The Baptists.
Of all the religious denominations connected with the primitive days of the colony, less is publicly known of the Baptists than any other, and I have seen little or nothing in print about them prior to 1842, yet the circumstances connected with their early services and ceremonies possess such rare interest, as renders them well worthy of collation, though the process, as in the present instance, is one of extreme trouble. In the year 1838 there were only a very few Baptists in Melbourne, and this handful was soon supplemented by the arrival of Messrs. Samuel Crook and Robert Reeves, with their families, from Sydney. A congregation was then formed, and as there was no room in town available to them, they decided on holding their first service on an unused area of land in Collins Street, where the Argus office is now built. This half-acre allotment was purchased by Mr. Thomas Napier, at a Government land sale, for £129 4s. He was an old colonist, and resided for many years at Rosebank, Essendon; and he kindly permitted the Baptists to use the place temporarily for religious purposes. There was then in Melbourne a well-known storekeeping firm, trading as Miller and Virtue, which lent a large tent, and thus was the first Divine service of the Baptists offered, under the conductorship of Messrs. James Wilson, and the Mr. (Peter) Virtue aforesaid. This same Peter Virtue made efforts to scatter the rays of what he believed to be the true light on the benighted darkness of the present day. His misdirected enthusiasm at wharf-gatherings brought him somewhat prominently before the public a few years ago. Such an old colonial missionary has a strong claim to exceptional indulgence, and though many may disapprove of the mode in which he chose to expound his religious principles, they were entitled to a certain degree of respect, no matter hOw eccentric or erroneous may have been the course which his advanced age and strong convictions incited him to pursue.
Adult baptism by immersion is one of the recognised rites of the Baptists, and in modern times it is the practice for Baptist congregations, when means and circumstances permit, to have a species of leviathan bath, or, as it is named, a "baptistry," erected in the churches where the immersions take place; but at the period I am writing about, there were no such convenient appliances, and so when an immersion was necessary, it was effected in the sea-water at the beach, below Emerald Hill, and near the present Albert Park railway station. All this country was then a dense scrub of ti-tree and undergrowth, and there was little difficulty in constructing two arbours some distance apart, which, secured by canvas screens, formed convenient retiring rooms for the ladies and gentlemen participating in, or witnessing the ceremony. In reference to these open-air baptismal bathings, some misconception exists amongst many persons outside the pale of the Baptist denomination, in correction of which, it may be stated, that such public observances were always conducted in a solemn orthodox fashion. The persons to be immersed, and the immerser, took changes of clothing with them to the beach. They emerged from the retiring room or bower, the postulant with a long loose black gown over his or her clothes, and the operator also gowned. They then walked into the salt water two or three yards, when the operator, laying light and reverent hands upon the postulant, forced him, or her, gradually backwards until covered by the water, drew the individual up again, and thus the sacramental "dip" was consummated. The retiring-room was again resorted to, to substitute dry for wet clothing, and the ceremony was over. The first baptism by immersion took place in 1839, and the first person so religiously treated in the Colony was Mrs. Crook, the wife of the party of that name before mentioned. The operator was Mr. Robert Reeves, shipmate of the Crooks, from Sydney. I believe I am correct in stating that the celebration of this ordinance is not necessarily a " Ministerial" work, although it is generally performed by a Minister. On the second occasion there were three candidates, two ladies and a gentleman — Mrs. Mouritz, wife of the Rev. J. J. Mouritz, Miss Hart, afterwards married to Mr. Robert Ker, so long in business in Melbourne as a house and land agent; and a Mr. Hollaway, a cordwainer of the time.
The officiating celebrant in the last instance was thefirstBaptist minister in the colony, of whom a short sketch will not be out of place, especially as he was for many years a well-known citizen. John Joseph Mouritz was a native of the Irish town of Dundalk, and when a young man, for some family reason, enlisted in the 24th Regiment, and served for several years in India. On his return to England he was purchased out but being religiously inclined joined the Wesleyan connection, and subsequently the Baptists. He belonged to that section known as the Scotch Baptists, one of the chief peculiarities of which is to have no
