reconciliation is sought, no less in respect to the child than it was for the mother. And it is brought to the font, and the one Baptism for the remission of sins administered. But even after this, its regeneration, the infection of nature remains, and the lust of the flesh is not subject to the law of GOD. And constantly throughout his after life does he fall short of that purity "the holiness without which no man can see GOD." And is it so? What then is to reconcile us to God when post-baptismal sin sits like a blight upon our spiritual life, and our vows begin to be lightly regarded, and our strength fails us from want of new life, and the fresh springs of new power? What are we to do? Why-when in our early youth we need strength, then it is, the Church comes to us with her offer of strengthening grace in the holy rite of confirmation,-again wipes off the sullying dust of the past, and brightens up the face of the future day. Nay, our holy mother leaves us never long, but is ever busy at her work of reconciliation. Daily, morn and eve, does she ply the golden keys of prayer and solemn absolution in behalf of all who, in faith and repentance, claim their part in them. And for the whole infirmities, haltings and disorders of our after life, as a perpetual medicine for the soul, a remedy against all spiritual maladies, the gift of remission of sins, and the grace of the communion of CHRIST'S Body and Blood is provided, whereby we are made one with Him and He with us.

If then, all our life long, we stand in such infinite need of this blessed gift of GOD, the ministry of reconciliation, can we doubt but that when the troubles of life, the miseries and evils to which flesh is heir, the more obvious tokens of God's curse upon men's disobedience begin to exhibit their promised consequence in sickness, the proper, if not always the immediate harbinger of death; can we doubt I say, that then more especially, we need the comfort and assurance of God's most gracious gifts to man? Surely, then, if ever, we need them. What therefore will the pious Christian do, when 1" he is chastened with pain upon

1 Job xxxiii. 19.

his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain, so that his life abhorreth bread and his soul dainty meat—when his soul draweth near unto the grave and his life to the destroyer"? This will he do. He will think first, how suffering is the indelible mark of God's wrath against sin, and how by sin, death came into the world. Thus will he behold in his own sufferings the fulfilment of the curse upon Adam's sin, and in connexion with it call up before his mind all the sorrowful and dread images in that way manifested in the world. He will mark how GOD hates sin-yea, so that even the brute beast groans under the effects of it. And then he will look up at that eternal monument of God's abhorrence of sin, the Cross. There will he behold the Son of GOD in His gore blood, finishing a life the beginning and end of which is penalty. He will behold this,—and now realizing by his own acute sufferings the pains of His SAVIOUR's death, will the more fully apprehend the intense wrath and flaming indignation of GOD against sin. But in that spectacle of the Cross, he recognises a double aspect. If it is the mark of God's wrath, he will also contemplate it, as the sign of His mercy in providing atonement. He will thus be led to claim his part in the fellowship of CHRIST's sufferings, to unite his sufferings with CHRIST'S sufferings, to embrace the sickness unto death sent him of GOD as a healing punishment inflicted for sin, accept it, become entirely reconciled to it-nay even rejoice in it. But he will not stop here. He will surely then 1" call in the assistance of the guides of souls, sending for the elders of the Church that they may pray over him, and assist and comfort him by words spoken in due season, and administer to him the Word and the benefit of absolution and the Holy Sacrament, resolving and assisting him in all things that may be needful for the finishing of his repentance and the support of his spirit, or the peace of his conscience." Assuredly he will do so when he is conscious that he has 2" the greatest work to do and the least strength in himself to do it; especially considering the last part of the contest is usually 1 Kettlewell. 2 Comber, fol. 703.

the sharpest, and our enemies grow fiercest when we are least able to endure the shock;" and that “it may be of eternal advantage to him to meet with a discreet and religious guide in that happy season when all the powers of the soul are disposed for repentance, and the choice of virtue, and when the 'Priest's office hath therefore so fair probabilities of success,' and 1'is little less than necessary to sick and dying persons,' who being disturbed and diverted with visits, weakened and disordered with pain, and amazed at the approach of death, are very unable under these circumstances to guide and direct themselves."

We have thus far endeavoured to show, as the true origin of, so the true remedy for that state of man which beginning with a dying life ends in sickness and death that as the origin was sin, so the remedy was the atonement for sin in our SAVIOUR's Blood shed on the Cross, and that the sole application of this atoning blood, as far as we have any scriptural warrant for speaking, is to be attained only through "the ministry of reconciliation, which application must on no account be pretermitted as the dread consummation of man's days draws on, and the soul is to trim her lamp, and the Christian be made ready "to meet his GOD."

But it is time that, in an inquiry into the use of benefits that may be expected from ministerial visitation, we should proceed to examine very carefully the force and application of that passage of Scripture which more than any other, in the sacred volume, must be considered as containing fundamental doctrine on the functions to be performed in this ministry, and on the spiritual advantages to be looked for from it. The passage in the Epistle of S. James is, of course, here alluded to. 66 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the LORD, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the LORD shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him." What has already engaged our attention will be found to be no unfit pre1 Assheton's Method, 12. 2 S. James v. 14, 15.

paration for a sound and full exposition of these words.

Now from this remarkable passage, let us not shrink from extracting all the comfort which it is calculated to afford us. And in the first place let us remark with Dean Comber, "The authority which prescribes this Visitation of the Sick is a positive Divine command, delivered by an inspired Apostle, so that it is plainly instituted by GOD, and accordingly it was always practised in the Christian Church." Next,

let us observe that no less than all that grace which is implied in the word "save," is plainly declared to be the result of the prayers of the Church. To obviate, however, all misconstruction likely to arise out of this statement,2 let it be observed that salvation, must neither in this place, nor must it always in other parts of Scripture where the word "save" is used, be interpreted to mean that final salvation has been secured to the party concerning whom it is employed, so that he would be from henceforth secure from all danger of losing his salvation. Rather, we must consider, that it is meant, that such an act of mercy has been passed upon the sick penitent, by the commissioned servants of GOD that, in no respect, are the channels of grace shut against him,—that in no respect is the wrath of GOD so entertained against his past errors and sins, but that the arms of His mercy are ready to embrace him, so that every obstacle arising out of the withdrawn favour and averted grace of GOD to the bodily cure and the spiritual health of the sick man are removed from his way. GOD signifieth by the acts of His Church to the sick man His entire reconciliation towards him; so that neither bodily nor spiritual remedy shall fail of its application and power from the mere want thereof. In effect to be saved, in the ordinary scriptural sense, would seem to mean that the privileges of the state of salvation are open to the parties to whom the term is applied. Then, as it would appear, follows an exposition of the two particular forms just mentioned, under which this salvation and reconciliation manifests itself. 1st. In 1 Comber, fol. 702. 2 See note at page 4.

the words "And the LORD shall raise him up." And 2nd, in the words "If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” To consider for the present only the first benefit, "The LORD shall raise him up," i.e., shall, if it be the will of GOD, restore him to health. For "this is a Scripture phrase for bodily health."1 Now it has been supposed that this power was to be limited to very primitive times only. And the source of this opinion seems to be in wrongly attributing the constant, instead of only partial, use of miraculous powers to the elders, who were at that time called in to the sick. Where it is said "The LORD shall raise him up" it does not of necessity follow that this "raising" should have been always effected by a miracle. It would really seem on a close consideration that the case is far otherwise, and for these reasons. 1st. The impression left on the mind by the passage of S. James is, that a permanent rite of the Church, not an incidental gift to her, is here spoken of, the gift of a power to be constantly exercised by the ministers of religion, and not as belonging only to her primitive condition and infant estate.

2ndly. We can trace the source of the notion of the sick man's being raised by miracle very clearly to the command to anoint him with oil. "Oil2 was used by the disciples of CHRIST in imitation of the Jews, who pretended to the power of healing by anointing the sick and pronouncing divers strange words; wherefore the Apostles used the same oil in His Name, but only to show, that by His grace and power the sick were healed, and thereby to convince men that He was the Messiah; and therefore S. James writing, while this gift remained, mentions the ceremony of anointing in the Name of the LORD; but yet he attributes no virtue to the oil, but saith The prayer of faith shall save the sick.' It should be observed as respects the disuse of oil in the English ritual, that the great benefit wrought upon the sick man is attributed by S. James to the prayer of faith in conjunction with, not

1 Comber, who quotes Ps. xli. 10; Hos. vi. 2.

2 Ibid. 705. He quotes Theophylact in S. Mark vi. 13, as saying that the oil was used as a symbol of the mercy of God.