bleness, or honesty, or generosity of sister or brother, is that which makes them related to each other, or to their parents. And I do most strongly aver, that if this notion shall intrude into their minds, and if, on the strength of it, they shall affirm, that the fact of sisterhood and brotherhood stands on the qualities of the respective persons bearing that relation,-they will as much destroy all the principles of the family feeling which God has established, as if they were each the most depraved of human creatures. In like manner I affirm, that though the continued existence of the Christian Church would have been impossible, without that truth respecting the conscience which the Reformation introduced; yet that this truth, when made itself the foundation of the church, destroys that idea of Christ having a kingdom upon earth, which, I showed you that the Papal notion darkened and kept out of sight.

You will find, that the view which the Reformers took of the doctrine of the Eucharist, is the great key to these remarks, and to their views on all other subjects. But before I treat upon this point, to which all my previous observations have been tending, I must call your attention to some of the divisions which sprung up among them, and proved that their principle, true and mighty as it was, is a principle of distinction, not of unity.

You will perceive, I think, that the character, habits, and spiritual discipline of men, must have greatly affected-not their belief in the doctrine

228

OBJECT OF FAITH.

ap

of the Reformation-but their way of regarding it. A plain, business-like man, vexed with strong internal conflicts, driven to faith rather by the necessities of his heart than by the convictions of his intellect, would occupy himself comparatively little with the nature of the act by which he propriated the blessings which he needed; he would seize them, and tell others to do the like. Nor would he in general be distracted with the question, How came it to pass that some did claim those blessings, and others rejected them? As a man he would be indisposed to a question which drew him away from the object of faith, to thoughts about its origin; as a preacher of the Gospel, he would dislike, by exciting such doubts in his hearers, to weaken his own assertion of the blessing having been claimed, and being within every man's reach.

On the other hand, a man of an intellectual turn, much exercised in logic, not very social in the habits of his mind,-conscious rather of internal evil than subject to great external temptation, would speculate somewhat upon the character of faith, the organ by which it is exercised, the power by which it is communicated; but more on the ultimate reasons which determined some men to follow their nature, and some to become obedient to the grace of God. He would say to himself,- It is especially the vocation of Protestants to discuss these questions. That men are justified by faith, and not by any outward act, is our grand assertion. Outward acts any man

SOURCE OF FAITH.

229

may perform; but faith is a gift. Evidently only a few possess it; whence, then, does it come to them? We shall have the doctrine of faith given as the reward of works; all the mischiefs which resulted from the belief of grace of congruity intruding themselves again, if we do not settle this question. Let us then at once lay it down, that it is the absolute sovereignty of God, choosing and decreeing that such and such shall believe and be saved, which originated faith in a man, and preserves it in him to the end.' Such you will see is the "natural history" of the Calvinistic system; so easily and directly deduced from Protestantism, and yet which never could have produced one of the mighty effects which Luther's preaching produced upon the character of the world.

Once more: you can conceive a person vigorous and practical like Luther, but far less exercised than he with inward conflicts, -inspired with great indignation, like Calvin, against the Romish system, and desiring to destroy it root and branch, but without his deep habits of reflection and logical acuteness; to such a one another side of Protestantism will present itself most prominently. The real strength of the Reformation,' he will say to himself, has been manifested, not in its proclaiming this doctrine or that, but in the authority and emphasis which it has given to the written Word of God. To hide this from the multitude was at once the subtlest of Papal villanies, and that which made every other possible. If, then, we will maintain the new faith, away

230

WRITTEN WORD.

with forms and pressures past,-away with traditions and set prayers,- away with everything that has interfered with the reverence which is due to this sacred and divine deposit. And do you not see how the crafty enemy of souls has contrived to weaken this great witness against his plots by exalting the power and mystery of sacraments. See you not how the Word of Life has been disparaged under pretence of another life communicated through these ordinances.' Such, I conceive, are the thoughts which passed in the mind of Zuinglius, and determined the character of his theology.

It will strike you at once that these three sides of Protestantism were all acknowledged by each of the champions to whom I have alluded. No language that Calvin employed respecting his peculiar tenets, could be stronger than that in which Luther occasionally asserted them. No phrases respecting the authority of Scripture ever escaped the lips of Zuinglius which may not have been expounded with far greater clearness by Calvin, and enunciated with far greater power by Luther. Nevertheless, those who agree with the principle of this letter will acknowledge at once that the feeling with which these different parties were regarded by the Helvetic and the German reformers may have been most different, and that this difference may have far more livingly affected their theology than even a much more marked theoretic disagreement.

And it is, as I have hinted more than once, in

MEMORIAL FEAST.

231

their doctrine regarding the Lord's Supper, that you find this difference practically realised. The fact is most striking. All notional differences might have been settled; armistices might not only have been made, but the terms of them observed, if only, as the disputants themselves fancied, doctrines and opinions which could be couched in language had been the matters at stake. But there was something deeper at work. Luther felt, that his idea of Christianity was different, essentially different, from that of Calvin or of Zuinglius, let their terms be as much assimilated as they might; and each party felt that there was an expression for their idea, which was more complete, more substantial, and yet more subtle than any words could offer. Yes! in that moment of intellectual power and prowess, when words were believed to be so mighty, and when they were so mighty, because the life was yet in them, - even then was this homage rendered to ordinances by those whose habits of mind would have disposed them most to think lightly of them. They were OBLIGED to make their notions of these ordinances the central points of their system; they were obliged to recognise these as the bonds of union among themselves; these, alas! as the barriers (not the ordinances, but the notions of the ordinances,) to all reconciliation with each other.

The Zuinglian notion of this Sacrament reduces it, you are aware, into a mere memorial feast, to celebrate the offering which Christ made upon