the blessed name of JESUS whenever it occurs in our services. No one who feels a love for his Saviour in his heart, will ever refuse to give a proof of his love, by showing every possible reverence and respect for that Name, by which alone we can be saved. It is vain and idle to say that these things are formal, that they are unnecessary. Constituted as the mind of man is, it must have outward helps to keep up an inward devotional spirit. Outward acts will not supply the place of inward devotion, but they always have been, and always will be, great helps towards keeping alive such an inward devotional feeling, as will cause us to walk with God day by day, and draw near to Him in all His appointed ordinances. The next point to which I would call your attention is the office of public Baptism, which is commonly called Christening. This is ordered in the rubric to be performed after the second lesson, either at morning or evening service: and as the congregation are thus expected to be present, so are they required to take a part in this interesting ceremony. "Suffer little children to come unto Me," said our blessed LORD, "and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of GOD." * It is the duty of every parent to see that his child is baptized as soon as is convenient after its birth: that as it is by nature born in sin, and is in consequence a child of wrath, it may thus be made by baptism a member of CHRIST, a child of GOD, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Those who are chosen to be sponsors for the child should appear at the font with feelings of devotion, with a deep impression of the responsibility of their situation, and with an earnest wish and prayer that they may be enabled to do their duty. They should therefore, with a loud and firm voice, answer to the questions put to them by the minister, and remember that they are making a solemn and important promise to GOD, in the face of His congregation; that in order to perform their promise, they must see that the child is religiously brought up, and taught all those things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health. These are things which the rubrics and canons of our Church require to be observed by all her members; and, therefore, we cannot neglect them without manifesting an obstinate and rebellious spirit, widely at variance with that inculcated by S. Peter, who said, Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the LORD's sake." + 66 There are, however, other things connected with the performance of divine worship which are not actually ordered in the rubrics, but to which I would call your attention. In the first *S. Mark x. 14. place, it is quite indecent to sit while we are praising and glorifying GOD. Now the Psalms are expressly used in our services for the purpose of expressing our praises to the Most High. If we felt respect for the presence of a fellow creature, we should not sit down while we thanked him for any favour which he had been pleased to confer upon us and ought not the presence of GOD to have the same effect upon our minds; and ought not our reverential feelings to be shown outwardly? Now whenever a Psalm is said or sung, all who are present ought to stand up, and to join in it, whether it occur in the marriage service, or in the thanksgiving of women after childbirth, or in the office for the burial of the dead. At a funeral the attendants, for the most part, seem as if they were not expected to take a part in the solemn service. They generally seat themselves as soon as they enter the Church, and remain sitting until the body is carried forth to the grave! Whereas they ought to stand up during the saying of the Psalms, and to say the alternate verses with the minister. Then again, when an invitation is given to meet on the following Sunday or Holyday at the LORD's Table, all ought to stand up, and reverently listen to the gracious invitation to such a heavenly feast. To act otherwise, is expressing, as far as outward acts can express it, a contempt for GOD's message. At the conclusion of the sermon it is right that all should stand up when "glory is ascribed to the FATHER, and to the SON, and to the HOLY GHOST." This is an act of praise, and therefore instead of kneeling, as is usually the custom, all should rise up with hearts full of gratitude for the promise of salvation to the repentant sinner, which GoD's minister has just proclaimed. With regard to the practice of turning to the east when the Apostles' or the Nicene Creeds are repeated, it may be observed that it is a very ancient custom of the Church, that it was sanctioned by our Reformers, and is observed in every Cathedral, collegiate Church, and college Chapel in England, and that the custom of CHRIST's universal Church agreeth herewith. This practice arises from the same feelings as those which induce us to lay the bodies of our departed friends in their graves with their faces towards the East. Thus the act of turning to the east, when we repeat our belief in the truths of our holy religion, is symbolical of our belief in One Holy Catholic Church, embracing believers upon earth, and saints at rest. I have now endeavoured to draw your serious attention to a few important points connected with a proper performance of divine service, and I would willingly hope that my remarks will be received in the same spirit as that in which they are given. I again repeat that nothing can be esteemed trifling which tends in any degree to promote an outward devotional conduct in the House of GOD; and if what I have written has that effect, which I trust it will have upon some minds, I shall feel thankful for having been the humble means of turning the hearts of any of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. S. F. LIFE A JOURNEY-MASTERS AND SERVANTS FELLOW-TRAVELLERS. A PARTY of friends setting out together upon a journey, soon find it to be the best for all sides, that while they are upon the road, one of the company should wait upon the rest; another ride forward to seek out lodging and entertainment; a third carry the portmanteau; a fourth take charge of the horses; a fifth bear the purse, conduct and direct the route: not forgetting, however, that as they were equal and independent when they set out, so they are all to return to a level again at their journey's end. The same regard and respect; the same forbearance, lenity, and reserve in using their service; the same mildness in delivering commands; the same study to make their journey comfortable and pleasant, which he, whose lot it was to direct the rest, would in common decency think himself bound to observe towards them,-ought we to show to those, who, in the casting of the parts of human society, happen to be placed within our power, or to depend upon us. Another reflection of a like tendency with the former is, that our obligation to them is much greater than theirs to us. It is a mistake to suppose that the rich man maintains his servants, tradesmen, tenants, and labourers; the truth is, they maintain him. It is their industry which supplies his table, furnishes his wardrobe, builds his houses, adorns his equipage, provides his amusements. It is not his estate, but the labour employed upon it, that pays his rent. All that he does, is to distribute what others produce, which is the least part of the business. Nor do I perceive any foundation for an opinion, which is often handed round in genteel company, that good usage is thrown away upon low and ordinary minds; that they are insensible of kindness, and incapable of gratitude. If by "low and ordinary minds are meant the minds of men in low and ordinary stations, they seem to be affected by benefits in the same way that all others are; and to be no less ready to requite them; and it would be a very unaccountable law of nature, if it were otherwise. Whatever uneasiness we occasion to our domestics, which neither promotes our service, nor answers the just ends of punishment, is manifestly wrong, were it only upon the general principle of diminishing the sum of human happiness. By which rule we are forbidden, I. To enjoin unnecessary labour or confinement, from the mere love and wantonness of domination. II. To insult our servants by harsh, scornful, or opprobrious language. III. To refuse them any harmless pleasure. And by the same principle are also forbidden causeless or immoderate anger, habitual peevishness, and groundless suspicion.-Paley. RABBI MEIR. "Whoso hath found a virtuous wife hath a greater treasure than costly pearls." SUCH a treasure had the celebrated teacher Rabbi Meir found. He sat during the whole of one Sabbath Day in the public school and instructed the people. During his absence from his house his two sons died, both of them of uncommon beauty and enlightened in the law. His wife bore them to her bed-chamber, and laid them upon the marriage bed, and spread a white covering over their bodies. In the evening Rabbi Meir came home. "Where are my two sons," he asked, "that I may give them my blessing?" "They are gone to the school," was the answer. "I repeatedly looked round the school," he replied, "and I did not see them there." She reached to him a goblet; he praised the LORD at the going out of the Sabbath, drank and again asked, "Where are my sons, that they too may drink of the cup of blessing?" "They will not be far off," she said, and placed food before him that he might eat. He was in a gladsome and genial mood, and when he had said grace after the meal, she thus addressed him: " Rabbi, with thy permission I would fain propose to thee one question." "Ask it then, my love," he replied. "A few days ago, a person intrusted some jewels to my custody, and now he demands them: should I give them back?" "This is a question," said Rabbi Meir, "which my wife should not have thought it necessary to ask. What! wouldst thou hesitate or be reluctant to restore to every one his own?" "No," she replied, "but yet I thought it best not to restore them without acquainting thee therewith." She then led him to their chamber, and stepping to the bed, took the white covering from the dead bodies. "Ah! my sons, my sons," thus loudly lamented the father; แ my sons, the light of mine eyes, and the light of my understanding. I was your father, but ye were my teachers in the law." The mother turned away and wept bitterly. At length she took her husband by the hand and said, “Rabbi, didst thou not teach me that we must not be reluctant to restore that which was intrusted to our keeping? See, the LORD gave, the LORD hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the LORD." "Blessed be the name of the LORD," echoed Rabbi Meir, “and blessed be His name for thy sake too; for well it is written, 'Whoso hath found a virtuous wife hath a greater treasure than costly pearls: she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.' THE JEWESSES. FONTAINE asked Chateaubriand if he could assign a reason why the women of the Jewish race were so much handsomer than the men? Chateaubriand gave the following:-Jewesses, he said, have escaped the curse which alighted upon their fathers, husbands, and sons. Not a Jewess was to be seen among the crowd of priests and rabble, who insulted the SON of GOD, scourged Him, crowned Him with thorns, and subjected Him to ignominy and the agony of the cross. The women of Judæa believed in the Saviour, and assisted and soothed Him under His afflictions. A woman of Bethany poured on His head precious ointment, which she kept in a vase of alabaster. The sinner anointed His feet with perfumed oil, and wiped them with her hair. CHRIST, on His part, extended His mercy to the Jewesses. He raised from the dead the son of the widow of Nain, and Martha's brother Lazarus. He cured Simon's mother-in-law, and the woman who touched the hem of His garment. To the Samaritan woman He was a spring of living water, and a compassionate judge to the woman in adultery. The daughters of Jerusalem wept over Him; the holy women accompanied Him to Calvary, brought balm and spices, and, weeping, sought Him in the sepulchre. "Woman, why weepest thou?" His first appearance after the resurrection was to Mary Magdalene. He said to her, "Mary!" At the sound of His voice, Mary Magdalene's eyes were opened, and she answered, "Master." The reflection of some very beautiful ray must have rested on the brow of the Jewesses. |