The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-12-23
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
INFANT BAPTISM.
Is 1T ON THE DECLINE AMONGST US
SOME STRUCTURES ON THE WAY 1T is
ADMINISTERED IN SOME CHURCHES.

Mr. Editor,-Some years ago there
appeared in the Princeton ReUiee0, if l
mistake not, an elaborate article attemp-
ting to show from the statistics furnished
to the General Assembly from year to
year, that there had been very sad
practical detection in our Church with
reference to the baptism of children.
The reviewers fgures-and no doubt he
copied them faithfully-certainly indica
ted that, compared with the number of
church-members, fewer children were re
ported as baptized than had been report
ed, say twenty-five or thirty years before
his computation was made. The state
ment sustained as it claims to be, by a
formidable array of bristling columns of
figures all correctly added up, created
no little conservation in the ranks of
Presbyterians and raised shout of ex-
ultation in other quarters that rang from
Dan to Bedsheba, and continued to ring,
roll, (add all the other rr s, for many
months. Some persons, however, look
ing narrowly into the matter, came to
the conclusion that the article was but
another veri6cation of the paradox that
nothing is so fallacious as figures, ex
cept facts" They discoursed that the
compiler of the figures when he an
nounced his conclusion, overlooked the
circumstance that the number of chill
dren has been growing relatively less In
our country for more than a quarter Of
century, as has always been the case
in the advance of what is called civilza-
tion-also, that he did not take into the
account the circumstance, that persons
are admitted to the church at a much
earlier period in life than was usual in
former times, and that consequently
there are many more unmarried mem
bers; so that here, again, the proper
tion of children to be baptized to the
communicates in the Church, has been
modified. Further, that he did not duly
estimate the difficulties of obtaining full
reports of the children actually baptized,
which have grown out of the extension
of the church into "the regions beyond, y
and consequently the liability to error,
at least in the way of effectiveness, in
the reports which are published.
A word or two in explanation Of my
meaning in the last particular. To
everv one cOnversant with the affairs of
our Presbyteries it is well known, that
some of our churches fail every year to
make a report of their dOingS and pro-
gress for the year, and that some, pre-
tending TO make reports, fail to specify
the number of children that have been
baptized. as also, some other items which
should be set forth. But they all report,
if anything, the number Of cOmmuni-
cants; and when no report is presented,
the Stated Clerk-such is the invariable
custom-enters into his report to the
General Assembly the number of com
municants which he finds credited to
these delinquent churches in the last
report to which he has access. Hence
it comes about that the report of commu
nicants is approximately correct; but
that of the children baptized is Away;
more or less defective. The same thing
happens in the General Assembly. Every
year there is a failure on the part Of
some Presbyteries to make statistical re
ports: and in these cases the Clerk, IL
his summary, gives the number of com
municants as presented in the last reports
from the Presbyteries Having no data
on which to found an estimate of the
baptized children, they are omitted
Thus, again, the proportion between th'