works of her eminent Divines. (1) Hence, as Baptism is valid, by whomsoever it is conferred, the English Church may be said to have been upon an equal footing with the Catholic Church, as much as concerns this instrument or means of holiness. But the case is different now, since that Tacit Reformation which is acknowledged to have taken place in her practice. This has nearly swept out of her both the belief of Original Sin and of its necessary remedy, Baptism. That we are born guilty,' the great authority, Dr. Balguy, says, 'is either unintelligible or impossible.' Accordingly, he teaches that the rite of Baptism is no more than a representation of our entrance into the Church of Christ.-Elsewhere he says: The sign (of a Sacrament) is declaratory, not efficient ? (2) Dr. Hey says, the negligence of the parent, with respect to procuring Baptisin, May affect the child: to say it will affect him, is to run into the error I am condemning.' (3) Even the Bishop of Lincoln calls t, An unauthorized principle of Papists, that no person whatsoever can be saved who has not been baptized.' (4) Where the doctrine of baptism is so lax, we may be sure the practice of it will not be

(1) See B. Pearson on the Creed, Art. x. Hooker, Eccl. Polit. b. v. p. 60.

(2) Charge vii. pp. 298, 300.

(3) Lectures in Divinity, vol. iii. p.182.

(4) Vol. ii. p. 470. The learned Prelate can hardly be supposed ignorant that many of our martyrs, recorded in our Martyrology and our Breviary, are expressly declared not to have been actually baptized; or that our Divines unanimously teach, that not only the baptism of blood by martyrdom, but also a sincere desire of being baptized, suffices, where the means of baptism are wanting.

more strict. Accordingly, we have abundant proofs that, from the frequent and long delays in the administration of this Sacrament amongst Protestants, very many children die without receiving it, and that, from the negligence of their Ministers, as to the right matter and the form of words, many more children receive it invalidly. Look, on the other hand, at the Catholic Church: you will find the same importance still attached to this sacred rite, on the part of the people and the clergy, which is observable in the Acts of the Apostles and in the writings of the Holy Fathers; the former being ever impatient to have their children baptized, the latter equally solicitous to administer it in due time, and with the most scrupulous exactness. Thus, as matters now stand, the two Churches are not upon a level with respect to this first means of sanctification; the members of the one having a much greater moral certainty of the remission of that sin, in which we were all born, and of their having been heretofore actually received into the Church of Christ, than the members of the other. It would be too tedious a task to treat of the tenets of other Protestants, on this and the corresponding matters: let it suffice to say that, the famous Synod of Dort, representing all the Calvinistic States of Europe, formally decided, that the children of the elect are included in the covenant made with their parents, and thus are exempt from the necessity of Baptism, as likewise of faith and morality; being thus insured, themselves and all their posterity, till the end of time, of their justification and salvation! (1)

(1) Bossuet, Variat. Book xiv, p. 46.

Concerning the second channel of grace, or means of sanctity, Confirmation, there is no question. The Church of England, which among the different Protestant societies, alone, I believe, lays claim to any part of this rite, under the title of The Ceremony of laying on of hands, expressly teaches, at the same time, that it is no Sacrament, as not being ordained by God, nor any effectual sign of grace. (1) But the Catholic Church, instructed by the solici tude of the Apostles, to strengthen the faith of those her children, who had received it in baptism, (2) and by the lessons of Christ himself, concerning the importance of receiving that holy Spirit, which is communicated in this Sacrament, (3) religiously retains and faithfully administers it to them, for the self same purpose, through all ages. In a word, those who are true Christians, by virtue of baptism, are not made perfect Christians, except by virtue of the Sacrament of Confirmation, which none of the Protestant Societies so much as lays a claim to.

Of the third Sacrament, indeed, The Lord's Supper, as they call it, the Protestant Societies, and particularly the Church of England, in her Prayer-Book, say great things: nevertheless, what is it, after all, upon her own showing?-Mere bread and wine received in memory of Christ's passion and death, in order to excite the receiver's faith in him: that is to say, it is a bare type or memorial of Christ. Any thing may be instituted to be the type or memorial of another thing; but certainly the Jews in their Paschal Lamb, had a more lively figure of the death of Christ, and so

(1) Art. xxv. (2) Acts viii, 14.xix. 2. (3) John xvi.

have Christians in each of the four Evangelists, than eating bread and drinking wine can be. Hence I infer, that the communion of Protestants, according to their belief and practice in this country, cannot be more than a feeble excitement to their devotion, and an inefficient help to their sanctification. But, if Christ is to be believed upon his own solemn declaration, where he says: Take ye and eat; this is my body:-drink ye all of this; for this is my blood, Matt. xxvi. 26;-My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, John vi. 56; then the Holy Communion of Catholics is, beyond all expression and all conception, not only the most powerful stimulative to our faith, our hope, our love, and our contrition; but also the most efficacious means of obtaining these and all other graces from the Divine bounty. Those Catholics who frequent this Sacrament with the suitable disposi tions, are the best judges of the truth of what I here say; nevertheless, many Protestants have been converted to the Catholic Church from the ardent desire they felt, of receiving their Saviour Christ himself into their bosoms, instead of a bare memorial of him, and from a just conviction of the spiritual benefits they would derive from this intimate union with him.

The four remaining instruments of grace, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony, Protestants, in general, give up to us, no less than Confir:nation. The Bishop of Lincoln, (1) Dr. Hey, (2) and other controvertists, pretend that it was Peter Lombard, in the 12th century, who made Sacra

(1) Elem. vol. ii. p. 414. (2) Lect. vol. iv. p. 199.

ments of them. True it is, that this industrious theologian collected together the different passages of the Fathers, and arranged them, with proper definitions of each subject, in their present scholastic order; this he did, not only with respect to the Sacraments, but likewise to the other branches of Divinity; on which account he is called The Master of the Sentences:-but Peter Lombard could as soon have introduced Mahometanism into the Church, as the belief of any one Sacrament, which it had not before received as such. Besides, supposing him to have deceived the Latin Church into this belief, I ask by what means were the schismatical Greek Churches fascinated into it? In short, though these holy rites had not been endued by Christ with a sacramental grace, yet, practised as they are in the Catholic Church, they would still be great helps to piety and Christian morality.

What I have just asserted concerning these five Sacraments in general, is particularly true, with respect to the Sacrament of Penance. For what does this consist of? and what is the preparation of it, as set forth by all our Councils, Catechisms, and Prayer Books? There must first be fervent prayer to God for his light and strength; next an impartial examination of the conscience, to acquire that most important of all sciences, the knowledge of ourselves; then true sorrow for our sins, with a firm purpose of amendment, which is the most essential part of the sacrament. After this there must be a sincere exposure of the state of the interior to a confidential, and at the same time, a learned, experienced, and disinterested Director. If the latt could afford no other benefit to his penitents, y