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The liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Episcopal Church, till I was perfectly satisfied that it had ample support for its system of government and mode of worship, both from scripture, and the usage of the primitive church. I could not think that any valid objection could be urged against prescript forms of worship, when I reflected that the psalms of David and Asaph were divinely inspired forms for the worship of God in the temple of Jerusalem; that Christ himself had given his sanction to them by attending regularly public worship in the synagogues, where forms of devotion were universally used; that he gave his disciples a form of prayer; that he when in his greatest agony in the garden, prayed three times, using the same words, or form; and moreover, that they soon came into universal use in the christian world, and are to this day used by the largest part of professed christians. They have the sanction of the wisest and best, and holiest of the men of modern, as well as of ancient times. The forms of our church are pre-eminently adapted to aid the devotions of the humble worshipper, to arrest the attention of the thoughtless and careless, and to interest children and youth. I envy not the feelings of the man who can pour contempt on a practice, that has the sanction of the Spirit and of the Son of God, and of the Church in every age. I envy not the feelings of the man to whom the divinely inspired forms of scripture are uninteresting, and who can take no pleasure in approaching the throne of God in the use of the same words, which often dwelt on the lips of Chrysos tom, and Cranmer, and Ridley, and Hooker, and Martyn. Having been accustomed to both extempore and prescript forms of public worship, I would record it as my deliberate opinion, were this the last time that I ever expected to write, that the latter mode of worship has a decided advantage in many respects over the former. No where have I ever seen more of the spirit of pure and heavenly devotion than in those places of worship, where the liturgy of the Prostestant Episcopal Church is uniformly used. I am now laboring in the great valley of the Mississippi. Here the obvious effects of the liturgy of our Church, are to restrain extravagance and fanaticism, and to foster the spirit of peace and order, and of pure and undefiled religion. The liturgy of our Church is a wall of defence against the errors, and the parties, that are at this time withering, or crumbling to atoms, many other

The writer of the third letter.

bodies of christians in our country. The Episcopal Church has ever stood firm and unmoved amidst the convulsions, that have long disturbed the christian community. Peace be within her walls, and prosperity within her palaces. Long may those who take pleasure in her stones and favor her dust, have occasion to rejoice, that they have come indeed to 'Mount Zion; and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels: to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven; and to God the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.'

Yours, &c."

The communication that follows also comes from a clergyman. The spirit in which it is written, and the sound and judicious views with which it is characterized, will at once show the reader, that the writer is one of those men whom it would be a privilege to know, and seek counsel from, in our journey to Mount Zion.

'Dear Sir:

"I cordially approve of your design to prepare a little work of a practical character, on the peculiarities of the Episcopal Church. Such a work is due to the cause of christianity, if it be true that our church possesses any peculiar advantage in its mode of presenting the christian religion before the world and it seems not less due to ourselves, for the purpose of meeting the inquiries of those who are interested but uninformed on the subject. I comply with pleasure, therefore, with your request to me, to state the occasion of my transferring my connection to the Episcopal Church from another denomination.

"To the labors of a faithful clegyman of the denomination in which I was educated, I am indebted under God, for my earliest instructions and my first serious impressions on the subject of religion. But it was from a clergyman of the Episcopal Church that I received, during the absence of my own minister, the counsels and prayers which I needed during the season of my first anxious solicitude respecting my eter

The way of salvation.

nal interests. The faithful labors of this servant of God, I cannot but remember with devout gratitude to Him who employed him as an instrument in leading me to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.

"It may perhaps be useful to unfold a little more at large the incident above alluded to. My mind was, at that time, awakened to an entirely new discovery of my relation to God as a transgressor of his law. Educated from infancy without the influence of parental piety, and in a school of mere worldly morality, I had been taught to regard sin as a trans-` gression against personal and social welfare rather than an offence against God. Jesus Christ I regarded as a benevo lent Being and a high example of moral excellence, but neither felt any obligation to him as a Saviour, nor had the least perception of the necessity of his death for sinners. But at that moment, I was contemplating sin as an awakened sinner in its relation to the divine law and government. In this view, a difficulty presented itself, which, until then, I was unconscious of. Deeply as I then abhorred sin, and penitent as I felt for a life of thoughtless neglect of God and my soul, and anxious as I was to be pardoned and reconciled to God, I perceived not how pardon could be extended to a sinner consistently with the truth and righteousness of the divine character. It appeared to me that God would be unjust in pardoning a sinner. Every mode of reconciliation which I could conceive, seemed utterly baseless. No possible way of salvation, that I could imagine, harmonized the divine attributes and made mercy consistent with justice. The prayer which was at that moment offered for me, and which was what I may term an extemporaneous appropriation of the lit urgy, presented an atoning and all-sufficient sacrifice. It brought me in the arms of faith to the throne of grace—to God as reconciling the world to himself in Jesus Christ :My difficulties at once vanished-I could at once approach God in faith and hope, and rejoice in the God of my salvation. This circumstance, together with some acquaintance with the comparative success which had attended his labors and that of my own pastor in their respective congregations, placed my mind in an attitude of impartiality towards the two denominations.

"After having resolved on making a public profession of

Comparison between two denominations.

religion, a question arose in my mind as to which of the two churches I should unite with. My educational prejudices, and social connections all lay on the side of that with which I had been connected. The bias of my mind was affected, at that time, by the different mode of presenting the truth, and the different spirit which attended it in these two denominations. Both were undoubtedly orthodox in doctrine and evangelical in spirit. Yet there was on the one hand, an eager and proselyting spirit mingled with its greater ardour, that tended to let down my mind from the great consideration of salvation; while on the other, there was apparent a liberal and noble catholicism, which rose above minor and sectarian interests, and left my mind free to pursue its eager inquiries after spiritual knowledge. This inclined me thoroughly towards the Episcopal Church, to which I should then have attached myself, but for the strongly existing personal influence of the friends among whom I was educated, and the entire absence of all counteracting efforts. Under these circumstances, and being without information on the peculiarities of each church, and moreover, viewing this part of religion among the several denominations, as involving no practical consequences, I united where I had been educated, and remained in communion with that denomination for several years. My associations were, on the whole, agreeable and profitable. I witnessed much zeal and prosperity among them, (although more than I could approve, interrupted by seasons of sad coldness and decline) and I shall always remember our brethren of that denomination with affection and sympathy.

"But it is due to my subject to present a less favourable view. The objections against that denomination, which I am about to enumerate, arose from practical experience, and without any relation to any intended transfer of my connections, which then I did not anticipate.

"The first relates to extemporaneous prayer in public wor ship. On this subject, however, I did not experience that practical difficulty which constitutes a popular objection. among those who are educated churchmen. I refer to a supposed inability to follow and unite with the clergyman in his prayer. There was no room, indeed, for this objection in regard to the prayers of the senior pastor, for it was so perfectly a form as to be familiar to every child in the con

Extemporaneous Prayer in public worship.

gregation. Nor did I find this a difficulty in the truly extemporaneous prayers of the junior pastor. For these, prompted by pious and ardent feeling, his course of thought was natural, and included those grand topics which must occur to every mind that is in earnest and eager after intercourse with God, But the objection related to the painful variations in the spirit of his prayers, which left the worshipper disappointed; and in addition to this, there were at times speculative and controversial topics introduced, which were inappropriate and repugnant to the sentiments of many of the congregation. But a more serious and oftener repeated error was, that of converting the prayer into an exhortation. These difficulties were much increased by exchanges with clergymen whose prayers were new and their sentiments various.

"In these views, whether or not I was alone, or what was the practical effect of these prayers upon the congregation, I knew not for some time. My invariable posture in prayer was such as I supposed to be common to all who really endeavored to unite in prayer with the minister,—with my head inclined and eyes closed. But after a considerable period, I was obliged one Sunday, by the occurrence of a case of indisposition in my pew, to raise my head during the long prayer, so called. And never shall I forget the amazement with which I beheld the posture and looks of the congregation. They were standing and gazing in every direction, some at the minister, and some at each other, with scarcely a head bowed in apparent devotion. This absence of every thing like union in public prayer made me involuntarily exclaim within, 'Is this a worshipping assembly?" "I had often been disturbed by the noise and rustling of a standing congrega. tion when fatigued by a long prayer, but now I saw, not only the occasion of that, but more than I had ever suspected.

"The remaining practical difficulties to which I have alluded, I shall throw into a small compass. In extemporaneous prayers I observed the general defect of too little comprehensiveness, and too great minuteness to be properly adapted to public worship. Important subjects, such as our Country and our Rulers, were seldom mentioned. In the reading of the scriptures, also, there was a serious defect. Oftentimes they were omitted altogether, and generally they were limited to

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