Handbook on Baptism. By R. Ingham. (Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.)
—Upwards of 600 closely printed octavo pages, almost entirely devoted to the question of the lawfulness of sprinkling as distinguished from immersion. Allowing that Mr. Ingham and his persuasion are right as to the practice of John the Baptist and the Apostles in Palestine, surely there is good ground for holding that the Church has power to alter the practice when climate renders it unsuitable. The question really does not seem worth the learning and controversial acrimony which has been expended on it. The immersion theory is in our eyes simply narrow and crotchety, but we quite agree with Mr. Ingham that those who think
thus—and no one will contend that baptism is invalidated by immersion —ought to be far more tolerant than they usually are. The really im- portant question of infant baptism is reserved for a second volume on The Subjects of Baptism, but we trust that a handbook will not require prolixity of treatment in proportion to the importance of the subject it treats. There is a candour and an absence of asperity in the mode of handling the arguments of opponents in this book which is very pleasant.
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