And who but loves the feeling

Which nature thus displays? Who blames us for revealing What worth alone betrays?

Few hearts have not been shaken
At tenderness like this;

Would thought it could awaken
Of him, who for our bliss
His Father's bosom quitting,-
That Father so beloved,—

In humble garb befitting

Those who his mercy mov'd,

Amidst a dearth more grievous,

A famine of the soul,

Came down no more to leave us

Till under his control

All powers should be subjected,
Himself our living food,

And as by him directed,

Our drink his precious blood.

From lowest depths exalted,

From depths of sin and woe, Above the heavens high vaulted, His rule no end shall know :

With liberal hand dispensing
The riches of his grace,
No longer love condensing

To bless one chosen race.

From his celestial treasure

His own redeemed he feeds, Who make his will their pleasure, And truly feel their needs: Nor can his gifts diminish

His gathered store of love; Created things must finish,

But nought his care remove.

WE beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon Thy people; that by Thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This Sunday has received the name of Passion Sunday. As the season of Lent has been appointed by our Church as a preparation for the devout and proper commemoration of our Lord's death and passion, the services for each Sunday have gradually led to that awful event; but now, taking a more decided character, they bear directly upon the subject, and are eminently calculated to excite in us the deepest sorrow for those sins which made such bitter sufferings necessary, and to inflame our love towards him who voluntarily endured them for our sakes.

The Collect, still in a strain of deep humility, implores the Almighty to look mercifully upon His people, and to protect them in soul and body, whereby

we acknowledge the peculiar situation in which we stand towards Him, as His by right of adoption and redemption, as well as of creation, and own His sovereign and parental claim to our obedience and reverence. The Epistle leads us immediately to the contemplation of Christ's meritorious sacrifice, shewing us that all former sacrifices are but figures and shadows of the true. As an introduction to the dreadful scene about to be presented to us, the Gospel is selected from that portion of the Holy Scripture which narrates the opprobrious language, and malicious, though vain, attempt on our Lord's life, which occurred in the temple a few days previous to the consummation of the violence of his enemies.

The Proper Lessons lead us back to the appearance of God to Moses preparatory to the deliverance of the chosen people from Egyptian bondage. The Lord Jehovah, the great I AM, is the Eternal Word, the same who declared, in this day's Gospel, that, before Abraham was, He Himself was in existence, and who thus identified Himself as our Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, God Almighty. The slavery of the Israelites fitly represents our own slavery in sin; their deliverance was typical of ours; our Deliverer was the same as theirs; the redemption of each was the work of His Almighty arm, and of His infinite mercy. The succession of one terrible infliction of punishment after another, before the emancipation of the Israelites from the

galling fetters in which they were held could be effected, may serve to remind us that our freedom from the still more oppressive yoke of sin and Satan, is a work not to be achieved at once, but the fruit of similar dealings on the part of the Almighty towards us. Experienee and observation shew us that thus God, to arouse us to repentance, and the more effectually to break the bonds with which our evil passions and unruly appetites enslave us, permits his judgments to fall upon us, increasing their severity each time as we oppose his merciful design, and harden ourselves in iniquity. It behoves us then to heed with awful attention each solemn call to amendment, and with humility, patience, and perseverance, to aid Almighty goodness in perfecting our deliverance and salvation. By such meditation as this Sunday's memorable Lessons induce, our faith is strengthened; and the devout spirit learns to rest on Him whose power sustains no diminution, and who, in all things, is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."