←1715
←1715
See the authorities in Wheatly and Comber, and the Rev. B. Woodd’s and the Bishop of Calcutta’s valuable tracts on the subject. Comp. Bishop Hall’s Polem. Works, vol. ix., and an excellent treatise by the Rev. T. H. Kingdon. Dr. Hammond’s View of the Directory, and Calvin’s Institutes (Christian Observer, 1829, pp. 71, 72, 143, 144), give some important statements from very opposite schools of divinity. A scarce but satisfactory treatise by Jonathan Hanmer (1658), besides the ancient authorities, gives the approving judgment of Baxter, Calamy, Venning, and other Puritan Divines. Archbishop Leighton strongly recommended to his clergy the substance of the rite; though the turbulent spirit of his times did not allow him to introduce the ceremony. Works, ii. 450. It is difficult to conjecture any reasonable objection to the form—consecrated as it is by the frequent usage of the Old Testament Church, by the example of our Lord; and being (as Calvin remarks) the ordinary rite among the Jews, in commending anyone to the blessing of God.’ Calv. in Acts 13.3.