by all such as sacred and solemn. But as, by degrees, others sought an entrance to the fold, by ways less narrow and rugged than that of an entire self-renunciation and a consecrated apostleship, the world, with its ambition, and fashion, and lust and desire, spread its darkening cloud over the clea sunlight of the earlier dawn, and the simplicity of the Chri tian rites became obscured by forms and creeds of man's device.

On these accounts, the celebration of the Lord's Supper was transferred from the evening and social meal to the close of the public religious service in the forenoon. This change took place early in the second century, and became incidentally the cause of the still existing distinction between the church and the congregation. When the love-feasts were held in private houses, none but those who in spirit were disciples of the same Master met together, for the exchange of words of mutual sympathy, encouragement, and incitement, and for prayer and praise. All constituted one family of believers. But in the public assembly it was far otherwise. Not only were the faithful and believing present, but the doubting and hesitating, those uncertain whether to yield up the poor, fleeting joys of earth for the "sure and glorious promise" of an immortal inheritance; the sceptic, the curious philosopher, the inquiring pagan, the half-convinced Jew, the enlightened Greek, the stern Roman, the rapt mystic, the cold and sneering Cynic, the luxurious Epicurean, the proud Pharisee, none were excluded. Candidates for baptism were also present, and those drawn over from other beliefs, and desiring instruction in the Christian faith. The simple and sublime history of Jesus of Nazareth, his teachings, his life and his death, were themes proclaimed freely to all; the truth was preached in its simplicity and its power, and the divine life of the Redeemer quickened many a sluggish spirit, nerving it with such strength as to bear his cross of fearful suffering and sorrow, that thereby it might share his crown of glory.

But most unmeet would it have been for the unbelieving, in such an assembly,- for those who in heart cherished no peculiar love or devotion to the Saviour, who even questioned his divine authority, to unite in a service peculiarly and wholly one of personal remembrance, gratitude, love, and consecration. We find, therefore, that it was the custom, after the close of the public morning service of worship and exhortation, for the pastor or preacher to pronounce a benediction upon the whole assembly, dismissing a part, while those who acknowledged their heart-allegiance to their Master remained, to partake together of the emblematic bread and wine, as in the more private love-feasts. Hence the use of the Romish name for the Eucharist, "Missa," or Mass; -missa denoting dismission, and thence being applied to what ensued after the dismission. The Supper was celebrated at the close of the morning service, each Lord's day, the members of the church carrying bread and wine with them, as a thank-offering, to the place of assembly, the requisite portion of which was taken by the presiding official, and consecrated as the sacred emblems of the Saviour's body and blood, — the remainder being afterwards distributed among the poor. "The emblems were then distributed by the officiating deacons, much in the same way as in many of our churches at the present time, portions of the same being sent to the sick, the infirm, and the prisoner." Prayer and singing accompanied the service.

In this arrangement all baptized persons were admitted to the Supper, who were not excluded on account of any known vice or immorality; baptism being regarded as the initiatory rite, by which an individual openly acknowledged his faith and was publicly brought into the visible fold of the Redeemer. It was administered on the simple profession of faith in Christ as the Son of God and the true Messiah; for in those early days of trial and persecution, such an acknowledgment would never have been made, without sincerity, involving, as it so often did, the loss of all things earthly.

It was also administered to the children of baptized parents, who thus consecrated them to their Saviour's love and guardian care, and expressed the desire to educate them for his service. There appears to have been no definite rule regulating the age when an individual should partake of the holy feast. Children old enough to understand the meaning of the service, and to choose the right for themselves, were never excluded, while in some portions of the church the sacred elements were given even to infants.

Towards the middle of the third century, the rite of confirmation came into general use, and, with the exception of North Africa, where the custom of giving the sacramental bread and wine to infants continued for a longer period, no persons unconfirmed, though baptized in infancy, were admitted to the Lord's Supper. This rite was usually observed at the age of twelve or fourteen years, the individual thus acknowledging for himself faith in Christ, and taking upon himself those vows of consecration which had been offered in his behalf in infancy, by parental or Christian love.

As years and centuries passed on, baptism and confirmation became universal in Christendom, and, losing their original, sacred significance, degenerated into a mere form, often a mask of political intrigue or private ambition.

So too of the Lord's Supper. Instead of being a service indicative of individual love, gratitude, and remembrance, it became, in most cases, a mere hollow form, devoid of all spirituality and life-giving power; while spirituality of heart, and the faith that works by love, and brings forth the fruits of holiness in the life, became very rare. In consequence of this, the service became desecrated, lost its sacred power over the minds of men; and while some observed it in mere superstitious reverence, and as possessing a talismanic charm and efficacy, no matter in what spirit it was partaken of, others regarded it with utter indifference.

Then came the period of the Reformation, when truth in its simple majesty again exulted in the dawning freedom,

when old abuses and superstitions were dragged from their covert retreats, and when the dominant power of a mere earthly hierarchy was shaken to its foundations.

Among the various sects which thus arose, of the Reformed Church the Lutheran and the English still preserved the custom of admitting all baptized persons freely to the communion; endeavoring, however, to avoid past errors by clearly expounding its meaning, publicly explaining its spiritual authority, and seeking to render it to the individual a service of the heart, and not one of form. Children were more generally instructed in the faith, taught the value of the service, and led to regard it as one in which the true Christian was bound to participate; the sacredness of the rite being more generally impressed in the public teachings of the sanctuary, and the spirit which can alone render it one of any efficacy duly enforced.

In the Calvinistic portion of the Reformed Church, on the contrary, a church was definitely established within the congregation; those only being admitted to the communion whom the pastor, or, more generally, the majority of the members of the church itself, regarded as fitted for the observance, and whose characters were considered free from open reproach, and who were willing to subscribe to the creed established, as expressive of the faith of that portion of the Church. From this division, our New England Congregational churches have derived the chief precedent of their constitution;-one in its true spirit not so contracted and isolated as might at first be imagined; for if there existed a true spirit of Christian and brotherly love among all the members of a church, none would be excluded for mere difference of intellectual belief, and any spirit of espionage, or curious questioning of another's most secret thoughts or sacred feelings, would never be tolerated for a moment. Where there is the true spirit, there is always life and freedom; if that be wanting, narrowness, sectarian bitterness, and petty jealousies will ever characterize a church, whatever its outward constitution or prescribed mode of worship.

Among some sects, as the Unitarian, for instance, a form of admission to the church and to the Lord's Supper is or is not observed, according to the united opinion of the majority of the worshippers in any one congregation,— in many cases, even where a simple profession of faith has been usually observed, the individual being left wholly free to consult his own private feelings and inclinations, as to making such a profession; here, as in earlier times, baptism, we suppose, being regarded as the one initiatory rite, bringing the individual, whether it be observed in infancy or in mature years, within the fold of the visible Church.

Regarding now the present state of our churches, and referring back to those earlier years when the acknowledg ment of faith in Christ so often became the seal of suffering and persecution, we are at once impressed with the difference in the outward aspect of this service, and in the manner in which it was generally regarded. Instead of presenting any cold, repulsive, or exclusive aspect, it was pre-eminently a social service. Around the holy table gathered the aged patriarch and the little child; the Christian warrior of mature years, girt with the well-tried panoply of many a hard-fought conflict, and the youth just entering on the arena of toil and trial; the aged matron and the gentle maiden, each strong for endurance in her Redeemer's strength; the tempted, the suffering, the tried, the weary, and the happy there met, to gain new strength, to share each other's joys, to sympathize in each other's griefs, and through the Master's spirit to gain new powers of endurance, to cherish a deeper, warmer love to him, and so to one another.

But now how is it, in too many of our congregations?

The church is looked upon as something set apart, distinct from the general worshipping assembly, around which some invisible but potent barrier of custom, or creed, or attainment in goodness, is erected, and through which only a chosen few, the aged, the suffering, the care-worn, the good par excellence, are admitted; while the rest-strong and intelli