The Mosaic dispensation having had its origin at a time when mankind were in this state, was naturally adapted to the prevailing usages of the age in which it was given;-it too, like all the other generally-adopted modes of worship, was accordingly constituted by symbolical rites and prefigurative ceremonies,—and God thus evinced his early adoption of the plan upon which his dispensations have, in all ages, been conducted,—that, namely, of gradually preparing mankind, by a partial accommodation to their weaknesses and errors, for the final disclosure of those spiritual and liberal views, which are destined, in their full splendour, to be the distinctive inheritance of the last

tions of men.

genera

When Christ came, in the fulness of time, as the great instructor of the human race, he, indeed, instituted a simple, and spiritual, and intellectual worship;-yet he so far accommodated himself to the prevailing customs of his age,—and to the natural tendency of the human heart, as manifested by these customs,-as to adopt into his system some of the usages which he found already established, or some of the forms which had received general consecration,-and only gave them more

lasting value, by the higher and holier purposes to which, henceforward, he devoted them.

Thus he found the different petitions of what we now call "the Lord's prayer," in the ritual of the Jewish church, and he only arranged these petitions, and recommended them to his disciples, as a beautiful summary and exemplification of those views which he intended that, in all their addresses to God, they should render familiar to their minds.

In like manner, he found baptism in use, both as an ancient symbol,—and, in the form adopted by his great Forerunner, as the type of that purity of heart and life which he urged mankind to cultivate;—and Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize all men,-and to go among all nations, proclaiming the arrival of "the kingdom of God."

Thus, also, bread and wine were used, in symbolical meaning, at the solemn festivals of the Jewish nation,—and as the rite was simple, and beautiful, and expressive,-Christ adopted it also into his new system of ordinances, and gave to it the highest of all consecrations, by making it significant of the most valuable of all blessings,—and

commemorative of the greatest of all the events that had ever happened among men.

Thus was the religion of Christ,-in its ceremonial parts,-a continuation of forms that had been used, during many ages, before his coming;* --and thus we see how beautifully and condescendingly the Divine Teacher accommodated himself to the prevailing feelings and views of his time,—and refused no custom the authority of his sanction, which could be rendered subservient to the spiritual edification or comfort of mankind.

At the same time, it must be remarked, that the religion of Christ is, essentially, a spiritual and intellectual religion,-and that the rites which it has admitted, of a symbolical kind, are at once few in number,—and so naturally significant of the things intended to be represented, as scarcely to detract from the general character of the institution, which is that of a pure and spiritual worship, fitted to be adopted by men of all times, and of all degrees of refinement or of intellectual cultivation.

These rites are but two, namely-sprinkling with

* See note (4).

water as a symbol of internal purity,—and partaking of a simple and social meal,-in commemoration of an event of transcendent importance to men, and as a symbol of the spiritual benefits which that event has procured for them.

Both of these actions are simple in the highest degree; they have almost a natural significancy of the things represented ;—they are suited to the habits of the rudest understandings;—and at the same time they have nothing so entirely mystical as to offend the pride of those who have attained to the most refined views of religion. They thus seem to connect the ancient usages of men with the spiritual worship of the latter days,— and are fitted to be employed in all the ages, and amidst all the degrees of cultivation in which the human race shall ever be found.

After these few general observations on significant or symbolical actions,-which I have thought it proper to make, both because the understanding of them is necessary for a distinct comprehension of the Christian ceremonies, and because they point out a very beautiful feature in the condescending wisdom of the Author of our faith, and in the genius of that dispensation which he has

given to the world,-I shall now offer a few remarks on the former of these rites, viz. baptism,-before proceeding to the consideration of that which is the more appropriate subject of this preliminary discourse,—namely, the eating bread and drinking wine, in commemoration of the death of Christ,—or as a repetition of that "last Supper" which he held with his personal friends, on the evening of the day before he suffered death.