highest satisfaction to receive from any of you, and to answer, if I shall be able, questions upon passages of Scripture, or upon religion generally, or upon your own feelings and views in particular; and I assure you, it will be of advantage to myself, in the office to which the providence of God has called me, to have enquiries of this kind sent to me. I did not intend to fill a sheet when I began my letter, and I feel that I am not writing under circumstances which encourage me to hope that any expression of my sentiments can be at all adequate to the occasion; yet I could not but say a word that might, with the divine blessing, serve to impress upon your minds the substance of the instructions and advice I have been led to give you as Teachers, during my stay among you. Brethren and sisters in the Lord, pray for us, for me, and mine, and the work now committed to my hands; and we, on our part, will not fail to pray always for you; remembering without ceasing the many kindnesses and uniform attention and regard we have experienced, during our residence in Harrow. The Lord be with you all, and bless you in all things, and make you a blessing. Amen. Ever, my dear Friends, Yours affectionately in the Gospel of Christ, NOTICES ON THE SERVICES OF THE CHURCH. SERVICES FOR JUNE.-TRINITY SUNDAY. In the ancient liturgies we find that this day was looked upon only as an octave of Pentecost; the observation of it as the feast of the Trinity being of a later date: for since the praises of the Trinity were every day celebrated in the doxology, hymns, and creeds; therefore the Church thought there was no need to set apart one particular day for that which was done on each. But afterwards, when the Arians, and such like heretics, were spread over the world, and had vented their blasphemies against this Divine mystery, the wisdom of the Church thought it convenient, that, though the blessed Trinity was daily commemorated in its public offices of devotion, yet it should be the more solemn subject of one particular day's meditation. The day thus chosen for the celebration of the glory which is due to the Triune Jehovah, seems peculiarly proper. For as, on the foregoing festivals, each person in the Godhead has been acknowledged to be God and Lord; and as, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, "a right judgment in all things" was conferred on the Church, and particularly in this important doctrine; it seems to be congruous with propriety that the day, on which the Trinity in Unity is adored with special regard, should follow those on which the Son and Holy Ghost have been particularly honoured, and the descent of the Spirit is celebrated. The collect contains an act of devout thanksgiving for the orthodoxy of the creed which we profess, and an act of fervent supplication for persevering grace, that we may "hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering." What grandeur and sublimity are observable in the humiliating questions which Zophar proposed to Job! (chap. xi. 7-9.) "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. If the ways of God are beyond our reach, and past finding out; how much more himself! Surely then it becomes us, in the contemplation of the awful subject now before us, to move with fear and trembling; to think and write, to hear and read, with deep humility and an entire submission of our understandings to the decisions of the word of God. If Nadab and Abihu were struck dead by fire from heaven for offering unhallowed fire before the Lord-if fifty thousand threescore and ten men of Bethshemesh were smitten for looking into the Ark of God-if Uzza lost his life for his temerity in touching it with his hand-if Ananias and Sapphira were suddenly cut off from the land of the living for lying to the Holy Ghost-with what reverential awe and deep solemnity should a poor worm speak of and read the doctrine of Revelation concerning this Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God! If Moses was hid in the cleft of the rock, while the Lord disclosed a glimpse of his glory—if Isaiah cried, “Woe is me," when the Triune God condescended to reveal himself to view-if Daniel, when he saw the vision of Jehovah, fell into a swoon, as one dead-and if beloved John dropped senseless at the feet of Jesus, when he saw his glory-with what lowly sensibilities of heart should we search the Scriptures, that we may know and worship aright this great and glorious Being! May we be enabled to "cry after knowledge, and to lift up our voice for understanding; may we seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures; that we may understand the fear of Jehovah, and find the knowledge of the Aleim!" The act of thanksgiving, in which our collect engages us, has relation to the revelation which God hath made of himself in his word; and which, as members of the Church of England, we profess to believe, and to avow in our public adorations of his Divine Majesty. And oh! that while "by the confession of a true faith we acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and, in the power of the Divine Majesty, worship the Unity," we may be found not only orthodox in sentiment, but also sound in heart. For it is to be remembered that a man may be a Trinitarian in his judgment, and yet derive no real advantage from his creed. The devils are orthodox; for "they believe and tremble." If the doctrine be not only admitted as true, but also cordially embraced in its bearings and relations as connected with redemption; then we shall prove indeed that "the knowledge of the Holy Ones is understanding;" and that it is "life eternal to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." Our collect takes it for granted, that the confession of faith which is made in the creeds of our Church, is "the confession of a true faith." For the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is not a matter of "doubtful disputation" among us; but it is a certain fundamental truth, which we deem essential to salvation. And therefore we consider ourselves to be performing an act of Christian charity, while, in the strong language of the Athanasian Creed, we declare the necessity of maintaining the catholic faith on this momentous point, under the penalty of everlasting destruction to him who perverts or abandons it. We can admit no man into our bosoms, as a Christian, and a fellow-heir of the grace of life, who denies it; for as the existence of God is the foundationstone of all religion, so is the Triune distinction in the Godhead the foundation-stone of the Christian religion. Remove it, and the whole fabric of Christianity falls. For both the grand characteristics of the Bible, by which Christianity is distinguished from Deism, depend on this basis: the doctrine of vicarious atonement resting on the Godhead of Christ; and the doctrine of Divine influence on the Godhead of the Holy Ghost. The confession which we make is contained in our creeds; wherein we assert the existence, coequality, and coeternity of Three Divine Persons in One Jehovah. We do not pretend to explain the mystery of the Trinity in Unity; but we receive the doctrine on the authority of the Scriptures, wherein we find it plainly and repeatedly asserted. We perceive its inseparable connection with the scheme of redemption, on which our hopes of salvation are built; and therefore feel our own eternal interests involved in it. We view it as an object proposed to our faith for the comfort of our souls; and not to our reason for examination and explanation. We acknowledge it to be far above the reach of our puny powers; but we can perceive no disgrace reflected on a finite understanding by a supposition that it is incapable of comprehending an infinite object. But although this mysterious doctrine be above the reach of reason; we can perceive therein no contradiction to its dictates. We think it highly reasonable that God, and God only, should give an account of his own mode of subsistance. The tenant of the molehill can form no competent idea of man: and much less can man, by the power of his own mind, form any adequate notions of God. The collect teaches us to ascribe the acknowledgment which we make to the grace of God. And the propriety of so doing is evident. For the revelation which God hath made of himself in the Bible, is an act of gratuitous favour. And without it we could have known nothing of God. The creed of the Polytheist, the Deist, or the Atheist, would have been ours also. Reason, in its present impaired state, would never, by any deductions of its own, have led us up to a first cause; and much less could it have determined the unity of that first cause, or the mode of his subsistance. O! what a blessing is the precious Bible! Without it, futurity could have presented nothing to the mind but "the blackness of darkness for ever. And in subservience to the Bible, O! how great a blessing is the sound and Scriptural Liturgy of our Church! Surely we owe to God unfeigned and everlasting gratitude for the orthodoxy of sentiment in which we have been educated, and which from our infancy hath been inculcated on our minds. The derivation of a true faith from the apostolic fountain, and its continuance in use by our Church, is an inestimable act of Divine mercy to us who inhabit this land. For it has not been through any neglect of the enemy in sowing tares over the field of the visible Church; since at one period Arianism had nearly overspread all Christendom, and having the sword of civil as well as of ecclesiastical authority in its hand, it persecuted the true disciples of Jesus with nearly as great bitterness as Polytheism had done before. And even in our own era and in our own land, uncommon exertions have been made, and are still continued, for the purpose of subverting "the faith once delivered to the saints." But, blessed be God, the effects of infidelity have hitherto failed of success; and we may justly consider the liturgy of our church as being, under God, and in subordination to his word, the strongest bulwark against its furious assaults. The prayer which follows the act of adoration and thanksgiving, which we have reviewed, is twofold; for we implore divine conservation in the true faith, and a defence from all those adversities to which a profession of it may expose us. We beseech God to keep us "stedfast in the faith” of the Trinity, which we avow; for as we deem it to be essential to the enjoyment of all comfort here, and to everlasting salvation, our perseverance in it is a matter |