ceive, very improperly, as a Summary of the Christian Faith, does the Catechism take any notice whatever of many of the leading articles of that Faith, some of them, essentially necessary to salvation; useful, too, as such notice might have been made in supplying both the deficiencies of the Creed, and motives adapted to enforce obedience to the Commandments. I shall here particularise some of these omissions. There is no mention, for instance, of the Fall, and consequent depravity of man-the necessity thence arising for the holy renewal of the human heart— the nature of spiritual regeneration—the divine Agent which effects this holy renovation of the soul-the instrumentality by which it is effectedthe means of sustaining the spiritual life of the believer the origin, nature, operation, and fruits of true repentance and faith-the grounds on which mercy and forgiveness are bestowed on the penitent believer in Christ-the nature of justification by, of reconciliation to, and of acceptance with God-the nature of christian love to God; to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to his real disciples, or of the scriptural evidences of their existence and exercise--the nature of the christian character and life, and their peculiar features and duties the nature of spiritual worship, acceptable prayer, and holy fellowship with God -the peculiar sentiments and feelings with which the Christian contemplates affliction, and anticipates death,

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judgment and eternity. These, and a variety of other topics, which enter into the substance of the Christian Religion, admit of brief, simple, and familiar exposition, suited to the understandings of children, according to their different ages, and ought not to be omitted in Manuals of Instruction designed to instruct them in the knowledge of the Christian Faith and Life. But to proceed with the Catechism as it is.

"Question. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church?

"Answer. Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord."

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are here represented as Sacraments "generally necessary to salvation;" language which, I think, your Grace will admit is better fitted to exercise the mind of a casuist, than to enlighten those either of a little or grown Catechumen. The only scriptural explanation, of which such language is capable, seems to be either, that the spiritual renovation and sustentation of the soul in "righteousness and true holiness," as represented in Baptism and in the Lord's Supper, are necessary to salvation: or that, in reference to these two institutes, submission to his authority, and obedience to his commands, as being essential ingredients in the personal religion of every true believer in Christ, are necessary to salvation; thus also providing, by the term "generally," for those cases in

persons who have received the gifts of grace, but who, from local situation, in heathen or other countries, are out of the reach of Christian Ordinances. As, however, the words in question are not necessary to the Answer of which they form a part; as they convey no clear or definite idea, and seem, at least, to countenance the papal doctrine relative to the efficacy of the sacraments, I submit to your Grace whether it would not be desirable to exclude them from a Christian and Protestant formulary.

The Catechumen is next asked the following

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Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament?

"Answer. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof."

The first clause of this Answer is perfectly scriptural; for, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles, baptism was administered to those persons who afforded credible evidence that they had already received the grace of God. This fact alone inflicts a death-wound on the dogma of baptismal regeneration; since, assuming its truth, the individual instances of baptism recorded in the Acts, with the exception of that of Simon Magus, (a peculiar case, like that of Judas, doubtless, permitted for a special purpose,) would represent the effect as existing

before the operation of its alleged cause; which is an impossibility. And, indeed, the language of the Answer, now under review, is, as to this point, in exact unison with Scripture, and opposed to the obnoxious dogma; for, it is evident, that baptism, considered as a "sign," and it is in the Answer so represented, pre-supposes the prior existence of the thing signified by it. To affirm, however, without specific revelation from heaven, as to any infant, that it had received spiritual life and grace before baptism, would be as little warranted by Scripture as to affirm, after it had been baptized, that baptism had conferred them. It follows, therefore, that the two other clauses of the Answer are also without scriptural warrant ; for the words, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof," must be interpreted in conformity with what the catechumen had already declared, viz., that he "was made [in his baptism] a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven;" and, consequently, that the catechumen must be understood to mean, or rather he is required to say, that his baptism was the "means" by which he had then received the "inward and spiritual grace," and that it is "a pledge," affording him divinely-prescribed assurance of the reality of the fact. Such things, alas! do the Catechism, as taught, require thousands of children and young persons, of every grade of character, to

declare, without a single inquiry, on their own part, as to whether they do or do not exhibit the scriptural evidences of their being "children of grace."

Question. How many parts are there in a Sacrament?

"Answer. Two; the outward visible sign; and the inward and spiritual grace.

"Question. What is the outward visible sign, or Form in Baptism?

"Answer. Water; wherein the person is bap tized, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

The language of these two Answers and Questions contains nothing, in itself, unscriptural; but, if understood, according to the doctrine of the Catechism, to imply that the thing signified invariably accompanies the sacramental use of the sign, or, in other words, that such use of the sign necessarily imparts grace, then there can be no doubt, that even these apparently unexceptionable passages also contribute to uphold and to disseminate the most pernicious error of the Catechism. "Question. What is the inward and spiritual grace?

"Answer. A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness: For being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace."

This answer is perfectly scriptural, if the word "hereby" is understood to refer to the inward and