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variety of circumstances, peculiar in their kind, local in their influence, and such as they could neither foresee nor control.

At first, their continuance and their existence were very uncertain, in consequence of the efforts of the idolaters, and the war that followed; afterwards the conduct of the king, who, on his first profession, they would not have hesitated to baptize, was such, as to induce them to fear that his baptism would injure the Christian cause among the people; and subsequently, as they were on the point of separating and forming distinct stations, it was thought best to defer it till they should have entered upon the fields of their permanent labour, where they hoped to gather around them congregations of converts, administer the rite of baptism, and form Christian churches.

The Missionaries considered the proper subjects for the ordinance to be those who professed their faith in Christ, as the only Saviour, and the children of such individuals: but considerable difficulty was experienced in determining what the moral or religious qualifications of the adults ought to be, and the connexion that should exist between their baptism, and admission to the communion. Although we read different authors on the subject, their views were seldom altogether adapted to our circumstances, and I believe we derived but little real assistance from any.

We desired to bow only to the authority of scripture, and to follow implicitly its directions. We considered our circumstances by no means dissimilar to those of the individuals for whose guidance the directions of scripture were primarily given. Having the commission of our Lord to his disciples for our warrant, and the conduct of his

apostles in the execution of it for our model, we hope we have been enabled to proceed according to the divine will, and in such a manner as to secure the approbation of the Christian churches by which we had been sent to preach Christ among the gentiles. Our situation at this time we regarded as most critical, and our procedure in this respect such as, it was presumed, would have an important bearing on future generations.

Happily, however, for us, and for all placed in similar circumstances, the terms of the commission are unequivocal and explicit; and we could not but perceive, that by the same warrant, in virtue of which we preached the gospel, and, as the word is rendered in the Tahitian, proselyted those among whom we laboured, we were also bound to baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The intimate connexion between the administration of this rite by the apostles, and the reception of the gospel on the part of those to whom they preached, also convinced us of the design of our Lord, that it should follow the belief in the testimony concerning him, which we were commissioned to deliver. Hence, it was regarded as our duty to baptize those who desired to become the disciples of Christ, as well as to instruct them concerning his will.

We did not apprehend that there was any spiritual virtue or efficacy connected with, or contained in, baptism, nor did we consider any spiritual blessings communicated by it, much less that most important of all, the one thing needfula regeneration of the heart. It appeared designed, by the great Head of the church, to occupy, in the dispensation of the new testament, that place which circumcision did in the old.

The acts of desiring and receiving baptism, on the part of the subject of it, were viewed as a public and solemn renunciation of paganism, and a declaration of discipleship with Christ; and the circumstance of baptism was regarded as constituting the grand, public, and open line of demarcation between the idolatrous and the thus separated or Christian portions of the community. While we thus felt ourselves bound to baptize those who, like the Ethiopian eunuch, and those to whom Philip preached in Samaria, professed their belief in the Saviour, and the grand truths of the Christian system, we also felt that it was desirable to receive suitable evidence of the sincerity of such profession.

As to the degree of evidence that should be required, there was a considerable difference of opinion. A few of our number supposed that no adults should receive this initiatory rite, but such as, there was every reason to believe, were regenerated persons; and that a general belief in the testimony that Christ was the Saviour of men, and a desire to receive farther instruction, however sincere it might be, should be accompanied with an experience of that change of heart, which these truths, under the special influences of the Holy Spirit, are adapted to produce; and, in short, that such only should be baptized as would be at once unhesitatingly admitted to the Lord's

supper.

The majority, however, of the Missionaries were of opinion that the ordinances were totally distinct, and that though it was proper that every church member should have been baptized, yet it did not follow that every one who had received such rite was thereby admitted to church fellowship. Satis

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factory evidence of sincerity in belief that Jehovah was the true God, and Jesus Christ the only Saviour, was considered a sufficient warrant for its administration to those who required it.

No one, however, at any time desired to exercise undue influence over the opinions of his coadjutors; and, although uniformity was desirable, we did not think it important to sacrifice much for oneness of sentiment or practice in this respect. After repeated and prayerful deliberation, recognizing, and aiming to act upon, the broad and liberal principles upon which the Institution, under whose patronage we laboured, was founded, it was mutually agreed that each Missionary should, in his own station, pursue that course which appeared to him most in accordance with the declarations of scripture.

In two of the stations, or perhaps three, the Missionaries have baptized those only whom they had reason to believe had been baptized by the Holy Ghost, and were Christians in the strictest sense of the term; the children of such persons they also baptized. In the other stations, the Missionaries have administered this rite to all whom they had reason to believe sincere in profession of discipleship, without requiring evidence of their having experienced a decisive spiritual change. In this respect some slight difference prevailed, but on every other point there has been perfect uniformity in their proceedings.

The first public baptism that occurred in the islands took place in the Royal Mission Chapel at Papaoa, in Tahiti, on the 16th of July, 1819. Pomare, the king of the island, was the individual to whom, in the midst of what, but a few years before, had been a scoffing, ignorant, obstinate,

cruel, and idolatrous nation, that rite was administered. It was the Sabbath-day. The congregation in the chapel, though less numerous than during the services of the previous week, amounted to between four and five thousand. The subject of discourse was appropriate, Matt. xxviii. 18-20. At the close of the sermons, the Missionaries gathered round the central pulpit; the ceremony commenced with singing. Mr. Bicknell, one of the Missionaries who had arrived in the Duff, implored the Divine blessing, and then, assisted by Mr. Henry, the only other senior Missionary at Tahiti, poured the water on his head, baptizing him" in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The venerable Missionary then addressed the king, not without agitation, yet with firmness, "entreating him to walk worthy of his high profession, in the conspicuous station he held before angels,, men, and God himself." Mr. Henry addressed the people, and Mr. Wilson implored the Divine benediction, that what had been done on earth might be ratified in heaven.

Although the subsequent conduct of Pomare was a matter of the deepest regret to his best friends, yet there was something in the ceremony unusually imposing; and the emotions associated with it must have been intense and interesting, especially to the two elder Missionaries, who had performed the rite. He had been identified with the chief events of their lives; upwards of two and twenty years had rolled by since the providence of God first brought them acquainted with him on the shores of Matavai; and in connexion with that interview, which memory would, probably, present in strong and vivid colours on this

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