l. "And the Spirit and the Bride say,
Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely."

The same free and charitable principle has directed the
administration of the _sacraments_, a circumstance the more
remarkable, since, in the judgment of the most eminent Fathers of
the Church, these are the channels by which spiritual grace is
actually communicated to all who are rightfully baptized, and
religiously partake of the Lord's supper. The formularies of our own
branch of Christ's Catholic Church are so clear and definite on this
point, that every effort of ingenious casuistry to give them another
meaning, or to reconcile their use with the Calvinistic theology,
has ended in discomfiture. The _sacraments_ are "outward and visible
signs 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." This _grace_ is imparted, not as to
the elect and to them exclusively, but as to beings who are free and
responsible, who have to account for their use of this sacred and
inestimable gift, and who may forfeit its blessings by subsequent
guilt and final impenitence. The present state of our knowledge, or
rather ignorance of the philosophy of the human mind, may not supply
us with a satisfactory answer for those, who, in a cavilling or
sceptical spirit, ask, "How can these things be?" But it is the
doctrine of the Scriptures and of the Church, and it is perplexed
with fewer difficulties than will be found to press upon every other
hypothesis.

Supposing the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination to be founded
in truth, the very existence of the visible Church in its present
form is a mystery which requires to be solved. No part of its
constitution or order harmonises with a scheme based on fatalism,
and limiting the grace of Heaven to a narrow section of the human
family.

The Sabbath bell, joyously or solemnly, invites all who hear to come
to the house of God; and in the name of the "great congregation" the
minister of Christ addresses the Deity, saying, "_Our_ Father which
art in heaven!"

But Calvinism pronounces that God is _not_ "the lovely Father of all
mankind;" and, that while He has instituted the rites of religious
worship, and invites all to mingle in its sacred duties, He regards
the greater number as "_cursed children_," marked out fo