knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fulness of God."

Such is our invaluable Liturgy. And, while precluded from, at present, enlarging on the subject, I am hopeful that its importance will engage your attention, in your retired hours.

It remains, that I say a few words, on a matter closely connected with all that I have said before. We have been treating of a public service; and, I am confident, you will bear with that sense of duty, which demands from me a short and plain inquiry, respecting the feelings, with which, we should approach the house of God; with which, we should join in public worship; and, that worship closed, with which, we should return to the bosom of our families.

We, of the communion of the Church of England, enjoy no common privileges; and God Almighty expects no common return. There is not a time, that we assemble, in this the house of prayer, without having, as it were, a fresh entry made against us, in the books of Heaven. For, does not our whole Liturgy, do not many single Collects of it, teach us, most distinctly, and impressively, the nature of that religion, to which God calls us, and to which we, by our example, ought to call the world. With what circumspection, then, with what awe, with what

holy recollection, with what earnest desire of spiritual improvement, should we enter into the house of God? This, if we may so speak, is a school of divine appointment, weekly opened for our instruction. And, assuredly, we shall both neglect our bounden duty, and turn aside from the source of true wisdom, and true happiness, if we do not strive to keep our minds intent, upon the sacred purposes for which we are here assembled; or if we do not restrain our imagination from wandering, our thoughts from fixing on unsuitable objects, our hearts from being occupied, with the low cares, and petty interests, of this perishable world. Let me, then, intreat you to examine, how have you been employed, during the service of this day? Have you been present in body only, or in soul and in spirit? Have you prayed with your lips, merely, or with your heart? heart? Have you heard God's word, with your outward ears only, or has it sunk into your understanding, and penetrated your affections? What good desire has been excited, what abiding principle of piety has been acquired, what useful or important truth have you treasured up, since you entered this place, dedicated to God's worship, and sanctified by his peculiar presence? Believe me, it will little avail us at the day of judgment, it will, on the

contrary, prove an aggravation to our offence, that we have the best, the most rational, the most pious form of prayer in the world, if we shall not be found to have imbibed the spirit, and, in our practice, illustrated the excellency, of that service, If, as in many other reformed Churches, our devotions were left at the discretion of the officiating minister, and were thus liable to fall, as he may fall, into coldness of affection, perhaps into wrongness of faith, then, indeed, our responsibility would be less awful, because our advantages, and opportunities of improvement, would be far less certain. But, as it is, we have no excuse; none, that can satisfy our own conscience; much less, that can be pleaded, before the holy and heart-searching God. In the service of our church, we are not only taught our duty, we are invited and drawn to the love and practice of it; we are provided, with the happiest expressions of deep, yet cheerful piety; of simple, yet sublime devotion. All, evidently, comes from the heart of the composers; and all, undoubtedly, should come home to the business and bosoms of us, my brethren. Let me, then, be permitted to recommend, that you should set apart a portion of this, and of your future Sabbaths, to serious and private recollection. Let your prayer-books be the com

panions of your retirement: reflect upon the truths which they teach, the duties which they inculcate, the blessed hopes which they afford you, for the future, the divine aids and consolations, which they furnish for the present, and then, ask your own hearts, whether there can be a more reasonable, a more profitable, or a more truly Christian determination, than, through God's most gracious favour, and by the continual help of his blessed Spirit, to make our Liturgy, in subordination only to the sacred word of God, the rule of your faith, the standard of your holiness, and the measure of your proficiency, in every Christian grace and virtue.

And now, my brethren, I will conclude, with this earnest wish and prayer: that the God of peace may give us meek hearts, quiet spirits, and devout affections; that, whether in public, or in private, in the sanctuary, or in our closets, we may be so united in our prayers and praises here, that we may eternally join in adoration and thanksgiving hereafter.

DISCOURSE IV.

PSALM XXIX. 2.

GIVE THE LORD THE HONOUR DUE UNTO HIS NAME; WORSHIP THE LORD, WITH HOLY WORSHIP.

I TRUST you are disposed to agree with me, that, while our Liturgy uniformly "gives the Lord the honour due unto his name," it may no less justly be pronounced, that, so far as we enter into its genuine spirit, we "worship the Lord with holy worship." For every view which it gives of God, every reference which it makes to the leading principles of our nature, every prospect which it opens, every aspiration which it breathes, unite in teaching us, that we are formed for holiness; and that, without making us holy, not even Omnipotence can make us happy.

But it is very far from my wish, that these characters of our Liturgy should rest on mere