"This is my blood." It is contended that these expressions are to be interpreted literally. Why they should be thus interpreted, it is hard to see. In the institution of the Jewish rite which has just now been noticed, it is said, This is the Lord's Passover; but it has never been asserted, I believe, that the paschal lamb was Jehovah in the act of passing over the houses of the Israelites. And yet the rule of literal interpretation requires such a meaning. Again; we must make thorough work in this kind of interpretation. If we believe that the bread in the communion is the body of Christ, we must also believe, that it was so at the time of the first celebration; and that it was not only his body, but his crucified body, for Jesus said, "This

wine. That the same thing, at the same time, should be wholly above itself, and wholly below itself, within itself, and without itself, on the right hand, and on the left hand, and round about itself. That the same thing, at the same time, should move to and from itself, and lie still; or that it should be carried from one place to another through the middle space, and yet not move. That it should be brought from heaven to earth, and yet not come out of heaven, nor be at all in any of the middle spaces between heaven and earth. That to be one should be to be undivided from itself, and yet that one and the same thing should be divided from itself. That a thing may be, and yet be nowhere. That a finite thing may be in all places at once. That a body may be in a place, and have there its dimensions, and colour, and all other qualities, and yet that it is not in the power of God to make it visible and tangible there, nor capable of doing or suffering any thing. That there should be no certainty in our senses, and yet that we should know something certainly, and yet know nothing but by our senses. ." After enumerating several other contradictions, he adds, "All these, and many others of the like nature, are the unavoidable, and most of them the acknowledged consequences of your doctrine of transubstantiation, as it is explained one way or other by your Schoolmen." The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salvation, chap. iv. sec. 46.

is my body which is broken for you." Is it probable that the twelve disciples regarded the bread which they ate as the mangled body of their Master, while they saw him living and unhurt before them?

The simple truth is, that in the whole compass of language, there is not a more common figure than that which authorizes us to say, such a thing is such another thing, when we mean that it represents the other thing.

The doctrine of Luther on this subject, is not in the least degree better than that of the Catholics. He taught that the real body and blood of Christ were united with real bread and wine in the Sacrament; and he called this doctrine consubstantiation. The great reformer did nothing by this change, but deprive himself of the advantage of the words of Scripture. Jesus certainly did not say, "This is my body united with bread," and "This is my blood united with wine."

Leaving these perversions, let us return to the plain and scriptural account of the Lord's Supper. The bread and wine of the Communion are symbols of the body and blood of Christ; and we partake of them in remembrance of him.

With this view of the nature and design of the rite, I shall proceed to consider its efficacy and obligation.

Obituary of the Rev. Mr. Christie.

DIED on the twenty-first of November, 1823, at Long Branch, New Jersey, the residence of his sonin-law, Mr. William Renshaw, late of Philadelphia,

the Rev. William Christie, in the seventy-fourth year

of his age.

Mr. Christie was a native of Scotland, and came with his family to this country about twenty-eight years ago. He was in early life engaged in business, but relinquished it in consequence of his devotedness to literary pursuits. Being a strict unitarian, he instituted a society for unitarian worship, at Montrose in Scotland, in the year 1782, and continued statedly to officiate in it for several years, until his removal to Glasgow; so that he may be considered as the earliest unitarian minister in Scotland. The discourses which he delivered at Montrose on the organization of the society, were published in a duodecimo volume, and are entitled, "Discourses on the Divine Unity;" this publication passed through several editions, being esteemed in Great Britain inferior to no work on the same subject that has since appeared from the press. (The writer of this article is not acquainted with any volume which is equally systematic and complete.) After his removal to the United States, Mr. Christie was principally occupied as a classical instructer, but of late years his declining strength rendered him unequal to the task of superintending a school.

Besides the work already mentioned, he published "Sixteen Dissertations on the Divine Unity;" a work of considerable merit, but which, probably from the obscurity of its author, and the peculiar phraseology of its title page, has not been much called for. He also published several poems and other small pieces; a speech delivered at the interment of Dr. Priestley, and a review of the doctor's theological works.

Few men have possessed the talent of expressing themselves with greater clearness and strength of language, than Mr. Christie; and what was not a little remarkable, his memory did not appear to be impaired in his latter years. It was faithful even as regarded the most minute particulars. No man could be more inflexible in his adherence to what he deemed the cause of truth, and to the principles of integrity, as applicable to the duties of social life. It was much to be lamented, that his habits were so much those of a recluse; but it was easily to be perceived by those who knew him, that he was by no means wanting in many of the best qualities of the heart. His manners, by their peculiarity, seemed to unfit him for social intercourse; and he appeared to desire privacy rather than a free commerce with society; yet when engaged in conversation, it was at once pleasant and improving to listen to him.

A christian from principle and conviction, he was in the habit of acknowledging God in all his ways, and of referring all his concerns to the Divine disposal; thus, notwithstanding many severe trials and reverses, he always maintained that the ways of heaven were just, and wise, and good. His strength, for a considerable time, had been declining, but his last illness was only of two days' continuance; during which he was often heard to speak in the most grateful terms of the kindness of his relatives, and to implore on them, and on their young family, the choicest blessings of the Father of mercies. He might, therefore, be said to have died in the exercise of benevolent feelings,

and in the expression of devotional language;-a suitable preparation for the society of the just made perfect, and the regions of peace and love.

J. T.

New Work proposed by Rammohun Roy.

IN reading the preface to Rammohun Roy's Final Appeal to the Christian Public, our attention was powerfully arrested by the following proposal for a monthly theological publication.

"As Christianity is happily not a subject resting on vague metaphysical speculations, but is founded upon the authority of books written in languages, which are understood and explained according to known and standing rules, I therefore propose, with a view to the more speedy and certain attainment of religious truth, to establish a monthly periodical publication, commencing from the month of April next, to be devoted to Biblical criticism, and to subject unitarian as well as trinitarian doctrines to the test of fair argument, if those of the latter persuasion will consent thus to submit the scriptural grounds on which their tenets concerning the Trinity are built.

"For the sake of method and convenience, I propose that, beginning with the Book of Genesis, and taking all the passages in that portion of Scripture, which are thought to countenance the doctrine of the Trinity, we should examine them one by one, and publish our observations upon them; and that next month we proceed in the same manner with the Book of Exodus, and so on with all the Books of the Old and New Testaments, in their regular order.