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 THE EUCHAEIST.
 
 THE 
 
 EUCHARIST, 
 
 HISTORY, DOCTRINE, AND PRACTICE, 
 
 MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS 
 
 SUITABLE TO THAT HOLT SACRAMENT. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM J. E. BENNETT, M.A. 
 
 IATE STODEST OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD; CURATE OF AH SOUL*'; AND MINISTER 
 OF PORTMAN CHAPEL, ST. If ARY-LB-BOXK 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 W. J. CLEAVER, 80, BAKER STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXXXVII.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 T. STANLEY, PRINTER, WHEATSHEAF-YARD, FARRINGDON STREET.
 
 Stack 
 
 Aena* 
 
 ^3 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 No clergyman can have any great degree of 
 ministerial intercourse with his parishioners, 
 without perceiving to what an endless extent 
 objections, excuses, and erroneous opinions 
 of every shade and character prevail, on the 
 subject of the Holy Communion. 
 
 As far as my own humble experience 
 has been concerned, not only among the ab- 
 solutely poor, but the middle and higher 
 classes of society, the fear and distrust 
 sometimes the ignorance which is displayed 
 on this most important subject, has been 
 truly surprising ; and it needs but very little 
 observation on the part of any man, to per- 
 ceive the extraordinary disproportion between 
 the congregations of our church, and the num- 
 ber of her regular communicants.
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 In the course of my ministerial duties, I 
 endeavoured, in the year 1835, to explain 
 from the pulpit, in a series of sermons during 
 Lent, the nature and objects of this Holy 
 Sacrament: and I repeated the same to a 
 different congregation in the year 1837. Since 
 that time I have been urged to advance still 
 further, and to commit the substance of my 
 observations to the press. Many alterations, 
 and much matter, as the reader will observe, 
 not suitable to the pulpit, has now been 
 added, and the whole is put together, as a 
 sort of manual of information on the subject 
 of THE EUCHARIST. 
 
 If Christians desire to " walk in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord 
 blameless," they will at least allow this Sa- 
 crament to be worthy of consideration. They 
 will at least allow that it is a subject on 
 which they may safely entertain a question. 
 
 Is the Eucharist an ordinance of the Lord? 
 Is it necessary for Christian men to ivalk 
 in it? And once having allowed it to be 
 entertained as a question, it surely becomes 
 their duty, according to their several abilities,
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 to answer that question by an impartial en- 
 quiry into its nature and obligation, so that 
 there may be peace between themselves and 
 God. 
 
 This is a postulate which no rational man 
 can refuse. It is the foundation upon which 
 I would beseech him to read the following 
 pages. 
 
 I do not presume to imagine that this book 
 will have any material circulation beyond the 
 congregations with whom, under the grace of 
 God, I am personally connected. For them 
 it is drawn up, and to their service it is 
 dedicated. But if it should, by the blessing 
 of the Lord, have any further extension ; if 
 it should be the means, in any one person, 
 of inducing a further and more serious con- 
 sideration of his sacramental obligations ; if 
 it should draw the steps but of one, to the 
 altar of Jesus Christ; my " labour will not be 
 in vain in the Lord." 
 
 My object has been, in the First Part, to 
 put together such a collection of matter as 
 may attract the attention of the well-educated, 
 without affecting the dryness or the depth of
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 theological learning; and I have added, as 
 a Second Part, some meditations and prayers, 
 as a weekly preparation. 
 
 May the husbandman who sows the seed, 
 in his own good time bring forth the fruit, 
 some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred 
 fold.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 .Preliminary Remarks 1 
 
 Roman Catholic and Protestant Doctrine of the Sacraments 2 
 
 The Scripture Account 10 
 
 Reason of St. John's silence ..... 12 
 
 Definition of the Eucharist ..... 20 
 
 Comparison with the Passover 23 
 
 Harmony ......... 30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 FROM ITS FIRST APPOINTMENT TO THE CLOSE OF THE SIXTH 
 
 CENTURY. 
 
 The First Century. The Scriptures ..* . , .. . 37 
 Second Century. Ignatius, Pliny, Justin Martyr, 
 
 Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria . -,., . 40
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 The Third Century. Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian . . 47 
 
 Fourth Century. Christianity the Religion of the 
 State. Basil, Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, 
 Eusebius, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, 
 Ambrose . . . ... . 52 
 
 Fifth Century. Image Worship, Vices of the 
 
 Clergy, Theodoret, Gelasius ... 65 
 
 Sixth Century. Temporal power of the Pope, 
 Canon of the Mass, Fulgentius, Facundus, 
 Ephrem, Dionysius, Hesychius, Procopius . 72 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SEVENTH, TO THE 
 CONCLUSION OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The Seventh Century. Gregory the Great, Moham- 
 med, Relics, First glance of Transubstantiation, 
 Isidore, Eligius ..... vf.oa 82 
 
 Eighth Century. Solitary Masses, Bede, John 
 
 Damascenus, Alcuinus .... 89 
 
 Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Purgatory, Masses 
 for the Dead, Bertram, Johannes Scotus, 
 Amalarius, Rabanus Maurus ... 97 
 
 Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Berenger, The real 
 presence, Communion in both kinds, Lanfranc, 
 Anselm, Theophylact, Alger . . .103 
 
 Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Council of 
 Lateran, Transubstantiation, the Host, 
 Wickliffe 111
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO 
 THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Fifteenth Century. Wickliffites, Council of Con- 
 stance, Huss, Jerome of Prague . ..-.'.'.'. 117 
 Sixteenth Century. Luther, Melancthon, Carlostadt, 
 
 Zuingle, Calvin, Consubtantiation . . 121 
 
 Henry VIII. Reformation in England . . 132 
 
 Cranmer, Advance of Religious Opinion. . 142 
 
 Edward VI. ... . . . 145 
 
 Disputations held at the Universities . . 150 
 
 Articles of 1552 . 156 
 
 Mary . . . 158 
 
 Elizabeth, Alteration of Articles . . . 159 
 
 Council of Trent . . . 163 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PRESENT FORM OF OBSERVANCE. 
 
 Place of Administration. Altar^Cloths, Chalice, &c. 170 
 
 Pre-communion. Who present, Commandments, &c. 174 
 
 Communion. Offertory . ....,;; . jgj 
 
 Invitation >,;.;:'> 189 
 
 Confession - v. ;,.-:; I 190 
 
 Absolution ... ; , ,;.*/.! jgj 
 
 Trisagium . . ,7. . 194 
 
 Consecration . t ^QJ 
 
 Post-communion. Gloria in Excelsis . .V, r . 205 
 
 Benediction . ... 206
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ERRORS ANE OBJECTIONS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Perfection necessary ..... . , . . 211 
 
 II. Mistaken passages in Scripture . . . 216 
 
 III. Not universally necessary . . -:^ 225 
 
 IV. Sin afterwards unpardoned . . . , 231 
 V. Deferring to Sickness . . ,-. . 236 
 
 VI. Want of time for Preparation . . . 242 
 
 VII. Frequency . . . . . . . 246 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MOTIVES. 
 
 I. The command of Christ . . . . 259 
 
 II. Gratitude .265 
 
 III. Extension ofChrist's kingdom upon earth . 273 
 
 IV. Our own spiritual welfare .... 285 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REQUISITES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Ecclesiastical. I. Baptism . . .$ . 294 
 
 II. Confirmation . . . . 302 
 
 Personal III. Repentance . . ... 307 
 
 IV. Charity . . . .... 312 
 
 V. Thankful remembrance ofChrist's 
 
 death . . .'/ . . 318 
 
 VI. Intention of Amendment . . 324 
 
 VII. Faith 329
 
 PART IT. 
 
 THE DIARY. 
 
 I. THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 Page 
 
 Meditation upon hearing the notice of the holy Eu- 
 charist read by the minister .... 339 
 
 II. MONDAY. 
 
 STATE OF MAN BY NATURE. 
 
 The Meditation Inability of Man . . . ''.-' 342 
 The Remedy . . .:.," 347 
 
 The Prayer . . : ] V ' ":' : ." ' ! plJp 350 
 
 HI. TUESDAY. 
 
 STATE OF MAN BY THE LAW. 
 
 The Meditation Condemnation of Man . . . 353 
 
 The Remedy . . . . ... 359 
 
 The Prayer . . . . . ' . . 362 
 
 IV. WEDNESDAY. 
 
 SINS OF HABIT. 
 
 The Meditation Difficulty of Change . . 365 
 
 The Remedy 370 
 
 The^Prayer 374
 
 CONTENTS. 
 V. THURSDAY. 
 
 SINS OF TEMPTATION. 
 
 Page 
 The Meditation Continual Danger . . . 378 
 
 The Remedy 384 
 
 The Prayer 390 
 
 VI. FRIDAY 
 
 THE GRACES OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The Meditation Difficulty of Attainment . . 394 
 
 The Means . . 401 
 
 The Prayer . . 405 
 
 VII. SATURDAY. 
 
 HEAVENLY MINDEDNESS. 
 
 The Meditation Difficulty of Attainment . . 408 
 
 The Means . .... 415 
 
 The Prayer .... . 420 
 
 VIII. THE MORNING OF THE EUCHARIST 
 A Prayer 424 
 
 IX. AFTER THE RECEPTION OF THE EUCHARIST. 
 A Prayer 427
 
 THE EUCHARIST. 
 PART I. 
 
 HISTORY, DOCTRINE, AND PRACTICE. 
 
 " Before all things, this we must be sure of especially, that 
 this Supper be in such wise done and administered, as 
 our Lord and Saviour did, and commanded to be done ; 
 as his holy apostles used it, and the good fathers in the 
 primitive church frequented it." CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
 HOMILY. 
 
 " If ye love me, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS." John xiv. 15.
 
 THE EUCHARIST. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 LUKE xxii. 15. 
 
 And he said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat THIS 
 PASSOVER with you before I suffer. 
 
 EVERY religion has certain forms and ceremo- 
 nies by which its professors are distinguished 
 certain badges or tokens by which mankind 
 publicly proclaim their assent and concurrence 
 in the faith which that religion upholds. 
 
 In human institutions, and societies which are 
 established for the mutual protection, or mutual 
 pleasure, of the community, a man cannot be 
 called a member, cannot be allowed to share the 
 benefits which they propose, or enjoy the privi- 
 leges which they confer, unless he professedly 
 conforms to their usages, and obeys their rules. 
 How, therefore, in a church, or religious society, 
 can a man be called a member, or hope to share 
 the benefits which are held forth, or enjoy the 
 
 A
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 privileges which are conferred unless, in the 
 same manner, he openly coincides with the pub- 
 lic usages, and obeys the common laws which 
 such an institution considers to be necessary? 
 Now, in the Christian religion, in what do we 
 find these ordinances, or public usages, or common 
 laws, to consist ? for whatever they may be, those 
 only can be said to be members of that religion, 
 who have conformed, or intend to conform, to them. 
 First, then, we find the Christian religion to 
 be parted into two great divisions; one called 
 the Roman Catholic the other, the Protestant, 
 or reformed church; and if we enter into the 
 causes of this division, we shall find that they 
 consist very mainly in the different opinions 
 
 x_ 
 
 which they hold respecting these very ordi- 
 nances. But let us observe, although the two 
 churches diifer, although they separate from one 
 another in consequence of that difference, and 
 set up rules of faith in direct opposition one to 
 another, on many material points ; still they both 
 agree in the great and fundamental axiom with 
 which we are at present dealing : namely, that 
 there are some ordinances in the Christian religion 
 which are necessary to be observed ; they both say 
 that no man can be a member of the church of 
 Christ, unless he perform those ordinances which 
 the church of Christ has commanded ; and it does 
 not therefore interfere with the point at issue, 
 that there should be any difference of opinion as 
 to what those ordinances should be if anything,
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 3 
 
 it increases the principle and strength of the con- 
 clusion, namely, that in every church there is 
 a necessity of conforming with such public ordi- 
 nances, usages, and ceremonies, as that church, 
 or religious society, maintains. And mark! a 
 matter of necessity, not a matter of choice. 
 
 Whether, therefore, a Christian be a Roman 
 Catholic, or Protestant, there can be no loop- 
 hole or evasion by which he may escape the duty 
 of performing those outward rites which his 
 church has ordained. If he refuse to perform 
 them, he cannot be a member of that church, 
 for he virtually withdraws himself from her. 
 He virtually gives up the benefits which are 
 held out. He virtually says to this effect: I 
 differ from you on the obligation of this or that 
 law, which you, as a body, have commanded; 
 / do not deem necessary, that which you do 
 deem necessary ; I will not observe those forms 
 which you assert to be necessary for the right 
 constitution of a member of your society ; I 
 therefore, am no longer a member of you; I 
 withdraw from your institution. 
 
 The obligation then of performing those ordi- 
 nances which the church appoints, being once 
 established ; let us go on to see what those or- 
 dinances are : In the Roman Catholic division, 
 we shall find that they consist of seven distinct 
 ceremonies. In the Protestant, we shall find 
 that they consist of two distinct ceremonies. 
 These are called sacraments. The seven of the 
 
 A 2
 
 4 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 Roman Catholic church, are Confirmation, Mar- 
 riage, Holy Orders, Penance, Extreme Unction, 
 Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Of these, the 
 Church of England considers four as holy cere- 
 monies, having services in her liturgy for each : 
 the Confirmation service the Marriage service 
 the Ordination service and the Commina- 
 tion, " or, denouncing of God's anger and judg- 
 ment against sinners," which is used on the 
 first day of Lent, but she will not allow them 
 to be sacraments Extreme Unction she en- 
 tirely rejects as unscriptural and on the re- 
 maining two only, she agrees with the Roman 
 church, in pronouncing them sacraments, and 
 necessary to salvation* 
 
 * The doctrine of the two churches, as to the sacraments, 
 is thus set forth : 
 
 "Those five, commonly called sacraments, that is to say, 
 confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction, 
 are not to be counted for sacraments of the gospel, being 
 such as have grown, partly of the corrupt following of the 
 apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the scriptures, but 
 yet have not like nature of sacraments with baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or 
 ceremony ordained by God." Articles of the Church of 
 England. Art. xxv. 
 
 " If any man shall say, that the sacraments of the new law 
 were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or that they 
 are more or fewer in number than seven: namely, baptism, 
 confirmation, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, 
 and matrimony ; or, that any of these seven is not truly and 
 properly a sacrament, let him be accursed." Council of 
 Trent, of the Sacraments. Canon i.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 5 
 
 Now, in contemplating this most important 
 subject, there are three points upon which our 
 conviction must be ascertained, before we can be 
 able fully to appreciate the nature and value of 
 a sacrament. First, it seems to be required, that 
 ftny sacred rite or ceremony which is neces- 
 sary for the constitution of a member of the 
 church, should have for its authority, no other 
 than the divine Founder of that church.* Se- 
 condly it must be allowed, that that which is 
 appointed as a universal law, should be univer- 
 sally applicable. Thirdly it must be allowed, 
 that there should be a specific object in the ap- 
 pointment. Now, trying the seven sacraments 
 of the Roman church by these tests, five of 
 them will immediately fall to the ground; 
 marriage and ordination, by the second rule, 
 because they are not universally applicable, 
 there being no command in the word of God 
 that all should enter the state of marriage, and it 
 being impossible that all should enter the state 
 of holy orders : penance is set aside, either by 
 the first rule, or by the third taking it as an 
 outward mortification of the body, it is no- 
 
 * " The only author of a sacrament is God; first, because he 
 is the only author of the promise and covenant of grace, and 
 whosesoever part it is to promise and give the grace, his part 
 it is to seal it. Secondly, God is the only author of the word, 
 therefore, of the sacraments, which are the visible word. 
 Thirdly, the sacraments are a part of divine worship, and di- 
 vine worship can only be instituted by God." Turretin, 
 Instit. Theol. Elenct. Locus decimus nonus.
 
 6 
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 where commanded ; taking it as a general mor- 
 tification of the soul, there is no specific object ; 
 repentance being a general emotjon of the mind, 
 and no more a sacrament than hope, faith, 
 humility, or any other Christian duty arising 
 from spiritual emotions : confirmation and ex- 
 treme unction are set aside by the first rule, 
 because never appointed by the divine Author 
 of our religion, confirmation being an aposto- 
 lic ordinance appointed after the death of Christ, 
 and extreme unction being only a partial and 
 temporary institution mentioned in an acci- 
 dental manner by one of the apostles.* These 
 five being put aside, we are brought to the 
 
 * To shew the ground upon which extreme unction is ac- 
 counted a sacrament in the Roman church, while it is disre- 
 garded even as a religious ceremony by the Anglican church, 
 we cannot do better than refer to the Council of Trent, which 
 speaks as follows: 
 
 "Op THE SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION. 
 
 " This Holy Unction of the sick, was instituted by our Lord 
 Christ, truly and properly a sacrament of the New Testament, 
 as is implied indeed by St. Mark, but commanded and pro- 
 mulgated to the faithful by James the Apostle, and brother of 
 the Lord," &c. 
 
 And the first canon upon this point, stands as follows: 
 " If any man shall say that extreme unction is not truly or 
 properly a sacrament instituted by our Lord, and promulgated 
 by the blessed Apostle James, but only a rite received from the 
 fathers, let him be accursed." And the passage in St. Mark, 
 above referred to, is found in chap. vi. ver. 13, where there is not 
 the slightest hint of any institution of a general sacrament, but 
 only an account of the bodily healing, miraculously effected by
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 7 
 
 remaining two ; and these we are prepared to 
 shew to be perfect in the three points or rules 
 above laid down : First, appointed by Jesus 
 Christ, the divine Founder of our church ; 
 Secondly, universally applicable ; and Thirdly, 
 having a specific object : and therefore, while 
 we reject the others, we agree with the church 
 of Rome in considering them necessary to sal- 
 vation : These we consider as the command- 
 ments of our Lord, and therefore, the only and 
 the necessary method by which a man is con- 
 stituted a member of the church of Christ, a 
 child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom 
 of heaven. 
 
 The two sacraments then of the church of 
 England, are baptism and the Supper of the 
 Lord ; baptism, the initiatory rite by which a 
 man is first admitted into Christ's church, in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 
 the twelve apostles, in which they had used the common Jewish 
 ceremony of anointing. The passage in St. James, is in chap. v. 
 ver. 14, where again the allusion is made to the healing of 
 the body, not the soul, and no notion can be traced of any 
 inward and spiritual grace. To these passages they may add 
 1 John v. 16, but in all, the very texts brought forward are the 
 best refutation of the whole doctrine. In all the instances of 
 anointing the sick, the miraculous cure was effected, and the 
 sick arose in recovered bodily health ; whereas, the Romanists 
 never administer their so called sacrament of extreme unction 
 to any but those at the point of death, and who they think, 
 at the time of administering, will not recover* See, upon this 
 subject, Macknight on 1 John v. 16.
 
 8 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 of the Holy Ghost ; and the Lord's Supper, 
 by which a man, having been previously ad- 
 mitted, continues himself a member of the church, 
 by representing from time to time, upon cer- 
 tain conditions, and in a certain specified manner, 
 his adherence to that faith which he com- 
 menced at his baptism. They are called sacra- 
 ments* from the resemblance which they bear 
 to the oath of the Roman soldier, by which 
 oath, fidelity was promised on the part of the 
 soldier to his general. In the like manner, in 
 baptism, fidelity to God is promised on the 
 part of the person baptized, and in the Lords 
 Supper, on the part of the communicant. 
 
 The latter of these two sacraments is the one 
 to which our attention is at present more par- 
 ticuarly called, because, baptism being the way 
 of admittance into the church, and being in 
 general performed in infancy, there never arises 
 
 * Augustin says, that they are called sacraments, " because 
 they are signs pertaining to sacred things." The schoolmen 
 say, that a sacrament is "the visible form of an invisible 
 grace." The Council of Trent says, "a sacrament is a thing 
 subject to the senses, which has the force, not only of signify- 
 ing a grace, but also of producing it." St. Paul's definition is, 
 " the sign and seal of the righteousness of faith." Rom. iv. 2. 
 Therefore, upon the whole, we may say that sacraments are signs 
 and seals, sacred, visible, and divinely instituted, for the sake 
 of signifying, and sealing to our consciences, the promises of 
 saving grace in Christ, and in turn, for the sake of testifying 
 our faith, and affection, and obedience towards God." 
 Turretin.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 any question upon the necessity of its obser- 
 vance: but in the case of the Lord's Supper, 
 too many think themselves at liberty to reject 
 or observe it according to their own pleasure. 
 They have already become members of the 
 church by baptism ; but the question is, whether 
 they will continue members of the church ? and 
 though, unfortunately, many thousands of per- 
 sons never consider any other sacrament, than 
 that of baptism, at all necessary to their being 
 Christians ; yet, that individual opinion proves 
 nothing, when set against the authority of the 
 church ; and the church, positively and with- 
 out hesitation, affirms, upon the command of 
 Christ, that the observance of one sacrament 
 is as necessary to salvation as the other. Our 
 baptismal covenant is to be renewed, from time 
 to time, in the further covenant of the Lord's 
 Supper. We must re-register our names in the 
 book of life. Both 'sacraments are necessary 
 to salvation, not one without the other, but 
 both. A man would be surprised to have the 
 title of Christian denied him, because, having 
 arrived at mature age, he has never partaken 
 of the Lord's Supper ; but surely (I put it 
 strongly, but, I think, truly) that man who de- 
 liberately says, " I will never participate in the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper," does, in fact, 
 withdraw himself from the church of Christ 
 does, in fact, rescind the covenant made at his 
 baptism, and can with no better reason call
 
 10 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 himself a member of the church of Christ, than 
 he who has never been baptized. 
 
 The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is gene- 
 rally denominated by Christians, " the Sacra- 
 ment." Emphatically so, as being the only one 
 that requires repetition, and the only one upon 
 which any discussion, as just now explained, 
 can arise. It is called " the Lords Supper" or 
 " Eucharist" Eucharist, from a Greek word, 
 signifying, " giving thanks," which word is found 
 in all the accounts oT the institution contained 
 in the scripture ; and "Lord's Supper," obviously 
 from its being instituted at the last supper of 
 which our blessed Lord partook with his disci- 
 ples.* Three of the evangelists, together with 
 the apostle St. Paul, have given a direct account 
 of this sacred ordinance. In that which stands 
 as the first gospel in our bible, St. Matthew, the 
 words are these : " Now when even was come, 
 
 * The names of this holy sacrament annexed according to 
 date, are thus given by Waterland : 
 
 A.D. 33. Breaking of bread, Acts ii. 42. 46. Acts xx. 7. 
 
 57. Communion, 1 Cor. x. 16. 
 
 57. Lord's Supper. 1 Cor. xi. 20. 
 
 96. Oblation, Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus. 
 104. Sacrament, Tertullian, Cyprian. 
 107. Eucharist, Ignatius, Justin Martyr. 
 150. Sacrifice, Justin Martyr, Cyprian. 
 150. Commemoration, Justin Martyr, Origen, Eusebius. 
 249. Passover, Origen, Hilary, Jerome. 
 385. Mass, Ambrose, &c. 
 
 Waterland 's Review, Cap. I.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 11 
 
 he sat down with the twelve And as they 
 
 were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and 
 brake it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, 
 Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, 
 and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 
 Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the 
 new testament, which is shed for many for the 
 remission of sins."* The next account is in St. 
 Mark, as follows : " And as they did eat, Jesus 
 took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave 
 to them, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And 
 he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, 
 he gave it to them: and they all drank of it, and 
 he said unto them, This is my blood of the 
 new testament, which is shed for many."+ The 
 account of St. Luke, which is next in order, runs 
 thus : " And he took bread, and gave thanks, 
 and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This 
 is my body which is given for you : This do in 
 remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup 
 after supper, saying, This cup is the new tes- 
 tament in my blood, which is shed for you ;"J 
 where it is to be observed that he makes this 
 remarkable addition to the accounts of St. 
 Matthew and St. Mark : " This do in remem- 
 brance of me." Next, the apostle St. Paul gives 
 nearly the same account as St. Luke : " The 
 Lord Jesus the same night in which he was 
 betrayed took bread : and when he had given 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 20. 2328. t Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii.19.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat : this is 
 my body, which is broken for you : this do in 
 remembrance of me. After the same manner 
 also he took the cup, when he had supped, 
 saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
 blood : this do ye as oft as ye drink it, in remem- 
 brance of me. For as often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's 
 death till he come."* Where, in addition to what 
 had before been said by St. Luke, the apostle 
 adds the remarkable intimation, that the insti- 
 tution of the Eucharist was to be the means of 
 keeping up the remembrance of Jesus Christ, 
 " until he come" that is, until the end of the 
 world ; and that therefore it was a perpetual 
 and never-ceasing symbol, to be borne by the 
 faithful ; one by which they might display their 
 faith, one by which the merits of Christ's death 
 might be from time to time vividly set forth, 
 and represented to the world. 
 
 Our attention has no doubt been directed to 
 one particular circumstance in this collation 
 of the accounts the silence of the evangelist 
 St. John. This evangelist nowhere formally 
 records the institution : the beloved apostle, 
 who was with his master continually, as his most 
 chosen friend and beloved companion, fails to 
 give any detailed account of this dying command 
 of his Lord. This omission may seem remark- 
 
 * 1 Cor. xi. 23, and following verses.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 13 
 
 able ; but upon a little examination, the difficulty 
 is soon cleared up. In order to do this, let us 
 first take St. Matthew's account of those circum- 
 stances which were previous, and those which 
 were subsequent, to the institution of the Eucha- 
 rist, and then compare them with the same cir- 
 cumstances as related by St. John. We shall 
 thus perceive more closely what St. John omits, 
 and where he coincides with the relation of his 
 brother evangelists.* 
 
 In the twenty-first chapter of St. Matthew, 
 we find our Saviour entering into Jerusalem 
 upon an ass, and casting out the buyers and 
 sellers from the temple. The intervening chap- 
 ters between the twenty-first and twenty-sixth 
 are occupied by various parables and prophe- 
 cies. In the twenty-sixth chapter two days 
 before the Passover, we find Jesus in con- 
 versation with his disciples, and the woman 
 pouring the alabaster box of ointment upon his 
 head. Then in the seventeenth verse, on the 
 first day of the feast of unleavened bread, we 
 find the disciples asking our Lord where they 
 should prepare the feast of the passover. In 
 the twentieth verse we find him sitting down to 
 meat with the twelve, proclaiming to Judas his 
 knowledge of the treachery meditated against 
 him, and then immediately after, instituting the 
 Eucharist. The accounts given by St. Mark and 
 
 * See the Harmony at the end of this chapter.
 
 14 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 St. Luke of the same period of time, namely, 
 between the entry of Christ into Jerusalem, and 
 the institution of the Eucharist, differ but little ; 
 St. Luke only mentioning, in addition, the con- 
 tention of the disciples as to which should be the 
 greatest.* Now, therefore, turning to St. John 
 let us look for his account of the same period of 
 time. In the twelfth chapter we shall find the 
 public entry into Jerusalem, and in the thir- 
 teenth chapter we shall find the following des- 
 cription : " Now before the feast of the Pas- 
 sover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come 
 that he should depart out of this world unto 
 the Father, having loved his own which were in 
 the world, he loved them unto the end. And 
 supper being ended, the devil having now put 
 into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, 
 to betray him." Now this expression, " supper 
 being ended" cannot mean the whole of the 
 paschal supper, because we find our Saviour, in 
 a few verses subsequent, adverting to the sop by 
 which the betrayer was distinguished, and this 
 sop must have been given during the supper. 
 The whole of the supper then was not ended. 
 The truth is, that the paschal supper was obser- 
 ved in two parts, first the eating of unleavened 
 bread and bitter herbs, which was called the 
 antepast, or preparation, and then the actual 
 eating of the paschal lamb. Therefore the ex- 
 
 * Luke xxii. 24.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 15 
 
 pression of St. John, " supper being ended" must 
 mean the antepast, or first part of the paschal 
 supper. After which, as the evangelist continues 
 at the fourth verse, " He riseth from supper, 
 and laid aside his garments ; and took a towel 
 and girded himself. After that he poureth water 
 into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' 
 feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith 
 he was girded." Now here again, this circum- 
 stance of washing his disciple's feet is not related 
 at all by the other evangelists, and if we com- 
 pare it with St. Luke, it may seem to agree 
 with another circumstance in which he (St. Luke) 
 stands alone in recording, namely, the contention 
 of the disciples as to one being greater than ano- 
 ther. Only supposing that St. Luke placed the 
 circumstance of the contention after the antepast 
 instead of the whole supper, and we shall then 
 have a very consistent arrangement. And we 
 may do so with great propriety, because we 
 should hardly conceive it possible that the 
 disciples should have this contention after so 
 solemn an institution as the Eucharist, an 
 institution of peace, equality, and humility, 
 and, even setting that aside, that they should 
 even do so, after the manifest rebuke conveyed, 
 by the washing of their feet, by their own Mas- 
 ter and Lord. Keeping, however, St. John in 
 view after the washing of the feet, and the 
 conversation which arose in consequence of it, 
 between our Saviour and Peter, which is con-
 
 16 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 tained between the 4th and 17th verses, the 
 paschal lamb (the remaining part of the sup- 
 per, which was yet unfinished) was then brought 
 in. Then arises the conversation between Peter, 
 John, and Jesus,* by which Judas is marked 
 out as the betrayer of his Lord, and after this 
 we find no further notice taken of the paschal 
 supper. From the 14th to the 17th chapters, 
 inclusive, the whole subject is occupied in 
 conversations between Jesus and his disciples, 
 prayers for their comfort, and assurances of his 
 love. In the 18th chapter Jesus is betrayed, 
 then arraigned, condemned, and crucified. 
 
 So that we see, from this short summary, 
 that no mention whatever is made by St. John 
 of the Eucharist. The supper itself is described 
 even more minutely, and with greater circum- 
 stance than by the other evangelists, many con- 
 versations are given which were not related in 
 the other gospels, and yet not one word of that 
 ceremony, which was the last, and almost dying 
 command, of our blessed Lord. Now how shall 
 we account for this ? We shall account for it 
 by two observations : First, St. John wrote 
 his gospel many years after the establishment 
 of Christianity. It is probable that his gospel 
 was not published until the year 97, nearly 
 thirty years after the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 Considering the number of years in which the 
 
 * Verse 23.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 17 
 
 Christian religion had been in existence, and 
 knowing, as we do, from other parts of sacred 
 scripture, that the Lord's Supper was then a 
 regular and established custom, it would seem 
 quite unnecessary that St. John should enter 
 into any historical account of an institution, of 
 which there were already four historical accounts 
 published and known among Christians. I say 
 four, because the account given by St. Paul, we 
 must always remember, was antecedent to the 
 time of St. John. The Eucharist was at that 
 time daily celebrated in the Christian church. 
 Every Christian knew what it was. The three 
 previous gospels had amply explained its nature 
 and its history, and therefore St. John naturally 
 enough passes it over, as he does many other 
 points which are given by his brother evangelists, 
 as a thing well known and understood. Secondly, 
 though St. John does not mention the institu- 
 tion in any direct manner, yet he describes a very 
 remarkable conversation, in which our Saviour 
 makes allusion to it, just as it might be supposed 
 that a person would make allusion to an institu- 
 tion in daily use. In the sixth chapter, Jesus is 
 described as saying to the Jews, "I am the 
 living bread which came down from Heaven : if 
 any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever : 
 and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which 
 I will give for the life of the world."* And again, 
 
 * John vi. 51. 
 B
 
 18 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat 
 the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, 
 ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my 
 flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; 
 and I will raise him up at the last day. For my 
 flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink 
 indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As 
 the living Father hath sent me, and I live by 
 the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall 
 live by me. This is that bread that came 
 down from Heaven, not as your fathers did eat 
 manna, and are dead. He that eateth of this 
 bread shall live for ever."* Now what can be 
 more apposite and decided than the whole of 
 this passage ? It is related with no comment 
 or explanation, but as a thing well known to 
 the Christians for whom the evangelist was 
 writing; the flesh of Christ representing the 
 bread, and the blood being signified by the wine 
 in the Eucharist, and the eating and drinking of 
 that flesh and blood causing mankind, through 
 faith, to dwell in Christ, and Christ in them. 
 
 I take, therefore, the four gospels, and the 
 Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, as furnish- 
 ing together the great evidence of our Sacrament 
 of the Eucharist, and the sum of the whole 
 amounts shortly to this : Our Saviour knowing 
 
 * John vi. 53 58. This expression is borrowed in our present 
 service of the communion. See the prayer before the consecra- 
 tion, "That we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us."
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 19 
 
 that he was about to be betrayed into the hands 
 of the Jews, and foreseeing that he was about to 
 suffer upon the cross an ignominious death, by 
 which death the sins of mankind were to be 
 remitted and forgiven, determined, before that 
 event should take place, to leave among his 
 disciples some ordinance or ceremony com- 
 memorative both of the death which he died, 
 and of the benefits procured by that death. He 
 had told his disciples that his body should be 
 broken, and his blood poured out upon the 
 cross ; he therefore took bread, and brake it, and 
 wine, and poured it out. Lastly, he commanded 
 his followers perpetually and unceasingly to ob- 
 serve this ordinance, even unto the end of the 
 world the breaking of bread as a memorial of 
 his broken body, the pouring out of wine as a 
 remembrance of his blood shed upon the cross. 
 He signified to them, by mentioning the words, 
 " My blood of the new testament? that this eating 
 and drinking the bread and wine was the sign of a 
 new covenant between God and man, and that 
 therefore from the time of his approaching death, 
 the old covenant of the Jews would be at an end. 
 The seal of the old covenant was, the " blood of 
 bulls and goats ;" but, as St. Paul says, in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, " It was not possible 
 that the blood of bulls and goats should take 
 away sin ; " therefore, saith Christ, a " body " shall 
 be prepared as a sacrifice a human body and 
 that sacrifice shall be, once for all, continuous
 
 20 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 and everlasting ; and the blood of the new sacri- 
 fice shall be the seal of this new covenant. The 
 blood of Jesus, commemorated and represented 
 in the Eucharist, shall be the sign of t^e new 
 covenant between a reconciled God and his par- 
 doned creatures. 
 
 What, then, is the sacrament of the Eucharist ? 
 It is this a symbolical commemoration, insti- 
 tuted by Christ himself, of the sacrifice of his 
 death. It is, moreover, a federal act between 
 God and man an act by which man signifies to 
 God his faith and obedience, and God signifies 
 and promises to man inward and spiritual grace ; 
 and therefore it is, as expressed in the articles of 
 our church, " A badge or token of a Christian 
 man's profession, and not only that, but a certain 
 sure witness, and effectual sign of grace, and 
 God's good will towards us ; and doth not only 
 quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our 
 faith in Him." There is an intermixture of four 
 distinct notions a covenant, a sacrifice, a feast, 
 and an act of commemoration. Neither one or 
 the other, by themselves, could hold good ; but 
 the whole four united together define the sacra- 
 ment. The notion of performing a sacrifice, and 
 upon that sacrifice instituting a feast, and by 
 that feast ratifying a covenant ; and the whole 
 ceremony, thus constituting an act of memorial, 
 has existed from the earliest ages.* The greatest 
 
 * See Gen. xxvi. 31. The covenant made between Abime-
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 21 
 
 and most remarkable instance is the Passover. 
 The sacrifice of the lamb, the eating of the lamb, 
 which constitutes the feast, the covenant thereby 
 ratified between the Israelites and God, and the 
 memorial thereby established of the deliverance 
 from Egypt. And here it is that the great dis- 
 tinction arises between the Roman and the 
 Anglican church. The Roman church makes the 
 Eucharist a sacrifice. They affirm that the body 
 of Jesus is again offered up to God by the hands 
 of the priest ;* but we affirm that it is only 
 
 lech and Isaac. See also Exod. xxxiv. 15, and 1 Samuel 
 i. 24, where Hannah, according to her vow, offers her child 
 Samuel unto the Lord, and it is said, "And they slew a 
 bullock and brought the child to Eli." To these instances 
 from scripture, the classical reader will readily add abundant 
 testimony from heathen writers ; particularly he will remem- 
 ber, Homer, Book i. 455, and iii. 290, and in fact, every 
 ancient author abounds in similar testimony. So that Cud- 
 worth, in his treatise, says of paganism, that it is "nothing 
 but Judaism degenerate." 
 
 For a more full enquiry into the above very interesting par- 
 ticulars, see Cudicorth. 
 
 * That I may not appear to exaggerate the errors of the 
 church of Rome, I quote from the Council of Trent, the three 
 first canons of the sacrifice of the mass. 
 
 "CANON I. 
 
 "If any man shall say, that there is not offered to God in 
 the mass, a true and proper sacrifice ; or, if he shall say, that 
 that which is offered, is nothing else than that Christ is given 
 us to eat; let him be accursed." 
 
 " CANON II. 
 
 " If any man shall say, that in the words ' Do this in remem- 
 brance of me : ' Christ did not appoint the apostles to be priests,
 
 22 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 a feast upon a sacrifice, that Jesus has been 
 once offered that he never can be offered again, 
 but that we, after the custom of a sacrifice, pre- 
 sent unto God bread and wine before his altar ; 
 and that upon that bread and wine so offered, 
 we make a feast, recording the original and real 
 sacrifice. Thus it is that St. Paul, when desirous 
 to warn the Corinthian converts from presenting 
 themselves at the idolatrous feasts of heathens, 
 or from eating meat which had been offered to 
 idols, expressly institutes a comparison between 
 the Lord's Supper, as a sacrificial feast, and the 
 idolatrous sacrificial feasts of the heathens. He 
 says : " The cup of blessing which we bless, is 
 it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? 
 The bread which we break, is it not the commu- 
 nion of the body of Christ ? Behold Israel after 
 the flesh ; are not they which eat of the sacri- 
 fices partakers of the altar ? "* And then, after- 
 wards " Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord, 
 and the cup of devils ; ye cannot be partakers of 
 the Lord's table, and the table of devils." Where 
 
 or did not ordain that they and other priests should offer his 
 body and blood ; let him be accursed." 
 
 "CANON III. 
 
 " If any man shall say, that the sacrifice of the mass is only 
 one of praise and thanksgiving, or a bare commemoration of 
 the sacrifice which was made upon the cross, but not propitia- 
 tory ; or that it profits him alone who receives it, and ought 
 not to be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, punish- 
 ments, satisfactions, and other necessities; let him be accursed." 
 * 1 Cor. x. 16. 18.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 23 
 
 the argument evidently is this : You must not, in 
 the heathen sacrifice, partake of the feast which 
 they celebrate ; because, by so doing, you would 
 be as much partakers, and in communion with 
 their false worship of demons, as you are by par- 
 taking of the cup and of the bread in the 
 Eucharist, in communion with the blood and the 
 body of Christ, for they both are sacrificial feasts. 
 While, then, we must be cautious how we fall 
 into any notion derogatory to the dignity of this 
 sacrament, by supposing it a mere act of com- 
 memoration, or a mere renewal of a former 
 pledge between ourselves and God, we must at 
 the same time be equally cautious lest we ima- 
 gine any renewal of the once offered sacrifice of 
 Jesus Christ. The sacrifice has been made once 
 for all. We record it in the bread and wine 
 offered. Upon this we make a feast of joy and 
 thanksgiving, renew our promises to God, and 
 God renews his promises to us ; and the altar, 
 and the priest, and the oblation, are symbolical 
 and commemorative of the glorious privileges 
 which Jesus purchased for us at the price of his 
 own sufferings and death. 
 
 Lastly, as an explanation of the nature and 
 design of the Eucharist, a very curious ana- 
 logy may be traced between the passover of 
 the Jews, and that which may very justly be 
 called the passover of the Christians. At the 
 time our Saviour instituted the Eucharist, the
 
 24 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 Mosaic dispensation was at its close. The Holy 
 of Holies was about to be thrown open, and 
 man was about to be reconciled to God by the 
 sacrifice of his only Son. The long series of 
 prophecies were now about to be accomplished : 
 the types, the figures, the offerings and sacri- 
 fices of the Levitical law were at an end. The 
 lamb slain at the passover merely prefigured 
 the crucifixion of the Lamb of God ; the blood 
 sprinkled on the door-post and lintel merely 
 prefigured the blood to be sprinkled on the 
 hearts of men by the piercing of the soldier's 
 spear ; and, inasmuch as God thought fit to 
 shadow forth these things to mankind, before 
 they took place, so it seems natural that he 
 should institute ordinances in commemoration 
 of them, after they had taken place. What 
 the passover was to the Jews, the Eucharist is 
 to us : St. Paul expressly says, " Christ our 
 passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep 
 the feast, not with the old leaven, but with the 
 unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 
 
 But the similarity is the more curious, the 
 more closely we examine. For a due parti- 
 cipation in the passover, the previous rite of 
 circumcision was demanded as essential : " No 
 stranger was to partake thereof." For a due 
 participation in the Eucharist, the previous 
 sacrament of baptism is deemed essential. In 
 the paschal supper, the master of the family
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 25 
 
 began the feast with a cup of wine, which 
 he solemnly blest. So our Saviour, before 
 the institution of the Eucharist, at the com- 
 mencement of the feast, as we read in St. Luke, 
 " took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, 
 Take this and divide it among yourselves." In 
 the passover, some of the younger persons of 
 the family, generally a child, stood forth and 
 asked the reason of the feast ; and to answer 
 this question, the master of the family detailed 
 the history of the destroying angel passing 
 over the children of the Israelites. So, in just 
 accordance with this, is the expression of 
 Jesus in St. Paul, " For by this do ye 
 shew forth the Lord's death till he come." 
 In the passover the master of the feast rose 
 up and washed his hands; Jesus rose up and 
 girded himself, and washed his disciples' feet. 
 In the passover, the lamb being tasted, the 
 feast was concluded by a cup of wine, which 
 was called the cup of blessing, because, they 
 sanctified it, and gave thanks for it by bless- 
 ing; God. So also Christ, when he took the 
 
 O ' 
 
 sacramental cup, gave thanks and pronounced 
 a blessing over it. Still more, as he who 
 wilfully refused to keep the passover, " bore 
 his own sin" and was " cut off from Israel," 
 so surely we may imply that he who neg- 
 lects the Eucharist in the Christian dispen- 
 sation, renounces all the benefits which are 
 derived from the Saviour's death, and shall,
 
 26 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 in the same way, bear his own sins* And 
 lastly, as the passover was commanded to be 
 kept in force until the coming of the Saviour 
 to bring the glad tidings of the gospel, so 
 is the Eucharist to remain in force, untiL the 
 second and final coming of the Saviour to judge 
 the world. At the passover, the Eucharist was 
 appointed. Then did the real lamb take place 
 of the typical lamb; the deliverance from 
 sin stood in the place of the deliverance from 
 Egypt; the promises of heaven in the place 
 of the promises of Canaan. 
 
 Let us dwell on these things, let us acknow- 
 ledge in this sacrifice as distinctly marked by 
 the finger of God, the shadows of the future ; as 
 we can distinctly trace the certainty of the past. 
 The destroying angel passed over the houses of 
 the children of Israel, when he saw their door- 
 posts marked by the blood of the slain lamb. 
 We also have a lamb ; we have a destroying 
 angel, and we have a sign by which that 
 destroying angel may be induced to pass us 
 by. Only let us have our hearts sprinkled 
 by the blood of Jesus, only let us, as a sign 
 of that blood, betake ourselves to his altar in 
 
 * If the reader is desirous of pursuing this analogy with the 
 accuracy it deserves, he is requested carefully to read the 12th 
 chapter of the book of Exodus ; and if anything of a more 
 learned enquiry should be wished, see Cud worth's Treatise, 
 Adam Clarke's Discourse, Waterland, and Lightfoot ; all which 
 authors are easy of access.
 
 NATURE AND DESIGN. 27 
 
 faith and obedience. The Israelites might have 
 said, " Why should not God save us, though 
 we omit this outward sign ? Inward belief is 
 better." So they who imagine that they have 
 this inward faith, may be tempted to despise 
 the outward sign. But the sign is the very 
 thing that God requires. It is the sprinkling 
 of blood that the destroying angel now, as well 
 as then, looks for, and the sign of faith to 
 Christians is " THE EUCHARIST." It is the sign 
 of the covenant between them and God. Chris- 
 tians are, as it were, in Egypt, in bondage 
 to death, in the wages of sin and if they will 
 go forth, if they will be redeemed, if while 
 the work of death is going on among the 
 first-born of the Egyptians, they are willing 
 to escape, if they desire to look onwards from 
 this miserable scene of bondage to the land of 
 promise, a land flowing with milk and honey 
 then must they slay their lamb, sprinkle the 
 door-post with his blood, eat of the flesh, yea, 
 even with bitter herbs and unleavened bread 
 the bitter herbs of repentance, the unleavened 
 bread of sincerity and truth ; they must have 
 their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, 
 their staves in their hand, as men ready for 
 their journey. "It is the Lord's Eucharist." 
 By that sign the crucified Jesus are they as 
 Christians known ; by the bread and wine, 
 that is, the body and blood of Jesus, are they 
 " separated from sinners, and come out from
 
 28 NATURE AND DESIGN. 
 
 among them." These, and these only, are their 
 passports out of the house of bondage ; these, 
 and these only, are the tokens of their cove- 
 nant with God ; these, and these only, will be 
 the signs of their hope, their obedience, their 
 faith in short their Christianity when death, 
 the destroying angel of the Lord Jehovah, 
 shall pass over their dwellings in the day of 
 his visitation.
 
 HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS, 
 
 ST. PAUL'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 THE EUCHARIST.
 
 30 
 
 HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS, AND ST. PAUL'S FIRST 
 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 ST. MARK. 
 
 
 xxvi. 1720. 
 
 xiv. 1217. 
 
 
 Now the first day of the 
 
 And the first day of un- 
 
 
 feast of unleavened bread 
 
 leavened bread, when 
 
 
 the disciples came to Je- 
 
 they killed the passover, 
 
 
 sus, saying unto him, 
 
 his disciples said unto 
 
 
 Where wilt thou that we 
 
 him, Where wilt thou 
 
 THE PREPARATIONS 
 
 prepare for thee to eat 
 
 that we go and prepare, 
 
 
 the passover ? 
 
 that thou mayest eat the 
 
 
 And he said, Go into 
 
 passover ? 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 the city to such a man, 
 
 And he sendeth forth 
 
 
 and say unto him, The 
 
 two of his disciples, and 
 
 
 Master saith, My time 
 
 saith unto them, Go ye 
 
 PASSOVER, 
 
 is at hand ; I will keep 
 
 into the city, and there 
 
 AND THE 
 
 the passover at thy house 
 with my disciples. 
 And the disciples did 
 
 shall meet you a man 
 bearing a pitcher of wa- 
 ter : follow him. 
 
 
 as Jesus had appointed 
 
 And wheresoever he 
 
 COMMENCEMENT 
 
 them ; and they made 
 ready the passover. 
 Now when the even 
 
 shall go in, say ye to the 
 good man of the house, 
 The Master saith, Where 
 
 OF THE 
 
 was come, he sat down 
 
 is the guest-chamber, 
 
 
 with the twelve. 
 
 where I shall eat the 
 
 
 
 passover with my disci- 
 
 ANTEPAST ; 
 
 
 ples? 
 
 
 
 And he will show you 
 
 
 
 a large upper room fur- 
 
 OR, FIRST PART OF 
 
 
 nished and prepared : 
 
 
 
 there make ready for us. 
 
 PASCHAL SUPPER. 
 
 
 And his disciples went 
 forth, and came into the 
 
 
 
 city, and found as he had 
 
 
 
 said unto them : and they 
 
 
 
 made ready the passover. 
 
 
 
 And in the evening he 
 
 
 
 cometh with the twelve. 
 
 THE 
 
 
 
 ANTEPAST, 
 
 
 
 UNTIL ITS 
 
 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 

 
 31 
 
 EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, RELATING TO THE EUCHARIST. 
 
 ST. LUKE. 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 xxii. 7 14. 
 
 xiii. 1. 
 
 
 Then came the day of 
 
 
 
 unleavened bread, when 
 
 
 
 the passover must be 
 
 
 
 killed. 
 
 
 
 And he sent Peter and 
 
 
 
 r ohn, saying, Go and 
 
 
 
 >repare us the passover, 
 
 
 
 hat we may eat 
 
 
 
 And they said unto him, 
 
 
 
 Where wilt thou that we 
 
 
 
 prepare ? 
 
 
 
 And he said unto them, 
 
 
 
 Behold, when ye are 
 
 
 
 entered into the city, 
 
 
 
 there shall a man meet 
 
 Now before the feast of 
 
 
 you, bearing a pitcher of 
 water: follow him into 
 
 the passover, when Jesus 
 knew that his hour was 
 
 
 the house where he en- 
 
 come that he should de- 
 
 
 tereth in. 
 
 part out of this world 
 
 
 And ye shall say unto 
 the good man of the 
 
 unto the Father, having 
 loved his own which 
 
 
 house, The Master saith 
 
 were in the world, he 
 
 
 unto thee, Where is the 
 
 loved them unto the end. 
 
 
 uest- chamber, where I 
 
 
 
 shall eat the passover 
 
 
 
 with my disciples ? 
 
 
 
 And he shall show you 
 
 
 
 a large upper room fur- 
 
 
 
 nished : there make 
 
 
 
 ready. 
 
 
 
 And they went and 
 
 
 
 found as he had said un- 
 
 
 
 to them : and they made 
 
 
 
 ready the passover. 
 
 
 
 And when the hour was 
 
 
 
 come, he sat down, and 
 
 
 
 the twelve apostles with 
 
 
 
 him. 
 
 
 
 xxii. 15. 
 
 
 
 And he said unto them, 
 
 
 
 With desire I have de- 
 
 
 
 sired to eat this passover 
 
 
 
 with you before I suffer : 
 
 
 
 For I say unto you, I will 
 
 
 
 not any more eat thereof 
 
 
 
 until it be fulfilled in the 
 
 
 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 
 
 And he took the cup, 
 
 
 
 and gave thanks, and 
 
 
 
 said, Take this, and di- 
 
 
 
 vide it among yourselves: 
 
 xiii. 2. 
 
 
 For I say unto you, I 
 
 And supper being ended 
 
 
 will not drink of the fruit 
 
 (the devil having now 
 
 
 of the vine, until the 
 
 put into the heart of 
 
 
 kingdom of God shall 
 
 Judas Iscariot, Simon's 
 
 
 come. 
 
 son, to betray him,) 

 
 32 
 
 HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS, AND ST. PAUL'S FIRST 
 
 CONTENTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 APOSTLES, 
 
 AND THE REBUKE OF 
 
 JESUS, 
 BY WASHING THEIR FEET. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 ST. MARK.
 
 33 
 
 EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, RELATING TO THE EUCHARIST. 
 
 ST. LUKE. 
 
 xxii. 2430. 
 
 And there was also a 
 strife among them, which 
 of them should be ac- 
 counted the greatest. 
 
 And he said unto them, 
 The kings of the Gen- 
 tiles exercise lordship 
 over them ; and they that 
 exercise authority upon 
 them are called bene- 
 factors. 
 
 But ye shall not be so : 
 but he that is greatest 
 among you, let him be 
 as the younger ; and he 
 that is chief, as he that 
 doth serve. 
 
 For whether is greater, 
 he that sitteth at meat, 
 or he that serveth ? is not 
 he that sitteth at meat ? 
 but I am among you as 
 he that serveth. 
 
 Ye are they which have 
 continued with me in my 
 temptations : 
 
 And I appoint unto you 
 a kingdom, as my Father 
 hath appointed unto me ; 
 
 That ye may eat and 
 drink at my table in my 
 kingdom, and sit on 
 thrones judging the 
 twelve tribes of Israel. 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 xiii.4 16. 
 
 He riseth from supper, 
 and laid aside his gar- 
 ments j and took a towel, 
 and girded himself : 
 
 After that he poureth 
 water into a bason, and 
 began to wash the disci- 
 ples' feet, and to wipe 
 them with the towel 
 wherewith he was girded. 
 Then cometh he to 
 Simon Peter : and Peter 
 said unto him, Lord, 
 dost thou wash my feet ? 
 
 Jesus answered and said 
 unto him, What I do thou 
 knowest notnowjbutthou 
 shalt know hereafter. 
 
 Peter saith unto him, 
 Thou shalt never wash 
 my feet Jesus answered 
 him, If I wash thee not, 
 thou hast nopart with me. 
 
 Simon Peter saith unto 
 him, Lord, not my feet 
 only, but also my hands 
 and my head. 
 
 Jesus saith to him, He 
 that is washed needethnot 
 save to wash his feet, but 
 is clean every whit : and 
 ye are clean, but not all. 
 For he knew who should 
 betray him: therefore said 
 he, Ye are not all clean. 
 So after he had wash- 
 ed their feet, and had 
 taken his garments, and 
 was set down again, he 
 said unto them, Know ye 
 what I have done to you? 
 
 Ye call me Master and 
 Lord : and ye say well ; 
 for so I am. 
 
 If I then, your Lord 
 and Master, have washed 
 yourfeet; ye also ought to 
 wash one another's feet. 
 
 For I have given you an 
 example, that ye should 
 do as I have done to you. 
 
 Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you, The servant is 
 not greater than his 
 lord ; neither he that is 
 sent greater than he 
 that sent him. 
 
 ST. PAUL.
 
 34 
 
 HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS, AND ST. PAUL'S FIRST 
 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 ST. MARK. 
 
 
 xxvi. 2125. 
 
 xiv. 1821. 
 
 THE LAMB BROUGHT IN 
 
 And as they did eat, he 
 
 And as they sat and did 
 
 
 said, Verily I say unto 
 
 eat, Jesus said, Verily I 
 
 THE SECOND PART OF 
 
 you, that one of you shall 
 betray me. 
 
 say unto you, One of you 
 which eateth with me 
 
 
 And they were exceed- 
 
 shall betray me. 
 
 PASSOVER. 
 
 ing sorrowful, and began 
 
 And they began to be 
 
 
 every one of them to say 
 
 sorrowful, and to say un- 
 
 
 unto him, Lord, is it I ? 
 
 to him one by one, Is it 
 
 
 And he answered and 
 
 I? and another said, Is 
 
 
 said, He that dippeth his 
 
 it I? 
 
 THE 
 
 hand with me in the dish, 
 
 And he answered and 
 
 
 the same shall betray me. 
 
 said unto them, It is one 
 
 
 The Son of man goeth, 
 
 of the twelve, that dip- 
 
 PROPHECY 
 
 as it is written of him : 
 
 peth with me in the dish. 
 
 
 but woe unto that man 
 
 The Son of man indeed 
 
 OF THE BETRAYAL OF 
 
 by whom the Son of man 
 is betrayed ! it had been 
 
 goeth, as it is written of 
 him: but woe to that 
 
 
 good for that man if he 
 
 man by whom the Son of 
 
 JESUS 
 
 had not been born. 
 
 man is betrayed! good 
 
 
 Then Judas, which be- 
 
 were it for that man if 
 
 BY 
 
 trayed him, answered and 
 
 he had never been born. 
 
 
 said, Master, is it I ? He 
 
 
 JUDAS ISCARIOT. 
 
 said unto him, Thou hast 
 said. 
 
 
 
 xxvi. 2630. 
 And, as they were 
 
 xiv. 2226. 
 And as they did eat, 
 
 
 eating, Jesus took bread, 
 
 Jesus took bread, and 
 
 
 and blessed it, and brake 
 
 blessed, and brake it, and 
 
 
 it, and gave it to the dis- 
 
 gave to them, and said, 
 
 
 ciples, and said, Take, 
 
 Take, eat; this is my 
 
 
 eat; this is my body. 
 
 body. 
 
 
 And he took the cup, 
 
 And he took the cup ; 
 
 
 and gave thanks, and 
 
 and when he had given 
 
 
 gave it to them, saying, 
 
 thanks, he gave it to 
 
 INSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 Drink ye all of it ; 
 For this is my blood of 
 
 them : and they all drank 
 of it. 
 
 
 the new testament, which 
 
 And he said unto them, 
 
 EUCHARIST. 
 
 is shed for many for the 
 
 This is my blood of the 
 
 
 remission of sins. 
 
 new testament, which is 
 
 
 But I say unto you, I 
 
 shed for many. 
 
 
 will not drink henceforth 
 
 Verily I say unto you, 
 
 
 of this fruit of the vine, 
 
 I will drink no more of 
 
 
 until that day when I 
 
 the fruit of the vine, un- 
 
 
 drink it new with you in 
 
 til that day that I drink 
 
 
 my Father's kingdom. 
 
 it new in the kingdom 
 
 
 
 of God. 
 
 
 And when they had 
 
 And when they had 
 
 
 sung an hymn, they 
 
 sung an hymn, they went 
 
 
 went out into the mount 
 
 out into the mount of 
 
 
 of Olives. 
 
 Olives.
 
 35 
 
 EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, RELATING TO THE EUCHARIST. 
 
 ST. LUKE. 
 
 ST. JOHN. 
 
 ST. PAUL. 
 
 
 xiii. 21. 26. 
 
 1 Cor. xi. 23. 
 
 
 Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, That one of you 
 shall betray me. 
 Then the disciples 
 looked one on another, 
 doubting of whom he 
 spake. 
 
 For I have received of 
 the Lord that which also 
 I delivered unto you, 
 That the Lord Jesus the 
 same night in which he 
 was betrayed 
 
 
 Now there was leaning 
 
 
 
 on Jesus' bosom one of 
 
 
 
 his disciples, whom Jesus 
 
 
 
 loved. 
 
 
 
 Simon Peter therefore 
 
 
 
 beckoned to him, that he 
 
 
 
 should ask who it should 
 
 
 
 be of whom he spake. 
 
 
 
 He then lying on Jesus' 
 
 
 
 breast, saith unto him, 
 
 
 
 Lord, who is it ? 
 
 
 
 Jesus answered, He 
 
 
 
 it is to whom I shall 
 
 
 
 give a sop when I have 
 
 
 
 dipped it. And when he 
 
 
 
 had dipped the sop, he 
 
 
 
 gave it to Judas Iscariot, 
 
 
 
 the son of Simon. 
 
 
 xxii. 1920. 
 
 
 1 Cor. xL 2326. 
 
 And he took bread, and 
 
 
 took bread: 
 
 gave thanks, and brake 
 
 
 And when he had given 
 
 it, and gave unto them, 
 
 
 thanks, he brake it, and 
 
 saying, this is my body 
 
 
 said, Take, eat : this is 
 
 which is given for you : 
 
 
 my body, which is bro- 
 
 
 
 ken for you : this do in 
 
 
 
 remembrance of me. 
 
 
 
 After the same manner 
 
 
 
 also he took the cup, 
 
 this do in remembrance 
 of me. 
 
 
 when he had supped, 
 saying, This cup is the 
 new testament in my 
 
 
 
 blood : this do ye, as oft 
 
 
 
 as ye drink it, in remem- 
 
 
 
 brance of me. 
 
 Likewise also the cup 
 
 
 
 after supper, saying, 
 
 
 
 This cup is the new tes- 
 tament in my blood, 
 which is shed for you. 
 
 
 For as often as ye eat 
 this bread, and drink 
 this cup, ye do shew the 
 
 
 
 Lord's death till he come. 
 
 c 2
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HlvSTORY: 
 
 FROM ITS FIRST APPOINTMENT TO THE CLOSE OF THE SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 1 COR. xi. 26. 
 
 For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do 
 shew the Lord's death TILL HE COME. 
 
 WE have now seen the nature and design of the 
 institution of the Eucharist, and the particular 
 circumstances which attended its appointment. 
 From this we are naturally led to consider the 
 reception which it met with throughout the world, 
 and to see how mankind, having received this 
 solemn charge from their Saviour, followed it up 
 in their religious practice. For this purpose we 
 shall endeavour to ascertain first, how it flou- 
 rished in its primitive simplicity in the apostolic 
 times : then, how it gradually became corrupted, 
 under the papal dominion, by the doctrine of 
 transubstantiation, and various other errors of 
 the Roman church ; and lastly, we shall trace it
 
 FIRST CENTURY. 37 
 
 onwards to the reviving light of the reformation, 
 when it was restored by the fathers of our 
 church to its present form and ritual : 
 
 THE FIRST CENTURY. 
 
 Our Saviour instituted the Eucharist, as we 
 have already seen, in the city of Jerusalem, on 
 the last evening of his life. In the city of Jeru- 
 salem, therefore, we should expect to hear of its 
 first celebration. Turning to the Acts of the 
 Apostles, we shall accordingly find the first 
 mention of this sacrament on the day of Pente- 
 cost, ten days after the ascension of our Lord. 
 We do not find any lengthened or studied 
 account; we do not find it even asserted that it 
 was the first time at which it had been observed. 
 It is described quite as an accidental and casual 
 circumstance, as though it had been a thing well 
 known among Christians, and therefore not 
 needing any lengthened or elaborate detail. 
 Three thousand souls had been added to the 
 church by the eloquent sermon of St. Peter. 
 This was the infant church of Christ, three 
 thousand faithful and devoted followers of a 
 crucified God: and in describing the general 
 manners of these three thousand, their habits 
 of devotion, and their way of life, St. Luke 
 speaks thus : " And they continued steadfastly in 
 the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers." And again,
 
 38 HISTORY. 
 
 shortly afterwards : " And they, continuing 
 daily with one accord in the temple, and 
 breaking bread from house to house, did eat their 
 meat with gladness and singleness of heart."* 
 This breaking of bread can have no possible 
 reference to anything except the Eucharist. It 
 is the general way in which the apostles mention 
 it, and is universally allowed to refer to that 
 institution. The next mention which is made 
 of it is in the twentieth chapter of the Acts and 
 seventh verse: " And upon the first day of the 
 week, when the disciples came together to break 
 bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart 
 on the morrow." Here the apostle seems to 
 assert that it was the custom of those times to 
 celebrate this " breaking of bread," on the first 
 day of every week. He does not say that the 
 disciples came together to break bread, as on a 
 special occasion, but " when" the disciples came 
 together, inferring evidently that it was their 
 weekly custom so to do. The time to which 
 St. Luke refers in this passage is about 
 the year 56, and the time at which the book 
 of the Acts was finished was the year 64. 
 Therefore we have from this passage an evi- 
 dence of the weekly celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper for nearly thirty years after the cruci- 
 fixion. In corroboration of this, let us now 
 turn to St. Paul. St. Paul wrote his first 
 
 * Acts. ii. 42. 46.
 
 FIRST CENTURY. 39 
 
 epistle to the Corinthians in the year 56. In 
 the eleventh chapter of that epistle he says, 
 " When ye come together therefore into one 
 place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper ;" 
 and then he proceeds to describe certain er- 
 rors of which the church of Corinth had been 
 guilty, in their manner of its celebration. In 
 the tenth chapter of the same epistle, he says : 
 " Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and 
 the cup of devils ; ye cannot be partakers of 
 the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." 
 From these two passages, we see, that the 
 Lord's Supper was an established ordinance 
 of the church of Corinth, and as he does not 
 address them as at all peculiar in having this 
 ordinance, we may reasonably infer that not 
 only the church of Corinth, but that all the 
 churches founded by the apostles, possessed 
 at that time a regular established celebration 
 of this sacrament. Then, advancing further to 
 the gospel of St. John, who alludes to this 
 sacrament as a thing well known and under- 
 stood : " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 my blood, hath eternal life."* And again, " Ex- 
 cept ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you."t 
 And considering that St. John's gospel was 
 published the last of all the scriptures, and 
 quite at the close of the first century, we 
 
 * John vi. 54. f John vi. 53.
 
 40 HISTORY. 
 
 have, it must be allowed, a clear and con- 
 clusive proof of a continued observance of the 
 Lord's Supper, on the part of the apostolic 
 churches, for at least one hundred years. 
 
 The peculiar forms and ceremonies which 
 accompanied the ordinance during these pri- 
 mitive times we have no opportunity of see- 
 ing. It was most likely little more than 
 meeting together, collecting alms, breaking 
 bread, and eating, pouring out wine, and drink- 
 ing, in the name and memory of Jesus. At 
 any rate if there had been anything peculiar, 
 anything in the ceremonial part of the sacra- 
 ment, vital to its existence, St. Paul, when 
 commenting on the faults of the Corinthians, 
 would surely have taken the opportunity of 
 mentioning it. From the charges which he 
 has delivered, we may infer, that simplicity, 
 regularity, and devotion, formed the basis of 
 its celebration, and that as long as they pre- 
 served the end and object of their Redeemer's 
 command, " This do in remembrance of me," 
 they were not scrupulous or contentious upon 
 the outward forms, provided only those out- 
 ward forms were observed in decency and in 
 order. 
 
 THE SECOND CENTURY. 
 
 After the close of the first century, we can 
 of course have no further evidence from scrip- 
 ture ; our evidence from this period will de-
 
 SECOND CENTURY. 41 
 
 pend upon the apostolical and primitive fathers 
 of the church, and such profane historians as 
 may mention the subject from time to time. 
 
 At the commencement of the second cen- 
 tury, or perhaps quite at the close of the 
 first, Ignatius,* bishop of Antioch, in an epistle 
 which he wrote to the Ephesians, exhorts them 
 to be diligent in assembling together to cele- 
 brate the Eucharist. " Hasten therefore," he 
 says, " to meet together frequently at the 
 Eucharist for the glory of God, for when 
 you are continually met together, the powers 
 of Satan are destroyed, and his fiery darts 
 which were meant for sin turn back harmless ; 
 your concord and unanimity of faith is his 
 destruction, and those who are joined together 
 in faith are his annoyance ; for nothing is 
 better than peace in Christ, in which every 
 warfare is rendered vain, both of things of the 
 air, and things of the earth, for our resist- 
 ing is " not against flesh and blood, but 
 against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
 spiritual wickedness in high places."! 
 
 A little after Ignatius, Pliny the younger, 
 a Roman magistrate, pro-consul of Bithynia, 
 
 * IGNATIUS, one of the apostolic Fathers, educated under the 
 apostles John and Peter. He suffered martyrdom about the year 
 107, being devoured by wild beasts, by the order of the 
 Emperor Trajan. 
 
 f Ignatius, Epist. ad Ephes.
 
 42 HISTORY. 
 
 examined some Christian converts on the sub- 
 ject of their faith and way of life. His at- 
 tention was directed to them, by their meet- 
 ing together early in the morning before the 
 light of day. These are the words which he 
 uses in a letter to the Emperor Trajan : " They 
 affirmed that the whole sum of that sect, or 
 error, lay in this, that they were wont upon 
 a set solemn day to meet together before sun- 
 rise, and to sing among themselves a hymn 
 to Christ as God, and to oblige themselves 
 by a sacrament not to commit any wicked- 
 ness, but to abstain from theft, robbery, adul- 
 tery ; to keep faith, and to restore any pledge 
 entrusted to them; and after that, they retired, 
 and met again at a common meal, in which 
 was nothing extraordinary or criminal."* In 
 the same century, about the year 150, Justin 
 Martyr f gives the following description : 
 " Prayers being finished, we greet one another 
 with mutual embraces ; then bread, and a cup 
 of water, mixed with wine,^ is offered to him 
 who presides over the brethren ; when he has 
 
 * Plin. Lib. x. Ep. 97. 
 
 f JUSTIN MARTYR, the second, in point of chronology, of 
 the primitive fathers, excepting the apostolical. A. D. 140. 
 He studied the philosophy principally of the Platonic school, 
 until converted to Christianity, and suffered martyrdom in the 
 reign of Marcus Antoninus. 
 
 | The Church of England differs on this point from the 
 primitive usage, which unquestionably was to mix water with 
 the wine in the celebration of the Eucharist. The council of
 
 SECOND CENTURY. 43 
 
 received them, he gives praise and glory to 
 the Father of all, in the name of the Son 
 and Holy Ghost, and pursues at some length 
 the Eucharistia, or giving of thanks, because 
 God has thought us worthy of such gifts : 
 when he has finished these prayers and giv- 
 
 Trent decrees, " that the priests are to mix water with the wine, 
 both because it is believed that Christ did so, and also because 
 from his side water came out with the blood ; which sacrament 
 is had in remembrance by this mixture." Would that the 
 council of Trent had been in every point as correct as they 
 are in this ; for beyond question it must have been a cup of 
 water and wine that our Lord consecrated, that being the cus- 
 tom of the Jewish passover ; for this see Justin Martyr as above, 
 Irenseus, and Clemens Alexandrinus ; and even the church of 
 England, though she has at present given up this usage, yet 
 orginally her practice agreed with the Church of Rome. See 
 Liturgy of King Edward VI. 
 
 Turretin defends our present practice, and quotes Matt. xxvi. 
 29, " I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine," 
 arguing that there is no mention of the water in the divine com- 
 mand, confessing, however, that " water was mixed with wine 
 by the ancients, because the use of pure wine was rare among the 
 eastern nations;" and Bingham says, that the Armenians conse- 
 crated only in wine, and that it was reckoned an error in them 
 by Theophylact, and condemned by the council of Trullo. 
 Yet, after all, as there is no express command for this in the 
 institution, notwithstanding this general consent of the ancient 
 church, it is commonly determined by modern divines, as well 
 of the Roman as Protestant persuasion, that it is not essential 
 to the sacrament itself, as the reader that is curious may find 
 demonstrated in Vossius, in his dissertation upon the subject. 
 See Vossius. Thes. Theol. p. 494. Bingham. Ecc. Antiq. 
 Book xv. Sec. 7.
 
 44 HISTORY. 
 
 ing of thanks, all the people say, in joyful 
 assent, t Amen.' When the president has 
 performed this giving of thanks, and the peo- 
 ple have assented to them by their prayers, 
 those persons who are called deacons and 
 ministers, distribute the bread, and wine mixed 
 with water, over which the thanks have been 
 given, to every one present, and they then carry 
 it to the absent. This food is called by us 
 'the Eucharist,' and no one is allowed to par- 
 take of it, but he who believes our doctrine 
 to be true, and has been washed in the bath 
 (of baptism) for the remission of sins and re- 
 generation, and who lives as Christ has com- 
 manded."* And then afterwards he goes on thus : 
 " For the apostles, in the commentaries written 
 by them, which are called gospels, have handed 
 down that Jesus made the institution in this 
 manner : when he had given thanks, he received 
 the bread, and said, ' Do this in remembrance 
 of me ; this is my body ;' and in the same man- 
 ner when he had received the cup, he said, 
 * This is my blood.' We indeed call these 
 things mutually to memory, and in all the 
 oblations which we offer, we praise, with bless- 
 ing, the Creator of all, through his Son Jesus 
 Christ, and the Holy Spirit; and on that day 
 which is Sunday, all who live in towns, or 
 in the country, meet together, and the com- 
 mentaries of the apostles, or the writings of 
 * Justin Martyr, Apol. 2, p. 97 and 98.
 
 SECOND CENTURY. 45 
 
 the prophets, as the time permits, are read. 
 Then, when the reader has finished, the pre- 
 sident delivers an oration, in which he instructs 
 the people, and encourages them to imitate 
 things so delightful. After this we all rise up 
 in common, and pour forth our prayers, and 
 when the prayers are over, bread is brought 
 forward, and wine mixed with water ; and a 
 distribution and communion is made to every 
 one present of these elements, over which the 
 thanks have been given, and they are sent 
 to the absent by the deacons. They also who 
 are rich and are willing, each according to 
 his own will, contributes as seems good to 
 him, and the collection is deposited in the 
 hands of the president : from this source he 
 affords assistance to orphans and widows, and 
 those who, on account of disease or any other 
 cause, are in want, or in prison ; or, to sum up 
 all in one word, the president is the guardian 
 of all indigent persons." Nothing can possibly be 
 more full, or more satisfactory, than this account 
 of the Lord's Supper, as it was observed about the 
 middle of the second century ; nothing also can 
 be more similar to our own method of celebra- 
 ting it at present, making reasonable allowance 
 for the change of time and manners. 
 
 But we have still further references : Irenseus,* 
 
 * IRENJEUS, A.D. 178, a disciple of Polycarp, and Polycarp 
 a disciple of St. John, so that we have in him a direct apos-
 
 46 HISTORY. 
 
 in the middle of the second century, in describing 
 the Eucharist, writes as follows : " We offer unto 
 him (God) his own gifts, thereby declaring the 
 communication and truth both of flesh and 
 spirit ; for as the bread which is of the earth is 
 no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, 
 consisting of two parts, the one earthly, the 
 other heavenly, so all our bodies receiving the 
 Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, whilst 
 they live in hopes of a resurrection ; but we 
 offer these things to him not as if he stood in 
 need of them, but as giving him thanks for his 
 gifts, and sanctifying the creature." So also Cle- 
 ment of Alexandria.* " The blood of the Lord is 
 twofold. For in one sense it is fleshly, by which 
 we are freed from corruption, in the other spiritual, 
 by which we are anointed ; and this it is to drink 
 the blood of Christ, to partake of the purifica- 
 tion of the Lord ; and the mixture of these, that 
 is, of the drink and of the word, is called the 
 Eucharist, an admirable and beautiful grace of 
 which those who partake in faith, are made holy 
 in body and soul." And the same author again, 
 " Christ blessed the wine, and said, ' Take it, 
 and drink : this is my blood,' the holy stream 
 of the church the Word poured forth for the 
 remission of sins." 
 
 tolical communication. Bishop of Lyons, in France, suffered 
 martyrdom, A.D. 202. 
 
 * CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, A.D. 194, originally a hea- 
 then philosopher, afterwards presbyter of Alexandria.
 
 THIRD CENTURY. 47 
 
 THE THIRD CENTURY. 
 
 Here we find Tertullian* about the year 220, 
 thus speaking : " Every one offers a small 
 alms monthly, or when he will, or as he can, for 
 no one is compelled, but he makes a voluntary 
 oblation. It is not expended in feasting, 
 drinking, and abusive excesses, but in feeding 
 and burying the poor, in providing for orphans 
 and aged people, and such as suffer shipwreck 
 or languish in the mines, or in banishment, or in 
 prison. Only one part of it is spent upon a 
 sober feast of charity, where the poor has a 
 right to feed as well as the rich." t And to shew 
 that as yet no change from the simple doctrine 
 of our Redeemer was at all ventured upon, he 
 says, in another place, " The bread being re- 
 ceived and distributed to his disciples, he made 
 it his body by saying, * This is my body,' 
 that is, * The figure of my body.' "J 
 
 Again, Origen,|| in the year 230, thus asserts : 
 " We eat the bread that was offered to the 
 
 * TERTULLIAN, towards the end of the second century and 
 commencement of the third ; originally a heathen, but when 
 converted to Christianity is not known. 
 
 f Tertull. Apol. c. 39. J Contr. Marc. lib. iv. 
 
 | ORIGEN, born at Alexandria, a pupil of Clement, 
 before mentioned, a catechist of Alexandria, and afterwards 
 Presbyter, one of the most illustrious of the fathers. Died at 
 Tyre, A.D. 254.
 
 48 HISTORY. 
 
 Creator with prayer and thanksgiving for the 
 gifts that he has bestowed upon us, which bread 
 is made a holy body by prayer, sanctifying those 
 that use it with a pious mind."* 
 
 In another place, commenting on the words 
 " Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth 
 a man," he says, " It is not the matter of the 
 bread, but the word which is spoken over it, 
 which profits him that eats it worthily, and 
 this, indeed, as a typical and symbolical 
 body."f 
 
 Again, commenting on the old testament, he 
 goes out of his way to refer to the new tes- 
 tament for the purpose of disproving any notion 
 but that of simply and spiritually eating the 
 sacred elements, and he says, " There is also 
 in the new testament, the letter which kills 
 him who does not spiritually understand it. 
 For if you follow this command, ' Unless you 
 eat my flesh, and drink my blood,' according 
 to the letter, this letter kills ; but if you un- 
 derstand it spiritually it does not kill, but 
 there is a vivifying spirit in it." J Once more, in 
 his commenting on the words, " Take, eat ; this 
 is my body," || he says, "For God, the Word, 
 did not call that visible bread which he held 
 in his hands, his body; but the word in the 
 
 * Origen contra Celsum lib. 8, p. 399. 
 Origen Matt. xv. 11. J Levit. Horn. vii. 
 
 II Matt, xxvi. 26.
 
 THIRD CENTURY. 49 
 
 mystery of which that bread was to be broken ; 
 nor did he call that visible drink his blood ; 
 but the word in the mystery of which that 
 drink was to be poured forth." 
 
 Another father of this century, St. Cyprian,* 
 is equally conclusive as to the practice and 
 opinions of the church : addressing a rich woman 
 who had neglected to make an offering, he 
 says, " You are rich and wealthy, and think 
 that you celebrate the Lord's Supper, yet do 
 not at all respect the corban. You come to the 
 Lord's Supper without a sacrifice ; you take 
 away a part of the sacrifice which the poor 
 has offered.''! The same father, in his epistle 
 to Csecilianus, speaks of mixing water with 
 the wine,J; and mentions the reason for -which 
 it was done : " We see, that in the water 
 the people are represented, but in the wine 
 the blood of Christ ; and when in the cup 
 the water is mixed with wine, the people is 
 made one with Christ ; and the believers and 
 
 * ST. CYPRIAN. An African, born at Carthage, supposed to 
 have been converted to Christianity, A.D. 246, and made bishop 
 of Carthage, A.D. 248. Being commanded by the Emperor 
 Valerian to offer sacrifice to the gods, which was the usual test 
 of denying Christianity, St. Cyprian answered, " I will not." 
 The pro-consul, by command of the Emperor, said, " It is 
 decreed that Cyprian shall be beheaded." To which the 
 excellent bishop replied, "God be praised:" he was then 
 beheaded, A.D. 258. 
 
 f Cyprian, de Oper, and Eleemos. 
 
 \ See the note upon Justin Martyr, quoted at p. 42. 
 
 D
 
 50 HISTORY. 
 
 He in whom they believe are joined and mixed ; 
 so in the cup of the Lord, water alone can- 
 not be offered, nor wine alone, for if any 
 one should offer wine alone, the blood of 
 Christ is without us ; but if water alone, the 
 people are without Christ, but when each is 
 mutually joined by a pouring together, and 
 making one, then a spiritual and heavenly 
 sacrifice is performed."* 
 
 In another epistle the same father says, 
 " When the Lord calls his body bread, which 
 is made up of the union of many seeds, he 
 indicates that the people are in union; and 
 when he calls his blood wine, extracted from 
 many bunches of grapes, and pressed into 
 one, he signifies the flock joined together 
 by the mixture of a multitude in union."! In 
 the same epistle he again refers to it : " Like- 
 wise it appears, that the blood of Christ is 
 not offered if there is no wine in the cup, 
 nor is the Lord's sacrifice celebrated with le- 
 gitimate consecration, unless our offering and 
 sacrifice answer to his passion : but how shall 
 we drink the new wine of the creation of the 
 vine with Christ, in the kingdom of his Father, 
 if in the sacrifice of God the Father, and of 
 Christ, we do not offer the wine, nor mix 
 the cup of the Lord according to the Lord's 
 tradition ?" 
 
 * Cyprian, Ep. ad Cecil. t Cyprian. Ep. Carthag.
 
 THIRD CENTURY. 51 
 
 It is true indeed that there are one or two 
 heretical opinions which prevailed about this 
 time, which in some way detract from the 
 unanimity of the Christian world, such as the 
 following: the Hydroparastatse, or Aquarians,* 
 who thought it wrong to use wine in the 
 Eucharist, and, as their name imports, conse- 
 crated water in its stead ; also the Marcosians,t 
 who commenced at the latter part of the second 
 century, taking their names from Marcus, a 
 disciple of the Valentinian heresy ; Marcus 
 was reported, amongst other infamous practices, 
 to be expert in tricks of legerdemain and 
 magic, and this he used to carry on, for the 
 sake of acquiring notoriety, in the sacrament 
 of the Eucharist. Irenseus says of him, " Pre- 
 tending that he was giving thanks for the 
 wine mixed in the chalice, and very much 
 prolonging the words of his invocation, he made 
 the wine appear of a purple or red colour, 
 so that it might appear that Christ's blood 
 was dropped into the chalice in consequence 
 of his invocation." But with the exception of 
 these and similar absurdities, which were ex- 
 pressly called heretical, and therefore denote 
 the general opinion of the church, we may 
 safely say, that for the three first centuries 
 the sacrament of the Eucharist was preserved 
 
 * See Bingham Eccl. Antiq. Book xv. Sect. 7. 
 f See Echard Eccl. Hist, and Mosheim. 
 
 D2
 
 52 HISTORY. 
 
 in the pure and simple state, both in prac- 
 tice and doctrine, in which our Lord ordained 
 it. We have sufficient testimony from the 
 fathers above quoted, that notwithstanding the 
 violent persecutions which the Christians con- 
 tinually suffered, and the many heresies which 
 arose throughout the church on other points, 
 still the sacrament of the Eucharist main- 
 tained its ground, was considered as the Lord's 
 ordinance, free from all superstitious ceremo- 
 nies, the bread and wine signifying not being 
 in reality, but signifying in a spiritual manner, 
 the body and blood of the Saviour of the 
 world. 
 
 THE FOURTH CENTURY. 
 
 We now come to a period most important 
 in the history of the Church. At the com- 
 mencement of this century, the Christian re- 
 ligion not only was freed from the long suc- 
 cession of persecutions, with which it had 
 before been nearly overwhelmed, but it even 
 became the religion of the state, and a Roman 
 Emperor, one of the most powerful and politic 
 that ever guided the sceptre of the imperial 
 city, became first its advocate, and afterwards 
 its professor. The first of these events may 
 be dated at A.D. 313, the latter at A.D. 324. 
 Its close was equally important, for though
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 53 
 
 at first Christianity was only tolerated, and 
 took but its share in the opinion of mankind ; 
 in the reign of Theodosius, about the year 
 380, we find its advancement so rapid, and 
 its hold on the people so secure, that by a 
 royal edict the Christian religion was prescribed 
 as the only true religion, the worship of idols 
 forbidden, and the pagan temples of the Ro- 
 man gods subverted and abolished. But though 
 Christianity thus gained in political power and 
 importance, it was beginning to lose in spirit- 
 ual sincerity ; it was beginning to be divided 
 by schisms and dissensions, upon points of 
 mystery and faith, and the root of those per- 
 versions of the gospel and of simplicity, was 
 now planted, which was soon to grow up 
 into papal domination, and temporal tyranny. 
 " The rites and institutions by which the 
 Greeks, Romans, and other nations, had for- 
 merly testified their religious veneration for 
 fictitious deities were now adopted, with some 
 slight alterations, by Christian bishops. Hence 
 it happened that in these times the religion 
 of the Greeks and Romans differed very little 
 in its external appearance from that of the 
 Christians. They had both a most pompous 
 and splendid ritual ; gorgeous robes, mitres, 
 tiaras, wax tapers, crosiers, processions, lus- 
 trations, images, gold and silver vases ; and 
 many such circumstances of pageantry were 
 equally to be seen in the heathen temples
 
 54 HISTORY. 
 
 and in the Christian churches."* In the midst 
 of these dangers it was not likely that the 
 sacrament of the Eucharist should altogether 
 escape : we accordingly find many signs of 
 approaching changes, and, though these changes 
 were as yet hardly visible, still they point, 
 with a very clear finger, to those great errors 
 of the church of Rome which were afterwards 
 to follow. " It appears by innumerable testi- 
 monies, that the Lord's Supper was administered 
 in some places two or three times in a week, 
 in others on Sunday only, to all those who 
 were assembled to worship God. It was also 
 sometimes celebrated at the tombs of martyrs, 
 and at funerals, which custom undoubtedly 
 gave rise to the masses, that were afterwards 
 performed in honour of the saints, and for the 
 benefit of the dead. In many places the bread 
 and wine were holden up to view before their 
 distribution, that they might be seen by the 
 people, and contemplated with religious respect ; 
 and hence, not long after, the adoration of the 
 symbols."! 
 
 Many of the fathers have left us accounts of 
 the forms used in this century. We have ex- 
 press liturgies composed by St. Basil J and St. 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. i. p. 351. 
 f Mosheim, vol. i. p. 357. 
 
 % BASIL, commonly called the Great, Bishop of Csesarea. 
 Opposed to the Arians. Died, A.D. 379.
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 55 
 
 Chrysostom,* in which the prayers and thanks- 
 givings are given at length. St. Chrysostom's 
 words are these : " We offer unto thee this 
 rational and unbloody service, beseeching thee 
 to send thy Holy Spirit upon us and these gifts. 
 Make the bread the precious body of thy Christ, 
 and that which is in the cup, the precious blood 
 of thy Christ ; transmuting them by thy Holy 
 Spirit, that they may be to the receivers for the 
 washing of their souls, for pardon of sins, for 
 the participation of the Holy Ghost, for obtaining 
 the kingdom of heaven."! In addition to this, 
 we have many allusions in St. Chrysostom's 
 homilies. In commenting on the words, "The 
 cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the 
 communion of the blood of Christ," he says, 
 " We also, in offering the cup, recite the ineffable 
 mercies and kindness of God, and all the good 
 things we enjoy ; and so we offer it, and com- 
 municate, giving him thanks for that he hath 
 delivered mankind from error, that he hath made 
 us near who were far off, that when we were 
 without hope, and without God in the world, 
 
 * CHRYSOSTOM, John, surnamed Chrysostom on account of 
 his eloquence, (golden mouth,) Archbishop of Constantinople, 
 A.D. 398. The empress Eudoxia having set up an image near 
 the church, Chrysostom lifted up his voice against the abomi- 
 nation. On account of this he suffered much persecution, was 
 driven into exile, and died in his sixtieth year, the brightest 
 ornament of the Christian church. 
 
 t Chrys. Liturg. t. 4. p. 614.
 
 56 HISTORY. 
 
 he hath made us the brethren of Christ, and fel- 
 low-heirs with him. For these, and all the like 
 blessings, we give him thanks, and so come to 
 his holy table."* And the Council of Antioch, 
 which was held in the year 341, f gives as one 
 of the canons, the following very strong remark 
 upon the necessity of all persons communicating 
 in the sacrament : " All such as come into the 
 house of God, and hear the holy scriptures read, 
 but do not communicate with the people in 
 prayer, and refuse to partake of the Eucharist, 
 (which is a disorderly practice,) ought to be cast 
 out of the church." J 
 
 From the above passages we sufficiently see 
 that the sacrament of the Eucharist, as to essen- 
 tial doctrines, still maintained its place in the 
 
 
 
 * Chrys. Horn, in 1 Cor. p. 532. 
 
 f Greg. Nyss. Orat. Catech. c. 37. 
 
 \ Cone. Antioch. can. 2. 
 
 In the church where St. Chrysostom presided, some per- 
 sons happened to remain during the communion service, and 
 yet would not communicate. Upon which Chrysostom ad- 
 dressed them thus : "Are you unworthy of the sacrifice, and 
 unfit to partake of it ? neither then are you worthy of the 
 prayers. Do you not hear the herald proclaiming, 'All ye 
 that are penitents withdraw !' All they that do not communi- 
 cate are penitents." 
 
 The people were divided into two classes. They were either 
 fit to be communicants, and therefore were in duty bound so to 
 do or they were unfit, and therefore penitents. Would that 
 there were but these two classes in our church of England. 
 See Bingham and Chrys. Horn, in Ephes.
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 57 
 
 general body of the church. Many superstitious 
 observances, might, no doubt, have been origi- 
 nated in this century ; and we have one very 
 remarkable writer, Cyril of Jerusalem,* who 
 enters into some detail as to the ceremonies 
 which seem to have been in use at that period. 
 In what is called his Mystagogic Catechetical 
 Discourses, he gives the following directions : 
 " When the priest says, * Taste, and see how 
 good the Lord is/ the persons receiving the bread 
 are to open their hands, place the left on the 
 right, keeping the fingers closely attached to 
 each other, for fear of letting the smallest crumb 
 fall ; and after eating, they are to bow down the 
 head as in adoration, and then drink off the cup : 
 while their lips are moist with the wine, they 
 are to apply their hands to them, touch their 
 foreheads, eyes, and ears, with their wet fingers, 
 and finally, to render thanks to God for being 
 permitted to partake of this holy communion."! 
 
 * CYRIL OF JERUSALEM. Ordained presbyter, A.D. 344, 
 and bishop, 350. Deposed three times from his see, but ulti- 
 mately restored by the Council of Constantinople in 381, and 
 died in the year 386. 
 
 Waterland had so high an opinion of Cyril, that he says, 
 " I do not know any one writer among the ancients who has 
 given a fuller, or clearer, or in the main, juster, account of the 
 holy Eucharist, than this the elder Cyril has done." Water- 
 land's Review. 
 
 See the observations given in a note at page 62, on the writ- 
 ings of St. Ambrose. 
 
 f Cyr. of Jerus. Myst. Cat. iv. & v.
 
 58 HISTORY. 
 
 And not only in ceremonies, but also in doc- 
 trines, this author may seem to convey at first 
 sight many questionable assertions. He certainly 
 does explain, more strongly than any writer of 
 his time, the nature of the sacramental elements ; 
 for thus he speaks : " Consider them (the elements) 
 not as mere bread and wine ; for by our Lord's 
 express declaration, they are the body and blood 
 of Christ ; and though your taste may suggest 
 that they are bread and wine, yet let your faith 
 keep you firm. Judge not of the thing by your 
 taste, but, under a full persuasion of faith, be 
 you undoubtedly assured that you are vouch- 
 safed the body and blood of Christ."* Now 
 these are certainly very strong expressions, and, 
 coupled with the directions above cited, as to 
 applying the wine to the ears, eyes, and so forth, 
 we might be led to suppose that the Roman 
 doctrine of transubstantiation was now com- 
 mencing. But we must place passage against 
 passage ; and, most fortunately, there is another 
 very remarkable expression in the same author, 
 which will immediately set us right ; for he 
 says in the very same work, " We receive the 
 Eucharist with all fulness of faith, as the body 
 and blood of Christ, For under the type of 
 bread you have his body given you, and under 
 the type of wine you receive his blood, that so 
 partaking of the body and blood of Christ, you 
 
 * Cyr. of Jems. Myst. Cat. iv. & v.
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 59 
 
 may become flesh of his flesh, and blood of his 
 blood."* Here there is evidently nothing more 
 than the spiritual communion intended ; and, 
 therefore, it is but fair to infer, that in the former 
 quotation, the expressions, though strong, are 
 nothing more than that figurative and hyper- 
 bolical way of speaking, which the fathers de- 
 lighted to use. 
 
 But whatever may have been the opinions of 
 St. Cyril, we have abundant testimony from 
 other quarters that the general body of the 
 church still continued in the orthodox faith. 
 In addition to the authors already cited, we 
 have Eusebius,t who expressed himself as 
 follows : " Christ himself gave to his disci- 
 ples the symbols of a divine ceremony, com- 
 manding them to make a representation of 
 his body, for when he no longer wished us 
 to give heed to bloody sacrifices, nor to 
 those which were sanctioned in the law of 
 Moses, in the slaying of different animals, he 
 commanded us to use bread as a symbol of his 
 own body, and thereby suitably signified the 
 splendour and purity of this food." 
 
 * Cyr. of Jerus. Myst. Cat. iv. 
 
 t EUSEBIUS, born probably at Csesarea, and bishop of 
 that see, A.D. 320. Origen excepted, he was the most 
 learned and laborious of all the writers of antiquity, and in 
 quantity surpassed even Origen. His ecclesiastical history is 
 the work by which he is best known. Eusebius, lib. viii. 
 Demonstr. Evang.
 
 60 HISTORY. 
 
 We have also Athanasius :* " For this reason 
 he made mention of the ascent of the Son 
 of man into heaven, that he might draw 
 them away from an understanding which 
 had reference to the body, and that they 
 might learn that the flesh which he spake 
 of, was food from heaven, and spiritual nou- 
 rishment." 
 
 Again, St. Chrysostom : " Before the bread 
 is sanctified we call it bread, but the divine 
 grace sanctifying it, through the mediation of 
 the priest, it is freed from the appellation 
 of bread, and is thought worthy of the name 
 of the Lord's body, although the nature of bread 
 has continued in zY."t 
 
 We have Epiphanius, J who compares the 
 water of baptism with the bread of the Eu- 
 charist. For he says, " The virtue of the 
 bread, and the efficacy of the water, receive 
 their power from Christ, so that it is not 
 the bread which becomes of virtue to us, but 
 it is the virtue of the bread ; for the bread 
 
 * ATHANASIUS, A. D. 326. This father is known principally 
 for his defence against Arius ; he was cruelly persecuted by the 
 Arians during the forty-six years of his episcopacy ; he was 
 deposed no less than five times, but he at last died peaceably in 
 the year 373. Athanasius, ii. 979. 
 
 t Chrysost. ad Csesar, contr. Appollinarem. 
 
 J EPIPHANIUS at first embraced the monastic life, and 
 passed several years in the desert of Egypt ; A.D. 367, he was 
 chosen bishop of Constantia ; he lived to the year 403.
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 61 
 
 itself is food, but the virtue which is in it 
 tends to the generation of life."* We have 
 Gregory of Nyssa, f who explains and illus- 
 trates his notion of the divine food by com- 
 paring it with an altar, and with a priest; 
 for he says, " This holy altar at which 
 we stand is a common stone by nature, but 
 when it is consecrated to the worship of 
 God it is immaculate. The bread also is at 
 the beginning common bread, but when the 
 mystery has made it holy, it is the body 
 of Christ, and is called so"\ And then he 
 instances the man who as a layman is 
 common, but when dedicated to God becomes 
 holy, though not changed either in body or 
 form. We have Ambrose, || who in discuss- 
 ing the nature of sacraments, makes the fol- 
 lowing question : " What is the word of 
 Christ ? That by which all things were made. 
 The Lord commanded and the heaven was 
 made ; The Lord commanded and the earth 
 was made; the Lord commanded and every 
 creature was made. If, therefore, there is 
 
 * Epiph. Anaceph. Heres. torn. ii. lib. iii. 
 
 t GREGORY OF NYSSA, the younger brother of Basil the 
 Great, A.D. 370 ; he was at the council of Constantinople, A.D. 
 394, and probably died soon after. 
 
 J Gregory of Nyssa. In bapt. xi. orat. p. 802. 
 
 \ AMBROSE, born A.D. 340, of -a consular family, was 
 appointed bishop before he was baptized, was baptized Nov. 
 30, 374, and consecrated bishop of Milan a week after.
 
 6'2 HISTORY. 
 
 such a force in the word of the Lord Jesus, 
 that those things began to be which were 
 not, how much more is he the operating 
 cause, that those things should be what they 
 were and yet be changed into something else. 
 Perhaps you say I do not see the form of 
 wine. But it has the similitude" And though 
 he certainly is very strong in some of 
 his expressions, for instance, " Therefore you 
 have learnt that from the bread is made the 
 body of Christ, and that the wine and water 
 is poured into the cup, but it is made blood 
 by the consecration of the heavenly word," 
 yet I think that he has no further meaning 
 than is conveyed by our own doctrine of the 
 church of England,* and that the change that 
 
 * In the articles of 1552 it is indeed asserted, "A faithful 
 man ought not either to believe, or openly confess, the real and 
 bodily presence, as they term it, of Christ's flesh and blood in 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ;" but this was afterwards 
 withdrawn, and it is now said, in order that we may not exclude 
 the spiritual presence, "The body of Christ is given, taken, 
 and eaten, in the supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual 
 manner," art. xxviii. And in our church catechism, to the ques- 
 tion, " What is the inward part or thing signified ?" the answer 
 is, " The body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed 
 taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." And 
 so Jeremy Taylor, in his treatise on the real presence of Christ, 
 lays down as his rule for the interpretation of the fathers, that 
 we must consider such expressions as "the body and blood of 
 Christ," or, " before consecration it is mere bread, but after con- 
 secration it is the body of Christ ;" and so forth, to be used in no 
 different sense from our Lord himself, " This is my body ;" and
 
 FOURTH CENTURY. 63 
 
 is wrought in the elements is only a spiritual 
 change, not a material one. Such must be 
 his meaning, because in other places he is 
 perfectly decided upon this point ; for instance, 
 " In eating and drinking the flesh and the 
 blood, we signify the things which have been 
 offered for us. You receive the sacrament in 
 a similitude ; it is the figure of the body and 
 blood of the Lord, and you drink the likeness 
 of his precious blood/'* Last of all, we have 
 Augustine :t in quoting the words of St. John, 
 " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you,'* 
 he comments thus, "It is a figure of speech, 
 teaching us that we must communicate with 
 the passion of our Lord, and that we must 
 treasure him up kindly and usefully in the 
 memory, because his flesh was crucified and 
 wounded for us."+ And again, the Lord did 
 not doubt to say, "this is my body," when 
 
 so he says, " The church of England expresses this mystery 
 frequently in the same form of words, and we are so certain 
 that to eat Christ's body spiritually, is to eat him really ; that 
 there is no other way for him to be eaten really, than by 
 spritual manducation. See Jeremy Taylor, Real Presence of 
 Christ, sect. xii. 
 
 * Ambrose de sacr. lib. iv. c. 4. 
 
 t AUGUSTINE, bishop of Hippo, A.D. 395. At first a Ma- 
 nichsean, and a disbeliever in the scripture, but studying under 
 Ambrose at Milan, was baptized in A.D. 387. He was the 
 most eminent Latin father of the church. 
 
 % August, de doctr. xi. John v.l.
 
 64 HISTORY. 
 
 he gave the sign of his body."* And again, 
 " If the sacraments had not any likeness to 
 those things of which they are the sacra- 
 ments, they would not at all be sacraments. 
 From the likeness, they receive the name of 
 the things themselves ; as therefore, in a cer- 
 tain way, the sacrament of the body of Christ 
 is the body of Christ, and the sacrament of 
 the blood of Christ is the blood of Christ, so 
 the sacrament of faith is faith." And again : 
 " Understand what I have said spiritually; you 
 are not about to eat this body which you see ; 
 I have commended a sacrament to you, which, 
 being spiritually understood, will give you 
 
 life."t 
 
 But we have no further need of testimony, 
 here is witness upon witness, confessor upon 
 confessor, that, throughout this century, the 
 doctrines of the sacrament remained as our 
 Lord intended. From so much being said, 
 and by so many authors, it unquestionably 
 may be inferred, that in some places hereti- 
 cal notions had sprung up, and some of 
 the absurdities, as detailed by Cyril of Jeru- 
 salem in the passage quoted from him, may 
 have prevailed but here, by this cloud of 
 witnesses, we may thank God that sufficient 
 care was taken in his Almighty councils to 
 preserve the record of the primitive faith, 
 
 * August. Ep. ad Adim. c. 12. 
 t August. Ep. ad Bonifacium.
 
 FIFTH CENTURY. 65 
 
 and that the Eucharist, to the close of the 
 fourth century, stands forth to the Christian 
 world, pure and uncontaminate, in its lead- 
 ing articles of doctrine and of practice. 
 
 THE FIFTH CENTURY. 
 
 Towards the middle of this century, the 
 northern nations commenced their invasion 
 of Italy, and towards the close of it the 
 western empire was totally subdued, and 
 the first barbarian king ascended the throne 
 of the Caesars; the barbarian nations, who 
 thus took possession of the imperial city, had 
 already been converted to the doctrines of 
 the Gospel, and therefore religion did not 
 suffer any external diminution from this event, 
 either in its numerical extent or its author- 
 ity; the church, however, as regards its pastors 
 and ministers, was sensibly declining from 
 the simplicity of the Gospel which Jesus 
 preached; " The vices of the clergy," says 
 Mosheim, " were now carried to the most 
 enormous excess, and all the writers of this 
 century, whose probity render them worthy 
 of credit, are unanimous in their accounts the 
 luxury, arrogance, and voluptuousness of the 
 sacerdotal order: but these opprobrious stains 
 in their character would never have been en- 
 dured, had not the greatest part of mankind 
 been sunk in superstition and ignorance. 
 
 E
 
 66 HISTORY. 
 
 Multitudes of people were in every country 
 admitted, without examination or choice, into 
 the body of the clergy, the greatest part of 
 whom had no other view than the enjoy- 
 ment of a lazy and inglorious repose."* As 
 to doctrine, the sacred and venerable sim- 
 plicity of primitive times was fast departing; 
 superstition, the natural fruit of ignorance, grew 
 apace, and difficulties, disputes, and schisms, 
 mark the declining character of general Christ- 
 ianity. The images of those who during their 
 lives had been celebrated for sanctity, were 
 now honoured with a particular worship, and 
 the bones of martyrs, and the figure of the 
 cross, were looked upon as objects of protection 
 against danger, and as charms against the 
 machinations of Satan. Another feature in the 
 changing aspect of religion, is that of the 
 institution of monastic orders ; the monks, who 
 had formerly lived only for themselves, were 
 now looked upon as a sacerdotal order, 
 and took the first place, or at any rate a 
 very eminent place, in the ranks of the 
 clergy ; from this monastic system sprang 
 forth every sort of superstition and austerity. 
 The class or sect called Stylites or Pillar- 
 men are of all the most extraordinary, per- 
 sons who stood motionless upon the top of 
 pillars, expressly raised for a trial of their 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 26, 27, 28, 8vo. edit.
 
 FIFTH CENTURY. 67 
 
 patience, and there remaining for years and 
 years amidst the admiration and applause of 
 the stupid populace.* 
 
 Amid this general depravation of morality, 
 the clergy declining in virtue, the people sink- 
 ing in ignorance, no wonder that the sacrament 
 of the Eucharist should begin to be clouded 
 over in the universal darkness which prevailed. 
 Rites and ceremonies were multiplied with 
 every possible ingenuity, and the pomp and out- 
 ward splendour of the church increased in pro- 
 portion to its inward corruption. The Agapse, 
 or love-feasts, which had so intimate a con- 
 nexion with the Eucharist, were now discon- 
 tinued, and the Eucharist itself was looked 
 upon as a superstitious act between the priest 
 and God, rather than an act of devotion, or 
 a communion between Christ and his church. 
 Still, however, no outward or public act of 
 the church had changed its nature ; no bull 
 
 " The most extraordinary of these fanatics was Simeon, who 
 is described as dwelling upon a column raised to the height of 
 sixty feet from the ground : there he existed, through summer 
 and winter, for thirty years, making his devotions by various 
 inflexions of the body, sometimes with outstretched arms in the 
 figure of the cross, sometimes bending down his head so as to 
 reach the feet. And thus he thought to please God ! See 
 Theod. Vita Patrum. book ix. 
 
 Such practices and opinions may be justly brought forward 
 to display the growing darkness which threatened the Christian 
 world, and will diminish our surprise when we find other parts 
 of Christian duty, such as the Eucharist, similarly perverted.
 
 68 HISTORY. 
 
 or edict of any bishop or council had spoken 
 out upon the subject ; it was merely the gen- 
 eral tone of depravity, ignorance, and supersti- 
 tion, which as yet affected it : for this we have 
 the testimony of the following writers : 
 
 First, Theodoret,* in his dialogue between 
 Eranistes the Eutychian,t and Orthodoxus, on 
 the divine mysteries, the subject of the Eucharist 
 is accidentally introduced.^ 
 
 " Orth. The mystic symbols which are offered 
 by the priest to God ; tell me of what are they 
 the symbols? 
 
 " Er. Of the body and blood of the Lord. 
 
 " Orth. Of the body which is really so, or not 
 really so ? 
 
 " Er. Really so." 
 
 And then afterwards : 
 
 " Er. It happens, opportunely, that you are 
 speaking of the divine mysteries ; for from this 
 
 * THEODORET, born at Antioch, appointed bishop of Cyrus, 
 a remote district of Syria, A.D. 423. He was principally cele- 
 brated in taking the part of Nestorius against Cyril. He died 
 about the year 457. 
 
 f Eranistes in this dialogue is supposed to represent the 
 opinions of heretics, and principally the followers of Eutyches, 
 while Orthodoxus represents the catholic faith of the church. 
 The heresy of Eutyches consisted in teaching that there was 
 only one nature in Christ, that of the Incarnate Word. And 
 in the dialogue above cited, Eranistes is contending that as in 
 the sacrament the bread was changed into Christ's body, so in 
 the ascension the humanity was turned into the divinity. 
 
 + Theod. Dial. 2. t. 4. p. 85.
 
 FIFTH CENTURY. 69 
 
 very thing I will shew you that the body of the 
 Lord is changed into another nature. Answer, 
 therefore, my questions. What do you call the 
 gift which is brought before the invocation of 
 the priest ? 
 
 " Orth. That which is made a nutriment from 
 seeds. 
 
 " Er. How do you call the other sign ? 
 
 " Orth. A sort of draught. 
 
 " Er. After the consecration, how do you call 
 them? 
 
 " Orth. The body of Christ and the blood of 
 Christ. 
 
 " Er. And do you believe that you are made 
 partaker of the body and blood of Christ ? 
 
 " Orth. I so believe. 
 
 " Er. As therefore the symbols of the body 
 and blood of our Lord are one thing before the 
 consecration of the priest, but are changed after 
 the consecration, and are another thing, so the 
 body of the Lord after his assumption is changed 
 into a divine substance. 
 
 " Orth. You are caught in the net which you 
 yourself have made. For the mystic signs do 
 not recede from their nature after consecration, 
 for they remain in their former substance, and 
 figure, and form, and can be seen and touched 
 as before ; but they are understood to be those 
 things which they have been made, and are 
 thought so, and are worshipped as the things 
 which they are thought."
 
 70 HISTORY, 
 
 Now in this curious dialogue we are swayed 
 backwards and forwards by the opposite assertions 
 contained in it. It shews that a notion of some 
 mysterious change, of worshipping the elements, 
 and a communion something more than spiritual, 
 prevailed abroad ; though at the same time, it 
 appears to be the opinion of Theodoret himself, 
 that there was only a spiritual and mystical 
 addition to the elements, not a direct alteration. 
 
 But he speaks again for himself in another 
 of his dialogues : " Our Saviour would have 
 
 O 
 
 those who are partakers of the divine mys- 
 teries not to mind the nature of the things they 
 see, but by the change of names to believe that 
 change. For he that called his own natural 
 body wheat and bread, and gave it the name 
 of a vine, he also honoured the visible symp- 
 toms or elements with the name of his body 
 and blood, not changing their nature, but adding 
 grace to nature."* 
 
 There is one more father in this century who 
 gives his opinions on this subject, Gelasius.t 
 In treating upon the two natures of Christ, he 
 is led to speak of the nature of the sacraments 
 as follows : " Certainly the sacrament which 
 
 * Theod, Dial. torn. 4. p. 17. 
 
 f GELASIUS, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 495. A strenuous op- 
 poser of the Pelagians and Eutychians. The passage above 
 cited is drawn forth as an argument in his writings against 
 Eutyches.
 
 FIFTH CENTURY. 71 
 
 we receive of the body and blood of Christ is 
 a divine thing, because by them we are made 
 partakers of the divine nature ; and yet the 
 substance and nature of bread and wine do 
 not cease, but the image and similitude of the 
 body and blood of Christ are celebrated in the 
 action of the mysteries. It is, therefore, shewn 
 as sufficiently evident to us, that we must so 
 think in regard to our Lord Christ, as we pro- 
 fess, celebrate, and receive, under his image, that 
 as they (the bread and wine) pass into the di- 
 vine substance, by the efficacy of the Holy 
 Spirit, and yet their proper nature remains, so 
 is the great mystery whose efficacy and virtue 
 they represent."* 
 
 Again, the error of communicating in one 
 kind only, seems in this century to be first 
 agitated ; for we find Gelasius in another place 
 thus speaking : " Certain men, when they have 
 received that part of the sacrament which is 
 conveyed by the sacred body, abstain from the 
 cup of the sacred blood, who without doubt, 
 (since I know not by what superstition they 
 are hindered,) ought either to receive the whole 
 sacrament, or to be kept away altogether ; be- 
 cause there cannot be a division of one and 
 the same mystery without great sacrilege.''! 
 Likewise upon the necessity of every person 
 
 * Gelas. de duabus in Christo naturis. Bibl. Pair. v. 671. 
 f Gratia. De Consecr. Dist. 2 Can. 12.
 
 734 HISTORY. 
 
 in the church communicating, the Council of 
 Toledo, which was very early in the present 
 century, thus directs : " Concerning those who 
 enter the church, and are found never to com- 
 municate, let them be admonished that if they 
 do not communicate, they must submit to 
 penance."* 
 
 Such is the testimony for the fifth century. 
 While it shews the continuance of the Eucha- 
 rist as a Christian feast, at the same time it 
 implies the doubts and false opinions of the 
 rest of the Christian world. The necessity of 
 arguing against transubstantiation, as in the 
 case of Theodoret, implies that there had al- 
 ready commenced a notion of the visible and 
 real presence of Christ's body in the sacrament. 
 Nevertheless, the most eminent men in the 
 church, as we see by these quotations, remained 
 as yet sound in the faith, even as Jesus him- 
 self had delivered it. 
 
 THE SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 The opening of the sixth century is not re- 
 markable for any great change in religious 
 opinion. It is occupied principally by the 
 reign of the emperor Justinian in the east, 
 while the western empire is divided between 
 
 * Cone. Tolet. 1 Can. 13.
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 73 
 
 the Exarchate of Ravenna, and the kingdom 
 of the Lombards. The seat of dominion is 
 transferred from the once proud city of Rome 
 to Constantinople. The Italians groan under 
 the joint pressure of famine, pestilence, and the 
 tyranny of barbarous strangers ; while the bishop 
 or pope of Rome is now silently acquiring 
 more spiritual influence and greater temporal 
 authority. The distress of the people compels 
 them to lean upon any arm that may be ex- 
 tended for their help, and they are content to 
 obviate present emergences at the risk of fu- 
 ture oppression. Thus it was, after many years 
 of painful and vexatious misrule, when the pa- 
 pal chair was filled by Gregory the First, a 
 politic and ambitious prelate, the citizens of 
 Rome gladly threw themselves upon his pro- 
 tection, and established him in a much more 
 extended temporal authority than any previous 
 bishop had enjoyed. The words of a great 
 historian, in relating this first approach to a 
 temporal sovereignty, on the part of a Chris- 
 tian minister, are as follow. They well describe 
 the craft and the imposture to which the church 
 had resorted, to maintain her former dignity : 
 " Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, the 
 name of Rome might have been erased from 
 the earth, if the city had not been animated by 
 a vital principle, which again restored her to 
 honour and dominion. A vague tradition was 
 embraced, that two Jewish teachers, a tent-
 
 74 HISTORY. 
 
 maker and a fisherman, had formerly been exe- 
 cuted in the circus of Nero, and at the end of 
 five hundred years, their genuine or fictitious 
 relics were adored as the palladium of Chris- 
 tian Rome. The pilgrims of the east and west 
 resorted to the holy threshold, but the shrines 
 of the apostles were guarded by miracles and 
 invisible terrors ; and it was not without fear 
 that the pious catholic approached the object 
 of his worship." " But the power as well as 
 virtue of the apostles resided with living energy 
 in the breast of their successors, and the chair 
 of St. Peter was filled, under the reign of 
 Maurice, by the first and greatest of the name 
 of Gregory."* The substance of which is, that 
 when temporal dominion and temporal glory 
 deserted the once-favoured city of Rome, the 
 remembrance of those primitive ages, when the 
 blood of Christian martyrs flowed through her 
 streets, became a refreshing comfort to her 
 mind. And the clergy, taking advantage of the 
 depression under which the people laboured as 
 to temporal things, directed them to look to 
 spiritual things for consolation, and scrupled 
 not for this purpose, to use any fraud or im- 
 posture that might offer itself, to gain the at- 
 tention of the populace. Thus their minds, 
 taught to submit, to admire, and to reverence 
 the superior sagacity of an ambitious clergy, 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. viii. p. 161, 8vo. edit.
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 75 
 
 they became an enslaved and bigoted people : 
 they threw away the freedom -with which 
 Christ had endued them, and made those who 
 wielded against them the juggling tricks of 
 pretended miracles for the sake of Christ's glory, 
 not only their leaders in spiritual things, but 
 also in temporal. We must be minute in 
 watching this turn of affairs, because it is evi- 
 dently from this period that the corruptions of 
 the church of Rome, and involved in that, the 
 corruptions of the Eucharist, took their rise. 
 By the great acquisition of power which the 
 church first obtained under the pontificate of 
 Gregory the First, or the Great, as he is ge- 
 nerally termed, first began the usurpation and 
 the sovereignty of Papal Rome; and strange 
 to say, the spiritual bishop was soon to be lost 
 in the more dazzling character of the temporal 
 prince. 
 
 The bishops of Italy, and the neighbour- 
 ing islands joined in acknowledging the pope's 
 supremacy. All translations and episcopal 
 promotions were managed by his authority. 
 The popular election of bishops was discon 
 tinued, or at least controlled by his inter- 
 ference : forty monks were dispatched to our 
 own country to propagate his opinions and 
 to baptize the Anglo-Saxons in the faith of 
 the Roman church, and while these things 
 occupied him in his clerical capacity, with 
 no less adroitness did he act in politics,
 
 76 HISTORY. 
 
 warding off', by constant mediation, the attacks 
 of the Lombards, and while the enemy stood 
 at the gates of the city of Rome, ready to 
 conquer and destroy, the bishop, now armed 
 with the affections of the people, ventured 
 upon his own ground to negotiate peace and 
 independence. Thus he seemed at once to 
 establish himself by the splendour of his 
 abilities, and the skill of his policy, without 
 regard either to the Exarchate of Ravenna, 
 or the emperor of the east, as the sole direc- 
 tor both of the church and of the state. 
 
 In the formation also and direction of the 
 public liturgies, the same activity displayed 
 itself. Hitherto the public worship of God 
 had been observed by every nation in its 
 own language.* The celebration of the Eu- 
 
 * The church of Rome at the present day uses the Latin lan- 
 guage as the language of her prayers, no matter what the lan- 
 guage of the people may be ; but such was not always her 
 custom. The fourth council of Lateran, A.D. 1415, canon ix. 
 says, that " because in most parts there are within the same 
 state or diocese people of different languages, having under 
 one faith various rites and customs ; we distinctly charge that 
 the bishops provide proper persons to celebrate the divine offi- 
 ces and administer the sacraments according to the difference 
 of languages, instructing them both by word and by exam- 
 ple." The council of Trent, however, A.D. 1562, decrees 
 directly the reverse : " Although the mass contains much 
 instruction for the faithful people, yet it did not seem good to 
 the fathers that it should be every where celebrated in the 
 common tongue." 
 
 They must reconcile this as they can.
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 77 
 
 charist had been publicly observed with the 
 plainness and simplicity with which its divine 
 founder had appointed it. But simplicity did 
 not suit the temper of the times. The people 
 could not set value unless they saw mystery, 
 and could not esteem a worship which was 
 without ostentation. He accordingly presented 
 to them an entirely new manner of adminis- 
 tration, adorned it with many pompous forms, 
 and sought to enliven the devotion which should 
 attend it, by the power of novelty, and the 
 charms of countless ceremonies. This new 
 form of celebrating the Eucharist was called 
 " The canon of the mass"* 
 
 But notwithstanding the great influence of 
 Gregory, it was not till some years had elapsed 
 that it was adopted by all the Latin churches, 
 and though it was the forerunner of danger- 
 ous abuses, even yet, in itself it affected not 
 the essence or the original substance of the 
 institution, overloading it with cumbrous dis- 
 play, rather than changing or destroying its 
 foundations. We may allow that its great 
 and essential forms bread and wine, to be 
 
 * The reason of the name mass may not perhaps be under- 
 stood. The Latin word is missa, and signifies no more than 
 dismissal. The catechumens and that portion of the church 
 which did not communicate, penitents, and others, were dis- 
 missed by the deacon upon his saying the words, "Ite, missa 
 est," and so it came to pass that the remaining part of the ser- 
 vice, or communion, received the name of "missa," and in 
 English, mass.
 
 78 HISTORY. 
 
 partaken by the faithful, as representing the 
 body and blood of Christ were still main- 
 tained ; but as in all cases of an ignorant 
 or superstitious people, the eye was to be 
 pleased more than the heart, and the imagina- 
 tion rather than the intellect. That this was 
 the general state of opinion, we may gather 
 from the following writers : Fulgentius* " But 
 in that sacrifice there is a giving of thanks, 
 and a commemoration of the flesh of Christ, 
 which he gave for us, and his blood which 
 he shed for us."t And again, commenting on 
 the words, " This cup is the new testament 
 of my blood," he says, " That is, this cup which 
 I give you, represents the new testament," &c. 
 FacundusJ " Now the sacrament of adoption 
 may be called adoption ; as we call the sacra- 
 ment of his body and blood, which is in the 
 consecrated cup, his body and blood ; not 
 because the bread is properly his body, nor 
 the cup his blood; but because they contain 
 the mystery of his body and blood: whence 
 our Saviour, when he blessed the bread and 
 cup, and gave them to his disciples, called 
 
 * FULGENTIUS, bishop of Ruspa, bom, A.D. 468, and 
 appointed bishop, A.D. 504, was principally engaged against 
 the Arians. 
 
 t Ad Petrum. c. xix. 
 
 | FACUNDUS, bishop of Hermiana, in Africa, A.D. 540. 
 His principal work was, "The Defence of the Three Chapters," 
 from which the above quotation is taken.
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 79 
 
 them his body and blood." Where Bingham 
 remarks, "It is plain, according to Facundus, 
 that the bread and wine are not properly 
 the body and blood of Christ, but properly 
 bread and wine still, and only called his body 
 and blood : as baptism and circumcision are 
 called adoption, because they are the sacra- 
 ments of adoption, and not the very thing 
 which they represent."* Again, Ephrem,t bishop 
 of Antioch, who wrote against the Eutychians: 
 " No man that hath any reason, will say, 
 that the nature of palpable and impalpable, 
 visible and invisible, is the same ; for so the 
 body of Christ, which is received by the faith- 
 ful, does not depart from its own sensible 
 substance, and yet it is united to a spiritual 
 grace."! 
 
 So Dionysius,|| the Areopagite, says, "These 
 things (the sacred elements placed upon the 
 
 * Book xv. c. v. s. iv. 
 
 f EPHREM. After obtaining considerable secular eminence, 
 Ephrem dedicated himself to the service of the church. 
 During an earthquake which destroyed the city of Antioch, 
 and in which the bishop, Euphrasius, had perished, Ephrem 
 became so popular from his charitable exertions, that he was 
 chosen his successor, A.D. 526. 
 
 \ Ephrem ad Photium, cod. 229. 
 
 \ DIONYSIUS. It is thought that the name of the Areopagite, 
 does not rightly belong to this Dionysius, but whether or no, 
 does not much matter, as the quotation above made, belongs 
 to some author of the sixth century, and is equally applicable 
 to our present purpose.
 
 80 HISTORY. 
 
 altar) are symbols, and not the truth or re- 
 ality." So Hesychius,* speaking of the same 
 mystery : " It is both bread and flesh too." 
 And so Procopius,t of Gaza: " He gave to his 
 disciples the image of his own body." 
 
 To these authors, thus incidentally convey- 
 ing the opinions of the church, we must add 
 the council of Agde, which issued a decree, 
 specifying certain times at which it was ne- 
 cessary to communicate. " The laity who do 
 not communicate on the day of our Lord's 
 nativity, Easter and Whitsuntide, cannot be 
 called Catholics, nor can be reckoned among 
 Catholics." This was indeed a great deviation 
 from the original custom of weekly com- 
 munion, and it displays a great declension of 
 religious feeling on the part of the people, 
 that such an edict was necessary ; but we 
 must be thankful that even thus much was 
 retained we must be thankful that in spite 
 of the forms and ceremonies and superstitious 
 rites which Gregory introduced, still the sa- 
 crament of the Eucharist in any way con- 
 tinued its hold upon the church ; and when 
 we have examined the authors above quoted, 
 and at the same time take into consideration 
 the lamentable state of ignorance and su- 
 perstition into which the world was plunged, 
 
 * HESYCHIUS, bishop of Jerusalem, supposed to have died 
 about the year A.D. 600. 
 
 f PBOCOPIUS, born at Gaza, a Sophist, A.D. 529.
 
 SIXTH CENTURY. 81 
 
 that it was " the blind leading the blind," 
 that the public ministers and teachers of re- 
 ligion were for the most part as ignorant as 
 the people whom they were appointed to 
 teach; that the worship of images and of 
 saints, the fire of purgatory, the power of 
 relics to heal the diseases of the body and of 
 the mind, that these and similar absurdities 
 generally prevailed the only wonder is that 
 the Eucharist continued as it did ; that no 
 further inroads than that of calling it " the 
 mass" and adorning it with worldly cere- 
 monies had been made on its apostolical 
 simplicity. 
 
 But in names and in externals, the seeds 
 are very often sown of internal error ; and 
 so in this case we shall not have long to wait, 
 before the fruits of these superstitions will 
 display themselves to the dishonour of God, 
 and to the subversion, at least temporary 
 subversion, of this holy sacrament.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 HISTORY: 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SEVENTH TO THE CLOSE OF THE 
 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1 COR. xi. 26. 
 
 For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do 
 shew the Lord's death TILL HE COME. 
 
 THE SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 GREGORY the Great still governed Rome at 
 the commencement of the seventh century, 
 and his power and influence were still in- 
 creasing : a rival, however, in a distant region, 
 was now about to spring up ; a rival whose 
 extraordinary genius, and more extraordinary 
 religion, was soon to expel Christianity from 
 her birth-place, and to dispute her dominion 
 not only in the east, but in every nation of 
 the civilized world. To understand the origin 
 of this new religion, we must remember that 
 the church of Christ, during the progress of
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 83 
 
 six centuries, had contracted many corruptions, 
 and among the worst of those corruptions 
 was the worship of images. How this prac- 
 tice gradually arose it is difficult to ascertain, 
 but it seems to have received its origin, 
 strange as it may appear, at the precise moment 
 when paganism was subverted, and Christianity 
 became the dominant religion of the state. 
 The natural passions of mankind, the infirm 
 reason of the uneducated, and the prejudices 
 of custom, seemed to demand in the converted 
 heathen, something more tangible, something 
 more visible to the senses, than the spiritual 
 and immaterial God of the Christians ; and 
 consequently, when idols were prohibited, and 
 the worship of polytheism was discarded by 
 law, mankind would still delight in the pos- 
 session of some token or memorial of the re- 
 ligion which they were taught to believe. 
 Hence their delight in relics, in the bones of 
 martyrs, in the representation, either by paint- 
 ing or statue, of the apostles and primitive 
 teachers of Christianity: and as God had 
 himself descended upon earth in human form, 
 and had been born of a human mother, nothing 
 would delight the pious and devout Christian 
 so much, as the possession of some me- 
 mento of the Saviour and his Virgin Mother. 
 The transition from love of the relic, to ado- 
 ration, would be easy in an ignorant mind; 
 and thus it might happen, that every saint
 
 84 HISTORY. 
 
 would have his image, and every martyr his 
 picture, before which, either as mediators or 
 as gods, the catholic would bow the body, 
 or address his prayers. While, then, this de- 
 praved and sensual notion of Christianity was 
 daily making ground, Mahomet, or more pro- 
 perly Mohammed, began to preach in Arabia 
 the unity of God, and himself God's prophet. 
 First, by an insidious policy, and then by the 
 force of arms, he compelled his countrymen to 
 believe his divine mission. The idolatry of 
 Arabia disgusted and displeased him, he 
 turned to the Christians, and there beheld an 
 equal idolatry, the worship of images, and the 
 apparent return to polytheism, in the notion 
 of a Trinity in the Godhead. He might have 
 been at first an enthusiast, but at any rate 
 he made his enthusiasm subservient to his 
 policy ; or he might have been a deep and 
 subtle politician, while he disguised his po- 
 licy in the dress of religious enthusiasm ; but 
 be that as it may, the errors of the Chris- 
 tians in their image worship, and their ab- 
 surd dissensions on the subject of the Trinity, 
 first opened the road to his advances, and 
 made intelligible his watchword, " There is 
 one God, and Mahomet is his prophet." And 
 thus, while he taught the world to disbelieve 
 one error, he made haste to propagate a greater ; 
 and following it up with vigour, with subtilty, 
 and with the force of arms, his religion, du-
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 85 
 
 ring the course of twelve centuries, embraced, 
 and still continues to embrace, to a great 
 extent, the Indian, the African, and the 
 Turk. 
 
 But how does our more immediate object 
 become affected by this ? Nothing, perhaps, 
 ever affected it so much as the doctrine of image 
 worship. Nothing, perhaps, laid the foundation 
 of the Romish notion of transubstantiation in a 
 greater 'degree, than the carving of images, and 
 the searching for relics as objects of love and 
 worship. The canon of the mass was now cele- 
 brated with greater splendour, in proportion as 
 the doctrines of the church were more sensual. 
 The elements of the Eucharist were held forth 
 to the public view as objects of admiration, 
 because the public had been taught to value 
 religion by the external aids of crosses, statues, 
 and pictures. The priests were adorned in their 
 vestments with more costly decoration ; because, 
 again, the people had been taught to gaze at, 
 and admire, before they loved; and, like the 
 savage, were caught by glitter and display, 
 rather] than instructed and elevated by inward 
 holiness and faith. The following anecdote 
 from] the life of Gregory the Great, will display 
 an approach to transubstantiation curiously 
 answered: " A woman to whom he was about 
 to give the Eucharist in the usual form of 
 words, ' The] body of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 preserve_j thy soul,' laughed at the form, and
 
 86 HISTORY. 
 
 being asked the reason for her so doing, said, 
 it was because he called that the body of 
 Christ which she knew to be bread, as she had 
 made it with her own hands."* But the ex- 
 pression, in this case, " The body of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ," need not have rendered that 
 answer necessary. It might merely have been 
 used in the same spiritual sense in which we 
 at the present day administer the sacred sym- 
 bols : but be that as it may, it displays a 
 general popular notion of some mysterious 
 change. It shews that the thought of transub- 
 stantiation was already rife among the people, 
 though not yet embodied in words. 
 
 Gregory himself could not have used it in 
 any sense of transubstantiation, because we 
 know from several passages in his writings, 
 that his opinions were on the contrary side. 
 However he might have destroyed the primitive 
 simplicity of the Eucharist by his costly and 
 pompous ceremonies, he yet, as to doctrine, 
 maintained the orthodox faith. In one place he 
 says: " Although the body should be conse- 
 crated in many places, and innumerable days, 
 yet there are not many bodies of Christ, nor 
 many cups, but one body of Christ, and one 
 cup," &c. : whereas the doctrine of transubstan- 
 tiation would make each sacrifice, and each 
 communion, a new body. 
 
 * Greg. Vita, lib. ii. c. 41.
 
 SEVENTH CENTURY. 87 
 
 In addition to Gregory* we have two emi- 
 nent writers in this century, who have ex- 
 pressed opinions on this point, but unfor- 
 tunately they are directly opposed to each 
 other. The one is Isidore, the other Eli- 
 gius. The former of these, Isidore,! is of 
 the same opinion as Gregory, and writes as 
 follows : The sacrifice of the Lord's Supper 
 is received by the whole church fasting, 
 for so it pleased the Holy Spirit, through the 
 apostles, that in honour of so great a sacra- 
 ment, the body of our Lord should enter 
 the mouth of the Christian before other food. 
 For the bread which we break is the body 
 of Christ, who said, ' I am the living bread 
 which came down from heaven ;' and the 
 wine is his blood, as is written, 'I am the 
 
 * The life of Gregory extended to the year A.D. 604, we 
 may therefore include any testimony from his writings as belong- 
 ing to the commencement of the seventh century. 
 
 t ISIDORE was born at Seville in Spain, afterwards bishop 
 of that see ; in A.D. 633, he presided at the fourth national 
 council of Toledo. He died A.D. 636. 
 
 J It seems to have been the custom of the church in primitive 
 times to celebrate the Eucharist fasting, excepting on one day, 
 which was the Thursday in Passion week. Bingham cites a 
 great many authorities to shew this custom, but at the same 
 time does not think that it was invariable. The council of 
 Carthage decreed, that "the sacrament of the altar should not 
 be received by any but the fasting, except on one annual day, 
 called ' csena Domini.' See Bingham, book xv. c. vii. s. 8. 
 and Hospinian Hist. Sacr. vol. i. p. 25.
 
 88 HISTORY. 
 
 true vine ;' but the bread, because it strengthens 
 the body, is therefore called the body ; and 
 the wine, because it makes blood in the flesh, 
 is therefore referred to the blood of Christ. 
 But these, while they are visible, yet being 
 sanctified by the Holy Spirit, pass into the 
 sacrament of the divine body."* Again, in 
 another place, he says, " As the visible sub- 
 stance of bread and wine nourish the out- 
 ward man, so the word of Christ, who is 
 the bread of life, refresheth the souls of the 
 faithful, being received by faith." t Again, in 
 the same writer, we find the assertion, that there 
 are only two sacraments, " one baptism, the 
 other the body and blood of Christ, which are 
 called sacraments, for this reason, because, under 
 the appearance of corporeal things, the divine 
 virtue secretly works the force of a sacrament, 
 whence, from their secret or sacred virtues, they 
 are called sacraments."^ 
 
 While, however, these passages testify clearly 
 the orthodox faith, we have an extremely re- 
 markable assertion in Eligius,|| in the year 650, 
 of precisely a contrary tendency, one which 
 boldly and openly asserts the doctrine of tran- 
 
 * Isid. de Eccl. Off. lib. i. c. 18. 
 
 t Isid. Orig. lib.vi. c. 19. 
 
 % Ibid. 
 
 | ELIGIUS, born near the city of Limoges, in France ; he 
 for some time practised the trade of a goldsmith, afterwards 
 bishop of Noyon. Died A. D. 659.
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY. 89 
 
 substantiation. " Know truly, and believe 
 firmly, that as the flesh of Christ which he 
 assumed in the womb of the Virgin is his true 
 body, and was slain for our salvation, so the 
 bread which he gave to his disciples, and which 
 his priests daily consecrate in the 'church, is 
 the true body of Christ. And there are not 
 two bodies, the flesh which he assumed and 
 the bread, but only one body, in so much as 
 it is broken and eaten."* 
 
 We should be glad indeed to adopt the rule 
 given by Bishop Taylor, and to make full 
 allowance for the figurative language of the 
 times, but the peculiar force of the above 
 expressions cannot easily be overcome. " As 
 the flesh of Christ is his body, so the bread." 
 It seems at once to reject all interference of 
 explanation by any spiritual meaning. The 
 popular superstition was already making its 
 way to the guides and rulers of the people. 
 
 THE EIGHTH CENTURY. 
 
 We have already seen the rise of image 
 worship in the church of Rome, and the con- 
 sequent rise of the Mohammedan religion in 
 Africa. We now have to trace another conse- 
 quence of this absurd perversion of Christianity, 
 
 * Eligius, Horn. xv.
 
 90 HISTORY. 
 
 no less than that of a totally new empire in 
 the west, and the entire separation of the Roman 
 pontiff from all intercourse with the eastern 
 church. Leo, the Isaurian, emperor of the 
 east, conceiving that the worship of senseless 
 stocks and stones was more suitable to pagans 
 than to Christians, exerted himself most vigor- 
 ously to destroy it. He at once prohibited 
 the setting up of any images or pictures in 
 the churches, and ordered the destruction of 
 those which had already been made objects 
 of adoration. The immediate consequence was 
 a civil war in all the Italian provinces. Pepin 
 was now king of the Franks, Stephen the pope 
 of Rome. The pope, fearful on the one hand 
 that he should suffer from his adherence to 
 image worship at the hands of Leo, and being 
 at the same time pressed by the Lombards, 
 who harassed his dominions in another quarter, 
 made application to Pepin for assistance. Pepin, 
 who was an usurper, and had dethroned his 
 lawful sovereign Childeric, was glad at any 
 price to obtain the countenance of the church. 
 He therefore sent the required assistance to the 
 pope, twice defeated the king of the Lombards, 
 and established the Roman pontiff in all the 
 dominions of the Exarchate of Ravenna. This 
 grant of territory and dominion was further 
 augmented and confirmed by Charlemagne, the 
 son of Pepin ; and the pope, in return for these 
 substantial gifts, was 'glad to confer the sanction
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY. 91 
 
 of the church on the establishment of the great 
 western empire under Charlemagne. 
 
 Such is as brief an account as can well be 
 given of this great historical event. Charlemagne 
 retaining under his empire the general supreme 
 power, while he granted to the church of Rome 
 a subordinate and separate jurisdiction over 
 her especial and appointed territories ; while 
 Leo, surnamed the Iconoclast, or image-breaker, 
 set at defiance by the increased strength thus 
 acquired, was compelled to give way ; and 
 though in the east he succeeded in his wise 
 and Christian endeavours to restore a purer 
 worship, yet by so doing he brought about 
 the great schism between the eastern and 
 western churches, which led very shortly after 
 to their final and complete separation. 
 
 Thus, then, with regard to religion, we might 
 naturally expect with this increase of power an 
 increase of those abuses which had already com- 
 menced. Mosheim* describes the effect which 
 all this had upon the administration of the 
 Eucharist as follows : " The administration of 
 the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which was 
 deemed the most solemn and important branch 
 of divine worship, was now every where em- 
 bellished, or rather deformed with a variety of 
 senseless fopperies, which destroyed the beau- 
 tiful simplicity of that affecting and salutary 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 242.
 
 92 HISTORY. 
 
 institution." In addition to this, we find evident 
 traces of the commencement of solitary masses. 
 Solitary masses are those which are celebrated 
 by the priest alone in behalf of souls detained 
 in purgatory.* The cause of this innovation 
 is easily discerned. The church was now become 
 a church of the world. Temporal power and 
 temporal riches were her delight. The wealthy 
 and noble would gladly leave their wealth to 
 men who had the power, by their prayers and 
 their sacrifices, to obtain for them pardon for 
 their sins and salvation for their souls. Hence, 
 therefore, the doctrine of purgatory being once 
 established, the masses for the dead would be 
 encouraged by the clergy, while the wealth of 
 the laity would be willingly received in return by 
 
 * The reader will bear in mind that a mass is a sacrifice, 
 and therefore that in the notion of a solitary mass, we must 
 understand that the priest, without any reference to a com- 
 munion, is supposed to offer the sacrifice of the Son of God, 
 and he is supposed to offer that sacrifice in behalf of the souls 
 of the dead. This error could never have arisen without the 
 existence of the previous error that of purgatory. Gregory 
 the Great, in the previous century, was most expressly a 
 believer in purgatory. " We must believe that there is a pur- 
 gatorial fire for certain light faults." Dialog, lib. 4. c. 39. 
 Again, " After the death of the flesh, some are immersed in 
 eternal punishments, others pass to life through the fire of 
 purgation;" and the notion was, that the prayers of the faithful, 
 and the masses of the priest, could expedite the deliverance of 
 the soul from this purgatorial state. That this is still the 
 doctrine of the Roman church, see the decree of the Council of 
 Trent, session xxv. A.D. 1563.
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY. 93 
 
 those whose temporal glory was the highest 
 point of their ambition. But how glaring, how 
 strange a perversion ! The sacrament of the 
 Eucharist, or thanksgiving, in which all are to 
 communicate, performed by one man, and that 
 without any reference to the living, or the com- 
 memoration of Christ, but as a sacrifice for 
 the souls of the absent and the dead. " This 
 single custom," says Mosheim, " is sufficient 
 to give us an idea of the superstition and dark- 
 ness which sat brooding over the Christian 
 church in this ignorant age, and renders it un- 
 necessary to enter into a further detail of the 
 absurd rites with which a designing priesthood 
 continued to disfigure the religion of Jesus."* 
 
 Three of the principal authors who flourished 
 in this century are Bede,t John Damascenus,^ 
 and Alcuinus.|| While they speak of the many 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 244. 
 
 t BEDE, born in England, A.D. 672. Was looked upon 
 as the wonder and ornament of his age. In science, religion, 
 grammar, and mathematics, considering the general darkness 
 and ignorance of the times, his writings are certainly wonder- 
 ful. He died A.D. 735. 
 
 \ JOHN DAMASCENUS, called Chrysorrhoas, because of his 
 eloquence. Native of Damascus ; was a great advocate for 
 image worship, and incurred the hostility of Leo the Isaurian. 
 Died in A.D. 750. 
 
 || ALCUINUS, pupil of the Venerable Bede, and deacon of 
 the church of York : afterwards the head of the monastery of 
 Tours. Died, A.D. 804. A great patron and supporter of 
 learning.
 
 94 HISTORY. 
 
 errors above alluded to, such as purgatory, 
 relics, solitary masses, and the like, with no 
 uncertain voice, yet they abound in passages 
 concerning transubstantiation, which each party 
 might quote with equal triumph. Alcuinus 
 says, " Every thing that is offered in this obla- 
 tion is a mystery, which ought to be received 
 with purity of faith, but cannot be comprehended 
 by the subtilty of reason ; for one thing is seen, 
 another understood. That which is seen has a 
 bodily appearance ; that which is understood 
 has a spiritual fruit. Christ fills the altar, and 
 proposes himself as food. He is slain, not killed ; 
 he is eaten, not diminished ; he refreshes us, 
 but does not decrease ; though eaten, he lives, 
 because he is risen from the dead. O won- 
 derful and ineffable ! O mystery of faith ! All 
 eat of him, yet each eats the whole ; he is 
 divided into parts, but the whole is in the parts ; 
 he is eaten by the people, yet he remains entire ; 
 he is wholly in heaven, yet he is wholly in the 
 hearts of the faithful. He purges sins, his 
 death makes alive, he strengthens the weak, he 
 preserves the sound."* Now this may be under- 
 stood spiritually, and may be claimed by one 
 side as not favouring transubstantiation ; while 
 in another place he speaks as strongly as any 
 of the Roman church might desire in favour of 
 transubstantiation ; for he says : " I, the least 
 
 * Alcuin. Conf. Fid. fol. edition, p. 413
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY. 95 
 
 of the faithful, do not at all doubt, but for my 
 whole part believe, that the sacrament of divine 
 and life-giving virtue is the true flesh of Christ, 
 on which we feed, and his true blood of which 
 we drink." 
 
 Damascenus writes as follows : t( As the 
 water of baptism is the laver of regeneration, 
 so also the bread and wine, by the junction of 
 divine grace, becomes the body and blood of 
 Christ. As in baptism, because it is the cus- 
 tom and habit of men to be washed with water, 
 and anointed with oil, he has joined the grace 
 of the Holy Ghost to the oil and water : in 
 the same way, because it is the custom of men 
 to eat bread and drink wine mixed with water, 
 he has joined the divine grace to these, and 
 has made them the body and blood, that we 
 may enjoy those things which are beyond na- 
 ture, by customary means, and things which are 
 according to nature."* In this, there appears 
 nothing beyond the usual notion of a spiritual 
 change. But yet he seems to speak, in another 
 place, as decidedly on the contrary side: " The 
 bread and wine are not the figure of the body 
 and blood of Christ, but his very body deified, 
 because he himself said, ' This is my body ;' 
 not the figure of my body, but ' my body.' "t 
 How can we imagine two such passages as these 
 to proceed from the same pen ? 
 
 * Damasc. de Orthod. Fid. lib. iv. c. 14. t Ibid.
 
 96 HISTORY. 
 
 The third author, who was mentioned in 
 Bede, commenting on Mark, he says, that 
 " Christ gave the mysteries of his flesh and 
 blood to be celebrated."* Again, " Christ did 
 not exclude Judas from the holy supper, in 
 which he delivered to his disciples the figure 
 of his holy body and blood." t Again, on the 
 words of John, "Behold the Lamb of God." 
 " He daily taketh away the sins of the world, 
 and washes us from our sins, when the re- 
 membrance of his passion is, again made a sa- 
 crifice on the altar, when the creatures of bread 
 and wine are transferred by the ineffable sanc- 
 tification of the Spirit, into the flesh and blood 
 of Christ, and so his body and blood is slain 
 and poured out, not by the hands of the faith- 
 less to their own destruction, but is received 
 by the mouth of the faithful to their sal- 
 vation. J" Lastly, in Paul, the deacon, || who wrote 
 the life of Gregory the Great, we find the fol- 
 
 * Bede in Marc. lib. 3. c. 6. 
 
 f Bede in Ps. 3. 
 
 | Hospinian remarks on this passage, " From these words of 
 Bede, we understand that the remembrance of the passion of 
 our Lord is the sacrifice which is offered on the altar, for he 
 says that it is offered in the creatures of bread and wine ; there- 
 fore in this sacrifice the substance of bread and wine remain, but 
 they are mystically called the body and blood, and received in 
 sacred communion by the faithful." Hospin. Hist. Sacra, 
 lib. iii. c. 7. 
 
 I PAUL THE DEACON. He was deacon of Aquileia, historian 
 and poet, A.D. 774.
 
 NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. 97 
 
 lowing assertion, than which nothing can be 
 more decided: "The Creator foreknowing our 
 infirmity, by that power by which he made 
 all things of nothing, and made a body from 
 the flesh of the virgin ; he by the operation 
 of the Holy Ghost turns bread and wine, 
 mixed with water, into his flesh, and blood, 
 their own proper kind still remaining" 
 
 This then will be sufficient testimony for 
 the opinions of the eighth century. 
 
 THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 Hitherto the sacrament of the Eucharist, 
 in spite of the many additions and changes 
 which, as we have seen, had been made from 
 time to time in its form and celebration ; as 
 far as the doctrines of the church were con- 
 cerned, maintained its essential features. We 
 have already seen the opinion of some few 
 authors as decidedly tending to transubstan- 
 tiation, and we have every reason to think 
 that this opinion was general, though not ex- 
 pressed openly by the church.* But image 
 
 * In fact, the sentiments of Christians concerning the nature 
 and manner of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, had been 
 various and contradictory, but no council had determined either 
 one way or the other. Both reason and folly had been left free ; 
 nor had any imperious mode of faith suspended the exercise of 
 the one, or restrained the extravagance of the other. See 
 Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 306.
 
 98 HISTORY. 
 
 worship, purgatory, and masses for the dead, 
 were now open doctrines of the church, and 
 it therefore wanted but a little more to assert 
 the corporeal and visible presence of Christ 
 in the elements of the sacrament. Accord- 
 ingly, in the ninth century, first arose the open 
 and avowed doctrine that the bread and wine 
 used by the authority of Christ, as emblems 
 or representations of his body and blood, were 
 after consecration no longer bread and wine, 
 but by the word of prayer, commuted and 
 transformed into the actual and material body 
 and blood of our Saviour. If we consider a 
 moment the state to which men's minds had 
 been reduced, the darkness and stupidity 
 into which they had, by successive inroads of 
 a designing priesthood, been immersed, we 
 shall not be so much surprised even at this. 
 It was an easy transition from imagining a 
 block of stone, or a mass of gold to be God, 
 to imagining a lump of bread, and a cup full 
 of wine, a human body, and human blood. If 
 one were true, why not the other ? if one were 
 to be worshipped, why not the other ? Pascha- 
 sius Radbert, a monk, and afterwards abbot of 
 Corbey, pretended to explain with precision, and 
 determine with certainty, the doctrine of the 
 church ; and for this purpose he composed a 
 treatise on the subject, which he published in 
 the year 831. " His doctrines amounted to the 
 two following propositions : First, that after the
 
 NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. 99 
 
 consecration of the bread and wine in the 
 Lord's Supper, nothing remained of these 
 symbols but the outward figure, under which 
 the body and blood of Christ were really and 
 locally present ; and secondly, that the body of 
 Christ, thus present in the Eucharist, was the 
 same body that was born of the virgin, that 
 suffered upon the cross, and was raised from 
 the dead."* Consonant, however, as this doc- 
 trine was to the ignorance of the times, it 
 was not received without opposition. Charles 
 the Bald, emperor of the Franks, ordered two 
 of the most able men of the day, Ratram, 
 or Bertram,! and Johannes Scotus,J to draw up 
 a clear and rational account of the Eucharist, 
 They did so, and they decidedly pointed out 
 the error into which Radbert had fallen ; both 
 maintained that the bread and wine were mere 
 symbols, and that the body of Christ was not 
 present in the Eucharist, except so far as under- 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 306. 
 
 f RATRAM, or BERTRAM, a monk of Corbey, A.D. 840 ; 
 the same monastery of which Radbert was the head. Charles 
 the Bald proposed two questions to him; 1st, "Whether the 
 body of Christ was in the Eucharist?" 2dly, "Whether the 
 body which was born, crucified, and ascended to heaven, was 
 the same which was received by the faithful in the Eucharist ?" 
 Upon these two questions Bertram's tract was written. 
 
 t JOHANNES SCOTUS, a Scotchman, as his name implies, was 
 a great favourite with Charles the Bald, after whose death he 
 returned to England, and was placed at the head of the univer- 
 sity of Oxford, by Alfred the Great. Died A.D. 886.
 
 100 HISTORY. 
 
 stood spiritually and emblematically. The 
 writings of Scotus have perished in the ruins 
 of time, but those of Bertram still remain. 
 Having first quoted a passage from Augustine's 
 epistle to Boniface, he thus proceeds : " Since 
 there is one body of the Lord, in which he suf- 
 fered once, and one blood, which was shed for 
 the salvation of the world the sacraments 
 have taken the names of those things, so that 
 they are called the body and blood of Christ, 
 on account of their similitude." And again : " Let 
 your wisdom consider, most illustrious prince, 
 that even if the sacred scripture^ape set aside, 
 it is clearly proved by the words of the fathers 
 that there is no small difference between the 
 body which exists by mystery, and the body 
 which suffered ; because the one is the proper 
 body of the Saviour, nor in it is any figure ; 
 but in the other, which exists in the .mystery, 
 there is the figure, not only of the proper body 
 of Christ, but also of the people who believe 
 in him." And in another place he says, " We 
 are taught by the Saviour, and also the apos- 
 tle Paul, that that bread and that blood which 
 is put upon the altar, is put there in the 
 figure and memory of our Lord's death ; that 
 what is done in the past, he may recall to 
 memory by the present, so that being mind- 
 ful of his passion, we are made through 
 that partakers of his divine promise, by which 
 we are freed from death ; knowing that when
 
 NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. 101 
 
 we shall come into the presence of Christ, 
 we shall not need such instruments by which 
 to be admonished of the things which his 
 great kindness has done."* 
 
 Nor did Bertram stand alone. Amalarius,f 
 who lived very early in the ninth century, 
 writes thus : " Sacraments ought to have the 
 similitude of the things of which they are the 
 sacraments ; wherefore the priest is like Christ, 
 as the bread and wine are like the body of 
 Christ."j; Again, the same writer says : " It is 
 manifest that the mass is celebrated principally 
 in remembrance of the passion of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in whose memory it is done." 
 So also Rabanus Maurus : " As the material 
 food externally nourishes the body, so the 
 word of God in it nourishes and confirms the 
 soul. The sacrament is one thing, the virtue 
 of the sacrament another. The sacrament is 
 received in the mouth, but the inner man is 
 satiated by the virtue of the sacrament ; for 
 the sacrament is reduced to the nourishment 
 of the body ; but by the virtue of the sacra- 
 ment, the dignity of eternal life is maintained." 
 
 While, however, we range Amalarius and Ra- 
 banus Maurus on the side of Bertram, we must 
 
 * Bertram, on the body and blood of the Lord, 
 t AMALARIUS, bishop of Mentz, A.D. 812. 
 I De Eccles. Off. Prsef. 
 
 \ RABANUS MAURUS, head of the monastery of Fulda, 
 A.D. 847, and afterwards archbishop of Mayence.
 
 102 HISTORY. 
 
 place another author of this century as deci- 
 dedly against him. Haymo,* bishop of Halber- 
 stadt, writes thus : " So we believe and faith- 
 fully confess, and hold that that substance, 
 namely, bread and wine, is substantially changed 
 into another substance, by the operation of a 
 divine virtue, i. e., the nature of bread and wine 
 into flesh and blood." And again : " The in- 
 visible priest changes his visible creatures into 
 the substance of his own flesh and blood by a 
 secret power. In which body and blood of 
 Christ, on account of the dread of those who 
 receive it, the taste and form of bread and wine 
 remain, but the nature and substance is alto- 
 gether changed into the body and blood of 
 Christ."! From these passages we clearly 
 see the progress which the doctrine of tran- 
 substantiation had already made, decidedly 
 maintained by one party, but still as decidedly 
 opposed by another party : and thus [the mat- 
 ter remained for the ninth and tenth centuries. 
 The doctrine openly canvassed, but no decision 
 made. Radbert on one side, and Bertram on 
 the other, being the avowed and selected cham- 
 pions of each party, may fairly represent the 
 opinions of the day. 
 
 * HAYMO, pupil, together with Rabanus Maurus, of Alcuin, 
 abbot of Hersfield, and afterwards bishop of Halberstadt, 
 A.D. 853. 
 
 t Haymo, on the body and blood of Christ.
 
 ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 103 
 
 From this to the middle of the eleventh cen- 
 tury, we hear little more of the controversy, 
 the Christian world being occupied in the 
 Crusades, and in the great schism between the 
 Greek and Latin churches ; the power of the 
 Roman church increasing, and the ignorance of 
 the dark ages now fairly set in ; all authority 
 in matters of faith left to the arbitrary decision 
 of the pope ; and whether with or without evi- 
 dence, for or against reason, the dictum of the 
 priests, the faith of the people. 
 
 THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 
 
 The question of Christ's real presence in the 
 bread and wine of the Eucharist again occupies 
 the serious attention of the church: the dispute 
 of Radbert and Bertram is revived, and in the 
 beginning of the century, Berenger,* archdeacon 
 of Angers, a man highly renowned, both on 
 account of his extensive learning and the sanc- 
 tity of his life, stood forth against the prevailing 
 opinion, and stoutly maintained the absurdity 
 and impiety of Radbert's doctrine, t He took 
 the side of Johannes Scotus and Bertram, and 
 persevered with noble resolution in teaching that 
 
 * BERENGER, born at Tours, in France, archdeacon of 
 Angers, A.D. 1035 ; principally opposed to Lanfranc : died 
 A.D. 1088. 
 
 f Mosheim, vol. ii., p. 505.
 
 104 HISTORY. 
 
 the bread and wine of the Eucharist were not 
 changed into the body and blood of our Saviour, 
 but preserved their natural and essential quali- 
 ties, and were no more than figures or external 
 symbols of the body and blood of Christ. Thus 
 he took a solitary position, and a dangerous 
 one, as it soon turned out. Leo the Ninth, 
 then pope, attacked this daring opposition to 
 the popular doctrine with peculiar vehemence ; 
 and in two councils, one at Rome, the other at 
 Vercelli, condemned publicly the doctrine 
 broached by Berenger, and committed to the 
 flames the writings of Scotus, from which the 
 doctrines emanated. Berenger himself was de- 
 posed from his office, deprived of all his reve- 
 nues, and threatened with every evil, tempo- 
 ral and spiritual. For a considerable time, 
 nothing could shake him ; he remained firm 
 in his opinions during the pontificate of Leo. 
 But no sooner was this prelate succeeded by 
 Gregory VII., than new persecutions awaited 
 him ; and at last he was so overpowered 
 by the threats of his enemies, that though his 
 reason was unconvinced, he yet publicly abjured 
 his former opinions ; a confession was drawn up 
 recanting his errors, and declaring, " that the 
 bread and wine, after consecration, were not 
 only a sacrament, but also the real body and 
 blood of Jesus Christ ; and that this body and 
 blood were handled by the priests, and con- 
 sumed by the faithful, not merely in a sacra-
 
 ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 105 
 
 mental sense, but in reality and truth, as other 
 sensible objects are." To this he attached his 
 signature ; and being the result of a deliberate 
 council, assembled especially to discuss the 
 point, we may take it as the first open decree 
 of the church in favour of transubstantiation. 
 Nothing can be expressed more clearly, or more 
 free from all ambiguous terms " The body 
 handled and eaten, not sacramentally , but as 
 other sensible objects are" But this was not 
 enough. Two other declarations were imposed 
 upon him ; and at two other separate councils 
 he was compelled again to make declaration of 
 his faith. In the first, " That the bread de- 
 posited upon the altar, became, after consecra- 
 tion, the true body of Christ, which was born 
 of the virgin, suffered on the cross, and now 
 sits at the right hand of the Father ; and that 
 the wine placed upon the altar, became, after 
 consecration, the true blood which flowed from 
 the side of Christ/'* Again, a third time : 
 " That the bread and wine, by the mysterious 
 influence of the holy prayer, and the words of 
 our Redeemer, were substantially changed into 
 the true, proper, and vivifying body and blood 
 of Jesus Christ." This, however, it is but 
 fair to say, that Berenger again retracted be- 
 fore his death, and relapsed into his forme? 
 opinions. 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. ii., p. 508.
 
 106 HISTORY. 
 
 Whatever we may think of the vacillation 
 of Berenger, these expressions, drawn up pub- 
 licly by separate councils, as decrees of the 
 church, and confessions of faith, plainly shew 
 the decided terms upon which the church 
 now rested her doctrine of transubstantiation. 
 The year of these confessions is about 1079 ; 
 and advancing from this, into the twelfth 
 century, we find error upon error increasing : 
 no sooner is one confirmed than another starts 
 up no sooner is the real presence of Christ 
 openly avowed by the councils of the church, 
 than they commence the agitation of an en- 
 tirely new question, the giving the cup to the 
 laity. Hitherto the Eucharist had been re- 
 ceived in both kinds by all who approached 
 the steps of the altar : of this, there is abun- 
 dant testimony in the ancient writings ; and 
 even cardinal Bona, who was a strict Roman 
 Catholic writer, confesses that such was the 
 doctrine of the primitive church. " It is very 
 certain," he says, " that anciently, all, both 
 clergy and laity, men and women, received the 
 holy mysteries in both kinds when they were 
 present at the solemn celebration of them. 
 But out of the time of sacrifice, and out of 
 the church, it was customary always, and in 
 all places, to communicate only in one kind. 
 In the first part of the assertion all agree, 
 both Catholics and sectaries; nor can any one 
 deny it, that has the least knoivledge of ec-
 
 ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 107 
 
 clesiastical affairs. For the faithful, always, 
 and in all places, from the very first foun- 
 dation of the church, till the twelfth century, 
 were accustomed to communicate under the 
 species of bread and wine; and in the begin- 
 ning of that age, the use of the cup began, 
 by little and little, to be laid aside, whilst 
 many bishops interdicted the people the use of 
 the cup, for fear of irreverence and effusion."* 
 The fact is, then, that the former error of tran- 
 substantiation is the source of the latter, de- 
 nying the cup. As the opinion increased, that 
 the elements in the Eucharist became by con- 
 secration the real body and blood of Christ, 
 it was natural that they should be considered 
 with increased respect, and even adoration, by 
 those who partook of them. In drinking the 
 wine from the cup, it might happen that some 
 would be spilled, or otherwise wasted, in 
 handing it from person to person ; looking 
 upon this as a matter of great profanation, 
 the actual blood of Christ to be so misused 
 by the negligence of man, the clergy would 
 naturally devise means of avoiding it : this 
 they did at first, by sucking the wine from the 
 cup by means of quills, or straws, and after- 
 wards by mingling the two elements together, 
 sopping the bread in the wine, and thus com- 
 municating in both kinds at once. " In England 
 
 * Bona. Rer. Liturg. lib. 2. c. 18.
 
 108 HISTORY. 
 
 the custom of mingling the elements so far 
 prevailed, that Arnulphus, bishop of Rochester, 
 in the year 1120, wrote a letter in defence of 
 it; where one Lambert proposes the question 
 to him, why the Eucharist was administered 
 at present after a different and almost con- 
 trary manner, to that which was observed by 
 Jesus Christ, because it was customary at that 
 time to distribute an host steeped in wine to the 
 communicants, whereas, Jesus Christ gave his 
 body and blood separately ? To this, Arnul- 
 phus answers, that this was one of those 
 things which jnight be altered, and therefore, 
 though anciently the two species of bread 
 and wine were given separately, yet now 
 they were given together, lest any ill acci- 
 dents should happen in the distribution of the 
 wine alone, and lest they should stick on 
 the hairs of the beard, or the whiskers, or 
 be spilt by the minister."* On the other 
 hand, Hambertus, who wrote in the eleventh 
 century, inveighed bitterly against the alter- 
 ation, and endeavoured to re-establish the 
 primitive custom; while again, pope Urban 
 the Second, in the council of Clermont, " com- 
 manded it to be so administered to the sick, 
 (that is to say, the bread dipped in wine,) 
 out of abundant caution, for fear the blood 
 should at any time be spilt" The custom, there- 
 
 * Bingham, bk. xv. c. 5.
 
 ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 109 
 
 fore, seems to have depended upon the di- 
 rection of each bishop, some commanding, 
 some not permitting it ; now a council set-^ 
 ling, now a council unsettling it ; until it 
 finally ended by an order that the laity 
 should be deprived altogether of the cup, 
 This was afterwards confirmed by the coun-* 
 cil of Constance, in the fifteenth century ; and 
 while they thus put an end to the dispute 
 whether the bread should be dipped in the 
 wine, or whether each element should be 
 given separately; they fell into a worse error, 
 by totally changing the nature of the sacra^ 
 ment, and curtailing it of one of those parts 
 which our Lord himself had commanded. 
 
 In addition to the authorities above quoted, 
 we have full testimony of the progress of 
 error and superstition from the following au^ 
 thors. Lanfranc,* who writes thus: " In the 
 appearance of bread and wine which we see, 
 we honour invisible things, namely, the flesh 
 and blood of Christ. Nor do we consider 
 these two appearances from which is conse- 
 crated the body of the Lord, in the same 
 manner before consecration as we do after con- 
 secration; for we confess, before consecration, 
 
 * LANFRANC, born at Pavia, brought to England by William, 
 Duke of Normandy, and made archbishop of Canterbury; 
 principally celebrated for his writings against Berenger ; died 
 A.D. 1089.
 
 110 HISTORY. 
 
 that it is bread and wine ; but while it is being 
 consecrated it is converted into the flesh and 
 blood of Christ."* Rupert, f who speaks not 
 only of transubstantiation, but also of the 
 sacrifice made at the altar : "In the bread 
 and wine, is sacrificed the Son of God, in 
 the truth of his flesh and blood."^ Anselm, 
 who writes as follows: " Our senses tell us 
 one thing, our faith another; for our sight 
 persuades that it is only bread, but our faith 
 that it is living and vivifying flesh ; our taste, 
 that it is bread by the flavour ; our hearing, 
 that it is bread by the sound when it is broken ; 
 but our faith tells us that it is the perfect 
 Lamb, received by the faithful." || Again, 
 TheophylactH tells us : " The very body of the 
 Lord is the bread which is sacrificed upon 
 the altar, for Christ did not say, this is the 
 figure of my body, but ' This is my body ;' 
 but since we are infirm, and shudder to eat 
 raw flesh, especially the flesh of men, so it 
 appears bread, but is flesh,** Lastly, Alger,tt 
 
 * On the Sacr. of Euch. 
 
 f RUPERT, abbot of Duyts, near Cologne, A.D. 1111. 
 \ Book vii. on Gosp. of St. John. 
 
 ANSELM, pupil of Lanfranc, and his successor in the see 
 of Canterbury, A.D. 1109. 
 | In Heb. c. x. 
 f THEOPHYLACT, archbishop of Acridia, A.D. 1077, 
 
 * * In Cap. xxvi. Matt. 
 
 ft ALGER, monk of Cluny, A.D. 1135,
 
 THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. Ill 
 
 who is equally, perhaps more decided than 
 any of the former: " We must know, that 
 although the water and wine is mixed at 
 first mystically, yet, after consecration it is 
 drunk as nothing else than blood." And again : 
 " We adore the sacrament as a divine thing, 
 and we address and speak to it as a ratio- 
 nal thing, ' Lamb of God that takest away 
 the sins of the world, have mercy upon us,' 
 because, it is not what it seems, but because 
 we believe that Christ is there, as he really 
 is."* Can absurdity or blasphemy go beyond 
 this? 
 
 THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 Little now remains before we arrive at the 
 full climax of the papal perversion of our simple 
 sacrament. We must remember that, in the 
 great question of the real presence, though the 
 church had very decidedly expressed her opinion, 
 as we saw in the case of Berenger, and the 
 confessions of faith to which he was compelled 
 to subscribe ; still there was a great latitude 
 allowed for private interpretation, as long as 
 no public doctrine was maintained. " The 
 church had not determined, by any positive 
 decree, the sentiments that were to be embraced 
 
 * On the Euch. lib. 1. c. 19.
 
 112 HISTORY. 
 
 in relation to this important matter. It was 
 reserved for Innocent the Third, in the Lateran 
 Council, in the year 12 L5, to put an end to 
 the liberty which every Christian had hitherto 
 enjoyed, and to decide in favour of the most 
 monstrous and absurd doctrine that the phrenzy 
 of superstition was capable of inventing."* This 
 audacious pontiff pronounced the opinion, which 
 is embraced this day in the church of Rome, 
 to be the only true and orthodox account of 
 the matter, and he had the honour of introducing 
 the term transubstantiation, which was a term 
 hitherto absolutely unknown. The words of the 
 Council of Lateran, by which transubstantiation 
 is decreed, run thus : " There is one universal 
 church of the faithful, out of which no one 
 can be saved, in which the same Jesus Christ 
 is both priest and sacrifice, whose body and 
 blood in the sacrament of the altar is truly 
 contained under the figures of bread and wine ; 
 the bread being transubstantiated into the body, 
 and the wine into the blood, by the divine 
 power." t The change of the bread and wine, 
 under the hands of the priest, into the actual 
 body and blood of Christ, thus became the 
 fixed tenet of the Roman church ; and this 
 being the case, the bread, or consecrated wafer, 
 being God, it required but a few more steps 
 
 * Mosheim, vol. iii. p. 217. 
 t Counc. Lateran, A.D. 1215.
 
 THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. 113 
 
 to proceed to the worship of that God, and 
 so accordingly the host* was elevated before 
 the gaze of the people. It became an object 
 of worship, and solemn processions were made 
 through the streets, carrying the deified bread 
 to the sick or dying. After this decree of the 
 Council of Lateran, there seem to be very few 
 attempts to call in question during the thir- 
 teenth century the doctrine of transubstantiation. 
 There was indeed some little attempt on the 
 part of John of Paris, towards the close of 
 the thirteenth century, though it did not amount 
 to any actual denial of Pope Innocent's deci- 
 sion. In his writings upon the Eucharist, he 
 taught that the body of Christ was associated 
 with the bread, but that the bread was not 
 transubstantiated ; on account of which he was 
 forbidden to preach, and condemned as an he- 
 retic. With this exception, there is hardly any 
 person of repute who expressed an opinion on 
 
 * The meaning of the word host is victim, from hostia, a 
 Latin word ; and the use of the wafer, or host, instead of the 
 common bread, arose, like the other errors of the church of 
 Rome, from the superstition of the bodily presence of Christ. 
 Hospinian says, " When they first began to make these little 
 round pieces of bread, like the Roman denarius, little hosts, 
 or mouthfuls, cannot certainly be known. Epiphanius, who 
 lived about the time of the Nicene council, says, that the 
 round pieces of bread were then in use ; others place it at the 
 time of the Emperor Phocas, about the year 607 ; but it is 
 certain that Gregory the Great is the first person who recorded 
 it, about the year 590." Hospinian, Hist. Sacr. lib. iv. c. 6. 
 
 H
 
 114 HISTORY. 
 
 the doctrines of the Eucharist. A tacit sub- 
 mission seems to pervade all ranks of men to 
 believe any absurdity which the pope might 
 dictate : and so things continued during the 
 thirteenth, and during the fourteenth centuries. 
 In the midst of the general darkness which per- 
 vaded the world, there broke out indeed from 
 time to time certain faint lights, as harbingers 
 of better things. The Waldenses, or Vaudois, 
 a people dwelling in the valleys of Piedmont, 
 were remarkable as a humble sect of Christians, 
 independent of the authority of the pope, and 
 worshipping God in purity and holiness. Among 
 these and a few other scattered and despised 
 flocks, the original simplicity of the gospel was 
 still maintained, and the spark of true light 
 kept alive, to kindle afterwards the bright and 
 glorious flame of the reformation. In England, 
 also, WicklifFe, the great originator of the re- 
 formation, began to set himself against the 
 power of the Roman church, and to canvass 
 her doctrines, and to preach to the people the 
 pure word of God. But these were solitary 
 exceptions, single rays of light, in the midst 
 of general darkness. Nothing as yet was able 
 to withstand the universal dominion, both spi- 
 ritual and temporal, which the church of Rome 
 arrogated to herself. Kings and people, clergy 
 and laity, all were equally slaves of the vicar 
 of Christ all were equally bound in one vast 
 and connected chain of ignorance, superstition,
 
 THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. 115 
 
 and vice. These were the dark ages, aptly so 
 denominated. No writers are found of any purity, 
 or of any authority. All literature is dead- 
 all discussion is silenced all freedom of opinion 
 trampled and held down by the universal do- 
 minion of the popish church. 
 
 But we have come to the worst. We have 
 come to the final consummation of that power, 
 which God, no doubt for wise purposes, per- 
 mitted to oppress the world for a time. We 
 have seen the original purity, simplicity, and 
 fidelity with which our primitive church for 
 the first six centuries, observed the celebration 
 of the Eucharist. We have then traced the 
 gradual decline of this simplicity in the seventh 
 and eighth centuries, by the doctrines of image 
 worship, and by the addition of external cere- 
 monies, suited to the increase of wealth and 
 temporal power, which the church had acquired. 
 We have then gone rapidly down ; rapidly as 
 the lead that sounds the depths of the ocean, 
 into the darkness of a sensual, depraved, and 
 fanatic religion, no more like the pure and holy 
 religion of Christ crucified, than darkness is to 
 light. We have found the Eucharist, the sim- 
 ple memorial of our Lord, " Do this in remem- 
 brance of me," perverted into a splendid, out- 
 ward, exciting display for the imagination, 
 leaving the heart untouched. We have seen 
 the bread and wine transubstantiated into the 
 actual body and blood of Christ by the word of 
 
 H2
 
 116 HISTORY. 
 
 the priest. We have seen the body and blood 
 of Christ, so transubstantiated, set forth as an 
 object of worship and adoration ; the host or 
 victim thus sacrificed, offered to the gaze of the 
 multitude, and the people bowing the knee in 
 prayer to a deified piece of bread of their own 
 creating. We have seen the simple bread, which 
 was, by our Lord's example, to be broken, 
 represented by a consecrated wafer made of 
 paste. We have seen the wine, of which 
 our Lord commanded all to drink, totally 
 denied to the majority of his people. We 
 have seen the very name, " The Lord's Sup- 
 per," or " EUCHARIST," which the primitive 
 teachers of Christianity gave to this holy sacra- 
 ment, perverted and changed into that of "THE 
 MASS ;" and this mass performed, not only as 
 the communion or participation of the living in 
 the benefits of Christ's death, but by the priest 
 alone as a sacrifice for the benefit of the dead. 
 We have seen the body and blood of Jesus, as 
 sacrificed upon the cross once for all, under- 
 going a new sacrifice in the hands of each indi- 
 vidual priest, and the benefits of that sacrifice 
 estimated and obtained, not by purity of heart, 
 righteousness of intention, or liveliness of faith ; 
 but frequently purchased and made bargain for, 
 by the wages of sin, v and the mammon of 
 unrighteousness.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY: 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OP THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY TO THE 
 PRESENT TIME. 
 
 1 COR. xi. 26. 
 
 For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do 
 shew the Lord's death TILL HE COME. 
 
 THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 THE great historical events which distinguished 
 the fifteenth century, are the taking of Con- 
 stantinople by the Turks, and the invention of 
 the art of printing. By the fall of Constan- 
 tinople the Christian church in the east was 
 destroyed, at least so far destroyed as the union 
 of the church with the state may be considered 
 to demonstrate its political power. Christianity 
 was expelled from the seat of her early years ; 
 the bishops and pastors of the church were 
 scattered and impoverished, and all further 
 opposition to the opinions and doctrines of
 
 118 HISTORY. 
 
 the west was for ever abandoned. But this 
 loss in political strength was more than com- 
 pensated by the increase which was now be- 
 ginning to be felt in moral and intellectual 
 power. The great invention of printing seemed 
 at once to promise the deliverance of mankind 
 from those bonds of superstition and ignorance 
 which it had been the delight of the church 
 of Rome to extend. Information and knowledge 
 were the only requisites which men needed, 
 in order to fling away the superstitious trap- 
 pings of popery, and to assert themselves once 
 more the disciples of Jesus Christ. In England 
 the followers of Wickliffe, in spite of all oppo- 
 sition, were rapidly increasing, under the name 
 of Wickliffites, or Lollards. In Bohemia, John 
 Huss, an eminent professor in the university 
 of Prague, endeavoured openly to withdraw 
 the university from the jurisdiction of Rome, 
 and recommended in public the doctrines and 
 opinions of Wickliffe. His progress, however, 
 was not propitious. His zeal and courage only 
 ended, as far as himself was concerned, in his 
 discomfiture and death : but the good was not 
 entirely lost. The numerous followers who 
 quickly sprung up to vindicate his memory may 
 be said to be the seeds of that great reformation 
 which was waiting its opportunity to take root 
 and flourish. 
 
 One of the doctrines of Huss and his followers 
 was, that the cup in the sacrament of the
 
 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 119 
 
 Eucharist was to be administered to all, laity 
 as well as clergy ; and from this circumstance 
 they were called Calixtines, from calix, a cup, 
 or chalice. The very name thus appropriated 
 betrays the general opinion of the church. It 
 had been decidedly decreed in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, by Pascal, that the cup was to be denied 
 to the laity, but still some few churches, together 
 with Huss, now ventured to violate this decree. 
 The anger of the papal power was in no 
 ordinary degree called forth. Huss and Jerome, 
 of Prague, were summoned to be tried for heresy. 
 Wickliffe, whose opinions they had adopted, 
 though long since dead, was at the same time ar- 
 rayed before the spiritual tribunal of Rome ; and 
 at the great council of Constance, while Huss was 
 condemned to be burned alive, the church pro- 
 ceeded to their famous decree on the 14th June, 
 1415, which ordered, that the cup was to be 
 entirely withdrawn from the laity, and the Eucha- 
 rist to be administered in one kind only. This 
 decree, though previously understood as the 
 doctrine of the church, now, for the first time, 
 received the force of law.* 
 
 * It may not be amiss, in order to remind the reader of the 
 uncharitable supremacy from which he is now by God's grace 
 delivered, to give a few extracts from the council of Constance, 
 on the points above referred to. 
 
 I. Of Wickliff, A.D. 1415, Session viii. 
 
 " Wherefore the procurator fiscal being urgent, and the edict 
 having been set forth for hearing sentence on this day; this
 
 120 HISTORY. 
 
 But it was all in vain. The laws, decrees, 
 councils, and anathemas of the papal power 
 were daily decreasing in authority. The seed 
 
 holy sytiod declares, defines, and gives judgment, that this 
 same John WicklifFe was a notorious, pertinacious heretic, and 
 that he died in heresy, and therefore anathematizes him, and 
 condemns his memory. And it decrees and ordains, that his 
 body and his bones, if they can be distinguished from other 
 bodies and bones of the faithful, shall be dug up and cast out 
 of the church's sepulture, according to the canonical and lawful 
 decrees." 
 
 II. Of communion in both kinds, Sess. xiii. 
 ' ' Whereas in some parts of the world certain persons rashly 
 presume to assert that Christian people ought to receive the 
 holy sacrament of the Eucharist under both kinds of bread and 
 
 wine this present holy general council of Constance 
 
 declares, decrees, and determines, that although Christ institu- 
 ted this venerable sacrament after supper in both kinds of 
 bread and wine, YET NOTWITHSTANDING THIS,(!) the laudable 
 authority of the sacred canons, and the approved authority of 
 the church has observed that this sacrament ought not to be 
 performed after supper, and in like manner that although in 
 the primitive church this sacrament was received of the 
 faithful in both kinds, yet for the avoiding any dangers and 
 scandals, the custom has reasonably been introduced, that it 
 be received by the ministers under both kinds, but by the laity 
 under the kind of bread only." 
 
 There are also decrees in this council, session xv. and xxi. 
 against John Huss, and Jerome, of Prague, anathematizing and 
 condemning them as heretics because they followed WicklifFe in 
 denying the above doctrines. Can folly or impiety be greater ? 
 Can want of charity and ignorant assumption be more conspicu- 
 ous than in thus confessing the institution of our Lord, and yet 
 " notwithstanding this," forbidding the communion in both 
 kinds, and exhuming the bones of the dead who had asserted it.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 121 
 
 had been sown, and the tree must needs grow 
 up. The sixteenth century approached ; and 
 while the power of Rome was slumbering in 
 unsuspecting security, its supremacy, as far as 
 overt acts went, not disputed its infallibility 
 not questioned by a mere accident, as it 
 were, there arose from an individual voice that 
 defiance of its authority, which nations and 
 kingdoms had not the daring to announce. A 
 Dominican monk, of the name of Tetzel, in 
 the year 1517, proclaimed, as was the custom 
 of the time, a sale of indulgences, licenses as 
 it were, for the remission of sins past, present, 
 and to come. Martin Luther, a native of 
 Eisleben, in Saxony, and a monk of the 
 Augustinian order of Eremites, disgusted at 
 the effrontery of this open assumption of 
 divine power, and unable to repress his just 
 indignation, publicly opposed both the doc- 
 trine of indulgences and the power of the 
 pope. This opposition on the part of a 
 feeble and solitary monk, would have pro- 
 bably ended in nothing, had it not been for 
 the injudicious management of the contro- 
 versy by those whom the pope appointed to 
 decide it. From one article of doctrine, 
 Luther proceeded to others, and assuming 
 fresh courage as he advanced, the question 
 which was originally a dispute between in- 
 dividuals on church discipline, very quickly 
 assumed the appearance of a national and
 
 122 HISTORY. 
 
 general dissension on the leading doctrines 
 of Catholicism. The zeal of the monk was 
 countenanced and aided by the general stream 
 of opinion bursting forth in all directions. 
 The matter of dispute became day by day 
 more difficult of adjustment, until at length 
 the pope being on the point of calling to his 
 aid the last great exercise of his authority, 
 excommunication, Luther, with great adroit- 
 ness, evaded the blow, and voluntarily with- 
 drew himself from that church, from whose 
 communion he would otherwise have been 
 forcibly expelled. Thus was the first great 
 schism brought about, and thus was estab- 
 lished that which is now generally called, 
 from its original founder, the Lutheran church. 
 
 The example of this great reformer was 
 soon followed by other learned men. Princes 
 and people swelled the ranks of the pope's 
 opponents, until throughout the whole of 
 Europe, but principally in Switzerland and 
 Germany, arose so formidable a power, that 
 it was no longer possible to check or to 
 divert its progress. 
 
 The five greatest names who appear as 
 founders of the new churches, are Luther, 
 Melancthon, Carlostadt, Zuingle, and Calvin ; 
 Luther, as we have seen, the original leader 
 in the reformation, Carlostadt, his colleague 
 and companion, Melancthon, also the friend 
 of Luther, and his successor in the govern-
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 123 
 
 merit of his church, Zuingle, the founder of 
 the reformed church in Switzerland, and 
 Calvin, the founder of the church of Geneva. 
 From these five names we may date nearly 
 all the doctrines, and nearly all the forms 
 of church government, that are established 
 in Europe ; men, though varying in character 
 and disposition, yet all united by one bond 
 of fraternal union in conferring on mankind 
 the great blessings of knowledge and true 
 religion ; all men of considerable learning, 
 unwearied zeal, and indomitable courage. Still, 
 however, being but men, and living in times 
 of great peril and excitement, their charac- 
 ters are not entirely free from question. We 
 must not be surprised that, though they were 
 united in the great and essential features of 
 liberating the consciences of mankind from 
 the tyranny of the church of Rome, there 
 still might linger points of personal consid- 
 eration in the breasts of each, and that 
 although they agreed in their general prin- 
 ciples, they should disagree in points of 
 detail. It was impossible to be otherwise. 
 The great point of infallibility in any one 
 man as head of the church being given up, 
 there remained no test by which unifor- 
 mity of doctrine could be maintained. It 
 was nothing but opinion against opinion ; 
 and thus, unfortunately, it happened that no 
 sooner did the greater portion of Europe
 
 124 HISTORY. 
 
 separate from the communion of the church 
 of Rome, than there arose within itself, and 
 between the great heads which guided the 
 separation, an endless diversity of opinion. 
 And more particularly did this diversity of 
 opinion display itself in that point which it 
 is our present object to investigate. The sacra- 
 ment of the Eucharist would naturally form a 
 material feature in the new doctrines of the 
 reformers ; the great command of Christ stood 
 before them, " This do in remembrance of 
 me." How then was this remembrance to 
 be carried into effect? with all the super- 
 stition of the papal church, or in some more 
 pure and more rational form ? The body and 
 blood of Christ was to be received by the 
 communicants. How was it to be received ? 
 with the notion of a corporeal and visible 
 presence of the Saviour, or as a spiritual 
 sacrifice and an emblematic memorial of his 
 death ? These were the great questions which 
 they had to determine. The idolatrous wor- 
 ship of the host was at once put aside by 
 all. The refusal of the cup to the laity was 
 at once put aside by all. On these points 
 they were unanimous. But when they came 
 to discuss the nature of Christ's presence ; 
 when they came to analyze the manner in 
 which the bread and wine became affected 
 by the words of consecration : here, unfortu- 
 nately, unanimity could no longer obtain.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 125 
 
 Of the five leading reformers above men- 
 tioned, Luther being the first to throw off 
 the dominion, so seems to have remained the 
 nearest to the superstition of the Romish 
 church. He maintained that the body and 
 blood of Christ were materially and visibly 
 present in the consecrated elements of the 
 Eucharist. He did not assert that any tran- 
 substantiation took place in consequence of 
 the consecration of the priest, but that the 
 natural presence of Christ was joined, and con- 
 nected with that of the bread and wine. This 
 opinion was usually understood under the 
 word consubstantiation,* was strictly main- 
 
 * This doctrine of consubstantiation was by no means 
 originated by Luther. We read of it in the first and second 
 book of Guitmund, who flourished in the eleventh century. 
 Hospinian gives the following account of its origin : " After 
 the condemnation of the doctrines of Berenger, when it was 
 not safe any longer, on account of the cruel tyranny of the 
 Roman priests, openly to adhere to them, while many were 
 not able altogether to disapprove and reject them, as agreeing 
 with the word of God and the primitive church, yet they did 
 not like openly to maintain them ; so they found out a mid- 
 way between the two, and taught that the true bread and 
 wine after consecration remained with the body and blood of 
 the Lord." Guitmund expressly calls this Impanation. See 
 Hospin. Hist. Sacr., second part, p. 6. fol. 
 
 There was also another branch of this doctrine still more 
 anomalous. " There were some who asserted that the bread 
 was partly changed into the body, and partly remained as it 
 was. They wished that that part of the bread which was to
 
 126 HISTORY. 
 
 tained by Luther himself until the day of his 
 death ; and the Lutheran church, following in 
 his doctrine, upheld it by their doctors and 
 public confessions.* 
 
 On the other hand, Zuingle, the head of 
 the Swiss church, was distinctly of opinion 
 that the bread and wine were nothing more 
 than signs and symbols of the absent body 
 and blood of Christ. As early as the year 
 1524, if not earlier, he asserted publicly, and 
 taught this doctrine ; and it may be justly 
 denominated the leading cause of the division 
 between the Lutheran and reformed churches. 
 It was in consequence of this, that when the 
 Protestants gave in their public confession at 
 Augsburg, there arose, in contradiction, the 
 Tetrapolitan confession, i. e. the confession of 
 four great towns, Strasburg, Constance, Mem- 
 mingen, and Lindau, which adhered to the 
 opinions of Zuingle, in distinction from Luther, 
 on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, 
 
 The third of the reformers, Melancthon, who 
 was the successor of Luther in the government of 
 his church, was his successor also in opinion ; 
 though, it must be confessed, in some degree 
 
 be received by the good, should be changed by consecration 
 into the body, but that that part which was to be received by 
 the wicked should not be changed." Hosp. Hist. Sacr. lib. iv. 
 Perceiving the absurdity in this case, they blindly fell into a 
 greater absurdity, rather than discard the doctrine altogether. 
 * See Hist. Conf. Augsb. by David Cheytrus.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 127 
 
 modified. The character of Melancthon was 
 that of excessive mildness and charity, de- 
 sirous of union and concord ; and if it had 
 been in his day possible to join all the Pro- 
 testant churches under one rule of faith, by 
 mutually conceding points of disputed ten- 
 dency, and widening the enclosures of God's 
 fold, his was undoubtedly the character to have 
 achieved so great an object. He did, however, 
 differ in some degree from his predecessor 
 Luther, for we find in many extracts of his 
 letters, which are collected by Hospinian,* 
 that he looked upon the doctrine of con sub- 
 stantiation as untrue, and even bearing the 
 semblance of idolatry. But the mildness of 
 his character was such that he did not con- 
 sider it a matter of so great moment as to 
 run the risk of sowing further dissensions 
 among his Protestant brethren ; and, indeed, 
 had he at all proceeded to enforce his indivi- 
 dual opinion, so jealously attached were the 
 principal directors of the church to every doc- 
 trine of their founder, that he would only 
 have incurred their enmity without advancing 
 his own opinions. Even as it was, by his 
 lenity and charitable indifference to many of 
 those points which the Lutherans held dear, 
 he incurred much odium, and many of his 
 doctrines were censured and opposed by both 
 parties. 
 
 * Hospinian, Hist. Soc. vol. ii.
 
 128 HISTORY. 
 
 Next we come to Carlostadt. He at first was 
 the friend and colleague of Luther, but soon 
 separated from him on the same question of 
 the Eucharist, agreeing entirely with the opi- 
 nion of Zuingle that the bread and wine were 
 to be understood as the mere signs and sym- 
 bols of Christ's presence ; that the whole of 
 the Sacrament was a commemoration of Christ's 
 death, and not a celebration of his bodily pre- 
 sence. In consequence of this opinion, he 
 was banished from the territories of the Elec- 
 tor of Saxony, and was separated from 
 Luther. He retired to Switzerland, where 
 he found the general opinion of men more 
 consonant with his own. Sometime after- 
 wards a reconciliation took place between the 
 two reformers, but no alteration of opinion. 
 Carlostadt remained throughout his life con- 
 stant in denying the bodily presence of 
 Christ, and the doctrine of consubstantia- 
 tion. 
 
 Lastly, we come to Calvin. He differed in 
 some respects both from Luther and from 
 Zuingle, but if anything, according to the 
 account of Mosheim, he seemed rather in- 
 clined to the opinions of Luther. " He ac- 
 knowledged a real, though spiritual, pre- 
 sence of Christ ; or, in other words, that true 
 Christians who approached the holy ordi- 
 nance with lively faith were united in a 
 certain manner to the man Christ, and that
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 129 
 
 from this union the spiritual life derived new 
 vigour in the soul, and was carried on, in a 
 progressive motion, to a greater degree of 
 purity and perfection," thus going higher 
 than Zuingle and Carlostadt, but not ascend- 
 ing so high as Luther denying the consub- 
 stantiation, or bodily presence, of Luther, but 
 maintaining something more than the mere 
 symbol of Zuingle.* 
 
 This point of difference was long a subject 
 of discussion even in those churches where 
 Zuingle's authority prevailed ; but at last, by 
 
 * It would seem that the doctrine of our church approaches 
 more nearly to Calvin than any other of the Continental 
 reformers above-mentioned. We certainly hold nothing like 
 consubstantiation, but we as certainly do maintain some 
 thing very nearly allied to that presence of Christ which 
 Calvin denotes. Witness our catechism : " What is the in- 
 ward part or thing signified ? The body and blood of Christ, 
 which are verily and indeed taken and received by the 
 faithful." There is, therefore, the presence of Christ, but, 
 it would seem, that the presence depends, and the reception 
 verily and indeed depends, not on the consecrating words of 
 the priest who gives, but on the faith of him who receives. 
 See the note on p. 62. 
 
 Johnson, in his treatise entitled " The Unbloody Sacrifice," 
 draws a close distinction between the opinions of Calvin and 
 Luther, and says, " The church of England does not declare 
 for any particular modus ; she says: 'verily and indeed,' but 
 not ' how.' " " The bread and wine are the very body and 
 blood, though not in substance, yet in spirit, power, and 
 effect." See Johnson's Unbloody Sacrifice, and Altar Un- 
 veiled, c. ii. s. 1. 
 
 I
 
 130 HISTORY. 
 
 the perseverance and learning of Calvin, his 
 opinion triumphed so far as to effect a union 
 between most of the Swiss churches and that 
 of Geneva. With the exception of Zurich 
 and Bern, which remained for a long time 
 constant to their founder's opinion, the re- 
 maining churches gradually embraced the tenets 
 of Calvin. 
 
 This, then, was the state of opinion among 
 those illustrious men who were the origina- 
 tors and first promoters of our great Refor- 
 mation. Unhappy it was for the church of 
 Christ that they could not agree in interpret- 
 ing the great institutions of our Lord in some 
 one general form, so that it had not been 
 necessary for Christians, jointly separating 
 from the errors of the church of Rome, them- 
 selves again to separate and subdivide that 
 while they agreed in repudiating the mon- 
 strous doctrines of transubstantiation and the 
 elevation of the host, they could not avoid 
 falling into the endless and useless frivolities 
 of the schoolmen, in con substantiation, im- 
 panation, and the other mystical questions of 
 the day, so unfitted for the sacred simplicity 
 of the gospel. 
 
 But difference of opinion is the inseparable 
 attribute of human things, and we must cheer- 
 fully consider that, although the evils which 
 arose from their disunion were certainly 
 great, yet still the advantages which accrued
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 131 
 
 to the human race from that freedom of opi- 
 nion which produced them are more than a 
 sufficient compensation. Immediately that the 
 dictum of one individual ceased to be the rule 
 of faith by which the whole Christian world 
 was to be guided ; immediately that the word 
 of God was open for the study and interpre- 
 tation of every church according to their own 
 authority and power, and every man had the 
 natural right of reading and examining the 
 scriptures for himself, and by himself; imme- 
 diately that these unquestionable blessings 
 descended upon mankind, it was an evil 
 which could not by any possibility be averted, 
 that the very same privilege, which was a 
 blessing well used, became an evil when 
 misused by the injudicious or the ignorant 
 when it became an exercise of critical skill, 
 or scholastic disputation, the trial of political 
 strength, or the watchword of a party. To 
 all these evils, the principle of individual 
 right to study God's word did unquestionably 
 tend but then what are they in comparison 
 with the evils from which we escaped, in 
 comparison with the ignorance, superstition, 
 and idolatry from which we were delivered, 
 the tyrannical supremacy of monkish intoler- 
 ance which, under God's grace, Protestant 
 Europe no longer endures? 
 
 But it is now time to leave the continental 
 nations of Europe, and to turn to our own
 
 132 HISTORY. 
 
 country. We shall perceive how our present 
 opinions on the sacrament of the Eucharist 
 first arose, and have gradually been strength- 
 ened in their present form. 
 
 At the time that the five great reformers, 
 whose names we have already mentioned, 
 were commencing their great efforts against 
 the Pope, our own country, under the reign 
 of Henry VIII., still remained in the spi- 
 ritual chains of the Roman church. Henry 
 VIII., as is well known, obtained the title of 
 " Defender of the Faith," in consequence of 
 his defence of the Roman Catholic church, and 
 particularly the seven sacraments against the 
 opinions of Luther.* This at once shows the 
 
 * Henry VIII. is supposed by some not to have been the 
 author of the " Defence of the Seven Sacraments ;" but 
 whether or no, as it bears his name, it may be assumed as a 
 testimony of the extreme repugnance of the high places in 
 England, in the reign of Henry, towards the novel doctrines 
 of the reformation. 
 
 In the oration made by Mr. John Clarke, the king's orator, 
 in presenting a copy of the book to the pope, the vituperation 
 heaped upon Luther is truly extraordinary : " Nor is it amiss 
 to take notice in this place, of this horrid and furious monster 
 (Luther), as also of his stings and poisons, whereby he intends 
 to infect the whole world. But O, immortal God! what 
 bitter language, what so hot and inflamed force of speaking 
 can be invented, sufficient to declare the errors of that most 
 filthy villain ?" and so forth. 
 
 To this and such like language, the pope replied by the 
 bull constituting the new title : "We, the true successors 
 of St. Peter, whom Christ before his ascension left as his
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 133 
 
 natural tendency of that King to preserve the 
 religion of his country in its ancient form, 
 and we also know that, in the year 1511, he 
 advanced still further in its defence. In that 
 year, a treaty was concluded between Henry 
 and Ferdinand of Arragon, to maintain the 
 papal power against the encroachments of 
 France ; and it was evident, from a variety of 
 circumstances, that the opinions and policy 
 of Henry, up to this period, were in decided 
 opposition to the new religion. But private 
 interest and the motives of the world fre- 
 quently bring about, under God's providence, 
 national blessings; and thus it was, when the 
 king became desirous of his marriage with 
 Katharine, and repeated attempts failed to 
 obtain the necessary divorce from the pope, 
 that he then began to give his attention to 
 the Protestant discussion ; he became desirous 
 of absolving himself from that spiritual alle- 
 giance which it was no longer his personal in- 
 terest to maintain. The spirit of Protestantism 
 had long betrayed itself in England by various 
 demonstrations. " From the days of Wick- 
 liffe," says Bishop Burnet, " there were many 
 
 vicar upon earth, and to whom he committed the care of his 
 flock, presiding in this holy see, from which all dignity and 
 titles have their source, we command all Christians that they 
 name your Majesty by this title, and in their writings to your 
 Majesty, after the word King, they immediately add, Defender 
 of the Faith." Bull of pope Leo X.
 
 134 HISTORY. 
 
 that disliked most of the received doctrines, 
 in several parts of the nation. The clergy 
 were at that time very hateful to the people ; 
 for as the pope did exact heavily on them, 
 so they being oppressed, took all means pos- 
 sible to make the people repay what the pope 
 wrested from them. Wickliffe, being much 
 encouraged and supported by the Duke of 
 Lancaster and the Lord Piercy, the bishops 
 would not proceed against him, till the Duke 
 of Lancaster was put from the King, and 
 then he was condemned at Oxford. Many 
 opinions were charged upon him, but whether 
 he held them or not, we know not, but by 
 the testimony of his enemies, who writ of 
 him with o so much passion that it discredits 
 all they say. Yet he died in peace, though 
 his body was afterwards burnt. He translated 
 the Bible out of Latin into English, with a 
 long preface before it, in which he reflected se- 
 verely on the corruptions of the clergy, and con- 
 demned the worshipping of saints and images, 
 and denied the corporeal presence of Christ's 
 body in the sacrament, and exhorted all people 
 to the study of the scriptures." And again, 
 he says : " As these did spread much in Ger- 
 many, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, so 
 their books came over into England, where 
 there was much matter already prepared 
 to be wrought on, not only by the pre- 
 judices they had conceived against the cor-
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 135 
 
 rupt clergy, but by the opinions of the Lollards, 
 which had been now in England, since the 
 days of Wickliffe, for about 150 years ; be- 
 tween which opinions and the doctrines of 
 the reformers there was great affinity, and 
 therefore, to give the better vent to the books 
 that came out of Germany, many of them 
 were translated into the English tongue, and 
 were very much read and applauded."* 
 
 This, therefore, being the state of the nation, 
 the king had nothing further to do than to 
 favour the doctrines and opinions which were 
 already advancing among the people, and by 
 that means he would constitute a religious 
 authority independent of the pope, and more 
 consonant to his own views. This he did, 
 and following the advice of Cranmer, a man 
 who appears to have been attached from his 
 earliest years to the more liberal opinions of 
 the Protestants, he appealed no longer to the 
 pope, but to a council of the most learned 
 men of his own universities. This happened 
 in the year 1530, and the result was, that 
 the majority gave their opinion in favour of 
 the king's divorce. In the year 1534, (so 
 rapidly had the principles of the reformation 
 advanced,) an act of parliament was passed, 
 entirely abrogating the supremacy of the pope 
 within the dominions of the king of England; 
 and shortly after, another act was passed, 
 * Burnet, Hist. Ref. book ii.
 
 136 HISTORY. 
 
 pronouncing the king the supreme head of 
 the church of England. This great event was 
 not, however, brought about without much 
 difficulty, nor without bloodshed. The cruelty 
 of the clergy was excessive. Many accused 
 of favouring the Protestants had been brought 
 to the stake, among whom, Tindal, who had 
 published a translation of the new testament, 
 Bilney, and more particularly John Frith,* who 
 seems to have been one of the first English 
 reformers who preached against the corporeal 
 presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This first 
 denial of the Romish doctrine of the mass, is 
 worthy of our notice. The substance of his 
 arguments is given by bishop Burnet : " That 
 Christ, in the sacrament, gave eternal life, but 
 the receiving of the bare sacrament did not give 
 
 * Bilney suffered martyrdom in the year 1527, Frith in the 
 year 1533. Together with Frith, a young man, by name An- 
 drew Hewet, was brought before the bishop of London, and 
 being asked, " What he thought touching the Lord's Supper," 
 answered, " Even as John Frith doth :" and then, being asked, 
 " Dost thou not believe that it is really the body of Christ, 
 born of the Virgin Mary ?" answered, "So do I not believe :" 
 and for this these two martyrs perished together. Tindal, 
 though an Englishman, did not suffer in England. Persecution 
 followed him for the same heretical opinions out of England to 
 the continent. He died near Antwerp in the year 1535. 
 
 These are but samples of multitudes upon multitudes who 
 perished for the Protestant faith ; whose principal error was, 
 the denial of the bodily presence of Christ, and the other blas- 
 phemous doctrines of the mass. See Fox, Burnet, &c.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 137 
 
 eternal life, since many took it to their dam- 
 nation ; therefore, Christ's presence there was 
 only felt by faith : this being further proved by 
 the fathers before Christ, who did eat the same 
 spiritual food, and drink of the rock, which 
 was Christ, according to St. Paul Since 
 then, they and we communicate in the same 
 thing, and it was certain that they did not 
 eat Christ's flesh corporeally, but fed by faith 
 on a Messias to come, as Christians do on 
 a Messias already come ; therefore we now 
 do only communicate by faith. He also in- 
 sisted much on the signification of the word 
 sacrament, from whence he concluded that the 
 elements must be the mystical signs of Christ's 
 body and blood, for if they were truly the 
 flesh and blood of Christ, they should not 
 be sacraments ; he concluded that the ends 
 of the sacrament were these three : by a 
 visible action to knit the society of Chris- 
 tians together in one body, to be a means 
 of conveying grace upon our due participating 
 of them, and to be remembrances to stir up 
 men to bless God for that unspeakable love 
 which in the death of Christ appeared to 
 mankind. To all these ends, the corporeal pre- 
 sence of Christ availed nothing, they being 
 sufficiently answered by a mystical presence ; 
 yet he drew no other conclusion from these 
 premises, but that the belief of the corporeal 
 presence in the sacrament was no necessary
 
 138 HISTORY. 
 
 article of our faith. This either flowed from 
 his not having yet arrived at a sure persua- 
 sion in the matter, or that he chose in that 
 modest style to encounter an opinion, of which 
 the world was so fond, that to have opposed 
 it in downright words would have given pre- 
 judices against all that he could say."* 
 
 In the year 1573, a book appeared, giving 
 an account of the dispute maintained between 
 Frith and Sir Thomas More. In this book 
 Frith confirmed what he had before asserted. 
 He proved from Scripture, " that after the 
 consecration, the elements were still bread and 
 wine, and were so called both by our Sa- 
 viour and his apostles ; that our senses shew 
 they are not changed in their natures, but 
 that they are still subject to corruption, 
 which can in no way be said of the body 
 of Christ. He proved that the eating of 
 Christ's flesh, in the sixth of John, cannot be 
 applied to the sacrament, since the wicked 
 receive it, who yet do not eat the flesh 
 of Christ, otherwise they should have eter- 
 nal life. He shewed, also, that the sacrament 
 coming in the room of the Jewish paschal 
 lamb, we must understand Christ's words, 
 'This is my body,' in the same sense in 
 which it was said that the lamb was the 
 Lord's passover. He confirmed this by many 
 
 * Burnet, Hist. Ref. book ii.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 139 
 
 passages from Tertullian, Ambrose, and many 
 other fathers. He brought likewise several tes- 
 timonies to shew that they knew nothing of 
 the consequences that follow transubstantiation ; 
 of a body being in more than one place at 
 once ; or being in a place after the manner 
 of a spirit, or of the worship to be given 
 to the sacrament. From hence it may ap- 
 pear upon what solid and weighty reasons 
 they then began to shake the received opinion 
 of transubstantiation, and with how much 
 learning this controversy was managed by him 
 who first undertook it."* 
 
 In consequence of these opinions, and his 
 faithful adherence to the doctrines of common 
 sense, Frith was tried and condemned before 
 the bishop of London. In the year 1534, 
 he suffered martyrdom at the stake ; while 
 these words stand in the register of his con- 
 fession: " Frith thinketh and judgeth that the 
 natural body of Christ is not in the sacra- 
 ment of the altar, but in one place only at 
 once." 
 
 Such was the violence with which the new 
 doctrines of Protestantism were assailed. The 
 clergy naturally were averse to any innova- 
 tion, and clung most closely to every doc- 
 trine in which the church had trained them. 
 But the opposition was not only on the 
 
 * Burnet, Hist. Ref. book ii.
 
 140 HISTORY. 
 
 part of the clergy. The king had opposed 
 the pope solely for political purposes, not for 
 religious opinions, and therefore he also still 
 continued to maintain all the leading articles 
 of the Roman church. Having made himself 
 conspicuous by his writings against Luther, 
 he was loth after so short an interval to 
 become his advocate, and we may very easily 
 suppose that the freedom of opinion, and the 
 tendency to call in question ancient ordinan- 
 ces, which seemed the necessary fruits of 
 the reformation, was anything but acceptable 
 to so tyrannical a monarch as Henry. This 
 was so much the case that had it not been 
 for Cranmer, who became a great favourite 
 with the king in consequence of his success- 
 ful advice in the matter of the divorce, and 
 had it not also been for Anne Boleyn, the 
 new queen, both of whom were zealously in 
 favour of the Protestants, it is very ques- 
 tionable whether the reformers would have 
 made any head against the superstition and 
 tyrannical cruelty with which they were beset 
 by the Romish clergy. And even as it was, 
 the progress which Protestantism made 
 was very faint and very gradual. We have 
 seen one man (the first who dared to broach 
 the doctrine in England) a martyr at the 
 stake, for denying the bodily presence of Christ 
 in the Eucharist This was in the year 1534 
 Two years subsequently, the bishops, with
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 141 
 
 Cranmer, met together to consult on religi- 
 ous subjects, and drew up certain articles 
 of faith, and as this was the first attempt 
 at composing any articles of faith, distinct- 
 ively of the church of England, it is worth 
 while to notice the opinion of the church on 
 the controverted question of the Eucharist. 
 The fourth article was as follows : " As 
 touching the sacrament of the altar, people 
 were to be instructed, that under the forms 
 of bread and wine, there was truly and sub- 
 stantially given the very same body of Christ 
 that ivas born of the virgin Mary, and there- 
 fore it was to be received with all reverence, 
 every one duly examining himself according 
 to the words of St. Paul." This article was 
 signed by Cromwell, Cranmer, seventeen other 
 bishops, forty abbots and priors, and fifty 
 archdeacons and proctors. Thus we see, as far 
 as the year 1536, very little advance had been 
 made. 
 
 In 1539, we find an act of parliament, in 
 which are contained the following propositions, 
 decreed as the law of the church : First, that 
 in the sacrament of the altar, after the con- 
 secration, there remained no substance of 
 bread and wine, but under these forms, the 
 natural body and blood of Christ were pre- 
 sent: Secondly, that communion in both 
 kinds was not necessary to salvation, but 
 that both the flesh and blood of Christ were
 
 142 HISTORY. 
 
 together in each of the kinds : Fifthly, that 
 the use of private masses ought to be con- 
 tinued, which, as it was agreeable to God's 
 law, so men received great benefit by them." 
 Still not much advance. 
 
 The next year, 1540, another commission 
 was appointed, in which Cranmer proposed 
 that the sacraments should be considered as 
 two. But the popish party being as yet 
 too strong, the former number, seven, was 
 retained ; and in the explanation of the 
 Eucharist, transubstantiation was again fully 
 asserted, as also " the concomitancy of the 
 blood with the flesh, so that communion in 
 both kinds was not necessary ; and the use 
 of hearing mass, though one did not com- 
 municate, was also asserted."* Still not much 
 advance. 
 
 In 1546, we find persecution still raging 
 against the Protestants. Shaxton, who was 
 bishop of Salisbury, had asserted that Christ's 
 body and blood were not in the sacrament, 
 but that they were a sign and memorial of 
 his body that was crucified for us. Upon 
 this he was indicted and condemned to be 
 burnt. This opinion, it is true, he after- 
 wards recanted, and at the instance of the 
 king, and bishops of London and Worcester, 
 signed articles of faith, directly contradicting 
 
 * Burnet.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 143 
 
 his former assertion. Still, the indictment and 
 prosecution displays the spirit of the time. 
 In the same year, a woman of the name of 
 Anne Askew, of good birth, and considerable 
 education, suffered martyrdom. Information 
 was given that she had spoken against the 
 corporeal presence ; she was cited before the 
 bishop of . London, and compelled to sign a 
 recantation according to the bishop's dic- 
 tation, stating, that " the natural body of 
 Christ was present in the sacrament after the 
 consecration, whether the priest were a good 
 or ill man, and that whether it was presently 
 consumed or reserved in the Pix,* it was 
 the true body of Christ." But even this was not 
 sufficient, she was carried to the tower, and 
 laid upon the rack, for it appeared that she 
 qualified her recantation, by subscribing to it 
 the following words: "that as to the Lord's 
 Supper she believed so much as Christ had 
 said in it, and as much as from him the 
 Catholic church did teach." For this, after 
 suffering the torments of the rack under the 
 very eyes, and some say the hands of the 
 king's chancellor, (for it is asserted that he 
 himself stretched the cords in order to ex- 
 tract the desired confession,) she was carried 
 to the stake at Smithfield, and there, to- 
 
 * The Fix was a little box or chest, in which the 
 consecrated host was preserved.
 
 144 HISTORY. 
 
 gether with three men, John Belenian, John 
 Adams, and John Lassels, she was burned 
 to death; their crime being, the denial of 
 the corporeal presence of Christ in the sa- 
 crament. Further, there is a curious letter 
 of the king, in Latin, to the German ambas- 
 sador upon the point of denying the cup to 
 the laity. " Nor can we persuade ourselves 
 that you do not believe, together with us, that 
 under the likeness of bread there is substan- 
 tially and really, the true and living body of 
 Christ, and together with his body, his true 
 blood ; otherwise we must confess that his 
 body would be without blood, which it would 
 be wicked to say, since that the flesh of 
 Christ is not only living but the cause of 
 life, and that under the likeness of wine, 
 not only is there the true and living blood 
 of Christ, but also together with the true 
 blood, the living and true flesh of his body; 
 and since this is the case, it necessarily 
 follows that those who communicate in one 
 kind, and only receive the body of Christ 
 under the likeness of bread, are not depri- 
 ved of the communion of the blood of Christ ; 
 and that they who communicate in the 
 likeness of wine, are not deprived of the 
 communion of the blood of Christ.* And 
 then he proceeds at considerable length to 
 
 * Cott. libr. cleop. E. 5 Burnett's addenda.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 145 
 
 shew, that the refusal of the cup to the 
 laity is not at all unreasonable, but on the 
 contrary, strictly in accordance with the 
 command of Christ and his apostles. 
 
 In the year 1547, Henry VIII. died, and 
 under his successor, Edward, the reformation, 
 in spite of the untoward oppositions just de- 
 tailed, made onwards her sure and certain steps. 
 The ancient error, alluded to in the king's 
 letter, met with a signal refutation in the very 
 first year of the young king's reign. An act 
 was passed by which " the value of the holy 
 sacrament, commonly called the sacrament of 
 the altar, and in scripture the Supper of the 
 Lord, was set forth, together with its first 
 institution :" and after various other recitals, 
 it was said : "It being more agreeable to 
 Christ's first institution, and the practice of 
 the church for five hundred years after Christ, 
 that the sacrament should be given in both 
 the kinds of bread and wine, rather than in one, 
 kind only, therefore, it was enacted, that 
 it should be commonly given in both kinds, 
 except necessity did otherwise require it, 
 and it being also more agreeable to the 
 first institution, and the primitive practice, 
 that the people should receive with the priest, 
 than that the priest should receive alone ; 
 therefore, the day before every sacrament, an 
 exhortation was to be made to the people to 
 prepare themselves for it, in which the benefits 
 
 K
 
 146 HISTORY. 
 
 and danger of worthy and unworthy receiving, 
 were to be expressed, and the priests were 
 not, without a lawful cause, to deny it to 
 any who humbly asked it"* The next year 
 (1548), the whole of the offices in the church 
 were examined and amended by a committee 
 of nineteen bishops and six doctors. The 
 office of the sacrament of the Eucharist held 
 the prominent place in this examination. 
 " But they did not at once mend every thing 
 that required it, but left the office of the mass 
 as it was, only adding to it that which made 
 it a communion. It began first with an ex- 
 hortation to be used the day before, which 
 differs not much from that now used, only 
 after the advice given concerning confession, 
 it is added, that such as desire to make auri- 
 cular f confession should not censure those 
 
 * Burnet, part ii. book iii. See also Mants. Com. Pray. p. ii. 
 
 t The doctrine of auricular confession, and absolution, con- 
 sequent upon it, is evidently one of the most politic, as it is one 
 of the most tyrannical of the doctrines of the Roman church. The 
 church of England leaves the confession of one man to another, 
 his spiritual adviser, to the good pleasure of each individual 
 (see the rubric, at the service for the sick), desiring the priest 
 to move the sick man to confess, but going no further ; 
 whereas the church of Rome makes it compulsory. 
 
 This notion was first originated by Hugo, A.D. 1130 : " I 
 boldly say, that if any one approach the communion of the 
 body and blood of the Lord before the absolution of the priest, 
 he certainly eats and drinks damnation to himself." The fourth 
 Lateran Council, A.D. 1215, implicitly enjoins auricular con-
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 147 
 
 who were satisfied with a general confession to 
 God, and that those who used only confes- 
 sion to God and to the church, should not 
 be offended with those who used auricular 
 confession to a priest but that all should 
 keep the rule of charity, every man being sa- 
 tisfied to follow his own conscience, and not 
 judging another man in things not appointed by 
 God. After the confession, absolution, and 
 
 fession : " Let every faithful person, of both sexes, after he has 
 come to years of discretion, make solitary confession of all his 
 sins, at least once in the year, to his own priest, and study to 
 the utmost to fulfil the penance enjoined him .... otherwise, 
 let him while living be denied entrance into the church, and at 
 death be deprived of Christian burial." It will be sufficient to 
 add the canon of the council of Trent, following up the same 
 doctrine: " If any shall deny that sacramental confession was 
 instituted, and is necessary, for salvation, by divine right ; or 
 shall say that the custom of confessing secretly to the priest 
 alone, which the Catholic church has always observed from the 
 beginning, and now observes, is repugnant to the institution 
 and command of Christ, and is only of human invention let 
 him be accursed." Council of Trent, Sacrament of Repentance, 
 canon 6; and the 7th and 9th canons are equally strong. 
 
 The evils which must of necessity arise from this forced auri- 
 cular confession, and particularly in the manner of the exami- 
 nation by which the priest is directed to inquire even into the 
 secret thoughts of the sinner, are in every sense most revolting. 
 Let the reader only consult "Dens' Theology" a book 
 which has latterly, since popery has assumed a more open 
 attempt once more to deceive the people of England with her 
 ancient errors, attracted considerable notice. May God avert 
 the evil devices of this enemy of true religion, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 K2
 
 148 HISTORY. 
 
 the prayer beginning, " We do not presume," 
 the sacrament was to be given in both kinds, 
 first to the ministers then present, and then to 
 all the people, with these words : " The body 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for 
 thee, preserve thy body unto everlasting life; 
 and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
 was shed for thee, preserve thy soul unto ever- 
 lasting life" The bread was to be such as had 
 been formerly used, and every one of the breads 
 so consecrated was to be broken into two or 
 more pieces, and the people were to be taught 
 that there was no difference in the quantity 
 they received, whether it was small or great, 
 but that in each of them they received the 
 whole body of Christ. If the wine that was 
 at first consecrated did not serve, the priest 
 was to consecrate more, but all to be without 
 any elevation. This office being thus finished, 
 there was set forth a proclamation, reciting, 
 that whereas the parliament had enacted that 
 the communion should be given in both kinds 
 to all the king's subjects, it was now ordered 
 to be given in the form here set forth, and 
 all were required to receive it with due reve- 
 rence and Christian behaviour."* 
 
 In this form one thing is observable : the 
 words on giving the bread are, "preserve thy 
 body," on giving the chalice, " preserve thy 
 
 ' Buinet, Hist. Ref. part ii. book i.
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 149 
 
 soul." But Cranrner, being ready to change any 
 thing for which he saw reason, subsequently 
 made an alteration, so that in both it might 
 be said, "preserve thy body and soul" The 
 offertory was to be made by bread and wine 
 mixed with water. In the consecration prayer, 
 the following words were used : " With thy 
 holy Spirit vouchsafe to bless and sanctify 
 these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, 
 that they may be unto us the body and blood 
 of thy most dearly beloved Son." All eleva- 
 tion was forbidden ; the bread was to be un- 
 leavened, round, having no print upon it, and 
 somewhat thicker than it was formerly. A 
 litany was also used, consisting of many suf- 
 frages, much the same as those at present in 
 use, with one remarkable addition, considering 
 the close approximation of the contending 
 parties namely, " to be delivered from the 
 tyranny of the bishop of Rome, and all his 
 detestable enormities." 
 
 And yet, with all these changes and im- 
 provements, the doctrine of the real presence 
 remained untouched. The only points gained 
 were the communion in both kinds, and the 
 cessation of private masses ; but in the year 
 1549, public discussions arose on this point 
 also. There was no opinion for which the 
 priests contended more ignorantly and eagerly, 
 and that the people generally believed more 
 blindly and firmly, than the doctrine of the
 
 150 HISTORY 
 
 real presence : various shades and modifications 
 of the doctrine they might endure, such as 
 those which the Lutheran and Swiss churches 
 had already established but that all notions 
 of that mysterious change which they had so 
 long been taught to consider essential to the 
 sacrament, should be entirely set aside, could not 
 be made a matter of popular belief without much 
 time, and infinite difficulty. But now, even 
 upon this strong-hold of popish error, public 
 disputations were held both at Oxford and 
 Cambridge. Peter Martyr held a public dis- 
 putation before the commissioners sent by the 
 king, the bishops of Lincoln, and some 
 others, in which these three propositions were 
 canvassed : 
 
 " 1. In the sacrament of thanksgiving there 
 is no transubstantiation of the bread and wine 
 into the body and blood of Christ. 
 
 " 2. The body or blood of Christ is not car- 
 nally or corporeally in the bread and wine, 
 nor, as others used to say, under the bread 
 and wine. 
 
 " L 3. The body and blood of Christ are united 
 to the bread and wine sacramentally." This 
 was at Oxford. At Cambridge, Ridley was 
 sent down with different commissioners to dis- 
 pute on the following heads : 
 
 " 1. Transubstantiation cannot be proved by 
 the plain and manifest words of scripture, nor 
 can it be necessarily collected from it, nor yet
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 151 
 
 confirmed by the consent of the ancient 
 fathers. 
 
 " 2. In the Lord's Supper, there is none 
 other oblation and sacrifice than of a re- 
 membrance of Christ's death, and thanks- 
 giving." 
 
 Nor was it by word of mouth alone that 
 these disputations were carried on. Cranmer 
 wrote and published a collection of all the 
 arguments against transubstantiation, while 
 Gardiner took the contrary side. The sub- 
 stance of Cranmer's arguments was as fol- 
 lows : " Christ in the institution took bread 
 and gave it. So that his words, ' This is 
 my body? could only be meant of the bread ; 
 now the bread could not be his body lite- 
 rally. He himself also calls the cup the 
 fruit of the vine. St. Paul calls it, the bread 
 that we break, and the cup that we bless ; 
 and speaking of it after it was blessed, calls 
 it ' that bread and that cup' For the reason 
 of that expression, l This is my body,' it was 
 considered that the disciples to whom Christ 
 spoke thus, were Jews, and that they, being 
 accustomed to the Mosaical rites, must needs 
 have understood his words in the same sense 
 they did Moses' words concerning the paschal 
 lamb, which is called ' The Lord's passover.' 
 It was not so literally, for the Lord's pass- 
 over was the angel's passing by the Israelites 
 when he smote the first born of the Egyp-
 
 152 HISTORY. 
 
 tians. So the lamb was only the Lord's pass- 
 over, as it was the memorial of it ; and thus 
 Christ, substituting the Eucharist for the pas- 
 chal lamb^ used such an expression, calling 
 it his body, in the same manner of speaking 
 as the lamb was called the Lord's passover. 
 This was plain enough, for his disciples could 
 not well understand him in any other sense 
 than that to which they had been formerly 
 accustomed. In the scripture many such figu- 
 rative expressions occur frequently. In bap- 
 tism, the other sacrament instituted by Christ, 
 he is said to baptize * with the Holy Ghost 
 and fire] and such as are baptized are said 
 to '-put on Christ,' which were figurative ex- 
 pressions ; as also in the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, the cup is called the new 
 testament in Christ's blood, which is an ex- 
 pression full of figure. Further it was observed 
 that that sacrament was instituted for a re- 
 membrance of Christ, and of his death, which 
 implied that he was to be absent at the time 
 when he was to be remembered. Nor was 
 it simply said, that the elements were his 
 body and blood, but that they were his body 
 broken, and his blood shed; that is, they 
 were there as suffering on the cross, which as 
 they could not be understood literally, (for 
 Christ did institute this sacrament before he 
 had suffered on the cross,) so now Christ must 
 be present in the sacrament, not as glorified
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 153 
 
 in heaven, but as suffering on the cross. From 
 those places where it is said that Christ is in 
 heaven, and that he is to continue there, they 
 argued that he was not to be any more upon 
 earth ; and those words in the sixth of St. John, 
 of * eating Christ's flesh and drinking his blood, 
 they said were to be understood, not of the 
 sacrament, (since many received the sacrament 
 unworthily, and of them it cannot be said that 
 they have eternal life in them,) but Christ there 
 said of them that received him in the sense 
 that was meant in that chapter, that all that 
 did so eat his flesh had eternal life in them; 
 therefore these words can only be understood 
 figuratively of receiving him by faith, as him- 
 self there explains it : and so in the end of 
 that discourse, finding that some were startled 
 at that way of expressing himself, he gave a 
 key to the whole, when he said his words were 
 ' spirit .and life,' and that the flesh profited 
 nothing ; it was the spirit that quickened."* 
 From this they went on to examine the ancient 
 fathers, and deduced the gradual corruption of 
 this doctrine in the dark ages down to the 
 fourth council of Lateran by pope Innocent ; 
 shewing that it had originated in the ignorance 
 of mankind, and in the desire of the Roman 
 church to arrogate power, and to mystify the 
 simple rites of Christianity by the pomps and 
 
 * See Burnet, part ii. book i.
 
 154 HISTORY. 
 
 pageantry which they introduced into its 
 services. 
 
 In the year 1550, the new opinions, by 
 the help of free discussion, and the learned 
 arguments above displayed by Cranmer and 
 the other principal reformers, began to make 
 considerable impression on the people. Rid- 
 ley, bishop of London, made a visitation of 
 his diocese, and issued many injunctions in 
 regard to several superstitions of the mass 
 still remaining " Such were washing their 
 hands at the altar, holding up the bread, 
 licking the chalice, blessing their eyes with 
 the paten* or sudary, and many other relics 
 of the mass." But that which was most new 
 was, that there having been great contests 
 about the form of the Lord's board, whether 
 it should be made as an altar, or as a table, t 
 
 * The paten was an open dish or plate, from the Latin 
 patena, in which the host was reserved. The sudary was 
 a small napkin, or handkerchief. 
 
 t Bishop Andrewes says, "If we agree about the matter of 
 sacrifice, there will be no difference about the altar, the 'holy 
 Eucharist being considered as a sacrifice, (in the represen- 
 tation of the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the 
 cup,) the same is fitly called an altar, which again is as fitly 
 called a table, the Eucharist being considered as a sacrament, 
 which is nothing else than a distribution of the sacri- 
 fice to the service of the receivers." And Mede says, " The 
 seat or raised fabric appointed for the setting and celebration of 
 this holy mystery, was, the holy table, or altar, for by 
 both these names hath that sacred biere (as I may call
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 155 
 
 therefore since the form of a table was more 
 like to turn the people from the superstition 
 of the popish mass, and to the right use 
 of the Lord's Supper, he exhorted the curates 
 and church wardens to have it in the fashion 
 of a table, decently covered, and to place 
 it in such part of the quire or chancel as 
 should be most meet, so that the ministers 
 and communicants should be separated from 
 the rest of the people ; and that they should 
 put down all by altars." 
 
 In the year 1551, several alterations were 
 made in the liturgy, many more of the 
 rites and ceremonies hitherto in use were 
 abolished, namely, the use of oil in baptism, 
 the unction of the sick, prayers for souls 
 departed, both in the communion office, and 
 in that for the burial of dead, the invoca- 
 tion of the Holy Ghost, in the consecra- 
 tion of the Eucharist, and the prayer of ob- 
 lation: the rubric that ordered water to be 
 mixed with wine, was omitted, with several 
 other less material variations. The book in 
 which these alterations appeared, was called, 
 the second book of Edward Vlth, and is 
 very nearly the same as that which we now use.* 
 
 it) of the body and blood of Christ, been ever promis- 
 cuously and indifferently called in the church." Mede on 
 the name of altar, sect. i. 
 
 * See Mants. Comm. Pr. p. iii.
 
 156 HISTORY. 
 
 In the year 1552 the most important point 
 was the drawing up of the articles of the 
 church, agreed upon by the bishops and other 
 learned men, in a convocation held in Lon- 
 don Of these articles, which were in number 
 forty-two, the twenty-ninth, and thirtieth are 
 as follow : 
 
 ARTICLE XXIX. 
 
 The Supper of the Lord is not 
 only a sign of the love that Chris- 
 tians ought to have amongst them- 
 selves one to another, but rather it 
 is a sacrament of our redemption by 
 Christ's death, insomuch that to such 
 as rightly, worthily, and with faith 
 receive the same, the bread which we 
 break, is a partaking of the body of 
 Christ, and likewise the cup of bless- 
 ing is a partaking of the blood of 
 Christ. Transubstantiation, or the 
 change of the substance of bread and 
 wine in the Supper of the Lord, can- 
 not be proved by holy writ, but it is 
 repugnant to the plain words of scrip 
 * overthrow- ture,* and hath given occasion to many 
 
 eth the na- <f 
 
 ture of a sa- SUpe rstitionS. 
 crament. 
 
 Since the very being of human na- 
 rbtiTgto- ture doth require that the body of one 
 i' "the and the same man cannot be at one and 
 n hel the same time in many places, but of
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 157 
 
 necessity must be in some certain and veniy and spi- 
 ritual man- 
 determinate place ; therefore, the body ner, and. a* 
 
 . mean whereby 
 
 of Christ cannot be present in many the body of 
 different places at the same time ; and ceived and 
 
 / J.T, I 7 ' i J^'^S eaten in the 
 
 since (as the holy scriptures testify} supper is 
 Christ hath been taken up into heaven, 
 and there is to abide till the end of the 
 world, it becometh not any of the faith- 
 ful to believe or profess that there is a 
 real or corporeal presence (as they 
 phrase it) of the body and blood of 
 Christ in the Eucharist.* 
 
 The sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
 was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, 
 carried about, lifted up, or wor- 
 shipped. 
 
 ARTICLE XXX. 
 
 The offering of Christ once made is 
 a perfect redemption, propitiation, and 
 satisfaction for all the sins of the whole 
 world, both original and actual, and 
 there is none other satisfaction for sin, 
 but that alone ; w.herefore the sacrifices 
 of masses, in which it was commonly 
 said that the priests did offer Christ 
 for the quick and the dead, to have re- 
 mission of pain or guilt, were * fables * Bi asp he- 
 
 , , mous. 
 
 and dangerous deceits. 
 
 The passages in italics are the omissions in the Articles 
 of 1562. The passages in the margin are the additions made 
 in the Articles of 1 562
 
 158 HISTORY. 
 
 Also, in the same year, many additions 
 were made to the book of Common Prayer, and 
 among them a rubric was added in the office 
 of the communion, explaining the reason of 
 kneeling at the reception of the Eucharist. It 
 was thereby declared, that " that gesture was 
 kept up as a most reverent and humble way 
 of expressing our great sense of the mercies 
 of God in the death of Christ then communi- 
 cated to us, but that thereby there was no ado- 
 ration intended to the bread and wine, which 
 would be gross idolatry ; nor did they think 
 the very flesh and blood of Christ was present, 
 since his body, according to the nature of all 
 other bodies, could be only in one place at 
 once, and so he being now in heaven, could 
 not be corporeally present in the sacra- 
 ment." 
 
 Thus far, and thus gradually, had the great 
 reformation advanced, and more particularly 
 those important doctrines which depend upon 
 a right understanding of the Eucharist, when 
 the reign of Edward was prematurely closed. 
 Never had a nation such cause for regret as in 
 the death of this youthful prince. Never had 
 religious truth so many misfortunes to lament 
 as in the succeeding reign of Mary. This 
 princess, bigoted by education and by habit, 
 to the superstitions of popery, lost no opportu- 
 nity of forcing back the nation to its former 
 dependance on the church of Rome ; and to
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 159 
 
 effect this purpose, no means were left unused. 
 During her reign, the reformation not only 
 made no progress, but having to contend against 
 the secular power which was exerted against 
 it with no sparing hand, it was daily growing 
 weaker. Death and martyrdom were the sure 
 rewards of him who dared either to speak or 
 to act against the doctrines of the new queen. 
 Still, however, the public opinion, and men's 
 affections, though incapable of open expres- 
 sion, were secretly fomented and cherished in 
 favour of the more enlightened doctrines which 
 they had just begun to understand ; and per- 
 haps, as in the case of primitive times in 
 the heathen persecutions, the blood of the 
 martyrs was said to be the seed of the church ; 
 so the violent and cruel proceedings of this reign 
 tended, under the direction of God's grace, 
 ultimately to advance those great blessings 
 which we now inherit. Such men as Bonner 
 and Gardiner may, perhaps, be called as great 
 promoters of the reformation as Cranmer and 
 Ridley. " All things work together for good 
 to them that love God." 
 
 The reign of Mary was but short. In 1558, 
 the great Queen Elizabeth succeeded, whose 
 first business it was to undo everything which 
 had been done by her sister, and to restore the 
 nation to its previous state under Edward. 
 All the doctrines and reforms which had then 
 been commenced, were now resumed, and those
 
 160 HISTORY. 
 
 learned and pious men who had escaped the 
 stake by flying for refuge to foreign countries, 
 once more revisited their native land, and, un- 
 der the direction of the queen, renewed the 
 glorious work of the Protestant reformation. 
 Great caution, however, was still requisite. 
 The desire of the reformers was to embrace 
 as large a portion of the nation as possible 
 under the established reformed religion ; and 
 with this view they did not at first so steadfastly 
 adhere to the strict doctrines of the reformed 
 churches of the continent, as might have been 
 expected, but gave way a little to suit those 
 prejudices and opinions which time alone could 
 entirely eradicate. It was under this spirit that 
 many things inserted in Edward's liturgy were 
 now placed on a different footing. 
 
 " It was proposed to have the communion 
 book so contrived that it should not exclude 
 the belief of the corporeal presence ; for the chief 
 design of the queen's council was, to unite 
 the nation in one faith, and the greatest part 
 of the nation continued to believe in such a 
 presence. Hereupon the rubric that explained 
 the reason for kneeling at the sacrament : 
 ' That thereby no adoration is intended to any 
 corporeal presence of Christ's natural flesh and 
 bloody was now omitted. The expression used at 
 the delivery of the elements as in King Edward's 
 liturgy, was as follows : ' The body or blood of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body or
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 161 
 
 soul unto everlasting life" These words had 
 been left out in his second liturgy, as favouring 
 the corporeal presence too much, and the fol- 
 lowing was substituted for the bread : " Take, 
 and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died 
 for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith 
 with thanksgiving :" and for the wine : " Drink 
 this in remembrance that Christ's blood was 
 shed for thee, and be thankful." But now both 
 these expressions were joined into one, so that 
 the former part " The body and blood of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," might give countenance 
 to those who believed in the corporeal presence, 
 and the latter part might satisfy those who 
 could not reconcile that faith with their con- 
 sciences. Also, instead of the forty- two Ar- 
 ticles of Edward, Elizabeth gave her royal 
 assent to thirty-nine. The points of difference 
 in regard to the Eucharist were very con- 
 spicuous. In the articles of 1552, it was 
 asserted, " that a faithful man ought not 
 either to believe, or openly confess, the real 
 and bodily presence, as they term it, of 
 Christ's flesh and blood in the sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper." This passage was now 
 omitted, in order that they who cherished 
 the doctrine of the real presence might not 
 be offended. But as, for charity's sake, these 
 expressions in the articles of Queen Elizabeth 
 were not so decided in their renunciation of the 
 real presence ; so, on the other hand, there 
 
 L
 
 162 HISTORY. 
 
 were two new articles inserted, which very 
 much strengthened the doctrines of the re- 
 formers. These were the twenty-ninth and 
 thirtieth, as follows : 
 
 The 29th. " The wicked, and such as be 
 void of a lively faith, although they do car- 
 nally and visibly press with their teeth (as 
 St. Augustine saith) the sacrament of the 
 body and blood of Christ ; yet in no wise 
 are they partakers of Christ, but rather to 
 their condemnation do eat and drink the 
 sign or sacrament of so great a thing." 
 
 The 30th. " The cup of the Lord is not to 
 be denied to the lay people, for both the parts 
 of the Lord's sacrament, by Christ's ordinance 
 and commandment, ought to be ministered to 
 all Christian men alike." 
 
 The first of these new articles is very de- 
 cided in its expression, for it calls the bread 
 and the wine the sign of so great a thing, 
 that is, the sign of the body and blood of 
 Christ, and it at once repudiates the notion 
 of the opus operatum, the notion that by the 
 mere eating or drinking, the benefits of the 
 sacrament might be obtained : and this is 
 still further confirmed in another article of 
 the same date : " The mean whereby the 
 body of Christ is received and eaten is 
 faith." 
 
 Meanwhile, during this happy and continued 
 progress of the truth, the Roman church had
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 163 
 
 not been idle. That the division between the 
 two parties might be distinctly marked, that 
 all the terrors of anathema might be hurled at 
 the Protestant, to terrify the ignorant, and to 
 confirm the prejudices of the vulgar, the Coun- 
 cil of Trent, the last great council of the Ro- 
 man church, had been continuing its sessions 
 from time to time. From the year A.D. 1545, 
 to the year 1563, had this council been laying 
 down the laws and canons of the Roman 
 church. On every doctrine relating to the 
 Eucharist, confession, transubstantiation, com- 
 munion in one kind, elevation of the host, 
 sacrifice of the mass, solitary masses, does she 
 confirm the errors of her creed, and at once 
 condemn herself, by her own shewing, of a 
 total declension from the primitive and apos- 
 tolical customs and opinions of the church. 
 There stand, to this very day, the decrees of 
 this council, as the test and authority of the 
 church of Rome, even as our own articles are 
 of the church of England ; and until some fresh 
 council of their bishops shall be convened to 
 remodel and alter this system of faith, the 
 church of Rome must be considered as abiding 
 in the opinions there expressed : in which case 
 every Protestant is under ten thousand anathe- 
 mas, and every father of the church antecedent 
 to the seventh century, is pronounced heretical. 
 
 But while they have declined, we, thanks be 
 to the Almighty, have returned, undeceived by
 
 164 HISTORY. 
 
 their fallacies, and undeterred by their frowns, 
 to the bosom of that pure and apostolical church 
 which Jesus founded. May God, in his own 
 good time, grant that they also may see the 
 light, and become with us children of the gos- 
 pel, in the bond of peace, and in union of 
 faith. 
 
 But little now remains to be told. The reign 
 of Elizabeth continued to the commencement 
 of the seventeenth century. Here, therefore, 
 we may justly pause. Hence we may, in con- 
 clusion, review the wonderful advance in reli- 
 gious knowledge which this era had witnessed. 
 We were delivered from all the fantastic mum- 
 mery connected with the celebration of the 
 mass, the signs of the cross, the whispering at 
 the prayer of consecration, the anointing and 
 washing of the hands, the consecrated wafer 
 treasured up from day to day, the bowing and 
 kneeling before the crucifix, the burning of 
 tapers before the altar, and in short, the whole 
 of that absurd system of the popish priest- 
 hood, by which they amused the fancy, and 
 deceived the imagination of the multitude. 
 In the place of this tissue of folly and idola- 
 trous worship, we established a plain and 
 devotional service, a manly and simple doc- 
 trine, intelligible to the senses, and open to 
 the understandings of the people ; and this 
 service has remained, with very few altera- 
 tions, as it was constructed in the time of
 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 165 
 
 Elizabeth, unto the present day. How these 
 blessings arose, first on the continent, and 
 then in our own country, we have gradually 
 traced. The various shades of opinion of 
 the leading reformers of Germany and Switz- 
 erland, the obstructions which arose from the 
 political circumstances of the time, the checks 
 which they received from the changes of dy- 
 nasty that occurred during their progress, and 
 above all, the difficulties with which they had 
 to contend from the grossness of ignorance, 
 and inveteracy of prejudice under which the 
 world was labouring ; all these are points of 
 the closest interest to the Christian as well 
 as to the historian. The closer we examine, 
 and the more we read, the more satisfied shall 
 we be that our great reformers have justly re- 
 stored the sacrament of the Eucharist to that 
 plain and simple ceremony of memorial and 
 spiritual sacrifice, which our blessed Lord in- 
 tended. The Lord's Supper became, as it was 
 originally appointed by the Saviour, a simple 
 memorial of his death, and a sacrifice of 
 thanksgiving, rather than a pompous pageant, 
 outraging common sense. The wine was no 
 longer confined to the clergy, but given equally 
 to all. The bread was no longer a wafer, 
 but the actual food of which we daily par- 
 take, and such as we believe our Lord himself 
 brake and blessed at his last supper. The ele- 
 ments were no longer held up for worship and
 
 166 HISTORY. 
 
 adoration, but were considered, as our Lord 
 intended, as signs of the body and blood which 
 were broken and poured forth : in short, we 
 returned, after a lapse of many centuries of the 
 grossest darkness and perversion of God's word, 
 to the original purity of the institution. We 
 became again, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, 
 rational creatures, celebrating the memory of 
 Christ's death with faith and spiritual devotion. 
 We no longer paid the wages of corruption 
 for the passage of our soul from death to sal- 
 vation, but we looked upon the bread and wine 
 as typical merely, and emblematical of that 
 great sacrifice which was made once for all ; 
 and we remembered the scripture which said, 
 " Christ, our high priest, not by the blood of 
 goats and calves, but by his own blood en- 
 tered once into the holy place. Neither hath 
 he often suffered since the foundation of the 
 world, but now once hath he appeared to put 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself." 
 
 Eighteen hundred years have now elapsed 
 since this holy memorial was first established. 
 For the first three centuries it was observed in 
 its integrity : for the next three centuries it 
 was gradually overloaded by cumbrous forms 
 and ceremonies: and for the succeeding nine 
 centuries it was nearly lost in the corruptions 
 and ignorance of a designing priesthood and a 
 superstitious people. Then, by the blessing 
 of our God, it was revived, and presents to us,
 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 167 
 
 as at this day, when we are invited to communi- 
 cate at the table of the Lord, as nearly as 
 possible, the very institution which Jesus com- 
 manded. Looking to the words of St. Paul, 
 " For by this ye do shew forth the Lord's death 
 TILL HE COME," how perfectly miraculous does 
 its preservation appear. When we consider 
 that in the year 1536, it should have been 
 openly asserted in the articles of the church 
 of England, " Touching the sacrament of the 
 altar, people are instructed that under the 
 forms of bread and wine, there is truly and 
 substantially given the very same body of Christ 
 that was born of the Virgin Mary" an article 
 signed by the hand of Cranmer; this will in 
 itself display the extent of those prejudices 
 which the true light of the reformation had to 
 encounter and to dispel. 
 
 But we will leave the past. That past [can 
 never recur. The art of printing, even if it 
 stood by itself, renders it impossible. Only be- 
 hold the course of history as now detailed. 
 Only consider our church restored to the primi- 
 tive and apostolic purity of its early days, (at 
 least in the theory and doctrine of this its 
 most important ceremonial.) There is exacted 
 of the Christian community no irrational pro- 
 fession of belief: there is required now no 
 credit in the fables of papal ignorance: there 
 is demanded now no worship of the host, 
 no falling down before the material elements
 
 168 HISTORY. 
 
 of our own creating. The church, as it is 
 now " built upon the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief-corner 
 stone," requires of us merely to eat bread and 
 drink wine as a sacrificial thanksgiving, that 
 we " may shew the Lord's death TILL HE COME ;" 
 and herein we are required, each one in his 
 individual capacity, each one inasmuch as he 
 is the creature of God, and a member of Christ, 
 to contribute to the glory of his Creator, the 
 stability of his church, the purity of his reli- 
 gion, and the memory of Christ crucified.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PRESENT FORM OF OBSERVANCE. 
 
 1 COR. XIV. 40. 
 " Let all things be done DECENTLY AND IN ORDER." 
 
 THE nature and design of the institution 
 of the Lord's Supper, the history of its abu- 
 ses, changes, and various methods of cele- 
 bration, from the time of its original estab- 
 lishment up to the present day, have already 
 been examined. 
 
 Our business is now to investigate the 
 present form of celebration in the church 
 of England. 
 
 It appears from the New Testament, that 
 our blessed Lord, in his original institution 
 of the sacrament, did not lay down any 
 specific form of words in which it should 
 be observed. Hence, therefore, as far as the 
 essential nature of the rite is concerned, no 
 peculiar form is requisite : but as a church, 
 agreeing in the propriety of a liturgy, agreeing 
 in the decorum, sanctity, and general tenor
 
 170 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 of devotion which is produced by an estab- 
 lished form of prayer, rather than trust to 
 the accidental effusion of extemporaneous 
 excitement, which would vary according to 
 the abilities of those who delivered it, we 
 do but proceed in consistence with that 
 general opinion, when we lay down for the 
 Eucharist, as well as for every other part 
 of divine service, a distinct form in which 
 it may be celebrated. It matters not whether 
 that form be as in the church of Scotland, 
 to receive the communion in a sitting pos- 
 ture, or as in our own church in a kneeling 
 posture ; whether it be used with this sort 
 of wine, or that sort of wine ; whether it 
 should be celebrated in the morning or in 
 the evening, fasting or not fasting. All these 
 things matter not to the essence and virtue 
 of the sacrament. All we require is, that 
 everything according to the apostle's direc- 
 tion, be done " decently and in order." 
 
 Let us first say a few words on the place 
 where this holy office is administered, and 
 then direct our attention to the service 
 itself. 
 
 The ancient churches were in general 
 divided into two principal parts. The naos, 
 or nave, and the bema, or chancel. The nave 
 was the public and general place where the 
 laity assembled for ordinary worship ; the 
 bema was so called because it was in general
 
 PRESENT FORM. 171 
 
 an ascent by steps from the body of the 
 church, and being railed off by small ba- 
 nisters, or cancelli, from thence took the 
 name of chancel. In this chancel, so parti- 
 tioned off, as more peculiarly holy, stood the 
 altar, or holy table, sometimes directly against 
 the wall, sometimes a short distance from 
 it. Whether, indeed, it should be called altar, 
 or table, there has been much dispute. In 
 the three first centuries it is called, more 
 than twenty times, an altar; a table but once. 
 In the reign of Edward VI. an order in 
 council was issued to Bishop Ridley to pull 
 down all altars, and to place tables in their 
 stead ; but it was natural that at that pecu- 
 liar time when the nation was just emerging 
 from the darkness of popery, and very great 
 jealousies were entertained of anything that 
 had the slightest semblance of the supersti- 
 tion of the mass, it was very natural that 
 the name of altar should be looked upon 
 with suspicion ;* but now, as all misapprehen- 
 
 * Hooper, preaching before King Edward, says, "It would 
 be well if it might please the magistrates to have the altars 
 turned into tables, to take away the false persuasion of the peo- 
 ple of sacrifices to be done upon altars, because, as long as 
 altars remain, the ignorant, both people and priests, will always 
 dream of sacrifice." For a more full account of these matters 
 the reader must consult Mede, Bingham, and particularly 
 " Johnson's Unbloody Sacrifice and Altar Unveiled," chap. ii. 
 sect. iii. 
 
 This subject has already been referred to at page 154.
 
 172 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 sion on this score is done away, and we have 
 learnt to call the Eucharist a sacrifice, a 
 spiritual sacrifice, as well as a sacrament, the 
 name of altar may, without impropriety, 
 be restored ; and accordingly we now find that 
 name promiscuously used with that of table. 
 The material of which this altar or table was 
 constructed was generally wood, sometimes 
 stone ; it was frequently ornamented with a 
 canopy above it, sometimes with a dove, as 
 representing the descent of the Holy Ghost, 
 and at the time of celebrating the Eucharist 
 was invariably covered with a clean linen 
 cloth. That which covered the altar was 
 called the altar pall, and another, which was 
 prepared for covering the sacred elements, 
 was called the palla corporis, or corporal, 
 all which precisely accords with the customs 
 of our present churches, and with the rubric, 
 which directs the administration of the ser- 
 vice.* " The table at the communion-time 
 having a fair white linen cloth upon it, shall 
 stand in the body of the church, or in the 
 chancel." And again, when the elements have 
 been administered : " The minister shall return 
 
 " That this is a very ancient practise, we learn from Optatus, 
 A.D. 370 : " What Christian is ignorant that the wood of the 
 altar is covered with a linen cloth," Optat. in Don. lib. 6. And 
 again : " You cleansed the palls or white cloths upon the altars to 
 make them more holy." Jerome also mentions it, A.D. 392. 
 See Nicholls' Comment on the Book of Common Prayer.
 
 PRESENT FORM. 173 
 
 to the Lord's table, and reverently place upon 
 it what remaineth of the consecrated elements, 
 covering the same with a fair linen cloth. 1 ' 
 The chalices and flagons, and the cups for 
 administering the wine, as well as the paten 
 or plates for the bread, were originally, when 
 the church was poor, of common materials, 
 the plates of wicker work, the cups of wood, 
 or any cheap material, but when the wealth 
 of the church increased, these holy vessels 
 were of gold or silver, as most suitable to 
 the dignity of so holy a mystery. 
 
 In all these respects then, the church being 
 furnished and duly prepared, according to 
 primitive usage, we may now return to the 
 service itself. 
 
 The service stands in our Common Prayer 
 Books under the title of " The Order of the 
 administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy 
 Communion." At stated periods, the whole of 
 this service is performed, and the Eucharist 
 administered to the congregation : but even 
 at such periods as there is no actual admi- 
 nistration of the sacrament, still a part of the 
 service is required to be read on every Sab- 
 bath-day that portion detailing the moral law, 
 the Nicene Creed, the gospel and epistle ot 
 the day. 
 
 The purpose of this would seem to be, to 
 remind the people of the use of that al-
 
 174 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 tar* from which the moral law is given, and the 
 value of that sacrament which is there cele- 
 brated ; the pledge of keeping that moral law 
 on the part of man, and the token of pardon 
 for its transgression, on the part of God. In 
 the primitive church, as I have already said, 
 it was the custom to administer the Lord's 
 Supper every Sabbath-day, and this custom 
 of ours of reading a portion of the communion 
 service is of course a relic of that olden time. 
 However, our business at present is, to consider 
 the service as a whole, just as it is performed in 
 our churches on those days when the sacrament 
 is to be administered. 
 
 The service may be divided into three por- 
 tions ; the pre-communion, the communion, and 
 the post-communion. In the first part, or pre- 
 communion, the whole congregation, children 
 as well as adults, unbaptized as well as bap- 
 tized persons, are all permitted to join. We 
 begin with the Lord's prayer, as being the 
 prayer appointed by Christ, and therefore none 
 
 * Here we cannot but advert to the exceedingly improper 
 custom, which prevails in some country churches, of performing 
 this portion of the communion service in the same position in 
 the church as the ordinary morning prayers, in the reading 
 desk, instead of at the altar. The attention of the congregation 
 is thereby totally diverted from the meaning of the service, and 
 a slovenly and indecent manner of performing one part of the 
 office, must necessarily beget a disinclination on the part of the 
 congregation to participate in the remainder.
 
 PRE-COMMUNION. 175 
 
 so fit to commence that service which is to 
 commemorate his death. We then offer to 
 God the collect for purity, because, as in the 
 book of Exodus,* when the people were about 
 to hear the words of the law, Moses sanctified 
 them, and commanded them to wash their 
 clothes y as an emblem of purity ; so we, as Chris- 
 tians, supplicate of the Lord to make us pure 
 in heart, and sincere in intention, before we 
 listen to the precepts of his holy will, " lest," 
 as says the apostle, " sin take occasion by the 
 commandments to stir up an evil heart, because 
 we had not known sin," except the command- 
 ments had been given, " I had not known lust, 
 except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."f 
 After this preparation, the ten commandments 
 are recited, the people praying at the end of 
 each that God may incline their hearts to 
 keep them, " Lord have mercy upon us, 
 and incline our hearts to keep this law." 
 
 These ten commandments, as containing the 
 moral law, are binding upon Christians as well 
 as Jews, and the use of them in the celebra- 
 tion of the Eucharist is, of course, very plain. 
 At our first communion with God in baptism, 
 we were originally pledged to keep those very 
 commandments ; and now that a second, or 
 renewed covenant is to be made, what more 
 appropriate than to recite them once more, for 
 
 * Exod. xix. 14. t Rom. vii. 7.
 
 176 PRE-COMMUNION. 
 
 the refreshing of our memories, and the clearer 
 understanding of God's will? At every com- 
 munion of the Lord's Supper, we renew the 
 vow and pledge of the first, and as we are 
 about to make new engagements for the future, 
 and to confess at the same time the violation 
 of those engagements in the past, the church 
 prudently directs the minister now standing in 
 the most holy place, i. e. the altar, to turn 
 himself to the people, and from thence, like 
 another Moses from Mount Sinai, to convey 
 God's laws to them, by rehearsing, distinctly, all 
 the ten commandments, by which, as in a glass, 
 they may discover all their offences, and still 
 kneeling, may, after every commandment, 
 ask God's mercy for their past transgres- 
 sions."* 
 
 After the solemn recitation of God's will, we 
 betake ourselves to prayer. St. Paul directs, 
 that the church is to pray for all persons in 
 authority. The king, as the head of the church 
 and nation, is the person to whom the charge 
 of a due observance of God's law is committed. 
 In the primitive church, according to this 
 direction, they always offered a prayer for their 
 rulers at the time of communion, because they 
 considered that a supplication for public virtue, 
 and national godliness, could not be more ap- 
 propriately offered than at a time of mutual 
 
 * Wheatly, Com. Pray. p. 272.
 
 PRK-COMMUNION. 177 
 
 communion. We must, therefore, consider 
 these prayers offered for the king, coming so 
 immediately after the recitation of the moral 
 law, as offered not so much for his personal 
 welfare, as for the preservation of public virtue 
 by his authority as chief magistrate, so that 
 he may (in the words of the prayer) " study 
 to preserve the people committed to his charge, 
 in wealth, peace, and godliness." 
 
 We next proceed to the collect, gospel, and 
 epistle of the day. These being selections from 
 the New Testament, follow very appropriately 
 the commandments, which are selections from 
 the Old Testament, and they are in exact ac- 
 cordance with the Jewish custom, at the pass- 
 over, of reading over that portion of their history 
 which detailed their deliverance from Egypt. 
 We read in the book of Exodus, "It shall come 
 to pass when your children shall say unto 
 you, What mean ye by this service ? ye shall 
 say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, 
 who passed over the houses of the children of 
 Israel, when he smote the Egyptians, and de- 
 livered our houses."* Here is the reason of the 
 service. So we in the epistle and gospel set 
 forth the reason of our passover. We read 
 some portion of holy scripture, for the sake of 
 recording our great deliverance from the bond- 
 age of sin. At the epistle we sit, at the gos- 
 pel we stand, as making our reverence for 
 
 * Exod. xii. 26. 
 M
 
 178 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 that portion of scripture more especially al- 
 luding to the history or words of Jesus him- 
 self. Before the gospel, we in general sing or 
 say, " Glory be to thee, O Lord," or " Glory be 
 to thee, O Lord, most High :" and in many 
 churches, after the gospel, there is also said, 
 " Thanks be to thee, O Lord." 
 
 Our next business is the creed. Having 
 solemnly considered God's will, both in the 
 former and the latter revelation ; having " be- 
 lieved with our heart unto righteousness," we 
 naturally " confess with our mouth unto sal- 
 vation ;" and just as in the law, our business 
 was to renew our baptismal vow, so now 
 again, as one branch of that vow was to " be- 
 lieve all the articles of the Christian faith ;" 
 it is therefore quite appropriate that, be- 
 fore we be admitted to the privileges of the 
 renewed covenant, we should declare openly, 
 in the face of the church, that we abide 
 firm and unchanged in the professions origi- 
 nally made ; in order that we may go to 
 God's altar with all those great and solemn 
 doctrines of Christianity fresh in our minds, 
 our souls intent on the nature of that Being, 
 whom we adore as God the Father, through 
 whom we pray as God the Son, and by 
 whose aid and holy influence we are sanc- 
 tified, God the Holy Ghost.* 
 
 * It is observed by Mede, that all the prayers in the 
 sacramental service are addressed to God the Father, which
 
 PRE-COMMUNION. 179 
 
 Thus ends the first part, or pre-communion ; 
 and on such days as the celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper has been announced, the ser- 
 mon being concluded, and that part of the 
 congregation who refuse to partake of the re- 
 mainder of the service having retired, we again 
 return to the altar. And here we cannot but im- 
 agine, in our view, the multitudes who invariably 
 retire at this portion of the service ; the few, 
 the faithful few, who endure with Christ unto 
 the end. That there may be some, who from 
 accidental or domestic circumstances cannot be 
 present on every day at which the sacrament 
 is administered, we must all be ready to allow : 
 but that there should be so many who invari- 
 ably, and without exception, pass by God's table, 
 month after month, is certainly a matter of 
 surprise. From the pulpit, the minister of 
 God, the pastor under Jesus Christ, beholds 
 the chosen flock of his heavenly Master de- 
 serting his fold, and wandering to the wilder- 
 accords with the decree of the third council of Carthage : 
 " No one in his prayers should name the Father for the Son, 
 or the Son for the Father, and when we stand at the altar, 
 all our addresses must be made to the Father." " The reason 
 is, that the Father is properly the object to whom, the Son, 
 by whom, we pray in this mystical service ; and, therefore, to 
 direct our prayers and thanksgivings to the Son, would pervert 
 the order of the mystery, which is an oblation of prayer and 
 praise to God the Father, through the intercession of Jesus 
 Christ, represented in the symbols of bread and wine." Mede 
 on the Christian Sacrifice, sect. iii. 
 
 M2
 
 180 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 ness. On the previous Sabbath, an invitation 
 has been given, at the command of Jesus Christ 
 himself, to the whole congregation. He has 
 told them that he " purposed, through God's 
 assistance, to administer to all such as should 
 be religiously and devoutly disposed, the most 
 comfortable sacrament of the body and blood 
 of Christ." He has bid them all in God's 
 name ; and has told them that " he, for his 
 part, will be ready." He may also, in the 
 course of his personal address from the pulpit, 
 have laid before them the obligation under 
 which they labour, the great comfort and bless- 
 ing which God sends with it, the value of the 
 ordinance, the absolute necessity of its con- 
 tinued and repeated participation. He may 
 have urged, admonished, warned, denounced, 
 exhorted, persuaded and yet, after all, after 
 God's will has been rehearsed in their hearing, 
 after the creed containing the sacred mysteries 
 of Christ incarnate, crucified, and risen, has 
 been delivered from God's altar, and the con- 
 gregation, with their voices and their amen, 
 have borne outward testimony of their faith- 
 nay, with the very table before them covered 
 with the holy vessels of the church, which shew 
 them of the feast shortly to take place, the font 
 at which they were pledged to God as children, 
 the altar, at which by their confirmation they 
 ratified the pledge in their own persons, the 
 glory of God surrounding the place with hal-
 
 COMMUNION. 181 
 
 lowed separation all this before their minds, 
 and before their senses, they yet steal away 
 from the church, their prayers unfinished, 
 their minds worldly and carnal, their vows 
 and pledges broken, with no blessing from 
 their minister, with no fellowship with their 
 brethren, with no remembrance of their Sa- 
 viour. Would that this were not a true pic- 
 ture ! Would that we could see our congre- 
 gations, whole and unbroken, thronging the 
 altar steps with anxious aspirations. Then 
 might we boast of a church flourishing and 
 vigorous ; of a church at unity in herself, 
 a church which loved their Saviour in deed 
 as well as in profession. 
 
 The sermon being concluded, and those few 
 who do remain, being ready, the minister re- 
 turns to the altar for the actual communion. 
 And first, certain sentences from scripture are 
 read, which constitute 
 
 THE OFFERTORY, 
 enjoining the duty of charity and alms-giving.* 
 
 * The duty of alms-giving is of course acknowledged by 
 every Christian, and the origin of the exercise of this duty at 
 the time of communion, is no doubt from St. Paul : " Upon 
 the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in 
 store as God hath prospered him." 1 Cor. xvi. 2. In the 2nd 
 chapter we have already seen passages from Justin Martyr and 
 from Cyprian, who testify to the observance of the duty in their 
 time ; and it has so continued through all ages. See also the
 
 182 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 Having expressed in the creed the principles 
 of our Christian faith, we now exhort one 
 another to shew forth that faith in actual 
 works, because " faith, without works, is dead, 
 being alone." At the first commencement of 
 the Christian church, a community of goods 
 was an essential doctrine. We read in the 
 4th chapter of the Acts, "Neither was there 
 any among them that lacked, for as many as 
 were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, 
 and brought the prices of the things that were 
 sold, and laid them down at the apostles' 
 feet, and distribution was made unto every 
 man, according as he had need."* It is very 
 probable that this collection of property was 
 made during the celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper ; a time when their hearts, knowing 
 no inequality in point of spiritual communion, 
 would know no inequality in point of worldly 
 wealth. In after times, when the church was 
 more enlarged, and the principle of community 
 of goods ceased to be entertained, we still 
 find the collection of alms retaining its place 
 in the celebration of the Eucharist ; and be- 
 cause, in the persecuted and uncertain state 
 of the Christians, the clergy and ministers 
 
 following sentences, in addition to those quoted in the Book of 
 Common Prayer : Gen. iv. 3 ; Exod. xxv. 2 ; Deut. vi. 10 ; 
 1 Chron. xxix. 14. 17; Neh. x. 32; Psalm xcvi. 7, 8; Markxii. 
 41 ; Acts xxiv. 17. 
 
 * Acts iv. 34.
 
 COMMUNION. 183 
 
 of the word were in general without means 
 of subsistence, save from the donations of charity, 
 the alms so collected were used principally for 
 their maintenance. Even in our own church 
 we may see this principle maintained from 
 many of the sentences inserted in the offer- 
 tory. " Who goeth a warfare at any time 
 of his own cost? Who planteth a vineyard, 
 and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who 
 feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk 
 of the flock ?" 1 Cor. ix. " If we have sown 
 unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter 
 if we shall reap your worldly things." 1 Cor. ix. 
 " Let him that is taught in the word, min- 
 ister unto him that teacheth in all good 
 things." Gal. vi. " Even so hath the Lord also 
 ordained, that they who preach the gospel, 
 should live of the gospel." 1 Cor ix. 
 
 The circumstances of our present church are 
 certainly of a different character from the time 
 when the primitive teachers of Christianity, 
 in the midst of persecution and personal danger, 
 depended for daily subsistence on the contri- 
 butions of their flocks, but not so different but 
 that it might be advantageous to restore, in some 
 degree, the reading of those sentences, and the 
 appropriation of the gifts to such purposes as 
 those sentences would seem to imply. If no such 
 possibility had been contemplated, why should 
 our reformers, at the time the liturgy was 
 constructed, have thought fit to retain them?
 
 184 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 Why should there be one word remaining in 
 our beautiful forms of church service rendered 
 ineffective by disuse ? The rubric says : " After 
 the divine service ended, the money given at 
 the offertory shall be disposed of to such pious 
 and charitable uses as the minister and church- 
 wardens shall think fit." 
 
 It does not, then, appear that this money is 
 to be given without exception to the lowest 
 class of the poor in a direct manner, but it may 
 be for any pious use which indirectly affects 
 them ; such as the maintenance of schools or 
 hospitals ; and it would be exceedingly desir- 
 able if we could in any way restore even the 
 original intention of the offertory, and set apart 
 some portion of it for the maintenance of poor 
 ministers, for the sending missionaries to foreign 
 countries, for the provision even of more clergy 
 in our own country, for the aged widows or orphan 
 children of poor curates, and many other such 
 uses as would strictly come under the term 
 of the rubric, pious uses, as well as charitable. 
 In that case we could restore the reading of 
 those sentences ; and it would surely be a de- 
 lightful consideration, both for the communi- 
 cants and for the ministering clergy to remember 
 that these gifts would then, as partly set apart with 
 Zacchseus for the poor, so partly would be set 
 apart as the "milk of the flock," for them who 
 " feed the flock." There are many expressions 
 throughout the service that decidedly bear out
 
 COMMUNION. 185 
 
 this consideration : " Whilst these sentences 
 are in reading, the deacons, churchwardens, 
 or other fit person appointed for that pur- 
 pose, shall receive the alms for the poor, 
 and other devotions of the people." Now, here 
 it is plain that there is something besides 
 the ordinary alms " other devotions ;" and it 
 is plain that this collection of alms is distinct 
 from the actual communion of bread and wine, 
 for we see in the very next direction : " And 
 when there is a communion, the priest shall 
 then place upon the table so much bread and 
 wine as he shall think sufficient :" so that the 
 alms may be collected without the communion, 
 though the communion cannot be without the 
 alms. Again, in another place : " And if any 
 of the bread and wine remain unconsecrated, the 
 curate shall have it to his own use." And again, 
 it is said : " And yearly at Easter every pa- 
 rishioner shall reckon with the parson, vicar, 
 or curate, or his or their deputy or deputies ; 
 and pay to them or him all ecclesiastical duties 
 accustomably due, then and at that time to be 
 paid." 
 
 Now, all these rubrics inserted throughout 
 the service, and the latter one, from which the 
 custom of Easter offerings to the minister un- 
 questionably depends, convey the same meaning 
 as above stated ; that in some degree the 
 offerings of the Eucharistic service, even now, 
 as well as in primitive times, should look to
 
 186 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 those who serve at the altar, and to the 
 general promotion of religion throughout the 
 world. 
 
 We may as well notice here, that the gifts 
 of the people consisted, in primitive times, not 
 of money, but of those fruits of the earth 
 which each man's situation in the world en- 
 abled him to offer; more particularly wine, 
 grapes, corn, and bread. Out of this, the 
 priest selected such a portion as he thought 
 necessary for the elements of the sacra- 
 ment, and the rest was set aside for those 
 charitable purposes above-mentioned. We 
 must attend to this, because there is now a 
 careless and erroneous custom in many of our 
 churches of placing the bread and wine upon 
 the Lord's table before the commencement of 
 the service, and by the hands of laymen, the 
 clerk, or the churchwarden whereas the whole 
 intention and spiritual meaning of the oblation 
 is this : The people make an offering to God, 
 and out of that offering a portion is selected by 
 the minister to be laid upon the altar for the 
 purpose of the sacrament. The priest, therefore, 
 having received it from the people, should lay 
 it upon the altar with his own hands, as sancti- 
 fying the gift in the sight both of God and 
 of the congregation. For it should always be 
 remembered, that the bread and wine con- 
 secrated for the sacrament, are the offerings or
 
 COMMUNION. 187 
 
 oblations * of the people, and this precisely 
 meets the expression in the prayer which 
 follows ; for no sooner are the alms collected, 
 
 * Without an oblation, there can be no sacrifice, there can 
 be no prayer or thanksgiving, or any of the parts which con- 
 stitute the sacrificial nature of the covenant. Not only, there- 
 fore, is it necessary that the people should make the offering, 
 but that the priest, and he alone, should present it for them to 
 God. But it is the custom in most churches for the sacred ele- 
 ments to be placed on the altar before the commencement of 
 service, and by this, the beauty and design of the whole cere- 
 mony is lost. 
 
 In the Greek church, as we read in St. Chrysostom, there 
 was always placed within the rails a side table, where the ele- 
 ments lay until the time of communion ; and Nicholls says, 
 upon this : " Though our church has not ordered any particular 
 prayer for this action of the priest (the offering of the gifts), he 
 ought not to neglect the action itself, nor suffer it to be done 
 by any other than himself. And since the rubric has not 
 authorized the setting of a side-table, the priest must be content 
 either himself to go into the vestry to fetch the elements, or he 
 must receive them at the hands of the deacon or clerk, and then 
 place them on the table, for place them there he must, and no 
 one else." And the rubric emphatically directs : "The priest 
 shall then (after the collection of the alms) place upon the table 
 so much bread and wine as he shall think sufficient." Here 
 the time and the person are distinctly appointed. " There- 
 fore, I cannot imagine," continues Nicholls, " how so bold an 
 innovation has obtained, for the bread and wine to be placed 
 on the Lord's table by churchwardens, clerks, sextons, or any 
 beside the person whom the church has obliged to do it." 
 Nicholls' Commentary. Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 Mede speaks in the like manner : " It were much to be 
 wished that this were more solemnly done than is usual, namely 
 not until the time of administration, and by the hand of the
 
 188 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 than the minister offers a prayer for the accep- 
 tance of the alms, and to the word alms he adds 
 oblations. 
 
 Now, the expression alms will refer to the 
 money collected for charitable purposes, while 
 the word oblations will refer precisely to those 
 offerings of bread and wine laid upon the altar, 
 as God's " creatures " offered to himself, from 
 his people, through the hands of his minister ; 
 and which, when consecrated by prayer, are 
 to represent the body and the blood of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 When the prayer is finished, the minister 
 addresses himself more particularly to the com- 
 municants, strongly exhorting them to self-exa- 
 mination, and to serious thought upon the duty 
 which they are now undertaking. For this 
 purpose, he quotes to them a passage from St. 
 Paul, shewing the guilt of those who come to 
 the Lord's table with any levity of behaviour, 
 as to a mere worldly banquet or casual cere- 
 mony, and he beseeches them to " judge them- 
 selves, that they be not judged of the Lord ;" 
 to repent them of their past sins ; to have 
 lively faith in that Saviour whose death they 
 are now commemorating. How beautiful, how 
 devotional is the whole of this exhortation ! 
 who can listen to it without those feelings of 
 
 minister, in the name and in the sight of the whole congregation, 
 standing up, and showing some sign of due and lowly reve- 
 rence." Mede's Works, fol. p. 376.
 
 COMMUNION. 189 
 
 piety and penitence to which it speaks ? It puts 
 before us, concisely the great object of the sacra- 
 ment namely, communion with the Saviour. 
 It speaks of spiritually eating the flesh of Christ, 
 and drinking his blood ; it reminds us that we 
 shall dwell in Christ, and Christ with us : 
 and what heart can listen to such, gracious 
 assurances assurances derived from the word 
 of God, without deep remorse for every devia- 
 tion from His pleasure, and fresh determination 
 in the amendment of his life ? What glorious 
 hopes fill the soul of the aspiring and penitent 
 sinner ! How joyful is this harbinger of sal- 
 vation ! He no longer stands alone in the world 
 to baffle the temptations of his natural state. 
 He is joined with Christ in holy fellowship. He 
 is elevated by the holy Spirit strengthening and 
 refreshing his weakness. He stands in mental 
 and spiritual communion with his God and Sa- 
 viour Jesus Christ. 
 
 We now come to the 
 
 INVITATION. 
 
 The feast being ready, the guests solemnly 
 warned, and the steward of the mysteries 
 standing in his place, the voice is heard 
 pronouncing, DRAW NEAR. " Ye that do truly 
 and earnestly repent, draw near" but not 
 only in body, but in faith. A bodily approach 
 will not avail. A mere acceding to the form 
 will not purchase the grace of that sacrament,
 
 190 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 therefore, " draw near with faith, and take 
 this holy sacrament to your comfort ;" but 
 before you do so, confess your unworthiness ; 
 before ye draw near to partake of the par- 
 don, lay bare the sinfulness of your hearts 
 at the throne of grace, have no reserve, no 
 excuses, no evasions before God, but strip 
 and lay naked your soul in the presence of 
 your Creator. Then comes 
 
 THE CONFESSION, 
 
 the public confession of sins, no auricular or 
 private explanation to the ear of a sinful 
 man like ourselves, but the open and spirit- 
 ual confession of unworthiness, error, and 
 sin, before the pure and righteous God. " We 
 bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, we 
 are heartily sorry for our misdoings, the 
 remembrance of them is grievous to us, the 
 burden of them is intolerable," and as each 
 individual repeats the words, he calls to mind 
 his own personal deficiences ; all that he has 
 said, done, and thought, contrary to God's 
 word since the period when he last partook 
 of that holy rite, stand vividly called up 
 before his imagination, and thus prostrating 
 himself in the presence of God, a confessed 
 sinner, a confessedly unworthy partaker of 
 all God's gifts, yet a confident claimant for 
 pardon in the merits of Jesus the Saviour,
 
 COMMUNION. 191 
 
 the Priest, in the name and by the authority 
 of that Saviour, pronounces 
 
 THE ABSOLUTION. 
 
 And now pause, once more, to contemplate 
 the scene. The Christian brethren, brethren 
 in charity, brethren in faith, brethen in in- 
 firmity, are kneeling before the altar. Their 
 hearts are all open and undisguised. Their 
 thoughts are all laid bare before their great 
 Creator, each soul is pouring forth its secret 
 words of prayer and intercession, each heart 
 is anticipating in faith the reconciliation of 
 God, all they ask is, forgiveness ; all they 
 hope is, remission of the past: and then the 
 minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, upon His 
 promise, and upon His authority, pronounces 
 the pardon that is asked, the pardon of every 
 repentant sinner.* " May the Almighty God 
 
 * The Roman church pronounces confession to the priest, 
 and absolution by the priest, necessary to salvation. The Coun- 
 cil of Trent, sess. xiv. canon vi. says, as follows: "If any shall 
 deny, that sacramental confession was instituted, and is neces- 
 sary for salvation by divine right, or shall say that the custom of 
 confessing secretly to the priest alone, is foreign to the institu- 
 tion and command of Christ, "Let him be accursed:" and 
 again, canon ix. " If any shall say that the sacramental abso- 
 lution of a priest is not a judicial act, but a mere ministration 
 declaring, and pronouncing that the penitent's sins are forgiven, 
 provided only he believes that he is absolved ; or that the con- 
 fession of the penitent is not necessary, that the priest may 
 absolve him ; ' Let him be accursed.' " But the church of
 
 192 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver 
 you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen 
 you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting 
 life." 
 
 Are they miserable, here is comfort. Are 
 they desponding, here is hope. Are they li- 
 able to punishment, here is deliverance. Are 
 they fearful of death, here is everlasting life. 
 Are they " as little children" now in the years 
 of their youth, approaching God's altar for 
 the first time with hesitating steps, here is 
 the voice of assurance : " Suffer little children 
 to come unto me, and forbid them not." Are 
 they the " thief upon the cross" up to a late 
 
 England assumes no such power for her ministers. The church 
 is willing to listen to the private confession of any sinner, if he 
 should desire to make it, and so the priest is directed to say in 
 the exhortation previous to the Eucharist, " Let him come to 
 me, or to some other discreet and learned minister of God's 
 word, and open his grief, that by the ministry of God's holy 
 word, he may receive the benefit of absolution" but the 
 confession on the part of the sinner is to be voluntary, and the 
 absolution in part of the priest is to be by God's authority, and 
 not a judicial act of his own. Nicholls paraphrases the Absolu- 
 tion in our service of the Eucharist, thus : 
 
 " The Almighty God, who is invested with all power in hea- 
 ven and earth, has promised that he will pardon repentant sin- 
 ners that turn to him, (Isai. Iv. 7. John iii. 16.) This same 
 good and gracious God hath ordered me, his minister, to declare 
 and pronounce this mercy to you. And I put up my prayers 
 for you, that he may confirm you in a constant habit of virtue 
 and piety as long as you live in this world, and at last bring you 
 to the everlasting happiness of the other. Amen."
 
 COMMUNION. 193 
 
 period of life sinners, and only now in their 
 old age, or in approaching death, venturing 
 to draw near, here is the voice which per- 
 mits of no despair : " To-day shalt thou 
 be with me in paradise." Are they the "pro- 
 digal son" returning to their Father, with 
 distant longings and fearful anticipations, here 
 is the welcome of the rejoicing father, the 
 ring on the finger, and the fatted calf. Are 
 they " the magdalen" bathing the feet of 
 Christ with their tears, and wiping them with 
 the hair of their head, here is the same Sa- 
 viour who loved and cherished, forgave and 
 blessed. Are they the " woman taken in adul- 
 tery" while all mankind are pointing with 
 the finger of scorn, and yet each one, think- 
 ing of his own sins, retires and makes way, 
 here is the voice of charity and of admonition, 
 coupled with love : " Neither do I condemn 
 thee ; go, and sin no more." Joy then takes 
 the place of sorrow : repentance worketh its 
 sure fruit and recompense. " Hear," continues 
 the minister of Christ, " hear what comfort- 
 able words our Saviour Christ saith unto all 
 who truly turn unto him : ' So God loved 
 the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, to the end that all that believe in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life.'" 
 And then, all standing up, the sorrow that 
 arose from confession of sins being lost in 
 the sense of pardon promised in the abso- 
 
 N
 
 194 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 lution, there comes the invitation of the min- 
 ister, " Lift up your hearts," and the answer, 
 " We lift them up unto the Lord." " Let 
 us give thanks unto our Lord God," and the 
 answer, "It is meet and right so to do." 
 Upon which the priest takes up the words 
 of the people, and gives his PRAYER OF 
 THANKSGIVING ; " It is very meet and right, 
 and our bounden duty, that we should at all 
 times and in all places give thanks unto 
 thee:" upon which, in return, the people take 
 up the words of the priest, and join with 
 him, with uplifted voices, in 
 
 THE TRISAGIUM, 
 
 thrice holy hymn of thanksgiving. Their 
 hearts replenished, their faith confirmed, their 
 conscience unburdened, they sing aloud " with 
 angels and archangels, and with all the com- 
 pany of heaven, we laud and magnify thy 
 glorious name, evermore praising thee, and 
 saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, 
 heaven and earth are full of thy glory. 
 Glory be to thee, O Lord, most High." 
 
 Hence the name of EUCHARIST, which means, 
 giving of thanks : the exact imitation of our 
 Saviour, who before he took the bread, gave 
 thanks, and before he delivered the cup, gave 
 thanks. In ancient times this thanksgiving 
 contained a full enumeration of God's dealings 
 with man. It recounted the glories of his crea-
 
 COMMUNION. 195 
 
 tion, of his government of the Jewish people, 
 of the sending of his only Son, the miracles, 
 the crucifixion, and the resurrection of that 
 only Son ; but in after times this doxology 
 was contracted into its present form for or- 
 dinary days ; but on festivals and particular 
 occasions, we enumerate more minutely those 
 mercies with which the day is connected, 
 such as on Christmas day, " Because thou didst 
 give Jesus Christ, thine only begotten Son, 
 to be born at this time for us:" on Easter 
 day, " But chiefly are we bound to praise 
 thee for the glorious resurrection of thy Son 
 Jesus Christ our Lord :" on Ascension day, 
 " Through thy most dearly beloved Son, Jesus 
 Christ, our Lord, who, after his most glo- 
 rious resurrection, manifestly appeared to all 
 his apostles, and in their sight ascended up 
 into heaven to prepare a place for us :" on 
 Whitsunday, " Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, 
 according to whose most true promise the 
 Hoty Ghost came down, as at this time, 
 from heaven, with a sudden great sound, as 
 it had been a mighty wind, in the likeness 
 of fiery tongues :" and upon the feast of 
 Trinity, " Who art one God, one Lord ; not 
 only one person, but three persons in one 
 substance."* 
 
 ' The particular form of this thanksgiving has varied at 
 different times and different churches ; but all have invariably 
 agreed in some form, as constituting the essence of the sa- 
 crament. The apostolical constitutions give a form of very 
 
 N 2
 
 196 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 This Eucharistic hymn being concluded, as 
 we are now approaching more closely the 
 actual communion, the priest turns again to 
 the altar, and offers up, in the name of the 
 congregation, a solemn address to God. This 
 is beautifully devised, because, as we had 
 just been elevated to a somewhat enthusias- 
 tic exultation in the glories of our blessed 
 Lord, we here allay our too-exuberant thoughts, 
 and subdue them into a more gentle and 
 composed demeanour, previous to our actual 
 eating and drinking of the bread and wine. 
 We are reminded once more of the real state 
 of our case, our unworthiness to approach 
 these glories, our miserable demerits in all 
 righteousness and holiness of life. " We do 
 not presume to come to the table of the 
 Lord trusting in our own righteousness, but 
 only in God's manifold and great mercies. 
 
 great length, which can be seen in Bingham, book xv., ex- 
 tending to three folio pages ; others are not so long. Bishop 
 Cosins says : " Our Lord himself, before he brake bread and 
 distributed it, gave thanks, and the church has thought fit to 
 do the same. But because our Lord has not thought fit to 
 prescribe any set form for this, but used one agreeable to the 
 thing and the time; for this reason the church, according as 
 matters and occasions required, has adopted peculiar forms 
 of prayer and thanksgiving; and thus, according to the di- 
 versity of festival days, in which different benefits are com- 
 memorated, the nativity of our Lord, the resurrection, ascen- 
 sion, descent of the Holy Ghost, &c., different forms of 
 prayer have been composed, that thanks might be given to 
 God for them."
 
 COMMUNION. 197 
 
 We are not worthy so much as to gather 
 up the crumbs under God's table." And then 
 immediately follows 
 
 THE CONSECRATION, 
 
 in which the priest, standing before God, 
 with the bread and wine placed before him 
 in decent order, invokes the Lord's blessing 
 on the sacred symbols of the body and blood 
 of Christ. In the ancient form of consecra- 
 tion, many additional expressions were used, 
 which are now omitted. The Holy Spirit 
 was specially invoked to descend upon the 
 bread and wine, and at the mention of bless- 
 ing and sanctifying the elements, the sign 
 of the cross was made in signification of the 
 sacrifice which they typified. But this cus- 
 tom, savouring too much of the superstitions 
 of the Roman church, was omitted in the 
 reign of king Edward, principally owing to 
 the scruples of Bucer, and the prayer was 
 then expressed in the same words which we 
 now employ. 
 
 In this prayer of consecration there is no 
 change of the bread and wine into any other 
 substance than that which we behold. There 
 are no whisperings or secret prayers, but 
 the words are prayed to God audibly ; and 
 the bread and wine remain bread and wine 
 in the sight of the people. The only differ- 
 ence is, that the bread being broken by the
 
 198 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 hands of the priest, the wine being taken 
 in the cup in imitation of Jesus at the last 
 supper, and the prayer being offered to God 
 that he may accept these creatures, (those 
 created things,) as peculiarly and sacramen- 
 tally representing the body and blood of 
 Jesus, they become from that moment conse- 
 crated symbols and types. They are to the 
 communicants the sacramental emblems of 
 that sacrifice of which they desire to partake. 
 They are holy and mystical, but no change 
 in their substance can be for one instant 
 admitted ; nor can we allow that the words 
 of the priest are of any further efficacy, than 
 by his prayer invoking the blessing of God. 
 The whole prayer is most beautiful in its 
 construction. It recites the suffering and death 
 of Jesus, his command of the institution as 
 a memorial of his death.* " By taking the 
 bread into his hands and breaking it, he makes 
 a memorial of our Saviour's body broken on 
 the cross ; by exhibiting the wine, we are 
 reminded of the blood shed for the sins of 
 the world ; and by laying his hands upon 
 each of them, at the same time that he re- 
 peats those words : < Take, eat ; this is my 
 body,' and ' Drink ye all of this,' he sig- 
 nifies and acknowledges that this commemo- 
 ration of Christ's sacrifice so made to God, is 
 
 * Wheatly, Com. Pray. p. 304.
 
 COMMUNION. 199 
 
 a means instituted by Christ himself to con- 
 vey to the communicants the benefits of his 
 death and passion, viz., the pardon of their 
 sins, and God's grace and favour for the time 
 to come."* 
 
 * There has always been a difference of opinion on the 
 question, how far the consecrating words of the priest affect 
 the holy elements. The opinion of the church of Rome is, 
 that a conversion of the elements into the actual body and 
 blood of Christ, takes place upon the pronunciation of the 
 Avords, " This is my body," " This is my blood ;" but we 
 maintain that the consecration takes place by the whole action 
 of the priest, by the offering, the prayer, and more particularly 
 by the benediction, by which the elements are transferred from 
 their common and natural use, and are elevated to a sacred 
 and mystical representation. There are evidently three steps 
 in the prayer of consecration: 1. the oblation; 2. the invo- 
 cation; and 3. the words of institution. "All the churches 
 in the world," says Wheatly, "have thus in all ages used 
 the words of institution ; but none, except the church of 
 Rome, ever attributed the consecration to those words only." 
 There was always a prayer for the descent of the Holy Ghost ; 
 and this, though omitted in our present liturgy, is found in the 
 liturgy of Edward VI. " Hear us, O merciful Father, we 
 beseech thee, and with thy Holy Spirit and word vouchsafe 
 to bless and sanctify these thy gifts and creatures of bread 
 and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy 
 most dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who in the same 
 night," &c. All mention of the Holy Ghost is now omitted; 
 but though omitted, yet the meaning remains the same ; and 
 we manifestly attribute the consecration to the help of that 
 Holy Spirit descending, at the instance of our prayers, to 
 sanctify the gifts. We record the words of Christ's institution 
 as the peculiar dedication of the elements to one especial ser- 
 vice ; but in no way imagine that the words of the priest, as
 
 200 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 The bread and wine being thus consecra- 
 ted in the presence of the congregation, the 
 priest administers them to himself first, and 
 to the clergy who may happen to be present, 
 and then the people drawing up around the 
 altar, and humbly kneeling down,* receive 
 from the hands of God's minister, first the 
 bread, and afterwards the wine ; a short 
 form of prayer is pronounced at each recep- 
 tion, and the communicant retires to medi- 
 tate in private on that great sacrifice which 
 he has just commemorated. In the Roman 
 Catholic church the consecrated wafer is 
 placed by the priest in the mouth of the 
 communicant, the custom evidently arising 
 from the notion of its being the actual body 
 of Christ, and therefore not to be touched by 
 impure hands : but this is so entirely super- 
 stitious that it was at once rejected by our 
 reformers, and we now deliver the bread and 
 
 mere words, are of any avail distinct from the blessing of God. 
 And observe, that our rubric expressly calls it " The prayer 
 of consecration :" and observe also, that there is a certain 
 action of the priest laying his hands on the bread and 
 breaking it, laying his hands on the cup and pouring it out 
 evidently significative actions, and needed to produce that 
 union of prayer, oblation, and blessing, which, in our opinion, 
 constitute the consecrating power. 
 
 * See the rubric at the end of the service, which explains 
 the reason of kneeling, lest there should be attached to it any 
 notion of adoration.
 
 COMMUNION. 201 
 
 the cup into the hands of each communi- 
 cant. That this was the ancient custom of 
 the church we have abundant testimony. 
 Eusebius, speaking of one who was receiving 
 the Eucharist, says, " He stood at the table 
 reaching out his hand to receive the sacred 
 food :" and Ambrose says to Theodosius, 
 " How will you stretch out those hands 
 which are yet reeking with innocent blood, 
 how will you with those hands receive the 
 sacred body of our Lord ?" But as this custom 
 came in with transubstantiation, so also it 
 ceased when that error ceased, and our pre- 
 sent rubric wisely directs us to give it "to 
 the people in order, into their hands" The 
 form of words also which is used at the 
 delivery of the bread and wine has sustained 
 some slight alteration, it was formerly merely 
 thus : " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" 
 " The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ," to 
 which the communicant said aloud, " Amen." 
 Afterwards, in the time of Gregory, the fol- 
 lowing words were added, " preserve thy body 
 and soul unto everlasting life," but in the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth, this form appear- 
 ing to favour the doctrine of the real pre- 
 sence, the words were added, " Take and 
 eat this in remembrance that Christ died 
 for you," and " Drink this in remembrance 
 that Christ's blood was shed for you," and 
 thus it now remains.
 
 202 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 With regard to the various doctrines of 
 transubstantiation, communicating in both 
 kinds, of the wafer, of the mass in an unknown 
 tongue, also of solitary masses, where the 
 priest communicates without the people; of 
 all these doctrines we have spoken in the 
 proper place. * Sufficient it is for us now 
 to pronounce generally, that the simplicity, 
 the openness, the freedom from all mystery, 
 which is so conspicuous in the consecration 
 and reception of the Eucharist, as adminis- 
 tered by the English church, seem to accord 
 more closely than any other church with 
 the original institution of our blessed Lord. 
 We eat and drink the bread and wine, not 
 as the real body and blood, but as the 
 outward and visible sign of an inward and 
 spiritual grace ; we hope that the soul within 
 shall be strengthened and refreshed by the 
 spiritual communion which we have in the 
 body broken, and the blood shed, even as 
 outwardly our bodies are refreshed by the 
 nourishment conveyed to them by the bread 
 and wine. We kneel before the altar with 
 hearts replenished and sustained by faith, 
 that faith not superstitiously excited, or with 
 any degree of fanciful enthusiasm, but rea- 
 sonably enlivened and moved by the symbols 
 thus placed before us of the sacrifice of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 * See chapters ii. and iii.
 
 COMMUNION. 203 
 
 We behold and taste the broken bread, 
 it recalls to our memory that solemn and 
 tremendous hour when the Lord of life, 
 Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, was led by the 
 hands of wicked men, and crucified, and 
 slain. We behold him represented to our 
 imagination, scourged and maligned ; we see 
 the accusation written over, " The king of 
 the Jews ;" we behold his mother weeping 
 at the cross ; we hear the blaspheming Jews, 
 " He saved others, himself he cannot save." 
 We behold and drink the poured out wine ; 
 fresh and fresh scenes for contemplation 
 pass before us ; it recalls to our memory 
 the blood that was shed by Jesus Christ; 
 we remember, " that without sprinkling of 
 blood there is no remission of sins," and 
 we remember that that sprinkling has been 
 made ; the spear cast by the heedless sol- 
 dier, the blood and water issuing from the 
 wound ; the thirsting lips, the sponge and 
 hyssop full of vinegar; all these are vividly 
 before our imagination, while again, we hear 
 the blaspheming Jews, " Let alone, let us 
 see whether Elias will come to save him." 
 Yes, there stands, as recorded on the altar 
 of the Almighty Father, the memory of his 
 dearly beloved Son ; there stands the suffer- 
 ing Lamb of God, hour after hour, enduring 
 the cross,- despising the shame. We follow 
 him from place to place, from the scourge
 
 204 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 to the cross, from his passion to his death ; we 
 hear the complaining words, " Eli, Eli, lama 
 sabacthani." We weep with him, we pray with 
 him, we watch him until, faint and weary, the 
 spirit is resigned into the hands of its Creator, 
 and the last solemn words of the expiring Son 
 of God are heard, " IT is FINISHED." 
 
 With all these awful thoughts, and yet with 
 a joyful hope in the express annunciation of 
 Jesus : " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise 
 him up at the last day :" with hearts full of 
 sorrow at the dreadful price of the ransom that 
 was needed, coupled with spiritual love for him 
 that paid the ransom ; full of joy, full of hope, 
 full of the Holy Ghost, descending, as we may 
 not unreasonably hope, to complete the work 
 begun, to sanctify, to strengthen, and to bless 
 we approach the holy feast we taste, and see 
 how gracious the Lord is we do it in remem- 
 brance of Christ. 
 
 When all have communicated, there remains 
 of course but little more to be done ; that little 
 consists in prayers and hymns of thanksgiving 
 for the glorious feast just terminated. This is 
 the last division of the service, and is called the 
 post-communion. 
 
 First, the Lord's prayer; and it comes, of 
 course, with peculiar beauty so closely after 
 the Lord's sacrifice. The words of the Lord 
 following his works. Then succeeds a prayer
 
 POST-COMMUNION. 205 
 
 of self-devotion. We confess to God our un- 
 worthiness to approach his altar, we ask of him 
 to give us countenance in the holy fellowship 
 just exercised, and we use the words of St. Paul : 
 " presenting our bodies a living sacrifice," even 
 as Christ did " a living sacrifice, holy, accept- 
 able to God, which is our reasonable service ;" 
 so that we may not go from the altar as though we 
 had never been, but may be " steadfast, unmove- 
 able, always abounding in every good word and 
 work" for the remainder of our lives, and more 
 especially in that good work of remembering 
 our Saviour, of renewing from time to time the 
 covenant of the cross, thus made and established 
 between the creature and the Creator. 
 Then comes the hymn, 
 
 GLORIA IN EXCELSIS. 
 
 " Glory be to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good will towards men " follow- 
 ing the practice of our Lord himself, as every 
 one will remember. " When they had sung 
 an hymn, they went out into the Mount of 
 Olives."* No voice can be silent in this glorify- 
 ing of the Lord. The Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost are all united in the praise, but principally 
 we sing The Son " The only-begotten Son, 
 Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, Son of the Father," 
 because it is his peculiar sacrifice in which 
 we have just partaken. It is his peculiar love 
 which we now commemorate. " We praise 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 30.
 
 206 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 thee, we bless thee, we glorify thee, we give 
 thanks to thee for thy great glory." What heart 
 will not respond to these stirring words ? Angels 
 and archangels may sing in heaven, but we 
 have here a more glorious theme for exultation, 
 in being the redeemed of the Lord. They may 
 sing : " Glory, and honour, and power, be unto 
 the Lamb;" but we can sing: "Salvation 
 belongeth to our God and unto the Lamb." 
 Their robes may be white, " the righteousness 
 of saints"- but ours are washed in the blood 
 of the Redeemer. They are made whiter than 
 snow, a sure salvation, a glorious inheritance. 
 This hymn concluded, and the voices of the 
 people once more silent ; their consciences un- 
 burdened their souls free their hearts light 
 and joyful their pardon sealed the minister 
 turning to them for the last time, pronounces 
 
 THE BENEDICTION, 
 
 the solemn benediction of peace. Upon this, 
 the congregation is dismissed from the house of 
 God, and the service closes. 
 
 Thus has been shortly detailed the form of 
 that holy ordinance which our church (I cannot 
 repeat it too often) considers necessary to salva- 
 tion. We see the simplicity, the beauty, the 
 holiness of the forms with which it is observed. 
 We have gone through the various portions of 
 the service we have shown that there is no 
 disguise, nothing mystical, nothing hard to be
 
 POST-COMMUNION. 207 
 
 understood, nothing set, as it were, to catch 
 the unwary, to frighten the imaginations of the 
 timid, or to load the consciences of the simple 
 with any onerous burden too heavy to be borne, 
 but a plain, unvarnished, simple memorial of 
 Him who was himself the pattern of all simpli- 
 city and plainness Here, in this service, is 
 every thing the heart of man can desire. Do 
 ye require moral obligations and purity of 
 heart? you have it in the commandments, and 
 in the collect for purity, in the prayer where 
 we desire to offer our souls and our bodies a 
 reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice. Do ye 
 require works of charity and Christian fellow- 
 ship ? you have it in the scripture sentences, and 
 in the collection of alms for the aged and the poor, 
 Do ye require faith to be set forth ? you have it 
 in the creed, specially enumerating each part of 
 the Christian faith. Do ye require repentance? 
 you have its expression in one of the most beau- 
 tiful forms of confession that can possibly de- 
 note the burden of human guilt. Do ye require 
 words of comfort, as willing that God should 
 be represented in his character of mercy ? you 
 have it in the absolution, pronounced on the 
 authority of Jesus himself; you have it also in 
 the sentences which set forth Christ the propi- 
 tiation and the atonement for the sins of the 
 whole world. Do ye require devotion, and ex- 
 ultation, and glory ? you have it in the thanks- 
 giving, the Eucharistic hymn, and afterwards
 
 208 PRESENT FORM. 
 
 the great doxology at the conclusion. Do ye 
 require your Saviour to be put personally and 
 conspicuously before you, the price of your re- 
 demption, and the justification of your souls ? 
 you have it in a manner so solemn, yet so 
 simple, so lively, yet so plain, in the emblematic 
 elements of broken bread and poured out wine, 
 consecrated by his own words of benediction, 
 " This is my body," and, " This is my blood," 
 that, if your minds are but intent, if your hearts 
 are but in earnest, your Saviour will stand al- 
 most visibly before you. 
 
 Here, then, you have all that religion can give. 
 The world can have no part or parcel with you 
 here. Ye have overcome the world. Vice and 
 sensuality can leave no stain upon your soul 
 here ; ye have washed them out in the blood of 
 the Lamb. Pride, and riches, and ambition, 
 cannot hold you captive here ye are all made 
 equal equal in sin, equal in fellowship as par- 
 takers of human nature, and inheritors of God's 
 kingdom. There is nothing heard, nothing 
 seen, nothing done in this holy feast of love 
 and charity, but that which is purifying, exalting, 
 and stimulating to such high degrees of glory 
 and virtue, as are otherwise beyond the reach of 
 human attainment. If there are any means of 
 grace, here they are ; any hope of salvation, 
 here it is ; any personal communion between 
 God and his creatures, here it is. We know no 
 one but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. We
 
 THE BENEDICTION. 209 
 
 behold nothing but the Lamb of God his 
 broken body, and his poured out blood : we do 
 nothing but prostrate ourselves before the 
 throne of the Almighty : we say nothing, hear 
 of nothing, think of nothing, but " GLORY TO 
 
 GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH 
 PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARDS MEN." 
 

 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 ST. LUKE. xiv. 18. 
 " / pray thee have me EXCUSED." 
 
 THERE is no subject, however plainly laid 
 down in scripture, that has entirely escaped 
 the misinterpretation of man. We have, on 
 the one hand, the mystical enthusiast to 
 elevate and spiritualize every simple direc- 
 tion of practise ; we have on the other hand 
 the literal interpreter of the word of God, 
 to level and bring down to his own prac- 
 tical capacity, the spiritual mysteries of the 
 most High. What wonder, then, that in the 
 sacrament of the Eucharist, various objec- 
 tions, endless errors in opinion, as to its 
 utility, its necessity, the frequency of its 
 reception, the degree of fitness requisite, 
 and the sin of receiving it in an unworthy
 
 PERFECTION. 211 
 
 manner, should abound in the hearts as well 
 as in the mouths of men. To these erro- 
 neous opinions, by which so many of good 
 intention, and, generally speaking, sincere lovers 
 of the word of God, are deterred from pre- 
 senting themselves at the altar ; and through 
 which so many holding them forth upon 
 pretence and worldliness of motive, are glad 
 to escape the solemn obligations of their 
 religion, we will now, with God's blessing, 
 direct our attention. 
 
 I. The first and most conspicuous in the 
 list, as well as the most prevalent in every 
 rank of life, is this, the idea of absolute 
 perfection being necessary in him who communi- 
 cates. This is so well put, in the words of 
 a most pious Christian, as well as one of 
 our best and most learned writers, Samuel 
 Johnson, that I cannot do better than give 
 it in his words : 
 
 " Such exalted piety, such unshaken virtue, 
 such an uniform ardour of divine affections, 
 and such a constant practise of religious 
 duties have been represented as so indispen- 
 sably necessary to a worthy reception of 
 this sacrament, as few men have been able 
 to discover in those whom they most esteem 
 for their purity of life ; and which no man's 
 conscience will perhaps suffer him to find 
 in himself; and therefore those who know 
 themselves not to have arrived at such ele-
 
 212 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 vated excellence, who struggle with passions 
 which they cannot wholly conquer, and 
 bewail infirmities which yet they perceive 
 to adhere to them, are frighted from an act 
 of devotion of which they have been taught 
 to believe that it is so scarcely to be per- 
 formed worthily by an embodied spirit, that 
 it requires the holiness of angels, and the 
 uncontaminated raptures of paradise."' 3 *' Now 
 it stands, upon the first view of the question, 
 against common sense, that any service should 
 be demanded of man, of which the requisite 
 should be unattainable perfection ; and it 
 stands against all assertions of scripture, that 
 any sin committed against God, (one only 
 excepted, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost,) 
 should, without hope of recovery, incur con- 
 demnation : of these two propositions we may 
 be perfectly certain, from the acknowledged 
 attributes of Almighty God, from his justice, 
 mercy, love of mankind, and above all, the 
 sacrifice which he made for human redemp- 
 tion. If God were to require a service in 
 which all the sinfulness of the human heart 
 should be expected to be set aside, and yet 
 know, as of course he must, that that sinful- 
 ness was so part and parcel of our nature 
 as to be unavoidably inherent in every human 
 being, his attribute of justice would be 
 
 * Johnson's Sermons, Serm. xxii.
 
 PERFECTION. 213 
 
 questionable. If he were to inflict punish- 
 ment, without hope of pardon, upon every 
 attempt at obedience, because that attempt, 
 though sincere, could not be successful, his 
 attribute of mercy would be questionable : 
 If he were to exact the performance of a 
 ceremony typical of his extraordinary love of 
 mankind, so extraordinary as to involve the 
 death of God himself incarnate, and yet 
 should punish, when his creatures approached 
 in humble endeavour to fulfil his directions, 
 his attribute of love would be questionable : 
 the sacrifice which Jesus made upon the 
 cross would be more than questionable useless ; 
 and the command that he gives in scripture 
 to record that sacrifice, worse than a mock- 
 ery, because it would be a mere aggravation 
 of the wretchedness of man, which it profes- 
 sed to comfort, and an extension of his con- 
 demnation, which it professed to redeem. 
 Hence, then, from our first and barest concep- 
 tion of what God is, that he should demand 
 a state of sinless perfection in the perform- 
 ance of any duty, would be contrary to our 
 expectation. 
 
 In our other dealings with Him, we never 
 dream of perfection ; on the contrary, the 
 whole sum of our communication with him 
 arises from our imperfection. It is because we 
 are imperfect that we approach him in prayer. 
 It is because we are sinful that we are baptized.
 
 214 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 It is because we are frail, weak, and impotent in 
 the control and regulation of our passions, that 
 we approach him in confession. It is because 
 we are under a sense of his wrath, and the bur- 
 den of our natural and daily sins, that we require 
 and receive from the hands of his ministers the 
 promise of absolution, that we hear continually 
 repeated in his holy scriptures the assurance 
 of pardon, the help of the Spirit to prevent, to 
 strengthen, and to guide. Extend the same 
 feeling to that more solemn communication with 
 him in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and you 
 will see the same form for its acknowledgment, 
 and the same vent for the holy aspirations of a 
 sinful, yet contrite heart. In that sacrament 
 there is the express confession of sinfulness. 
 There is the promise of absolution. There is the 
 prayer for help ; but wherefore all these, if 
 the communicant is to be perfect ? Nay, where- 
 fore the sacrament at all ? Wherefore that of 
 which it is the representative and recorder, 
 the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God- 
 but because of sin, not because of perfection ? 
 wherefore do we need the memorial, in any shape, 
 but that we are sinners, but that we grievously 
 offend God night and day, but that we confess 
 and allow, by our very presence at the altar, 
 our utter and never-ceasing need of an 
 atonement for that imperfection, some other 
 to bear the burden of our sins, which would 
 otherwise be intolerable ; some other by
 
 PERFECTION. 215 
 
 whose stripes we are healed, and upon whom 
 our chastisements have been laid.* 
 
 Now, if you look to the form of service by 
 which the Eucharist is celebrated, will you 
 find there any intimation that perfection is de- 
 manded on the part of the communicant? 
 We have minutely examined this service 
 already, t and we must have seen that the 
 whole tenor of the ritual is on the supposi- 
 tion of the most abject frailty, the daily 
 liability to fall from righteousness, the neces- 
 sity of renewed strength, to be sought at 
 the hands of God, just because of continual 
 weakness on the part of man. 
 
 * We are indeed told to "be perfect, even as our Father 
 which is in heaven is perfect," Matt. v. 48 : and St. Peter tells 
 us : " But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy 
 in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye 
 holy, for I am holy," 1 Peter i. 15, 16. And it is unquestion- 
 ably the duty of every Christian to strive to attain this perfec- 
 tion to strive to possess this holiness. As we struggle onwards 
 through the difficulties of life, we may be nearer and nearer, 
 but we shall never approach it quite. We may set down such 
 and such points of excellence, as constituting perfection, 
 but when we have attained those points, there are others beyond 
 them which we never saw before ; and the better we are, in 
 comparison with other men, the worse we shall feel ourselves to 
 be ; even as the more we know, the more ignorant we find our- 
 selves ; for knowledge only teaches us how little we really know, 
 and moral virtue only shews us (when directed by the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ) how sinful we are. If we say that we are perfect, 
 we say that we have no sin; but, " if we say that we have no 
 sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 
 f See chap. v.
 
 216 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 In one of the prayers used in the service 
 of the Eucharist, we find the following ex- 
 pressions : " We do not presume to come to 
 this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in 
 our own righteousness." Again : " We are 
 not worthy so much as to gather up the 
 crumbs under thy table." Again, in another 
 of the prayers : " Although we be unworthy, 
 through our manifold sins, to offer unto 
 thee any sacrifice." Yet, notwithstanding 
 all this confession and acknowledgment of 
 imperfection when the sacred elements have 
 been received we kneel down before God, and 
 say, " We most heartily thank thee for that 
 thou dost vouchsafe to feed us who have duly 
 received these holy mysteries." So that 
 being unworthy to receive them, is not 
 incompatible with receiving them duly. If 
 we should wait till we are worthy to receive 
 them, we should never receive them at all. 
 If we should think ourselves, or call ourselves 
 worthy to receive them, that instant we should, 
 in fact, be unworthy because then, pride, self- 
 satisfaction, and a host of sins, which exclude 
 the doctrines of the sacrament, would take 
 possession of our hearts, and Jesus Christ 
 would be forgotten. 
 
 II. The second objection to which we may 
 allude, arises from a misinterpretation of cer- 
 tain texts of scripture. 
 
 The timid, though sincere Christian, desi-
 
 SCRIPTURE. 217 
 
 rous to please, yet afraid to offend, finds 
 the word of God apparently arrayed against 
 him. In the first place, he finds in the ex- 
 hortation which is read by the minister, 
 when warning is given of the celebration of 
 the Eucharist on the Sunday or holiday pre- 
 ceding, the following assertion : " Lest, after 
 the taking of that holy sacrament the devil 
 enter into you, as he entered into Judas, 
 and fill you full of all iniquities, and bring 
 you to destruction both of soul and body." 
 Now, the passage here referred to must be 
 either Luke xxii. 3, or John xiii. 26. In the 
 former of these passages, though Satan is 
 described as entering into Judas, yet it is evi- 
 dently antecedent altogether to the passover, 
 and, therefore, to the institution of the Eucharist : 
 in the latter, where St. John asks our Lord 
 who it is that should betray him, it is cer- 
 tainly said : " He it is to whom I shall 
 give a sop when I have dipped it ; and 
 when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to 
 Judas Iscariot, and after the sop, Satan en- 
 tered into him." But here also the giving of 
 the sop was in the commencement of the pass- 
 over, and preceding the institution of the 
 Lord's Supper ; and therefore can involve in 
 no way the conclusion, that Satan entered 
 into the heart of Judas, because he had re- 
 ceived the sacrament of the Eucharist at the 
 hands of our Lord, being a sinner. Whether
 
 218 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 Judas did partake, with the eleven other 
 apostles, of the bread and wine, is a very 
 great question. There is nothing to shew 
 that he did: on the contrary, we may very 
 well suppose that after the delivery of the 
 sop, he went out for the purpose of betray- 
 ing Jesus to the chief priests, and was not 
 present at the institution at all. But even 
 if he were, what then? Satan had evidently 
 entered into him previously, as mentioned by 
 St. Luke. The intention to betray his divine 
 Master had for some time existed in his breast ; 
 and, therefore, he must have received the 
 bread and wine (if he did receive it) with the 
 intention already formed, with malice, treach- 
 ery, and avarice rankling in his heart, thus 
 adding hypocrisy and fraud to the other vices 
 of his character. The partaking of the sop, 
 or the eating and drinking of the bread and 
 wine, were not the causes of Satan entering 
 into him. Satan was there already ; and 
 therefore, referring to the passages above-quoted 
 in the exhortation, it is quite a mistaken 
 view of the question to fear lest any power 
 over our souls should be permitted to Satan ; 
 far the contrary ; if Satan be in our souls already, 
 if we are of the world, full of carnal lusts and evil 
 affections, how can we hope to expel them, unless 
 by the grace of God ? and how shall we obtain 
 the grace of God, unless we use the means? 
 and one of the means is the Eucharist. Rather
 
 SCRIPTURE. 219 
 
 ought we to consider the other exhortation, 
 which tells us plainly, upon the authority 
 of God's word : " Take ye good heed, lest ye, 
 withdrawing yourselves from this holy sup- 
 per, provoke God's indignation against you." 
 But there is another passage of scripture, 
 still more a stumbling block than the one 
 just discussed. It is the well known place 
 in the first epistle to the Corinthians: "Who- 
 soever shall eat this bread and drink this 
 cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty 
 of the body and blood of the Lord." " He 
 that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth 
 and drinketh damnation to himself, not dis- 
 cerning the Lord's body." Which very words 
 he finds incorporated in our liturgy, and made 
 a part of the warning which is pronounced 
 by the minister at the time of communion. 
 The words are : "So is the danger great if 
 we receive the same unworthily. For then 
 we are guilty of the body and blood of 
 Christ, our Saviour ; we eat and drink our 
 own damnation ; not considering the Lord's 
 body, we provoke him to plague us with 
 divers diseases and sundry kinds of death." 
 This, indeed, it must be confessed, is, in the 
 highest degree, a serious admonition. It effec- 
 tually excludes all levity, all purposed slight, 
 all hypocrisy in our attendance at the altar, 
 but I am sure that the words do not apply 
 any further.
 
 220 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 To elucidate this, we must proceed accord- 
 ing to the only rule for examining a diffi- 
 culty ; we must interpret scripture by scrip- 
 ture. One solitary text standing by itself, 
 unless we know the context, unless we know 
 what has preceded, and the course of the 
 argument, and the circumstances of the ar- 
 gument, is of no authority whatever: and if 
 we look to this passage with this view, all 
 objection will quickly disappear. 
 
 In primitive times, and by the custom of 
 the apostles, there was attached to the cele- 
 bration of the sacrament another feast or 
 banquet, called the Agape, or Feast of Charity, 
 or Love-Feast. It is much disputed whether 
 this agape, or love-feast, was celebrated be- 
 fore or after the actual celebration of the 
 sacrament ; but it matters not to the ques- 
 tion before us. The origin of it was this : 
 The donations and offerings of the people 
 being much more than was absolutely re- 
 quired for the sacrament, and being made in 
 kind, that is, in bread, wine, grapes, and the 
 like ; at the conclusion of the sacrament, 
 when they had set apart that portion which 
 was required for the clergy, of the remainder 
 they made a common meal in the church ; 
 and as it was the rich who thus contributed 
 to feed the poor, it took the name of Agape.* 
 
 * St. Chrysostom describing the Agape, speaks thus : " The 
 first Christians had all things in common, as we read in the
 
 SCRIPTURE. 221 
 
 Most likely, therefore, as we know that the 
 ancient custom was to celebrate the Eucha- 
 rist fasting, early in the morning, the dona-' 
 tions of the rich would be reserved for some 
 later portion of the day, when the poorer 
 communicants might again assemble in the 
 church ; and this would accord with Pliny's 
 account, who says that the Christians, binding 
 themselves by a sacrament, would afterwards 
 meet at a common meal, in which was nothing 
 criminal. However, be this as it may, whether 
 after or before, there undoubtedly was some 
 feast or banquet, at which the rich, making 
 contributions for the poor, would join them, 
 in charity and love, as equally in need of 
 the blessings of God, and equal inheritors of 
 his kingdom. As long as this banquet was 
 observed with quiet thankfulness and due 
 propriety of conduct, of course there could 
 be no objection to it ; and connected as it 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, and when that ceased, as it did in the 
 apostles' time, this came in its room. For though the rich 
 did not make their substance common, yet upon certain days 
 they made a common table, and when their service was ended, 
 and they had all communicated in the holy mysteries, they 
 all met at a common feast, the rich bringing provisions, and 
 the poor, and those who had nothing, being invited, they all 
 feasted in common together." Chrys. Horn, in 1 Cor. And 
 it appears, from various other passages, that not only was it 
 customary to join the Agape to the Eucharist, but the Eucharist 
 was never celebrated without the Agape." See Bingham, 
 book xv.
 
 222 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 was with the actual Eucharist, it was a means 
 of diffusing that Christian brotherly feeling 
 which the gospel so constantly inculcates. 
 But the Corinthians had perverted its origi- 
 nal use as a religious feast, into a common 
 and ordinary meal, had assembled together 
 in the church to eat and drink, having no 
 regard whatever to Christ's institution, nor 
 considering it in any way as the memorial 
 of his death. 
 
 At this feast, so celebrated, there had been 
 many instances of actual drunkenness, and 
 various other excesses. Therefore the apostle, 
 in writing to the Corinthians with the ex- 
 press purpose of correcting many erroneous 
 opinions and practices which had crept into 
 their church, among others, alludes to this. 
 He says, " When ye come together into one 
 place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. 
 For in eating every one taketh before other 
 his own supper ; and one is hungry, and 
 another is drunken. What ! have ye not 
 houses to eat and drink in ? or despise ye 
 the church of God ?"* And then, after de- 
 scribing the manner in which Jesus instituted 
 the Eucharist, in order to give them a clearer 
 conception of what it really was, he con- 
 cludes with the text in question : " For he that 
 eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 
 
 * 1 Cor. xi. 20 22.
 
 SCRIPTURE. 223 
 
 drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning 
 the Lord's body." Now it is evident that 
 this bears reference, not to the generality 
 of mankind, but to the Corinthians only ; 
 that the sort of unworthiness here de- 
 scribed, is that perversion of the holy sacra- 
 ment, of which they had specifically been 
 guilty. It is not the will of God that any 
 should perish, but that all should repent 
 and be saved. "It is not by one act of 
 wickedness that infinite mercy will be kin- 
 dled to everlasting anger, and the beneficent 
 Father of the Universe for ever alienated 
 from his creatures, but by a long course of 
 crime, deliberately committed, against the con- 
 victions of conscience, and the admonitions 
 of grace ; by a life spent in guilt, and con- 
 cluded without repentance. ' No drunkard, 
 or extortioner,' says the apostle, ' shall inherit 
 eternal life.' Yet shall no man be excluded 
 from future happiness by a single instance, 
 or even by long habits of intemperance, or 
 extortion, because repentance and a new life 
 may efface his crimes."* And the crime of 
 unworthily receiving the Lord's Supper is not 
 different from other crimes. Supposing that 
 a man should come to the Lord's Supper un- 
 worthily. Supposing that he should be guilty, 
 a case extremely improbable, yet supposing 
 
 * Johnson, Serm. xxii.
 
 224 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 it for a moment, that he should be guilty of 
 the sin of partaking unworthily of the Lord's 
 Supper, is there anything in scripture to shew 
 (sin though it be) that it is unpardonable? 
 Though the soul is by such an act of wicked- 
 ness endangered, it is not necessarily destroyed, 
 or irreversibly condemned. He that eateth and 
 drinketh unworthily, contributes indeed, by 
 eating and drinking, to his own damnation, as 
 he that engages in any fraudulent or criminal 
 transaction, contributes in the same way to his 
 own damnation. But he that abstains alto- 
 gether, is sure to be committing a sin ; and 
 therefore he does not the more ensure himself 
 from danger by abstaining, than by commu- 
 nicating. As no short fervour of piety, nor 
 particular acts of beneficence, however exalted, 
 can secure a man from the possibility of sink- 
 ing into wickedness, so no neglect of devotion, 
 nor commission of crime, can preclude the 
 means of grace, or the hope of glory, pro- 
 vided those conditions are fulfilled which 
 the gospel demands as necessary to pardon. 
 He that has eaten and drunk unworthily, 
 may still enter into salvation by repentance 
 and amendment, as he that has eaten and drunk 
 worthily, may, by negligence, or presumption, 
 perish everlastingly. 
 
 But, independently of this, the sin of the 
 Corinthians can hardly, in any case, be applied 
 to us. Our method of celebrating the Lord's
 
 UNIVERSALITY. 225 
 
 Supper precludes the possibility of such a vio- 
 lation of its solemnity. Only let us "discern 
 the Lords body" remember what we are about, 
 distinguish the bread and wine of which we 
 there partake, from other bread and wine, 
 impressing upon our minds a just idea of 
 the sacred nature of the rite, that it is the 
 sacrifice of Christ's death which we thereby 
 commemorate, that it is the body broken 
 upon the cross, and the blood poured forth 
 for human sin, which is represented under 
 the elements of bread and wine, and with 
 this discerning it is impossible that we then 
 should fall into the sin of the Corinthians.* 
 
 III. The third erroneous opinion in regard 
 to the Eucharist may be thus expressed : 
 " It was an institution adapted for apostolic 
 
 * The reader should also notice, as strengthening the argu- 
 ments above urged, that the word used by the apostle is 
 unworthily, not unworthy. In no case can we be worthy to 
 have communion in the blood of Jesus, but we all may avoid 
 the sin of communicating in an unworthy manner. I am borne 
 out in this view of the subject, by bishop Beveridge, who thus 
 speaks of the passage in question: " He doth not say, ' he that 
 being unworthy, (for so all men are,) but he that doeth it un- 
 worthily, in an unworthy, irreverent, or indecent manner, not 
 becoming so holy an institution, shall receive damnation, (or 
 rather as the word signifies,) judgment against himself.' And 
 then, to shew what kind of unworthy receiving he here means, 
 he adds, ' not discerning the Lord's body ;' that is, making no 
 difference between that and common food, but eating the bread, 
 and drinking the cup, after the same manner as they do their or- 
 dinary drink." Beveridge's Church Catechism explained. 
 
 P
 
 226 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 times. Christ's command was only to his 
 immediate followers, and I do not consider 
 that the obligation extends in any way to 
 the present day." Now this is immediately 
 refuted on two convincing grounds ; first, 
 common sense ; secondly, scripture. The apos- 
 tles, personally, had no such particular neces- 
 sity for an institution to remember Christ's 
 death. Would it be possible that a follower 
 of Jesus Christ, within one generation after 
 that dreadful death which was encountered 
 on the cross for the sake of man, should for- 
 get that death ; would the words of hea- 
 venly warning, the prophetic admonition, " Be- 
 hold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son 
 of man shall be betrayed unto the chief 
 priests and scribes, and they shall condemn 
 him to death, and shall deliver him to the 
 Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to 
 crucify him, and the third day he shall rise 
 again," would these words, and others of 
 similar import, so solemnly delivered, and so 
 shortly after fulfilled in the dying scene of 
 Calvary, be likely to be forgotten ? would the 
 scourging of the officer, the spitting of the 
 profane Jew, the mocking of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees, the gall mingled with myrrh, the 
 vinegar, the hyssop, the dying words, " Eli, 
 Eli, lama sabacthani," and the last out-pouring 
 of the spirit, " It is finished :" these very 
 circumstances all prophetically announced hun-
 
 UNIVERSALITY. 227 
 
 dreds of years before, and now fulfilled in 
 their very presence ; the sacrifice for sin wrought 
 and perfected, the redemption of man achie- 
 ved, the salvation of the faithful secured. 
 Would, I say, these great and glorious things, 
 great and glorious past all expression, need 
 a memorial in the hearts of them who were 
 present, and were eye-witnesses of the things 
 that were done, and who were gifted by the 
 miraculous powers of the Holy Ghost to 
 bear testimony of them to others ? surely 
 no. But when year after year should roll 
 away, and when the memory of a dying 
 Saviour should grow faint as a tradition, should 
 be lost and perverted in the handing down 
 from father to son, then would this holy 
 Eucharist, on the same principle as the 
 memory of the Jewish exode in the pass- 
 over, be retained as a sure token of the truth 
 of our incarnate God, as a sure remem- 
 brance of him who ransomed the world from 
 a worse bondage than that of the Israelites, 
 and wrought a far more glorious exode than 
 that from Egypt. The memorial would be 
 " for us and for our children for ever," not 
 for the apostles, but it must begin with the 
 apostles, otherwise it could never be handed 
 down securely to us ; the first step in the 
 transmission must be the most sure, in order 
 that all the subsequent ones might rest upon 
 unquestionable authority.
 
 228 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 But, further, what saith the scripture on 
 this head? St. Paul declares the institution 
 of the sacrament, first, generally. He declares 
 it is of immediate and special revelation to 
 himself. He says : " For I have received of 
 the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, 
 that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which 
 he was betrayed, took bread, and when he 
 had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
 Take eat : this is my body which is broken for 
 you ; this do in remembrance of me." After 
 the same manner, also, he took the cup, when 
 he had supped, saying : " This cup is the new 
 testament in my blood ; this do ye, as oft 
 as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." 
 Here, indeed, is a general annunciation, dif- 
 fering in no material manner from the words of 
 the evangelists : but then he adds these remark- 
 able words': " For as often as ye eat this bread, 
 and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death 
 till he come :" marking out most distinctly, as 
 distinctly as human words can make out any- 
 thing, that this memorial is to continue 
 through all ages, and all time, until that day 
 when the Lord shall come to judge the world 
 in righteousness : and thus it is that we, to 
 whom eighteen hundred years have passed since 
 the death of our Redeemer, do now shew forth 
 his death, and we must continue to shew 
 forth his death, we and our children after- 
 wards, " until he come ;" until, whether as
 
 UNIVERSALITY. 229 
 
 quick, we shall go forth to meet him in the 
 air, or, as dead, shall stand before the seat of 
 judgment, to await the recompence of our 
 deeds done in the flesh. 
 
 Let Christians, therefore, remember, dwell 
 upon this remarkable fact that through all 
 the circumstances of the church, through per- 
 secutions, through fire and sword, through fa- 
 mine and death, as well also in prosperity, 
 and earthly glory, and earthly dominion, this 
 memorial has as yet continued however it 
 may have been perverted in one age; however 
 it may have lost its original simplicity in an- 
 other age ; however the majority of mankind 
 have, by their negligence or their wilfulness, 
 omitted its performance in all ages still has 
 there ever been a faithful few to shew 
 forth Christ's death. 
 
 We have often had occasion to censure the 
 Roman Catholic custom of solitary masses, 
 but this good may be allowed to belong to 
 them that they did, in some way, keep alive 
 that remembrance which the rest of the world 
 passed by. Though in the heap of rubbish 
 that was thrown up indiscriminately on all 
 hands, the true fire of religion was obscured, 
 still the spark, the vital spark, continued 
 alive, which afterwards penetrated through 
 all difficulties, and burst forth into a flame, 
 which kindled full brightly. How know we 
 but that the origin of solitary masses may
 
 230 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 be attributed to the defection of the bulk 
 of the laity to remember Christ's death, and 
 not to the wilful perversion of the priests, 
 that year after year fewer and fewer were found 
 to communicate, and so the clergy were com- 
 pelled to communicate by themselves? And 
 how know we but that this may be the case 
 again ? that if every Christian says : " It is no 
 business of mine more than others ; there are 
 plenty of communicants to be found without 
 me :" how know we but that the time may 
 come again when the altar of Jesus may be 
 prepared, and the banquet made ready, and 
 the minister standing at his post, and yet no 
 one be found to hear the ministration, or to 
 record the sacrifice. O let us not be the first 
 to fail now. Let us not, who boast to be 
 of the children of the day, enlightened, and 
 instructed, in the nineteenth century of Christ's 
 church, be the first to put a stop, or even 
 make any let or hindrance, to the transmission 
 of the memory of Christ's sacrifice ; but let every 
 one of us, every one, with no single or accidental 
 exception whatever, but every one reach forth 
 his hand to transmit it to our children, and our 
 children's children, for ever. Each individual 
 is equally concerned, each individual is to his 
 own family, his own domestic circle, his own 
 children, the point on which this memorial 
 depends. Let him fail not to contribute to 
 " shew forth the Lord's death till he come."
 
 SIN UNPARDONED. 231 
 
 IV. Let us now proceed to another erroneous 
 opinion. Many think that after the sacrament 
 has been received, every sin committed is 
 unpardoned ; that if we should, by any tempta- 
 tions of the flesh, relapse into an accidental 
 deviation from God's word, or an habitual 
 course of sinfulness, no forgiveness can ever 
 be obtained again. This may be entirely refuted, 
 even as in the first case, by a reference to the 
 attributes of God, his mercy, his justice, and 
 his love. God, by his Son Jesus Christ, has 
 commanded us to eat the outward symbols of 
 bread and wine in token of his sacrifice. By 
 this sacrifice, upon repentance for the past, and 
 faith for the future, and upon a sincere intention 
 to lead a new life, we hope that our past 
 sins may be forgiven, and we are assured 
 that they are ; but there is nothing implied as 
 a preventative against subsequent lapses. It 
 is impossible but that we should sin repeatedly 
 after its reception, and yet we may come to the 
 holy table as repeatedly, and every one of 
 us do so. We believe, indeed, that by present- 
 ing ourselves constantly and regularly at the 
 table of the Lord, we may gradually im- 
 prove, we may gradually grow more con- 
 firmed in our resistance against the temp- 
 tations of our nature ; and as we use the means 
 of grace which God has vouchsafed, so we trust 
 that we shall have stronger hopes of glory ; 
 and though we know that we never, in this
 
 232 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 imperfect state of things, can be sinless, yet 
 we may strive to " grow in grace," we may 
 be fed with the sincere milk of the word, as 
 babes, at first, in order that we may be able 
 to partake of the strong meat of grown up men 
 afterwards ; and so struggle, not as one that 
 beateth the air, but as one contending for the 
 mastery in a most arduous conflict, but for a 
 most glorious prize, " the prize of our high 
 calling in Christ Jesus." This is one of the 
 great ends of the sacrament, and one of the 
 reasons of its needed repetition. 
 
 But there is a passage occurring in St. 
 Matthew, which troubles such persons much : 
 " When the unclean spirit is gone out of a 
 man, he walketh through dry places seeking 
 rest and findeth none : then he saith, I will 
 return unto my house from whence I came 
 out, and when he is come, he findeth it 
 empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth 
 he, and taketh with himself seven other 
 spirits more wicked than himself, and they 
 enter in and dwell there ; and the last state 
 of that man is worse than the first."* So 
 they argue, when once I have made up my 
 mind to receive the holy sacrament, when 
 once I have systematically planned an amend- 
 ment of life, and earnestly looked upon 
 the past in repentance, when having thus 
 
 * Matt. xii. 43.
 
 SIN UNPARDONED. 233 
 
 cleansed the house, I shall have received 
 the sacrament, and afterwards, my house 
 being left empty, swept, and garnished, I 
 should relapse why here I am expressly 
 told that I am worse than I was before. 
 Most undoubtedly you would be worse 
 than you were before. The more knowledge 
 you have of your sinfulness, and yet sin in 
 spite of that knowledge, the more guilty you 
 are. But does ,the mere act of receiving the 
 sacrament, the opus operatum, create that 
 knowledge ? Does not the knowledge precede 
 the act ; and is it not the very knowledge, 
 the very feeling you have of sin and wretch- 
 edness, that leads you to think of the act? 
 Most unquestionably. The process of the 
 mind is this: I see a command of him 
 whom I acknowledge my Saviour. I feel a 
 sense of sinfulness and regret for past de- 
 linquencies. I wish to profit by that com- 
 mand. By that very sense, call it conscience, 
 the working of the Holy Spirit, or what you 
 may, your heart is as it were cleansed, and 
 the evil spirit is gone. The reception of the 
 sacrament will not do more than confirm 
 that sense, and make sure that cleansing. 
 Under this state of things, if you refuse to 
 receive the sacrament, you are not the more 
 likely to be guiltless in case of future re- 
 lapse. On the contrary, you will be tenfold 
 more guilty ; because, seeing a means of help,
 
 234 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 you have rejected it ; knowing the grace of 
 God, you have done despite to it : while all 
 the while your evil spirit is hovering at the 
 door, ready to come back at the first oppor- 
 tunity; and that opportunity will surely be 
 more ready to his hand, because you have 
 rejected the admonition of the Lord. 
 
 When once convinced of sin, then is the 
 moment in which you are in the case of 
 the unclean spirit gone out ; and the only 
 difference which would arise from your recep- 
 tion of the sacrament would be, that in all 
 probability your house would then be well de- 
 fended, it would never be empty, swept, 
 and garnished, the seven evil spirits would 
 retire defeated and abashed, and you yourself 
 would go on from strength to strength, the 
 righteous servant of the Lord. 
 
 But let us not err on the other side of the 
 question. Do not suppose that you may come 
 to the altar with any intention, any secret re- 
 servation, to continue in your sins. God for- 
 bid. Unless you come with a steadfast de- 
 termination, as far as in you lies, to relinquish 
 all that is past ; unless you look to the future 
 with an earnest hope for improvement ; unless 
 you pray for the Spirit to help your determi- 
 nation, and to work in your heart a new crea- 
 ture ; at each several time you communicate, 
 you will be but playing the hypocrite with 
 God ; you will be but using his means of
 
 SIN UNPARDONED. 235 
 
 grace to his dishonour; you will be but the 
 whited sepulchre, full of dead men's bones ; 
 you will literally be like Judas, who went and 
 sat down at the same table with his Lord, 
 intending all the while to betray hi m : and of 
 course, if you go to the table of the Lord, in- 
 tending to betray him, intending to persevere 
 in your sins, you must expect that, like Judas, 
 Satan* will enter into you, and dwell there. 
 But the fact of your involuntary failing, your 
 falling into sin inadvertently, is a totally dis- 
 tinct matter. If your heart is right with God 
 at the time of communicating, all will be well. 
 There is not a man alive there never could 
 be a man who has received the bread and 
 wine in the Lord's Supper, and has lived a 
 day, nay, even an hour after its reception 
 but that has stood in need of fresh medi- 
 ation on the part of Jesus, even for that 
 hour. It is the constancy of our sins that 
 renders the constancy of our communicating 
 vitally necessary. It is because we are weak, 
 that we must ask for a renewal of strength ; 
 because we have been soiled by our renewed 
 intercourse with the world, that we have 
 need to come back to the altar for a fresh 
 washing of our souls in the blood of the 
 
 * The case of Judas has been already entered into under the 
 second objection, " difficulties from scripture." The suppo- 
 sition above referred to, is the only possible supposition by 
 which the parallel can hold good.
 
 236 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 Lamb of God. It is because carnal things 
 must, by our very construction, constitute a 
 considerable portion of our lives, that we 
 betake ourselves to the body and blood of 
 Christ for a fresh enlivening of our souls by 
 things spiritual. It is because our memories 
 are weak, our good emotions transitory, our 
 aspirations after the glory of God faint and 
 imperfect, that we therefore need a fresh 
 notification of the grace of God, fresh confi- 
 dence in the sacrifice of the cross, fresh hope 
 of ascending on high together with our blessed 
 Lord into the mansions of eternal peace and 
 glory. 
 
 V. Another error in our notions of the Lord's 
 Supper is The deferring its reception to a 
 time of sickness, or to the bed of death. This 
 in great part arises from the previous one. If 
 sin after the reception of the Lord's Supper 
 be unpardonable, and we all feel that a liabil- 
 ity to sin can never be escaped from; then, 
 of course, it follows, that the later it is 
 received the better ; the nearer the extremity 
 of life the less chance of condemnation 
 from God for any omission of duty or com- 
 mission of crime, that shall arise sub- 
 sequently. Here indeed is a strange infatua- 
 tion. An acknowledgement of its necessity, 
 but an indefinite postponement of it, so in- 
 definite, as from the accidents of life, to ren- 
 der its participation extremely contingent.
 
 SICKNESS OR DEATH. 237 
 
 By this rule, multitudes of men would never 
 partake of it at all ; because multitudes of 
 men die suddenly, and without any sickness 
 whatever, multitudes never have a death- 
 bed ; die by the sudden attacks of diseases 
 which suffer no time for consideration, in the 
 perils of water, in the perils of shipwreck, 
 in the perils of war, in short, there are a 
 thousand chances, which every one must know, 
 by which life is taken away without any note 
 of preparation. " In the midst of life we are 
 in death." Besides Is not the whole cere- 
 mony devised for a time of joy and thanks- 
 giving ;* not for a time of sorrow, or of ap- 
 proaching death? 
 
 Consider the expressions : " Therefore, with 
 
 * Here we may observe, that in all strictness, the celebra- 
 tion of the Eucharist on any days but those of joy ; such as the 
 Lord's Day, or the commemoration of the saints and martyrs, 
 is not consistent with the meaning of the sacrament. For in- 
 stance, Good Friday, though by present custom a day univer- 
 sally set apart for the Eucharist, yet being a fast day, a day of 
 deep humiliation and sorrow, is not in all respects suitable. 
 And that our church is of this opinion, and did not mean to 
 authorize the celebration of the sacrament on Good Friday, is 
 evident, from there being no sentence in the Liturgy to mark 
 that day. For all other days Easter, Ascension, Whit- 
 sunday, and so on, there is an especial sentence, descriptive 
 of the benefits derived from the day ; but no notice is taken 
 of Good Friday. In fact, the Eucharist being a. feast, and 
 Good Friday a fast, the two things do not harmonize. But 
 custom has now so long sanctioned it, that it would be difficult 
 without authority, to omit it.
 
 238 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 angels and archangels, and all the company 
 of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious 
 name." And again : " Glory be to God on 
 high, and in earth peace ; good will towards 
 men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we 
 worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks 
 to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, 
 heavenly King, God the Father Almighty." 
 Are these expressions which can, with any 
 degree of the exuberant joy and boundless 
 exultation which the words bespeak, be uttered 
 in the solitary chamber of the sick and of the 
 dying? God loves not, Jesus Christ requires 
 not the deferred, reluctant, effete, services of 
 his communion in the hour of the last sigh 
 and the expiring breath, when the sick man 
 goes to God, because he has no one else to 
 whom he can go ; relinquishes the world, be- 
 cause the world relinquishes him ; flatters him- 
 self that he hates sin, and would forsake 
 iniquity, because the deadened feelings of his 
 passions no longer move him, and the flesh 
 is mortified under the hand of God, by the 
 failure of bodily power ; not by any change 
 of mind, or any voluntary act of the will. 
 O no ! the sick or the dying man must not 
 trust to this. The table is spread, and the 
 guests are invited as to a joyful banquet 
 and a feast of thanksgiving. They are asked 
 to come while they can make the sacrifice 
 of a contrite heart, accompanied with the
 
 SICKNESS OR DEATH. 239 
 
 prospect of a life about to be amended, about 
 to be improved in the varied course of Chris- 
 tian warfare, growing in ^grace day by day. 
 They are asked to come, while the green fresh- 
 ness of youth, and the glad strength of man- 
 hood is upon their cheeks ; when the sacrifice 
 of the world, and the giving up of human ob- 
 jects of ambition, and human objects of love, 
 is a sacrifice ; and not when the grey hairs 
 of old age, and the deadened feelings of bodily 
 disease prevent all other thoughts but those of 
 religion, and would send them as a reluctant 
 resort to Christian consolations. They are 
 invited, not to the solitary and sad confine- 
 ment of a narrow chamber, without the hal- 
 lowed feelings of place, and time, and circum- 
 stance but in the temple of the living God. 
 For them the table is spread, in company with 
 their fellows, and before the multitude who 
 come to God's house to keep holyday. There 
 they kneel side by side, there they pray side 
 by side not the rich in his luxurious chamber, 
 or the poor upon his scanty and miserable 
 bed, but at the altar of the great God and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ poor and rich toge- 
 ther the beggar and the prince, for once but 
 equal sinners : " the last first, and the first 
 last." 
 
 It is no doubt a great comfort, a great source 
 of joy to the dying man to receive, as the 
 last office of the church, the communion of
 
 240 ERRORS A.ND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is no 
 doubt a great spiritual benefit but I cannot 
 conceive where the benefit can be, unless the 
 dying man has been constantly in the habit 
 of receiving it through life I cannot conceive, 
 that the feelings of the dying can of a sudden 
 be wrought up to that degree of faith, or of 
 love, by this sacrament, which he has steadily 
 refused on all previous occasions, and now for 
 the first time imagines that he desires. Con- 
 sider what sort of time the time of death is. 
 Is it likely that a man's faculties will be so 
 clear, his sense of religion so accurate, his 
 memory so faithful, that he will be able to 
 review his past life without prejudice or fear? 
 or is it not in the ordinary course of nature, 
 that his body will be afflicted with much suf- 
 fering, his attention distracted by a variety of 
 worldly matters ? He is not sure that death 
 will approach so tardily, that the minister of 
 God may be at hand in the moment of urgency. 
 He is not sure that death will wait for the 
 thousand accidents which may delay the pre- 
 paration of the outward forms. Surely the 
 hazard, the folly, the presumption of the thing, 
 is self-evident. 
 
 If you have had such thoughts of postpone- 
 ment, you will shake them off at once. You 
 will enrol yourself as Christ's soldier in the 
 sacrament of the Eucharist, as you were once 
 enrolled by others in the sacrament of bap-
 
 SICKNESS OR DEATH. 241 
 
 tism, while you are strong and vigorous, and 
 not give him your service when you are old and 
 decrepit, and fit for nothing else. 
 
 You will remember his death, while that 
 remembrance may be shewn by the fruits of holi- 
 ness in life, and not by a superstitious alarm 
 in the ambiguous expressions of your dying 
 moments. Often and often is the minister of 
 Christ called, in his holy office, to administer 
 the sacrament to the dying. His first question 
 invariably is, " Have you partaken of this holy 
 rite during life ? " How almost invariably the 
 answer is in the negative ; and if the subject be 
 pursued so as to ascertain the cause of its pre- 
 vious neglect, coupled with the present desire 
 to neglect it no longer, in almost every instance 
 we find the reason such as just now stated. It is 
 thought a charm, a panacea for all sins ; a 
 passport for the Christian into the kingdom of 
 God. But there is no command of Christ, that 
 any thing done in the extremities of life shall 
 act as a passport to heaven. It may be received 
 by the dying without any benefit whatever ; it 
 may be received ignorantly, or it may be re- 
 ceived without faith, and without penitence, and 
 without due self-examination in the natural 
 hurry of such an hour ; and then it cannot be 
 effectual ; it is only the faithful who can re- 
 ceive it effectually ; and the faithful are those 
 who believe in Christ Jesus spiritually, who 
 cannot think that any outward act will tend 
 
 Q
 
 242 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 in any degree either to save or to condemn, 
 to remit or to retain, and that know and feel 
 every day of their lives, as well as in the hour 
 of death, that they have need to remember the 
 atonement of their Saviour, and that they can- 
 not afford to lose any one means of grace, by 
 which the mediation between God and them- 
 selves shall be carried on through Jesus Christ 
 their Redeemer. . 
 
 VI. But there is another excuse still more 
 difficult to contend with. Want of time for a 
 due preparation. Most surely, a due prepara- 
 tion for so solemn an ordinance is the part of 
 every sincere Christian. We must not come 
 to the table of the Lord with worldly or carnal 
 minds, with our hearts unrepenting, or uncha- 
 ritable, or careless. It was precisely for this 
 reason that St. Paul censured the Corinthians, 
 in the passage to which we before alluded. 
 They came without a due impression of the 
 sacred nature of the feast. They did not " discern 
 the Lord's body." And so at the present day, 
 gladly agreeing with the apostle, that it is neces- 
 sary that they should discern the Lord's body 
 because they are of the world, and the world 
 cannot discern the Lord's body therefore, they 
 are excused. Is this a good argument ? Yet it 
 is an argument under which the worldly man, 
 the man of pleasure, the man of business, 
 shelter themselves at this day. They cry, " I 
 have no time to prepare." They fulfil, to the
 
 PREPARATION. 243 
 
 letter, the parable of the supper described 
 by St. Luke. The invited guests all began to 
 make excuse. The first said, " I have bought a 
 piece of ground, and I must needs go and see 
 it, I pray thee have me excused. Another 
 said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I 
 go to prove them, I pray thee have me ex- 
 cused ; and another said, I have married a wife, 
 and therefore I cannot come." Now, in this 
 parable, each man excuses himself on the 
 ground of other duties to be performed. No 
 one says, "I care not for your invitation. I 
 see not why you should ask me. I do not 
 consider myself bound to give any attention to 
 your hospitality ; but I have other things to 
 do ; other duties to perform, which are incom- 
 patible with this. The ground you will allow 
 must be tilled. The oxen which I have bought 
 you will allow must be proved. The wife 
 whom I have married must be attended 
 to." Now apply this to the Lord's Supper. 
 You say, " I cannot come, because my 
 time is so much occupied in the business 
 of life that I have no time to spare for prepa- 
 ration. I am a servant, and must therefore do 
 my duty to my master. I am a parent, and 
 must therefore provide for my family. I am 
 in a trade or profession which demands so 
 close attention that I have no opportunity for 
 that meditation and prayer which I consider 
 requisite for this holy ceremony." But just
 
 244 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 pursue this argument a little further. You 
 cannot procure time for preparation for an 
 ordinance of Jesus Christ, which you yet 
 acknowledge to "be necessary to salvation. 
 Let it be granted, that the world has great 
 claims upon you. Are they so great as the 
 claims which God has upon you? Let it be 
 granted, that there are important duties which 
 demand a considerable share of your attention. 
 Are they so important, that God shall be en- 
 tirely shut out ? Is this world so paramount, 
 so all important so all absorbing, that the next 
 should entirely give way ? Is it natural, or is 
 it consistent with the spirit of Christ's teach- 
 ing, that the soul should be lost, while the 
 body is saved ? Do but compare things tempo- 
 ral with things eternal. Do but look at the 
 multitude of exhortations, warnings, parables, 
 which admonish you of this truth ; the selling 
 of the whole estate to buy the one field, the 
 goodly pearl, the one thing needful ; and then 
 consider whether that attention to the world, 
 that being cumbered about much serving, that 
 buying of oxen, that marrying a wife, can be 
 rationally excusable, or excusable in the sight of 
 God, which sacrifices to the mammon of unrigh- 
 teousness the praise and memory of Jesus Christ. 
 You are placed by this excuse in a dilemma, 
 from one of whose horns you cannot pos- 
 sibly escape. Either Jesus Christ and the 
 gospel, and your own salvation, must be in-
 
 PREPARATION. 245 
 
 ferior in your estimation to the world, or 
 else your holding to the world to such an 
 extent as this, is sinful ; and the consequence 
 must immediately follow that you must, how- 
 ever great your possessions may be, forsake all, 
 and follow Jesus Christ. 
 
 But, for another reason, the argument is not 
 tenable. It is not tenable on the ground of 
 example. The most laborious in this world's 
 vocation, the most industrious, the most 
 absorbed in the noblest, deepest, and most 
 important of worldly pursuits, are yet constant 
 communicants. We have the most eminent 
 statesmen, the highest judges of the land, the 
 deepest philosophers, the most industrious 
 tradesmen and merchants, the most laborious 
 physicians ; we have examples in abundance 
 of all these various grades of life, which at 
 once belie the excuse that the labours of the 
 world necessarily preclude attention to this 
 holy sacrament. Better were it for you that a 
 millstone were hanged round your neck, and 
 you yourself thrown into the midst of the sea, 
 than that such labour should be used, such 
 wealth heaped up, such honours accumulated, 
 as to preclude the salvation of the soul. Better 
 that the body should be clothed in rags of 
 poverty, that you should walk among the 
 lowliest and most humble servants of the 
 Lord, than that your soul should be dead 
 to the memory of Jesus Christ, if that v/ere
 
 246 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 the condition of your tenure of riches, of 
 your ambition, of your nobility ; and, be 
 assured, that if you have no time for pre- 
 paration for the holy Eucharist now, you will 
 have no time for religion, in any shape, by and 
 by ; you will have no time eventually for going 
 to church, for prayer, either public or private, 
 no time for communing with your heart, and 
 being still, no time for reading of the scriptures, 
 no time for studying those holy things which 
 concern the doctrines of salvation. You must 
 come to this in the end. Therefore, let the 
 Christian avoid this excuse above all others, 
 lest, while he first harden his own heart by 
 being overcharged with surfeiting and cares 
 of this life, God himself shall eventually 
 harden it, even as he did the heart of Pha- 
 raoh, and cut him off irrevocably from the 
 gifts of his mercy and his grace. " Be not con- 
 formed to this world, but be ye transformed 
 by the renewing of your mind, that ye may 
 prove what is that good, and acceptable, and 
 perfect will of God." 
 
 VII. We now come to the last consideration 
 on which any erroneous opinion can be formed, 
 and that is, the frequency with which the holy 
 table should be attended. 
 
 All other points being settled, all thoughts 
 of unworthiness, all fears, and scruples, and 
 desire to defer it to the hours of sickness 
 and of death, being set aside, yet there re-
 
 FREQUENCY. 247 
 
 mains the question : " How often ? what num- 
 ber of times in the year shall I communicate ?" 
 and too frequently the lax and lukewarm Chris- 
 tian contents himself with as few possible times 
 as the nature of the thing seems to admit. 
 At Christmas, or at Easter, two or three 
 times a year, is the sum total of the obli- 
 gation. 
 
 We have already seen that in primitive 
 times a daily communion was considered ne- 
 cessary, that shortly after, a weekly commu- 
 nion. In times of persecution, the sacrament 
 was never omitted by the faithful. It was con- 
 sidered the viaticum, the subsistence of the 
 Christian for his journey to heaven, which, in 
 times of peril, he expected from day to day 
 to be called upon to make. Cyprian says : 
 " We daily receive the Eucharist."* In the 
 time of Epiphanius, it declined to three days 
 in the week Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sun- 
 days. The council of Trullo decreed, that they 
 who passed three Sundays without the Eucha- 
 rist should be excommunicated, and thus gra- 
 dually decreasing, the council of Agatha 
 
 * So also St. Augustiu says : " To receive the sacrament 
 every day I neither praise nor reprove, but at least let them 
 receive it every Lord's day." And St. Ambrose, more point- 
 edly : " Receive every day that which may profit thee every 
 day : but he that is not disposed to receive it every day, is not 
 fit to receive it every year." De Sacr. lib. v. c. 4.
 
 248 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 deemed that it was necessary to be received 
 three times in the year Christmas, Easter, and 
 Whitsuntide ; and then Innocent III. gave a 
 further indulgence, that once a year was suffi- 
 cient. Our own church, while it distinctly 
 recognizes a weekly communion, we may al- 
 most say a daily communion, for the clergy, 
 yet allows three times a year as all that is 
 compulsory for the laity. One of the rubrics, 
 at the end of the communion service, speaks 
 thus : " And in cathedral and collegiate 
 churches, and colleges, where there are many 
 priests and deacons, they shall all receive the 
 communion with the priest every Sunday AT 
 THE LEAST, except they have a reasonable 
 cause to the contrary." Now, the expression 
 at the least, would almost imply the daily 
 communion, but every Sunday is, at any rate, 
 distinctly commanded. Another rubric says: 
 " And note that every parishioner shall com- 
 municate at the least three times in the year, 
 of which Easter to be one." 
 
 But shall Christians, Protestant Christians, 
 who read, and hear the word of God, confine 
 themselves to cold and compulsory rules, and 
 canons, and rubrics ? Surely no. God's benefits 
 to us are not measured by the plummet and 
 the line ; Jesus Christ shed his life-blood for 
 our redemption ; there was no sparing, and 
 measuring, and calculating how little he 
 could do for our service Then why should
 
 FREQUENCY. 249 
 
 we measure, and calculate how unfrequently 
 we may go to his holy table, instead of 
 saying at once, I will be always there ; when- 
 ever the table is spread, I will be a guest? 
 For the sustenance of our bodies, do we not 
 require daily food ? do we not require the 
 waste which is daily going on by the work- 
 ings of nature, to be incessantly repaired 
 by bodily nourishment? And shall we take 
 less care of our souls ? Shall they be left 
 to perish, shall the sins, ignorances, and 
 negligences which are daily wasting our souls, 
 not require as continual reparation by that 
 spiritual food, which Jesus Christ brought 
 into the world ? 
 
 But some will say that they do not approve 
 too frequently to communicate, lest by making 
 the ordinance too common, its impression 
 should be lost. But the same argument will 
 apply to prayer, to the observance of divine 
 worship, to every thing appertaining to reli- 
 gion, and surely it is but a poor argu- 
 ment to say that a deficiency in any duty 
 is a means of promoting its more perfect 
 observance. But hear what our great divines 
 say on this subject. 
 
 Bishop Beveridge speaks of weekly commu- 
 nion thus : " Once a week is now thought 
 too much. And I do not deny, but that they 
 who can live a whole week together without 
 sin, may not have so much need of receiv-
 
 250 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 ing it so often. But where shall we find 
 such a man ? not among us, be sure. We all 
 know that we sin in thought, word, or deed, 
 every day in the week, if not every hour 
 too."* Jeremy Taylor speaks thus : " Some 
 religious persons have moved a question 
 whether it be better to communicate often 
 or seldom ; some thinking it more reverence 
 to those holy mysteries to come but seldom, 
 while others say it is greater religion to come 
 frequently. But I suppose this question 
 does not differ much from a dispute, whether 
 it is better to pray often or to pray seldom ; 
 for whatsoever is pretended against a frequent 
 communion, may, in its proportion, object 
 against a solemn prayer."t Again, he says, " It 
 hath fared with this sacrament as with other 
 actions of religion which have descended 
 from flames to still fires, from fires to sparks, 
 from sparks to embers, from embers to smoke, 
 from smoke to nothing. And though the 
 public declension of piety is such, that in 
 this present conjuncture of things, it is impos- 
 sible that men should be reduced to a daily 
 communion, yet that they are to communi- 
 cate frequently is so a duty, that as no 
 excuse but impossibility can make the omis- 
 sion innocent, so the loss and consequent 
 want is infinite and invaluable." But the 
 
 * Beveridge. Necessity and advantage of frequent communion, 
 t Taylor's life of Christ, sect. xv. disc. xix.
 
 FREQUENCY. 251 
 
 question is, what is frequently. How many 
 times in the course of the year will consti- 
 tute the term frequently ; what rule should 
 be laid down to regulate our attendance? 
 The church has already laid down a rule, if 
 we must needs have a rule ; but the warm and 
 devotional feelings of the true Christian will 
 go far beyond this, which was given rather 
 as the extreme of necessary attendance, than 
 any suggestion as to propriety. Unless very 
 urgent reasons prevail to the contrary, the 
 Christian ought NEVER to turn his back upon 
 the holy table. It is not a question whether 
 three or four times, ten or twenty times, 
 be sufficient. Can we do sufficient to 
 please God ? Can we do sufficient in any 
 religious duty to please God ? The same rule 
 that St. Paul gives for prayer, the Christian 
 should take to himself, for the Eucharist: 
 " Be instant " in the Eucharist. Remember the 
 Lord Jesus Christ " without ceasing." The 
 oftener you present yourself at the altar, the 
 more you will desire to come again ; the 
 oftener you hold communion with the body 
 and blood of Christ, the less frequently will 
 you hold communion with the world, and 
 the things of the world ; and therefore let 
 your rule be this : Whenever I behold the 
 holy table prepared, whenever I hear the joyful 
 invitation given: "Come, for all things are 
 now ready," I will straightway go in search
 
 252 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 for my wedding garment, I will take my 
 place at the feast, I will be found kneeling at 
 the steps of the altar, hungry for the bread 
 of life, and thirsty for the well of living water. 
 
 Thus have I attempted to examine the 
 principal objections and excuses which men 
 outwardly urge to a constant communion in 
 the supper of the Lord. I humbly hope that 
 the errors in all these objections have been 
 demonstrated according to the word of God. 
 But the human mind is prolific beyond mea- 
 sure in contending against the Spirit. Va- 
 rious and infinite is it, in its fears, its 
 anxieties, its evasions, its self-deception. 
 And there may therefore be some little points 
 treasured up still within the precincts of 
 your bosom, which I have not lit upon, 
 and which you still hug with delight, as 
 untouched by the observations which have 
 been made. But I beseech you cast them 
 forth. Upon ignorance, or upon presumed 
 knowledge above the word of God, and the 
 church of which you profess to be a mem- 
 ber, rely not ; but give up your opinions, 
 and away with your excuses before that 
 piercing sword of the Spirit, which shall, 
 by your prayers, if ignorant, impart to you 
 knowledge ; if wise above the word of God, 
 impart to you humility. But if you will 
 hear, not an uncharitable, but an awful 
 truth ; out of all the excuses, the objections,
 
 CONTINUANCE IN SIN. 253 
 
 and the reasons, by which men keep aloof 
 from the altar of the Eucharist, the only true 
 objection that can be found, the only real and 
 vital reason which can avail in any man's 
 breast, as a monitor, to say, " You are not fit 
 to approach the Lord's table," is this, a deter- 
 mination not to abandon sinful habits. But 
 what is that ? What a heart must that be ? 
 What a soul must there be presented before 
 the living God, his conscience just sufficiently 
 awakened to say, " You are not fit to ap- 
 proach," but yet not sufficiently strong to say, 
 " Make yourself fit, through the help of the Spirit, 
 by abandoning your sins." If the young will 
 live in fornication and adultery, and wilfully 
 live in it, of course they dare not approach. 
 If the middle aged live in unjust pursuits of 
 gain, and wilfully determine to live in them, of 
 course they dare not approach. If your life 
 be a life of the world, drunkenness and re- 
 velling, chambering and wantonness, and you 
 intend to make no change in your character, 
 then you have a valid objection : and not 
 only should you not approach, but it would 
 be the duty of God's minister to reject you, 
 if you should.* If you bear ill will to your 
 
 * The rubric at the head of the communion service directs the 
 curate as follows : 
 
 <f And if any of those be an open and notorious evil liver 
 or have done any wrong to his neighbours by word or deed, 
 so that the congregation be thereby offended ; the curate,
 
 254 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 brother, or look upon any one with medi- 
 tated purpose of revenge ; if envy, malice, 
 or any uncharitableness should harbour in 
 your thoughts, then again your duty would 
 be to turn away from those holy precincts, 
 where nought but love can enter, to be re- 
 conciled to your brother, if he have ought 
 against you, or you against him, and then 
 come and offer your gift. 
 
 But you will surely pause before you offer 
 any of these objections. You would not make 
 them openly you dare not make them openly; 
 but pause before you make them even to 
 yourself. While you openly, and before the 
 public, and before the God of your salvation 
 
 having knowledge thereof, shall call him and advertise him, 
 that in any wise he presume not to come to the Lord's table, 
 until he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented 
 and amended his former naughty life, that the congregation 
 may thereby be satisfied, which before were offended ; and 
 that he hath recompensed the parties, to whom he hath done 
 wrong ; or at least declare himself to be in full purpose so 
 to do, as soon as he conveniently may. 
 
 " The same order shall the curate use with those betwixt 
 whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to reign ; not suffering 
 them to be partakers of the Lord's table, until he know them 
 to be reconciled. And if one of the parties so at variance be 
 content to forgive from the bottom of his heart all that the 
 other hath trespassed against him, and to make amends for 
 that he himself hath offended ; and the other party will not be 
 persuaded to a godly unity, but remain still in his frowardness 
 and malice, the minister in that case ought to admit the peni- 
 tent person to the holy communion, and not him that is obstinate.
 
 CONTINUANCE IN SIN. 255 
 
 are exclaiming, " I have no time," or "I am 
 not prepared," or " I am not sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with the mysteries of the ceremony," 
 or " I am not fit," or " I will postpone it 
 till a better opportunity ;" whichever it be of 
 these, all or any, beware lest the real one 
 which knaws at the very vitals of your heart ; 
 the real and the secret one be whispering to 
 your own conscience, " I am a deliberate sinner ; 
 I am going on the broad way of the world ; I 
 am at enmity with God, and that is the reason 
 that I will not go." 
 
 But my Christian brother in the Lord, suffer 
 me to plead with you ; suffer me again to re- 
 call you from the wandering of your thoughts, 
 to bring you back with the Spirit of God to 
 the true object of your life, to the noble busi- 
 ness which stands before you ready to be done, 
 to the high privileges which by this wilful- 
 ness you are in the act of forfeiting. God's 
 grace is wide-spreading ; God's mercy is great. 
 As far as the east is from the west, so far may 
 he set away your sins. But there is a limit. 
 There must be a limit: and that limit, ye that 
 wilfully remain in sin, may one day pass. I 
 do not say that you have passed it as yet, or 
 that you will pass it, if you should neglect 
 even to the end of your life, this, and all 
 the other ordinances of the church, but this 
 I say, that this limit you may one day pass. 
 It remains with God. Are you content to
 
 256 ERRORS AND OBJECTIONS. 
 
 leave it with God? Are you content to hope 
 that his mercy will be unlimited to you, if 
 your obedience and your love has so very 
 closely-marked a limit towards him ? I trow 
 not. If you object to this memorial, inas- 
 much as you feel that you should incur condem- 
 nation in your presumption to join in it, 
 because you live in sin, be assured of this 
 also, whether you be rich or learned, or poor 
 or ignorant be assured of this also, that by 
 living in sin with such a hardened and ob- 
 stinate heart, you incur tenfold more con- 
 demnation. You are in a dilemma, out of 
 which you can in no way escape. You pre- 
 sent yourselves daily before God with a 
 seared heart. You refuse the means of grace 
 offered to you. You go on from sin to sin 
 unadmonished, because you despise admoni- 
 tion ; unstrengthened by any help, because 
 you desire no help ; unjustified from any source, 
 whether from works, because they will con- 
 demn you, or of faith, because you practi- 
 cally believe not any of the admonitions of 
 the Saviour Jesus Christ. Therefore you go 
 on from sin to sin, each day more intimate 
 with Satan, each day more alienate from 
 God. You must go on in this course, for 
 you cannot stand still ; you must go on, until 
 at length you will find yourself, at the great and 
 terrible day of the Lord, in that outer darkness, 
 where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 
 CONTINUANCE IN SIN. 257 
 
 May God avert this doom from us. May 
 we be as rational, yet humble Christians ; 
 sinners, yet not hardened sinners ; frail, yet 
 repenting ; ignorant, yet faithful ; aware of 
 our danger, yet rejoicing in hope ; feeling 
 our temptations, yet knowing our help : and 
 so righting the good fight of faith, may we, 
 above all, ever from time to time, present 
 ourselves, our souls and bodies, at the table 
 of the Lord, "a living sacrifice unto God."
 
 CHAPTER VT1. 
 
 MOTIVES. 
 
 LUKE xxii. 19. 
 This do in REMEMBRANCE OF ME. 
 
 IT would hardly seem necessary, when so 
 much has already been said in regard to the 
 design, history, and objections which men urge 
 to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, to 
 add any especial part on the motives which 
 should induce to its observance. When we 
 detailed its design, we explained by the way 
 its advantages ; when we answered objections, 
 we signified by the way the reasons for its 
 constant observance. 
 
 But still there remains much unsaid, 
 and though we may have to travel over 
 the same ground, yet it may be trodden with 
 a somewhat different foot. Fresh beauties 
 may be drawn forth in the landscape, which
 
 COMMAND OF CHRIST. 259 
 
 were unseen before, and that which had failed 
 to reach the heart in one shape, may have its 
 influence in another. Therefore, I would now 
 beg the reader's attention, while I endeavour 
 to set before him the principal motives 
 which may conduce to the general observance 
 of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 I. The first motive stands evidently on 
 the very front of the question : the command 
 of Christ. 
 
 What makes the decalogue of value ? 
 What makes it our duty to obey the com- 
 mandments of the moral law? Upon what 
 grounds is it imperative upon us to love 
 God with all our heart, and our neighbour 
 as ourselves ? The will of God. It is only 
 because God has expressed his pleasure for 
 our advantage and for our salvation, that we 
 should not bow down to idols, should not lie, 
 steal, covet, commit adultery, that these sins 
 have become sins. The moral duties of life 
 might indeed have been obligatory by the 
 laws of mankind themselves, laws constituted 
 by mankind for their own interest and tem- 
 poral advantage ; but, in that case, their neg- 
 lect would have been no more morally wrong 
 towards God than any deviation from the forms 
 and customs of honourable life is morally wrong 
 towards God, although that deviation may be 
 culpable in the sight of man ; and so St. Paul 
 distinctly says: "I had not known sin but
 
 260 MOTIVES. 
 
 by the law, for I had not known lust except 
 the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But 
 sin, taking occasion by the commandment, 
 wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, for 
 without the law sin was dead." It is obvious. 
 If we had never been commanded, we never 
 could have broken the commandment. 
 
 For the same reason, again, if we are 
 destitute of charity, destitute of faith, des- 
 titute of hope if we are like the heathens or 
 the Israelites of old, proud, stubborn, and stiff- 
 necked, wherein does the sin of that depra- 
 vity of character consist ? Surely in the op- 
 position which is presented to the teaching of 
 Jesus Christ. For if Jesus Christ had not taught 
 the graces of humility, faith, and charity, there 
 had been no sin in their absence from our 
 hearts. If we are Christians, we are bound 
 to cherish in our hearts all those peculiarities 
 of feeling which mark the Christian. If the 
 poor man demands our alms in his distress, 
 we are bound, under a Christian obligation, to 
 give heed to his request. If we suffer injury, 
 we are bound, under a Christian obligation, 
 to make no retaliation. If we have, from in- 
 advertence, or the hasty anger of the 
 moment, done wrong to any one, we are 
 bound, under a Christian obligation, to re- 
 store him fourfold. But wherefore ? No law 
 of nature tells us this. Quite the contrary. 
 .No law of man tells us this. For whatever
 
 COMMAND OF CHRIST. 261 
 
 the law of man may do with actions, he can 
 have nothing to do with thoughts. The only 
 reason which can exist is, the teaching of the 
 gospel and the command of Christ. 
 
 If, then, the moral obligations of the law, and 
 the Christian graces of the gospel, rest for 
 their authority on the word of God and that 
 alone makes them imperative we have nothing 
 to do but transfer the argument to the sacrament 
 of the Eucharist, and the sin of its omission 
 stands out with equal certainty. " This do in 
 remembrance of me," is as imperative, as much of 
 divine authority, as much without exception as, 
 " Thou shalt not steal;" for the same God 
 has expressed his will with regard to both : 
 " This do in remembrance of me." It is not, you 
 may do this in remembrance of me ; there are 
 certain occasions on which you may neglect 
 it certain frames of mind and temper which 
 will incapacitate you certain circumstances of 
 life which will render its violation excusable, 
 but, " This do" Now if it were so if it were 
 only a suggestion on the part of our Lord it 
 would be ground enough for the Christian to 
 go upon. If Christ had said: " If it is 
 agreeable to you, you may do this in remem- 
 brance of me," even then, where would be the 
 Christian's heart to refuse? But it is much 
 more, it is positive. It is placed side by side 
 with the decalogue. Would that it \\ ere, would 
 that this law were inscribed on our church
 
 262 MOTIVES. 
 
 walls, in parallel honour with the law of Moses, 
 so that when we behold the creed of the 
 Christian, and the prayer of the Christian, we 
 might also behold this duty of the Christian, to 
 remember the Saviour of the world, according 
 to his own most holy institution.* 
 
 But I will put this in another light. In the 
 prayer which we daily offer up to the throne 
 of grace, one of our petitions is, that " God's 
 will be done in earth as it is in heaven." 
 Now, if we are clear upon the point of Christ's 
 institution of the Eucharist, that is a part of 
 God's will. With what appearance, therefore, 
 of consistency, with what face of common since- 
 rity, can we offer up that petition to God, and 
 yet neglect in deed any approximation to the 
 fulfilment of that will ? We pray that God's 
 will may " be done in earth as it is in heaven!' 
 Of course, it must be done in heaven with 
 absolute perfection, and that perfection is spi- 
 ritual holiness, a generally holy and obedient 
 life. But how can we be generally holy and 
 
 * Bingham, in describing the ancient churches, informs us 
 that it was the custom to ornament the walls with various texts 
 of scripture. " Another ornament, which served for use, as 
 well as beauty, was their comely and pertinent inscriptions, 
 many of which are preserved, and still to be read in ancient 
 authors." And to this day, in many of the old churches, these 
 inscriptions remain ; and the text, " This do in remembrance 
 of me," is not unfrequent over the altar, accompanying the 
 creed, Lord's prayer, and commandments.
 
 COMMAND OF CHRIST. 263 
 
 obedient, unless we are specifically so? How 
 can we pretend to be anxious about the 
 will of God in our general conduct, when, 
 in one particular, we are notoriously defi- 
 cient; when his precept " Do this in remem- 
 brance of me," stares us in the face in one 
 page in the gospel, and " thy will be done 
 in earth," stares us in the face in another 
 page yet we stand daily violating the one, 
 and daily praying for the other ? " Why call 
 ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things 
 which I say ?" This was the rebuke of Je- 
 sus himself; a rebuke to those who listened 
 with their ears, and understood with their mind, 
 and followed not in deed. Why, indeed, do we 
 enter the house of God on the sabbath-day, 
 lift up our voices in prayer and adoration, 
 thereby acknowledging that we wish to be 
 Christians and yet do not the thing which 
 Christ says ? We call him, Lord, Lord ; we go 
 there to ask of him those gracious gifts which 
 he has promised in his gospel, we go there con- 
 fessing our sins, imploring pardon, seeking for 
 the redemption which was wrought by his 
 blood, and yet will not do the simple thing 
 by which that blood is typified, and brought 
 visibly to our hearts. " He taught ^not as^the 
 scribes, but as one having authority." The Jews 
 acknowledged that ; and yet persons who pro- 
 fess to be Christians reject that authority, 
 they question and demur, but will not obey ;
 
 264 MOTIVES. 
 
 they invent superstitious fears, and will not 
 listen ; they hear the suggestions of their own 
 fancy, but not the word of God. 
 
 A contract entered upon between ourselves 
 and God, is no light matter. But a contract 
 has been entered upon between every Christian 
 and God. By baptism, he was pledged among 
 other things, " to keep God's holy will and 
 commandments, and to walk in the same all 
 the days of his life," and it is idle to say that 
 he, being a child, was not cognizant of that 
 pledge ; he virtually acknowledges it every day 
 of his life, inasmuch as he has never yet 
 withdrawn it ; but he has more solemnly ac- 
 knowledged it by the specific rite of confirm- 
 ation. The bishop laid his hands upon him, 
 and invoked the Holy Spirit to sanctify and 
 to bless. To the question asked : " Do ye 
 here in the presence of God, and of this 
 congregation, renew the solemn promise and 
 vow that was made in your name at your 
 baptism, ratifying and confirming the same 
 in your own person, and acknowledging your- 
 self bound to believe, and to do all those 
 things which your godfathers and godmothers 
 then undertook for you?" To this, in the house 
 of God and before the assembled church, he 
 solemnly replied, " / do." Then he must, in 
 all candour, acknowledge that in rejecting 
 this ordinance of the Lord he forfeits those 
 pledges, and he must in consequence ac-
 
 GRATITUDE. 265 
 
 knowledge that the blessing attached to those 
 pledges, he also forfeits. If he recognizes 
 and believes the revealed word of God, if 
 he is assured that that revealed word bears 
 the stamp of divine authority, that the 
 scriptures are the faithful representations of 
 God's will to man, that Jesus Christ the 
 author of his salvation is one with God and 
 is God, he cannot in any fairness deny 
 that his duty to keep this passover of the 
 Lord is as plainly laid down as any other 
 duty, moral or religious, throughout the 
 whole bible; and therefore every argument 
 by which he convinces himself against its 
 necessity, every deception which he practi- 
 ses upon himself in order to escape from 
 its obligation, he may just as well employ 
 against any other law of God, and for the 
 same reason may become a fornicator, an 
 adulterer, a violator of the sabbath, a cove- 
 tous man, who is an idolater, or any other 
 confessed sinner, as he may an habitual 
 neglecter of the sacrament of the Eucharist. 
 This is a strong way of putting the case, 
 but nevertheless it is the true way. 
 
 II. The next motive I would urge is gra- 
 titude. Set aside the command, if this com- 
 mand had never been given, yet is there no 
 honour due unto the Son of God, the Saviour of 
 the world ? Does he merit no tribute of respect ? 
 does he claim no token of our gratitude ?
 
 266 MOTIVES. 
 
 In every nation and in every age, illus- 
 trious men have invariably, after death, ob- 
 tained some token of remembrance from 
 their country. In whatever way their cele- 
 brity has been obtained, as philosophers, 
 statesmen, generals ; we behold on all sides, 
 monuments to their honour. We cannot, for 
 instance, walk through the streets of any 
 great city without beholding its public bene- 
 factors enrolled in the hearts of the people 
 by some species of memorial ; monuments, 
 inscriptions, coins, pillars, medals, all are 
 devices of gratitude to keep alive in men's 
 hearts the memory of the illustrious dead. 
 Only apply this same principle, (if indeed 
 the argument is reverent enough for our 
 sacred purpose,) only apply this same prin- 
 ciple, and we should immediately, as follow- 
 ers of a master so holy, disciples of a teacher 
 so pure, subjects of a king so powerful, we 
 should immediately ransack the world to find 
 a spot for some monument for him who did so 
 much for man ; we should not permit his 
 memory to lie for ages unrecorded ; we should 
 vie one with another to inscribe some votive 
 tablet to our Saviour and our Redeemer. 
 
 But we cannot compare things human with 
 things divine. Produce the greatest and purest 
 benefactor of the human race, and Jesus shall 
 be more great. Produce the wisest lawgiver 
 who ever devised the shackles and bindings
 
 GRATITUDE. 267 
 
 by which the turbulent passions of man should 
 be restrained, and Jesus shall be more wise. 
 Produce the most disinterested instance of a 
 man devoting himself, his life, his reputation, 
 for the sake of his brethren, and it shall fall 
 into nothing before the devoted sacrifice of 
 God's anointed. The conquest that Christ 
 made was over death. The good that Christ 
 wrought was the eternal welfare of the human 
 race. The laws that Christ propounded were 
 the laws of the heart, laws that searched deeper, 
 and had a wider ken than man had before ima- 
 gined possible to survey the spiritual and vital 
 principles of faith, hope, charity; and lastly, 
 the sacrifice that Jesus made, was the sacrifice 
 of his own blood. " Greater love hath no man 
 than this, that he lay down his life for his 
 friends." He bore the burden of our sins. 
 How sore the burden was, look to the garden 
 of Gethsemane to appreciate, and hear the 
 supplicatory words, " O my Father, if it be 
 possible, let this cup pass from me ; neverthe- 
 less, not as I will, but as thou wilt ;" while his 
 sweat was, in this bitter agony, like drops of 
 blood falling to the ground. He became a lamb 
 spotless and pure, offered up at the altar of 
 the cross, a ransom for the whole world. By 
 him was darkness turned into light, and misery 
 into hope. By him the clouds of heathen 
 ignorance and barbarian superstition were 
 chased away, and turned into the glorious
 
 268 MOTIVES. 
 
 effulgence of spiritual blessedness. By him the 
 bitter sting of death was extracted, and the 
 victory of the grave wrested from his hand. 
 The arrow of the evil one, that points but 
 one certain way, to eternal condemna- 
 tion, was parried and thrust aside by the 
 shield which he brought down from heaven, 
 the shield of faith. By the weapons with 
 which he has armed us, that same shield of 
 faith, together with the breastplate of righte- 
 ousness, and the helmet of salvation, and the 
 sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, 
 we have gone on from point to point, both 
 nationally and individually, until we have 
 gained, or may gain, the height of glory, sanc- 
 tification, redemption, and salvation. 
 
 What coin, then, what medal, what monument 
 shall we raise up to commemorate this great 
 deliverer, and conqueror, and law-giver ? We 
 must search for some suitable device ; we must 
 build up something that shall be imperishable, 
 for gratitude's sake. We must record the gift 
 in terms sufficiently comprehensive to embrace 
 the whole world, because the gift was to the 
 whole world ; and sufficiently lasting to be un- 
 moved by the passage of time, because the 
 benefits conferred are only coeval with eternity. 
 But we need not search long. He has himself 
 anticipated us. He has himself devised a me- 
 morial. Not one built of stone and mortar. 
 Not a temple to be raised by art and man's
 
 GRATITUDE. 269 
 
 device ; for " he dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands." Not one confined to this people 
 or that people, as circumcision to the Jews, 
 and the holy of holies to Jerusalem ; because 
 now, according to his own most gracious inti- 
 mation, " The hour has come when he is no 
 longer worshipped in Jerusalem, or in this 
 mountain ;" but " his line is gone out through all 
 the earth, and his words to the end of the 
 world." None of these. But one spiritual, com- 
 prehensible to all, suitable to every people ; a 
 thing to be done, not to be looked upon ; to 
 spring forth from each individual's heart, to be 
 renewed as fast as it decays, unchangeable, im- 
 perishable the eating and drinking of bread and 
 wine.* 
 
 * The peculiarity of the memorial which Jesus desired his 
 followers to establish, we may consider as a singular proof of 
 divine wisdom. Had he commanded any thing to be built, or 
 any thing to be said, it would have perished in the ruins of 
 time, or have been lost in the traditions of mankind ; for having 
 been once established, succeeding generations would have had 
 no care in its preservation ; and that which affected no one in 
 particular, would have found no personal interest to maintain 
 it. But when he commanded something to be done, some- 
 thing which each human being was to do in his own person, 
 singularly, and by himself, and yet in union with others ; he 
 took the surest step to make it lasting. For until men perish, 
 this cannot perish. As long as there is a remnant of faith left 
 among men in the Redeemer's blood, and any one man says, 
 "I do this in remembrance of Christ," there continues the 
 monument even unto the ends of the world. 
 We may observe also ihe peculiarity of the thing to be done.
 
 270 MOTIVES. 
 
 Then shall any one refuse to join ? Shall 
 any one, however lofty, or however humble, 
 refuse to add his portion to this holy 
 work ? Shall any one hold back in the main- 
 taining of this record of his dying Saviour : 
 " No man hath greater love than this, that 
 he lay down his life for his friends?" And 
 who are his friends ? He says himself, " You 
 are my friends if ye do whatever I com- 
 mand you." And for that love, for that 
 friendship, that laying down of life, the price 
 of our salvation, shall we sit listless 
 and slumbering, hearers of his word, and 
 yet not doers ; admiring and confessing, yet 
 not following ; surfeited with the world, 
 lethargic in our devotion, cold in our grati- 
 tude while there stands a monument, open 
 to universal approach, a public monument in 
 which, in order to its completeness, the hand 
 of every Christian must add its individual 
 inscription, a public recording of his faith, 
 his love, his hope engraven in the visible 
 representations of the body and blood of 
 Jesus Christ ? 
 
 If anything difficult, anything requiring great skill, or peculiar to 
 one nation more than another, it would not have been universally 
 applicable ; but as long as the existence of a human being de- 
 pends on the bodily powers, and the bodily powers are sustained 
 by food as long as eating and drinking are the inseparable acci- 
 dents of human life so long, and so universal, and so easy of 
 attainment, must be the memorial of the Saviour of the world.
 
 GRATITUDE. 271 
 
 But at the same time that we urge the 
 performance of this act as a memorial, we 
 must take good care that it be carried 
 somewhat further than the mere external 
 act The memorial must be considered as 
 one of the mind, not only of the body. 
 It is the heart that prompts, the motive 
 that induces, the Spirit that is breathing in 
 our souls, that alone can sanctify the act, 
 or make it acceptable to God. There can 
 be no remembrance of Christ in the cold and 
 worldly and temporal affections, which are 
 our general guides and companions in earthly 
 things ; there can be no gratitude towards 
 the Redeemer in the barren and fruitless tree 
 of a lukewarm life. It is a knowledge of 
 Christ, a hatred of the things He hates, a 
 love of the things He loves, a following of 
 the things He followed, by which our grati- 
 tude should be distinguished and witnessed. 
 Out of ten lepers who were cleansed, one 
 only returned to give thanks: and to our 
 shame be it spoken, out of every ten in the 
 congregations which frequent our churches, 
 there is hardly a greater proportion than one 
 who is found at the Lord's table to give 
 thanks. " So unkind we be, so obvious we be, 
 so proud beggars we be, that partly we 
 care not for our own commodity, partly we 
 know not our duty to God, and chiefly we 
 will not confess all that we receive. Our
 
 272 MOTIVES. 
 
 lips praise him, but our hearts dispraise him; 
 our tongues bless him, but our life curseth 
 him ; our words worship him, but our works dis- 
 honour him. O let us learn to give God thanks 
 aright ; to agnize his exceeding graces, that 
 they may be shut up in the treasure-house 
 of our heart ; and may in due time, in our 
 life and conversation, appear to the glorifying 
 of his holy name."* This, indeed, is the real 
 gratitude that should accompany our steps 
 to the altar of our Redeemer. Not the ex- 
 ternal obedience, or the external memorial, 
 which, however necessary as far as they go, 
 yet are not in themselves sufficient, but the 
 heart: and when once the heart is won, when 
 once the soul, through the inspiring grace of 
 the Spirit, soars above the cloudy vapours which 
 hover around, and encompass this world ; into 
 the pure ethereal regions which are beyond 
 the faith of Christ, (not the uncertain ex- 
 travagancies of enthusiasm, but the calm, 
 placid, undeviating faith of the cross,) then 
 " are we very members incorporate in the 
 mystical body of Christ ; then are we heirs, 
 through hope, of his everlasting kingdom ; we 
 are assured of God's favour and goodness 
 towards us," we know that we live, and 
 move, and have our being in him. Remem- 
 bering the mercy, remembering the sacrifice, 
 
 * Homily on the Sacrament, Part ii.
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 273 
 
 remembering the sins that made that sacri- 
 fice necessary, we pass on our earthly course 
 surely and steadfastly ; we traverse our pe- 
 rilous path as holy pilgrims with loins girded, 
 and staves ready, " denying ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and 
 godly in this present world, we look for that 
 blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
 great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 III. The motive which I would next urge 
 is this : The extension and security of Christ's 
 kingdom upon earth. 
 
 Christ's kingdom upon earth is comprehended 
 in his church, and by his church is meant the as- 
 sociated body of Christian men ; all therefore 
 who are Christians are of the church of Christ, 
 no matter of what sect or country they may 
 be, as long as they embrace and practise 
 the tenets of the gospel, they are the church 
 of Christ. They need not be of the legally 
 established religion of any particular country, 
 because, for three hundred years the Chris- 
 tians were not acknowledged by any govern- 
 ment, and yet they were the church of 
 Christ ; on the contrary, many who profess 
 themselves of the legally established religion, 
 whose names are registered in due form in 
 the books of the church, who attend, for 
 custom's sake, the public worship of the 
 country, and in fact by all outward forms 
 u profess and call themselves Christians," many 
 
 s
 
 274 MOTIVES. 
 
 of these, (how many, who can tell !) though 
 they are visibly, they are not, in their hearts 
 of the church of Christ.* We would not 
 narrow the entrance into the kingdom of 
 
 * Our articles say that "the visible church of Christ, is a 
 congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of God is 
 preached and the sacraments duly administered." But this visi- 
 ble church, according to Pearson, (see Pearson on the Creed 
 Article, ix.) "embraceth all the professors of the true faith of 
 Christ, and containeth in it not only such as do truly believe, 
 but those which are hypocrites and profane." Within the notion 
 of the church are comprehended both good and bad, being both 
 externally called, and both professing the same faith, for the 
 " kingdom of heaven is like unto a field in which wheat and 
 tares both grow together until the harvest," like unto "a net 
 cast into the sea, gathering of every kind," like unto "a mar- 
 riage feast, in which some have the wedding garment, some 
 not." So bishop Beveridge says, " It is a congregation of such 
 men as profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore 
 is called the holy catholic church, not as if every person in it 
 was really holy, really a saint, really a believer in Christ, for 
 that the visible church here upon earth is like a floor in which 
 is both wheat and chaff," &c. Beveridge on nineteenth article. 
 But it is evident that in proportion as the wheat abounds above 
 the chaff, as the good fish prevail over the bad, and the more 
 wedding garments which are seen at the wedding supper of the 
 lamb ; even so is the glory of God advanced, and his kingdom 
 encreased : " We being many are one bread and one body, for 
 we are all partakers of that one bread." As therefore the Israel- 
 ites were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 
 and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the 
 same spiritual drink, and thereby appeared to be one people of 
 God, so all believing persons, and all churches congregated in 
 the name of Christ, washed in the same laver of regeneration, 
 eating of the same bread, and drinking of the same cup, are uni-
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 275 
 
 God, we would not ask, with a certain one 
 who said unto Jesufe : " Lord, are there few 
 that be saved ?" because we feel sure that the 
 door will be opened to all that knock, and 
 that they who seek faithfully will be certain 
 to find. But every one with his eyes open, 
 must acknowledge that there are thousands 
 who live among us, outward members of 
 what is termed the established church, who 
 are so for a variety of reasons, beside and 
 except the two of faith and practise ; either 
 because their fathers have been so before 
 them, or because those classes of the com- 
 munity among whom they live are so, or 
 because it suits their general notions of res- 
 pectability and decorum, and it would be strange 
 and anomalous if they did not as others did 
 now these men, proceeding upon such prin- 
 ciples as I have just described, or principles 
 similar to these, cannot justly call themselves 
 of the church of Christ, of the kingdom of 
 Christ, of the flock of that shepherd who 
 was all love and spirituality, and a contem- 
 ner of the world, and a setter at nought of 
 
 ted in the same cognizance, and so known to the same church." 
 So says bishop Pearson, and if this be the case, then it must 
 follow, that they who do not eat of the same bread, they who 
 do not drink of the same cup, though they be of the "hypocrites 
 and profane," who are of the visible church, yet they are not 
 in heart and in deed of that invisible church, which with saints, 
 and angels, and archangels, make up the "kingdom of God."
 
 276 MOTIVES. 
 
 every thing that had not the good of man- 
 kind and the glory of God as its end and 
 its foundation ; O no, so far from it, they 
 are hinderances in the way of Christ's king- 
 dom, they are stumbling blocks to the weak 
 brethren, even as the scribes and pharisees 
 were, preventing others from entering in, and 
 not entering in themselves, the rock of 
 offence, not the rock of security, to the 
 church of their Redeemer. Heartless, worldly, 
 negligent, selfish ; they cannot be called as 
 one body with him who was all disinterested 
 love, and unimpeached purity. They are not 
 one with him who, whether he ate, or drank, 
 or whatever he did, did all to the glory 
 of God. Suppose, for an instant, that the 
 whole legal establishment of our church were 
 to be dissolved, would the church of Christ 
 be dissolved? it would remain in the hearts 
 of those faithful who had before embraced it 
 in their doctrine, and embodied it in their 
 practise, precisely as it had existed previously. 
 The spiritual and vital principle of religion 
 depends not on human law or on worldly 
 restrictions, on general councils or verbal 
 formularies. These things no doubt are wise 
 and salutary institutions for the management 
 and discipline of external things, but they 
 have nothing to do with things internal, fur- 
 ther than as instruments to convey them. 
 The church instituted by man is a help and
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 277 
 
 adjunct, a means of promoting the religion 
 of Christ ; but it is not in itself the religion 
 of Christ. No articles can create faith in man, 
 though he may subscribe them ; no creed can 
 establish as felt truths the doctrines of Jesus 
 Christ, though it may recite them ; no 
 canons can produce obedience of the heart, 
 though they may define and compel obedience 
 of the hand and of the mouth. It is not only 
 " except a man be born of water," (the exter- 
 nal form,) but " except a man be born of 
 water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of God." Except he be inter- 
 nally and vitally regenerate, unless he have 
 "the spirit of Christ," unless he be actuated 
 by such principles as are in accordance with 
 Christ's precepts, and Christ's doctrines, he 
 " is not one of his" 
 
 Considering then the kingdom of God as I 
 have just defined it, it is evident, that whoever, 
 by his example, in obedience to the commands 
 of the gospel, displays to the world his testi- 
 mony of the value of the Redeemer's love- 
 extends that kingdom of God, glorifies his 
 name, and fulfils the great purpose of his 
 creation, and it is as evident that he who refuses 
 to do this, he who would abstain from those 
 ordinances which Jesus has commanded, throws 
 a check, puts a restraint, confines and limits 
 the spiritual glories of that kingdom which 
 brought salvation to man. And yet he prays,
 
 278 MOTIVES. 
 
 at any rate he prays the words, " Thy kingdom 
 come." In his own chamber, if he bows the 
 knee in secret communing; with God ; in the 
 
 O ' 
 
 church, if he bows the knee in joint society 
 with the congregation of his fellow-creatures, 
 his words are daily poured forth : " Thy 
 kingdom come" Yet, with what meaning ? 
 With what semblance of sincerity, if he be 
 not alive, by his own example, to make 
 known the glories of his Redeemer '? to extend 
 to others the knowledge he himself possesses ; 
 to show that the church which he professes to 
 love, is a church " built upon a rock, and that 
 the gates of hell will not prevail against it." 
 
 True, the progress of the gospel has been 
 miraculous. We have seen it for eighteen cen- 
 turies advancing from country to country, from 
 people to people. We have seen, at the first, 
 that " the number of the names were together 
 about one hundred and twenty ;" we have seen, 
 a short time after, that " there were added 
 unto the church about three thousand souls ;" 
 and then, shortly after, " many of them which 
 heard the word believed, and the number of the 
 men was about five thousand.'' And so, going on 
 from Judea to Samaria, from Samaria to the 
 various countries of Africa and Asia, from Asia 
 to Europe, Greece and Rome, Corinth and 
 Athens, the shores of Gaul and of Spain ; to us 
 also has this " kingdom " come. To millions of 
 souls after millions have the glad tidings been
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 279 
 
 preached, according to the promise ; and we 
 hope and trust that not only as a humanly 
 constituted church, but as the church of Christ 
 above defined, there lives in many of our hearts 
 the true and lively faith of Christ crucified. 
 These things we have seen, yet many a 
 country still remains ignorant of the way of 
 salvation ; many a people, still barbarous 
 and rude ; and, not to speak of foreign na- 
 tions, how many thousands throng our own 
 streets, kept back from the kingdom of God ; 
 going on from day to day in the most obdurate 
 recklessness and disregard of things holy, with- 
 out the virtues even of a heathen, still less 
 of a Christian ; without faith, without hope, 
 without fear, without knowledge? How is it 
 that we send missionaries to the remotest 
 regions of the earth, and yet have multi- 
 tudes of our own people still beyond the 
 pale of Christianity? That we profess and 
 speak high-sounding words of our enlightenment 
 and civilization, and yet not only the internal 
 spirit of Christ wanting, but even the externals, 
 churches and ministers, where the word of God 
 may be preached, and his sacraments adminis- 
 tered, and yet, notwithstanding we pray the 
 words, " Thy kingdom come" How is it that 
 we cannot walk through the streets of any large 
 town without being shocked at the obscene 
 language and degraded habits of hordes of 
 living beings created to the glory of God, but
 
 '280 MOTIVES. 
 
 turning that creation into blasphemy and sin ? 
 and yet we pray the words, " Thy kingdom 
 comer' How is it that thousands and ten 
 thousands of children are begotten in the most 
 abandoned vice, and bred in the most ruthless 
 ignorance, wandering at large without school 
 and without instruction, either civil or religious, 
 and yet we pray the words, " Thy kingdom 
 come?" How is it that, on the Lord's day, 
 the rich are found at the festive place of 
 meeting, while the poor are found buying and 
 selling, and getting gain ; the house of God 
 neglected, and the day of rest, the Sabbath of 
 the Lord our God, polluted : and yet we pray 
 the words, " Thy kingdom come?" Why, surely, 
 this must be the reason that we only pray the 
 words, and not the thought; that we who 
 profess to be within the pale of the Christian 
 Church do not think and act according to our 
 professions, and that we are therefore looked 
 upon from those without the pale with 
 suspicion and with distrust. Our servants, our 
 tenants, our children, behold us as men pro- 
 fessing the gospel, yet not obeying it ; as read- 
 ing therein, among other things, a most 
 especially marked command the Eucharist ; 
 and yet ever abstaining from it, as professing 
 to be of the church, yet ever keeping aloof 
 from the closest tie, and intercourse by which 
 the church can draw us unto Christ. 
 
 You say, these things cannot be known ;
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 281 
 
 the ignorant and the vulgar do not heed them ; 
 the vicious and the profligate do not regard 
 them : it is not true ; they do regard them. The 
 ignorant and the vulgar wonder; the vicious 
 and the profligate mock and rejoice. Is not 
 the kingdom of God as " leaven which a woman 
 took and hid in three measures of meal, until 
 the whole was leavened?" Does not the spi- 
 ritual character begin slowly, gradually, imper- 
 ceptibly ? It ascends from a small beginning, 
 a seed sown in the earth, until it expands into 
 blade, and ear, and fruit ; and this ordinance 
 being neglected, checks the seed ; being observed, 
 germinates the seed. It penetrates with its 
 spiritual gifts into all portions of our charac- 
 ter, makes us speak, and think, and act, as 
 though remembering Christ ; makes us look 
 upon men with charity, and God with love; 
 influences all around us, soothes and tran- 
 quillizes the moments of anger, induces for- 
 giveness of injuries, benevolence to the op- 
 pressed, courage against the oppressor, pa- 
 tience, meekness, forbearance. 
 
 Shall a man be of this character, and not 
 be marked? Yes, men will look to him, and 
 say, " This is a righteous man ; behold an Is- 
 raelite indeed, in whom is no guile." They 
 will watch him, they will follow him, and when 
 they find him, sabbath after sabbath, at the 
 altar of his Redeemer, they will know whence 
 he has this wisdom. They will follow him not
 
 282 MOTIVES. 
 
 as professing, but as doing. They will imitate 
 him, and hold sweet counsel with him; and, 
 haply, with God's grace working in secret, they 
 will be brought themselves into the light of the 
 glorious gospel of Christ. 
 
 Surely if our worship is sincere, if we are 
 members of the church in heart, and not only 
 in words, if our souls are joined together with 
 our brethren, and with our God, in that holy bond 
 of union which Christianity teaches as essen- 
 tial to salvation, then should we be lights and 
 patterns to those who might be removed by 
 accidental circumstances from the knowledge of 
 God. Here, in the sacrament of the Eucha- 
 rist, is the greatest strength, and stability of 
 our church. He who feels an evangelical de- 
 sire to exercise and perpetuate the blessings of 
 Christ, cannot find a surer method than this. 
 The communicant beholds the church a compact 
 body, in all the strength and energy which 
 must be produced by the union of many in a 
 great and good design. Without this, Chris- 
 tians are feeble, because they are solitary ; 
 without this, they are easily broken down, 
 because they are destitute of mutual support ; 
 they stumble and fall, because they have no 
 mutual example ; but with it they look upon 
 one another as members of the same great 
 Head, as trusting in the same redemption, as 
 - bought by the same price. Those that have 
 the knowledge induce the ignorant ; they that
 
 KINGDOM OF GOD. 283 
 
 have the high places induce those who are the 
 lowly of the earth. The master persuades the 
 servant, the servant the master; the husband 
 the wife, the wife the husband ; and hence are 
 those practical never-ending blessings which 
 must arise in every domestic and political rela- 
 tion, from union in faith, and union in sentiment; 
 and thus a firm and steady phalanx is arrayed 
 against God's enemies ; and the faith of Christ 
 crucified becomes less and less a stumb- 
 ling-block to the worldly, and its precepts 
 more and more observed by the weak and the 
 unstable. It works throughout the general 
 character of the community greater zeal towards 
 God, and greater love towards man, until 
 finally, the whole building, " built upon the 
 foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the head corner- 
 stone," and, " being fitly framed together, 
 groweth unto a holy temple of the Lord." 
 
 It was this ordinance, the sacrament of 
 the body and blood of Jesus Christ, that 
 bound the primitive teachers of our religion 
 in that unbroken chain of Christian fellow- 
 ship by which they overcame the world. It 
 was this ordinance, the meeting together day 
 after day, in love, and peace, and charity, 
 reminding each other of their high and spi- 
 ritual calling, exhorting one another, by mu- 
 tual encouragements of faith, and patience, and 
 endurance. It was this ordinance that sent
 
 284 MOTIVES. 
 
 forth the martyrs to die for the proof of 
 Christ's truth. It was this that bade the 
 apostles lay down the world, and its glory, 
 and its pleasures, for the cross of Jesus ; 
 which bade them meet at first in an upper 
 room, a counted few, and then amid the 
 rocks and caverns of the earth, in secret, as 
 persecuted and forlorn, and yet not forlorn, for 
 God was with them. Here would they meet 
 to break bread. No Lord's day found them 
 without this holy feast. No week passed by 
 but their faith and their courage were stimu- 
 lated by this remembrance of their divine 
 Master, until the gospel was made known to 
 people after people, and they themselves, in 
 the strength of this remembrance, were con- 
 tent to die. 
 
 And this it is which bids the Christian 
 of the present day, if we would continue 
 Christ's kingdom upon earth, and fulfil the 
 prophecy that " the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against his church ;" this it is that 
 bids us constantly and faithfully to pledge 
 ourselves, our souls, and bodies, as living 
 sacrifices unto God : which bids us here be 
 followers of his most holy life, " who did 
 no sin, neither was guile found in his 
 mouth ;" so that being found with him in 
 that holy fellowship on earth, we may also 
 be joined with him in the eternal glories 
 of his Father's kingdom.
 
 OUR OWN SALVATION. 285 
 
 IV. The last motive which I shall urge, will 
 be, Our own spiritual and personal welfare. 
 
 We have been just considering the king- 
 dom of God with reference to the rest 
 of the world. We must also possess that 
 kingdom in our own hearts. Now when we 
 remember what our hearts are, how sur- 
 rounded with every sort of temptation 
 and danger ; how frail, uncertain, wandering 
 from this to that ; if we remember the ex- 
 tremely perishable state of our natural lives, 
 as well as our spiritual lives ; if we remem- 
 ber our bodily infirmities, our mental infirm- 
 ities, the dangers which assault us from 
 without, the temptations which assault us 
 from within, we shall immediately confess, 
 that in order to direct our course with any 
 probability of safety, we stand in need of 
 higher help than we can furnish of ourselves. 
 And this help is the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit. The blessings of the new covenant 
 cannot be attained by those who neglect its 
 conditions. The blessings of the new coven- 
 ant peculiarly consist in the various gifts of 
 the Spirit, promoting, co-operating, and com- 
 forting. These were blessings unknown to 
 the old covenant. They were the distinct 
 marks of the gospel, and the result and 
 consequence of the teaching of the Saviour. 
 "It is expedient for you that I go away; 
 for if I go not away, the Comforter will
 
 286 MOTIVES. 
 
 not come unto you, but if I depart, I will 
 send him unto you." It was not until the 
 gospel came, not until Jesus Christ came 
 into the world, that we were at all ac- 
 quainted with that help, and comfort, and 
 guidance which the Spirit manifests. And 
 so says bishop Jeremy Taylor, in his usual 
 beautiful manner : " In the gospel the Spirit 
 is given without measure, first poured forth 
 upon our head, Christ Jesus, then descending 
 upon the beard of Aaron, the father of our 
 church, thence falling, like the tears of the 
 balsam of Judea, upon the foot of the plant, 
 upon the lowest of the people. And this is 
 given to all that ask it, to all that can receive 
 it, and by a solemn ceremony, and conveyed 
 by a sacrament." In the first sacrament in- 
 deed it is originally given, when born " of 
 water and of the Spirit," we first enter the 
 ark of Christ's church : but we have need 
 of the other sacrament to retain it ; we have 
 need of other opportunities to pray for it, 
 if haply through sin we should once have 
 let go the promise of our hope : we have 
 need from time to time to be strengthened 
 and renovated in the weakness of our flesh, 
 to be comforted in our sorrows, to be sanc- 
 tified in our afflictions. The sacrament of 
 the Eucharist is then the appointed means of 
 obtaining this blessing. It is the condition 
 laid down by God himself, and we have no
 
 OUR OWN SALVATION. 287 
 
 right to question the propriety of that con- 
 dition, but implicitly to submit ; we have 
 no right to apply for that blessing in any 
 other way than just that one which he has or- 
 dained. If we have temptations to encounter, 
 we may hope that the grace of God will 
 work with us in those temptations. If we 
 have infirmities of body, or sufferings of mind ; 
 if our spirits faint under the burden of 
 the cross, we may hope that the Spirit of 
 God will be at hand to sustain and to com- 
 fort. If we have sins to repent of; if we 
 look back upon our past existence, and the re- 
 view, pregnant with countless omissions, if 
 not actual sins, presents to our minds a bur- 
 den too grievous to be borne, we may here 
 pray and trust that the merits of Christ, the 
 atonement and propitiatory sacrifice which he 
 made, may cleanse us from all sin, may can- 
 cel the penal bond under which, by viola- 
 tion of the law, we had inevitably been 
 placed, and renew a right spirit within us, 
 and so cause us to stand justified, accounted 
 righteous for Jesus Christ his sake. Thus 
 by every renewed communion we shall lose 
 the old man and put on the new. Thus vir- 
 tue upon virtue, strength upon strength, and 
 grace upon grace, being stored up in the 
 soul by an habitual recurrence to the only 
 source of their provision, namely, the 
 Spirit of God, furnished by means of his own
 
 288 MOTIVES. 
 
 appointed Eucharist ; we shall pass through 
 things temporal, dangerous as they are, and 
 weak as we are, until we finally gain things 
 eternal. By a constant communion with God, 
 we must, of necessity, lessen any chance of 
 communion with Belial. The more we are 
 the servants of God, the less we must be 
 servants of the world ; the more we are one 
 with God and Jesus Christ in love and fel- 
 lowship, the more must our hearts be em- 
 bued with those Christian graces which are 
 the attributes even of the Deity himself. 
 
 It is obvious, that a holy life must be pleasing 
 to God through Jesus Christ. It is obvious, 
 that a due observance of the Eucharist must 
 promote a holy life, for whatever our sins may 
 have been, repentance is a necessary compa- 
 nion of that sacrament ; and repentance, re- 
 newed from time to time, must in the end 
 produce its fruit. If then, we pass through life 
 in a state of sinful and unholy disregard of God ; 
 if we acknowledge a means of help by which 
 we may get rid of that sinfulness, and yet use 
 it not ; if the invitation to God's holy table 
 be made to us, year after year, and month after 
 month, and yet so invited, we refuse to go ; 
 can we wonder that our heart tastes not of 
 the joys of heaven, that our weakness and 
 wretchedness feels not any support, that in 
 times of temptation we are abandoned to our- 
 selves, and therefore fail ; in times of affliction
 
 OUR OWN SALVATION 289 
 
 we feel no comfort, and therefore are cast down 
 beyond the remedy of man. 
 
 And above all, with what face shall we appear 
 before the bar of our Almighty Judge at the 
 great and terrible day of the Lord ? with what 
 face shall we plead any thing in justification, in 
 excuse, in palliation, for our miserable failure in 
 all obedience to our heavenly Father ? with what 
 face shall we say, as we shall perhaps at- 
 tempt to say : " My imperfect nature caused me 
 to sin ; I was willing, yet not able ; I had no 
 help in the hour of temptation ; I had no suc- 
 cour when the evil one pressed me to disobey ; 
 I had no memorial of my duty, when I was 
 urged by my natural passions to forget ; I had 
 no assurance when I was cast down by the 
 overwhelming trials of the world ?" Had you 
 not? What, none? Was God so merciless as 
 to leave you utterly alone ? Worse than Lot, 
 when he fled from the wicked city of Sodom, 
 was there no mountain for you to flee unto ? 
 Like Esau, did you seek repentance even with 
 tears, and yet find no place for it? Did David 
 sin against the Lord, and stain his hands with 
 murder and with adultery, and yet find a way, 
 by bitter remorse and penitence, to cause the 
 mighty God to say, " I will put away thy sin, 
 I will remember it no more ;" and yet you, under 
 the light of the gospel, under the blessings of 
 grace, with Jesus your Saviour a Christian are 
 you yet left without mercy and without help ?
 
 290 MOTIVES. 
 
 O no ; you will not dare thus to make defence ; 
 Jesus says, " I am the vine, ye are the branches. 
 He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same 
 bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me ye 
 can do nothing." Then, whose fault is it that 
 ye are without him, if ye refuse to join and 
 be with him, when he asks you in his Eucha- 
 rist ? Again, " If a man abide not in me, he 
 is cast forth as a branch and withered, and 
 men gather them, and cast them into the 
 fire, and they are burned." Whose fault is 
 it that ye are withered branches, dead boughs, 
 lopt off the living trunk of the vine ; that the 
 sap and spirit of life rising from the trunk of 
 the vine, has failed to penetrate into your 
 hearts, while all around are green and flourish- 
 ing branches ; not natural branches, but grafted 
 branches, grafted on the stock of the vine, and 
 therefore bringing forth fruit through the vine, 
 full of fair promise, and a goodly vintage for 
 the day when the Lord of the vineyard shall 
 come to take account ? Whose fault but your 
 own ; refusing communion with your God 
 when it was ready at your hand ? You re- 
 jected the bond that might have united you. 
 The unction of the Holy Ghost could not 
 anoint your worldly and carnal heart, because 
 you placed yourself in no situation where 
 haply it might be found. The grace of God 
 flowing from that holy fountain of love which 
 caused the Saviour to die for you, has met
 
 OUR OWN SALVATION. 291 
 
 no seeking on your part. You have not been 
 hungry after the bread of life, nor thirsty 
 after the living water. The grace of God, 
 as the return of penitence and of faith, as 
 the answer to the aspiring heart of the Chris- 
 tian in communion with his Saviour, has not 
 been shed forth, because you have not sought 
 it. The spirit of truth, whom the world 
 cannot receive, because it seeth him not, 
 neither knoweth him, dwelleth not in you, 
 because you have not wished it ; because you 
 have not cared for it. 
 
 This is the truth : The grace of God is 
 sufficient for us. We are told, in St. Paul's 
 case, that it was sufficient for him ; and 
 though there may be a thorn in the flesh to 
 buffet us ; though the world may overcome 
 us for a time ; though we may have many 
 lapses, many wanderings from the fold, yet, 
 by a steady communion with Christ, there 
 will be a certain periodical return, a closer 
 intimacy, a firmer strength, a more perfect 
 union in virtue and in glory, which must in 
 the end prevail. We shall rise from our spi- 
 ritual communion, " like a giant refreshed with 
 wine," we shall go forth each time more 
 mightily endued with Christian weapons of re- 
 sistance and defence ; and though we may be 
 " cast down, yet shall we not be destroyed ; 
 though perplexed, yet not in despair; though 
 persecuted, yet not forsaken." 
 
 T2
 
 292 MOTIVES. 
 
 Then, finally, communicate as often as you 
 may in the holy supper, with your God 
 and Saviour. Only search for the means of 
 grace in that way which the Lord God has 
 appointed, and you will have the Holy Spirit, 
 the Comforter, to dwell in you, and you in 
 him. "It is the Spirit alone which comforts 
 afflicted minds, which puts activeness into 
 the wearied soul ; which inflames our cold 
 desires, and blows up sparks into live coals, 
 and coals up to flames, and flames into per- 
 petual burnings ; and it is impossible that any 
 man who believes and considers the great, 
 the infinite, the unspeakable, the unimagina- 
 ble and never ceasing joys, that are prepared 
 for all the sons and daughters of the gospel, 
 should not desire them ; and Unless he be 
 a fool, he cannot but use means to 
 obtain them. For it is not directly in 
 the nature of a man to neglect so great a 
 good ; there must be something in his man- 
 ners, some obliquity in his will, or madness 
 in his intellectuals, or incapacity in his natu- 
 rals, that must make him sleep such a reward 
 away, or change it for the pleasure of a 
 drunken fever, or the variety of a mistress, 
 or the rage of a passion, or the unreasonable- 
 ness of any sin. However, this promise is the 
 life of all our actions, and the Spirit that first 
 taught it, is the life of our souls." 
 
 Knock, then, at the door, and it shall be opened ;
 
 OUR OWN SALVATION. 293 
 
 search, and you shall find ; ask, and it shall be given 
 you ; ask in the Eucharistic feast of your blessed 
 Redeemer ; and then, into your hearts, into your 
 practice, into your every day lives will this spirit 
 of God gradually descend, cleansing the foul, 
 softening the hard, vivifying the dead. We shall 
 gradually cast away the works of darkness, and 
 put upon us the armour of light. We shall be 
 strong, " having put on the whole armour of 
 Christ." We shall pass through life in continual 
 remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of 
 Christ, in holiness pure, in our fears and tempt- 
 ations comforted, in all our weaknesses and im- 
 perfections strengthened ; and when, at last, in 
 the inscrutable decrees of Providence, the sand 
 of our life shall run out, when the dark 
 shadows of the 'night shall descend upon our 
 souls, and the world shall fade away in the 
 dimness of our mortal vision : the bright glory 
 of Almighty God shall shine forth on high, 
 and the voice of our expiring lips shall be 
 heard as the good and faithful Simeon : 
 " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
 in peace, according to thy word," for my 
 soul has remembered thy sacrifice, " mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REQUISITES. 
 
 1 COR. xi. 28. 
 
 But let a man EXAMINE HIMSELF, and so let him eat of 
 that bread and drink of that cup. 
 
 WE have now arrived at the last division 
 of our subject, viz. the points which are re- 
 quired at our hands, in order that we may be 
 pronounced worthy communicants. 
 
 The requisites for a due participation in this 
 holy service are of two descriptions ; first, 
 those which attach to the body of the church 
 generally ; and, secondly, those which attach 
 to each individual accidentally. 
 
 I. As to the church. Inasmuch as almost all 
 her ordinances are derived from the Jews, and 
 the church of Israel foreshadowed in every
 
 BAPTISM. 295 
 
 respect the church of Christ, so also in the 
 ordinance of the Lord's Supper we find a very fit 
 guide and precedent for our direction in the cus- 
 toms and laws appointed by God to Moses and 
 Abraham. The passover, as before explained, was 
 the type of the Lord's Supper, and in the account 
 of the passover, as given in the book of Exodus, 
 we find very explicit directions as to the qualifi- 
 cations necessary for that holy ordinance. It 
 is thus directed : " And the Lord said unto 
 Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the 
 passover : there shall no stranger eat thereof, 
 but every man's servant that is bought for 
 money, when thou hast circumcised him, then 
 shall he eat thereof A foreigner and a hired 
 servant shall not eat thereof. And when a 
 stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep 
 the passover to the Lord, let all his males 
 be circumcised, and then let him come near 
 and keep it; and he shall be as one that is 
 born in the land, for no uncircumcised person 
 shall eat thereof."* 
 
 Here, then, we see one essential point in the 
 observance of the passover to be circumcision. 
 No stranger was permitted, in any case, to par- 
 take of it. What is the meaning of a " stran- 
 ger ?" One not circumcised, one not admitted 
 into the Jewish church, by that ordinance 
 which Jehovah had commanded as the sign 
 
 * Exod xii. 43.
 
 296 REQUISITES. 
 
 of his first covenant between himself and the 
 descendants of Abraham. Abraham was sepa- 
 rated by God's especial command from the 
 nations of the world ; his family was made 
 a peculiar family of God; his posterity was 
 promised to be numerous as the sand upon 
 the sea-shore, and the blessings and privileges 
 of the nation which was to descend from 
 his loins were to be poured down in count- 
 less profusion. But the sign by which the 
 promise on God's part, and the obedience 
 which Abraham pledged, on the other part, 
 was ratified and confirmed, was circumcision. 
 This rite of circumcision constituted the true 
 Israelite ; it was the mode of admission into 
 God's family, as we find detailed in the book 
 of Genesis : " And I will establish my covenant 
 between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in 
 their generations, for an everlasting covenant, 
 to be a God unto thee and thy seed after 
 thee. This is my covenant, which ye shall 
 keep between me and thee, and thy seed after 
 thee every man child among ye shall be cir- 
 cumcised."* 
 
 Accordingly, in pursuance of this covenant, we 
 find God continually calling himself, and direct- 
 ing the Israelites to call him " their God the 
 God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 Jacob," " Jehovah God of Israel," " The Holy 
 
 * Exod. iv. 22.
 
 BAPTISM. 297 
 
 One of Israel," and so forth. While, at the 
 same time, with reciprocal affection, he calls 
 the Israelites his children, his peculiar people, 
 his sons : " Israel is my son, even my firstborn."* 
 
 When, therefore, in after times, other cir- 
 cumstances arose in which God thought it 
 right to interfere personally in the conduct of 
 this his appointed family that is to say, in 
 the deliverance from Egypt, it was not inap- 
 propriate than another sign should be instituted 
 commemorative of that second event. But 
 none were to be admitted to the second 
 covenant that were not members of the first. 
 If not members of the first, they were stran- 
 gers to God and not his own family; and 
 it was perfectly just that those who refused 
 to be of his family in the first instance, 
 should not partake of those privileges and 
 blessings which he had in store for them, in 
 the second instance. 
 
 Thus precisely the case stands with Chris- 
 tianity. As to the Jew, circumcision was the 
 initiatory rite by which he became a child of 
 God, so baptism is the initiatory rite by which 
 the Gentile, excluded from God by natural 
 and original sin, is washed and regenerate, 
 and made the child of God ; and unless a 
 man be so baptized, whether Jew or Gen- 
 tile, unless he be so baptized, into the name 
 
 * Genesis xvii. 7.
 
 298 REQUISITES. 
 
 of Jesus Christ, he cannot be entitled to the 
 second ordinance of Christianity, the Euchar- 
 ist* 
 
 At the same time, we must not consider 
 baptism as a mere outward form. Even cir- 
 cumcision, in a religion which dealt much 
 more extensively in forms than ours does, 
 even circumcision was not a mere outward 
 form; it represented something. It represented 
 inward purity, casting away the foulness of 
 the flesh, and a dedication of the spiritual 
 feelings to God. So in the epistle to the 
 Romans we find: "He is not a Jew which 
 is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision 
 which is outward in the flesh. But he is a 
 Jew which is one inwardly, and circumci- 
 
 * "A person must be admitted into covenant first in order 
 to renew, must be initiated in order to be perfected, must be 
 born into Christian life before he takes in the food proper to 
 support and increase it. There is an instance in antiquity as 
 high as the third century, of a person who had long been a 
 communicant, and who afterwards found reason to doubt whether 
 he had been validly baptized, and scrupled the coming again 
 to the Lord's table. His bishop advised him (considering how 
 long he had been a communicant, and honestly all the time,) 
 to go on without scruple, not presuming to give him baptism, 
 which now seemed to be superseded by the long and frequent 
 use of the other sacrament ; the case was very particular, and 
 the resolution probably wise and just. Both the scruple on the 
 one hand and the determination on the other, shew how acknow- 
 ledged a principle it then was, that baptism is ordinarily a 
 most essential part of the qualification required for receiving 
 the holy communion." Waterland's Review, chap. xiii.
 
 BAPTISM. 299 
 
 sion is that of the heart, in the spirit, and 
 not in the letter, whose praise is not of 
 men, but of God,"* and so we find in Jere- 
 miah, " uncircumcised in heart and ears," and 
 in Ezekiel, "uncircumcised in heart and flesh" 
 If so much more in a church whose very 
 existence depends upon spiritual affections, 
 and whose boast it is to have cast aside the 
 burdens of the Jewish ceremonies, must we 
 expect that the rite of baptism should convey 
 a far higher meaning than a mere outward 
 form and watchword of admittance into the 
 privileges of Christianity ? Yet it is to be 
 feared that many esteem it n& higher, many 
 make the holy sacrament of baptism but a 
 mere worldly ceremony, bringing their chil- 
 dren to the font for the sake of registering 
 their names in the books of the church, 
 without any spiritual feelings whatever, and 
 without any religious understanding of the 
 obligations and solemn covenant thereby en- 
 tered upon between God and man. In the 
 case of adult baptism, when it happens that 
 the sacrament is not administered until years 
 of discretion, then indeed does the covenant 
 so solemnly pledged, stand solely between the 
 individual baptized and his Creator, and Saviour. 
 But where infants are baptized, whatever the 
 understanding, or the motive of the parent 
 
 * Romans ii. 28.
 
 300 REQUISITES. 
 
 may be, we trust that the fault will not affect 
 the child thus dedicated to God ; we trust 
 that the prayer of the minister offered up in 
 behalf of the unconscious infant, shall avail 
 in the sight of a merciful God ; we trust that 
 the child so received within the pale of the 
 church, is a member of Christ, a child of God, 
 and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 and that they who shall thus be baptized in 
 the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 shall be capable of taking upon themselves, 
 when they come to years of discretion, the 
 ulterior pledges which are demanded by the sa- 
 crament of the Eucharist. 
 
 Infant baptism is the general custom and doc- 
 trine of the church; and parents and guardians are 
 strictly called upon, as early as possible, to bring 
 their children so that they may be dedicated 
 to God : but it very frequently happens, from ac- 
 cidental circumstances, negligent and irreligious 
 parents, parents differing from the doctrines of 
 the church of England ; orphans, or deserted chil- 
 dren ; that they have grown up to man's estate, 
 that they become, under God's grace, sensi- 
 ble of the religious obligations under which 
 they stand towards God ; and would desire 
 to be partakers in the holy sacrament of the 
 Eucharist, even as they behold their compa- 
 nions and equals in age. But it is evident, 
 from what I have already stated, that they 
 would be incapable of so doing. They would
 
 BAPTISM. 301 
 
 be strangers and foreigners towards God. They 
 would be alienate from him, and must not 
 think that they can in any case dispense with 
 the previous sacrament of baptism. Do not 
 let them imagine, that baptism is meant for 
 infants only, that it was only little children 
 in body that Christ commanded to be brought 
 unto him. It was little children in religion 
 also. Do not let them imagine, that Chris- 
 tianity is merely an internal emotion of the 
 feelings, and disdains those outward helps 
 which forms and ceremonies furnish, that they 
 may be baptized of the Spirit, may feel the 
 inward regeneration of the soul, without the 
 outward form of water. Jesus himself said 
 not only, " Except a man be born of the Spirit" 
 but he said, " Except a man be born of water, 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of God." He was himself baptized. 
 It became him to fulfil all righteousness. He 
 was baptized according to the baptism of 
 John, in the river Jordan ; and God the Father 
 gave testimony to God the Son, and God the 
 Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove, 
 confirming the seal of the new covenant, and 
 thus displaying to the world the commence- 
 ment of that ordinance, which was afterwards 
 more fully developed in his parting words. 
 " Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them 
 in the name of the Father, and of the Son. and 
 of the Holy Ghost."
 
 302 REQUISITES. 
 
 Baptism, then, was appointed by Jesus Christ 
 himself as a sacrament, and the way of ad- 
 mittance into his church ; and we cannot 
 question its value, or deny its obligation. 
 Jesus himself is the door, and W T C must not 
 seek admittance by any other door ; but, like 
 the eunuch of queen Candace, repenting of our 
 sins, and believing with all our heart ; there is 
 nothing, whatever our age may be, which will 
 prevent our baptism. The church recognizes 
 it, and has set apart a service expressly for 
 it ; and this being once done, we may then, 
 in company with our associated brethren, com- 
 municate in the Supper of our Lord. 
 
 II. Next to baptism, and as an appendage 
 to baptism, there is another ordinance which 
 the church has considered as a fit preparation 
 for the Eucharist. It is that of confirmation. 
 The laying of the hands of the bishop on such 
 as have been baptized, and have arrived at 
 years of discretion. The obligations of bap- 
 tism being entered into as infants, while the 
 mind is yet immature and unconscious of the 
 real nature of Christianity, and when the so- 
 lemn pledges of faith and repentance, being 
 unintelligible to the baptized person, have 
 been undertaken on their part by the sponsors ; 
 it seems natural, that there should be a time 
 when those sponsors may be released of their 
 promises, and the baptized persons, in their 
 own name, may ratify that which was pledged
 
 CONFIRMATION. 303 
 
 for them by others. This is confirmation. It 
 is a ceremony of our church, taken from that 
 account, which is given in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, of the church of Samaria. - Philip 
 the deacon, went down to Samaria, and bap- 
 tized, in the name of the Lord Jesus, a very 
 great number of new converts. And when the 
 apostles at Jerusalem heard this, they pro- 
 ceeded thither themselves, and " laid their 
 hands on them, and they received the Holy 
 Ghost." In imitation of this, our bishops lay 
 their hands on the baptized persons presented 
 to them at the altar. The person so presented 
 takes upon himself, in the presence of God 
 and of the congregation, the solemn vows and 
 promises of the Christian profession, and the 
 bishop laying on his hands, prays for the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit, to direct and sanctify 
 the renewed promise, and to confirm and esta- 
 blish the heart in every good word and work : 
 " Defend, O Lord, this thy servant, with thy 
 heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for 
 ever ; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit 
 more and more, until he come into thine ever- 
 lasting kingdom." 
 
 How necessary our church considers this 
 ceremony as a preparation for communion in 
 the Eucharist, we may gather from the rubric 
 direction, at the end of the service : " And 
 there shall none be admitted to the holy com- 
 munion until such time as he be confirmed,
 
 304 REQUISITES. 
 
 or be ready and desirous to be confirmed." 
 This last expression, " or be ready and desirous 
 to be confirmed" shews that we do not look 
 upon the ceremony in the same light as that 
 of baptism ; the one being only of apostolic, 
 the other of divine institution ; but only as 
 wise and appropriate, where opportunity oc- 
 curs ; and not to be neglected, unless under the 
 pressure of peculiar and urgent circumstances. 
 If such circumstances should occur, such as 
 the absence of the bishop, or sudden attack 
 of sickness before the time of the bishop's 
 attendance, or any such temporal chances ; 
 then it appears to be the desire of our church, 
 that the Christian should not wait for con- 
 firmation, but pass on directly to the more im- 
 portant sacrament of the Eucharist* 
 
 * Our church takes the will for the deed, insists on out- 
 ward forms as conveying inward grace, yet where the outward 
 forms are impossible to be obtained she dispenses with them, 
 and supposes that the inward grace may be vouchsafed to the 
 sincere intention. This is conspicuous in the rubric above 
 cited, in reference to confirmation, but more strongly in 
 another rubric relating to the Eucharist, where the Christian is 
 said to receive the benefits of the sacrament, in certain circum- 
 stances, Avithout actually eating and drinking the bread and 
 wine. The following is the rubric, which will be found at the 
 office for the communion of the sick : " But if a man, either 
 by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in 
 due time to the curate, or for lack of company to receive with 
 him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the 
 sacrament of Christ's body and blood, the curate shall instruct
 
 CONFIRMATION. 305 
 
 But then he must be able conscientiously 
 to say that the opportunity has not been at 
 hand. Though not a sacrament though not 
 necessary to salvation, as sacraments are, yet 
 this holy ordinance contains so many advan- 
 tages in itself, contains so valuable a means 
 of grace, and is so singularly appropriate to 
 the time of life when it is generally per- 
 formed, that it cannot fail to create a deep 
 and lasting impression on the heart of the 
 serious disciple of the Lord. It is a wise 
 and wholesome preparation, a self-scrutiny, 
 a casting back of the mind upon the un- 
 conscious period of infancy, when our parents 
 in the Lord presented us in his temple, and 
 consecrated us to His service, who guarded 
 our tender years from harm, and trained our 
 youthful minds in the acquisition of that know- 
 ledge which bringeth peace on earth and 
 salvation in heaven. And it is a looking 
 forward of the mind to the hidden future of 
 manhood ; to that future so pregnant with 
 danger, so pregnant with uncertainty just at 
 that season when we are, as it were, on 
 
 him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and stedfastly 
 believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the cross 
 for him, and shed his blood for his redemption, earnestly re- 
 membering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him 
 hearty thanks therefore, he doth eat and drink the body and 
 blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, 
 although he do not receive the sacrament with his mouth." 
 
 U
 
 306 REQUISITES. 
 
 the threshold of life, when the world is 
 opening to us its fair appearing scenes of 
 pleasure and of ambition ; when the tempta- 
 tions both of sense and intellect are just 
 beginning to have sway, and the evil one 
 is standing by to shew us " all the kingdoms 
 of the world, and the glory of them," and 
 to say, " All these things will I give thee if 
 thou wilt fall down and worship me." There- 
 fore it is that we need at this moment, 
 more than at any other period of our life, 
 strength and stimulus to encourage us in 
 our unequal combat ; the voice of admonition 
 to warn, and the voice of prayer and appeal 
 to God for help, and guidance, and grace ; 
 prayer, not only of ourselves, but also of 
 the assembled congregation, and of the bishop 
 and pastor of the flock. 
 
 Confirmation gives all this. A service most 
 valuable therefore to every class of men. A 
 service not wilfully to be neglected by the 
 Christian in his search for every means of 
 grace, and every hope of glory * 
 
 * A question is often raised, whether the rite of confirma- 
 tion should be administered even after the Eucharist has been 
 habitually received. It is one of those questions to which 
 no general answer can be given. Where such persons as 
 have unavoidably, or from inattention, neglected the former 
 rite, feel a desire, and are of opinion in their own hearts 
 that confirmation may prove a source of blessing to them, 
 there can be no impropriety in their being confirmed ; but 
 at the same time, having partaken of the greater ordinance,
 
 REPENTANCE. 307 
 
 III. Such are the general and ecclesiastical 
 qualifications with which men must be en- 
 dued in order to present themselves at the 
 table of the Lord. But to these there must 
 be added the especial and personal qualifica- 
 tions of the heart and of the mind. Our 
 church catechism, to the question, " What is 
 required of persons who come to the Lord's 
 Supper ?" answers, " To examine themselves 
 whether they repent them truly of their for- 
 mer sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new 
 life, have a lively faith in God's mercy 
 through Christ, and be in charity with all 
 men." Here the qualifications are stated to 
 be : 1. Repentance ; 2. Universal charity ; 3. 
 A thankful remembrance of Christ's death; all 
 which relate to time past ; 4. A steadfast 
 purpose to lead a new life ; and 5. A lively 
 faith in God's mercy through Christ ; which 
 have reference to the future. 
 
 Repentance stands first, and by repentance we 
 must understand abject contrition and sorrow for 
 
 there is no necessity for the lesser. Let every man do in 
 such a case "as he is disposed in his own heart." Another 
 question is sometimes raised, whether a person is not too old 
 to be confirmed. To this we can decidedly answer in the nega- 
 tive. It is the bounden duty of every Christian, without any 
 limit of age, to receive the Eucharist, and previous to the 
 Eucharist to be confirmed. We can never be too old to do 
 our duty ; and if that duty has been neglected while young, 
 we can never be too old to repair that negligence.
 
 308 REQUISITES. 
 
 our general depravity, and more especially for 
 our individual sins. We must consider it to 
 embrace humility, consciousness of our unwor- 
 thiness, and a prostration of all merits on our 
 part before the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 
 When we remember the things which Christ 
 has done, we are bound to remember the 
 character of those for whom they were done. 
 We must never forget the miserable, degraded 
 state of our nature inherited from Adam; 
 and without entering into any philosophical 
 disquisition as to the justice of God in pun- 
 ishing the sins of the fathers upon the chil- 
 dren, but looking first at the facts which we 
 see, and the feelings of evil which we bear 
 in our own bosoms, and then confirming these 
 facts by an appeal to the scriptures of Al- 
 mighty God, where they are explained in the 
 account of Adam's disobedience ; we must con- 
 fess the rebellious, obstinate, wilful charac- 
 ter which the human race has ever dis- 
 played towards the Creator of the world, 
 despising his law, mocking at his command- 
 ments, and even when he sent his only Son 
 to reclaim them, to teach them, and to die 
 for them, still to a great extent disbelieving 
 and rejecting him. " He came to his own, and 
 his own received him not." They crucified 
 him, and " put him to an open shame." 
 
 Now we are a part of that race of beings who 
 did this. It is our nature which, throughout the
 
 REPENTANCE. 309 
 
 history of the world, presents one continued scene 
 of the most extraordinary and wilful blindness, 
 the most hard-hearted rejection of the loving- 
 kindness of God ; murmuring in the wilder- 
 ness, though his miracles of love were con- 
 tinual ; setting up the idols of Egypt, though 
 his express command was to worship the 
 Lord God, and him alone ; refusing the voice 
 of his prophets, who from time to time were 
 sent to admonish and to warn. It was our 
 human nature which did this. We ourselves 
 might have done the same thing had we 
 been placed in the same situation. We might 
 have been the very Jews who nailed the Sa- 
 viour to the cross ; as we do in fact by the 
 sins of which we are guilty at this present 
 moment. We might have been the Judas Is- 
 cariot who betrayed, or the Pontius Pilate who 
 unjustly condemned the Peter who denied his 
 Master, or the Ananias who lied unto the 
 Holy Ghost. It is our nature which was ca- 
 pable of these things ; our nature which we 
 have to lament and bewail as utterly sinful 
 in God's sight. 
 
 But not only this general view of sin. We 
 must also descend into particulars. Each of us 
 must lay our hands upon those individual in- 
 stances where this sinful nature has been dis- 
 played. We must search out our hearts, and 
 commune with them in our chambers, and be 
 still. To talk of sin abstractedly, to detail the
 
 310 REQUISITES. 
 
 weaknesses and the failures of other men, with- 
 out going into any examination of our own, 
 would only engender spiritual pride would 
 only beget in us a complacency and self-satisfac- 
 tion, utterly ruinous to all hope of salvation. 
 We must, therefore, in the words of the apostle, 
 " examine ourselves" " sift ourselves as wheat " 
 " try out our reins and our heart," and if there 
 be any evil thing, draw it forth, and confess it 
 to God, in all sorrow and contrition. Who that 
 does so, who that considers seriously and 
 honestly the movements of his thoughts, and 
 words, and actions, for a single day, will not 
 have need to wish many things undone which 
 have been done, and many things done which 
 have been omitted ? who will not have to exclaim 
 how perverse, how unbelieving, how discon- 
 tented, how wordly-minded have I been ; and, 
 therefore, how odious in the sight of God must 
 I appear ? " Lord, be merciful to me a sinner !" 
 Who can look upon himself, and then look up 
 to God, and not burst forth into the impassioned 
 and ardent language of the prodigal : "Father, I 
 have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and 
 am no more worthy to be called thy son ?" 
 
 " He that repents truly, is greatly sorrowful for 
 his past sins, not with a superficial sigh or 
 tear, but a pungent afflictive sorrow ; and such a 
 sorrow as hates the sin so much, that the 
 man would choose to die rather than act it 
 any more. This sorrow is called in scripture,
 
 REPENTANCE. 311 
 
 a " weeping sorely, a weeping with bitterness 
 of heart, a weeping day and night ; a sorrow of 
 heart, a breaking of the spirit, a mourning like 
 a dove, a chattering like a swallow."* We 
 cannot all, or any of us, at all times, feel the 
 intensity of grief for sin which is here de- 
 picted. The degree of sorrow for sin will 
 depend greatly on the degree of sin ; and as we 
 do not all sin equally, we cannot all feel the 
 same depth of repentance :t but there remains 
 plenty of opportunity even for the best. There 
 is only required the honest examination ; and 
 though we may not have the heart-breaking 
 of David, when he mourned for his murder 
 and adultery ; though we may not need the 
 bitter weeping of Peter, when he said, with 
 oaths and curses, " I know not the man ;" still 
 the carnal lusts, daily excited, the impure mo- 
 tives, daily suggesting unhallowed actions, even 
 the good actions daily intermingled with, and 
 springing out of impure designs ; " the good 
 
 * Bishop Taylor, Holy Living and Dying. 
 
 t "In Christianity, repentance is the foundation of every 
 thing. Now the sorrow that we ought to feel for the least sin 
 must be a very serious one, and for greater offences, in propor- 
 tion, deeper. But the vehemence and passionateness of grief 
 will, on every occasion, and particularly on this, be extremely 
 different in different persons. And, therefore, all that God ex- 
 pects is, a sincere, though it may be a calm, concern for every 
 past fault of which we are conscious, and for the multitudes 
 which we have either not observed or forgotten." Archbishop 
 Seeker.
 
 312 REQUISITES. 
 
 that we would, that not doing, and the evil 
 that we would not, that doing :" all, or any, 
 are quite sufficient for the best of us to seek the 
 Lord, if, haply, we can find him, in the holy 
 feast of his Eucharist ; to seek him with a con- 
 trite heart, and a bruised spirit, to inquire out 
 the weaknesses and indiscretions, the aptness to 
 temptation, and the secret ulcers which may lie 
 under the surface of a healed skin, to lay them 
 bare with the keen knife of self-examination ; to 
 search for the Physician of souls in humiliation, 
 in sorrow, in confession. 
 
 "Repent ye, and believe the gospel," said 
 our blessed Redeemer himself Previous to'^ be- 
 lieving the gospel, repentance was the'prepara- 
 tion : and even so, were he to speak on earth 
 again, his blessed words would be, now that 
 the gospel is believed, if haply it is believed 
 " Repent ye, and receive the Eucharist." 
 
 IV. The next qualification which we must 
 possess is, universal charity. We are naturally 
 and easily led to this from repentance : for what 
 greater arguments can there be to lower our 
 pride than a remembrance of our infirmities to 
 decrease the difference between ourselves and 
 others, than remembering the difference between 
 ourselves and God, to put in contrast the wrongs 
 done to ourselves, by calling to mind our own 
 wrongs done towards our heavenly Father, to 
 show us the love which we should bear to others, 
 by dwelling on that love which caused Jesus
 
 CHARITY. 313 
 
 Christ to die for our sins : but all these 
 things belong to repentance. 
 
 Christian charity embraces first a uni- 
 versal brotherly love : this is surely evident 
 from the many express commands which Jesus 
 gave : " One is your master even Christ, and 
 all ye are brethren." Here, in the Lord's 
 Supper, we meet as brothers, united in one 
 family, and joined by one covenant, partaking 
 of one worship, celebrating the memory of 
 one Saviour, through him and in him joint 
 heirs of the same kingdom. It is this notion 
 of equality which is the peculiar character 
 of the Eucharistic feast ; equality, not in 
 worldly things but in heavenly things ; equality, 
 not as touching the honours or privileges of 
 men, but as touching the glories of that king- 
 dom which Jesus Christ has promised, as touch- 
 ing the sins, the follies, the infirmities of human 
 nature, of which we all, rich and poor, are the 
 joint possessors. Here no righteous pharisee 
 dare to say to the overburdened publican : 
 " Stand off, for I am holier than thou ;" or, 
 lifting up his voice to God : "I thank thee 
 that I am not as other men are." Here no 
 Dives dare to bring the privileges of birth, or 
 wealth, or power, to compete with the privi- 
 leges of the Christian, and the treasure which 
 is in heaven, and the power of that Holy 
 Spirit which sanctifieth the people of God. 
 No, the master and the servant, the house- 
 holder and his labourers, the inhabitant of
 
 314 REQUISITES. 
 
 palaces, and he who from day to day earns 
 the hard pittance of his daily bread, rude 
 and unpolished ; all differences and distinc- 
 tions which this imperfect world renders ne- 
 cessary, and which very differences are a mark 
 of its imperfection all being cast aside 
 before the same altar they kneel, brethren in 
 the Lord. 
 
 " A new commandment give I unto you," 
 said Jesus, " that ye love one another:" 
 of course if we remember that we are " breth- 
 ren" we must love one another. This word 
 betokens love, it puts aside all pride, for one 
 is not better than another. It puts aside all 
 fear, for perfect love casteth out fear, and 
 looking only to him who is the head of all, 
 the great disparity between ourselves and that 
 head merges and swallows up all disparity 
 between ourselves. " A new commandment I 
 give unto you, that ye love one another, as 
 I have loved you, that ye also love one ano- 
 ther. By this shall all men know that ye 
 are my disciples, if ye have love one to ano- 
 ther." This commandment was given shortly 
 after the institution of the Eucharist. It was 
 given while the twelve were sitting by the 
 side of that great master who gave himself 
 as the example, " as I have loved you" and 
 how ? by dying : and it was indeed a per- 
 fectly new commandment, new to the Gentile, 
 new to the Israelite, for it was said by them
 
 CHARITY. 315 
 
 of old : " Thou shalt love thy neighbour and 
 hate thine enemy ;" but this new command- 
 ment made no distinction : " But I say unto 
 you love your enemies, bless them that curse 
 you, do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you, 
 and persecute you ;" and upon the principle 
 of the love of God towards man : " for he 
 maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and 
 upon the good, and sendeth rain on the 
 just and on the unjust." 
 
 There must, therefore, not only be a general 
 and abstract love, a benevolent and peaceful 
 disposition towards all mankind, but it must 
 descend into all the jars and offences of private and 
 individual life. There must be a readiness to 
 forgive injuries, a desire of remission of all 
 trespasses between man and man, a restraint 
 upon the evil passions and turbulent feelings 
 of envy, malice, and all uncharitableness. This, 
 too, was a new commandment ; for " it was said 
 by them of old, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for 
 a tooth ;" but Christ said, " Resist not evil ; but 
 whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, 
 turn to him the other also." It must be that 
 offences will come. Our paths in life are con- 
 tinually crossing one another. Interests will clash ; 
 tempers will be warm ; evil passions will break 
 out. But, as a right qualification for the Lord's 
 Supper, we must have a heart free from all this 
 strife and malignity of the world ; we must
 
 316 REQUISITES. 
 
 cast aside all save that which is of charity cha- 
 rity in thoughts as well as in actions, for 
 charity in the oppressed " suffereth long ;" in 
 the unsuccessful and unfortunate, " envieth 
 not ;" in the prosperous, " vaunteth not itself, 
 and is not puffed up." Charity, in the injured, 
 " is not easily provoked ;" in the righteous, 
 " rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the 
 truth ;" in the poor, " beareth all things, be- 
 lieveth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
 things ;" in the rich, " doth not behave itself un- 
 seemly, and seeketh not her own." Charity, in 
 all, of every degree, and of every temper, "never 
 faileth." 
 
 Ye, therefore, that come unto the Lord's table 
 must come with charity. You must cast your 
 mind abroad upon your intercourse with man ; 
 if no difference exist either in judgment or 
 in action between you and your brethren, come 
 at once with safety and with joy. But if there 
 should be differences or offences, then your rule 
 must be that of your Redeemer's : "If thou 
 bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 
 that thy brother hath ought against thee, 
 leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy 
 way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and 
 then come and offer thy gift."* Be not deceived 
 
 * This passage is quoted by several of the fathers, and the 
 word " gift" is interpreted to mean worship, alms, or oblations; 
 and the apostolical constitutions explain it by prayer, praise, or 
 thanksgiving ; and it is, of course, evident that any of these
 
 CHARITY. 317 
 
 with any subterfuges of your own, saying, I will 
 forgive, but not forget ; or by any false prin- 
 ciple of worldly honour, refusing to extend the 
 hand of Christian forgiveness, because the 
 ivorld says that you may not. If you have 
 rightly employed yourselves on the first qua- 
 lification - - that of repentance ; if you have 
 searched your hearts even as David, after his 
 great and appalling sins against reason, and 
 against God ; and have cried out with him, as 
 you, no doubt, in many instances, ought to 
 do : " Have mercy on me, O God, according to 
 thy loving-kindness, according to the multi- 
 tude of thy tender mercies, blot out my trans- 
 gressions," you cannot, then, refuse the mercy 
 that is asked on your part. You cannot with 
 one hand be pleading forgiveness, and the other 
 be rejecting that which is demanded. You will 
 not surely be imitating that debtor described in 
 the parable of our blessed Saviour, who had 
 
 gifts could not be accepted at the altar of God, unless offered 
 with a peaceful mind, and with charity in the heart, as well as 
 in the hand. When we are told in the above text to be recon,- 
 ciled to our brother, it does not imply that in case our brother 
 should refuse to be reconciled to us, we should still be debarred 
 from the benefits of the sacrament. If we have endeavoured, 
 on our own part, to become reconciled making restitution, 
 and seeking forgiveness, then it matters not if our brother should 
 still withhold the forgiveness which has been asked. The sin, 
 in that case, remains with him, and not with us, and we may ap- 
 proach the altar with perfect safety. See this more fully dis- 
 cussed in Waterland's Review, chap. xiii.
 
 318 REQUISITES. 
 
 been forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents, and 
 went and cast his fellow-servant into prison for 
 for a debt of a hundred pence : you will not 
 make a mockery of the words when you say to 
 God, night and morning, " Forgive us our tres- 
 passes as we forgive them that trespass against 
 us ;" but you will blot out all minor differences 
 of opinion and of action all offences, all the 
 discords, all the animosities, which must, in 
 spite of the most well-intentioned and best re- 
 gulated mind, be continually occurring you 
 will blot them all out, and sink them in the 
 great redemption and pardon which Jesus has 
 obtained for you. You will remember his espe- 
 cial and admonitory words : " If thy brother tres- 
 pass against thee, rebuke him ; and if he repent, 
 forgive him : and if he trespass against thee seven 
 times a day, and seven times a day turn again to 
 thee, saying, I repent ; thou shalt forgive him." 
 V. We must " have a thankful remembrance 
 of Christ's death" i. e., we must remem- 
 ber Christ's death with gratitude, and that 
 gratitude will embrace admiration, and honour, 
 and love. Admiration in the spectacle of an 
 incarnate God dying for the sins of men. 
 What can possibly be conceived more won- 
 derful ! His incarnation, death, resurrection, 
 ascension, daily intercession at the right hand 
 of God. His mediatorial office stooping to 
 the infirmities, passions, and wretchedness of 
 man, yet elevated to the power and dignity
 
 THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE. 319 
 
 of God ; consulting and warning us in human 
 flesh subsisting, yet pleading and extenuating 
 as equal and coeternal with the Godhead ; 
 redeeming us with the voluntary shedding of 
 his own blood as the Son of Man, yet sitting 
 on his eternal throne of judgment, as the all- 
 knowing and all-mighty Son of God ; born 
 as a lowly babe in the common manger of a 
 common inn ; living in the midst of lowliness 
 and poverty, as a common mechanic ; scourged 
 and spitted on, and crucified as a common 
 malefactor ; yet, nevertheless, overcoming all, 
 enduring all, despising the shame, and rising 
 again from death (because he could not be 
 holden of death) the glorified Son of God, 
 the innocent, the pure. And there he still 
 remains. There he ever sits at the right hand 
 of his Father, the bright and glorious Poten- 
 tate, whose praises and whose hallelujahs, the 
 martyrs and saints, and prophets, cherubim 
 and seraphim, continually do cry. 
 
 These indeed are things which merit our 
 admiration, which cause us to gaze in astonish- 
 ment at the immensity of God's ways, which 
 cause us to dwell upon the glories which Jesus 
 has wrought on our behalf with wonder and 
 with awe. 
 
 Our remembrance of his death must also 
 be with honour. " The Father judge th no 
 man, but hath committed all judgment unto 
 the Son, that all men should honour the
 
 320 REQUISITES. 
 
 Son, even as they honour the Father. He 
 that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not 
 the Father which hath sent him." Here we 
 see how closely interwoven the one is with 
 the other. If we are bound to honour the 
 Father as our Creator, so also the Son, because 
 by him, saith St. John, " all things were made, 
 and without him was not any thing made 
 that was made." If we are bound to honour 
 the Father as our preserver, because from day 
 to day he supplies us with food and with 
 raiment, and with all things that tend to our 
 comfort, and to our happiness so also the 
 Son, for he is our preserver against all evil 
 which may assault and hurt the soul ; sending, 
 as he promised, the Comforter to guide us into 
 all godliness, and to save us from the power 
 of that evil one, who is ever " going about 
 seeking whom he may devour." If we are 
 bound to honour the Father as giving us the 
 revelation of his will in the law, as placing 
 before us the great precepts of holiness which 
 shall make us, if obeyed, his perfect children 
 so also the Son, who " came not to destroy 
 the law, but to fulfil it ;" who came not to 
 enforce it to that letter which killeth, but to 
 the spirit which maketh alive ; who came to 
 shew us in the gospel another and a more full 
 revelation of his will ; not only doing it in 
 word, but in fact ; not only by precept, but by 
 a living example. The honour of the Son, then,
 
 THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE. 321 
 
 is the honour of the Father, and the honour 
 of the Father is the honour of the Son. " Jesus 
 said, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing. 
 It is my Father that honoureth me, of whom 
 ye say that he is your God." " I honour 
 my Father, and ye do dishonour me." But 
 how did the Jews dishonour Christ? Be- 
 cause " he told them the truth, and they 
 believed him not." They refused the faith, 
 they withheld the credence which the evi- 
 dence of his works demanded ; pretending to 
 be the people of God under the law, they 
 refused to be so under the gospel ; whereas 
 both went together, and one was only the 
 sequence of the other. But as mercy is a 
 greater gift than justice ; and as life and im- 
 mortality is a greater boon than temporal 
 glory ; and as redemption is a higher work 
 than creation ; so must we honour the Father 
 principally in his Son. So must we say, when 
 we remember the death by which the work 
 of redemption was effected, Blessing and glory, 
 and honour and power, be unto him that "sit- 
 teth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever 
 and ever." 
 
 But our thankful remembrance must not only 
 convey those feelings which are of the most 
 elevated description, but also the more close 
 and affectionate feelings of love ; and why ? 
 He had toward us those close and affectionate 
 feelings. His care of us was not so much 
 
 x
 
 322 REQUISITES. 
 
 that of a king toward his subjects, as of 
 a pastor and shepherd toward his flock. He 
 came to teach things which we never con- 
 ceived possible before ; he came to suffer 
 things which the utmost generosity of human 
 patience and human disinterestedness never 
 could have imagined as endurable. Our souls 
 were lost, we were condemned past hope, we 
 were as sheep gone astray from the fold, 
 wandering in the wilderness, no food to nou- 
 rish us, no arm to protect us, no light to 
 cheer us. In the midst of this he approached, 
 he became the shepherd and bishop of our 
 souls. He led us into green pastures and 
 fed us with spiritual manna from on high. 
 While we were yet sinners he died for us. 
 The wages of sin, and the condemnation of 
 the law he changed into the free gift of 
 salvation and grace. The gate of hell he for 
 ever shut, the gate of heaven he for ever 
 opened, and now keeps perpetually open, that 
 all may enter who seek admittance through 
 him. At that gate he stands inviting us, and 
 keeping a place for his own. There in his 
 glory and his love he stands, such love as 
 passeth all understanding, intending and pre- 
 paring for us such high prizes of Christian 
 exaltation as it enters not into our hearts 
 to conceive ; O, hear his words of mercy : 
 " Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest ;" hear his words
 
 THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE. 323 
 
 of peace : " Peace I leave with you, my 
 peace I give unto you, not as the world 
 giveth give I unto you ;" hear his words of 
 love: "As the Father hath loved me, so 
 have I loved you; continue ye in my love." 
 Then surely before we presume to communi- 
 cate with him in that most intimate fellow- 
 ship of his holy supper, we must ascertain 
 that our hearts are clearly embued with 
 a spiritual love towards him. Jesus said 
 on one occasion to Simon, " Simon, son of 
 Jonas, lovest thou me ?" and he repeated the 
 question three times. O, let us answer even 
 as he answered: " Lord, thou knowest that 
 I love thee." Let us so exclaim, and let it 
 be a faithful, a sincere exclamation on every 
 occasion on which we approach the symbols 
 of his love toward us. Let us be prepared 
 in the fulness of joy, in the fulness of bless- 
 ing, in the fulness of a heart teeming with 
 solemn and reverential love toward him who 
 could in no way shew greater love for us 
 than this, that he laid down his life for us. 
 "We have known and believed the love that 
 God hath to us ; God is love, and he that 
 dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him. Herein is our love made perfect, 
 that we may have boldness in the day of 
 judgment, because as he is, so are we in 
 this world. There is no fear in love, but 
 perfect love casteth out fear, because fear
 
 324 REQUISITES. 
 
 hath torment. He that feareth is not made 
 perfect in love, we love him because he first 
 loved us" 
 
 VI. From considerations of the past, we are 
 to proceed to the future. From the repentance 
 to which our soul has been subjected in recalling 
 our past demerits, we are naturally led to reso- 
 lutions of future amendment " to lead a neiv 
 life ;" and from the love with which we have been 
 contemplating the meritorious death of the Re- 
 deemer, we are obviously led to faith in God's 
 mercy through Christ. Repentance, if sincere, 
 conveys at once the intention of amendment ; for 
 it signifies not only a remorse and sorrow for 
 the past, but a change of mind, an alteration of 
 the feelings and opinions in regard to sin, and 
 in regard to God. Again, the love of Christ, 
 love of his character, love of his person, love of 
 his doctrines, which are all conveyed in the ex- 
 pression, " a thankful remembrance of Christ's 
 death, " signifies an intention of keeping his 
 commandments : " Ye are my friends, if ye do 
 whatsoever I command you." So that repent- 
 ance and love will work together, under the 
 grace of God, to alter the character, to amend 
 and to improve it, so that it seems impossible 
 that a man can really have " a thankful remem- 
 brance of Christ's death," without, at the same 
 moment " steadfastly purposing to lead a new 
 life." That a person should presume to enter 
 the house of God in any way, even to listen
 
 AMENDMENT. 325 
 
 to the word of God as preached by his minis- 
 ters from the pulpit, even to hear the solemn 
 confession of faith as delivered in the creed, and 
 yet continue to remain in sin, does seem a 
 hardihood and an hypocrisy, of which few would 
 dare to be guilty ; but that he should pursue 
 this a step further, that he should kneel down at 
 the altar, gaze upon the sacramental elements 
 representing that sacrifice of which he was the 
 cause, that body which was broken, and that 
 blood poured out for his sins that he should 
 dare to partake of those holy symbols with an 
 intention, or any secret reservation, to continue 
 in the sins of which he has been guilty, and 
 to be in future just the same as he was be- 
 fore. This does seem a depravation of cha- 
 racter so frightful, and a hardness of heart so 
 steeled against the grace of God, that, in cha- 
 rity, we must hope and pray that it never can 
 exist. Let us take it for granted that it is 
 impossible.* 
 
 * We proceed all along upon the supposition that the com- 
 municant follows the direction of the apostle, and before he 
 approaches the table, " examines himself." If he should 
 come without any consideration, or heed, as to his state of life, 
 of course he would be incurring God's wrath. In the ancient 
 sacrifices, a part of the ceremony consisted in what was called 
 the " inspection," a close examination, on the part of the 
 priest, that nothing might be offered which had any blemish or 
 mark. And Chrysostom applies this metaphorically to the 
 self-examination required on the part of the communicants :
 
 326 REQUISITES. 
 
 That we may, after the strongest resolutions 
 of amendment, yet fall back into sin, must 
 be allowed, by any one who knows what the 
 infirmity of human nature is. But this may 
 exist without any violation of sincerity on our 
 part The two things are perfectly distinct. 
 Yet the resolutions, constantly repeated, must, 
 in the end, though they be broken time after 
 time, prevail. Like the drop of water, which, 
 by continuance, shall wear away the hardest 
 rock, so a good resolution, sincerely formed, and 
 pursued to the best of our powers, however 
 weak that power may be, yet shall, with those 
 helps of grace superadded, which the Christian 
 
 " Wherefore, we ought to inspect ourselves, and all about us. 
 For if, under the old law, they were obliged nicely to look 
 upon every offering, and did not suffer them to bring a sacrifice 
 with a torn ear, or without a tail, or that had a foul ulcer, or 
 was leprous how much more should we, who do not offer up 
 inanimate creatures, but ourselves, be diligent to be pure." 
 Chrys. Horn. xx. Again, the same father beautifully says : " I 
 call upon you with a loud voice, and beg of you, and beseech 
 you, that you do not come with a blemish upon you, and with 
 an evil conscience, to this holy table, for this would not be a 
 communion, though you should a thousand times over touch 
 Christ's body, but it would be your judgment and condemna- 
 tion. Let, therefore, no sinner come, (but I must not say, no 
 sinner, for then I should drive myself away from this holy 
 table,) but let no one who continues a sinner come." It is this 
 purposed determination to continue in sin, when partaking of 
 the body and blood of Christ, which I am surely justified in 
 saying is impossible.
 
 AMENDMENT. 327 
 
 knows how to ask, overcome the most seductive 
 temptations, and destroy the most inveterate 
 habits of which the human character is capable. 
 The duty is to form the resolution, and to form 
 it with sincerity, to intend, to the best of our 
 strength, to wrestle with the evil of our 
 nature, to be guarded against the attacks of our 
 enemy, to be watchful against surprise, and 
 to be prepared against the open attacks, as 
 well as the insidious treachery, which our 
 mortal enemy is ever bringing against us, to 
 the discomfiture of our souls : " We wrestle 
 not against flesh and blood, but against princi- 
 palities, against powers, against the rulers of 
 the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
 wickedness in high places." When we go to 
 the Lord's Supper, we must go with a mind reso- 
 lutely intending to improve, not lazily satisfied 
 with past attainments, nor quietly indulging in 
 our present views of religion, but advancing, 
 pursuing onwards, day by day enlarging our 
 views of God's dealing with us, from point to 
 point seeking fresh inducements to virtue, 
 never resting, never content, but looking for- 
 ward, even if we may so say, to the impossi- 
 bility of being " perfect even as our Father 
 which is in heaven is perfect." 
 
 To the man who has been guilty of noto- 
 rious sin, it is some advance to him to dis- 
 continue those sins. Once satisfied of the sin- 
 ful nature of his past life, he must, of course,
 
 328 REQUISITES. 
 
 as the preliminary of his new life, root out 
 the vicious weeds from the garden of his 
 soul, clean the ground of its rankness and 
 bad fertility, make good use of the spade 
 and of the plough, to prepare an entirely new 
 soil. But this is only the preliminary, in itself 
 it will not be sufficient. If the soil, how- 
 ever diligently cleansed, however thoroughly 
 ploughed up, be left to itself, if there be no 
 good seed sown therein, the same corrupt 
 weeds that grew before, will grow up again, 
 no one knows whence, and the labour will 
 all be useless. We must not only sweep the 
 house, but garnish it : garnish it, not with frivo- 
 lous and ornamental furniture, but with that 
 which shall be solid and useful. We must 
 ensure, by careful watching and diligent ob- 
 servation, the storing up gradually of every 
 Christian grace. "Add to your faith, virtue, 
 and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge 
 temperance, and to temperance godliness, and 
 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to bro- 
 therly kindness charity." Here, at the table 
 of the Lord, we must be present with these 
 intentions. Beholding as we do the cross of 
 Christ, the pains and sufferings which he 
 underwent for the sake of expiating sin, we 
 must resolve at each several time of com- 
 municating, to advance in our work of god- 
 liness, to approach nearer and nearer to that 
 divine example which he furnishes in the
 
 FAITH. 329 
 
 gospel. He that striveth in the games for 
 mastery is temperate in all things, and if 
 they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, 
 how much more shall we do it for an in- 
 corruptible crown. A new life, an advancing 
 life, a life, as far as it is possible, of perfec- 
 tion, is to be the Christian's aim, and God 
 being our helper, the Holy Spirit our guide, 
 and Jesus our intercessor, it may be reason- 
 ably hoped that we shall " bring forth fruit 
 in due season, some thirty, some sixty, some 
 an hundred-fold." 
 
 VII. Lastly, we are to remember Christ 
 with faith. Faith in regard to the past I do 
 not here contemplate, because we could not 
 be called Christians, we could not have been 
 baptized, we could not have been confirmed, 
 without a professing belief in the doctrines 
 of Christianity. But it is a faith in regard 
 to the future. Now this again depends upon 
 the previous points which we have already 
 agreed upon ; repentance, and love, and re- 
 solutions of obedience: for why should we 
 repent, unless it were that we believe that 
 pardon will follow ? Why should we love 
 Christ, unless it were that we believe that 
 the sacrifice for which we love him will 
 procure our salvation ? and again, why should 
 we resolve to advance in our Christian course, 
 unless it were that we believe that " without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord," and
 
 330 REQUISITES. 
 
 that the righteous shall, in the great day of 
 judgment, " shine forth as the sun in the 
 kingdom of their father ?" Without this faith, 
 this unreserved confidence in the promises of 
 God made through his son Jesus Christ, all 
 religion totters to the ground : " We walk 
 by faith not by sight." 
 
 This is true even in a temporal sense. The 
 commonest occurrences of every day life are 
 anticipated, and expected, upon the princi- 
 ple of faith. We go forth from our dwel- 
 lings and return again in faith that we shall 
 find them safe, and that no plague shall have 
 come nigh them in our absence ; we commit 
 seed in the spring-time to the earth, in faith 
 that in harvest time it will bring forth fruit 
 for our use and for our sustenance. We lay 
 ourselves down upon our bed at night, and 
 though darkness shall cover the earth, yet it 
 is by faith that we know another sun shall 
 rise, and the earth shall again be lighted by 
 his golden colours, and man again go forth to 
 his labour until the evening. All this, though 
 ordinary and common, and happening every 
 day, yet it is faith looking to the future, 
 originated and confirmed by our experience 
 of the past. 
 
 If it is true then in temporal things, how 
 much more is it true in spiritual things. 
 Our experience of God's goodness in the past ; 
 our experience in the details of his dealings
 
 FAITH. 331 
 
 with men, as given in the scriptures, must 
 lead us to believe what he says will be 
 his dealings in the future. Our knowledge 
 of his wisdom, his power, his mercy in the 
 transactions of the world, and our own per- 
 sonal cases, must lead us to expect the same 
 wisdom, and power, and mercy, to be con- 
 tinued ; and when we see his only Son 
 Jesus Christ, descend upon earth as man, 
 giving testimony of his truth by wonderful 
 miracles, and sealing that testimony by a 
 voluntary and ignominious death upon faith 
 we proceed immediately to acknowledge that 
 these extraordinary facts could not have 
 taken place without an object, and then find- 
 ing that this object is openly announced, and 
 that the object so announced tallies with 
 the rest of God's transactions with the world, 
 what can we do but throw ourselves impli- 
 citly upon the promises which he has given, 
 and look forward with as much certainty to 
 the glories of eternal life, as we do to the 
 common transactions of the world as they 
 are developed from day to day. 
 
 We approach therefore the Lord's table 
 with this faith, this entire dependance on 
 the word of God, this firm conviction in 
 our own minds of the reality, of the effi- 
 cacy, of the certainty of salvation to be 
 procured by the death of Christ. We must 
 be sure that it is the only way (because he
 
 332 REQUISITES. 
 
 says so) by which salvation can be pro- 
 cured, that there is no other name under 
 heaven given to man whereby he may be 
 saved, but only the name of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. If we think that one good deed will 
 compensate for another evil deed, that one 
 day righteously spent, will be a set off against 
 another spent unrighteously. If we think 
 that the mercy of God can visit us by any 
 other channel than by the merits and death 
 of his Son. If we say, as the Pharisee, " I 
 thank God I am not as other men are," 
 and thereby claim merit for our own good 
 actions, how can we in that case be ap- 
 proaching the altar with that faith which is 
 necessary to salvation ? we shall be robbing 
 the Son of God of his glory, we shall be 
 taking from him his share in the salvation 
 of the world, and shall be, in fact, saying to 
 him, " We should have done as well without 
 thy sacrifice." But if we lay aside all con- 
 siderations of self-righteousness, if we trust 
 to the atonement wrought only by him whose 
 death we commemorate, if we feel our hearts 
 depressed by the burden of our sin, and at 
 the same time are conscious that Jesus is 
 the only one who can relieve us from that 
 burden, if we feel and are sure that from 
 all our errors, negligences, and ignorances, the 
 blood of the lamb shall cleanse us, if we 
 think and know that he was bruised for our
 
 FAITH. 333 
 
 iniquities, and that by his stripes we are 
 healed, that he, and that he alone, hath blot- 
 ted out the handwriting of ordinances that 
 was against us, nailing it to his cross, that 
 in that he died, he died unto sin once, but 
 in that he liveth he liveth unto God, that he 
 hath ascended on high and led captivity cap- 
 tive, and that he now standeth at the right 
 hand of God, and maketh intercession for 
 the transgressors. If, I say, these great things 
 we look upon as certain, and believe to be 
 facts as told us by God, and then transfer- 
 ing the record of the past, to the fulfil- 
 ment which is to take place in the future, 
 personally to ourselves. If we can say : "I 
 feel that these things belong to me as well 
 as to others ; I feel that when Jesus Christ 
 died he died for me, and that when ' after 
 my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my 
 flesh shall / see God ;' I feel that when 
 this mortal soul shall put on immortality, and 
 corruption shall put on incorruption, then, 
 in my case, as well as in others, shall be 
 brought to light the saying ' Death is swal- 
 lowed up in victory,' I wait for this, I know 
 it will come to pass, and when it does 
 come to pass, I know it will come to pass 
 solely, entirely, and unreservedly through the 
 merits of that blessed Redeemer whose body 
 and blood I see before me on the altar of 
 my God, and which, in obedience to his
 
 334 REQUISITES. 
 
 command, I eat and drink in token of my 
 faith." 
 
 Such are the thoughts which Jesus would 
 have his disciples to possess. Such recollec- 
 tions of the past will furnish the communi- 
 cant with joyful anticipations for the future. 
 The past and future connected together by 
 the present, will lead the mind to that pure 
 and peaceful state of happiness, which consti- 
 tutes the peace of God passing man's under- 
 standing. He will look up to God no lon- 
 ger as the stern and uncompromising exac- 
 tor of the law, but as the merciful and 
 beneficent author of grace. He will look 
 upon himself no longer as the lost and aban- 
 doned creature which he deserves to be, but 
 as the ransomed of the Lord, the pardoned, 
 and the free. He will go on from strength 
 to strength, from grace to grace. He will 
 wait for that " blessed hope, and the glo- 
 rious appearing of the great God and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 And now we have gone through all the 
 qualifications which are necessary for a right 
 approach to the holy table of the Euchar- 
 ist. On these must every man question and 
 examine his own heart and understanding, 
 before he presume to visit it. Supposing that 
 we are duly qualified by the general rites 
 of the church by baptism, and by confirm- 
 ation, the only thing then necessary for each
 
 FAITH. 335 
 
 individual is to say to his own heart, on 
 looking back, have I love, have I charity, 
 have I repentance ? and looking forward, have 
 I resolutions of amendment, and above all, 
 have I faith ? If " No " be the answer, let him 
 leave his gift at the altar, and go in search 
 of those things which he yet lacketh. By 
 the grace of God he will find them, if he 
 tries. By the grace of God he will soon 
 return, searching for them in the purifica- 
 tion of his heart, by the aid of his own 
 rational sense, by meditation on the word 
 of God, and above all by constant, assidu- 
 ous, humble prayer, for the Holy Spirit to 
 comfort and to teach. 
 
 But if "Yes" be the answer, if he can 
 say, " I have examined my heart and con- 
 science faithfully, I behold my Saviour 
 and brethren in love, I look up to my 
 God in repentance and desire of amend- 
 ment, I behold the cross of Jesus Christ in 
 all faith, and my own sins in all humility," 
 then approach, draw near : " Draw near and 
 take this holy sacrament to your comfort." 
 Look upon the holy symbols of love, of 
 peace, of justification. Look upon the body 
 and blood of your Redeemer with confident 
 and glowing hearts, with reverential looks 
 of piety, with an earnest longing after immor- 
 tality. Look upon them in the plenitude of 
 your rejoicing, that to you a Saviour has
 
 336 REQUISITES. 
 
 been born who has saved his people from 
 their sins ; look upon them, and hear through 
 them exclaiming the voice of ,your heavenly 
 master : "If I go and prepare a place for 
 you, I will come again, and receive you 
 unto myself that where I am ye may be 
 also." 
 
 END OF PART I.
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE DIARY. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS. 
 
 " When, in my serious thoughts and more retired meditations, 
 I am got into the closet of my hearty and there begin to 
 look within myself, and consider what I am, I presently 
 find myself to be a reasonable creature ; for, were I not 
 so, it would be impossible for me thus to reason and 
 reflect." BISHOP BEVERIDGE. 
 
 " Meditate upon these things." 1 Tim. iv. 15.
 
 THE FJJCHARIST, 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 " Dearly beloved brethren, on - , / intend, 
 by God's grace, to celebrate the Lords Supper : 
 unto which, in Gods behalf, I bid you all that 
 are here present, and beseech you, for the Lord 
 Jesus Christ" s sake, that you will not refuse to 
 come thereto, being so lovingly called and bidden 
 by God himself" - Exhortation, Communion 
 Service. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 And shall I hear these gracious words, and 
 yet refuse ? Shall I hear the glad announcement 
 of my Redeemer's love : " Come unto me all ye 
 that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
 
 340 THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 you rest ;" a and yet be not ashamed to say, I 
 will not come ? 
 
 It is thy holy feast of charity and of love. It 
 is the body of thy Son that thou invitest 
 me spiritually to eat, the blood of thy Son 
 that thou wouldest have me spiritually to drink. 
 
 The supper will be ready, the table will be 
 spread ; the priest will be there to minister. 
 Shall the guests alone be wanting ? Shall God 
 send his servants so kindly to invite, and 
 no one hear his voice ? Shall he have occa- 
 sion, because the bidden guests have oxen to 
 prove, or a piece of ground to buy, or wives to 
 marry, to send out into the streets and lanes of 
 the city, and bring in the poor, and the 
 maimed, and the halt, and the blind ? b O, 
 surely not, I also, O my God, if thou be will- 
 ing, will be there. I also will bow the knee 
 before thy altar, and praise thy name, Most 
 Highest. I also will record the glories of thy 
 blessed Son, and give thee thanks for thine ex- 
 ceeding great goodness. I also will join in that 
 glad thanksgiving : " Glory to God in the 
 highest, and on earth peace, good will towards 
 man." 
 
 But yet, though it be my duty, though it be 
 thy command, and I dare not refuse thy so- 
 lemn invitation, yet I must remember the holi- 
 ness of this feast ; I must bear in mind the 
 solemn character of the joy which shall be mine ; 
 3 Matt. xi. 28. b Luke xiv. 16.
 
 I 
 
 THE MEDITATION 341 
 
 I must bear about me the marks of the cross, 
 which I now take up to follow thee the 
 blessed Lord of life; I must not only say, 
 Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou 
 goest, and then add, But suffer me first to go 
 and bury my father ; a but I must rise up, 
 and forsake all, lands and houses, children 
 and wife, yea, and my life also, if thou requirest, 
 that I may be thy disciple. b 
 
 And, therefore, let me meditate, let me pause, 
 let me pray : let me use the time which 
 now thou givest me, to prepare myself for 
 this holy feast, so that thou mayest not have to 
 say, in the midst of my rejoicing, " Friend, 
 how earnest thou in hither, not having a wed- 
 ding garment ?" c 
 
 O, Holy Spirit, come, and day by day be with 
 me, to prevent, to strengthen, and to guide : O 
 Saviour intercede, and day by day be with me, 
 to atone forme, to mediate for me, to save me from 
 myself ; O God the Father, hear, and day by day 
 be with me, to bless, to pardon, and to receive 
 me into the promises of thy heavenly kingdom ; 
 while I make ready, and gird up the loins of my 
 mind, d and put my shoes on my feet, and take 
 my staff in my hand 
 
 " IT is THE LORD'S PASSOVER."' 
 
 Luke ix. 59. b Matt. xix. 29. c Matt. xxii. 12. 
 '' 1 Peter i. 13. e Exodus xiii. 2.
 
 MONDAY. 
 
 THE STATE OF MAN BY NATURE. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " OF every tree of the garden thou mayest 
 freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge 
 of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, 
 for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou 
 shalt surely die." a 
 
 Thus spake the Almighty, then with no at- 
 tribute but love ; for nature was young, and 
 pure, and spotless ; and God saw every thing 
 that it was good, b and man, the crowning 
 work of all, knew of nought save to hold con- 
 verse with God, and to talk with him face to 
 face, and to be ministered unto by angels, and to 
 rejoice in his exceeding great happiness, and 
 life without end. 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 16, 17. "Gen. i. 31.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 343 
 
 But it was not long, for the tempter drew 
 nigh ; and Satan, with his evil subtilty beguiled 
 the children of God, and they did eat : a and 
 then God put on his attribute of justice, and his 
 guilty and disobedient children fell beneath the 
 frowns of his anger, and punishment was first 
 decreed. "Unto Adam he said: Because thou 
 hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and 
 hast eaten of the tree of which J commanded 
 thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it ; cursed is 
 the ground for thy sake : in sorrow shalt thou 
 eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, 
 and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and 
 thou shalt eat the herb of the field ; in the 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till 
 thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast 
 thou taken. Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt 
 thou return." b 
 
 O fairest work of God, marred by this subtle 
 enemy ! O disobedient children towards so kind 
 and loving a Creator ! Beauty turned into 
 foulness, and order into deformity ; happiness 
 becoming misery ; our children brought forth 
 in sorrow, our ground accursed, and bringing 
 forth thorns and thistles, and life, which was 
 before eternal, now turned into certain death : 
 for thus it was, that " by one man sin entered 
 into the world, and death by sin ; and so death 
 passed upon all men:" c for " in Adam all 
 
 a Gen. iii. 1. b Gen. iii. 1719. l Rom. v. 12.
 
 344 MONDAY. 
 
 die ;" a and thus it was that " all the days of 
 man are sorrows, and his travail grief. His flesh 
 upon him shall have pain, and his soul within 
 him shall mourn :" b and thus it was that " man 
 fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not in one 
 stay ;" c and " there is but one step between us 
 and death." d 
 
 Thus speak the scriptures ; and when I look 
 around, what is there for me to behold ? when 
 I look at myself, what is there to see? how 
 frail in body, how weak in mind, how sen- 
 sible of ill ; how vain, how ignorant, how 
 transitory ! 
 
 My body. True, indeed, " I am fearfully and 
 wonderfully made : thine eyes did see my 
 substance yet being imperfect, and in thy 
 book were all my members written, which 
 in continuance were fashioned when as yet 
 there was none of them :" e but thou hast 
 constructed me a perishable being. The won- 
 derful fashion of these limbs, so perfect in 
 their structure, so admirable for my existence, 
 may yet be crumbled into dust, or be withered, 
 or distorted, or by a thousand accidents may 
 become a pain and grief to me. I look around 
 me, and behold in my brethren the palsied limb 
 and crippled body ; I see on every side the totter- 
 ing gait of the lame, the wandering step of the 
 
 1 1 Cor. xv. 22. " Eccl. ii. 23. " Job xiv. 2. 
 
 1 Sam. xx. 3. e Ps. cxxxix. 14 16.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 345 
 
 blind ; I behold the deaf with their unconscious 
 gaze, and the dumb, with their silent voice, and 
 I cry out, O my God, what am I before 
 thee! 
 
 My mind. Here I am, indeed, better than the 
 brute. Here, indeed, I may exult and glorify 
 thee that I can think and reason, and weigh in 
 the balance God's providence and love. But 
 yet, what is even my mind by nature ? " The 
 thoughts of man are vanity. " a " He laboureth 
 in vain, he spendeth his strength for nought" b 
 " If we apply our hearts to know wisdom, we 
 shall perceive that this also is vexation of 
 spirit ; for in much wisdom is much grief, 
 and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth 
 sorrow." 
 
 Thus speak the scriptures ; and when I look 
 around when I know that this mind, this 
 bountiful gift of God, may be withdrawn, that 
 it may wander, become diseased, like the body, 
 and perish. When I behold the frenzy of the 
 maniac, the moping simplicity of the idiot, the 
 wandering gaze of the lunatic, I cry out again : 
 What am I before thee, O God ! 
 
 For these things may be mine. I also am one 
 of that nature, one of that curse under which 
 these things are sent ; I also may be cast down 
 by these withering maladies, and the noble dig- 
 nity of my manhood may be prostrate with the 
 
 * Ps. xciv. 11. b Isa. xlix. 4. c Eccl. viii. 16.
 
 346 MONDAY. 
 
 brutes, I also may have to say to the horse 
 and to the mule, Thou art my brother; and 
 the wisdom of the scribe, and the disputer of 
 this world, may fall, under thy will, into the 
 simplicity of the child, or the folly of the 
 babbler. 
 
 And though we should escape these miseries, 
 yet how long ? " What is our life ? It is even 
 a vapour that appeareth for a little while, and 
 then vanisheth away." a " There is no man 
 that hath power over the Spirit to retain the 
 Spirit ; neither hath he power in the day of 
 death. " b " One generation passeth away, and 
 another generation cometh, and the memory 
 of them that are dead is forgotten." 
 
 Yea, it is even so. This fair body, now so 
 goodly to look upon, though it shall escape all 
 pains and diseases under which others are bowed 
 down ; this fair mind, though it shall be strong 
 and vigorous for the years of its growth, 
 yet must they put on the helpless guise of old 
 age. Their beauty must decay ; their strength 
 is perfect weakness, and three score years and 
 ten will do their certain work. 
 
 Then comes the end. " Man dieth and 
 waste th away ; yea, man giveth up the ghost, 
 and where is he?" d 
 
 God has willed it so. By the curse of 
 
 a James iv. 14. b Eccl. viii. 8. <: Eccl. i. 4. 
 
 Job xiv. 10.
 
 THE REMEDY. 347 
 
 Adam we are bound, by the disobedience of our 
 
 first parents we are punished. 
 
 Therefore, O my God, what am I before 
 
 thee ? 
 
 Verily, we are altogether nothing : 
 
 " We wait for light, but behold obscurity ; 
 
 for brightness, but we walk in darkness ; we 
 
 grope for the wall like the blind, we stumble as 
 
 in the night."* 
 
 THE REMEDY. 
 
 But yet : " Why art thou cast down, O my 
 soul, and why art thou disquieted within 
 me ? Hope thou in God"* 
 
 11 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and 
 he shall sustain thee." c 
 
 " Take no thought, saying, What shall we 
 eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal 
 shall we be clothed but seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God and his righteousness." d 
 
 Thus speak the scriptures : And why should 
 I fear? 
 
 I behold the works of nature ; I see beauty, and 
 order, and providence, and love. I know that 
 " not a sparrow falleth to the ground with- 
 out my heavenly Father, and that the very 
 
 * Isa. lix. 9. b Ps. xlii. 5. c Ps. Iv. 22. 
 
 d Matt. vi. 34.
 
 348 MONDAY. 
 
 hairs of my head are all numbered ;" and I will 
 not fear, because I know that " I am of more 
 value than many sparrows." 3 
 
 What though I am a frail and perishable 
 creature, yet God is able to do much ; and I am 
 God's child ; and he is to me my Father. 
 Then here is my remedy here is my 
 hope ! 
 
 It is the Almightiness of God which is 
 the pillar of my hope : " Abba Father, all 
 things are possible to thee." b Talk not how 
 the seas may be turned into dry land, or 
 the poor be raised up to be set with the 
 princes of the people, or how stones can be 
 made the children of Abraham, or how pal- 
 sies and fevers can be cured with a word. 
 I will stop all gaps of infidelity with this 
 one bush. God is able. He that is made by 
 no cause cannot be confined in his being ; 
 and he that hath no bounds in his being 
 can have no bounds to his power. There is 
 no horizon under heaven or above heaven, that 
 hope cannot look beyond it. c " Therefore, 
 because in his hand are the issues of life 
 and death, I will hope that he will guide me, 
 and be my good shepherd. Under the sha- 
 dow of his wings shall be my refuge, until 
 calamities be overpast." d 
 
 a Matt. x. 29. b Mark xiv. 36. ' Bishop Taylor. 
 
 " Ps. Ivii. 1.
 
 THE REMEDY. 349 
 
 It is the goodness of God which is also the 
 pillar of my hope. 
 
 For mark the rain that falls from above, 
 and the clouds which drop fatness, and the 
 sun which gives his heat. 
 
 And all for man. 
 
 Mark the blessings with which he surrounds 
 us : our food, our clothing, our dwellings, " our 
 children, like olive branches round about our 
 table." a 
 
 And all for man. 
 
 Mark the fruits of the earth springing forth 
 in never ceasing bounty : " the grass grow- 
 ing for the cattle, and wine that maketh 
 glad the heart of man, and oil to make his 
 face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth 
 his heart." b 
 
 And all for man. 
 
 I may be frail, and poor, and needy, but 
 the Lord " who careth for the ravens" c will 
 also care for me, I may be ignorant, but 
 the Lord who giveth wisdom to the simple, 
 will make me also wise unto salvation I 
 may be subject to death, but I know 
 what that death is : " The gate of everlas- 
 ting life." Therefore the Lord shall be my 
 shepherd. In this world he shall feed me 
 in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside 
 the waters of comfort, and for the next 
 
 Ps. cxxviii. 3. b Ps. civ. 14. c Job xxxviii. 41.
 
 350 MONDAY. 
 
 world. Though I shall have, by the course of 
 nature, "to walk through the valley of the 
 shadow of death, yet 1 will fear no evil, for 
 thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff 
 shall comfort me." a 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty Father, who by thy power and 
 wisdom didst make the world, and all that 
 therein is, who hast endued thy humble 
 servant and child with a nature frail and 
 perishable, yet capable of everlasting glory, 
 visit me, I beseech thee, now, at this time, 
 with thy heavenly favour, counsel me with 
 thy heavenly wisdom, teach me with thy 
 heavenly grace. 
 
 Thou acceptest not the person of any 
 man, but hast promised to hear the prayer of all 
 such as come unto thee faithfully. I pray 
 thee therefore hear my confession which I 
 shall now from the secrets of my heart pour 
 forth unto thee. I pray thee, guide with thy 
 spirit the thoughts of my prayer. 
 
 [Here confess unto God the impurities, foul- 
 ness, and weaknesses of your nature, naming 
 them individually as they occur to the mind. 
 
 Then proceed.'] 
 
 a Ps. xxiii. 1, 2, &c.
 
 THE PRAYER. 351 
 
 Therefore, O God, I am unworthy to stand 
 before thee. Thou seest how utterly unwor- 
 thy of the least of all thy mercies. How 
 infirm of purpose, how weak in resolution. 
 
 I have been led from this to that, I have 
 followed, even as my first parents, the sub- 
 tilties of Satan ; of the tree that thou didst 
 command, saying ; " Thou shalt not eat," 
 even of that tree I have desired to eat, and 
 have eaten, and am utterly cast down and 
 ashamed to stand before thy presence. 
 
 But, O God most righteous, O God most 
 merciful, visit me not with thine anger, send 
 not thy holy angels to drive me forth from 
 thy paradise, visit me not with that trouble 
 and sorrow which for my disobedience I 
 deserve ; but let thy holy angels pitch their 
 tents round about, and dwell in my heart ; 
 send thy Holy Spirit to sanctify that nature 
 so foul in thy sight, strengthen that which 
 is weak, enlighten that which is dark, pre- 
 vent and go before me that henceforth I 
 may be holy in thy presence. 
 
 And now O heavenly Father, as at this 
 time, I pray more earnestly for thy grace, I 
 knock more urgently for Jesus Christ's sake ; 
 His death I soon shall commemorate ; His 
 blood which cleanseth from all sin, I shall 
 drink ; His body broken on the cross, I 
 shall eat. Grant that I may do so with 
 faith, with penitence, and with a true assur-
 
 352 MONDAY. 
 
 ance of that love which passeth all under- 
 standing. Grant that, as in Adam I am 
 dead, so in Christ my Saviour I may be 
 made alive ; as in Adam I am driven forth 
 from thy presence in wrath, so in Christ my 
 Saviour I may return to thee in joy and 
 salvation. Amen.
 
 TUESDAY. 
 
 THE STATE OF MAN BY THE LAW. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " IT is written, Cursed is every one that 
 continueth not in all things that are written 
 in the book of the law to do them."* 
 
 I search the book of the law: I look to- 
 wards Mount Sinai, and I there behold the 
 Almighty clothed in all his attributes of terror. 
 
 " The people saw the thunderings and the 
 lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and 
 the mountain smoking ; and when the people 
 saw it, they removed and stood afar off; 
 and they said unto Moses, Speak thou with 
 us, and we will hear, but let not God 
 speak with us, lest we die." b " Behold I 
 set before you this day a blessing and a curse ; 
 
 Gal. iii. 10. Deut. xxvii. 26. b Exod. xx. 18. 
 
 Z
 
 354 TUESDAY. 
 
 a blessing if ye obey the commandments of 
 the Lord your God, and a curse if ye will 
 not obey the commandments of the Lord 
 your God.". a 
 
 Then dare I contemplate the severe exact- 
 ness with which these holy precepts are 
 commanded. Dare I contemplate the dread- 
 ful punishment with which their violation is 
 charged. True, if I can attain them, my re- 
 ward will be great ; but if I fail, the punish- 
 ment most dreadful, the wrath of God most 
 terrible. 
 
 Then how do I stand before my God ! 
 
 I know that he is holy. I know that he 
 has delivered his will to me and all man- 
 kind, and that will is contained in the law. 
 Unless the law had been delivered, I could 
 not have disobeyed the law ; and if I had 
 not disobeyed the law, I had not known sin. 
 " For I was alive without the law once, 
 but when the commandment came, sin re- 
 vived, and I died ; and the commandment 
 which was ordained to life, I found to be 
 unto death." b 
 
 Then behold in what "jeopardy I stand every 
 hour." c Perfection demanded of me, unlimited 
 perfection ; every thought, every word, every 
 deed, such as shall not fear the examination, 
 or shrink from the scrutiny of the all-seeing 
 
 a Deut. xi. 26. b Rom. vii. 9. r 1 Cor. xv. 30.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 355 
 
 Searcher of hearts : and yet the ability to 
 attain this perfection for ever absent, know- 
 ing that " the law is spiritual, but that I am 
 carnal, sold under sin." a " To will is present 
 with me, but how to perform that which is 
 good I find not The good that I would, 
 that I do not, but the evil which I would 
 not, that I do." b 
 
 But let me pursue this. 
 
 My thoughts : Have they been pure ? have 
 they been holy? Have they been such, that 
 I can exclaim with any confidence to 
 God, " Search me, O God, and know my 
 heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ?" c 
 Or have I not rather been one of those un- 
 godly, who are so proud that they care not 
 for God, neither " is God in all their thoughts." 11 
 My desires, the imaginations of my heart, 
 have they been invariably towards God, or 
 have they not rather been only " evil con- 
 tinually ?" e Have I done as the apostle has 
 bidden me, " cast down imaginations and every 
 high thing that exalteth itself against the 
 knowledge of God, bringing into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ !" f 
 Or, again, " Whatsoever things are true, what- 
 soever things are honest, whatsoever things 
 are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- 
 
 " Rom. vii. 14. b Rom. vii. 18. Ps. cxxxix. 23. 
 d Psalm x. 4. e Gen. vi. 5. ' 2 Cor. x. 5 
 
 z-2
 
 356 TUESDAY. 
 
 soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
 of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if 
 there be any praise, think on these things." 3 
 
 Have I done so? No! I would not even 
 in thought be justified by the works of the 
 law. 
 
 My words : Have they been pure ? Have 
 they been temperate ? Have they been holy ? 
 That noble gift of language, by which God 
 has elevated man above the brute creation, 
 how have I employed it ? Too frequently 
 have I forgotten His praise, who gave it. 
 Too frequently have my words been careless 
 and inconsiderate, sometimes unchaste and 
 foul, sometimes deceitful and blasphemous. 
 
 Yet what saith the will of God, " Let no 
 corrupt communication proceed out of your 
 mouth, but that which is good to the use of 
 edifying, that it may minister grace unto the 
 hearers. " b " If any man among you seem to 
 be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but 
 deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion 
 is vain." c " For he that will love life, and see 
 good days, let him refrain his tongue from 
 evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." d But 
 above all, our blessed Lord himself has told me, 
 " Every idle word that men shall speak, they 
 shall give account thereof at the day of judg- 
 ment ; for by thy words thou shalt be justi- 
 
 Phil. iv. 8. b Eph. iv. 29. c James i. 26. d 1 Pet. iii. x.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 357 
 
 fied, and by thy words thou shalt be con- 
 demned."* 
 
 How then shall I dare to be justified by 
 the works of the law ! 
 
 My actions : Is my duty towards God in 
 worship and praise Is my duty towards 
 man in charity, and doing to others as I 
 would they should do to me Is my duty to 
 myself in temperance and chastity Are these 
 things so easy, so invariable, of such every 
 day attainment, that I can contemplate any 
 probable success, any likelihood of pleasing 
 God ? Have I " followed after righteousness, 
 godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." b 
 Have I stood in any one deed, " perfect and 
 complete in all the will of God?" Have I 
 " abhorred that which is evil, and cleaved 
 to that which is good ?" d O no ! 
 
 Then when I cast my mind back upon 
 these things, and when that I meditate " in 
 the night watches, and commune with mine 
 own heart in my chamber, and am still," 6 
 with what fear and trembling, what per- 
 plexity of thought, what care of spirit, must 
 I contemplate the chance of my soul's sal- 
 vation ? 
 
 If it be true that " Our God is a con- 
 suming fire," f for so says the laiv. If it be 
 
 * Matt. xii. 36. b 1 Tim. vi. 11. c Col. iv. 12. 
 d Rom. xii. 9. ' Psalm Ixxvii. 6. ' Deut. iv. 24
 
 358 TUESDAY. 
 
 true that "The Lord Jesus shall be 
 revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 
 in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them 
 that know not God, and that obey not the 
 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and that 
 " they shall be punished with everlasting 
 destruction from the presence of the Lord." a 
 For so says the gospel. Wherein shall I 
 stand ? 
 
 When I dwell on these fearful 'things ; 
 when I know the extreme penalty demanded, 
 that God's justice must be satisfied, that 
 punishment must be suffered ; when I know 
 that " whosoever shall keep the whole law, 
 and yet offend in one point, he is guilty 
 of alir* 
 
 Then what is my state? 
 
 Why am I created ? Why am I cast in this 
 terrible condition, the heir of a curse most 
 deadly ? " delighting in the law of God after 
 the inward man, but seeing another law in my 
 members, warring against the law of my mind, 
 and bringing me into captivity to the law 
 of sin." c What shall I do? Whither shall I 
 turn ? 
 
 How can I but exclaim : " O wretched man 
 that I am, who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death ?" d 
 
 a 2 Thess. i. 7. b James ii. 10. 
 
 1 Rom. vii. 23. '' Rom vii. 24.
 
 THE REMEDY. 359 
 
 THE REMEDY. 
 
 " But why art thou cast down, O my 
 soul, and why art thou disquieted within 
 me? Hope thou in God"'' 
 
 I .know that " the law was given by Moses," 
 but I know also that " grace and truth came 
 by Jesus Christ." b I behold " Abraham who 
 believed God, and it was counted unto him for 
 righteousness ;" c for " the promise that he 
 should be the heir of the world, was not to Abra- 
 ham, or to his seed, through the law, but through 
 the righteousness of faith" " Therefore, it is 
 of faith, that it might be of grace, to the end the 
 promise might be sure to all the seed, not to 
 that only which is of the law, but to that also 
 which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the 
 father of us all." d 
 
 Now, this promise of God to justify by faith, 
 precedes the wrath of God, by which he 
 threatens to condemn by the law ; and surely 
 " the covenant that was confirmed before of 
 God in Christ, the law which was four hundred 
 and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it 
 should make the promise of none effect." 6 
 
 Then why did God give any law at all? 
 Where was the necessity of God's appearing 
 a severe task-master, and an avenging ma- 
 
 * Ps. xlii. 5. b John i. 17. c Rom. iv. 3. 
 
 d Rom. iv. 13. e Gal. iii. 17.
 
 360 TUESDAY. 
 
 gistrate, when all the time he meant to be to 
 his children nothing but a merciful Father ? 
 " Wherefore serve th the law ? 
 
 It was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto 
 Christ." a 
 
 It was the way by which the Almighty 
 wished to display to man the perfect holi- 
 ness of his own nature, and the severity of 
 that justice by which he would weigh their actions, 
 standing by themselves. It was for Christ 
 that the law was constituted. It was to 
 Christ that every thing pointed in its types, 
 and its sacrifices, and its atonements. It was 
 to JESUS that Adam, that Abraham, and that 
 Moses looked. 
 
 Then shall my fear be turned into exceeding 
 gladness. True, I am utterly unable to do the 
 things which God commands but what of that ? 
 " Christ was made under the law, to redeem 
 them that were under the law, that we might 
 receive the adoption of sons." b True, that we 
 dare not approach the Almighty with any sacri- 
 fices of our own ; but then we have an high 
 Priest, who is, instead of us, " holy, harmless, 
 undefiled, separate from sinners." True, we have 
 the ordinances of the law to condemn us even 
 unto death, but then there is one, who " has 
 blotted out the handwriting of these ordinances, 
 and taken it out of the way, nailing it to 
 
 " Gal. iii. 24. b Gal. iv. 5. c Heb. vii. 26.
 
 THE REMEDY. 361 
 
 his cross." 3 " For there is, verily, a disanulling 
 of the commandment going before, for the weak- 
 ness and unprofitableness thereof; for the law 
 made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of 
 a better hope did, by the which we draw 
 nigh unto God." b 
 
 Of these gracious assurances, these glorious 
 hopes, the scriptures are full. Then why need 
 I fear ? 
 
 Under the law, I feel the curse of God's 
 wrath, but I will not abide under the law. 
 
 Under the gospel, I see the plenitude of 
 God's mercy, and reconciliation, and love ; and 
 there shall be my hope. 
 
 When I look to Mount Sinai, I indeed 
 behold thunderings and lightnings, and all the 
 terrible manifestations of an exacting lawgiver 
 - but when I look to Mount Calvary, I 
 behold the suffering, patient, merciful love, of 
 an anxious and affectionate Father. 
 
 All my fear, then, is swallowed up in 
 love ; my anxiety ceases, my thoughts, undis- 
 turbed any longer by the dread alternative 
 of absolute perfection, or utter condemnation, 
 shall wing their joyful flight far away from 
 the terrors of religion, to the sweet and consoling 
 refreshments of mercy and peace. 
 
 While I remember that " the law entered 
 that sin might abound," I know and feel that 
 
 Col. ii. 14. b Heb. vii. 18.
 
 362 TUESDAY. 
 
 in my own heart, " where sin abounds, grace 
 does much more abound." 3 
 
 Yea, I will cry aloud with the apostle : " If God 
 be for us, who can be against us? He that 
 spared not his own Son, but delivered 
 him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him freely give us all things ? 
 
 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of 
 God's elect ? It is God that justifieth. Who 
 is he that condemneth. It is Christ that 
 died." b 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 most mighty and eternal Lord God, 
 who art terrible in thy wrath, but yet in the 
 midst of wrath thinkest of mercy ; who art 
 just in thy judgments, and severe in thy 
 punishments, and yet wouldest not the death 
 of a sinner, but that all should turn unto 
 thee and live. Look upon me, have mercy 
 upon me ; release me, O Lord my God, 
 from the bonds of that law by which thou 
 hast brought the whole world under sin. 
 Take away the terrors of thy presence ; remove 
 the strictness of thy justice. 
 
 1 confess, O Lord, that if my thoughts, my 
 words, my actions, were weighed in the balance 
 
 Rom. v. 20. b Rom. viii. 31.
 
 THE PRAYER. 363 
 
 of thy holiness, they would be found miserably 
 wanting. I confess that I deserve nothing at 
 thy hands but death. 
 
 I confess to thee that I deserve to be cast 
 out from thy presence, to have my portion in 
 that outer darkness, where is weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth ; that I deserve to be ex- 
 tinct and separate from the communion of 
 saints, and the comforts of religion, and the 
 graces of thy Holy Spirit, and the memory of 
 my blessed Redeemer. 
 
 But yet I confess these things in the midst 
 of hope, because I know thy mercy ; I look to 
 thee in earnest supplication, because thou hast 
 promised to hear. 
 
 my God, cast me not utterly away. Take 
 not thy Holy Spirit from me. Let the grace 
 of the gospel comfort me when I think of the 
 terrors of thy law ; Let that High Priest, who 
 alone is perfect and blameless, offer in my place 
 the atonement for my sinfulness. Take me 
 back, O Lord my God, and consider mine in- 
 firmity. Redeem me from the curse of the law, 
 let the Holy Jesus be for me the propitiation 
 of thy wrath, let the sprinkling of His blood 
 be the remission of my sins. 
 
 1 am not worthy to think of thee with 
 my unholy thoughts. I am not worthy to 
 speak to thee with my unclean lips : my 
 words so evil, my works so sinful, how can 
 they stand in thy sight ! But yet, O Holy
 
 364 TUESDAY. 
 
 Spirit, come with thy healing wings of com- 
 fort, and assure me. O Jesus Christ, my 
 Redeemer, send according to thy promise the 
 Comforter, who shall bring all things to my 
 remembrance. O Saviour and Lord, help 
 thou mine unbelief. Stablish, strengthen, bless 
 me. 
 
 And when thy holy supper shall be ready, 
 when I shall behold thee more visibly and 
 more intimately, as my High Priest offering 
 thy body, because God would not have the 
 blood of bulls and goats ; when I shall see 
 the outward elements of bread and wine, 
 O let me feel the inward faith, the strength- 
 ening and refreshing of my soul ; when I 
 behold the symbols of thy love, let me be 
 assured firmly and personally of that great 
 redemption which that love has purchased. 
 O let me feel that the curse has become a 
 blessing ; that death is changed into victory ; 
 that I am one of those happy ones : though 
 guilty, yet accounted righteous ; though sold 
 under sin, yet redeemed by grace ; though a 
 child of wrath, yet now become an inheritor 
 of thy glorious kingdom. 
 
 O heavenly Father, hear the prayer of thy 
 humble servant ; and when thou hearest, for- 
 give for Jesus' sake. Amen.
 
 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 THE SINS OF HABIT. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " CAN the Ethiopian change his skin, or the 
 leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good 
 that are accustomed to do evil." a 
 
 But I, when I look back upon my past 
 life, must at once acknowledge, not only as 
 I before acknowledged the infirmities of my 
 nature, and the dreadful penalties of the law, 
 which attach to all men in their human con- 
 dition generally ; but I myself, in my own 
 person, continually, habitually, day by day, 
 have sinned against the Lord. 
 
 " O Lord, mine iniquities testify against me, 
 my backslidings are many ; I have sinned 
 against thee !" b "I am dead in trespasses 
 and sins." c I am a child of disobedience. 
 
 1 Jer. xiii. 23- b lb. xiv. 7. c Eph. ii. 1.
 
 366 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 " I have eyes full of adultery, and that cannot 
 cease from sin ;" a an heart exercised with covet- 
 ous practices. " I have forsaken the right 
 way, and am gone astray, following the way 
 of Balaam, the son of Bos or, who loved the 
 wages of unrighteousness." 1 * 
 
 Let me commune with myself, and ex- 
 amine : 
 
 My principles, what have they been ? Of 
 the world. 
 
 My rule of life, what has it been ? The 
 opinion of men. 
 
 My treasure, where has it been placed ? 
 On the earth. 
 
 They have taught me, men have taught 
 me, the world has taught me, even from 
 my youth up until now, that the demands 
 and precepts of my Saviour and my God, 
 are unnecessary, beyond man's power, and 
 unjust ; and I too willingly have listened. 
 
 They have taught me, " Why doth he yet 
 find fault ? for who has resisted his will ? 
 And I, the thing formed, have said to him 
 that formed me, why hast thou made me 
 thus ?" c 
 
 They have taught me that the road which 
 leadeth to heaven is broad and easy, while 
 my Saviour has told me to " enter the strait 
 gate ; for wide is the gate, and broad is the 
 
 a 2 Pet. ii, 14. b 2 Pet. ii. 15. c Rom. ix. 19.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 367 
 
 way that leadeth to destruction, but strait 
 is the gate and narrow is the way which 
 leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 it."' 
 
 They have taught me that the passions of 
 my nature, and the lusts of the flesh may be 
 indulged without danger, and retained without 
 offence ; while I now find, that " if my right 
 hand offend me, my duty is to cut it off, and 
 cast it from me ; for it is profitable for me 
 that one of my members should perish, and 
 not that my whole body should be cast into 
 hell." b 
 
 They have taught me that I can make a 
 compromise with God, and barter and exchange 
 a little good for a little evil ; and that, should 
 I offend to-day, I may repay that offence by 
 an extra portion of obedience to-morrow : 
 while I now find that when I " have done 
 all these things which are commanded, I must 
 still say, I am an unprofitable servant" 
 
 They have taught me, that though I may 
 sin, I may yet escape. " Tush, God hath for- 
 gotten, he hideth away his face, and he will 
 never see it." d They have said thai: God is 
 not so terrible, not so exacting, as he is de- 
 scribed ; that sin is not so sinful, that disobe- 
 dience is not disobedient ; whereas I now find, 
 
 "Matt. vii. 13. b Matt. v. 30. c Luke xvii. 10. 
 "Psalm x. 11.
 
 368 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 " Be sure your sin will find you out ;" a that 
 the way of the wicked, the thoughts of the 
 wicked, the sacrifice and prayer of the wicked, 
 " are an abomination to the Lord." b " They 
 have deceived me with vain words." " They 
 have called good evil, and evil good ; they have 
 put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; 
 they have put bitter for sweet, and sweet for 
 bitter." d 
 
 These are the things which they have 
 taught me. These are the principles upon 
 which I have lived. Here has been my 
 treasure ; here has been my heart. 
 
 I knew what God commanded, and the gospel 
 taught. My sin was not from ignorance. 
 
 I knew the weakness of my nature, and 
 the infirmities of my resolution. My sin was 
 not from inadvertence. 
 
 I knew that God was good, but I thought 
 the world was better. 
 
 But now, O my God, how am I cast 
 down ! Now I can sing and laugh no more. 
 Now I can brave it out in pride no longer. 
 Now I see and am convinced, before so 
 blind, so wilful. Where was my understand- 
 ing when I played so boldly with the wrath 
 of God ; when God stood by, and yet I 
 sinned ; when conscience did rebuke me, and 
 
 Numbers xxxii. 23. b Prov. xv. 9 26. ; xxviii. 9. 
 c Eph. v. 6. " Isaiah v. 20. '
 
 THE MEDITATION. 369 
 
 yet I sinned ; when heaven and hell were 
 hard at hand, and yet I sinned. When, to 
 please God, and save my soul, I would not 
 forbear a filthy lust, or give up a forbidden 
 vanity. I am ashamed. I am confounded. 
 " I loath myself for all my abominations." a 
 
 I will search this out ; they shall deceive 
 me no longer. 
 
 What say the scriptures ? 
 
 " The works of the flesh are manifest : 
 Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lascivious- 
 ness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, 
 emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
 envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and 
 such like." b 
 
 Answer, O my soul, to these words of thy 
 God. Between thee and him ; thee, the sinful 
 and degraded ; him, the holy and the omni- 
 scient, thy sin lieth. 
 
 Wherewith shall I appear before God? I 
 have been miserably deceived : " I have spo- 
 ken peace where was no peace," I have 
 gone on day by day, and year by year, 
 deeper and deeper in iniquity, more and 
 more alienate from God, my habits, my 
 principles what I have done, and what I 
 have left undone carnal, worldly, sensual. 
 
 " There is no peace, saith my God, to the 
 wicked." d 
 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 31. b Gal. v. 19. ' Jer. vi. 14. 
 
 " Isaiah Ivii. 21. 
 
 2 A
 
 370 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 THE REMEDY. 
 
 " But why art thou cast down, O my 
 soul, and why art thou disquieted within 
 me. Hope thou in God"* 
 
 But how can I hope in God when I have 
 so grievously offended him ? How can I 
 approach the outraged purity of his presence? 
 What can I do to deprecate the fierceness 
 of his wrath? 
 
 " He that saith he hath not sinned makes 
 God a liar :" b but what then ? Because a 
 man hath sinned, it does not follow that 
 he should do so always, for although it is 
 impossible, humanly speaking, that the " Ethi- 
 opian can change his skin, or he that is 
 accustomed to do evil learn to do good," 
 yet " all things are possible with God." d 
 
 Now behold the counsels of the Almighty : 
 Jesus said to the impotent man : " Sin no 
 more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." e 
 Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery : 
 ' Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no 
 more" 1 Nathan said unto David : " The Lord 
 also hath put away thy sin." g 
 
 "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have 
 no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but 
 
 Ps. xlii. 5. b 1 John i. 10. l Jer. xiii. 23. 
 
 d Matt. xix. 26. e John v. 14. f John viii. 11. 
 
 g 2Sam. xii. 13.
 
 THE REMEDY. 371 
 
 that the wicked should turn from his way 
 and live, for why will ye die, O house of 
 Israel."* 
 
 " How shall I give thee up Ephraim ? how 
 shall I deliver thee Israel? how shall I 
 make thee as Admah ? how shall I set thee 
 as Zeboim? I will not execute the fierceness 
 of mine anger, I will not return to destroy 
 Ephraim, for I am God and not man." b 
 Truly if he ivere man, my escape would be 
 hopeless, but he is God, he has not the pas- 
 sions and the feelings of man, and it is 
 plain that his will is that none should 
 perish, but that all should come to everlast- 
 ing life. 
 
 Dwell upon this also. Consider how God 
 has spared thee hitherto. And may he not 
 spare thee altogether ? 
 
 In the midst of thy revellings, and surfeit- 
 ings of the world, he might with one word 
 have smitten thee to the dust. While thou 
 wast saying to thy soul, " Soul, take thine ease, 
 eat, drink, and be merry," God might have 
 said to thee, " Thou fool, this night thy soul 
 shall be required of thee." c But he spared 
 thee, he led thee forth to green pastures, 
 though thou lovedst the barren wilderness, he 
 pleaded with thee face to face, he gave 
 thee thy conscience, his Holy Scriptures, his 
 
 * Eze. i. xxxiii. 11. b Hosea. xi. 8. c Luke xii. 19
 
 37'2 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 Son Jesus Christ, his Holy Spirit, and has 
 called aloud to thee : " Awake thou that 
 sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light." a 
 
 But there is more required for the remedy 
 of thy fears than an admiration of God's 
 mercy ; and for a justification of thy sins, than 
 a retrospect of the past. Though God is mer- 
 ciful, yet is he just ; and his justice is so se- 
 vere, that he requires a satisfaction before it 
 can be appeased. And can I give it ? I cast 
 about for something to appease him. He is 
 placable he is witting to be appeased, but 
 wherewithal shall I do it ? 
 
 I cast about in vain. Thou canst not 
 do it. 
 
 But there is one who can. 
 Behold, once more, the counsels of God. His 
 counsel is, that ATONEMENT shall be made : 
 " Ye have sinned a great sin, and now I 
 will go up unto the Lord ; peradventure, I 
 shall make atonement for your sin." b Thus 
 spake Moses, and it is even so, that Jesus 
 Christ shall go up unto the Lord, and make 
 atonement for me. 
 
 Jesus Christ " being in the form of God, 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; 
 yet he took upon himself the form of a 
 servant, and became obedient even unto 
 death." c 
 ' Eph. v. 14. b Exod. xxxii. 30. Phil. ii. 6.
 
 THE REMEDY. 373 
 
 Nor was that all. 
 
 Having lived a life of holiness, he died a 
 death of SACRIFICE, and " Christ, our passover, 
 is sacrificed for us." a 
 
 Nor was that all. 
 
 Being sacrificed for us, and dying the death of 
 the cross, he rose again, and ascended on high ; 
 and " when he had himself purged our sins, 
 he sat down on the right hand of the Ma- 
 jesty on high," b and there he still sits, our 
 MEDIATOR, and our INTERCESSOR ; thence he 
 sends the COMFORTER ; thence he views the 
 sufferings, the trials, the struggles, even of me, 
 his sinful creature. 
 
 " Without shedding of blood there is no 
 remission." But there is a shedding of blood ; 
 and JESUS made it. 
 
 Without an atonement, we cannot satisfy jus- 
 tice ; but there is an atonement, and JESUS made 
 it. 
 
 Without some intercession of a more worthy 
 advocate than man, between ourselves and God, 
 there is no hope that God will hear. But there 
 is an intercession, and JESUS, at the right hand 
 of God, for ever makes it. 
 
 Then, " awake, O my soul, and arise from 
 the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." d 
 
 " Is there no balm in Gilead ; is there no 
 physician there ?" e Turn to the gospel of Jesus 
 
 'ICor. v. 7. b Heb. i. 3. 
 
 ' Heb. ix. 22. " Eph. v. 14. ' Jerem. viii. 22.
 
 374 WEDNESDAY 
 
 Christ, and answer look to the blood of the 
 Saviour, and answer, Thou hast sinned 
 against God ; thou hast sinned from 
 habit ; thou hast sinned against conscience, 
 against reason, against the scriptures, until, O 
 my soul, thou art an abomination before the 
 Lord. 
 
 But yet, the Lord is merciful. Believest 
 thou the gospel ? " I know that thou believest." a 
 Be not then almost persuaded to be a Christian, 
 but entirely so. Give thyself up to repentance ; 
 prostrate on thy knees " pray without ceas- 
 ing ;" b pray for the Spirit ; pray for mercy ; 
 pray for sanctifying grace. 
 
 O yes, even yet I will be glad and rejoice. 
 My Saviour is my " strong rock for an house 
 of defence, and my fortress." " Bring hither 
 the ring, and kill the fatted calf;" for while I 
 am now saying, " Father, I have sinned 
 against heaven and before thee, and am no 
 more worthy to be called thy son." Lo, I 
 hear my Father's voice, the kind, the forgiving, 
 " My son was dead, and is alive again ; was 
 lost, and is found." d 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O thou, who sittest at the right hand of God, 
 in thine eternal glory, Jesu Christ, my Media- 
 
 " Acts xxvi. 27. b 1 Thess. v. 17. c Ps. xxxi. 2. 
 
 " Luke xv. 32.
 
 THE PRAYER. 375 
 
 tor and my Redeemer, hear the voice of my sup- 
 plication ; give ear unto the words of my 
 prayer. 
 
 My sins are so grievous, that I cannot endure 
 them ; mine iniquities are so heavy, that they 
 press me to the dust : I cannot look up for 
 shame, I am cast down, I am utterly discom- 
 fited. 
 
 But, O Lord most mighty, O God most 
 merciful, O Jesu Christ most righteous, 
 cast me not utterly from thy presence, and 
 take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 
 
 I have been deceived and cruelly mocked ; I 
 have loved the world, and despised righteous- 
 ness ; I have set up Dagon in my heart, and 
 wilfully thrown down the ark of the Almighty. 
 My name is Legion, for the sins that beset me 
 are beyond number. The one evil spirit is gone, 
 but seven others, more wicked than the first, 
 have entered in to dwell in there, and my last 
 state is worse than the first 
 
 But O Lord most mighty, O God most mer- 
 ciful, O Jesu Christ most righteous, cast me not 
 utterly from thy presence, and take not thy 
 Holy Spirit from me. 
 
 O my Father, let me pour forth my voice in 
 confession, let me lay bare my heart before thee. 
 
 My open sins, my secret sins, my presump- 
 tuous sins ; sins that I noted not, that I willingly 
 neglected, that I acted in wilful ignorance and 
 voluntary blindness, sins which a diligent spirit
 
 376 WEDNESDAY. 
 
 might have prevented, but I would not. How 
 manifold they are ! 
 
 [Here confess them, naming them individually, 
 and detailing their circumstances^] 
 
 But thou, O Lord, hast shed thy blood for 
 the sins of the whole world. Thou enduredst 
 the cross, despising the shame. Thou didst 
 arise from the dead a glorified body ; thou 
 didst ascend, and lead captivity captive ; thou 
 sittest at the right hand of God, to mediate and 
 to intercede. Through thee let me come before 
 the Father : by thy blood of atonement suffer me 
 to be cleansed ; O quicken me according to thy 
 word ! 
 
 Lead me, O blessed Lord, to that sacred altar, 
 the altar of thy memorial ; there suffer me to 
 feed on thy holy mysteries of love. Too long 
 have I neglected thy holy feast ; too long have I 
 despised thy means of grace, too long have I 
 forfeited my hopes of glory ; but now no longer. 
 Only do thou, who seest that I have no power 
 of myself to help myself, be my guide, my 
 propitiation, my advocate ; so strengthen me by 
 faith, so sanctify me by grace, that hencefor- 
 ward I may take up my cross and follow thee 
 that when I shall be cleansed from the past, I 
 may be strengthened for the future, that I may 
 grow in grace more and more, that I may cast 
 away the evil principles of the world, the de- 
 gradation of sin, the foulness of the flesh ; that I 
 may be transformed in the renewing of my mind,
 
 THE PRAYER. 377 
 
 and put off the old man ; so that from the hour 
 in which I shall taste spiritually of thy body 
 and thy blood, I may taste spiritually of com- 
 fort, and joy, and hope; so that when this 
 perishable world shall have passed away, this 
 corruption shall have put on incorruption, this 
 mortality shall have put on immortality, I, 
 though unworthy, though weak, though dis- 
 obedient, may yet sit down at the Supper of 
 the Lamb, my soul redeemed, my sins forgiven. 
 
 O holy Father, hear my voice, for the sake of 
 thy Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
 
 THURSDAY. 
 
 SINS OF TEMPTATION. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take 
 heed lest he fall." 3 
 
 The sinfulness of nature may, by the grace 
 of. the Holy Spirit, and the blood of Jesus 
 Christ, be washed out ; evil habits, evil 
 principles, may have been avoided, and the 
 knowledge of God's law may have worked 
 in my heart a generally righteous life, so that 
 I may look around me and say, " Judge me, 
 
 Lord, for I have walked in mine integ- 
 rity." 15 With the young man in the gospel, 
 
 1 may say, " All these things have I kept 
 from my youth up, what lack I yet." 
 
 a 1 Cor. x. 12. Psalm xxvi. 1. c Matt. xix. 20.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 379 
 
 But, O my soul, darest thou thus commune 
 with the Lord? Supposing that thou couldest 
 hope to be called with righteous David, a 
 man after God's own heart ; yet hast thou had 
 no moments of meditation, no losses from 
 thy state of purity, no deviations in the hour 
 of weakness from that holiness which God 
 loves ? 
 
 Cast back thy mind upon the days that are 
 past. The Scripture tells me to "be sober, be 
 vigilant, because my adversary, the devil, as 
 a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom 
 he may devour."" St. Paul says, " I fear, lest 
 by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve 
 through his subtilty, so your minds should 
 be corrupted from the simplicity of the gos- 
 pel."" My Saviour tells me that the seed is 
 very often " sown among thorns ;" and though 
 it presents a good appearance for a time, 
 yet the " cares of the world, and the deceit- 
 fulness of riches, and the lusts of other things 
 enter in, and choke the word, and it becometh 
 unfruitful." And again, he most solemnly 
 warns me to " watch and pray lest I enter into 
 temptation, for the spirit indeed is willing, but 
 the flesh is weak." d 
 
 Am I then superior to all this? Do I 
 stand in no need of this warning? Have I 
 
 1 Pet. v. 8. "2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
 c Matt. xiii. 22. " Matt. xxvi. 41.
 
 380 THURSDAY. 
 
 done, without intermission, the will of my 
 heavenly Father? Has the enemy never sur- 
 prised me ? Has no accident ruffled the even 
 tenor of my righteousness ? Have I walked 
 so invariably in the regions of the Spirit, as 
 to be beyond all influence of the things of 
 the flesh ; armed in the breastplate of faith 
 so completely, as to leave no naked spot 
 which the arrows of the evil one might 
 pierce ? Have I held no parley with the 
 tempter ? Have I had no doubts, no mis- 
 givings, no covetous desires, no forbidden 
 longings ? 
 
 O boast not thyself, but remember 
 The holy David a gazed from the towers 
 of his house upon the wife of Uriah ; and 
 because she was beautiful to look upon, he 
 was tempted, holy and righteous as was his 
 general character, by that forbidden and ac- 
 cidental gaze, to forget all his former right- 
 eousness. Blind and infatuated, the tempter 
 led him at his will from the sin of thought 
 to the sin of action, until he became an 
 adulterer, a traitor, and a murderer. 
 
 Have / never, with unholy gaze, forgotten 
 the resolutions of my purity ? If not in ac- 
 tion, yet in will. Pure and good as I seem, 
 have I never failed ; have I never yielded to 
 the " lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 
 * 2 Sam. xi. 2.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 381 
 
 and the pride of life ?" a O let me remember 
 that " when lust hath conceived, it bringeth 
 forth sin." b That " whosoever looketh upon 
 a woman to lust after her, hath committed adul- 
 tery already with her in his heart." 
 
 Achan, d of the tribe of Judah, beheld the 
 spoil of the enemy, the silver and the gold, 
 and the Babylonish vest, and he could not 
 withstand the desire of his heart : but the 
 tempter led him from the sight to the ac- 
 tion and against the commandment of the 
 Lord, he took the accursed thing. 
 
 Have / never set my heart on forbidden 
 treasures. Has the sight of silver and of 
 gold, the riches and the splendour, the fair 
 dwellings and the mighty possessions of my 
 brother, stirred up no feeling of envy? If 
 they have not provoked to violence or to 
 stealth, yet have I not coveted ? Can I 
 safely say with the apostle Paul, " I have 
 coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel?" 6 
 O let me remember the commandments of my 
 God ; " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
 house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
 wife, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing 
 that is his." 1 
 
 Peter, the confident, the bold. Did his 
 confidence endure ? We have seen him 
 
 1 John ii. 16. b James i. 15. c Matt. v. 28. 
 
 d Joshua vii. 21. ' Acts xx. 33. ' Exod. xx. 17.
 
 382 THURSDAY. 
 
 stretching forth to walk upon the sea, a and 
 yet sinking. We have seen him crying 
 aloud, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
 living God :" b and yet, in the time of ad- 
 versity, in spite of all his boasting, " He 
 began to curse and to swear, saying, I know 
 not this man of whom ye speak." 
 
 Have / never been tempted amid the scoffs 
 of the unbeliever, and the ridicule of the 
 sceptic, to deny my Lord and Master? Was 
 there no moment when bodily danger, or worldly 
 favour, the applause of the wicked, or the 
 friendship of the world, have induced me to 
 forego the love and approbation of my God, 
 and to say of my blessed Redeemer and 
 Lord, " I know not this man of whom ye 
 speak ?" 
 
 O let me remember that if I cannot give 
 up houses, and lands, and children, and wife, 
 yea, and life also, for the kingdom of God, 
 I cannot be Christ's disciple. d 
 
 Then, O my soul, how great are thy temp- 
 tations. How manifold the falls of him who 
 thinketh he standeth. Thou canst turn neither 
 to the right nor to the left ; thou canst 
 look no where, touch nothing, hear nothing, 
 taste nothing, but that the subtle enemy shall 
 be disguised beneath it, lying in wait for thy 
 
 * Matt. xiv. 30. b Matt. xvi. 16. c Mark. xiv. 71. 
 A Luke xiv. 26, 33.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 383 
 
 peril. The senses, the intellect, thy social 
 duties, thy religious duties ; hearing the word, 
 preaching the word even that which puts 
 on the semblance of good, yet shall hide 
 beneath it a danger. Even that which shall 
 seem to men laudable and righteous, yet shall 
 carry a sting beneath its external beauty, 
 filled with the venom of the evil one. 
 
 Then boast not thyself; but remember the 
 many occasions of sin to which thou hast 
 yielded ; the snares of the enemy into which 
 thou hast fallen. Trust not in thyself that 
 thou art righteous above other men, but be 
 like that humble publican, who smote upon 
 his breast, saying, " God be merciful to me 
 a sinner." a Thou mayest be even a man after 
 God's own heart, like David, yet some acci- 
 dent shall have overcome thee ; and like Da- 
 vid, thou hast fallen. One only was tempted 
 like as we are, and yet without sin and that 
 the Lord our righteousness. One only did re- 
 sist the devil, and he fled and that the 
 Anointed of the Lord. 
 
 Then I will get me to my Lord right humbly. 
 I am a poor, weak, deceived creature. I can- 
 not do the thing that I would. " I will ac- 
 knowledge my transgression, and my sin shall 
 be ever before me. Against thee, thee only 
 have I sinned, and done this evil in thy 
 
 Luke xviii. 13.
 
 384 THURSDAY. 
 
 sight, that thou mightest be justified when 
 thou speakest, and be clear when thou 
 judgest." 3 
 
 THE REMEDY. 
 
 "But why art thou cast down, O my soul, 
 and why art thou disquieted within me. Hope 
 thou in God"^ 
 
 True that I am surrounded by many dangers, 
 that I cannot look, cannot speak, cannot think, 
 without the great enemy of souls at hand to 
 turn the good which God intended into evil ; 
 but have I not as great and certain helps, as 
 I have fearful and treacherous enemies ? 
 
 I have the example of the righteous I 
 behold Abraham. 
 
 " It came to pass that God did tempt 
 Abraham, and said unto him, take now thy 
 son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 
 and offer him for a burnt offering." And 
 faithful Abraham was proof to this heavy 
 trial, and his obedience gave not way: "My 
 son, God will provide himself a lamb for a 
 burnt offering," and he went forth, and 
 Satan standing by in expectation of his vic- 
 tory saw, for once, man triumphant ; and the 
 Lord said : " Now I know that thou fearest 
 
 a Psalm li. 4. '' Psalm xlii. 5. c Gen. xxii. 1.
 
 THE REMEDY. 385 
 
 God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, 
 thine only son, from me." 
 
 I behold Job. 
 
 Satan answered the Lord and said : " Doth 
 Job fear God for nought, put forth thine 
 hand and touch all that he hath, and he 
 will curse thee to thy face." a And he did 
 so. The Sabeans slew his oxen, the fire fell 
 upon his sheep, the Chaldeans fell upon his 
 camels, the house fell upon his young men ; 
 yet what did Job ? Satan stood by, and 
 whispered in his ear : " Curse the Lord, yea 
 even curse the Lord who has sent thee this 
 misery ;" but patient Job despised the tempter, 
 he fell down, and worshipped, saying : " naked 
 came I out of my mother's womb, and 
 naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, 
 and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." b And even this was 
 not all, Satan said unto the Lord: "Put 
 forth thine hand now, and touch his bone 
 and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy 
 face." So Satan went forth from the presence 
 of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils, 
 and he took him a potsherd to scrape him- 
 self withal, and he sat down among the ashes. 
 And " his wife said unto him, dost thou still 
 retain thine integrity ? curse God and die." 
 
 Job. i. 9. b Job. i. 21. 
 
 Job. ii. 5 9. 
 2B
 
 386 THURSDAY. 
 
 O let me dwell upon the severity of this 
 temptation, his substance gone, his oxen, his 
 sheep, his children, and now a sore disease, 
 and last of all his wife, yea even the wife of 
 his bosom, even she becomes a vehicle of 
 Satan's power ; even she, the wife of his bosom ; 
 and she counsels him to curse God. But 
 patient Job triumphs, he holdeth fast his 
 integrity, Satan is repelled ; crest fallen and 
 vanquished he finds that there is a power 
 to withstand him. And Job said : " What ! 
 shall we receive good at the hand of God, 
 and not receive evil?" a 
 
 But above all, I behold my great Redeemer. 
 " Jesus was led up of the Spirit to be tempted 
 of the devil. " b Thrice the tempter assailed 
 him, but thrice was he beaten back. First, 
 the temptation of the senses : " Command that 
 these stones be made bread." Again, the 
 temptation of vain glory : "If thou be the 
 Son of God, cast thyself down." Again the 
 temptation of worldly power : " All this will 
 I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and wor- 
 ship me." But it moved not the holy Jesus. 
 He was tempted like as we are ; he had 
 like passions, like feelings ; here were allure- 
 ments to him, which presented all the aspect 
 of present delight. But he failed not. O 
 dwell upon that wonderful scene, dwell upon 
 
 m Job. ii. 10. b Matt. iv. 1.
 
 THE REMEDY. 387 
 
 the Lord in this example which he furnishes 
 to thee, even thee, in the daily solicitations 
 which Satan urges, so skilfully, so fatally 
 and remember, O my soul, that it was the 
 word of God that saved him : " It is writ- 
 ten," "it is written," "it is written." 3 And 
 in this he swerved not, in this he beat thee 
 down, in this he saw through thy devices, O 
 thou enemy of souls. 
 
 But some did not prove victorious, some 
 did fail in the hour of trial, even as I have 
 done. Well, but there was a way of restora- 
 tion. They were not finally destroyed. 
 
 David failed : But God sent the prophet 
 Nathan to him. He was asleep and blind 
 in his sin until the prophet spake ; but when 
 once awakened, once seeing the light again. 
 He said unto Nathan : "I have sinned against 
 the Lord," b and then, O gracious mercy, so 
 prompt, so ready for sinful man ! Nathan 
 said unto David : " The Lord also hath put 
 away thy sin, thou shalt not die." 
 
 Peter failed : He was bound of Satan : 
 " The Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath 
 desired to have you, that he may sift you 
 as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that 
 thy faith fail not, and when thou art conver- 
 ted, strengthen thy brethren." It was fore- 
 seen that he should fail, but the Lord was 
 
 Matt. iv. 4, 7, 10. b 2 Sam. xii. 13. c Luke xxii. 31. 
 
 2B2
 
 388 THURSDAY. 
 
 praying for him. Satan was sifting him as 
 wheat, but the Lord was asking for his 
 restoration at that very moment. And his 
 faith, though it failed, did not fail entirely ; 
 and no sooner, in the infatuation of that sin- 
 gular denial, thrice repeated in the face of 
 warning, in the very presence of the Lord, 
 no sooner was it done, than the mist which 
 clouded his vision dispersed, and " He wept 
 bitterly." 3 
 
 So let me weep bitterly, so let the Lord 
 pray also for me, intercede also for me, when 
 Satan sifts me as wheat. O shall I not 
 have comfort in this ; " shall I say when I 
 am tempted, I am tempted of God." b Nay, but 
 when I know the mercy, the love, and the 
 power of God, I shall feel sure that " no 
 temptation can take me, but such as is com- 
 mon to man, and that God is faithful, and 
 will not suffer me to be tempted above that 
 I am able, but will with the temptation also 
 make a way to escape that I may be able to 
 bear it." c 
 
 Then gird thyself and " fight the good fight 
 of faith :" d " Enter not into the path of the 
 wicked, and go not in the way of evil men." 6 
 "Come out from among them, and be ye sepa- 
 rate saith the Lord, and touch not the 
 unclean thing." f I know that in myself I 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 75. b James i. 13. c 1 Cor. x. 13. 
 
 d 1 Tim. vi. 12 'Prov. iv. 14. ' 2 Cor. vi. 17.
 
 THE REMEDY. 389 
 
 am utterly powerless, if I succeed, it is " not 
 I but the grace of God that is with me." a I 
 dare not so much as lift up my eyes to the 
 allurements of my enemy; but the Spirit is 
 ever ready to them that ask, and I will ask. 
 It is " Faith that is the victory which shall 
 overcome the world," b and therefore I will 
 go to Jesus Christ my Saviour ; and when I 
 go to him, he tells me "watch and pray, 
 lest ye enter into temptation." I will there- 
 fore " watch and pray." 
 
 For the past, though many are my falls, 
 yet now " I weep bitterly ." d 
 
 For the future, though I know that "I 
 wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
 against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
 against spiritual wickedness in high places ;" e 
 yet I will " put on the whole armour of 
 God, that I may be able to stand against 
 the wiles of the devil. 
 
 And I will stand, having my loins girt 
 about with truth, and having on the breast- 
 plate of righteousness. 
 
 And my feet shod with the preparation of 
 the gospel of peace. 
 
 Above all, I will take the shield of faith 
 wherewith I shall be able to quench all the 
 fiery darts of the wicked. 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 10. b 1 John v. 4. Matt. xxvi. 41. 
 
 4 Matt. xxvi. 75. Ephes. vi. 12.
 
 390 THURSDAY. 
 
 And I will take the helmet of salvation, 
 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
 of God :" a 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O Almighty and eternal God, whose paths 
 are mercy and truth ; who dost not willingly 
 afflict the children of men, nor try them 
 beyond that which they are able to bear ; 
 hear me yet once more, O thou most mighty, 
 and let the voice of my petition come before 
 thy presence. 
 
 Innumerable evils have compassed me round 
 about. My temptations are more in number 
 than the hairs of my head. O Lord, whither 
 shall I turn. 
 
 Thou hast led me to the mountain to be 
 tempted of the devil. Thou hast suffered 
 Satan to walk to and fro upon the earth : 
 Thou hast given him power to try me, even 
 as silver is tried. O Lord, I have not 
 fought the good fight of faith. I have failed 
 in the hour of need. I have been discomfited ; 
 and though I thought myself strong, yet was 
 mine enemy too powerful, his devices exceed- 
 ing treacherous. 
 
 * Eph. vi. 1117.
 
 THE PRAYER. 391 
 
 lusts of 1 
 I fell. 
 
 [Here recount and dwell upon the instances.] 
 
 The lusts of the eye came before me, and 
 I fell. 
 
 [Sere recount and dwell upon the instances.] 
 
 The pride of life came before me, and I 
 fell. 
 
 [Here recount and dwell upon the instances.] 
 
 But thou art he who said, I came not to 
 call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 
 Thou art he who described thyself as glad 
 when the prodigal returned ; as rejoicing when 
 the lost sheep was found. Thou art he who 
 said, There is more joy in heaven over one 
 sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and 
 nine just persons who need no repentance. 
 Thou art he who didst not reject the peni- 
 tent Magdalen. Thou art he who didst not 
 cast aside thy weeping apostle, even though 
 he denied thee thrice. 
 
 Therefore will I hope in thy mercy for 
 the past. Therefore, O my God, I pray to 
 thee more diligently for strength for the fu- 
 ture. I ask for thy Holy Spirit more ear- 
 nestly, and for faith, and for hope, and for 
 grace, that I may bring my body under sub- 
 jection, and make my mind quiet even as a 
 weaned child, and remember, that of myself 
 I can (^o no good thing. 
 
 With Adam I have fallen before the subtilty
 
 392 THURSDAY. 
 
 of the serpent. But grant, O Lord 'my Sa- 
 viour, that with thee I may henceforward cry 
 aloud, Get thee hence, Satan ; and then let 
 angels come and minister. O give me the 
 spirit of Abraham to believe, of Job to 
 endure, of John to love, of David to repent. 
 
 O blessed Saviour, that promised the Com- 
 forter, leave me not comfortless. 
 
 O Holy Spirit, shed thy divine influence 
 on my heart, to prevent me, so that I may 
 not fall into temptation ; but if I do fall 
 into temptation, then make a way for me 
 to escape, that I may be able to bear it, 
 and glorify thy name. 
 
 Defend me against all delusions. Sanctify 
 me in all my trials. Let not education mis- 
 lead me, or reason make me proud. Let 
 not prejudice make me obstinate, or interest 
 make me blind. Let thy gracious promises 
 quicken my obedience, thy fearful judgments 
 deter me from forgetfulness. Give me a full 
 persuasion of the blessed truths of thy gos- 
 pel, a full faith in my Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 a certain knowledge that he, and that he 
 alone, is the way, the truth, and the life. 
 
 And above all, grant, of thine infinite good- 
 ness, that now, as thy holy feast, O Jesu 
 Christ, draws near, I may more intimately 
 dwell upon thee, more dearly love thee ; 
 that while I receive from thy memorial in 
 the Holy Supper more close assurance of
 
 THE PRAYER. 393 
 
 thy pardon, I may also have more earnest 
 confidence in thy support, so that each time 
 I partake of these holy mysteries, I may 
 grow in grace more and more, until, passing 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, 
 I may come to those blessed mansions of 
 eternal glory which thou hast prepared for 
 them that love thee. Hear my prayer, O 
 Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of 
 the world. Hear my prayer, O merciful 
 God, for his sake, whose servant I am, my 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
 FRIDAY. 
 
 THE GRACES OF PHE GOSPEL. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " IF any man have not the spirit of Christ, he 
 is none of his." a 
 
 Then, must I do something more than I have 
 yet done, if I would be of the fold of that " good 
 Shepherd, who giveth his life for the sheep." b 
 I must do more in my examination of the 
 past, than merely look to deficiencies ; I must 
 not only look in repentance to the failures 
 of the past, but I must advance, and make daily 
 progress in the future, and lift up my soul to 
 God in all the graces of the gospel, in all the 
 fruits of the spirit, in the humility, in the purity, 
 in the charity, which constitute the 
 
 Romans viii. 9. b John x. 11.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 395 
 
 SPIRIT OF CHRIST. 
 
 Then let me consider 
 
 If I possess justice, fortitude, temperance, will 
 that constitute the spirit of Christ ? These 
 things are certainly demanded of God, but they 
 are duties which the Jew might learn as well as 
 the Christian ; they are attainable by human 
 reason, and are, therefore, not the distinctive 
 marks of the spirit of Christ 3 But it was 
 
 I. The Spirit of Humility. 
 
 Can I behold Christ, my Saviour, fellow-par- 
 taker with me, frail and perishable as I am, yet 
 fellow-partaker with me of human nature, de- 
 graded to my level, " who am but dust and ashes,"" 
 and yet not see how conspicuously marked in 
 the spirit of Christ is the spirit of humility ? 
 
 He was poor and unknown, a labouring 
 mechanic, without favour, without reputation :" 
 " He being in the form of God, thought it not 
 robbery to be equal with God but yet he made 
 himself of no reputation, and took upon him 
 the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men, and being found in fashion as 
 a man, he humbled himself, and became obe- 
 dient unto death, even the death of the 
 cross." d 
 
 .' See Rom. ii. 14, 15. " Gen. xviii. 27. c Mark vi. 3. 
 
 " Phil. ii. 6.
 
 396 FRIDAY. 
 
 How did he teach ? " When thou art bidden 
 of any man to a wedding, go, and sit down in the 
 lowest room." a " Except ye become as little 
 children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven." b " Learn of me, for I am meek 
 and lowly in heart." 
 
 Who were his companions ? Not the noble 
 and the great ; not the wise lawyer and the 
 subtle pharisee ; but he was " the friend of 
 publicans and sinners." d He conversed with 
 the outcast and the despised ; no sinner, how- 
 ever degraded, but met with kind words from 
 him ; no misery, however abject ; no sickness, 
 however loathsome ; but he was at their side, to 
 comfort and to heal. 
 
 How did he act ? When the disciples contended 
 which of them should be the greatest, " He took 
 a child, and set him in the midst." 6 
 
 When they were contending for precedency, 
 " He took a towel, and girded himself, and 
 washed his disciples' feet." f 
 
 Then, O my soul, wilt thou not be lowly 
 and meek even as he was lowly and meek? 
 Wilt thou be rich, and noble, and aspiring? 
 Wilt thou invent endless distinctions of rank, 
 and struggle for high places, and " be called of 
 men, Rabbi ?" g O, surely, no. 
 
 Luke xiv. 10. b Matt, xviii. 3. c Matt. xi. 29. 
 
 d Luke vii. 34. e Matt, xviii. 2. ' John xiii. 14. 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 7.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 397 
 
 Thou wilt banish all haughty words and 
 proud thoughts. Thou wilt not exact too much of 
 those who serve in the lowest places of the 
 world, because thou wilt remember, that 
 thou " also hast a Master in heaven." 3 Thou 
 wilt remember, that " blessed are the poor in 
 spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." b 
 Thou wilt take a towel, and gird thyself, and 
 wash thy servants' feet ; knowing that thou art 
 equal, equal in sin, equal in infirmity, equal in 
 need of redemption by another's merits, even 
 with the lowest, the vilest, the most abject, of 
 thy brethren. 
 
 II. The Spirit of Purity. 
 
 Even his enemies acknowledged this. The 
 wife of Pilate called him, " that just man." c 
 Pilate said of him, " Why, what evil hath he 
 done ?" d Even Satan himself announced him, 
 speaking in the unclean spirit: " I know thee 
 who thou art, the Holy One of God". e 
 
 And not only in action. The purity of Christ 
 went far deeper. He said : " Blessed are the 
 pure in heart"* " Out of the heart proceed evil 
 thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, 
 false witness, blasphemies."* 
 
 Eph. vi.-9- b Matt. v. 3. e Matt, xxvii. 19. 
 
 * Luke xxiii. 22. Luke iv. 34. ' Matt. v. 8. 
 
 'Mark vii. 21.
 
 398 FRIDAY. 
 
 Then, not only must I keep my body pure, and 
 my hands clean, but even my mind. I must be 
 pure, even in intention. 
 
 Now, let me consider : 
 
 If I am pure in outward appearance ; if I 
 speak well of religion, have God in my mouthy 
 and to all external observation abstain from all 
 gross violations of right, shall I have the spirit 
 of Christ? O no. I shall be only pure for 
 man's sake, and not for God ; for fear, and not 
 for righteousness. There may be outward mor- 
 tification, the robe of sackcloth, and the sprink- 
 ling of ashes, while the soul shall, be as foul as 
 leprosy. There may be clean hands and chaste 
 words, but withal lustful imaginations and in- 
 temperate desires. 
 
 But, O my God, my Saviour, am I likely to 
 deceive thee in this ? Can I cover the impurity 
 of my thoughts from thy all-searching eye? 
 Thou desirest to present thy church " without 
 wrinkle and without spot, or any such thing;" 3 
 and, therefore, I, as one of his church, must 
 be without wrinkle and without spot. 
 
 If I shall only hear God when he speaks his de- 
 cided prohibitions in the loud thunders of Mount 
 Sinai then I shall be a very good pharisee, 
 but surely a very poor Christian. If I swear 
 not, steal not, commit no adultery, shall I then 
 clap my hands, and say See how I obey God ! 
 That may be very well for a Jew, but not for a 
 
 m Ephes. v. 27.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 399 
 
 disciple of the pure and holy Jesus. There is 
 no " Thou shalt not," and " Thou shall," in the 
 spirit of Christ. There is no limit to his all-per- 
 vading holiness. In the heart, in the motive, 
 in the intention,! must be pure, "even as Christ 
 is pure." a 
 
 " I must wash my hands," and also my 
 thoughts " in innocency, and so will I com- 
 pass thine altar. " b 
 
 III. The Spirit of Charity. 
 
 If I give alms. Is that the charity of 
 Christ? 
 
 What saith the Scriptures ? 
 
 " Though I bestow all my goods to feed 
 the poor, and have not charity, it profiteth 
 me nothing." Then I may give alms, and 
 yet have no charity. Yes, because as before, 
 it is a business of the motive, not of the 
 deed. 
 
 What saith the scripture again ? 
 
 " Charity suffereth long, and is kind. Cha- 
 rity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, 
 is not puffed up, is not easily provoked ; think- 
 eth no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity ; beareth 
 all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things." d 
 
 Now see the spirit of Christ. 
 
 1 John iii. 3. b Ps. xxvi. 6. e 1 Cor. xiii. 3. d 1 Cor. xiii. 4.
 
 400 FRIDAY. 
 
 When the tower in Siloam fell, and slew 
 eighteen men, Jesus said, " think ye that 
 they were sinners above all men that dwelt in 
 Jerusalem, I tell you nay." a When the woman 
 taken in adultery was brought before him, and 
 the scribes and pharisees were unable in their 
 consciences, when tested by Jesus, to pursue 
 the accusation, his reply was, passing by the 
 crime by writing with his fingers on the ground 
 for charity's sake, " Neither do I condemn 
 thee. Go and sin no more." b 
 
 His patience under sufferings. 
 
 "When he was reviled, he reviled not 
 again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but 
 committed himself unto him that judge th right- 
 eously." 
 
 His readiness to forgive injuries. 
 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do." d 
 
 But, O my soul, hast thou this spirit? Thou 
 must endeavour, if thou wouldest be one of 
 Christ's. 
 
 Thy judgment must think no evil. 
 
 Thy forgiveness must banish all memory of 
 
 wrongs. 
 
 Thy patience must bear all things, hope 
 all things, believe all things, for Jesus' 
 sake. 
 
 Luke xiii. 4, 5. b John viii. 11. 
 
 c 1 Pet. ii. 23. d Luke xxiii. 34
 
 THE MEANS. 401 
 
 THE MEANS. 
 
 How then shall I acquire these great excel- 
 lencies ? How shall I presume ? how shall I 
 attempt to follow the steps of my Saviour, 
 who did no sin, neither was guile found in 
 his mouth ?" a 
 
 " Even by ruling myself according to his 
 word." b 
 
 I. To be humble. 
 
 If I am rich ; "if my silver and gold 
 is multiplied, and all that I have is mul- 
 tiplied ;" then I must remember that I 
 am only the more dangerously situated by 
 those very riches, because "it is more diffi- 
 cult for a camel to go through the eye of a 
 needle than for a rich man to enter the 
 kingdom of God." d I must remember that 
 when Lazarus died he was carried to Abra- 
 ham's bosom : and that Dives also died, but 
 that in the place of torment he lifted up 
 his voice, even for a drop of water to cool 
 his parched tongue. 6 
 
 If I am high born, I must remember that 
 this is purely a distinction invented by man, 
 and that God can " of the stones raise up 
 children unto Abraham."' 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 22. b Psalm cxix. 9. e Deut viii. 13. 
 d Luke xviii. 25 ' Luke xvi. 24. f Matt. iii. 9.
 
 402 FRIDAY 
 
 If I have beauty. The very flowers have 
 much more beauty, and they are blooming 
 one day, and cut down and cast into the 
 oven the next; and a fever, or a blast of 
 the cold wind, or the falling shower may 
 mar that beauty in a moment. " O God, 
 thou makest my beauty consume away, even 
 like a moth fretting a garment." 3 
 
 If I have power. If I say with Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, " Is not this great Babylon that I 
 have built." b Yea, even while the word is in 
 my mouth, I may be driven from men, and 
 eat grass as oxen, and my body may be 
 wet with the dew of heaven. 
 
 If I have spiritual zeal. Then let me re- 
 member that the self-righteous pharisee was 
 not justified so much as the lowly publican, 
 and that the apostle Paul feared that he 
 might be " a cast-away," d and called himself 
 " the chief of sinners." 6 
 
 These remembrances will make thee bow 
 before the Lord, and get thyself to thy God 
 right humbly. 
 
 II. To be pure. 
 
 Remember the integral purity of God. That 
 no man can stand in his presence and live ; 
 so bright the effulgence of his glory, so pure 
 the holiness of his mind ; and yet thou must 
 be " perfect even as he is perfect." f 
 
 " Psalm xxxix. 11. b Daniel iv. 30. Luke xviii. 14. 
 d 1 Cor. ix. 27. e 1 Tim. i 15. f Matt. v. 48.
 
 THE MEANS. 403 
 
 Remember that to make thee pure, the blood 
 of that very God, who became man for the 
 purpose, was shed upon the cross. 
 
 Remember that thy body is the " temple 
 of the Holy Ghost," a and thou oughtest not to 
 mar God's building, a building which he 
 has thought worthy of his own especial pre- 
 sence, and has sent his Spirit to dwell there. 
 
 Remember that thou puttest not thyself 
 into any wilful condition of danger, indulging 
 in impure sights, in wanton conversation, in 
 unholy company, where deeds of darkness 
 may be done, or words of darkness may be 
 spoken. 
 
 These things, if thou wilt remember, thou 
 wilt purify thyself even as Christ is pure. b 
 
 III. To be charitable. 
 
 Consider "not only thine own things, but 
 the things of others ;" "rejoicing with those 
 that do rejoice, and weeping with those that 
 weep;" d " if thou hast two coats, giving one 
 to him that hath not," 6 and imparting of thine 
 abundance to him that lacketh. 
 
 Consider the proverb, " Physician heal thy- 
 self,'^ that " every one must bear his own 
 burden;" 8 and " look not to the mote in thy 
 brother's eye before thou hast removed the 
 beam in thine own eye." h 
 
 1 Cor. vi. 19. b I John iii. 3. c Philip, ii. iv. 
 
 Rom. xii. 15. Luke iii. 11. f Luke iv. 23. 
 
 "Gal.vi. 5. "Matt.vii.3. 
 
 2c2
 
 404 FRIDAY. 
 
 Consider that "by what measure thou me- 
 test it shall be measured to thee again ; and 
 that as thou judgest thy brother here, so 
 wilt thou be judged hereafter." 3 
 
 Consider that the great day will come when 
 the congregated nations of the world shall be 
 assembled, and the books open, in which the 
 things done in the flesh are written ; " and 
 the dead shall be judged out of those things 
 which are written in the books according to 
 their works." b O look to thyself, and not to 
 others. 
 
 Consider how great that love was which 
 Christ has borne to thee. 
 
 Consider his life, his death, his resurrection. 
 
 Consider that this love is now being ex- 
 erted for thee, and will continue to be exerted 
 for thee as long as he sits at the right hand 
 of God the Father, " seeing he ever liveth to 
 make intercession ;" and, that if thou sayest 
 " thou lovest God and hatest thy brother, 
 thou art a liar." d 
 
 Consider these things, and then unkindness, 
 and envy, and malice, and littleness of mind, 
 and all uncharitableness, must at once and for 
 ever vanish. Thou wilt have the Spirit of 
 Christ. 
 
 a Matt. vii. 2. b Rev. xx. 12. 
 
 c Heb. vii. 25. d 1 John iv. 20.
 
 THE PRAYER. 405 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 O Jesu Christ, most pure, most holy, whose 
 innocent Spirit blessed and dignified the form 
 of man, whose heart knew no evil, and lips 
 no guile. Thy servant, even I, thine un- 
 worthy servant, would fain receive from thee 
 a ray of that heavenly brightness, the faint- 
 est beam of light, from thee, the Sun of 
 righteousness. 
 
 Blessed Lord, let all pride of nature be 
 banished from my heart, when I think of 
 thee the lowly and the meek. Thou wast 
 rich, but became poor for my sake. Thou wast 
 God and became a man for my sake. Thou 
 wast the anointed king, but became a servant 
 for my sake. Let all vanity and self-opinion, 
 presumptuous thoughts, and spiritual ambition, 
 be utterly cast from my soul ; for thou de- 
 lightedst not to be called Rabbi, and thou 
 didst say, " Why callest thou me good, 
 there is none good but one, that is God. 
 
 Suffer not the pollutions of the flesh, and 
 the foul imaginations of the mind, to degrade 
 that temple which was chosen for thy dwell- 
 ing place. Suffer not wild and impatient de- 
 sires to perplex my thoughts ; irregular pas- 
 sions to disturb my love ; unholy words to 
 pollute the free spirit by which thou didst 
 make me thine own. 
 
 Grant, also, O thou most kind to the fail-
 
 406 FRIDAY. 
 
 ings of man, loving where thou mightest 
 have turned away in hate, and rewarding 
 where thou mightest most justly have pun- 
 ished. Grant, that as I am severe towards 
 myself, I may be charitable towards others. 
 That I may think no evil, and speak no evil ; 
 that I may love as I hope to be loved, 
 forgive as I hope to be forgiven ; where mis- 
 fortune presses, that I may have power to 
 comfort ; where poverty has laid low, that I 
 may have the ability to help ; where sin has 
 overcome, that I may have the grace to coun- 
 sel and to guide. 
 
 For this purpose, O heavenly Father, let 
 thy Holy Spirit shed over my soul that in- 
 effable unction of sincerity, of integrity, of 
 righteous principles, which is alone thy gift ; 
 that I may be thy son in heart, and in deed, 
 as well as in name, even as Jesus was. 
 
 Let me aspire even to thy heavenly perfec- 
 tions, O blessed Jesu, even to thy most perfect 
 glories. Pour forth thy intercession continu- 
 ally at the throne of grace, that I may day 
 by day increase in virtue, increase in favour 
 with God and man ; that I may keep under 
 my body, and press forward to the prize of 
 my heavenly calling. 
 
 When I suffer affliction let me think of 
 thy sorrows which bowed thee to the dust 
 at Gethsemane, when I suffer the revilings of 
 men, let me think of the buffetings, the spit-
 
 THE PRAYER. 407 
 
 tings, the scourging, which thou without a 
 murmur didst endure ; when I suffer injuries, 
 
 grant me the power and the spirit to say, 
 " Father forgive them for they not what 
 they do." 
 
 Finally, O Lord my God, most righteous, 
 most holy, as the day now approaches when 
 
 1 shall yet once more encompass thine al- 
 tar, so the more earnestly do I implore thee 
 for that wedding garment which thou pre- 
 parest for thy guests, so the more urgently 
 do I seek, so the more quickly do I knock. 
 
 Cast out the evil spirits with which my 
 heart is full, drive them far away, and into 
 their place suffer to enter the spirit of hu- 
 mility, the spirit of purity, the spirit of 
 charity. Make me even as thyself, all holi- 
 ness and benignity ; all meekness and gen- 
 tleness ; all love and righteousness ; and when 
 by thy grace I am thus perfected and puri- 
 fied ; when rny days of human life are over, 
 and my body shall receive its last resting place, 
 the inheritance of creeping things ; O then, 
 let my soul, redeemed of the Lord, wing its 
 unimpeded flight, to those regions of the 
 blessed, to that everlasting rest, which re- 
 maineth by thy promise for the people of 
 God. Amen, through Jesus Christ
 
 SATURDAY. 
 
 HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS. 
 
 THE MEDITATION. 
 
 " OUR conversation is in heaven."* 
 
 If I am a Christian, I ought to desire " that 
 mind which was in Christ Jesus." I ought to 
 follow not only his steps who did no sin, 
 " neither was guile found in his mouth"* but 
 who thought no guile ; I ought to study the 
 temper and disposition of his affections. 
 
 " Where the treasure is, there will the heart 
 be also." c And if my real joy and hope were in 
 heaven, there would be my business, there 
 would be my life, there would be the ten- 
 dency of all my thoughts, and cares, and wishes, 
 for see the mind of Jesus. 
 
 When only twelve years old, he was found in 
 
 ' Phil. iii. 20. h 1 Pet. ii. 22. < Luke xii. 34.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 409 
 
 the temple, 'disputing with the doctors; and 
 when asked the reason, his reply was : " Wist 
 ye not that I must be about my Father's busi- 
 ness ?" At another time, with a whip of cords 
 he expelled the unholy merchants from the 
 temple, zealous for his Father's glory ; thereby 
 fulfilling the prophecy of David : " The zeal of 
 thine house hath eaten me up." b The synagogue 
 ever found him ready : " As his custom was, he 
 went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and 
 stood up for to read." c The passover, d the feast 
 of dedication, 6 all the festivals of his church and 
 of his country, invariably found him in the holy 
 city, prepared to take his part. The worship of 
 his heavenly Father, both in public and private ; 
 the prayer by night and day ; in temptation, his 
 resort to God ; in the garden, his submissive 
 cry : " Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be 
 done ;" On the cross, his dying complaint : 
 " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me !" g and at the last, his dying exclamation : 
 " Into thy hands I commend my spirit" 11 In 
 all these points, I behold the heavenly-minded- 
 ness of my Saviour. His reference of all and 
 every thing in life to God : " In all his 
 ways he acknowledged God, and God directed 
 his paths." ! 
 
 a Luke ii. 49. b John ii. 15., and Ps. Ixix. 9. 
 
 1 Luke iv. 16. d John ii. 13. e John x. 22. 
 
 1 Mark xiv 36. * Matt, xxvii. 46. h Luke xxiii. 46. 
 
 1 Prov. iii. 6.
 
 410 SATURDAY. 
 
 And just so was his teaching. 
 
 With the worldly-minded pharisees he argues : 
 " What is a man profited if he shall gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul ?" a To his 
 disciples he says: " I say unto you, my friends, 
 Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and 
 after that have no more that they can do ; but I 
 will forewarn ye whom ye shall fear. Fear him, 
 who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into 
 hell." b Of alms he says: " Take heed that ye 
 do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, 
 otherwise ye have no reward of your Father 
 which is in heaven." Of prayer, he says : 
 " When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and 
 when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy 
 Father which is in secret, and thy Father, which 
 seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." d Of 
 the whole character, he says : Do not look to 
 men ; do not estimate your righteousness by 
 theirs ; but " be ye perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect." 6 
 
 Thus did he ever speak, contrasting the world 
 with heaven, and man with God ; counselling us 
 of the vanity of one, the joyful eternity of the 
 other : " The friendship of the world is enmity 
 with God :" f " Ye cannot be the servants of 
 two masters, ye must hate the one if ye 
 love the other." g 
 
 " Matt. xvi. 26. b Luke xii. 5. c Matt. vi. 1. 
 
 " Matt. vi. 6. e Matt. v. 48 ' James iv. 4. 
 
 B Luke xvi. 13.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 411 
 
 Then, let me consider : 
 
 Of which am / the friend ? Whose servant 
 am I? " They that are of the world speak of 
 the world," a yea, and think of the world. " God 
 is not in all their thoughts." 1 * " That which is 
 born of God overcometh the world." If, there- 
 fore, I do not overcome the world, the probability 
 is, that I am not born of God. " The victory that 
 overcometh the world is faith. " c If, therefore, I 
 have not succeeded in overcoming the world, 
 the probability is, that I have not sufficient 
 faith ; and if I have not sufficient faith, where 
 is my salvation? 
 
 Let me not, therefore, love that which is the 
 enemy of God. 
 
 I must not, indeed, be " slothful in business ;" 
 but then I must be " fervent in spirit, serving 
 the Lord." d " I must rise up early, and late take 
 rest, and eat the bread of carefulness :" e but let 
 it be not for worldly gain, but heavenly gain, 
 let it be " about my Fathers business." O let 
 me not think " that my house shall continue for 
 ever, and that my dwelling-place shall endure 
 from one generation to another, and call the 
 lands after my own name." f Let me not imagine 
 that I can serve God and mammon together, 
 and that the cup of the Lord and the cup of 
 
 1 John iv. 5 b Ps. x. 4. 
 
 c 1 John v 4. d Romans xii. 11. e Ps. cxxvii. 2. 
 
 f Ps. xlix. 11.
 
 412 SATURDAY. 
 
 devils can stand upon the same table. 8 The chil- 
 dren of this world are in their generation wiser 
 than the children of light." b But let me part 
 with that wisdom. Away with that wisdom 
 which would give me a few fleeting hours of 
 transitory glory, and then consign me to ever- 
 lasting condemnation ; away with that wisdom, 
 " the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness 
 with God." Yea, let me rather be " a child of 
 light," d and be accounted foolish by men, that 
 I may be wise unto salvation before God. 
 
 Again : shall I be a lover of pleasure ? The 
 world presents to me many a delight many a 
 gratification for my senses, for my intellect, for 
 my social qualities ; things not sinful in them- 
 selves, but therefore the more likely to win my 
 heart from God : music, and painting, and the 
 arts, and the sciences, the festive meeting, and 
 the intercourse of beloved friends : But shall my 
 soul be buried in these things ? Shall I think 
 no thought of God and heaven ? 
 
 I would not, indeed, be an ascetic, morose 
 and austere, looking on all the cheerful things of 
 life with bitterness of face, and checking the glad 
 hilarity of the social virtues of my fellow-crea- 
 tures but I would not be a " lover of pleasure 
 more than a lover of God." e I would not be 
 from morning to night, and from night to morn- 
 
 1 Cor. x. 21. b Luke xvi. 8. c 1 Cor. iii. 19. 
 
 d 1 Thess v. 5. c 2 Tim. iii. 4.
 
 THE MEDITATION. 413 
 
 ing, in one continued stream of selfish dissipa- 
 tion, having pleasure in men, and none in God ; 
 pleasure in myself, and none in my Redeemer. 
 Let me remember that the " pleasures of sin are 
 but for a season ;" a but that at " God's right 
 hand, and there alone, are pleasures for ever 
 more." b 
 
 Jesus never laughed. He wept but once. 
 Here, then, I can somewhat trace his heavenly- 
 mindedness. There was no extreme in his 
 character No violent bursts of religious fervor 
 on the one side, no coldness or depression of 
 spirits on the other side ; but he was always 
 earnest, steady, and consistent. The pleasures 
 of the world moved him not. The sorrows 
 which he endured moved him not. For Lazarus 
 he wept, but never for himself. Heaven was 
 before him ; he minded nothing else ; God 
 was present, and he cared to please no one 
 else. In Him, and in Him alone, " he lived, 
 and moved, and had his being." 
 
 But shall I give up my friends, my beloved 
 companions, and become a lonely being, hating 
 my fellows ? Surely not, for Jesus did not. 
 He was ever in the world, though not of the 
 world. I see him sitting at meat with " publi- 
 cans and sinners ;" d I see him at the marriage 
 feast in Cana of Galilee ;" e but then he was 
 
 Heb. xi. 25. b Ps. xvi. 11. e Acts xvii. 28. 
 
 d Markii. 16, John ii. 1.
 
 414 SATURDAY. 
 
 shewing forth God's glory, and doing his 
 Father's business, even there. In the city, and 
 in the field, he was among men and with men ; 
 but then it was for the glory of God. He 
 never forgot the point at which he was aim- 
 ing. Every step he took tended to the goal. 
 Every thought he imagined looked towards 
 the Father. 
 
 Then, O my soul, let thy conversation also 
 be in heaven. Beware lest thou become like 
 "the seed which fell among thorns, and was 
 choked with the cares, and riches, and plea- 
 sures of this life, and brought no fruit to 
 perfection." 11 Remember the great legacy which 
 Jesus thy Saviour left to his disciples in ex- 
 press distinction from the world : " Peace I 
 leave with you, peace I give unto you, not 
 as the world giveth give I unto you." b 
 
 Heavenly-mindedness must be like Christ's 
 seamless coat, without rent from top to bot- 
 tom. It must be all-pervading, and all-in- 
 fluencing. It must be " the leaven which a 
 woman took and hid in three measures of 
 meal." No particle of that meal can escape 
 its pervading spirit. Not only at my going 
 out, but at my coming in ; not only in sea- 
 son, but out of season, I must look to my 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. I must have no hope 
 but through him, no expectation or prayer 
 
 a Luke viii. 14. b John xiv. 27. c Matt. xiii. 33.
 
 THE MEANS. 415 
 
 but through him ; no knowledge of any thing 
 but Christ crucified, no capacity of pardon, 
 or of grace, or of salvation, but by the merits 
 of his death, " and whether I eat, or whether 
 I drink, or whatever I do, I must do all to 
 the glory of God." a 
 
 Then, O my soul, be not content with a 
 mere formal abandonment of sin. Be not con- 
 tent with a cold and stiff compliance with 
 God's will, but go further, let thy conver- 
 sation be totally in heaven. 
 
 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. b 
 
 Desire to be " clothed upon with your 
 house which is from heaven, if so be that 
 being clothed, you shall not be found naked ; 
 not that you would be unclothed, but clothed 
 upon, that mortality may be swallowed up 
 in life." c 
 
 THE MEANS. 
 
 BUT how shall I attain this perfection of 
 Christian character, " for who hath known the 
 mind of the Lord ?" d 
 
 First, let me honestly examine what the 
 world is, and what heaven is. I will weigh 
 them in the balance, and where the highest 
 value is, there shall be my preference. 
 
 1 Cor. x. 31. b Gal. iii. 27. e 2 Cor. v. 24. 
 " 1 Cor. ii. 16.
 
 416 SATURDAY. 
 
 But what constitutes the value of a pos- 
 session? 
 
 I. Its Durability. 
 
 Suppose I possess all the treasures of the 
 world, its honours, its riches, its reputation. 
 Yet will they endure ? An end, sooner or la- 
 ter, they must have. But heaven is eternal 
 The things of the world, " Like a vesture shalt 
 thou change them, and they shall be changed ; 
 but thy years fail not." a The inheritance o* 
 the righteous shall be for ever, and they shall 
 receive a crown of glory which fadeth not 
 
 away." b 
 
 II. Its Strength. 
 
 There may be beauty in the countenance, 
 and a goodly colour in the skin, and yet 
 withal rottenness in the bones. The pleasures 
 of the world present a good appearance the 
 outward works are fair, but on what foun- 
 dation do they rest? The foundation is of 
 sand ; but the foundation of heavenly things 
 is on the rock, and that spiritual rock is 
 Christ." 
 
 Riches may make to themselves wings. 
 
 Friends may be faithless. 
 
 The applause of the multitude varies with 
 the wind, and, like the apostle Paul, we may be 
 
 Ps. cii. 26. b 1 Pet. v. iv. c 1 Cor. x. iv.
 
 THE MEANS. 417 
 
 said at one moment to be a god, at another 
 " a murderer." 3 
 
 But Heaven If I make Christ my peace, 
 I am strong; if I make God my treasure, 
 " no moth or rust can corrupt it, no thief 
 break through and steal " b If my hope is in 
 thee, O Lord my righteousness, no change of 
 time shall weaken it If God be my friend, 
 he will be faithful and true ; in time of need, 
 he will be near at hand ; in time of danger, 
 he will help me. 
 
 III. The Cheapness of the Price. 
 
 Is the possession of the world a cheap 
 possession? Have I paid nothing to obtain 
 it ? Is the service of mammon a light ser- 
 vice? What toil, what labour, yea, what sa- 
 crifice of all the noble and spiritual qualities 
 of man, is there for the poor slave of this 
 heavy taskmaster ! The tale of bricks will be 
 demanded, and withal no straw to work 
 them with. c He dares not disobey its com- 
 mandments, be they ever so grievous ; He 
 dares not run counter to its customs, be 
 they ever so absurd. 
 
 But the service of God ! " Take my yoke 
 upon you," saith Jesus, " and learn of me, 
 my yoke is easy and my burden is light. " d 
 
 Acts, xxviii. 46. b Matt. vi. 20. Exod. v. 18. 
 
 d Matt. xi. 29. 
 
 2D
 
 418 SATURDAY. 
 
 It exacts that only purity of body which 
 contributes to health ; it requires that only 
 purity of mind which contributes to serenity 
 and peace ; it desires that only restraint 
 which, if kept, I shall thank God for every 
 day I live here, and which will produce 
 hereafter such joy as no man taketh from 
 me. 
 
 But I cannot from my own reason make 
 my adjustments clear. My judgment is 
 perplexed. The balance that I hold is 
 unsteady. Well, then, there are other means 
 at hand, and even better. 
 
 " The sword of the spirit which is the 
 word of God." a Here surely is a means suffi- 
 cient, here is a weapon by which, better 
 than my own experience, I may cut my 
 way through all the delusions of worldliness, 
 and give my soul its flight to God. 
 
 Can I read that Holy book and behold its 
 warnings, its assurances, its inward testimo- 
 nies, and yet be of the world ? Where can 
 I find assertions for the eventual overthrow 
 of the worldly given more strongly, than by 
 the Spirit of God speaking in his scriptures ? 
 O let my meditation be therein by night 
 and by day: Let me read, mark, learn, arid 
 inwardly digest the sacred precepts of my 
 God; and then, by patience and comfort of 
 
 m Ephes. vi. 17.
 
 THE MEANS. 419 
 
 his holy word, I shall love the world less, 
 and Jesus more ; I shall rightly choose 
 between God and Baal, and promptly choose; 
 for surely, though the world " cut themselves 
 after their manner with knives and lancets, 
 until the blood gush out upon them, yet 
 still the Lord he is the God the Lord he 
 is the God." a 
 
 Nor less that holy sacrament, in prepara- 
 tion for which, I am now in commune with 
 my God. What means of reminding me of 
 the joys of Heaven, and the vanities of the 
 world could there be devised, so vivid, so 
 effectual, so sure, as this ! Here is presented 
 to me the picture of my Saviour's death so 
 faithfully, so truly ! Here am I reminded of 
 those grievous things which Christ endured, 
 the stripes, the buffettings, the spitting all 
 which he did endure for my sake. O shall I 
 not hate the world which hated him so bit- 
 terly ? Shall I not with my soul's best affec- 
 tions follow Jesus, from the cradle to the 
 cross, and from the cross to those blessed 
 regions of glory where now he sits at the 
 right hand of God, and have my conversa- 
 tion there? 
 
 O my soul, if thou art not moved by the 
 body and blood of Jesus received in his 
 holy Eucharist ; if thou dost not become, by 
 
 * 1 Kings xviii. 2139.
 
 420 SATURDAY. 
 
 this, heavenly minded ; if thou art not taught 
 by this to go on thy way rejoicing in the 
 Lord thy God in solemn undivided love ; if 
 thou dost not say to the pleasures, and cares, 
 and .riches of the world, away with them, 
 away with the devices of the evil one ; thou 
 only O my Saviour shall be my joy and my 
 crown : 
 
 Then Jesus has died to no purpose : " Thy 
 faith is vain, thou art yet in thy sins." a 
 
 But it will not be so. 
 
 " t My grace is sufficient for thee." b 
 
 "I can do all things through Christ that 
 strengtheneth me." 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 Almighty and most merciful Father, King of 
 heaven and earth ; the source of every 
 blessing ; the fountain of all mercy ; I adore 
 thee, I praise thee, for thy goodness ; I lift 
 up my voice to thee ; O be not as though 
 thou hearest not, lest I be like them that 
 go down into the pit. 
 
 I confess to thee most righteous Father 
 that my affections have been too much in 
 the world. My fears have been too much 
 for men, my hope too much in the ambitions 
 and glories of temporal things ; but from this 
 
 a 1 Cor. xv. 17. b 2 Cor. xii. 9. e Phil. iv. 13
 
 THE PRAYER. 421 
 
 time grant me thy grace, so effectually td 
 work in my heart strength and renovation of 
 character, that the world may be crucified 
 unto me, and I unto the world ; that thy king- 
 dom may henceforth be the sole delight of 
 my heart, the" sole object of my life. 
 
 Like as the hart desireth the water- 
 brooks, so let my soul long after thee, O 
 God. So let it cast aside all other desires, 
 so let it be hungry after the bread of life, 
 and thirsty after the living water. 
 
 Thou givest me health and strength, acti- 
 vity of mind, and vigour of body. Thou 
 givest me understanding, and knowledge, and 
 thy holy scriptures. Let me use these gifts 
 as not abusing them. Let the strength of 
 my manhood, and the vigour of my under- 
 standing, be thine, exclusively and alone : 
 let them be exercised in thy service, de- 
 voted to thy glory. 
 
 If riches increase Prevent me that I set 
 not my heart upon them. 
 
 If cares increase Prevent me that I be- 
 come not as the seed choked with them, 
 and bring no fruit to perfection. 
 
 If the world praise me, and men admire 
 me Prevent me that I may remember thy 
 saying : Blessed are ye, when men shall re- 
 vile you, and shall say all manner of evil 
 against you falsely for my sake. 
 
 If my affections and my zeal are dead. If
 
 422 THE PRAYER. 
 
 they furnish a cold or partial service, the 
 eye-service of those who please men, rather 
 than that singleness of heart which fears 
 God. O purge me and chastise me. Even 
 though thou comest with a rod and with 
 anger, yet bring thou me back to thy ser- 
 vice, and make me thine again. 
 
 blessed Redeemer, my hope, and my 
 joy. Even as thou from thy early youth 
 even unto death, didst shew forth one single 
 purpose the glory of thy Father. So give 
 me thy strength. So send me the Comforter 
 whom thou dost promise, that I also may 
 have but one aim, that I also may be doing 
 all things for thy honour, so that while I 
 honour the Son, I may honour the Father 
 also. 
 
 1 cannot serve two masters. Thy dominion 
 is undivided ; thy service distinct. Then let 
 me cast away all notions of compromise, all 
 notions of sufficiency ; but bring before thee, 
 my God and my Saviour, my whole soul 
 and body, my substance, my words, my 
 thoughts, my life ; and casting them before 
 thy throne, acknowledge thee the Lord of 
 all. 
 
 And now thy day approaches. Thy holy 
 Supper, O Lamb of God, if thou sparest my 
 life, and continuest thy blessings to thy 
 church, will, to-morrow, be made ready. O 
 gracious sound of a most loving invitation,
 
 THE PRAYER. 423 
 
 " Draw near /" O never-ceasing joy of the 
 glad tidings of Christ ; " He that eateth my 
 flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me 
 and I in him !" O suffer me not to hear these 
 words in vain. Let all things that apper- 
 tain to man be banished and shut out. Take 
 me, O Jesu Christ, as the shepherd of the 
 sheep, and preserve me with thy care. Be 
 with me, sanctify me, comfort me, and let 
 me be one of those blessed for whom thou 
 once didst supplicate thyself, 
 
 " / pray for them. I pray not that thou 
 shouldest take them out of the world, but that 
 thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are 
 not of the ivorld, even as I am not of the 
 world. Sanctify them through thy truth :"- 
 
 Hear this, then, my prayer, O blessed Lord, 
 and intercede with this thine own voice 
 where thou sittest at the right hand of God 
 the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, 
 one God for evermore. Amen.
 
 THE MORNING OF THE 
 
 EUCHARIST. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 AND now, O Lord most gracious, most mer- 
 ciful, thy holy feast has come, the table is 
 now ready, the guests will soon approach ; I 
 also, though unworthy to eat even of the 
 crumbs which fall from thy table, yet I also 
 will be there with my petition ; O Lord hear 
 my cry, give ear unto my prayer. 
 
 I have recounted faithfully, I have con- 
 fessed openly before thy throne of grace the 
 manifold sins with which my life is charged. 
 The remembrance of them is grievous to me ; 
 the burden of them is intolerable. The infir- 
 mities of nature, the severity of the law, the 
 sins of habit, the sins of temptation all, all, 
 have I poured forth to thee; for all do I cry 
 for help and for pardon. O Lord deny me 
 not, hold not thy peace at my tears. 
 
 I will approach and be strong in thy grace ;
 
 THE PRAYER. 425 
 
 I will look upon the sacred symbols of thy love ; 
 I will say to thee, O Lord help thou mine unbe- 
 lief ; increase my hope ; let joy and gladness 
 once more visit my soul ; let me remember 
 that though my unworthiness be great, thy blood 
 is sufficient to account me righteous, that thy 
 propitiation was made for the sins of the whole 
 world. 
 
 I am taught by thy holy word, that I am not 
 mine own, that I am bought with a price, and 
 that therefore I must glorify God in my body, 
 and my spirit, which are God's. I thankfully 
 acknowledge this ; it is my joy. What indeed 
 could I do, if I were not thine ! Where should I 
 be if thy precious blood had not redeemed me ! 
 
 But then thou hast also promised that thou 
 wouldest not leave thy disciples comfortless. 
 Thou hast promised that thou wouldest be with 
 them until the end of the world. Fulfil thy gra- 
 cious promise O Lord my Saviour this day, yea, 
 even this day be with me in the courts of thine 
 house, while I give thanks to thee, most Highest. 
 O suffer me not to be there in vain, let all 
 things belonging to the world be banished from 
 my thoughts ; grant that I may dwell in thee, 
 and thou in me, that I may be one with thee, 
 and thou with me ; that my mind may be as thy 
 mind, my spirit as thy spirit. 
 
 Suffer me not to doubt. Suffer me not to fear. 
 Suffer me not to pollute that spiritual commu- 
 nion which this day I hope to have, with any-
 
 426 SATURDAY. 
 
 thing earthly. Let cares be cast aside, let plea- 
 sure be forgotten. Give me that heavenly mind - 
 edness, that all-absorbing, all-influencing love, 
 which shall be worthy of thy dear son Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 O God, Father of all mercies. 
 
 O Saviour, Redeemer of all sins. 
 
 O Holy Spirit, sanctifier of all hearts. 
 
 Grant that I may this day so foretaste the spi- 
 ritual joys of heaven, even while on earth that 
 here, seeing only in part, and knowing only in 
 part, I may wait in patience for that glorious 
 day, when I shall see thee face to face, and 
 know thee even as I am known. Amen, 
 Amen.
 
 AFTER THE RECEPTION OF THE 
 EUCHARIST. 
 
 THE PRAYER. 
 
 IT is finished. All my anxious thoughts and 
 holy aspirations after the love of my Re- 
 deemer have been fulfilled. I have eaten of 
 the broken body. I have drunk of the blood 
 which Jesus shed. I have tasted and seen 
 how gracious the Lord is. 
 
 And now, O my God, as I praise thee for 
 the past, and glorify thy name, so let me pray 
 for the future, that being consecrated anew, 
 and devoted to thy service, no fear or temp- 
 tation, no want of faith, or relaxation of hope, 
 may cause me to forget this holy covenant : 
 that as Christ my passover has been as it were 
 sacrificed anew this day in my heart, so I
 
 428 THE PRAYER. 
 
 may keep the feast, not with the old leaven, 
 nor with the leaven of malice and wicked- 
 ness, but with the unleavened bread of sin- 
 cerity and truth. 
 
 I am pledged, again pledged to thy law, 
 to thy gospel, to the spiritual perfection of 
 my Redeemer's teaching. Though I may fall, 
 yet let me sincerely endeavour. Help thou 
 my weakness, O God. Prevent me with thy 
 grace. 
 
 New life, new graces, new joys, new hopes? 
 are mine this day. I have put on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ again. I have been one with 
 him again. I have presented my body a living 
 sacrifice unto him. O let it be holy and 
 acceptable in his sight, his reasonable 
 service. 
 
 With God, my Father and Creator, my 
 soul is at peace. 
 
 With Jesus, my Saviour, my soul is at 
 peace. 
 
 With the Holy Ghost, my Sanctifier, my 
 soul is at peace. 
 
 Yea, and with all my brethren, children 
 of the same Father, my soul is at peace. 
 
 Grant that no evil accident may disturb 
 this tranquillity, no want of charity violate 
 this holy rest. 
 
 But above all. As I have this day been 
 present with the Lord in his crucifixion, so 
 let me be with him in his joyful resurrec-
 
 THE PRAYER. 429 
 
 tion. As I have been baptized with him in 
 the likeness of his death, so let me also be 
 in the likeness of his resurrection. As I am 
 now by thy gracious sacrifice dead unto sin, 
 so let me be thine, alive unto God, through 
 thee my Saviour. 
 
 Thou hast appeared once to put away 
 sin by the sacrifice of thyself. Thou wilt 
 appear again to judge the world in right- 
 eousness : and when the dead shall at thy 
 second coming go forth to meet thee in thy 
 kingdom, and when the holy angels shall 
 prepare thy seat for judgment, and the 
 countless nations shall be judged of every 
 deed done in the flesh ; O then, my Saviour, 
 have mercy, have compassion. O thou worthy 
 Judge eternal, look upon me as having done 
 thy will, at any rate this day; as remembering 
 thy love, as trusting in thy atonement, as 
 faithful in thy promises, as having put on 
 the wedding garment, and clothed myself in 
 the righteousness of saints. 
 
 Thou didst promise, that where two or three 
 are gathered together, there thou wouldest be in 
 the midst of them. We have been gathered to- 
 gether this day. Thou, indeed, hast been in the 
 midst of us. Thou hast pleaded with us face to 
 face. 
 
 Thou didst promise that, if thou shouldest be 
 lifted up, thou wouldest draw all men unto thee. 
 We have beheld thee this day lifted up ; lifted
 
 430 THE PRAYER. 
 
 up on thy cross of sacrifice ; lifted up in the resur- 
 rection; lifted up in thy glorious ascension, to 
 that heaven of heavens, whither thou hast gone 
 before, our forerunner. 
 
 Even so, blessed Lord, let me be drawn unto 
 thee, according to thy promise ; even so, blessed 
 Lord, may I pass from death to life, from the 
 grave to my joyful resurrection. Even so, 
 may I sit down at thy right hand, the ran- 
 somed of the Lord ; waiting until that glo- 
 rious time, when, with angels, and archangels, 
 and all the host of heaven saints and martyrs, 
 and spirits of just men made perfect I shall 
 dwell with thee for evermore. Yea, I will come 
 to Sion with songs, and I will have everlasting 
 joy upon my head, and sorrow and sighing 
 shall flee away, and I shall be with the Lord 
 for ever. 
 
 Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Even so, hear, 
 O my Father. Even so, through the blood of 
 thy dear Son, I pray, three in one, and one 
 in three. 
 
 "BLESSING, AND GLORY, AND WISDOM, AND THANKSGIVING, 
 AND HONOUR, AND POWER, AND MIGHT, BE UNTO OUR 
 GOD FOR EVER AND EVER." AMEN. 
 
 THE END.
 
 ~ 
 
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