tion to God, beseeching him to instruct us how to pray, saying, Oh Lord, open thou our lips. To which the people add And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. The people reiterate the supplication, saying- All then rising from their knees to denote the elevation of their hearts, the priest begins the following hymn: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; which is concluded by the people saying, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. The priest then addressing the people, says, Praise ye the Lord. To this they answer, The Lord's name be praised.* The 95th psalm is then either to be sung or said, in alternate verses by the priest and people. It begins with an act of praise. O come let us sing unto the Lord; let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with * It is much_to be regretted that the ancient custom of giving the responses aloud, is fallen so much into disuse; for surely no sound can be more solemn and impressive than that of a multitude of persons uniting, as if with one voice, in praising the Omnipotent Creator. They who have heard the national anthem of "God save the King," sung by a multitude of persons at once, must be sensible what a fine glow of feeling and elevation of mind it produces. Why then not adopt similar means to excite devotional feeling? The members of our national church are not only permitted, but exhorted, nay enjoined to take an active and most interesting part in the sacred service. Should such a privilege be slighted? No: good sense, good taste, and gratitude, all conspire to point out the propriety, as well as the duty of proclaiming aloud the goodness of God, and the deep sense we entertain of the privileges and blessings we enjoy. thanksgiving, and shew ourselves glad in him with Psalms. 2dly, we see the reason why we should praise him. For the Lord is a great God (Jehovah); and a great king above all Gods. In his hand are all the corners of the earth: and the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it: and his hands prepared the dry land. 3dly, we are called upon to praise God as our maker. O come let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his hands, and the sheep of his pasture. Lastly, we are cautioned to avoid hardening our hearts, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Today, if ye roill hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of temptation, in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my tworks, &c. lest we should be excluded from the heavenly Canaan. It then concludes with a hymn of praise to the Trinity. Glory be to the Father, &c. Next follow The Psalms for the Day. They are to be repeated standing, because some of them are addressed to God, and others are not. Therefore, as it would be very improper to kneel at those parts which are not directed to him, so would it be very irreverent to sit while we repeat those that are. For this reason standing is prescribed as a posture that most suitably demonstrates respect and veneration. Next follow The Lessons, Which are two chapters of the Bible, the first taken from the Old Testament, the second from the New; to shew the harmony between the Law and the Gospel. The Lazo is the Gospel foreshewn ; the Gospel is the Law fulfilled. After the first lesson, The Te Deum, or Hymn of Praise, Is either sung, or read. This sublime and beautiful composition is generally thought to have been composed by St. Ambrose, and has been used in the church service above fourteen hundred years. For the Evening Service, after the first lesson, the Magnificat is generally sung or read. This is the first hymn recorded in the New Testament, and from its ancient use among the primitive Christians, has been continued in the offices of the Reformed Church. After the second lesson in the morning, the hundredth Psalm is generally used and in this all lands and nations are invited and called upon to serve the Lord with gladness, and to come before his presence with a song; to praise him for his exceeding grace, mercy and truth, which are so eminently set forth in the Gospels. After the second lesson in the evening, The Song of Simeon. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, &c. It is taken from Luke ii. 29, and was composed by Simeon at the presentation of Christ in the temple. Then follows The Creed. Having heard the word of God in the lessons, we now profess our belief of it. The prayers that follow are grounded upon this belief, because we cannot call on him in whom we have not believed. Both the minister and people are appointed to repeat the Creed, because it is the profession of every person present, and ought for that reason to be made by every one in his own person. When we come to the second article in this Creed, in which the name of Jesus is mentioned, the whole congregation make obeisance, which the church (in regard to that passage of St. Paul, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow) expressly enjoins in her 18th canon ordering, that when in time of divine service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and lowly reverence shall be done by all persons present, testifying by these outward ceremonies and gestures their inward humility, christian resolution, and due acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world, in whom alone all the mercies, graces, and promises of God to mankind, for this life, and the life to come, are fully and wholly comprized. The remainder of the service consists of supplication and prayer. We ask for those things which are necessary as well for the body as the soul. But as we are not able to do this without the help of God, the minister first pronounces this benediction: The Lord be with you. To which the congregation reply, And with THY spirit. He then calls upon them to unite with him in prayer. Let us pray. Then entreating the Lord to have mercy upon us, all with a loud voice repeat the Lord's prayer. After which the following versicles by the priest and people alternately. "Priest. O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us. People. And grant us thy salvation. Priest. O Lord, save the King. People. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee. Priest. Endue thy ministers with righteousness. People. And bless thine heritage. People. Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God. Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us. People. And take not thy holy spirit from us." Then follows the collect for the day; and after that, the collect for peace, both in the morning and evening service. In that for the morning we pray for outward peace, and desire to be preserved from the injuries and wicked designs of men. In that for the evening we ask for inward tranquillity, requesting that peace which the world cannot give. The third collect in the morning, entreats for the grace of God, to preserve us from the various dangers and temptations to which we may be exposed during the day. That for the evening implores for aid against all perils and dangers that may occur during the night, when, being in a state of insensibility to surrounding objects, we more than ever stand in need of divine protection. In this prayer we commend ourselves into the hand of that God who neither slumbers nor sleeps; with whom darkness and light are both alike. Immediately after the third collect in the morning service, follows The Litany. The word Litany signifies, a general supplication. It is a form of prayer of high antiquity, and, was formerly (as well as the Communion) a distinct service but in the last review of the Liturgy, in 1661, it was ordered to form a part of the Morning Service. The Litany is divided into four parts, namely: the Invocation, the Deprecation, the Intercession, and the Supplication. The Invocation. We begin by imploring God the Father, as su. preme; we then address ourselves to God the Son, as our Redeemer; next to God the Holy Ghost, as the Sanctifier; and lastly to the Trinity in Unity, to have mercy upon us, miserable sinners. The reason why the people repeat the whole of these verses after the minister is, that all may first implore to be heard in their own words, and afterwards leave it to |