Will any one deny the extent of such a spirit in the church and homes of
the present day? Let him refer to church statistics, where he may receive
some idea of the magnitude of this evil. In them we can see the extent to
which parents have neglected the baptism of their children. We take from a
note in the "Mercersburg Review" the following statistical items: "The
presbytery of Londonderry reports but one baptism to sixty-four
communicants; the presbytery of Buffalo city, the same; the presbytery of
Rochester city, one to forty-six; the presbytery of Michigan, one to
seventy-seven; the presbytery of Columbus, one to thirty. In the presbytery
of New Brunswick, there are three churches which report thus: one reports
three hundred and forty-three communicants, and three baptisms; another
reports three hundred and forty communicants, and two baptisms. In
Philadelphia, one church reports three hundred and three communicants, and
seven baptisms; another, two hundred and eighty-seven communicants, and one
baptism."
These statistics speak volumes. They tell us how Christian parents neglect
the baptism of their children, and also how the church winks at it. And
from this neglect we can easily infer their indifference to it. If we refer
to the statistics of all other churches, we shall witness a similar
neglect. No branch of the church now is free from the imputation of such
neglect.
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