sacrifice of themselves. 3. The freewill offering of their goods. 4. The peace offering of their praises.

The first as representing the Sacrifice offered on the Cross, is the ground of the three others, especially of the second which must no more be separated from it, than parts are from the whole, or the body from its head.-p. 106.

Now, though CHRIST our blessed SAVIOUR, by that everlasting and ever same Sacrifice of Himself, offer Himself virtually up on all occasions; and we, on our side, also, offer ourselves, and what is ours, with Him several other ways, besides that of the Holy Communion: . . . nevertheless, because CHRIST offers Himself for us at the holy communion in a more solemn and public sacramental way,-(thence it comes, that the memorial of the Sacrifice of CHRIST, thereby celebrated, takes commonly the name of the Sacrifice itself, as St. Austin explains it often),—we are then obliged, in a more special manner, to renew all our Sacrifices, all the vows of our baptism, all the first fruits of our conversion, and all the particular promises which it may be, we have made. . . .

So shall the new Israel tread on the pious steps of the old, who ever from time to time reiterated, either in Mispah or in Gilgal, &c., that covenant which the LORD had made with him in Sinai. It is true, the LORD did not then again repeat the thunder, that once made the mountains tremble; as, in our Churches, He doth not reiterate that very Passion, that made the powers of heaven mourn and shake: nevertheless, as Joshua, Asa, Josias, Jehoiadah, and other such holy men, could from their Master assure the people, that the covenant which they did renew,-for example, in Shechem, Josh. xxiv. 25. 2 Chron. xv. 12. and xxiii. 16.—was not less powerful, either to bless the observers, or to destroy the offenders thereof, than it was when Moses and the holy angels published it at the first upon Sinai: so now the ministers of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, having in their hands the Sacraments of the Gospel, (true seals and tables of the new law,) may both produce and give them out as evidences, that the Sacrifice of their Master is not less able to save men's souls, when it is offered to men,

and sacramentally offered again to Gon, at the Holy communion, than when it was new-offered upon the Cross. . . .

By this it is easy to see, that our holy eucharistical Communions are much correspondent to those feasts, that did call the people of Israel together, first to appear and prostrate themselves before the LORD with Sacrifices for their sin; and then to lay upon the altar that other kind of Sacrifices which they used to call "peace offerings," and which were ordained to express both their thankfulness to GOD, and their charity to men.-pp. 113-115.

This is the reason why, because primitive Christians never received those holy mysteries but after they had made their offerings, and because those very mysteries which they received were commonly taken, as to the matter, from that bread and wine which they had before offered; the holy fathers, (for instance, St. Irenæus,) who thus had no occasion to be so exact or cautious as to distinguish precisely the nature of two sacred offices, which went constantly together, do not scruple to speak of the blessed communion, promiscuously as Sacrament or Sacrifice. pp. 119, 20.

I dare appear before the LORD with all my sins and my sorrows; it is very just also, that I should appear with these few blessings which are mine: they are mine by Thy favour, and having received them of Thy hand, now do I offer them to Thee'. Forgive, I beseech Thee, my sins, deliver me from my sorrows, and accept of this my small blessing. Accept of this my Sacrifice, as Thou didst of that of Abel, of Abraham, and of Noah: or rather, look in behalf of that only true Sacrifice, whereof here is the Sacrament,-the Sacrifice of the only unspotted Lamb, the Sacrifice of thine own Son, of Thine only Begotten Son, of Thy SoN proceeding from Thee, to die for me. O let Him again come from Thee to me; let Him come now as the Only Begotten of the FATHER, full of grace and of truth, to bless me. Amen, Amen.-pp. 128, 9.

11 Chron. xxix. 14.

ID.-Depth and Mystery of the Roman Mass.

The main intention of the Mass is, first, to offer up to GoD the FATHER the Body and Blood of His SoN. . . . . . This is the grand object of Rome's Catholic religion; and whosoever every morning goes to that Church, it is in order to have some share in this unreasonable service.

For, both in reason and Scripture, we are to offer ourselves to GOD; which St. Paul calls our "reasonable service." Rom. xii. 1. We must, likewise, offer our prayers, praises, elevation of hearts, tears of contrition, virtuous thoughts, just and charitable vows and works, &c., which, in opposition to the flesh and blood of Levitical Sacrifices, the ancient fathers use to call "Sacrifices without blood." We must also celebrate, and in a manner offer to God, and expose and lay before Him the holy memorials of that great Sacrifice on the Cross, the only foundation of God's mercies and of our hopes, in like manner as faithful Israelites did, at every occasion, represent unto God that covenant of His with Abraham their father, as the original conveyance of blessings settled on his posterity. And this is the "sacramental priestly office" in the Areopagite, the "commemorative Sacrifice" in St. Chrysostom, and the "Sacrifice after the order of Melchisedek" in St. Theodoret, which we solemnly do offer in the celebration of holy mysteries. All these things, I say, and whatsoever else depends on them, it is our duty to offer to GoD and to CHRIST, or rather to God by CHRIST. But that we should offer also CHRIST Himself, our LORD and our GOD, to whom we must offer ourselves; it is a piece of devotion never heard of among men, till the Mass came in to bring such news.―pp. 28-30.

Because it was the general custom of primitive Christians, never to receive the holy Sacrament but after they had made their offerings, out of which the two elements of bread and wine, being set apart and consecrated, and then, by an ordinary manner of speech, called the Body and Blood of CHRIST; the word, as well as the act of offering, got so large and common a use in two distinct offices, as to signify the whole service; which St. Augustine

more distinctly calls " offering" and "receiving;" that is, offering the bread and wine before, and receiving part of it after it was consecrated. And really the whole service was little more than a continued oblation. For Christians, before the Sacrament, offered their gifts; and, after it, offered their prayers, their praises, and themselves. And this was the constant and solemn oblation of the Church, until dark and stupid ages, which by degrees have hatched Transubstantiation in the bosom of the Roman Church, have at last improved it to this horrid direful service, which mainly aims at this, to offer upon an altar, not the bread and wine as before, but the very Body and Blood of CHRIST.

And because these public offices about the holy Sacrament are, in antiquity, commonly called Sacrifices, as being standing memorials of the true Sacrifice of CHRIST, the Church of Rome is now pleased to mistake these "antitypes" and "representations," as the ancient Church calls them, of the sufferings of CHRIST, for CHRIST Himself, represented by the antitypes: and upon this mistake she now builds up altars in every corner of her temples, thereon not only to offer, but also to sacrifice the Son of GOD.pp. 57, 8.

SANCROFT, ARCHBISHOP AND CONFESSOR.-MS. Corrections of the Common Prayer.

[Rubrick before the Prayer for the Church Militant'.]

And if there be a Communion, the Priest shall then offer up, and place upon the Table so much Bread and Wine as he shall think sufficient.

1 From a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, in the Bodleian Library, (Arch. D. Bodl. 28.) prepared, as it would seem, by Sancroft for the consideration of the Commissioners in 1661; containing also minute directions to the printer. Before the Prayer "We do not presume," &c. there is a marginal note, "What follows from hence to the end of the distribution is somewhat otherwise metho

dized in page B, and both left to censure. See after the next leaf." Page B is headed, "Another method of the Consecration, Oblation, Address, and Distribution." This book, together with those of Bishops Barlow and Duppa, above quoted, was obligingly pointed out by the Rev. Bulkeley Bandinel, D.D., Bodley's Librarian.

["The

[Prayer of Consecration and Oblation.]

ALMIGHTY GOD, our heavenly FATHER, who of Thy tender mercy, &c. . . and did institute, and in His holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that His precious death

"The Convocation assembled on the 8th of May, 1661, and, after due deliberation, made considerable additions and alterations ...

"It is well known, that Mr. Sancroft was eminently useful in assisting in the alterations, although it is not easy to ascertain on what particular parts of the work, or to what extent his services were employed. As he was not a member of Convocation at the time, for he then held no preferments, bis name does not appear among those to whom the preparation of any portion of the work was committed; and it seems that he was only privately employed, probably by the recommendation of Bishop Cosin, who bore a considerable share in this business, and in consequence of the confidence reposed in his talents, learning, and judg

ment.

"However, it is specially recorded that he assisted in rectifying the calendar and the rubrics, and that, after the work was completed, he was one of those appointed by an order of the upper house of Convocation for the supervision of the press."-D'Oyly's Life of Suncroft, vol. i. pp. 111–114.

The alterations proposed in the Prayer of Consecration remarkably agree with those suggested by Bishop Cosin, in a paper of "Particulars to be considered, explained, and corrected in the Book of Common Prayer," printed in Nicholls, Appendix, pp. 67–71 *.

"In the Prayer of Consecration, where the Priest saith, to continue a perpetual memory of His precious death,' here seems to want and Sacrifice'until His coming again;' which, if added, would be more consonant to the nature of that holy action, and the words of the Catechism following, made and set forth for that purpose.

"The Prayer of Oblation is here placed after the participation and distribution of the Sacrament made to the people, which in King Edward's First Service Book, and in all other ancient Liturgies, is set before it, and next after the Prayer of Consecration.

"If it were ordered here, and the Prayer of Thanksgiving ('Almighty and everlasting GOD, we most heartily thank Thee,' &c.) appointed to follow for the Post Communion, it would be more consonant, both to former precedents, and the nature of this holy action."

"Whether or no these following observations were drawn up by Dr. Cosin before the Restoration of King Charles, or afterwards upon the last Review of the Common Prayer, I cannot say; but this is plain, that those reviewers had very