That their statement was untrue, and being untrue, that it is a most grave matter to speak untruly of our Lord’s commands, are points absolutely certain.  But if they recall the assertion, as to the expressness of our Lord’s sanction, and mean to say, that his sanction is implied, and may be reasonably deduced from what he has said, then I answer, that the deduction ought to be clear, because the doctrine in itself bears on it no marks of having had Christ for its author.  Yet so far is it from true, that the necessity of apostolical succession, in order to give efficacy to the sacrament, may be clearly deduced from any recorded words of our Lord, that there are no words[5] of his from which it can be deduced, either probably or plausibly; none with which it has any, the faintest, connexion; none from which it could be even conjectured that such a tenet had ever been in existence.  I am not speaking, it will be observed, of apostolical succession simply; but of the necessity of apostolical succession, as a security for the efficacy of the sacrament.  That this doctrine comes from God, is a position altogether without evidence, probability, or presumption, either internal or external.

[Footnote 5:  Since this was written, I have found out, what certainly it was impossible to anticipate beforehand, that our Lord’s words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” are supposed to teach the doctrine of the priest’s consecrating power.  But the passage to which I refer is so remarkable that I must quote it in its author’s own words.  Mr. Newman, for the tract is apparently one of his, observes, that three out of the four Gospels make no mention of the raising of Lazarus.  He then goes on, “As the raising of Lazarus is true, though not contained at all in the first three Gospels; so the gift of consecrating the Eucharist may have been committed by Christ to the priesthood, though only indirectly taught in any of the four.  Will you say I am arguing against our own Church, which says the Scripture ’contains all things necessary to be believed to salvation?’ Doubtless, Scripture contains all things necessary to be believed; but there may be things contained which are not on the surface, and things which belong to the ritual, and not to belief.  Points of faith may lie under the surface:  points of observance need not be in Scripture at all.  The consecrating power is a point of ritual, yet it is indirectly taught in Scripture, though not brought out, when Christ said, ‘Do this,’ for he spake to the apostles, who were priests, not to his disciples generally.”—­Tracts for the Times.  Tract 85, p. 46.