if they through a cruel parent be left to the chances and changes of an uncertain world! What! if the mother become so lost in mind, in tenderness, in affection for her offspring, that she forgets her sucking child! and what! if it be past that weak age, and become deserted by its father, its mother, its sisters, and brothers! or what! if these kind guardians once were, but now are not! what! if the cold tomb is now their resting-place, and their bodies are mingled with the clods of the valley! Our simple answer is, that the noble institutions of our country will protect them; will qualify them for suitable situations in life; teach them to love and worship their God, who is a Father to the fatherless; to believe in the Son, who hath redeemed them and all mankind; and direct them to pray for the Spirit, who will sanctify them, and make them fit for the kingdom of heaven? Doubtless He will protect them, for the Lord Omnipotent reigneth, the God of Jacob liveth for ever and ever.

I

SERMON VI.

THE CHURCH SERVICE.

PSALM cl. 4.

"Praise God in his sanctuary."

It is impossible for men to give greater honour and praise to Jehovah, than by assembling together to hear the word of God, to offer their united praises and prayers to Heaven, and to participate in those holy ordinances, which it has pleased the Divine Author of our religion to institute in the sacred temple, which has been consec ated for God's holy service. For here we confess our sins to God, and being penitent, we trust that pardon will be granted to our penitence;

here we praise and magnify His glorious name in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs; here are the Scriptures read unto us pure and undefiled; yes! those Scriptures which contain the terms of our salvation; those Scriptures which are a joy in every sorrow, which give peace in every tumult, consolation in every distress; those Scriptures which narrate the fall of man, but, at the same time, unfold the great mystery of godliness; God manifest in the flesh; those Scriptures which describe the divine appointment of the two sacraments, and the blessings which they yield; in short, those Scriptures which are given us by the inspiration of God, and which lead us from the temporal to the eternal sanctuary of Heaven.

Here also we use a liturgy which has been compiled from the written word of God, and so judiciously arranged, that the wise may exercise their knowledge and devotion; and yet so plain, that the most ignorant may pray with the understanding. So full is it, that the

humble and meek can, by the use of it, be exalted and rejoice; the high-minded can be brought low; the poor can be made rich by the treasures it contains; the sorrowful can be made happy, and the sinner can be comforted.

What an advantage, then, my brethren, have we over extemporaneous effusions of prayer! A precomposed Liturgy prevents absurd and extravagant addresses to God; it prevents confusion and enthusiasm. By the congregation knowing beforehand what particular prayer is about to be offered up, it is able to join with the minister without stopping to observe the fitness of the address, and the peculiar language in which it is offered, which, interruption to devotion must invariably occur in those places set apart for religious worship where no fixed form is observed.

If we consult our Bibles, we shall find, that precomposed prayers were used under the old as well as the new dispensation. The Is

raelites, from the commencement of their polity, generally used forms of prayer and praise in their public worship. The first account of their solemn worship is a form of praise, after their miraculous deliverance from the Egyptians. Shortly after God Himself prescribed a form of words by which the priest was to bless the people, and also forms of prayer for the use of those who offered their first fruits and tithes. The Psalms of David were forms of prayer and praise, composed, under divine inspiration, not only for his own private use, but also for the public service of the temple. After the captivity, the Jews had forms of prayer, some of which appear to have been in use in the time of our Saviour, who joined with His Apostles in the Jewish worship, and thereby sanctioned the use of precomposed prayers. The Lord's Prayer was given by Christ Himself to His Apostles, and commanded by Him to be used. whenever we prayed.

Again, in the Acts of the Apostles, we