he has placed them, to the breaking of the bread. They were used after the distribu tion of the bread, but were not repeated after the giving of the cup.

If they relate, on the other hand, to the celebration of the Passover as it had been modified and spiritualized with a new meaning, then the interpretation of them will stand thus: "As some of you, my disciples, for ye are all Jews, may not be able to get over all your prejudices at once, but may celebrate the Passover again; and as it is the last time that I shall celebrate it with

you as a ceremonial, I desire you to do it in remembrance or as a memorial of me. I wish the celebration of it always to bring to your recollection this our last public meeting, the love I bear to you, and my sufferings and my death. death. I wish your minds to be turned from carnal to spiritual benefits, and to be raised to more important themes than the mere escape of your ancestors from Egyptian bondage. If it has hitherto been the object of the Passover to preserve in your memories the bodily salvation of your ancestors, let it be used in future, if you cannot forsake it, as a memorial of your own spiritual salvation; for my body, of which the bread is a

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representation, is to be broken; and my blood, of which the wine is an emblem, is to be shed for the remission of your sins."

But in whatever sense the words "do this in remembrance of me" are to be taken, the Quakers are of opinion, as far as St. Luke states the circumstances, that they related solely to the disciples themselves. Jesus Christ recommends it to those who were present, and to those only, to do this in remembrance of him; but he now here tells them to order or cause it to be done by the whole Christian world, as he told them to preach the Gospel to every creature.

To sum up the whole of what has been said in this chapter: If we consult St. Luke, and St. Luke only, all that we can collect on this subject will be, That the future Passover-suppers of Christ with his disciples were to be spiritual; that his disciples were desired to break their bread together in remembrance of him; or if, as Jews, they could not relinquish the Passover, to celebrate it with a new meaning; but that this permission extended to those only who were present on that occasion.

SECTION

SECTION V.

7.

Account of St. Paul-he states that the words "do this in remembrance of me" were used at the Passover-supper-that they contained a permission for a custom, in which both the bread and the wine were included that this custom was the Passover, spiritualized by Jesus Christ—but that it was to last only for a time-some conjecture this time to be the destruction of Jerusalem-but the Quakers, till the Disciples had attained such a spiritual growth, that they felt Christ's kingdom substantially in their hearts-and as it was thus limited to them, so it was limited to such Jewish converts as might have adopted it in those times.

THE last of the sacred writers who mentions the celebration of the Passover-supper is St. Paul, whose account is now to be examined.

St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians*, reproves them for some irregularities committed by them in the course of their religious meetings. What these meetings were is uncertain. They might have * Chap. xi.

been

been for the celebration of the Passover-supper; for there was a synagogue of Jews at Corinth, of whom some had been converted. Or they might have been for the celebration of the Passover as spiritualized by Jesus Christ, or for the breaking of bread; which customs both the Jewish and Gentile converts might have adopted. The custom, however, at which these irregularities took place, is called by St. Paul the Lord's Supper. And this title was not inapplicable to it in either of the cases supposed, because it must have been, in either of them, in commemoration of the last supper which Jesus Christ, or the Lord and Master, ate with his disciples before he suffered.

But, whichever ceremonial it was that St. Paul alluded to, the circumstances of the irregularities of the Corinthians obliged him to advert to, and explain, what was said and done by Jesus on the night of the Passoversupper. This explanation of the apostle has thrown new light upon the subject, and has induced the Quakers to believe that no new institution was intended to take place as a ceremonial to be observed by the Christian world.

VOL. II.

2 E

St. Paul,

St. Paul, in his account of what occurred at the original Passover, reports that Jesus Christ made use of the words "this do in remembrance of me." By this the Quakers understand, that he permitted something to be done by those who were present at this

supper.

He reports also that Jesus Christ used these words not only after the breaking of the bread, but after the giving of the cup; from whence they conclude, that St. Paul considered both the bread and the wine as belonging to that which had been permitted.

St. Paul also says, "For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." By these words they believe they discover two things; first, the nature of the thing permitted; and secondly, that the thing permitted, whatever it was, was to last but for a time.

The thing, then, which was permitted to those who were present at the Passover- supper, was to show or declare his death. The words "show or declare" prove, in the first place, the connection of the thing permitted with the Jewish Passover; for, after certain ceremonies had been performed on the Pass

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