which will prove, with God's grace, the surest preventive of, or
antidote against, the freezing poison, the lethargizing hemlock, of the
doctrine of the Sacramentaries, according to whom the Eucharist is a
mere practical metaphor, in which things are employed instead of
articulated sounds for the exclusive purpose of recalling to our minds
the historical fact of our Lord's crucifixion; in short--(the
profaneness is with them, not with me)--just the same as when
Protestants drink a glass of wine to the glorious memory of William III!
True it is, that the remembrance is one end of the sacrament; but it is,
'Do this in remembrance of me',--of all that Christ was and is, hath
done and is still doing for fallen mankind, and of course of his
crucifixion inclusively, but not of his crucifixion alone.

14 December, 1827.


COMPANION TO THE ALTAR.


First then, that we may come to this heavenly feast holy, and adorned
with the wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 11, we must search our hearts,
and examine our consciences, not only till we see our sins, but until
we hate them.

But what if a man, seeing his sin, earnestly desire to hate it? Shall he
not at the altar offer up at once his desire, and the yet lingering sin,
and seek for strength? Is not this sacrament medicine as well as food?
Is it an end only, and not likewise the means? Is it merely the
triumphal feast; or is it not even more truly a blessed refreshment for
and during the conflict?