expressed by the Reformers, by Cranmer here as well as by Luther on the Continent: and so far from its being proved against them that they belong to a "new school," it will be found, by the Scriptures, upon which our church is based, that they preach the truths of primitive Christianity.

An attempt is made, in the quarter to which I have alluded, to shew that the Homily" on the Sacraments" favours and supports the view which the Divines of this class oppose. That Homily says that "the promise of forgiveness of sin is annexed and tied to the visible sign," in Baptism and the Lord's Supper. But surely nothing more is intended by those words than that God has made the Sacraments significative of His grace, and likewise sealed to us, by their means, the promise of pardon, and all other blessings. The author of that Homily meant not to say that forgiveness of sin is so tied to the visible sign as always to go along with it, but that the Sacraments, instituted for the express purpose of confirming to us the truth of the Gospel, respecting the forgiveness of sin and the sanctification of our persons by the Holy Ghost, have inseparably connected with them the promise of God. It is the promise of grace, and not grace itself that is declared to be tied to the Sacrament. This is an important distinction. The promise is made, yea, sealed to us, yet it may not be performed by reason of obstacles thrown in the way-the greatest of which is unbelief. This our Church

clearly holds: for further on, in the same Homily, speaking of the propriety of the words used at the time of administration being in a tongue that the people understand, it argues the point on the ground that if invisible grace is to be obtained, those who come to the Sacraments must pray for it, and that if prayer, mixed with faith, be not offered, there will be no edification. "Faith (it says) is a necessary instrument in all these holy ceremonies." And so says the Article before us, "in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation." Let me here refer you to the words of St. Peter, "Baptism doth save us." But how? in what sense?Observe his explanation. It admirably corrects an error into which the ignorant and unthinking often fall-"not the putting away the filth of the flesh,” not the water, the external washing, but the faith that is sincerely professed in Christ at the time of receiving the ordinance; called by the Apostle, "the answer of a good conscience before God." That answer is required by us from adults themselves, and in the case of infants from their sponsors. And why do we require it, but because we consider, upon Scriptural grounds, that there must be faith before the blessing promised is obtained. grace can come without it (and indeed I cannot limit God's mode of operation, but I speak of His dealing in the general way,) then let the parents and sponsors be silent. But how a consistent member of the Anglican Church can speak of grace

If

being communicated to the child without reference to those acts which that church, in the name of Christ, requires from those who bring it to the font, is a thing that he must answer at the bar of his own conscience.

But do I therefore say that the Sacraments are useless, that they confer no inward benefit on those who receive them? No, by no means. Used rightly -the eye of faith fixed steadily on the object, "the thing signified," set forth in them, and the mind bent on the attainment of that object-they are means of real good, instruments most effectual, by which God, who works by means, conveys His grace to the soul. The nature and extent of the divine influence thus communicated, may be points unknown to us. God works "invisibly." But in His Sacraments He does work, and that powerfully, on the minds of the faithful. By them, as by an important means of grace, our spiritual life is quickened and maintained, by them we get strength to fight with our enemies, by them we are drawn to Christ, raised above the world, sanctified in our thoughts and affections, filled with God, and prepared for heaven. O! blessed Sacraments! if these be your benefits, we will prize, and revere, and hold you in high esteem as precious ordinances of Christ, most conducive to the interests of man. Viewed in this light, my Brethren, and thus they may be viewed without unduly exalting themtheir observance is your duty, your privilege; and their neglect your sin. I call upon you, there

fore, to honor Christ and to benefit yourselves by the right use of His holy Sacraments. Wear them as the honorable "badges" of the christian profession-rejoice in the testimony which they bear, which they sign and seal to you, that through faith in Christ your sins shall be washed awayand influenced by the grace, of which they are the channels, let them help you on to the attainment of glory.

SERMON XIII.

ON BAPTISM.

ST. JOHN, III. 5.

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

THE View which the Twenty-fifth Article enabled me to give you of the nature and uses of the Christian Sacraments, left you, I hope, impressed with a sense of the great value of those "holy mysteries." Following our Church in her Scriptural course, I endeavoured to lead you in a middle path between two errors-that of the Papists on the one hand, who, making more of Sacraments than Scripture warrants, attribute to them a justifying efficacy; and that of certain separatists from our own communion on the other, who, going, unscripturally, to the opposite extreme, regard Sacraments as mere forms, possessing no efficacy at all. It is much to be