tice; it will be to such not only a Prayer Book, but also an excellent Catechism. He will here find the Commandments, and the Creed, and other important points of Christian Instruction, explained and applied with great judgment, and no less perspicuity than brevity; so that they may be soon learned, and easily remembered. He may here be led to form just notions and holy desires,-such as cannot but have a considerable influence on his prayers and his manners. He will be put in mind of the variety and greatness of his sins and of his wants; of the holiness, the mercy, and the goodness of God; and the many invaluable benefits he heaps on mankind. In short, by a serious and proper use of this Manual, he will perceive himself to advance apace in love to God and man, and in every Christian grace and virtue.

Indeed what less can be expected, when a book of this nature is composed of materials taken out of the Holy Scriptures, and those very ancient liturgies, which bear the names of St. James, St. Basil, and St. Chrysostom; and collected and put together by the most judicious workmen-such as were Bishop Andrews and Dr. Stanhope?

The first and the only edition I ever saw of Bishop Andrews's Private Prayers,' in Greek and Latin, was printed at Oxford in the year 1675. By the best judgment I can make of that book, he appears to have collected, from time to time, in the course of his reading, materials for every part of prayer; which he wrote down, some in Greek and some in Latin. These at first were chiefly hints; but out of them he composed several prayers, that he used privately in his closet, and some of them publicly in the church, before sermon, having translated them into English. Many of these prayers were completely finished, and

used by him as forms; in others, he left some hints not quite completed, but wherein it was easy for him to supply all that was wanting, as he used them. These he varied often, as occasion and necessity required, and improved them by degrees. Such of them as were brought nearest to perfection, he wrote in Greek; either because the New Testament, Septuagint, and most ancient Fathers and Liturgies (whence he extracted a great deal), were in that language; or because that language has some advantage for devotion; as the many compound words it contains, strengthen the ideas they convey to us, and make a more lively impression upon the mind.

Dean Stanhope, who often used these devotions in the original language, and had committed a good part of them to his memory, was so well pleased with them, that he took the pains to translate what is contained in the following sheets, for the use of a dear friend, to whom he apprehended they would be acceptable and serviceable. They gave so great satisfaction, and did so much service, not only to that friend, but to all those into whose hands the copies came, that the Dean resolved to print them.

INTRODUCTION;

CONTAINING

SUBJECTS FOR MEDITATION, &c.

How hypothetical, verbose, or vapid, the most elaborate treatise of human effort, when compared with the Divine Records! The pride of intellect and acquirement; the prejudice of habit, circumstance, and connexion; or the schemes of dissembled avarice and aggrandisement, taint and characterise our best performances; but the mosaic history-the revelations of the prophets-and the doctrines and narrations of the inspired writers in general, constitute a simple and divine philosophy, which is at once explanatory of universal nature,* and appropriate to every condition and necessity of man.†

Could we observe the human heart, and read its sorrows, and its felicities, how many should we find deriving their entire consolation from the Holy Scrip

"Without the History contained in Genesis, the world would be in comparative darkness; not knowing whence it came, nor whither it goeth. In the first page, a child may learn more in an hour, than all the philosophers in the world learned without it, in a thousand years."---Greenfield.

The Bible is from God, and every man is interested in the meaning of it.--Bishop Horsley.

The Scriptures contain, independently of a DIVINE ORIGIN, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains both of poetry and eloquence than could be collected within the same compass

tures-anxiously meditating upon the doctrines, sufferings, and example,* of the divine Redeemer ; upon the moral administration of God; and upon the solace, and fortitude, and energy, which He affords to all who conform to His blessed will.

from all other books that were ever composed in any age, or in any idiom. The two parts of which the Scriptures consist are connected by a chain of compositions, which bear no resemblance in form or style to any that can be produced from the stores of Grecian, Indian, Persian, or even Arabian learning; the antiquity of those compositions no man doubts, and the unstrained application of them to events long subsequent to their publication, is a solid ground of belief.-Sir William Jones.

Mr. Locke, when on his death-bed, was requested for his advice upon the shortest and surest way for a young gentleman to attain a true knowledge of the Christian religion, in its full and just extent;" the philosopher's reply is imperisha ble: "Let him study the Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament, therein are contained the words of eternal life. It has GOD for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter."-See Scripture Evidence, page xxvi.

"There is an independent proof of our Saviour's mission to be derived from the applicability of His example. It is impossible for one man implicitly to follow in the footsteps of another, without some unnecessary and unnatural deviations from that line which the order of Providence has assigned him. But Christ is not, if I may so speak, an individual character: all characters of excellence unite in Him.

"In imitating Christ, no man is led out of his natural sphere, or thrown into a forced or affected attitude;-every movement after Him is performed with freedom, and His likeness sits easily and becomingly upon all that bear it. The high and low-the rich and poor-the talented and untalented-the contemplative and the active-all classes and all dispositions find, in the example of Jesus, the teaching which they want; and all are led, by looking unto Him, precisely in the path most suitable for them to walk in. We see, at once, in that comprehensive model, the bright contrast of whatever we should shun, and the most attractive exhibition of all that we should aim at in our Christian course.

"Whatever our besetting sins, whether of excess or of defect, they stand condemned by a comparison with Him. Thus the restless and over active spirit is calmed by the contemplation of his nights of solitary prayer; and the indolent are stimulated to exertion by His ceaseless labours of love; the high and lofty are brought low when they behold their Lord and Master washing his disciples' feet; and the poor in this world's goods, are taught contentment by Him who had not

"As a father pitieth his children, even so the LORD pitieth those who love and fear Him." What condescension in the ETERNAL-how sure the reward of dutiful obedience! The 37th Psalm is a sweet and salutary lesson: a heavenly exhortation to patience, holiness, and hope. Through what a vista of ages has it stayed, and cheered, and fortified, the injured and oppressed; and in every generation to come it will prove a balm for the wounded and disconsolate:

"Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity: for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself, also, in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day.

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.-Cease from anger, and forsake wrath fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

where to lay his head. This subject could indeed be endlessly pursued. Enough has, I trust, been said to prove the point assumed-namely, that a character which can thus adapt itself, in the way of example, to every possible variety of man; which can pour forth a healing virtue, equally applicable to the most opposite extremes; and can thus spread its influence over the wide extent of the whole human race;-that such a character cannot be bounded within the narrow circle of our nature, but must partake of the infinitude of God."-Woodward.