number; but the notion of the Church as the storehouse and direct channel of grace, as a Divine ordinance, not merely to be maintained for order's sake, or because schism is a sin, but to be approached joyfully and expectantly as a definite instrument, or rather the appointed means, of spiritual blessings,-as an ordinance which conveys secret strength and life to every one who shares in it, unless there be some actual moral impediment in his own mind,—this is a doctrine which as yet is but faintly understood among us. Nay, our subtle enemy has so contrived, that by affixing to this blessed truth the stigma of Popery, numbers among us are effectually deterred from profiting by a gracious provision, intended for the comfort of our faith, but in their case wasted.

The particular deficiency here alluded to may also be described by referring to another form under which it shows itself, viz. the à priori reluctance in those who believe the Apostolical Commission, to appropriate to it the power of consecrating the Lord's Supper; as if there were some antecedent improbability in God's gifts being lodged in particular observances, and distributed in a particular way; and as if the strong wish, or moral worth, of the individual could create in the outward ceremony a virtue which it had not received from above. Rationalistic, or (as they may be more properly called) carnal notions concerning the Sacraments, and, on the other hand, a superstitious apprehension of resting in them, and a slowness to believe the possibilty of God's having literally blessed ordinances with invisible power, have, alas! infected a large mass of men in our communion. There are those whose "word will eat as doth a

have held a somewhat remote and subordinate' position. It appears there, fast by the entrance into the kingdom of God, instead of being lifted up on the heights of the Acropolis. In other words, his chief reliance was, not so much on what Christ had once for all effected for the whole human race, as upon that which Christ stands pledged to accomplish within the heart of every true believer. By the grand propitiation-he conceived-the whole world was placed within the possibility of salvation. To him, therefore, the blood of the covenant, though it spoke of far better things than were ever uttered by the tongue of man, yet spoke only of redemption offered; while the work of the Spirit in the human soul, spoke not only of redemption offered, but of redemption realized." Whether the reader approve this view or not, it is not what Mr. Boardman left him to suppose.

canker;" and it is to be feared, that we have been over-near certain celebrated Protestant teachers, Puritan or Latitudinarian, and have suffered in consequence. Hence we have almost embraced the doctrine, that God conveys grace only through the instrumentality of the mental energies, that is, through faith, prayer, active spiritual contemplations, or (what is called) communion with God, in contradiction to the primitive view, according to which the Church and her sacraments are the ordained and direct visible means of conveying to the soul what is in itself supernatural and unseen. For example, would not most men maintain, on the first view of the subject, that to administer the Lord's Supper to infants, or to the dying and apparently insensible, however consistently pious and believing in their past lives, must be, under all circumstances, and in every conceivable case, a superstition? And yet, neither practice is without the sanction of primitive usage. And does not this account for the prevailing indisposition to admit that baptism conveys regeneration? Indeed, this may even be set down as the essence of sectarian doctrine, (however its mischief may be restrained or compensated, in the case of individuals,) to consider faith, and not the sacraments, as the proper instrument of justification and other gospel gifts; instead of holding, that the grace of Christ comes to us altogether from without, (as from Him, so through externals of His ordaining,) faith being but the sine quâ non, the necessary condition on our parts for duly receiving it."

Now is there even the shadow of fairness, in saying, as Mr. Boardman says, "the sentences I have italicised in the above quotation, disclose, I presume, the real sentiments of these writers, on the nature of the Sacraments?" Is Dr. Pusey undertaking here to teach in full the nature of the Sacraments? Is it more than an allusion, as he passes? Does he mean to recommend the administration of the Lord's Supper, in such cases as he there alludes to? Does he mean to say any more, than that that which once was practised, would now be regarded as a "supersti

tion?" Does he mean any thing more, than to say, that the notions of men, concerning the Sacraments, and other holy things, have become low, short of faith, and, what they pride themselves with calling, philosophical? Has Mr. Boardman no such trouble to contend with in his pastoral intercourse? Is he prepared to say, just to what point faith may make compromise with the philosophers? Is it not just as true, that in these days, washing seven times in Jordan, to cure a leprosy, would be rejected as a superstition; or Peter's shadow, or a handkerchief, or an apron, from Paul's body, to cure diseases? Yet such things have been.

Clay and Siloam's pool we find

At Heaven's command restored the blind."

God's power, meanwhile, has not been shortened, but man's faith; and who will say that Christianity or the world has been the gainer by the change?

But the question is, whether the doctrine of the Sacraments, as taught at Oxford, "denotes, at once, its affiliation with Rome;" whether "the Oxford religion" is "a sacramental religion" in such sense as to convict itself of "Popery." If it be so, what becomes of Cranmer?

"And for this cause, Christ ordained Baptism in water, that as sure as we see, feel, and touch water with our bodies, and be washed with water; so assuredly ought we to believe, when we be baptized, that Christ is verily present with us, and that by him we be newly born again spiritually, and washed from our sins, and grafted into the stock of Christ's own body, and be apparelled, clothed, and harnessed with him in such wise, that as the Devil hath no power against Christ, so he hath none against us, so long as we remain grafted in that stock, and be clothed with that apparel, and harnessed

with that armour. So that the water of baptism is as it were, a showing of Christ before our eyes, and a sensible washing, feeling, and groping of him, to the confirmation of the faith which we have in him. And in like manner Christ ordained the Sacrament of his body and blood in bread and wine, to preach unto us that as our bodies be fed, nourished, and preserved with meat and drink, so (as touching our spiritual life towards God,) we be fed, nourished, and preserved by the body and blood of our Saviour Christ; and also that he is such a preservation unto us, that neither the devils of hell, nor eternal death, nor sin, can be able to prevail against us, so long as by true and constant faith we be fed and nourished by that meat and drink.-Cranmer's Remains, Oxford, 1833, pp. 302, 303.

And again;

"And, when you say that in baptism we receive the Spirit of Christ, and in the sacrament of his body, we receive his very flesh and blood, this your saying is no small derogation to baptism; wherein we receive, not only the Spirit of Christ, but also Christ himself, whole body and soul, manhood and Godhead, unto everlasting life. For St. Paul saith, as many as be baptised in Christ, put Christ upon them. Nevertheless, this is done in divers respects; for in baptism it is done in respect of regeneration, and in the Holy Communion, in respect of nourishment and sustentation."-Cranmer's Remains, iii. 65.

If it be so, what becomes of Ridley?

"As the body is nourished by the bread and wine, at the communion, and the soul by grace and Spirit, with the body of Christ; even so in baptism, the body is washed with the visible water, and the soul cleansed from all filth by the invisible Holy Ghost."Wordsworth's Life of Latimer, iii. 238.

If it be so, what becomes of Hooper?

"I believe also the Holy Sacraments, (which are the second mark or badge of the true Church) to be the signs of the reconciliation and great atonement made between God and us, through Jesus Christ. They are seals of the Lord's promises, and are outward and visible pledges and gifts of the inward faith, and are in number only twain;

that is to say Baptism, and the Holy Supper of the Lord. The which two are not void and empty signs but FULL; that is to say, they are not only signs, whereby something is signified, but also, they are such signs as do exhibit and GIVE the thing that they signify indeed."—Articles upon the Creed, lviii.

If it be so, what becomes of Latimer?

"Like as Christ was born in rags, so the conversion of the whole world is by rags, by things which are most vile in this world. For what is so common as water? Every foul ditch is full of it; yet we wash out remission of our sins by baptism, for like as he was found in rags, so we must find him by baptism. There we begin; we are washed with water, and then the words are added; for we are baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whereby the baptism receiveth its strength. Now this sacrament of baptism is a thing of great weight: for it ascertaineth and assureth us, that like as the water washeth the body, and cleanseth it, so the blood of Christ our Saviour, cleanseth and washeth it from all filth, and uncleanliness of sin."-Latimer's Sermons, 1824, ii. 347.

If it be so, what becomes of Bradford?

"As therefore in Baptism is given to us the Holy Ghost, and pardon of our sins, which yet lie not lurking in the water; so in the Lord's Supper is given unto us the communion of Christ's body and blood, without transubstantiation, or including the same in the bread. By Baptism the old man is put off, the new man is put on; yea, Christ is put on without transubstantiating the water. And even so it it is in the Lord's Supper."-Bradford's Sermon on the Lord's Supper, in Wordsworth's life of Latimer, iii. 236.

If it be so, what becomes of Jewel?

"The grace of God doth always work with his Sacraments; but we are taught not to seek the grace in that sign, but to assure ourselves by receiving the sign, that it is given us by the thing pos sessed. We are not washed from our sins by the water, we are not fed to eternal life by the bread and wine, but by the precious blood of our Saviour Christ, that lieth hid in these Sacraments.”—Of Sacraments.