizing them in a perpetual neglect of that sacrament?

4. When the admission of those who are allowed to partake of the Lord's supper, is once recorded by a sentence of the church session, which is to proceed either upon the minister's examining of the parties in their presence, or at least of two or three of the elders, that so the rest may pass their sentence on their testimony and report; in that case there will never be any necessity of coming afterwards to ministers and elders for re-admission, unless by after scandal they be judicially suspended from that privilege. See the Vindication of Presbyterial Government, printed at London 1659, page 143. See § 6. and 16. of this title.

5. When the sacrament of the Lord's supper is to be celebrated in a neighbouring congregation, who have not leisure, and whose work is not to examine strangers, (as above,) the minister, or any two elders in his absence, may give testimonials; yea, should give to any of their parish, who cominunicate ordinarily at their own parish church, and are without scandal in their life for the time, who are thereupon to be admitted ex debito, and by rea son of the communion of saints. But this is not to prejudge the admission of any honest person, who occasionally is in the place where the communion is celebrate, or such as by death or absence of their own minister or elders, could not have a testimonial. Act of Assembly, Feb. 7. 1645, art. 12. about uniformity of worship.

6. By the 11th act of Assembly 1706, it is recommended to all ministers, to take as strict a trial as can be of such as they admit to the Lord's supper, especially be fore their first admission thereto, and that they diligently instruct them, particularly as to the covenant of grace, and the nature and end of that ordinance as a seal thereof, and charge upon their consciences the obligations they lie under from their baptismal covenant, and seriously exhort them to renew the same. This fully answers the end that any Protestant Bishop can have in ministering of confirmation, or laying on of hands upon those that are baptised and come to years of discretion; neither doth it

savour of any superstition, or any scandalous-like approach to the Papists their confirmation, (by chrism on infants,) for the receiving of the Holy Ghost, which is nothing else but an audacious and apish imitation of conveying miraculous operations by the Apostles hands.

7. It is agreeable to the law of nature to seek and promote the good of others, according to our ability and op portunity, by admonishing them to forbear sin and repent for it, Lev. xix. 17. "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, thou shalt in any ways rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." See Matth. xviii. 15. I suppose that the Sovereigns on earth did publish their intentions of pardoning all traitors, who should express their sorrow and hatred at former treasons; and as a mean to reduce them to that happy temper, had strictly commanded and required all their good subjects, to put them in mind of the ingratitude, folly, and danger of their treason: Would not we conclude that a neighbour seeing his fellow commit treason, and not reproving him therefor, did neither regard his Sovereign's honour and authority, nor yet valued his neighbour's happiness? How much more justly may our Lord and Saviour load and charge church rulers with this sin, if they fail to perform that duty, seeing he hath laid his special commands upon them to do it? And therefore, if any elder or minister, shall suffer one whom they know to be guilty of some scandalous or heinous sin, though not public, to approach unto the Lord's table, without satisfying acknowledgments made in private for it, they do thereby, for aught they know, suffer him to partake of that holy supper, with unrepented sin upon him.

8. As there are divers kinds of good gifts, so there are divers degrees of them, according to which we may and ought to love our neighbour, more or less, because we are commanded to do good unto all men, both with our spiritual advice, and with our worldly goods, ministering to their necessities, but especially unto them who are of the household of faith, Gal. vi. 10. We are bound to shew our love to our enemies, by overcoming evil with good, Rom. xii. 21. Which is the way, not only to be even

with them that wrong us, but to be above them. Every man is called to provide for his own, especially for those of his own house, 1 Tim. v. 8. We are to have a natural affection for such as be near to us in blood, and the want thereof is discovered by their want of converse. The Apostle, (1 Cor. v. 11.) forbids to keep company with some scandalous persons, and admitting that precept to be prohibitive of a civil intimacy, it holds as a stronger argument against religious communion with, or at least admission of them to such a distinguishing ordinance. Solomon, (Prov. xxii. 24.) forbids us to go into the company of a furious man, and to converse frequently and familiarly with an an angry man, as friends use to do. So that, though there are common offices due to all men, yet that distinguishing practice of friends in frequent conversing together, is free and optional, as the bestowing of gifts is. Indeed, when notour scandalous breaches and differences do happen, in that case, the parties should be obliged to a formal agreement, by conversing in presence of those, whose work it is to compose such differences ; but even then, they can be obliged to continue in no more friendship than a common converse imports, especially the lesed party. They may be indeed both obliged to profess a sincere reconciliation, though not unto a familiar conversation. But as to the usual converse with those of our household and blood-relations, as husband with wife, and father with children, or the like, it is agreeable both to the laws of nature and interest, firmly to preserve and persevere in that. Wherefore upon the whole, where such near relations refuse usual converse with one another, or neighbours at variance shall refuse to renew or continue a common converse, in that case, neither of the guilty parties ought to be admitted to the Lord's table.

9. Fama clamosa, publica et frequens, doth supply the part of an accuser, so that any who lie under the lash of such reports, must be so far from being admitted to the Lord's table, or yet attested of, as free of scandal, that they should be processed thereupon, and have the bene