N., believest thou on Jesus Christ, &c.?

Ans. Yes, I believe.

N., believest thou on the Holy Ghost, a holy Christian church, &c.? Ans. Yes, I believe.

N., wilt thou be baptized?

Ans. Yes, I will.

Thereupon let him take the child, and baptize it with water, and say :—

I baptize thee N. in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Then the sponsors shall clothe the child in the chrism-cloth, and the priest say :—

The Almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given thee the new birth from above by water and the Holy Ghost, and forgiven thee all thy sins, strengthen thee with his grace to eternal life. Amen.

The peace of the Lord be with thee:

Ans. Amen.

After the baptism the minister shall read the following thanksgiving:

Devout Christians in Jesus Christ our Lord, inasmuch as the merciful God, in his unspeakable mercy, has graciously permitted this infant to come to the baptism of his dear Son Jesus Christ, therefore we are bound to give him, from the bottom of our heart, praise and thanks, and to pray, that he would further guide this infant into all grace. Lift up, then, your hearts with me, and let us thank God, and pray, saying, Almighty, merciful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bring thee praise and thanks, for that thou so graciously preservest and daily increasest thy church, also that thou hast granted in grace to this infant, being born again through baptism, by means of water and the Holy Ghost, and ingrafted, as a tender branch, into thy dear Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer, to become a child and heir of thy heavenly blessings. We humbly pray thee graciously to preserve this child, now through holy baptism thy child, in the continued possession of the benefit received, that, according to all thy good pleasure, it may be most faithfully and piously brought up, and at last with all saints receive the promised possession in heaven, through Jesus Christ thy dear Son, in the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Then he shall address the sponsors, thus:

I exhort you, by virtue of that Christian love which now at the baptism, and in the infant's stead, ye have manifested, that, if by death or other accident (which may God graciously avert) it should be deprived of its parents before the years of discretion, ye shall cause it to be instructed and taught diligently the ten commandments, that it may become acquainted with the will of God and its own sin,-the Christian faith, through which we receive grace, forgiveness of sin, and the Holy Ghost,-and also, besides other principal parts of Christian doctrine, especially the Lord's prayer, that it may be able to call on God and pray for help to resist the devil, and to live like a Chris

tian, until God fulfil in him what he has now begun in baptism, and he enjoy eternal salvation. Amen.

The whole to be concluded with the usual blessing.

"The Lord bless and keep thee," &c. Numbers, vi.

ORDER ACCORDING TO WHICH THE HOLY AND MOST REVEREND SUPPER OF THE LORD IS TO BE CELEBRATED IN THE CHURCH.

The Exhortation before the Supper of the Lord Christ.

Dearly beloved in God, as we now intend to consider and celebrate the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he has given us his flesh for food and his blood for drink, therewith to confirm our faith, our reasonable duty is, each with great diligence to examine himself, as St. Paul exhorts us; for this holy sacrament is given for the peculiar comfort and strengthening of poor afflicted consciences, which confess their sin, are afraid of God's wrath and of death, and hunger and thirst after righteousness. But when we examine ourselves, and each enters into his own conscience, as St. Paul teaches us, we shall certainly find nothing else but abominable sin of every kind, and death, of which by sin we have made ourselves guilty, and from which we can by no means help ourselves out. Therefore our dear

Lord Jesus Christ has taken pity upon us, and on account of our sins became man, that, for us and on our behalf, he might fulfil the law and the whole will of God; and that, in our stead and for our deliverance, he might suffer death, and all other things to which by our sins we had made ourselves liable. And, that we might firmly believe, and by this faith live joyfully in his will, after supper he took the bread, offered thanksgiving, brake it, and said:-"Take, and eat; this is my body, which is given for you;" that is, my incarnation; and all that I do and suffer is all yours, and has taken place in your stead and for your benefit. For a certain token and testimony whereof I give you my body for food. In like manner he took also the cup, and said:-"Take, and drink ye all of it; this is the cup of the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins; as oft as ye do this ye shall therein remember me;" that is, inasmuch as I have interested myself in your behalf, and have taken your sin upon myself, I will sacrifice myself for sin unto death, shed my blood, purchase grace and forgiveness of sins, and thus establish a new covenant, wherein sin shall be forgiven and no more remembered for ever; for a certain token and testimony whereof I give you my blood to drink. Whosoever therefore eateth of this bread, and drinketh of this cup, and thereby stedfastly believeth the words which he hears from Christ, and the tokens which he receives from Christ, he abideth in the Lord Christ and Christ in him, and shall live eternally. Our duty thereby is, therefore, to remember

In the general directions given at the beginning of this book, it is ordered that the sacrament should be administered at the early morning and midday services on all Sundays and holidays.

him, and to shew forth his death; namely, that he died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and on that account to thank him, each to take up his cross and follow him; and, according to his commandment, to love one another, as he hath loved us. For we are all one bread and one body, as we all partake of one bread and drink out of one cup. And, as we all have sinned and need the grace of God, therefore humble your hearts before God the Almighty, confess your sins and short comings, and say with the open sinner, God be merciful to me, poor sinner; and this, with a hearty love and desire of divine grace and help, with a stedfast faith and trust in his gracious promise; and forgive from your heart every one his neighbour, that your heavenly Father may also forgive your sins and misdeeds. If ye do this, I, on behalf of the holy Christian church, and upon the command and promise of our Lord Jesus Christ, where he says, "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them," absolve you again from all your sins, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy

Ghost. Amen.

If only one person be present, and kindly consent to go into the vestry, the act may be performed there; but if it must take place at the altar, the following exhortation may be read at the altar, as well as in the vestry:

Dear brother [sister], as you now desire to receive the gracious supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he hath given us his real body for food, and his own blood for drink, therewith to confirm our faith, &c. (The rest of the exhortation, excepting two or three words, is just the same as the former.)

Then follow the words of consecration, which are to be sung.*

Our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which he was betrayed took bread, &c. . . . . Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.

Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. . . . deliver us from evil. Amen.

The peace of the Lord be with you all.

Amen.

After which, those who have previously given notice shall approach to the holy sacrament, or supper of Christ, which shall be given to them with these words

Take, and eat; this is the body of Christ, which was given for thee. And with the cup

Take, and drink; this is the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for thy sins.

A Thanksgiving after the Reception.

The Lord be with us all.

Let us return thanks and pray.

O Almighty Eternal God, we offer praise and thanks to thy divine mercy for that thou hast given us, as food and drink, the saving flesh and blood of thine only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and humbly pray thee, that thou mayest be pleased by thy Holy Spirit to effect in us, that, as we have received this holy sacrament with the

In the original, the music is given along with the words.

mouth, so we may with stedfast faith apprehend, and eternally hold fast thy divine grace, forgiveness of sins, union with Christ, and eternal life, which are signified and promised therein, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth very God ever and eternally. Amen.

Another Thanksgiving.

We thank thee, Almighty God, that thou hast refreshed us through the saving gift of the body and blood of thy son, and pray thy mercy to cause it to grow unto a firm faith in thee, and a fervent love amongst us all, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee, &c. Amen.

It is evident, from comparing this baptismal service with our own, that the Lutheran church, as well as Luther himself,* teaches that same doctrine of baptismal regeneration which some are so anxious to expunge from our Prayer Book. The Lutherans will, however, pardon us, if we greatly prefer our own services, as more scriptural and more complete. This is particularly observable in the communion service. The English exhortation, confession, and absolution, are more comprehensive and definite. The post communion is, beyond all comparison, superior; and it is particularly remarkable, that though the Anglican church does not believe in the doctrine of consubstantiation, her assertions of a real communion of the body and blood of Christ are quite as strong as the Lutheran, excepting perhaps the form of distribution. We have every way abundant reason to be satisfied with our own reformers, and to be thankful, that in nothing, neither piety, sound judgment, nor pathos of composition, were they a whit inferior to the chiefest of the reformers of Germany. M.

THE SOURCES OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.-No. III.

It was impossible for such a system as Christianity to operate on large bodies of men without producing visible and tangible proofs of its influence. Man, in a civilized state, has certain uniform means of giving expression to his inward emotions. His ideas of magnificence and beauty find utterance not only in poetry, but in art. His religious feelings have always been ready to contract a close alliance with the powers of his imagination, and to express themselves in the forms prescribed by the prevailing taste. Not poetry only, but architecture, painting, and the domestic arts, have been pressed into the service of the spiritual sense. Hence it is that monuments rank among the sources of the history of religion. In some instances they furnish us with all we know. Time, which has swept away the

See Catechism, Major. De baptismo. § Effectus baptismi.

scanty literature of early nations, has found it harder to deal with metals and marbles. And even when literary materials are abundant, we cannot but regard them as supplying information of peculiar value.

A connexion between religion and art, of the most intimate nature, long prevailed in the church. For many ages Christianity was, as it were, written upon everything which was brought into existence by human labour, among all who made profession of the gospel. We trace its progress and influence scarcely more plainly in literature than we do in the remains which we possess of aesthetical, and even mechanical industry. And the buildings, images, pictures, medals, inscriptions, vestments, and vessels, of the ancient Christian nations, furnish an important and productive source of church-history.

1. ARCHITECTURE, the most noble of the arts, undoubtedly claims the first place in this part of our subject. The first temples in which the Saviour was worshipped were humble, as were his first worshippers. The secret chamber, and dens of the earth, were the places of assembly chosen by the poor outcasts, whose only safety was in eluding the jealous observation of their persecutors.* Yet the natural feelings soon overcame every difficulty. Encouraged by intervals of tranquillity, and their increasing numbers, the despised followers of the cross learned to assume greater confidence; and some time before the gospel had obtained legal toleration, many capacious edifices had been erected for Christian worship. But these early + temples were demolished in the last and most severe of the persecutions. They had probably few pretensions to architectural merit ; and, at all events, must have been very inferior to the magnificent structures which rapidly arose in the principal cities as soon as Christianity had become the religion of the empire. The first Christian emperors evinced the sincerity of their devotion, or endeavoured to conciliate the respect and affection of their subjects, by providing for the erection of sacred edifices; and the most distinguished prelates displayed all their energy in their attempts to incite the powerful and the wealthy to adorn and enrich the houses of God. The government permitted, and even encouraged, a practice, which soon became common, of converting heathen temples into Christian churches; and, in many instances, public buildings, which had been used for civil purposes, were given up, to be henceforth employed as places of Christian worship. The far greater part of these edifices have, of course, long since fallen a prey to the disorders of succeeding times, and the natural process of decay. Of the few that remain, none supply us with the full amount of instruction which we could

• Celsus could say, Βωμοὺς καὶ ἀγάλματα καὶ νεὼς ἱδρύσθαι φεύγειν. αμ Origen. contra Celsum, lib. viii. c. 17. Tom. i. p. 754. Ed. Bened. And the heathen objector in Minucius Felix could inquire, Cur nullas aras habent, templa nulla, nulla nota simulacra? Octav. ap. Bibl. PP. Tom. ix. col. 6. Edit. 1644. But the word ecclesia appears to be applied to a building for religious worship by Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria.

† Ευρείας εἰς πλάτος ἀνὰ πάσας τὰς πόλεις εκ θεμελίων ἀνίστων ἐκκλησίας. Euseb. lib. viii. cap. 1.