in the collective body of the faithful?-and if in any of these, how is it transmitted from them to others?

It is very obvious that it is not through the Church, as having life in itself, that Christ imparts life to the souls of men; for, after all, the Church is only "the body" of Christ; and if the Church were the storehouse and direct source of spiritual influence, then, as the Church is made up of men, it would be the Church giving life to itself, which is absurd.

The most common notion, we believe, is, that spiritual life is imparted by the Sacraments, when administered by duly ordained persons, and that these, by their own endowed virtue, carry with them an unfailing efficacy; but as this is a distinct question, it will be best discussed in the next essay, as a separate subject.

SACRAMENTAL EFFICACY.

THE subject we are here to enter upon is one which is at once the most singularly simple, and the most singularly mystified and perplexed-singularly simple, as all that relates to it stands recorded in the Word of God; singularly mystified and perplexed, as we find it wrought up into a system in the writings of men. That subject is, the nature of the two Christian Sacraments; the mode in which they become efficacious of spiritual benefit to the receivers; and the place which they occupy in the evangelic economy.

Now, in treating of this question, it behoves us to speak warily and with caution, lest we should attribute either too little or too much to these mystical rites. For, as it is a sin to take away from the Word of God, so it is equally a sin to add to it. Some there may be who hold these positive institutes of the Christian religion in too light estimation. Others there have been and are, who, while they scruple, rightly enough, in any degree, to attribute less to the Sacraments than the express words of Scripture warrant, make no scruple in attributing much more, to the utter overlaying and disfigurement of the original appointments.

It must be our object to ascertain, first, exactly in what relation the Sacrament stands to human salvation. In order to do this without the danger of running into error on the right hand or on the left, we must divest ourselves, as far as we can, of all prepossessions and traditional notions regarding the two sacramental rites of the Christian institute, and try and look at them precisely as they stand pourtrayed in the terms of their original institution by their Divine Author (see Matt. xxviii. 19, 20, Mark xvi. 15, 16, for Baptism: John iii. and other references to this ordinance we shall consider in the sequel; and Matt. xxvi. 26-28, Mark xvi. 22, Luke xxii. 19, 20, for the Lord's Supper).

Now, the first thing that strikes us here is, the unencumbered simplicity, not only of form, but of principle, in which these two holy rites of our religion are presented to us. They are made to rest for their observance solely upon the authority of Him who enjoined them. No promise of grace is attached to either of them, nor are they directly asserted to be attended with any spiritual benefit. Certain results only are connected with, or, rather, made to be consequent upon, a due submission to these appointments; so that their great " moral perfection," as Hooker says, "consisteth in men's devout obedience to the law of God:" their spiritual virtue, since there is no evidence that it is in the rites themselves, must be dependent upon His sovereign will. As with Naaman, who was directed to go and wash seven times in the Jordan for the cure of his leprosy, so here, we are required to act with an implicit faith in the word of Him to whom

we have been taught to look for cure of our disease, and to submit ourselves, without any of the questioning of unbelief, to an appointment in which there is no natural connection between the thing prescribed to be done and the effect expected to be wrought.

It would seem, then, from this (and such, we think, would be the inference in any unprepossessed mind), that the efficacy of the Sacraments, whatever it be, rests primarily upon the fiat of Him who instituted them; and that the benefit of them to us, whatever that be, is conveyed to us through the medium of our own believing obedience. But though there is not, as we have observed, any express promise of grace to commend to us the Sacraments, in the institutionary form of words used by their Divine Author, yet there is, we may remark, an implied promise, both in the known character of Him who enjoined them, and in the elemental significance of the Sacraments themselves. It may be taken, indeed, as a sure axiom in theology, that whatever God enjoins to be done involves a blessing in the doing of it. It does so morally, by the exercise which it demands of right feelings in ourselves; for, it is not only good in itself, but it is also good for us, to obey. It does so positively, because the very nature of God, the relation in which He stands to His creatures, His character as revealed in His Word, pledges Him to bless the obedient. Moreover, from the selection made of the elements to constitute the visible signs in the Sacraments, we may also infer that there must be a certain benefit, or spiritual effect, attendant upon the due reception of them; for, as Hooker observes: "The matter whereof

they consist is such as signifieth, figureth, and representeth their end." No one can fail to perceive that there is in water, when used as a consecrated emblem, a mystical relation to the washing away of sins; and in bread and wine, when so used, a relation to the nourishment of the soul. In general terms, we may assume then, that to be signs of grace ensured, or of spiritual influence, is one end for which the Christian. Sacraments were instituted.

If we look further into the New Testament statements in relation to these ordinances, we find them strongly insisted on indeed as duties, but nothing ascribed to them which would imply that their efficacy is resident in the Sacraments themselves.* They are clearly, in some sense, means and instruments unto salvation, or they would not have been ordained; while yet they are never spoken of in Scripture as possessing in themselves any saving virtue. Take the strongest expressions in regard to them on record-such as "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts xxii. 16). "The like figure whereunto even

baptism doth also

now save us" (1 Peter iii. 21). The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com

ments.

Even St. Bonaventura denies that grace is contained in the SacraHis words are:-"Non est aliquo modo dicendum, quod gratia contineatur in ipsis sacramentis essentialiter, tanquam aqua in vase vel medecina in pyxide; imo hoc intelligere est erroneum. Sed dicuntur continere gratiam, quia ipsam significant, et quia, nisi ibi sit defectus ex parte suscipientis, in ipsis gratia semper confertur ita intelligendo quod gratia sit in animo, non in signis visibilibus."-Sentent., lib. lv., dist. I, quæst. 3. Opp. tom. v., p. 7.