If we falter in this article of the true spiritual engrafting into Christ of the little ones, all our system of nurture falls with it. Nothing is left to us but that revival system, of which revivalists themselves are fast becoming weary.

Let us not forget that as our Lord was the Pattern man, so also was He the Pattern of a truly religious child. We should strive and pray in behalf of our christened little ones for nothing less than this, that they may, like their Lord, steadily and persistently, without break or interruption, as they increase in wisdom and stature, so also increase in all the graces which find favor with God and good men.

LETTER XIV.

THE LORD'S SUPPER A MEMORIAL.

"Remember Thee, and all Thy pains,
And all Thy love to me?

Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains
Will I remember Thee."

-Montgomery.

HE Lord's Supper is the sublimest act of our holy religion. The view we take

of it must affect our whole system of doctrine; and our individual religious character depends largely upon the heedfulness with which we seek, in approaching this sacred feast, to come holy and clean, in the marriage garment required by God in Holy Scripture.

If we regard the Lord's Supper as it is commonly regarded by the members of the leading denominations of the country, if we divest it of its mystery, and think of it as of a sermon on the Passion, acted as well as spoken; and yet again, as of a renewal of vows of love made by brethren to their Lord and to each other-even thus, when considered from a point of view almost purely human, the rite is most expressive.

It recalls vividly the great transaction of the cross, and unseals the fountains of our purest and most unselfish emotions. Surely it cannot be otherwise than for good that on a bright Sunday morning, in many thousands of religious assemblies, the simple yet eloquent drama is enacted.

Bread is broken, and wine poured forth, as images of the Body rent, and of the Blood that came from the opened side. The vision of the crucified One is thus made to appear before the eye of the soul; the receiving and consuming of the elements reminds each partaker that he has acknowledged that transaction, not merely as a fact, but as something in which he has a sharesomething which has a practical bearing on his duty. Moreover, the receiving by a number of persons together, especially where they come out from the congregation and gather closely around the table, is an acknowledgment of a common brotherhood, and an admonition to put away wrath and malice.

Great loss, indeed, do those sustain who recognize no Diviner element in this sacred rite; and yet, what loss to the many who have no better faith, were this custom of commemorating Christ's death, and of signifying by a specific act our recognition of its importance, to be discontinued!

We may not doubt that many a child, as he witnesses this ceremonial, realizes, as no mere sermon could make him realize, that it is "a true saying," not an allegory, or a fairy-tale, but something so true and real that it deserves to be received by everybody-that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And when, still without introducing the element of mystery, we add another thought, viz., that this particular mode of commemorating the death of Christ is not an arbitrary invention of religious people, but a matter of Divine prescription-that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread and brake it, and ordained that the like should constantly be done as a commemoration of Him until he should come again—the value of such a rite, in its effects on the individual who joins in it, and as a monument in sight of all the world, attesting the truth of the Gospel story, becomes most apparent.

Did the Eucharist stand on no higher ground than this, it would be our duty to approach the table considerately, endeavoring to affect our minds with a thankful remembrance of our Lord's death, and with an earnest purpose to forgive, as we hope to be forgiven.

But there is a Diviner element in the Holy

Eucharist. Even where people are mistaught, where "mysteries are opened,” and the same process of rationalizing is applied to sacraments which unbelievers apply to the miracles, the people, by an instinct of faith, recognize something more profound than is suggested by their teachers. The awe and reverence with which they approach the feast, prove that they unconsciously recognize in the Eucharist not merely an excellence in degree above other religious acts, but an essential superiority in kind over the ordinary acts of private and public worship.

Certainly no candid person can attend a celebration at our altars without recognizing the fact that the Church attributes a peculiar sanctity to this transaction.

The exhortations preparatory to Communion, and at the time of Communion; the intensity of tone which characterizes the confession and the thanksgiving, as compared with like forms in the daily service; the very attitude of the priest as he stands ministering before the altar; the expressive gestures which he must add to his words of consecration; the heedfulness with which the elements, after consecration, are guarded against careless and irreverent handling; these and other like circumstances impress an unprejudiced mind with a sense of peculiar solemnity.