an inquisitorial examination of the pretensions of candidates, in the present circumstances of our national churches. The Liturgy of our Southern Establishment makes, indeed, a sufficient distinction, as far as can be effected by words; and if our ritual were faithfully seconded by all those who use it, the abuse of the Christian passover could not prevail as it actually does.

But we are compelled to turn aside, as in despair, from any theory of this kind, and contemplate the state of things as settled down into practice. In this view, what observer of the religion of the times can shrink from a deliberate avowal of the opinion, that the Eucharist is, at this hour, converted, in a fearful number of instances, from a blessing into a CURSE; that Antichrist has, at this point, regained his empire over human minds; and that the Son of God is thus crucified afresh, at the very moment when a great part of his professed followers crowd to his table, in obedience, as they dream, to his own command, "Do this in remembrance of me!"

But chiefly the infatuation, both of the administrator and the communicant, is discernible in the perversion of the Lord's Supper in the chambers of sickness and death. It is be

come, among ourselves, equivalent to the kissing of the crucifix among the Roman Catholics; or to the kissing of the crescent in the mosques of Mohammed, where-for all that I know-a Turk who, on his conversion to Christianity, knelt before a cross in St. Peter's, may be reconciled to his former communion, by pressing to his lips the symbol of his prophet. Be this as it may, we will proceed to dilate this part of the subject, to an extent in some degree, I trust, commensurate with its import

ance.

Antinomianism and Self-righteousness, the two permanent heresies of the Christian world, never appear to be so triumphant, as when they delude their victims into a persuasion that they may die safely if they receive the outward and visible sign of the redemption of the Cross; without being equally anxious to derive the inward and spiritual grace from the Redeemer.

CHAPTER IX.*

A DEATH-BED SACRAMENT.

Of Sacraments, the very same is true which Solomon's Wisdom observeth in the brazen serpent: He that turned toward it was not healed by the thing he saw, but by thee, O Saviour of all. This is therefore the necessity of sacraments. That saving grace which Christ originally is, or hath, for the general good of his own church, by sacraments he severally deriveth unto every member thereof. Sacraments serve as the instruments of God, to that end and purpose; moral instruments, the use whereof is in our own hands, the effect in his: for the use, we have his express commandment; for the effect, his conditional

promise.-Hooker.

EVERY Conscientious clergyman must have felt himself painfully embarrassed with regard to the administration of the Sacrament to sick persons-in cases, it is intended, where the

The whole of the two succeeding chapters, with very little alteration, appeared in the Christian Observer for January 1814. The subsequent lapse of fourteen years has too painfully confirmed the writer's opinions, as drawn from previous experience; and now strengthened by his having, during the period above mentioned, gained, as he trusts, more accurate knowledge of the human character, and of the spiritual ignorance prevalent among our popujation.

previous life of the communicant affords no just evidence of sincerity. There is, indeed, in the Liturgy, an office called The Communion of the Sick;' but this is drawn up on the supposition of the party's relative claim to the blessings of the Gospel. He is addressed, in the Epistle appointed for the office, as one of the beloved children of God; and the preceding Collect is constructed to the same effect. may be observed, by the way, that all the services of the Church are exclusively applicable to the state and feelings of genuine Christians; for, had it been otherwise, the compilers of the Prayer-book must vainly have attempted to satisfy believers with what was prepared for the servants and friends of the world.

It

But, to the point in question.-From what I have observed, the anxiety of sick persons (as above characterized) to partake of the Lord's Supper, is generally grounded on a certain obscure persuasion that the physical act of receiving the bread and wine is, in itself, a security against the terrors of a future state. The sentiment is derived from the perversions of the sacrament by the Papists; and is coincident with the doctrines which they uphold on the power of the keys. But, whatever be the origin of this error, we know that similar delusions

are to be found, under various names, amongst almost all divisions of mankind. Superstition, credulity, an appetite for mystery, or whatever we choose to call it, appears to be the natural element of the human mind. It may be traced in the sages of the ancient world, who

Of talismans and sigils knew the power,
And careful watched the planetary hour;

and in the moderns of the present age, who, alas! to their own eternal loss, substitute an external ceremony for an internal principle.

When asked to administer the Sacrament to sick persons, I have, of course, endeavoured to explain its origin, use, and abuse; taking most serious care to distinguish between the instrument, and the blessing which it may, or may not, convey. How often have I felt as though I were speaking to the dead; and this, after making the required allowance for illiterate habits and phraseology! Not a glimmering of light has appeared, beyond what was sufficient to render the spiritual darkness visible! On some occasions, I have gathered what seemed to be a resolution on the part of the patient to do the only remaining thing which could be wanting to complete the sense of safety; preceding apprehensions, if any existed, having been