Note 29 — THE REV. JOHN CLAYTON, M.A., THE JACOBITE CHURCHMAN.

Here, again, the Oxford Methodists have recourse, not to the Bible, as at the commencement of their history, but to superstitious canons. At the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 683, it was decreed against the Armenians, that wine used at the Eucharist should be mixed with water; and, in support of this, were quoted the Liturgies of St James, and St Basil, and the 37th Canon of the African Code. Of course, the origin of this superstition was the fact, that water, as well as blood, came out of the side of the Divine Redeemer; but Dr. Deacon, in a pamphlet, published in 1719, and entitled, “The Plaintiff’s Charge Disproved,” etc., took other ground. He maintained that our blessed Saviour “used wine and water at the Eucharist;” that He “ordained these elements to be the matter of the sacrament, and commanded His apostles and the Church to practice after His example.” Deacon adds:—“How terrible the consequence may be of omitting part of our Redeemer’s cup, is what I dare not determine.”