since true piety, like its great author and object, is essentially the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and since a blessed unity of spirit animates all ministrations instituted by God, the purity and perfection of Christian worship, are, consequently, to be arrived at by adhering to the most primitive models; and we are, therefore, instead of seeking novelties, to "stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein."

This practice has received the sanction of authorities, which, it would be more than presumptuous, to impeach, or controvert. We are assured, by authors of unquestionable credit, that the earliest Christian Churches borrowed much of their liturgical service, from Jewish rituals; it is no less evident, than it is remarkable, that the prayers and hymns of the New Testament, are, almost uniformly, framed from similar passages in the Old; and we have reason to believe that our blessed Lord Himself, who had not the spirit by measure, in whom were hidden, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, who spake, as never man spake, that, even He condescended to derive his matchless prayer, from formularies in common use among the Jews; thus sanctioning, by his divine approbation, the simple, venerable, and elevated devotion, which,

even in a most corrupt age, and amidst a multitude of frivolous, and profane traditions, was, happily, preserved among God's ancient people.

Nor let us wonder, at the respect thus paid, to the public services of the Jews. Our blessed Lord, and his earliest followers, were too wise, and too benevolent, not to accommodate themselves to those attachments, which their countrymen felt, towards the long-established language, in which they had been accustomed to address their God. And, that the amplest provision was made amongst them, for the continuance of a service, at once rational and spiritual, affectionate and reverential, cannot be questioned by any, that have judgment to appreciate, and hearts to feel, the wisdom and piety of the single book of Psalms. (2) Time, it is true, has not spared the services of the ancient Jewish Church; but we cannot reasonably doubt, concerning the multitudes, who, before our Saviour's advent, waited for the consolation of Israel, that their fervency was kindled, at the altar of the sanctuary, and that the best expressions of their devotion, were derived, from their predecessor David; of whom it has been said, by a noble Jewish writer, that, "In all his works he praised the Holy One, most High, with words of glory; with his whole heart, he sung songs; and loved Him, that made him."

6

Well, therefore, might an eloquent and pious Father, in reference to ancient, as well as to more recent times, to the Jewish, no less than to the Christian Church, pay this just and appropriate tribute, to the value of those devotional compositions whose spirit will never be extinct, while there is a God to be adored, and while there are any reasonable creatures, to pay a reasonable service: We should bless and revere the memory of God's servants,' says the venerable Chrysostom, both, because they rested their hope of salvation on the efficacy of prayer; and because, by the preservation of those hymns and services, which, while they rejoiced before God with trembling, were their peculiar treasure, they attract us to the imitation of their holy zeal: for, surely, the virtues of the teacher, - should revive in the disciple; the hearers of the prophets, should emulate the prophets' holiness; we should live in the continual exercise, of prayer, and praise, and meditation, esteeming it our life, our health, our treasure, our supreme enjoyment, to pray to God, with pure and undefiled hearts.' (3)

And, assuredly, my Brethren, we, of this nation, and this establishment, have peculiar reason to imitate the pious, thankfulness of this venerable writer. We, too, should bless and

revere the memory of God's servants, for the treasures of devotion, which they have bequeathed us; for that Liturgy, in particular, which was not compiled, and preserved, without the special inspiration of God's Spirit, and the, almost, unexampled care of his providence; a production, of which it may be truly said, that it is a combination, of whatever is sound in faith, whatever is elevated in devotion, whatever is productive of pure, benevolent, and holy practice. That a composition so nearly faultless in point of style, should have appeared, at so rude a period of our language, as the era of the reformation, is, in itself, a sort of literary miracle: and, even in this particular, we cannot avoid observing, a special, and most gracious provision, for the improvement of succeeding generations. For this form of sound words, whilst it can never become antiquated, so long as the English language retains its strength and purity, will always excite an emotion of mingled awe and admiration, by the venerable simplicity of former times. But it is on far higher grounds, that we are to rejoice in our Liturgical service; it is the union of reason, with spirituality; of seriousness, with cheerfulness; of the most profound humility, with the noblest elevation; it is the ever varying, yet ever consistent appeals,

to the imagination, the taste, the understanding, the affections, and the conscience; it is, above all, or, rather the source, and soul of all the rest, that easy, artless, and unfettered exhibition of divine truth, not as it is mutilated or perverted, in any system of human manufacture, but as it is diffused over the rich expanse of Scripture, with a noble negligence of rule, such as, probably, appeared in the paradise of God, it is this, which distinguishes our Common Prayer, above all other formularies; and which gives it a rank, second only to that sacred volume, from whence its spirit, if not its substance, is principally derived.

The peculiar excellences of our Church-ofEngland service, are to be traced, to a variety of causes, which cannot be investigated, or detailed, in a discourse like the present. One prominent cause, however, is too obvious, and too important, not to be adverted to; namely, that our reformers most closely adhered to the models of primitive devotion. From the early ages of Christian antiquity, the two great divisions of the Church, eastern and western, preserved in their public services, all the grand truths, and all the practical piety, which had been transmitted, from the apostles and from their immediate successors. And, though,